The Crucible: Leap of Faith by Odette C. Bell Read Free Book Online

grabbed my back as best I could, searching for any bone
protruding out of the flesh.
    My personal shield blinked out,
having done what it had to. The fire suppression unit had cooled
the once red-hot metal, and once atmosphere had been pumped back
into the room and the shields had stabilized around the deck, I
could survive on my own.
    Incapable of standing however, I
crawled forward.
    “There has been an accident in
your area,” a toneless voice echoed over the intercom, “it is
recommended you remain still and wait for medical
assistance.”
    I ignored the
recommendation.
    I crawled until I reached the
force-field-reinforced glass.
    Planting a shaking hand on the
sill of the window, I pulled myself up, pain stabbing through my
back as I moved. With blood still trickling down my neck and onto
my collar, I angled my head until I could see into the military
space dock.
    My first thought
was that the Ra’xon had botched its docking procedures, and crashed right into the
side of the docking ring.
    It hadn’t. In fact, it had pulled
right back, its own powerful shields protecting it from the
blast.
    I watched as the
debris that had been sucked out from the explosion tumbled around
the great silver hull of the Ra’xon. As she shifted back from the
station, I caught sight of a ship beyond.
    It was floating in space, the main
clamps that had once held it to the dock dangling from its side,
singe marks scattered across the hull where metal was still intact.
There was an enormous hole torn in the side, chunks of metal
plating tumbling listlessly in space around it.
    I didn’t need to see the name
painted across the glistening black hull to know which ship it
was.
    The Godspeed.
    It was my goddamn ship.
    Ignoring the pain in my back
completely, I pulled myself closer to the window, the flickering
heat of the shield beyond the cracked glass playing against my
face.
    Fear shot through me, descending
so deep into my gut it felt as if it would liquefy my very
organs.
    My ship. Christ, my
ship.
    I watched as she tumbled in space,
her erratic path taking her back towards the station.
    Before she could
impact with it, the Ra’xon shot a beam of blue-green light towards it – a
traction beam. It was powerful enough that it locked my ship in
space, instantly stopping its deadly tumble towards the
station.
    My ship… my ship.
    Just as that horrifying thought
tore through my mind, I remembered something else.
    Ensign Jenks.
    Though it was murder – plain
torture – I pushed myself to my feet. I could barely walk, let
alone run, but I forced myself forward, ignoring the agony as it
jerked through every muscle.
    Staggering, teetering on lifeless
legs, I rounded the corner.
    I expected to see her
dead.
    She’d been closer to the location
of the explosion. When my ship had torn from its dock, it would
have pulled a massive section of the corridor with it.
    Ensign Jenks should be—
    …
    Ensign Jenks
    The explosion had taken me off
guard.
    I’d still acted,
though.
    My mind had slowed down, seeing
the explosion rip through the corridor before me.
    Automatically, without thinking, I
extended both hands towards it. Yellow channels of light lit up
over my forearms and across my fingers, pulsing out from the two
implants lodged in my elbows.
    Just before the wall to my left
could be torn open, I locked it in place.
    With nothing more than my
mind.
    I held it there as fire swarmed
around me. It didn’t touch my skin, though. I kept it back with my
ability. I created a vortex of air around my body so no flame could
touch me. Instead it rushed past me, continuing down the corridor
in a deathly wall.
    I couldn’t think. All I could do
was concentrate.
    This was the first time I’d used
my powers since I’d escaped the facility. The first time I’d
willingly used them, that was. Whenever my body ran out of compound
78, my ability to control myself was compromised. I could tear
holes in walls around me or suck the air right out of a
room.
    I