Board Thread:The Company/@comment-24930445-20140615054833/@comment-24930445-20140627233234

Kat Wakes

When Kat slogged her way back from the blackness of unconsciousness, it was to a hand over her forehead, fingers pressed in her temples while another hand pinched the back of her neck at the base of her skull. She struggled, trying to get away, trying to fight off the attacker.

“Kat. Cut it out. He’s helping. He is helping, right?” Ben’s voice made its way through her panic, though it eased her only slightly.

“Wha’ th’ bloody hell??” She tried to swipe the hand on her forehead away, but it remained steady.

“Relax Miss K. Mack’s a healer. You passed out on us.” She could feel Vee’s hand in her right hand and Aerli’s in her left, both gently stroking circles into the webbing between her thumb and forefinger.

Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to relax. It was at this moment she realized two things; Mack was still humming the lullaby and her headache was down to a gentle roar.

“How many times, Kat?” She didn’t have to ask. She knew what Ben meant.

“Only a couple…. um.. eight, m’thinks.” She tried to remember how many times she had used her mental abilities.

“Kat? Eight is more than a couple. Eight in how long?” She could hear the strain in his voice.

“Seven were all in th’ space o’ two hours durin’ th’ attack. Then one jist now.” The fingers gripping the back of her neck shivered slightly, a gentle vibration that seemed to lessen the pain in her head by half. “Bloody hell. You need t’ teach someone tha’ trick.”

Slowly, the hand across her forehead came away and she squinted at the brightness of the room. Mack wasn’t finished, however, and his thumb pressed firmly between her eyes and the pain lessened more. “How long was I out?”

“About ten minutes. Blurted something about Axin then did your best impression of a marionette with no strings. Mack caught you.” She glanced at Vee as he spoke the worry clear in his eyes even as he tried to make light of the situation.

As if remembering the importance of the situation, she tried to sit up and winced as the pain flared slightly. "How about you hold still and let the man work!” Ben sounded exasperated with her.  “Tell us what you saw.”

For the next several moments, she remained in Mack’s care while she told them what Volenyn had shown her, complete with creepy all seeing drones and really big monsters. “I need t’ get t’ Axin, let him know tha’ thing they hae has t’ be put back. She’s effectively doomed this reality t’ some really bad shit.”

"What makes you think Axin is going to take you seriously?" Ben asked. “For all we know Jos is congratulating him on how he coaxed you into walking right into this cage."

“Yeah. I thought of’ tha’ too, but wi’ th’ obsession she hae for killin me, m’thinks if tha’ were th’ case, we’d nae b’havin this conversation. As fer believin me? He was wi’ me those seven times. Much as I hate ta admit it, he knows wha’ I kin do. Barrin tha’, I drag his sorry ass in wi’ me.” she shrugged slightly, though she wasn’t sure she could bring Axin into a mindwalk like she could Ben. She had never even tried with Ry. “I hae ta try and convince him, Ben. We need ta stop this far more than’ anything Jos can think up.”

"So there's one little problem there. How do we get him down here? "

“We ask nicely?” She couldn’t help it, she laughed. “Well, I could go bang on th’ door, pretend I’m Jos, but then it’ll git spread around th’ ship that th’ boss lady was locked up with the prisoners. Not sure I want t’ tip our hand jist yet. Could hae someone else talk t’th’ guard. M’thinks tha’s our best bet.”

Tarin’s voice cut in. “I’ll do it. From what I understand, they came for me with a purpose. I’m not sure what it was, but it seems everyone else was just grabbed. Wrong place, wrong time.”

Kat frowned at Tarin’s words, though her friend was out of her line of sight. “Wha’ d’ya mean they came fer ye?”

“We’ve been discussing it and it seems that nearly everyone but Ben and I were taken by… drones, for lack of a better word.”  Kat winced slightly at Tarin’s choice of words, but said nothing. “Ben and I had men in black uniforms, definitely not drones. They were organized and seemed to have a goal; to take Ben and I. Vee and Mack were just along for the ride. One of them mentioned needing more volunteers.”

Ben chimed in. “I was called a ‘primary target’ when the man who so lovingly broke my nose called his superiors. Remind me to thank him when we meet next.” His voice all but growled.

Xyastia shook her head. “The rest of us all have the same story. It seemed as though some message went out… one we didn’t hear… then your… ‘drones’ all stopped what they were doing and grabbed ahold of the nearest person, dragging them along to one of the lifepods. No words were spoken, nothing.”

The soft droning of Mack’s voice ended and his hands came away from her head. She lifted her gaze to his face and found he was smiling serenely. “Are you better now, Katrylle?”

She blinked, then frowned, then arched an eyebrow as she realized that, indeed, her headache was completely gone. She moved to sit up, Aerli and Vee helping. “G’lord. Its gone. How did….?” She shook her head. “I’ll learn yer secrets later.”

She looked at Ben. “I kin guess why yer here. Meant ta’ grab Lenits, I would assume.” She turned her eye to Tarin. “Ye, m’dear, are a mystery. Why did they want ye?”

Tarin simply shrugged.

“Alright then. First things first, we need t’git Axin here.” Smiling, Tarin stood and made her way to the door. Once there, she removed her shoe and proceeded to pound on the door, calling for the guard, calling for Axin, calling for anyone. No one came. For several long minutes she continued in vain before turning, a frown creasing her brow.

Kat shrugged back at her. “I could try…”

“NO!” Several voices, including the serene Mack, rang out at once as if they all knew she was about to suggest she reach out and touch the guard’s mind. “Wha? It would work.”

“Kat, I swear… No. Just don’t. We need you with us, not laid up on the floor again… or worse. Last one drew blood.” Ben was still annoyed with her.

“Blood?” Kat tilted her head at him.

“Your nose was bleeding for no reason.” Ben leaned back against the wall, his arm wrapped around his ribs lightly.

Xyastia glanced at Ben a little worried before turning to Kat. “I believe it was a physical reaction to the strain you put on your mind. It could have been a warning and I’m not willing to take any chances with your health. For now, you will remain calm and only use your mind for thinking of a way to get us out, not to attack the opposition.”

Ben smirked. “You heard the doc.”

Kat gave him ‘the look’. “Nurse.” then shifted her eye to Xyastia. “And a damn fine one at that.”