Page 35 of Guardian's Destiny

"Flying."

"From where?"

My mind felt as if it had hit a literal brick wall. There was only darkness. And voices. Many voices, like hers, whispering, but in a different language and—frygg! I convulsed as pain seared through me.

"Easy, Vraax, easy. Remember, you're safe." Her voice soothed me just as her hands applied a little bit more pressure, gently massaging my neck.

"You are on the ship."

The pain started to subside, and I breathed easier.

"Can you remember where you started flying from?"

I tried. I really did. But the pain was…

"Easy. Tell me where the pain is coming from."

"The center of my brain," I answered truthfully. "Right from the center, spreading all the way."

"Okay, you said Nova scanned you guys, and there was no implant of anything?"

"Yes. There wasn't anything."

"So this pain is psychological," she said. "It's not real, even though it feels real, alright. I want you to go to the safe place, relax there for a moment, and then I want you to go back and try to remember where you flew out from."

"Ohrur." I pressed out. I received a deep image of the planet as my ship was leaving it behind.

"You're sure?"

"Positive. I flew away from Ohrur."

"You said you never met an Ohrur in person."

Images of Ohrurs assaulted me, along with sensations of evilness, so malevolent it made my skin crawl.

"I was wrong. I met them before… I saw them… at the… the… spaceport."

Clear as day, I watched three Ohrurs leave my ship as I was sitting in the captain's chair. I couldn't move, though. There was a helmet on my head, and my arms and legs were tied down and…

I bolted free.

"Vraax?" alarm sounded in Sloane's voice.

"I'll be right back. I've got to check something." I said, jumping off the bed, leaving mysafespot behind.

I have no idea why I thought she would wait for me. She was right on my heels out in the hallway as I made my way to the bridge.

Once there, I climbed the captain's chair to check on something in the ceiling.

"Vraax? What are you doing? Talk to me." She sounded worried. I liked that.

"Just looking for something," I said, reaching up to the ceiling, which seemed perfectly fine. "Grab one of my knives and hand it to me?"

I didn't think she would, but I felt her hand by my calve as she pulled a knife from its sheath. I didn't wear all my weapons aboard the ship since it was just her and me, but I had learned that a knife sometimes came in handy, like now.

I grabbed it, barely registering that she handed it to me hilt first, a fact I appreciated, just like the fact that she knew her way around weapons. Believe it or not, a civilian would have handed it to me blade out.

I began hacking at the ceiling until I could grab a good chunk and pull it off. There was nothing there but a hollow opening.

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