Crystalline Space (Dark Stars Book 1)

3

"Elle. Elle!" A voice roused me from the blackness.

My eyes shot open.

Kaiden was leaning over me, releasing my harness. "You passed out."

I groaned as I propped myself up on my elbows, realizing I was no longer strapped down. My head ached. "What just...?"

"Congratulations! You just completed your first spatial jump." Kaiden smiled down at me.

"I felt like I was being turned inside out."

"Yeah, good times."

I pressed the heel of my right hand to my temple. "I guess being strapped into the pods is a good idea, after all."

"I thought your opinion would come around," Kaiden replied, pushing back from my pod to give me some space.

"You'll get used to it," Toran's voice boomed from across the room. "Come on. We're being paged."

Still feeling like my stomach was lodged in my throat, I lurched out of the jump pod. "Where are we now?"

"That's a very good question," Kaiden replied as we exited the room. "They haven't exactly been forthcoming with the logistics about our mission."

"I feel like I'm in a dream." The throbbing in my head was beginning to fade, but the physical sensation enforced that what I'd just been through was real.

Kaiden offered a sympathetic smile. "I'm still trying to get over that feeling myself."

"None of this makes sense," Toran said. "Colren's account of why we were chosen doesn't really explain it."

I scrunched up my nose. "Yeah, that whole thing about getting an 'immunity' from the Darkness? What is the Darkness, anyway?"

"The cloud appeared after an emergency reset where I was," Kaiden said. "I'd never seen anything like it—freaked everyone out."

"Yeah, same with me. My friends and I weren't sure if we should tell anyone."

"No one else saw it?" he asked. "I thought planets like yours had a crystal in the town square or something."

"We do, but that wasn't where it appeared. We were out by one in a canyon."

"A localized reset, then?"

I nodded. "We'd go up there to play around."

He raised an eyebrow. "Doing what, rock climbing?"

"We'd jump off a cliff."

His eyes widened. "I was not expecting you to say that."

I smiled coyly. "I have an adventurous side."

"I used to collect rocks!" Toran looked down at his hands and sighed. "There wasn't a lot to do on Dunlore."

I awkwardly patted his huge shoulder. "Something tells me we're going to have plenty of adventure coming up."

We took the corridor to a nearby lift, passing by two groups of soldiers and a handful of solitary officers who cast us sidelong glances. I suspected that everyone on the ship knew who we were, at least in a general sense, and I found it odd that given our apparent importance we were expected to show ourselves around. Granted, it seemed like Kaiden had been given a proper tour and knew his way to the various locations of note; maybe they considered him our guide.

We entered the lift and rode it up two decks. I barely perceived any movement, unlike the elevators I was used to back home.

Kaiden must have noticed my awed expression, because he looked me over and chuckled. "It's just a lift, Elle."