FightingSanity by Viola Grace Read Free Book Online

the canister?”
    Dravi accompanied her to the back of the ship and handed her the tank with the compressed sedative. “Go in, shut off the hallucinogen, load in the sedative and get back here without injuring yourself. Keep yourself safe at all costs, Erinii. Are we clear on that?”
    She nodded and timidly took a deep breath. “Just keep in contact with me, Dravi. I don’t want to go into it alone.”
    “I will stay with you. You won’t be alone in that station or anywhere else.” His smile should have been frightening with the points of his teeth exposed, but she found the expression endearing.
    “Thank you. Now, let’s get me back into the green hell so that I can get back to discussing how often I need you to tell me that I am not alone.”
    It was a weakness in her character that she despised, but she had a mission to get through and she would deal with it later. There was always time for therapy after she ran into a station full of insanity.
    She clutched the canister of sedative and faced the doors as the shuttle eased closer to the station. The slight thud of the contact made her queasy, but she stiffened her backbone and waited to make her jump.
    Dravi fed her the information she needed for physical position and the lunge she needed to make to land in the station.
    Her ears popped as they increased the pressure of the shuttle. They were about to vent their atmosphere out to propel her into the station and if everything worked out well, there would be no blowback of toxic gasses into the shuttle.
    Tech’s voice came to her through the com next to the door. “Everyone, masks on.”
    She shook with fear. “I wish I had one.”
    “It would restrict your movement. Shield yourself as best you can. They will need to see you as one of them, not as a squid face.”
    She nodded and sucked in a ragged breath. “Right. Well, Tech, ready when you are.”
    Erinii watched the tube extend to seal the station to the ship. There was a soft count down and then she was blasted out of the shuttle and into the station, skidding to a halt on her bare feet.
    The station door slid closed on the column of air from the ship and the green mist came in to swirl around her knees. A shield of power kept the green mist from touching her, but panic was fighting for dominance.
    I am with you, Erinii. Now, let’s get you through this, so we can get back where we belong.
    Stay with me, Dravi, I can hear them moving nearby.
    She walked through the halls as quickly as she could. Shock lanced through her when the dead bodies of Raiders started appearing in the mist.
    They didn’t get out of here. The Raiders are dead.
    I hate to ask this, but what killed them?
    She took a few steps toward one of them and turned it over with her foot. The corpse had a series of spikes buried in its forehead and to Erinii’s surprise, she recognized the spikes.
    The talents have gotten control over their abilities. A woman who flings spikes from her fingertips killed this Raider.
    Are you sure?
    I have the scars from her first day at the facility. She spiked a number of us before the sedative took hold.
    Did she kill them all?
    Swallowing nausea at having to examine multiple bodies, Erinii made her way from one to the next. Several have spikes, others look like they succumbed to the gas. Some are burned.
    Why would the talents attack here when they were confined back on Bassinor?
    Either the mix in the gas is off, or the lack of the restrictor field created by the walls of the facility was a factor. All I know is I can hear them but cannot see them yet.
    Keep yourself safe and defend yourself by any means necessary.
    I will. Stay close.
    He sent her a hug through their connection and she steeled herself for whatever was going to happen next.
    The canister was heavy, but it gave her the sense of security she needed as she padded through the station on bare feet. She hefted it when she heard footsteps approaching and braced for whatever was coming toward