Titan Encounter Read Online Free Page B

door she looked Naomi up and
down.  “You’re about my size and build.  Could you use some clothes?”
     Naomi
chuckled. “Well maybe something to wear when I recycle this.” 
    As they left, Justin
walked to the counter and poured himself a drink. With a quick tilt of the head,
he poured the golden brew down.  The hair on the back of Justin’s neck
still bristled, and that feeling, that old feeling in the pit of his stomach,
lingered. He poured himself another drink then shook his head. He didn’t want
to believe it, but he knew it was so. Naomi’s whole story had been a lie.

Chapter
5
    Justin bolted
upright in bed. His eyes darted to every corner of the room, but he heard no
sound or movement. With one hand he wiped cold sweat and drool from his
face.  Dim light came in through the window overlooking the main
passageway, but otherwise the room was dark.  What woke me? He
looked at his clock beside the bed. The power was out.
    Help!
    Mara’s voice shouted
inside his head. For a moment he thought it was his imagination, but it came
again as if she were inside his brain. He jumped from bed, grabbed a gun and
his pants, and ran down the hall to her room.  It was empty, the bed
unused. Where are you? Then he knew. Somehow, he knew. Justin turned and
headed for the cargo bay. Gun in hand, he stumbled
down the stairs while pulling on his pants. Don’t shoot your foot!
    The pale glow of
backup lights met him as he emerged from the stairwell on the main level. The
air lock to the first cargo bay was open. Using two hands he snapped his gun to
the ready position as he stepped into the tiny compartment and heard Naomi
scream in pain.    
    He hunched low,
moved into the bay, and darted swiftly behind a tool caddie. He scanned the
room. The women were outnumbered, but they didn’t appear to need much help.
Mara’s knife protruded from the chest of a man on the deck before him. A few
meters away Mara, still in her dress, had her hands tight around the throat of
a man. Someone grabbed her from behind. Mara head-butted him then kneed the man
before her in the groin.
    Both men stumbled.
    Mara hit the one
before her as Justin shot the one behind.   
    On the far side of
the bay, Naomi pounced on the throat of one man, performed a perfect pirouette,
and shattered the jaw of another.  His blood painted the bulkhead beside
him.  She grabbed a metal bar and used it to catapult herself onto her
next victim. Remembering their first meeting in the utility room, he smiled. The
woman sure likes metal pipes.   
    Mara was street
brawling while Naomi performed a dance of destruction. Justin smiled, then saw Ferren moving toward
Naomi. He fired his weapon, just missing the pirate’s head. He cursed as the
fat blob ducked behind a crate.
    The women were
mopping up the last of the other men.
    Rage consumed
Justin. He marched across the bay firing his gun. He cursed the pirate. You’re
the cause of this!    
    *              
*              
*
     “Justin,” Mara
shouted from across the bay, then in a softer tone, as if to gently awaken
someone, she repeated herself. “Justin.”
    Justin’s eyes
followed his outstretched arm as it reached into the air.  His hand seemed
to hold something, but it was empty.  Only then did he realize that Ferren hung in the air, two meters above his empty
grasp.  The bloated bag of bilge turned a pastel shade of blue as his
fingers frantically clawed and scratched at the invisible hand that held him
high by the throat.  Justin looked from the pirate to Mara. “How?”
    Ferren fell to the ground
and gasped.
    Two meters away, a
look of astonishment spread across Mara’s face.
    Naomi’s eyes grew
wide with fear. “Are you a Nephilim ?”  She
backed away.
    Ferren again gulped air,
then shouted, “Titan,” and stumbled backward.
    Naomi and Ferren ran in opposite directions. Mara chased after Ferren , but the fat pirate like a cockroach motivated by
terror