Free Titan Encounter by Kyle Pratt Page A

have you known?”
    She blinked and
wiped her eyes, but the knife remained pointed in their direction. “I didn’t
know—for sure. Occasionally something strange would happen.  I’d hear
someone’s thought…feel what they felt. But I dismissed it—until that night.”
    “What night?”
    “When Ferren tried to take us. I called to you.”
    He remembered waking
up with her voice shouting in his head. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
    A single tear rolled
down her cheek. “Tell you I’ve become a freak and a murderer?”
    Naomi shook her
head. “You are not changing. You are what you have always been.”
    “The night I called
you, the night I knew for sure that I was a Titan,” she took a ragged breath,
“only seconds later I murdered someone and then another and another.” Tears
welled in her eyes.
    “You defended
yourself. We all did what we had to do,” Justin stepped toward her. “I tried to
kill Ferren . I shot….”
    “You didn’t kill
anyone,” she flashed the knife at him.
    “Sis, what are you
doing? Drop the knife.”
    Haltingly, between
gasping breaths and tearful sobs, her words came.  “Titans
are…savages…test tube creations…heartless monsters…they killed millions.”
    Naomi shook her
head. “That is what they were, but it is not what we are.”
    Justin nodded in
agreement.
    She took a deep
breath and a calmness came to her face. “I’ll never be
a Titan.” She placed the knifepoint against her chest and thrust.
    *              
*              
*
    “How is she?” he
asked.
    “The external
bleeding has stopped, but she punctured a lung and I am sure there is internal
bleeding.” Naomi shook her head. “I feel helpless. Any clinic could treat her
wound.” She sank into a chair. “It may be fatal.”
    He sighed deeply and
wiped his eyes. Hang on Sis. “I’m hoping the Titans will help one of
their own.”
    She frowned. “We are
seeking safety and medical care amongst the worst mass murders in human
history.” She paused. Her eyes drifted down. “I can guess how Mara must have
felt.”
    “And we have another
problem. Surfeit, main screen on. Aft
view.”
    Naomi approached and
scrutinized the display. “A ship? There is another
vessel in the wormhole?”
     “The Acheron,”
he said with a nod. “They must have followed us in.”
    “Look here.” She
pointed to the pirate vessel’s bow. “He was hit, but not bad enough to stop
him. What do you think Ferren will do?”
    “I don’t believe
he’ll fire on us now, too risky. He could destabilize the wormhole and kill
himself. He’s greedy. If he captures us alive we’d probably fetch a much better
price. He’ll get as close as possible so when we return to normal space, he’ll
fire on our engines and thrusters.”
    “What is your plan?”
    “When we exit the
wormhole, we’ll zigzag like crazy and hope the Titans don’t like pirates.”
    With a frown, Naomi
moved to the helm. “He is less than three kilometers behind us.” She turned to
face Justin. “It will be nearly impossible to evade his weapons.”
    Yeah, I know, it
isn’t much of a plan. “When the time comes, do your best.” He stared at Ferren’s ship. “Speaking of time, when will we return to
normal space?”
    She looked at the
navigation and FTL controls. “Without knowing our destination, I can only
estimate, but it won’t be long—six hours maybe. You should get some sleep.”
    He nodded. “I’ll
check on Mara.”
    Justin awoke seated
at the end of Mara’s bed with his head resting against her foot. Slowly he
stood rubbing his sore back and neck. Mara looked ghostly, but her quiet
breathing assured him that she slept. Stay with us, Sis. I’ll get you help
and find us a safe place. With the promise firm in mind, he marched to the
bridge.
    As he stepped into
the compartment, Ferren pointed his finger, “It’s
foolhardy to leave your bridge unattended.”
    Justin gasped.
    “If you want to kill
yourself, I