Microsoft Word - MaximumVelocity.rtf, page 29
Charlotte gave her a stunned look. She couldn’t obsess over Charlotte and Tyler doing
the nasty for long she had other things to occupy her mind.
It was time to clobber some Triad ass.
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Chapter Twenty-Nine
“How many telepaths is there onboard the Excalibur?” Samantha asked, jogging
alongside Devlin and Charlotte.
“There are two, not including you and I. But then I told you that already, or weren’t you
listening?” Charlotte tossed Samantha an irritated gaze. “I never should have let my guard down.
The only reason I didn’t notice them before is because I’ve been giving Rory my all in looking
out for her. I let the ship down. I’m sorry. Winter needs us as soon as we can get to her. She
doesn’t have any telepaths in the crew manifest on the Snow Queen. She needs us. The telepaths
are playing havoc with the members of Winter’s crew. They are literally living out their own
worst nightmares.”
“Winter had shield training from a certified telepath,” Devlin muttered.
“That might be…but still, Winter isn’t any match for what The Triad has on reserve.
These Telepaths are good. Almost too good.”
Samantha had a sinking feeling in her gut. She shivered and sighed. She hated it when
the fighting got into the telepathic realm. It always complicated matters.
“We might have to split up.” Charlotte looked over at Samantha. “Will you be okay, if
that happens?”
Samantha rolled her eyes. “Of course, I’ll be okay. I’m not a little girl anymore,
Charlotte. But just for everyone’s information, I hate psychic combat. Really, I hate it!”
They stopped. They stood just outside of the abandoned dining hall.
“They’re in there…waiting for us.” Charlotte raised her right hand. “I’m going to open
the door…you two can take it from there. Devlin, I’ve erected some makeshift telepathic shields
in your mind. Stay strong. No matter what you think you might be seeing; it isn’t real. Just
remember that.”
“I’ll remember. I’ve run into my fair share of telepaths in my lifetime. I can handle it.
But thanks for your concern, Charlotte.”
Samantha felt antsy. She could feel the pandemonium onboard the Snow Queen. No
doubt Charlotte could feel it as well, only her senses would be amplified tenfold.
“Okay, let’s do this. Charlotte, let it loose.”
Samantha watched as Charlotte’s violet blue eyes transformed to a dark shade of
amethyst, they were so dark they looked almost black. Incredible. Charlotte’s powers were
being summoned. Soon, the goons on the other side of the door would be shaking in their boots.
The door blasted backward. Surprised cries met Samantha’s ears. She stepped over the
threshold and went into battle mode.
Throwing stars arced toward her. She went into a backward flip and extended her Bo
staff to fighting length. She deflected the throwing stars easily and then went into a fighting
crouch. Two more black-garbed Triad fighters barreled toward her. Devlin was busy with three
fighters and the two telepaths in the bunch converged on Charlotte. Should Samantha be worried
about Charlotte? She couldn’t worry. She didn’t have the luxury.
Charlotte had a glowing purple pink force-bubble shield wrapped around her own body.
It actually extended out a few feet. Stunning. She wanted one of those.
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One of her attackers split off and ran toward Charlotte. Samantha grit her teeth. She
knew what the stealthy kung fu dude was up to. He wanted to stab Charlotte in the back while
she was distracted. But he was going after her twin…if he thought she was going to let him hurt
Charlotte he had another think coming. Despite the force-bubble shield that Charlotte had
erected, the knife could slip through while Charlotte was distracted. Psychic combat required a
lot of energy…especially when the odds weren’t even. Samantha twirled her Bo Staff in the air
and blocked one of the remaining kung fu dude’s roundhouse kicks. As he was coming back for
another attack she brought her Bo Staff up and caught him between his knees. He made a
strange gurgling noise and dropped to the floor.
“Life’s a bitch and then you got in my way.” She brought her Bo Staff up and whacked
him across the back of the head. “Light’s out, bastard.” Stepping over his lifeless form, she
dashed toward Charlotte, there was still a kung fu dude gunning for Charlotte and Charlotte
didn’t seem to sense the guy’s approach.
She wouldn’t reach Charlotte in time. Desperate times called for desperate measures.
Reaching for one of her grappling hooks she shot it off and made contact with the ceiling of the
dining room. She tugged on it a few times to make certain that it was secure. Then, she pressed
the retraction mechanism. She sailed upwards and pulled out her pistol with her free hand.
In the blink of an eye, she had crossed the distance to where Charlotte stood. Lowering
the grappling hook she appeared in front of Charlotte’s would be backstabber.
“Hello, asshole!” Without giving it much thought she shot him. He fell, crippled to the
floor. She hooked her pistol back onto her hip. “And Tyler said I wasn’t a Suzy Homemaker. I
think I’m doing a bang up job of cleaning out the trash.”
Standing back to back with Charlotte, she looked over to where Devlin stood. He too had
taken care of his attackers.
“Good going, Dev.” She gave him thumbs up. He grinned back at her.
Samantha could feel Charlotte gaining the upper hand on the two telepaths that Charlotte
was locked in combat with. Should she stay and watch over Charlotte, or should she hightail it
for the Snow Queen? She hated having too many choices.
“Go,” Charlotte said between clenched teeth. “I’ll be fine.” With her final word, one of
the telepaths she fought let out a blood-curdling scream and fell to the floor. His eyes were
locked open and they looked glassy. Samantha shuddered. The lights were on for the telepath
but no one seemed to be home. Yuck. Charlotte was certainly someone you didn’t play mind
games with.
“Stay safe,” Samantha called, darting for the door that led out into the main hallway of
the Excalibur.
Devlin was hot on her heels. She opened her com frequency that led to Johanna.
“Johanna, we have the ambush details on the Excalibur taken care of. Could you ask
Ross to come down to the abandoned dining room and haul them to the brig?”
“You got it. So we’re safe, then?”
“You bet we are. I’m on my way to lend Winter a helping hand. Wish me luck.”
“Good luck. Where’s Charlotte?”
“She’s still in the dining hall taking care of the second telepath that boarded the
Excalibur.”
“Shit. What are you and Devlin going to do to take care of the telepaths onboard the
Snow Queen?”
Samantha bit her lip. She really hadn’t considered that. But Charlotte had given her the
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go ahead to move onto the Snow Queen.
“Don’t know. I guess our mental shields will have to be the only defense we’ll have
against them.”
“Samantha....” Johanna trailed off, but Samantha could already guess her thoughts.
“Yeah, in a pinch, I might be able to take one of them out. Might, being the key word,
Johanna. I haven’t hung around a campfire telling ghost stories with certified Alpha Telepaths in
ages.”
“The last time you were in a training session was right before....”
“Dad’s murder. I know. Trust me, Johanna. Charlotte does.” Samantha smiled.
“Okay. Just don’t let your....”
“Worst fears come back to haunt me? I know their tactics of battle, Johanna. You need
to stop worrying. Dev and I will be fine.”
“Speak for yourself,” Devlin muttered. “My main concern is getting to my little girl.
Now I definitely know how Quinn feels.”
Samantha quickened her pace. She could hear the screams of Winter’s crew. Before
they stepped into the main part of Winter’s ship, Samantha locked gazes with Devlin.
“We might be walking into a psychic landmine on Winter’s ship. Are you sure you don’t
want to stay behind, where it’s safe?”
“To hell with staying behind. Do you honestly think I wouldn’t walk through the fires of
hell for my daughter?”
Samantha studied his serious visage. Devlin literally reeked of being genuine. “Nah.
Maybe in another lifetime I might have thought that…but not now. You should be careful, Dev.
I might actually come out of this little war respecting you.”
Devlin shuddered. “Oh, the horror!” He held his hand dramatically over his heart.
“Show off.” She reached out an arm to hold him back before he waltzed ahead into the
lion’s den. “If we do come across a telepath, you get your ass out of there. Your main priority is
Winter. Get her to safety. I’ll deal with the telepath.”
“Samantha, you are almost making me love you.” He laughed. “Don’t worry, when push
comes to shove, I’ll be more than happy to leave you at the mercy of the terrible telepath.” A
cocky grin flashed across his face. He was trying to look smug but his heart just wasn’t in it.
“Okay, then. Here we go. Let’s hope we get out with all of our marbles intact.” She took
a deep breath and pushed the necessary code into the Excalibur to release the door that would
lead onto Winter’s ship.
“Hate to break this to you, Samantha. But you were born without your marbles.”
“Ha. As always, Devvy boy, you are a barrel of freaking monkey laughs.” She forced out
a laugh, and stepped into her own personal hell.
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Chapter Thirty
Fleeting images of her father’s bloody body flickered through her mind. Overlapping
with those visions were the images of the many bounties that she had taken in, alive or dead.
She only took her bounties in dead as a last recourse. She didn’t relish having the blood of any
living being on her hands, even if they were the bottom feeders of society.
A metallic taste entered her mouth. She licked her lips. Sheer panic gripped the crew of
the Snow Queen. Their fear lapped over her in unrelenting waves. A sickening dread again sank
into her gut. Summoning all of the energy she could spare, she began erecting her psychic
shields. After she had constructed many layers, she felt secure enough to proceed. If a telepath
were stupid enough to try and attack her, he’d get all of the negative energy shooting back at
him, and then some. Glancing down at her hand, she smiled. Like Charlotte, Samantha’s aura
shields were a pretty purple pink color. Amazing. It had been so long since she had used her
mental magic on purpose. She’d almost forgotten how astonishing it was. Almost.
She looked to her side.
Ashen faced, Devlin stood with his hands gripping his pistols. His knuckles had turned
white. He was in shock. Telepath induced shock. Samantha really hadn’t expected anything
else. The same shell shock had possessed Winter and her entire crew. To think that Devlin
would be immune was a ridiculous thought indeed.
She didn’t want to admit it but she needed Devlin. Somehow, she had to knock some
bloody sense into him. The only way to bring him back to her would be to take a walk through
his mind. When she walked through his mind she’d leave shields in her wake, which would
force the telepathic suggestions out of Devlin’s head.
“Jane. I’m sorry. I failed you. I failed you!” Devlin’s voice cracked. Genuine grief tore
at his chiseled features.
Samantha bit her lip. She’d have to touch him. Not only would she have to touch him
physically, but also she’d have to touch his mind.
Well, Samantha. You do what you have to do. She sighed.
“I’m expecting a gold freaking medal for this, Dev.” She’d have to move quickly. It was
only a matter of moments before the telepaths focused in on her position. She could keep the
sharks at bay for the time being…but she certainly wasn’t Charlotte.
Gripping him firmly by the shoulders, she looked up at him and made eye contact.
Think, back to your old lessons, Samantha.
In one second, she dove into Devlin’s mind. She spiraled down a long winding hall.
Portraits lined the wall. This had to be a picture gallery found in so many of the English Estates
back on Earth. In her astral form, she wore white robes. Devlin’s voice echoed through the
hallway.
“Jane, you’ll love life on New Scotland. It will be a whole new beginning for us. A way
for me to make my mark on the galaxy. It is our only choice, if we stay, you’ll be in great peril.”
“We can’t abandon your brother and father, my love.” The female voice that answered
Devlin was soft and melodious. Obviously, the voice belonged to Jane.
“My father and brother want us to flee Earth. They can’t win the war the way it’s
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progressing, Jane. They do not want you dying at the hands of that bastard! This is the only
way!”
Samantha followed Devlin’s voice. She pushed open the door that separated her from
Devlin and the woman named Jane. The mahogany door creaked open, breaking her
concentration for the briefest of moments. But it was enough.
Wild colors flew through her line of site. Multi-colored arrows flew toward her. In an
instant she had conjured up a shield. The arrows bounced off of her shield fell to the floor and
disappeared.
The scene in front of her changed dramatically. A catch entered her throat. She was
standing in the middle of a lavishly decorated living room. A young woman sat on a plush sofa
with a little redheaded boy playing at her feet. He had a spaceship and he was zooming it
through the air, and making the necessary accompanying noises.
The woman was quite stunning. Warmth emanated off of her, and bathed Samantha in its
afterglow.
Suddenly, the scene transformed once again. Samantha wanted to hit herself on her head.
If she hadn’t been in astral form, she might have done just that.
Intruders entered the young woman’s house without making a peep to alert her of their
presence. Samantha glanced wildly at the silencing pistols they held in their hand.
The one brute turned to his partner. “We get in. We get out. The boss don’t want any
problems. We can’t get caught by Lord Winterbourne.”
Lord Winterbourne? Who the hell was Lord Winterbourne? Could they be referring to
Devlin? So many questions, and there was no one here that could answer them. Even though
Devlin’s mind was being attacked, most of his personal history and thoughts were being cloaked
from her.
By the time Samantha returned her attention to the young woman, she had scooped the
redheaded boy up into her arms. Resolution lined the woman’s features. Samantha knew that
the woman had a plan in mind.
Samantha stepped forward to intervene when the young woman took flight. But
Samantha was helpless. The first bad ass shot the young woman in the back. She fell.
The little boy’s anguished scream filled the room. Samantha could hear Devlin’s voice.
Samantha felt sick. The woman that had just been murdered must have been Jane.
“Dear God.” Samantha moved away from the heartbreaking tableau. Then, she was
sucked out of the room.
She stood in a garden. An old fashioned English Garden. The scent of May Roses
lingered in the air.
“Dev?” Samantha whispered. She had to take care not to shatter the psychic glass within
