Shutting the door behind me, I collapsed on the bed and rubbed my aching forehead.“My mother was murdered by a rogue Coletti named Nexon.”
“Was she avenged?”A phantom hand touched my head and the pain faded away.
“My father killed him.”
“I will advise the Overlord.”
“Please. Just leave me alone.”
“It is my duty to care for you.”
A knot of apprehension formed in my gut.“No, it’s not. I can take care of myself.”
“I have taken your blood.”
“So?”
That phantom hand stroked my cheek.“We are linked now, and you will be mine.”
“Like hell and what do you mean by linked?”
General Jones was suddenly in my head,“Lexi, we need you in the control room. A Tai-Kok ship just crashed outside of Tucson.”
“Yes, sir.”Grabbing my helmet, I ran for the elevator.“If it’s still intact we can study it and use their own weapons against them.”
“The Tai-Kok will destroy the wreckage before you can salvage anything,”Kaelen warned.
I slapped my hand on the sensor pad and the elevator doors opened.“Then we need to distract them by blowing up as many ships as we can.”
“There is no need to risk yourself needlessly,”Kaelen snapped.
Stepping into the elevator, I shot back,“I will do whatever is necessary to stop the Tai-Kok from slaughtering more of my people.”
“Even if it means your death?”
The images of the gutted corpses flashed across my mind.“Yes, if I don’t stop them, who will?”
“The Coletti Empire.”
The elevator doors slid open.“You don’t know where Earth is located.”
“Give me a belt and I will bring you weapons,”Kaelen countered.
I hurried into Uncle Ben’s lab.“Too little. Too late.”
General Jones turned to face me.“A squadron of Tai-Kok fighters has been launched from their battle cruiser.”
“The fighters are called Marauders,”Kaelen interjected.“If you can port Lexi into weapons control center on the battle cruiser, I can show her how to shoot them down.”
Uncle Ben and I exchanged worried glances. Who knew where I would end up.“It’s worth a shot. It’s time the Tai-Kok went on a diet.”
Jake’s eyebrows rose in disbelief.“We just destroyed three of their slaughter ships and they will be on high alert.”
“The Tai-Kok foolishly believe they are unbeatable. They do not see you as adversaries. You are food and incapable of defeating them,”Kaelen responded.
Okey-dokey, then.“Where exactly is the weapons control center on that battle cruiser?”
“It is deck nine directly below the engine room,”Kaelen answered.
