Evandar

Children of the 7. Part 4: The Telepath Conspiracy

Rating: T.
Tags: Dayna, Tarrant, Blake, Jenna, Vila, Soolin, Avon, original characters, post-canon, memory loss, humour, in-jokes, Cally’s fate, serious injuries, disability, gun violence, fluff, family, angst.

~~~

Summary and Quote

Federation ships arrive on Gosurus and send the inhabitants into a panic. The troops try to capture the Callandra, so the young and old rebels have to join forces to defend her and fight for their lives, and some are seriously wounded. Dayna and Soolin team up to protect their families from enemies on all sides. Eskil reveals why the Federation wants the Callandra so badly and the part she plays in their horrifying plan for the universe. And why they must be stopped at any cost.

There was a burst of static on the entry communicator. Angry voices shouted, “Open up! We know you’re in there! Come out now!”
“You’ll have to trust me, you can take your kids to safety while I distract them,” exclaimed Rex. If he died hurting the Federation, all well and good.
Soolin and Dayna exchanged glances. What hope did they have? The two of them against the Federation? They couldn’t defeat them, they’d die, leaving their children motherless, and maybe captured, mindwiped, enslaved, tortured. No way. They had to trust Rex.
“You’ll have to free my hands.”
Soolin frisked him to check for weapons, removed those she found and uncuffed him.

~~~~

Chapter 1: The Truth

Painful memories stirred at the back of Avon’s mind. “That’s impossible!” he shouted. “Cally died over twenty years ago.” He paused. Where had that come from? Somewhere deep. Then pressed his handgun into Eskil’s neck. “The truth.”

Eskil sat there quietly. “That is the truth. Or are you too afraid to find out?” He smiled.

The pit shuddered and the sand shook, moving upwards.

Brook and Avon jumped.

“Looks like you won’t have long to wait,” said Eskil. “Which is it? Wait and see, or run away?”

Avon bristled, but before he could reply, they heard the rumble of a flyer coming into land. The engine sounded rough, but then what engine didn’t on Gosurus? It had been hard to maintain the old, battered, twenty year old machinery for so long. He got up and ran to hide behind the rocky outcrop.

Brook leapt up too but Eskil patted her arm. “It’s alright. It’s friendly.”

The craft came to land a few yards away, throwing up the sand into a maelstrom so that the three onlookers had to cover their eyes.

When it cleared, Shannon was standing there with Tarrant behind him.

“Where’s this ship then?” said Tarrant to his son as they strolled towards the others. “Everyone promises me a ship, but it’s never here.”

“Just wait,” said Shannon, with a smile. “Fancy seeing you here,” he said to Eskil and Brook.

Avon emerged from his shelter and the two new arrivals took up defensive positions.

“This is Kerr Avon,” said Eskil. “He’s going to help us with our ship.” He was still sitting unperturbed on the sand.

Avon glanced from Tarrant to Shannon, frowning, and Tarrant looked curiously at him.

Brook drew Shannon aside. “This is freaky,” she whispered in his ear. “These two rebelled together on their ship, the Scorpio. I researched it. Now they’re like strangers.”

“Mindwipes suck eh.”

“Here she comes.” Eskil jumped up and pulled everyone away from the edge of the crater.

( Read more... )