Author: Milady Dragon
Disclaimer: I still don't own anything much, except for the Castalii.
Author's note: Hey out there! Welcome back for another chapter! Thanks to everyone for reading what I love to write about. You're obviously enjoying the ride! Maybe some of you out there reading and not reviewing could drop me a quick one and let me know what you think? Yep, I'm officially begging for reviews. And to those of you reviewing, I love hearing from you. It makes my day to see those email alerts show up in my inbox!
Chapter Twenty-Six
Cameron was scared.
She lay there, on her hard bunk, the echo of the door closing behind John ringing in her ears. She was actually going to stay put, and take his word that the Magestrin wouldn't risk punishing the Castalii because then no one would be there to run the world-ship's systems. Well, he'd been right so many times before, how could she doubt him now?
Truth be told, Cameron didn't want to move. Her entire body felt disjointed, like every bone was slightly out of place. Her head was thumbing with a perpetual migraine, racing in time with her elevated blood pressure. This was taking far too much out of her, and everything in her was protesting the treatment.
The doctor in her told her she was dying. That being plugged into the ship, over and over again, was killing her.
Surprisingly, she felt calm about it. Her life as a Tomorrow Person often put her in danger, and this was just another one of those times. Not that she was being blasé about it; that was as far from the truth as a person could get. No, Cameron didn't mind dying.
What she minded was the fact that she'd gotten John into this.
And then the thought popped into her tortured mind that she'd also gotten House involved, at least peripherally.
That did upset her. She'd sworn she wouldn't do anything that would bring him any farther into her world. A part of her was saying not to be silly; after all, how could she have known an alien race would pick up her telekinetic signature, and kidnap her, as well as faking her death so no one would look for her? There was simply no way she could've prepared for it.
Cameron wondered where he was now. Would he come to her rescue? That wonderful image of him being her knight made her smile. If she was going to die, she would've liked to see him again.
Maybe she would've had the guts to tell him how she felt.
No, not if it was the last thing she said to him. Cameron wouldn't want to hurt him.
She felt a sudden twinge at the back of her neck. She shivered, realizing that the Magestrin knew she wasn't on her shift. No, no no no no…she wanted more than anything to avoid what was going to happen.
Cameron braced herself, knowing what was to come. She bunched her fists into the thin sheets, trying to prepare herself.
But the expected pain didn't come.
Instead, a warbling alarm began to sound. The noise made her jump, and it echoed through her aching skull. What the hell was going on?
Cameron forced herself to stand. Her knees felt like jello, but she managed to stay upright. She wobbled toward the door, slamming into it when her legs suddenly gave out. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all…
The door was heavy, but she did get it to open. On the other side, Castalii were running down the hall, and every one of them looked panicked. Cameron managed to grab one, an orange male, and asked him what the alarm was about.
He could've pulled from her grasp, she was that weak. Instead, he answered her. "There has been damage in the computer core. We are being summoned."
Cameron's heart stopped for a split second even as the alien was leaving her. All she could think was that John was in the computer core. That was where he'd been assigned…
Using the wall for support, Cameron made her way toward the elevators. She was being passed by more of the orange aliens, joined by blues and reds and greens. She cursed, wanting to move faster but being unable to. Being jacked into the ship had taken far too much, and she didn't have anything else left to give. She started to topple, and tried to grab for anything to keep her from going down.
Then she felt hands on her waist, steadying her. Cameron glanced down; a blue male was holding her up, helping her to keep moving. She didn't thank him; instead she saved her breath for walking.
More Castalii than she'd thought were on the world-ship were milling in the large common area in front of the engine room. She and her companion headed for the elevators, him pushing their way through the crowd to get there.
Most of the aliens moved out of their way. Cameron didn't notice, her concentration fully on making it to those double doors.
"I'm coming with you," she said when the alien tried to leave her there.
"You are weak, you shall not be needed," came the response.
"My friend is there," she insisted. "Try and keep me away."
The alien didn't look too certain, but helped her into the crowded car. Cameron wondered if it would be safe for her to be there; after all, the last time she'd taken a ride there'd been a great deal of pain involved, as well as a long bout of unconsciousness. Apparently the implants allowed them into certain areas of the world-ship, and since her own workstation was in engineering, would it let her go anywhere else? Well, she'd just have to risk it. She had to know if John was all right.
The elevator moved smoothly upward, stopping after what seemed like an interminable amount of time, but was actually only a few seconds. When the doors opened, the Castalii with her flooded around her, leaving her alone. Cameron staggered after them, the acrid stink of burning plastic hitting her in the face and making her gag.
Several pieces of equipment in the computer core were on fire. The flames were licking their way up toward the ceiling, while orange Castalii clustered around the various consoles. They were pointing fingers or waving their hands around the fires, and they seemed to be fading. Cameron guessed they must be pyrokinetics, able to control fire. It would make sense with that orange coloring.
She looked around, finding the cabinets easily. Healers were getting the blue Castalii out of the tight couches, checking them over. Most was already conscious, apparently not hurt by whatever it was that had happened.
Then she saw John, still in his cabinet. Cameron made her way over to him, needing to see if he was all right as well.
Different from the telepaths, he was unconscious. She reached in, checking the pulse in his neck. Cameron was immediately struck by how warm he was; his pulse was also thumping as if he'd just run several miles. Trickles of sweat trailed down his flushed forehead. She reached around to the back of his neck, wanting to check the socket and plug that still connected him to the ship.
There was wetness back there; when she pulled her hand away, it was stained with blood.
Cameron couldn't panic, not now. She'd done enough of that since this whole thing began. Instead, she put her hand back there once more, sticking her fingers between the back of John's head and the couch, and tried to pull him away from the prong. His head moved a little, but she wasn't strong enough to do it on her own. She turned, to look for any healer. "Help me!" she called out, trying to get the attention of one or two who were hovering around the closest blue Castalii.
A man glanced up, met her eyes. He stood, jogged toward her. "I am sorry, I did not know he was unconscious," he answered.
"Let's get him out of here," Cameron said. "He's bleeding from the socket."
The green eyes went wide. He didn't say anything; instead, he got on the other side, his own fingers finding Cameron's own under John's head. He apparently didn't like what he was feeling, for he called for more help.
Two more greens and a red came to the rescue. One of the healers gently pushed Cameron out of the way, and she wasn't about to argue. She was too weak to move John, let alone support any of his weight.
Together, the four Castalii lifted the elder Tomorrow Person from the cabinet, laying him gently on the deck. Cameron knelt beside him, helping to hold his head steady as the healer took a good look at the socket.
"There has been some damage, however I believe it is to the mechanism itself, and not his brain," the Castalii reported.
Cameron sighed in relief. "Thank God." She carefully laid John's head in her lap, absently stroking his forehead. "Does anyone know what's happened?"
"Not as yet," the healer replied. "That will be determined once the fires have all been extinguished." He placed a small hand over John's forehead, closing his eyes. When he opened them once more, he was smiling. "I was correct; the damage was done to the implant. He is simply unconscious from shock. He will recover."
"Thank you." She realized the irony of the gratitude the moment she'd spoken.
"You are most welcome." The alien stood. "Stay with him, he should awaken soon." He and the others left her alone with her friend.
Cameron wondered what had caused the fire. Some sort of equipment failure? If that were true, then why hadn't any of the blue Castalii plugged into the system discovered the problem?
It was then she realized just what the healer had said: John's implant was damaged. Apparently it had happened when whatever it was occurred. Had there been some sort of connection?
And would this mean John would have his powers back when he woke up?
That thought made her smile. If he did regain his abilities, he could call for help. That could very well be their ticket out of this place. Cameron also knew it wouldn't take the Magestrin long to recognize that one of their slaves was free. That meant he had to wake up, and soon, if they wanted to send out a signal.
Cameron laid her cheek on his forehead, hoping the direct contact would somehow get past her own implant. "John, I don't know if you can hear me, but you have to wake up now. Your implant was damaged, so you might be able to get in touch with someone! Please, John…open your eyes." She was pleading, and she didn't care. She had to get through to him, somehow!
She didn't sense anything from him, but that didn't mean anything. Cameron lifted her head, checking his vital signs once more. John's heartbeat was calming, and the touch of her skin against his had revealed that the fever he'd been running was fading. She felt relieved, but this still wasn't him regaining consciousness!
"What are you?"
Cameron started at the voice. She looked up, to see Cardesh staring at her. He was angry. "You know what we are," she retorted, tightening her grip on her friend. "We've explained – "
"Not everything," he spat. "He – " pointing to John – "has caused this, and I want to know how."
That accusation surprised her. "How it that possible?" she countered. "Our powers are dampened by the implants – "
"Something in him was not. And it has caused all this! We shall all be punished for it!"
"And I'm telling you," Cameron tried to sound patient, "there's no way John could have caused anything using his powers. Check your own equipment before you start blaming us, all right? We're probably more helpless than you are!" Which was certainly true. Even sitting there, arguing with him, was tiring her out even more.
"You only pretend helplessness! If your friend was able to do this, then what have you been doing to the engines? How much sabotage have you done and we do not know it yet?"
Cameron was pissed off now. Her anger lent her some of the strength she was lacking. "How can I be doing anything to your damned engines, when I don't have a clue how they even run off my brain?"
"You have lied to us from almost the very beginning! You are some sort of spy – "
"Excuse me! Just who kidnapped whom here? I certain didn't ask to be kidnapped! And I certainly wouldn't be making my family think I was dead just to mess around with your precious machines!"
"But you were able to signal to your accomplice – "
"Sure I was! Once! And I wasn't even aware of doing it until you told me about it!" Cameron's head felt like it was splitting open. She vaguely wondered just how high her blood pressure was going.
"And now you pretend illness in order to punish the rest of us – "
"Now just a damned minute!" She was shouting; she couldn't help it. "Go and ask your wife if I've been faking. I'm sure she'll tell you what I already know: I'm dying! Your machines are killing me! And there's not a fucking thing I can do about it! I've done everything I've been told since I got here, out of respect for your people and a true wish to protect them. Even though you're the idiots who've put up with this slavery so long you don't know any different, I honestly didn't want anything to happen to anyone. So I worked, and let myself get plugged into that engine, and I didn't give a shit about my own life as long as your people weren't hurt. So come down off your soapbox and get some perspective, because quite honestly I'm sick of your condescension and your pride! You're prisoners here! That's all! You're no better than me, or John, or anyone else around here. Get over yourself, Cardesh, and deal with it: you're collaborating with the very race that made yours into slaves. You're going to die here, just like I am. Only I get to go a lot sooner than you will." Cameron suddenly felt tired; she slumped over John's body, trying to get her breath back.
Apparently Cardesh wasn't going to say anything. That was good, because she just didn't want to deal with him any longer. Her only concern now was for John, and herself. Nothing else mattered. They had to get the hell off this ship.
Because suddenly Cameron's greatest wish was that she wouldn't die there. She'd been resigned to it, but her temper tantrum had brought her to face what was happening to her . If she was going to die, then she wanted to be home, with people who cared about her. Not in some huge spaceship surrounded by people who actually enjoyed being slaves.
And while she might be helpless to do anything about getting them out of there, she knew there were people out there trying to find them. She had to trust in them.
Cameron had to trust in House. She had to have the faith that he'd come to the rescue.
Because she didn't want to die without seeming him once more.
She was so lost in her thoughts that it wasn't until someone grabbed her arm that she realized she wasn't alone. Her head jerked up too quickly; her vision swam and she felt dizzy. Cameron blinked, and looked up into the face of one of the orange Castalii. He also looked angry, and she sighed mentally, preparing herself for yet another fight. "What?" she demanded weakly.
"Your friend," he indicated John, "started the fire that has damaged the computer core."
"Look, I've already went through this with Cardesh. It's not possible, okay? Our powers are being stifled by these things in our heads. Besides, John can't start fires. It's not one of his powers."
"Then you do not know your friend. We have traced the source of the fire, and it was created by your companion."
Cameron shook her head, wary of making herself dizzy again. "And I'm telling you: none of the Tomorrow People are pyrokinetics. It must have been a malfunction in the equipment he was hooked up to that caused it."
"There was no malfunction." The man didn't seem to be as angry anymore. He looked at her appraisingly. "You did not know he was a firestarter?"
She rolled her eyes, which was a mistake as the room spun. "John would've said something about it if he could start fires."
"I believe your friend has not been completely honest with you." The man bent over, carefully peeling one of John's eyelids back. "See."
Cameron looked. And had to look again before realizing what the Castalii was indicating.
John's normally dark eye was faintly glowing, like a coal that was slowly going out.
Cameron stopped breathing in horrified shock. John really was a pyrokinetic. And he hadn't said anything about it.