Without Hesitation by Talia Jager (top business books of all time .TXT) đź“–
- Author: Talia Jager
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Briar’s eyes scanned the screen. “There’s a break coming up.”
“Alright. Stay cloaked. I’ll be back as soon as possible.” I centered myself in the jump circle and pressed the button.
Landing in a closet, I stepped around cleaning supplies and crept down to the meeting hall. I counted twenty world leaders in attendance sitting around a large, circular table from where I stood, a few that I detested, and wished I could grab instead of the Empress, but she was who Casper wanted.
My eyes searched the room and when my eyes land on her, my breath caught. She was even more beautiful in this setting. Her blonde hair was braided to the side. A small, delicate crown sat on her head. Those stunning blue eyes of hers were outlined in the same hue as the form-fitting, blue and silver outfit she wore. It seemed to be some sort of armor, but it was one that hugged her every dip, curve, and slope.
Stop thinking of her like that. She was a target. That’s it. That’s all.
I stayed hidden as the moderator announced the break and the leaders stood. Each had a guard that followed them. A few others approached the Empress. Her lips were pulled tight as if she couldn’t wait to get out of there. Finally, she broke free and hurried out of the room. A tall, buff man followed close behind with his hand on the gun holstered on his side.
Outside the bathroom door, she turned to him. “Thank you, Dieter. Why don’t you take a few minutes?”
“I’m supposed to guard you, Empress.”
“I need to go to the bathroom. I’m sure you could use the break as well.”
He gave a slight nod and they went their separate ways. But before I could go in after her, a few of the leaders walked past where I was hidden.
“This meeting is going to last for hours,” one whined.
“At least we get breaks.”
“When do you suppose the food will be served?”
As I waited, my eyes surveyed the area for the best way to grab her and go. She came out of the bathroom and walked over to a window. Motioning for her guard to return to the conference room, she stared out at the orange-red sky. Now was my chance. I slipped out of my hiding spot and walked toward her. She turned and our eyes met. Surprise and recognition flickered across her face, but before I could grab her, a loud explosion threw me backward. My head hit the wall and everything went black.
A burnt smell lingered in the air. Someone shook me and yelled things I couldn’t understand. My head was pounding. Without opening my eyes, I slapped whoever it was away.
“Come on! We need to get out of here!”
I knew that voice, but getting my eyes to open was a problem.
“I can’t carry you.”
I forced my eyes open. Everything was blurry.
“Can you stand?” the voice asked.
I didn’t know. My head hurt so much, I had no clue how the rest of my body was.
Hands pulled at me, helping me to my feet. Finally my body got with it and I was able to stand on my own.
I looked at the person who helped me. There she was with a slight smile on her face. Her crown was gone and her blonde curls were streaked with red—wait. That was blood. Did she have a head wound? Was she hurt? And how did she manage to make that look sexy? Oh, God. There I went again with the whole sexy thing.
“Let’s go.” She started walking and I hobbled after her.
Pain shot through my body. “Ah!”
“What is it?” the empress asked.
I pulled up my shirt. Something was sticking out of my side. Metal of some sort, from whatever had blown up.
“Shit,” she swore, examining the wound.
Another explosion—smaller this time—came from down the corridor. “Can you keep going? We have to go.”
“Yes.” I would push through the pain. I had no choice.
As quick as we could, we hurried down the hall.
“What happened?” I asked.
“An attack.”
“I got that much. Do you know who? Or why?”
“No. It came out of nowhere.”
“How many are down?”
“Most? All? I don’t know. We can talk later. Right now we have to get to my ship.” Just as the words came out of her mouth, more explosions went off and her face went ghostly pale.
Following her gaze, I realized the urgency of the situation we were in. The ships were blowing up—one by one.
There were shouts coming from behind us. I didn’t know if they were friend or foe. We needed to get out of there. I glanced at the Empress and saw a few tears slide down her face, though she didn’t make a sound.
“We’ve got to go,” I agreed and we got moving again.
“Where are we going to go?” she asked turning to me. “All the ships have been destroyed.”
“Not mine. It’s cloaked.” I took the jump device out of my pocket and opened it up. An immediate connection was found—indicated by a dim blue light—verifying that my ship was still there and functioning. “Ready?”
She looked at me, vulnerable and excited. “Okay.”
I grabbed her hand, ignoring the way goose bumps covered every inch of me when our palms touched, and pressed the button.
Seconds later, we were in my ship.
There were lights blinking and noises screaming. All three of my crewmembers turned to me.
“You got the Empress,” Huxley said, quickly shutting up when I shot him a look.
“Ever! Our ship has been damaged—” Zabe reported.
“Were we hit?”
“Not directly. The force of the explosions and maybe some debris.”
“How badly?” I asked.
“We can’t FTL.”
“Can we move at all?” My body felt like it was on fire. The edges of my vision were dark and blurry.
“Yes.”
“Then get us out of here,” I gave the order and then collapsed on the ground.
“Ever!” Huxley shouted and knelt by my side.
“She has a wound from the explosion. Do you have a doctor?” the Empress asked.
“No.”
“Medical bay?”
“Yes.”
“Help me get her there.”
Huxley scooped me up and hurried down the corridor to the med bay. Carefully, he placed me on the table. The Empress pulled up my shirt again and examined the wound. “It moved. I can take it out. Laser wand?”
“Shit! Ours is broken,” Huxley exclaimed.
“Suture kit?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have any anesthesia?”
“Just do it. I can handle it,” I said.
“Put this in your mouth,” she said, shoving in a piece of cloth. “Bite down on it to keep from screaming.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and waited.
The second she touched the metal shard pain shot through my body. She yanked it out then applied pressure to stop the bleeding. My vision swam. I wasn’t going to stay conscious through this. Sharp pricks came next as she stitched me up. That’s when I let the darkness come. It surrounded me and I felt nothing.
Chapter Three
Akacia
After an hour of pacing the room, I finally sat down in a chair. The guy who had carried her—Ever, that’s what they called her—had offered to bring me to a room, but I refused. “You won’t be able to leave this room without one of us. The door will be locked. You understand? We don’t know you.” He had been called back to the bridge, but before he left, he patted me down, looking for weapons, but I had none. They weren’t allowed on Caipra. “The computer sees everything on this ship. Zia, lock the supplies.”
I could hear locks engaging all over the room. “I won’t hurt her. I just saved her.”
“Are you sure you wouldn’t be more comfortable in a room?” He had green eyes and silver hair, which was odd because he seemed way too young to have gone completely gray.
“No.” I couldn’t leave her. I should. I had heard what they said on the bridge. They were happy I was with her. She had been sent to capture me and that should have me worried, but that wasn’t the thought that was foremost in my mind.
Who attacked Caipra? Were there survivors? Would they realize I was missing? My spacecraft was gone, which meant my crew was gone. Silent tears ran down my face as I thought of each of them and their families. Had they received the news back home? If they had, they would send out a unit to rescue me. But what if…what if they thought I was dead?
My eyes wandered and landed on her face. She had a black eye and an angry, purple bruise on her cheek. Neither took away from her striking features. Her hair had fallen away from her ears showing the earrings that ran from her lobes to both sides of her helix. Her full lips were slightly parted. She looked peaceful just lying there, but something told me peaceful wasn’t a word anyone would use to describe her. Seconds later, I knew exactly why.
Without such much as a gasp she sat up with a wild look in her eyes and looked around the room frantically. I stayed in the chair watching as she looked around and then down at her wound. Finally her golden eyes found mine.
“Empress.”
“I’m here,” I answered, going to her side. “It’s good you’re awake. Are you in any pain?”
Her eyes searched mine, like she was looking for an answer for a question that I didn’t ask. She shook her head. A slight grimace on her face was the only sign she was in pain. “You fixed me.”
“Your injuries weren’t that bad.”
“Thanks.”
“You can thank me by returning me to my planet,” was my firm response.
“I saved your life, too. Shouldn’t we be even?”
She was right, though I wasn’t giving in. I just needed some time to figure out how to get back home. “I am the Empress. My people depend on me. Can I at least call and tell them I’m alive?”
“Fine, but you cannot tell them where you are.”
“And where am I?”
She held my eyes. “The Nirvana.”
I knew the name, Nirvana. It was a ship of criminals that were wanted by the Authority for a long list of crimes including stealing and murder. I swallowed hard. What in the universe did the Nirvana want with me? My heart pounded and I took deep breaths to calm myself down. Don’t show fear. Get word to Valinor. Bristow can figure out where I am. “Your reputation precedes you.”
“Then you know just how lethal we are.” She shifted like she was uncomfortable. “Let’s get to the bridge.”
“You should rest.” I didn’t know why I was still concerned about her wellbeing, but I was.
“I’m fine.”
The door to the bridge opened as she approached. Three pairs of curious eyes awaited us on the other side. There were two males and a female. One was the guy who helped me with Ever earlier. The other had darker skin and dark eyes. The girl looked younger than all of them. A headband kept her short pink hair out of her blue eyes. Although different colors, their eyes were all the same. I couldn’t explain how. Different. Deep. Soulful. Tortured.
Ever’s voice brought me back to the present. “I’m fine, guys. Really. Can we open a channel to Valinor? The Empress needs to get word to her family that she’s alive.”
“Yes.” The girl waved me to her. “I’m Briar. Zia, please hail the planet, Valinor.”
“We need to talk, Everleigh.” The green-eyed guy grabbed her arm and dragged
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