Page 108 of Rescued

Curling her fingers around the blood-red crystal encased in the rose-gold wires, she attempted to pick it up.

The ESR didn’t even budge. It was almost as though she’d tried to lift the Mother Ship itself just by pulling on a knob or a handle, Sonya thought. She tried one more time, but she already knew there was no way. She wasn’t a weakling, but she was no weightlifter either.

“Now you try, Nate,” Karl offered.

Nate walked over to the ESR with a frown on his face. He didn’t try to lift it in his hand as Sonya had. Instead, he gathered the straps on either side in both hands and lifted.

For a moment nothing moved. Then, as a vein popped out in Nate’s temple, he finally managed to lift the device.

“Be careful with that!” Karl said quickly. “If you drop it anywhere but back on the reinforced table, you could punch a hole right through the Mother Ship’s hull!”

“I’ve got it.” Nate’s deep voice was tight with effort. “Just need to get it on my back—it’ll be easier to carry that way.”

With much careful maneuvering and the help of Karl and also Oliver and Simon—who were apparently married to Commander Sylvania and her sister, Commander Bairdida, the ESR was finally strapped to Nate’s bare back.

“Is that all right? Are you sure you can take the weight?” Karl asked anxiously.

Nate shrugged his shoulders and gave a slight grunt of effort.

“I’ve got it. Feels like I’m carrying a backpack heavier than I am, but I can manage.”

“I believe the Goddess has given you strength to bear this burden,” Commander Sylvania said.

“Good, because I need to get over to the Father Ship!” Nate growled.

“Not without me!” Sonya stepped up. “I’m going with you—remember?”

“You need to practice before you go anywhere,” Karl remarked.

“They don’t have time to practice, unfortunately.” Commander Sylvania had one hand to her temple, as though she was listening to someone speak. “I just got notice that the Scourge have accepted our offer of a prisoner exchange—we need to get Nate and Sonya on a shuttle at once!”

“A prisoner exchange?” Nate frowned. “What the hell is that all about?”

“It’s the only way we can gain access to the Father Ship,” Commander Sylvania explained. “Commander Davrik and Commander Lan’ara already used stealth tech to enter earlier, so their defenses are up. Don’t worry,” she added. “We don’t expect them to abide by the terms they agreed to.”

“The Scourge have no honor,” her sister, Commander Bairdida said, speaking up for the first time. “Most likely they’ll bring the two of you before the AllFather at once without actually releasing Commander Davrik and Lan’ara. If they do, you have to take the chance to kill the AllFather if you can.”

“The ESR can do it if you can get close to him,” Karl said confidently. He looked at Sonya. “All you have to do is put your hand on Nate’s arm and sing at the target. The louder you sing and the more you feel, the stronger the ammunition.”

“Um…okay but where does this, uh, ‘ammunition’ come out?” Sonya asked doubtfully.

“From your mouth of course—it’s going to look a little like you’re shooting laser beams out of your mouth,” the Dark Twin Kindred said, smiling slightly.

“But don’t worry—it won’t hurt you,” the Light Twin hurriedly assured her. “It will only hurt the person your emotion is directed at.”

“Okay—got it,” Sonya said, with more confidence than she felt. She really wished they had time to practice—the idea of shooting lasers out of her mouth was really strange and kind of scary. But she understood that they were under a deadline here and they had to get going if they were going to save Davrik and Nate’s mate, Lan’ara.

Nate was given a sleeveless black T-shirt to wear which left his muscular arms bare while hiding the ESR strapped to his broad back.

“That way all you have to do is reach out and grab him and you don’t have to worry about pushing up a sleeve,” Karl explained to Sonya. He clapped Nate on the back. “Good luck, old friend. I’m afraid you’ll need it.”

“We’ll be fine,” Nate said shortly. He looked at Sonya. “You ready to go get our people?”

There was a flutter of nerves in her stomach—nevertheless, she held her head high. Davrik had come from a whole other universe to rescue her—the least she could do was return the favor.

“I’m ready,” she said nodding.

Sonya just prayed that the Goddess who had woken her from a sound sleep with the dire news that her man was in trouble would be with them. Because the thought of going alone into that big, dark ship and facing the evil AllFather with nothing but her voice as a weapon scared the life out of her.

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