The Spectrum Force Volume Three by Heather Ray (ready player one ebook txt) 📕

sign of him on your end?"

Tamara shook her head. "Nothing physical. No sign of him anywhere... not even broken trees to show a struggle. He just seemed to vanish. Unless..."

"Unless that black stuff took him with it."

"But he was so far away from it when we saw him last," Tamara remembered, "He was even higher up than we were!"

Rachel scowled. "It doesn't make any sense. There's no way that blast could've knocked him that

far away."

She chewed her lip, her fingers tracing the smooth surface of the Ireli sphere. "Maybe I should let Spectra know. She might be able to help."

"Only if she comes after us," Tamara pointed out, "We can't talk to her with that sphere, only transmit images and sensations. She can't give us any instructions unless she follows us through the Hyperspace Portal, and then Earth will be up for grabs."

Rachel's fingers released the sphere, but hovered near it. Can I risk it? What are the chances the Denebians will attack Earth once Spectra leaves?

Spectra had advised them that Phaedra kept a tight rein on her soldiers. It wasn't likely they'd launch an attack without her blessing.

But what if Phaedra simply returned to Earth through the Hyperspace Portal? She must have known of the Force's arrival, since someone had to dispatch the black goop to fight them. If she saw Spectra arrive, she might see a golden opportunity to finish what she started.

Maybe a better question is... what are the chances Spectra's presence will help? She can't find Craig if we can't... at least not telepathically. She might be more familiar with the planet... though I don't know that for sure...

The Purple Enforcer folded her arms. "Let's regroup with the others. Then we'll make some decisions."

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Gaius sat in the darkness of his cell. After years of living on a planet saturated with sunlight, it was most unsettling to sit in absolute blackness... so thick and dense he couldn't make out a hand hovering inches from his face.

He stretched out on the bed (or at least, what felt like a flat stone table), focusing his thoughts on his situation.

The darkness was more than merely physical. It was a magical barrier. It had to be, for he couldn't remember such overwhelming silence. He couldn't even detect the faint voices of the Midjinari that always hummed in the background.

While sometimes distracting, their constant communication was also a comfort; that he wasn't alone, though so often it seemed that he had lost everyone and everything that ever meant anything to him.

The sacrifices he made in the name of duty... very few of his allies could truly understand how he could turn his back to so much. The Midjinari were of that small number, as only they understood how precious the Diadem was. How vital it was to hide it from all evil, until the Bright One returned to claim it, and unleash the raw power of the Inner Sphere.

Only the Midjinari understood. They, and the High Father Luminus, who in all his wisdom and foresight allowed Gaius to embark on a mission to find the truth behind the ancient legend.

Though it seemed his presence was more of a curse than a blessing to the Midjinari... would the Denebians have even blinked an eye at Edenia if they didn't find him there? Certainly, Phaedra wouldn't have wasted her time if he weren't involved...

Suddenly, the invisible doorway slid open, allowing the faint light of the hall to illuminate the engulfing blackness. To Gaius, the sudden light was almost blinding.

And standing against that light, her entire form an eerily backlit silhouette, was the empress in question, the crimson glow of her eye the only discernible color on her person.

It hadn't been all that long when her eyes were lit with a mischievous, passionate fire... a fire that ignited his heart and soul. But now, all Gaius could do was brace himself, quelling the growing fear at the ferocity behind those eyes.

She was truly a member of the Denebian Monarchy now, and as such she was capable of anything

.

As for Phaedra, when she peered into the darkness of the cell, all she could see was the disturbingly blue

eyes of the man that symbolized her every youthful fancy. Was it really over a century ago that his eyes burned with the flames of a true Denebian Lord, mighty and willful and proud?

When his eyes burned... only for her?

"Is there something you want?" Gaius asked flatly.

Phaedra forced her mind back to the present. All in the past... it means nothing to me.

She exhaled slowly, arming herself with the mocking smirk that had become her signature. "The Diadem."

"But you already have it, Empress," was his answer.

Her lips stretched as if answering a challenge, and she crept further into the chamber. "Don't play me for a fool, Lord Gaius... I am well aware that thing is not the true Diadem. If it were... why would my forces have found your own dear Spectra sneaking around your palace?"

Gaius' back went ramrod straight.

"I don't know how

you managed to send her a distress call," the Empress continued as she swept across the room to sit beside him. "Mor'se needed to physically send a messenger through the Hyperspace Portal to reach me in the Sol system. So imagine my surprise when our mutual friend dropped in through the Portal. I'm actually quite impressed... I thought you two were on bad terms of late. I didn't think she'd fly to your rescue so quickly."

Gaius scowled, trying his best not to give hint of the icy fear that had just grasped him. "You seem to be well informed of my family situation," he noted, "Quite shocking that the empress doesn't have better things to occupy her time with than spitefully

striking against her former lover."

That little comment won him a taste of mind-numbing pain. Gaius gasped as suddenly, his entire body froze in place. Only it didn't feel like a typical stillness spell... for every muscle was pulled beyond taut. It felt like his body was trying to tear itself to pieces.

"Funny how weak

you are in this room," Phaedra hissed, crimson smoke leaking from her eyes as she maintained her hold, "In here, your pathetic powers are completely nullified."

She huffed, ceasing the incantation. Gaius tumbled gracelessly to the unyielding floor. "Now it is not only your life on the line," she informed him, rising to her feet. She hovered above him, arms folded smugly beneath her chest. "You may not care for your own life... or you may be betting that I would not do you permanent harm. But even you are perfectly aware of how glad

I would be to rend Spectra to pieces." That chilling smirk returned to her blood red lips. "If I do not have the whereabouts of the true Diadem in three hours' time, I shall do exactly that... right before your very eyes."

"One death or a thousand," Gaius huffed, struggling to hold up his head, "I will never

give you the Diadem."

Phaedra snarled wordlessly, lifting her forefinger and tracing a foot-long line in the air. An energy grid appeared, the light solid blue. "Once the blackness engulfs the blue, your time is up. I suggest you spend the next few hours pondering just how devastating it would be to watch the only person you love die painfully right in front of you."

The ultimatum delivered, the empress stomped out of the chamber, huffing her frustration.

Did he catch her bluff? She was certain the appearance of the six humans could only mean one thing: Gaius had summoned Spectra. So it would be conceivable for him to believe Spectra had come in person, and had fallen into enemy hands.

But the will

of that

man... he would truly refuse to save her, without even thinking about it? Even Phaedra herself

would give pause if faced with the same predicament...

Gaius always did seem to have the ability to search into her very soul. Perhaps that had not changed, despite everything that had changed since their last face-to-face encounter.

She shivered. How disturbing it was, to think that he still could read her like a book, while his motivations were a complete puzzle to her!

Her shiver became a full-fledged tremble, as confusion and frustration made way for blinding rage.

"You will not triumph over me," she swore, "Not again!"

Her anger quickly faded when a new sensation came over her. A sensation she had been awaiting.

Her vision grew faintly clouded, as if an orange lens were descending over her eyes.

Finally! Now, maybe I can get some useful

information...

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"...ridiculous. He's gotta be somewhere around here!"

"But we've looked everywhere around here, Matt. There's no trace of him."

"Tamara and I have decided it's best to look around together. Our splitting up is exactly what brought us to this situation: we have absolutely no idea what happened to him."

Consciousness slowly returned. First, it felt like she was reaching out for sensation, desperate to replace that inky, cold feeling that bathed her for what felt like days. Slowly, the numbness in her limbs gave way to a tingle, and the voices that at first echoed from a great distance grew closer.

"We definitely shouldn't split up," a fourth voice said. This voice seemed to emanate from all around her, vibrating through the unyielding, molded material that pressed against her temple. "I think the best thing to do right now is keep looking for Gaius' allies. Maybe they'll know how to look for Craig."

Her brow wrinkled with curiosity. She inhaled slowly, trying to muster the strength to voice her thoughts, when a quiet rumble issued from beside her hip.

She suppressed a giggle. "Keith, your stomach's growling."

Her faint whisper was apparently loud enough, for the Red Enforcer stopped dead in his tracks. "Joce! You're awake!"

Jocelyn slowly opened her eyes, and stared up at Keith's masked face. Above him,