Ascendant Saga Collection: Sci-Fi Fantasy Techno Thriller Brandon Ellis (ebook reader for comics txt) đ
- Author: Brandon Ellis
Book online «Ascendant Saga Collection: Sci-Fi Fantasy Techno Thriller Brandon Ellis (ebook reader for comics txt) đ». Author Brandon Ellis
âThatâs not on todayâs menu, Mr. Jaxx. Today, weâre going to investigate how and when you transferred your abilities to Miss Ravenwood.â
âThatâs bullshit. I couldnât move objects with my mind before I got here. I couldnât have given these âpowersâ, as you call them, to anyone.â
âThough there is the matter of the missing years. The years you donât remember? The years I believe you worked for the SSP, more likely than not, with Ms. Ravenwood.â
âThat would be Pilot First Class Captain Ravenwood, to you.â
âAs you wish,â said Donny. He was a smooth asshole when he wanted to be. âPilot First Class Captain Ravenwood.â
Jaxx narrowed his eyes. âCanât you just put me under and take me back there. We need answers. Now.â
âCertainly,â said Donny. âYouâre going deeper...and deeper...â
Jaxx was out before Donny said another word.
Jaxx sat in his starfighter, parked inside one of Star Wardenâs large Star Carrier bays. Dammit. Heâd landed back in his memories, but only minutes after heâd steered a rock into a crack in a ship and brought it down. Where was Rivkah? Had she made it back? Where was the rest of his squad?
A knock on his cockpit window jolted him out of his racing thoughts and into the carrier bay. A man stood on a ladder and waved, then knocked again. Jaxx pressed a button and his cockpit window lifted. The man climbed down the ladder, jumping to the bay floor.
Cheering engulfed the bay, people clapping and hollering.
A crackle came over his helmet comm line. It was Rivkah. âIâd like to think I helped out there too. But, this is your day. Enjoy it.â
âHow did I do that out there?â Jaxx asked, still sitting in his cockpit, dazed at what he had become in combat.
âThatâs what I think everyone will want to know. Get out of your starfighter and celebrate, because tomorrow the enemy will be back. Weâll need you.â
Jaxx stood. It was the applause heâd been waiting for his entire life. If he knew how he had flown with such precision, how heâd merged with his craft, how he moved things with his mind, then heâd be able to walk down the ladder with confidence and embrace the whoops and hollers from his comrades. As it was, he felt like the worldâs greatest fraud. What heâd done was a fluke, an anomaly. His legs and arms shook with each step down. He did his best not to faint or lose his grip and fall backward.
He held down his comm tab. âThank you, Rivkah. I pushed the control stick forward when exiting the launch tube. Your advice saved my life.â
âIt did. Now, get to your celebration. Rivkah, out.â
Jaxx touched ground and unstrapped his helmet, placing it under his arm. People slapped him on his back as he walked by, making his way out of the bay and into the Star Carrierâs large lobby. If he could go to his quarters and sleep, he would. Sleep, though, would probably evade him tonight. He imagined the stress and the excitement would be too much for his brain to handle.
Full of people, the lobby buzzed. Crew hastily moved from one place to another, down hallways and into offices. Medical techs ran by Jaxx and down adjacent hallways, heading to the carrierâs stern. But every three or four steps, someone took the time to congratulate him. He was, if they were to be believed, a star, a legend, a damned wizard out there.
âAttention on deck!â
Jaxx turned. The admiral. Jaxx didnât recognize his face, but his epaulets said it all. A guard walked with the admiral, decked out in armor from head to toe, a large rifle strapped to his back. The guard looked about a foot taller than Jaxx, and Jaxx was above average height.
They halted in front of him. The admiral put his hands behind his back, beaming with the kind of confidence only an admiral could have. âIâm Admiral Gentry Race. Follow me.â
Jaxx straightened his posture. âYes, Sir.â
Jaxx followed Gentry up a flight of stairs and into a large room with a long meeting table in the middle. A woman in full flight gear sat at the table, hands folded in front of her, her helmet resting on the seat next to her. She was breathtaking and for a second, Jaxx couldnât take his eyes off her. He knew who she was. Sheâd broken through his memory barrier, on the other side of time, and made herself known to him. Heâd remembered nothing of his time as a pilot, until he was under hypnosis, but she had visited in his roomâs mirror, asked for his help. She was someone. She was special. She was Rivkah Ravenwood.
When Rivkah saw the admiral, she stood and saluted.
He gave her a nod and gestured for the large guard to wait outside, then dipped his head at the uniformed man.
âTake a seat,â the admiral ordered.
Jaxx sat, wondering why heâd been led here. Heâd never met the admiral, the guy in the uniform. Was he in trouble for some reason? If he was, he wished theyâd ship him back home.
Gentry motioned to the woman. âYou already know Captain Rivkah Ravenwood.â He sat straighter in his seat, chest out. âBehind me is Captain Richard Fox.â
Fox said nothing.
Jaxx eyed the woman, stunnedâRivkah. Black hair, blue eyes, and light brown skin. âAgain, thank you.â
Expressionless, she replied, âNo need to thank me. Weâre squad mates. Itâs what we do.â She brought her attention to Gentry. âWhy were we brought here?â
Gentry interlocked his fingers. âI was a starfighter for many years and have been in combat for almost as long. Iâve never seen a pilot fly like Lieutenant Kaden Jaxx here.â He turned to Jaxx. âYou did things in your starfighter that defy logic. Your precision in flight, extraordinary, your accuracy, for the record books.â He cleared his throat. âI watched you on the vid screen once Captain Fox alerted me that one of our starfighters executed extraordinary feats. It seemed that debris around you
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