LOCATION: OBSERVATION DECK
AREA: HYADES TRANSIT NEXUS
DISTANCE FROM EARTH: 153 LIGHT-YEARS
As Kaela stood from her bench and turned toward the elevator, she noticed three men moving toward her.
She kept her calm, recalling Skrixx’s words that nexus stations are supposed to be mutually recognized safe zones, but she couldn’t help but think these men were moving too fast.
Then she noticed that all the other people who had been quietly relaxing in this section of the Observation Deck when she had arrived, were now gone.
“When did that happen?” she wondered.
Sure, she had been deep in thought for hours, but it was unlike her to not notice things like that in her surroundings.
But there was no time to chastise herself, as the three were rapidly closing in. They wore loose, dark clothes and something about the way the shadows moved around them obscured their features in a way that was clearly not natural.
They moved toward Kaela from three different directions.
Instead of rushing toward the elevator, she suddenly stopped walking and spun around, holding her ground.
One of the men snickered.
“She’s unarmed. Let’s get her.”
He closed the distance quickly and lunged forward, but his hands closed on nothing but air.
Kaela engaged Phantom Step and disappeared from view into an alternate plane. Time slowed around her, and in the grayscale that marked this realm, she saw all three close in on the spot she had occupied not two seconds ago.
She reached out and felt the warmth and power of the Phantom Blade enter her hand.
She had only a split second left in this realm to line herself up just right.
The three men leapt at the easy target, planning to cover her with their special cloak.
They tossed it over the spot where she was standing, but it dropped harmlessly to the floor as they watched the woman fade from sight.
“What the—"
In the next instant, the first would-be abductor’s head was removed from his neck. A long, elegant sword slashed through the air in a horizontal swipe backed by so much force that it also removed the second attacker’s head before it disappeared from Kaela’s hands.
The third man was still in shock, trying to comprehend what had just happened, but he recovered instantly.
He saw the long sword disappear from Kaela’s hands and drew daggers of his own.
They were black, and Kaela could see black smoke rising from the curved blades. Whatever that was, she wanted nothing to do with it.
He swiped forward with his right hand, aiming for Kaela’s neck. She leaned back just enough to avoid the attack, but felt a cold sensation across her throat.
It felt like it burned and froze at the same time.
She reached up and grasped his hand on the return arc, squeezing a pressure point on the inside of his wrist with both hands as hard as she could.
She was hoping that pressure points on this man who appeared human worked the same.
He grunted with the pain, and the first dagger fell to the ground. Kaela twisted his wrist, hearing the satisfying sound of bones cracking, and he yelled out.
He slashed wildly with his other dagger.
But Kaela had control of his wrist, and through all of the grappling she had trained in, she was practiced at keeping an opponent off balance.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Just long enough to…
She waited until he swung his left arm again, then she slammed an open palm into his solar plexus, followed by a hard fist to his face.
The man, who was a full foot taller and at least a hundred pounds heavier than Kaela, fell backward onto the floor with a resounding thud.
Kaela reached up with her hand, and blood was still dripping from the wound in her throat. It was getting harder and harder to breathe as whatever poison was in that blade worked its way through her system.
She closed her eyes and focused on her Vitality, willing it to cycle through her body and purge the toxin that alternated burning and freezing sensations as it coursed through her bloodstream.
Her vision blurred and she felt lightheaded.
Kaela fell back onto the nearest padded chair as she continued concentrating on cycling her Vitality. She was just beginning to return to normal when Security showed up, moments later.
“Ma’am? Are you alright?” one of the guards asked, running toward her.
Kaela, feeling much better by that point, nodded, then leaned forward with a groan and reached for the cloak on the floor.
“They were trying to throw this over my head,” she said. “What is it?”
The guards looked at each other.
“Are you sure you’re okay, ma’am? That was almost—”
She spun around toward them.
“I am fine. So much for Hyades being a safe harbor, though. You might want to update your security protocols.”
They just looked at each other, clearly not used to being spoken to in such a manner.
However, they had seen the three men moving on Kaela on their monitors and rushed to the scene. She was not wrong, after all.
“First, we apologize for the danger you were subjected to under our watch. We will be more diligent in protecting those on Hyades.”
Kaela exhaled. The adrenaline was still coursing through her body, and she was exhilarated. She smiled just a little.
“It’s fine,” she said. “Sorry for my attitude.”
She was quiet for a moment.
“I’ve been traveling a long time, and it’s been a while since I had any kind of true challenge.”
She held the cloak out.
“Now, what can you tell me about this?”
One of the guards took it from her and started looking over it, inch by inch. He seemed to be scanning it with some sort of skill that Kaela couldn’t detect.
After he finished, his face looked whiter than it had before.
He turned toward his colleagues. Five guards had rushed to the scene when they saw the men preparing to attack Kaela.
“This is an item that never should have made it through our security measures,” he said. “If it falls on you, it would first begin leeching all of your stats. The stolen stats weaken you and directly empower the cloak, which gradually stifles your identity until you are undetectable to our scanners.”
“Let me see that,” another one of the guards demanded. He had been inspecting the bodies while they were speaking, and now began looking closely at the object.
The first guard continued his explanation.
“By the time you are… well, fully cloaked, if you will excuse the term, you would barely be able to walk under your own power. So I’m not sure what their objective was here. They would have needed a way to smuggle you out, if that was their plan.”
Kaela pursed her lips.
“Well, you had better get on that, then, don’t you think?”
The second officer who was now inspecting the cloak looked up.
“Ma’am, I am the senior officer on duty this cycle. On behalf of Hyades Transit Nexus station, I wish to extend our deepest apologies for this incident.”
Kaela shook her head.
“There’s no need for—”
“Please,” the officer said. “Allow me to finish. You have not only uncovered an insidious plot here today, but you have handily defeated three notorious covert agents from the Obsidian Empire. These three in particular are known for their ruthlessness, and are responsible for over a dozen high-level abductions across this sector alone.”
He sighed.
“Until today, we had no idea how they were able to accomplish it, yet you have not only discovered the means, but taken them off the board.”
He looked down at the bodies in disgust.
“Permanently.”
Kaela chuckled and pointed at one of them.
“I left that one alive, you know.”
The senior officer smiled, but the look on his face was quite sinister.
“Yes, I see you did. But that doesn’t mean he will ever enter the playing field again. You have done a great service for the Orion Celestial Accord today, Miss Sirova. Your escort, Ambassador Skrixx has been informed, and so has the Institute. I expect great things from you, young lady.”
As they spoke, the elevator doors slid open.
Skrixx and Flonk rushed out.
“Kaela! Are you okay?” Skrixx shouted.
Kaela nodded, but then a smirk crossed her face.
“Journalists weren’t always safe, and apparently keeping my guard up was a wise choice.”
The joke didn’t ease the look of concern on Skrixx’s face, but he was clearly glad his charge was safe, with her sense of humor seemingly intact, to boot.
He looked like he was about to scold the security officer, but Kaela held out her hand.
“Skrixx, please. We’ve already spoken of it. The incident is over, and they have a job to do. Let’s leave them to it, shall we?”
Skrixx huffed, but seemed to calm down. He turned toward the officer.
“You’ll keep me updated on the progress of your investigation?”
“Yes, Ambassador Skrixx. Please accept our apologies. We will send updates to you directly as we learn more.”
Skrixx nodded, taking on an air of authority Kaela had not expected.
“Very well, then. Kaela, please come with us. I think it’s time you were introduced to interstellar liquor. You could probably use a drink right now.”
The adrenaline had thoroughly bled off, and Kaela was certainly keen to take him up on that idea.
“Fuck yes,” she said. “That sounds like a great plan.”