Madness Unmasked: Dragons of Zalara Read online

  Madness Unmasked

  ML Guida

  Buffalo Mountain Press

  Contents

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Blurb for Madness Unleashed

  Blurb for Madness Unhinged

  Also by ML Guida

  About the Author

  Award Winning Author M.L. Guida loves the paranormal and science fiction. She loves dark, wounded heroes and her books are filled with them.

  She has a private Facebook group: ML Guida’s Supernatural Lounge for her readers. There’s contests, memes of Supernatural, and upcoming news of her books and of course, her cocker spaniel, Raven.

  M.L. lives in Colorado near the Rocky Mountains and currently has written fifteen books and has five box sets.

  Check out her website at www.mlguida.com

  Chapter 1

  Vrae Galaxy

  Stars whizzed on the main bridge screen, but the Kamtrinian ship was faster, leaving the Intrepid in the dust.

  Nucl pressed flashing buttons rapidly on his navigation and security board. “Captain, the Kamtrinians are out of our phaser range. We’re losing them!” His panicked voice matched his shaking fingers.

  Tash, captain of the Intrepid, leaned forward on his command chair that had control panels on each side of the arms. The right panel readings listed the damage to the colony––buildings disintegrated, vegetation burned, and lifeforms dead. “I can see that helmsman. We need to remain calm.” His heart was thundering, pumping adrenaline at ultra speed, but his voice remained in control. His bear demanded to be set loose so he could tear apart a Kamtrininan, but he drew on his training as a United Planet Confederation Captain to push back his anger and control his animal.

  The Intrepid rattled as it chased after the faster ship.

  Tash’s intercom binged on the left control panel. “Captain?”

  Tash cringed. It was his youngest brother, Ryruc and the chief engineer. “Yes, Ryruc.”

  “Damn it, Tash. What the hell are you doing? The engines can’t take much more of this. The Intrepid will shake apart.”

  Ryruc was the alarmist of the family and the one with the shortest temper.

  “Captain,” Vaughn, the Intrepid’s science officer and Tash’s brother, looked up from his red-colored scanner. He narrowed his green eyes. “If we enter the Chronos Star Solar System, we will be violating Confederation Command.”

  Knup tapped his headset and punched the smooth buttons on his blue keyboard. “The Kamtrinians are demanding contact, Captain.”

  Tash sank back into his black chair. “Put them on the screen.”

  A tall, muscular humanoid with smooth white skin and three black eyes flashed onto the soft gray screen. “I am Yagok, Captain of the Executor. You are about to enter our solar system, which is a violation between our two confederations.”

  Tash refused to show fear, but something about those three beady eyes reminded him of swirling, black holes and sent the hair on the back of his neck standing up. “This is Captain Tash of the Intrepid. You murdered innocent men, women, and children on Taurous. We have––”

  Yagok growled, his eyes glowing darker. “They were invaders.”

  “Taurous and Sutois are part of our solar system. You had no right to destroy them.”

  Yagok smiled. “Only the strongest will survive, which you will soon discover. Prepare to be destroyed. Communications out.”

  Nucl turned around, sweat glistening off his temples. “We have to do something. We have to destroy them. They decimated the colony!”

  “I’m very aware of what they did, Nucl.”

  A group of scientists had recently set up a settlement on the farthest orbiting moon––Taurous––of Sutois, which was the farthest and unknown planet of the Vrae Galaxy. Their mission had been to study the unknown planet of Sutois for possible life and development for the Confederation.

  “The engines are overheating,” Ryruc growled. He was very close to letting his bear escape. The Intrepid was his baby and his bear was fiercely protective of her.

  Nucl gripped his console. “Captain, we can’t reduce speed.”

  “She’ll break apart,” Ryruc snarled.

  “I suggest, navigator,” Vaugh said. “That you remain calm and not endanger the ship. Or you risk tangling with our chief engineer.”

  Nucl’s face turned several shades of grey. Ryruc was twice the bear he was, and when the Intrepid was in danger, he showed no mercy.

  “But…”

  Tash clutched his navigator’s seat, dominating the bear’s fear. “Nucl, stay on course. Reduce ultra-speed to nine. I’m not sure what Yagok is planning, but we have to keep our wits together.”

  “Aye, aye, sir,” he grumbled. He was wise enough not to argue with Tash, since Ryruc was still listening.

  Tash swiveled his chair. “Knup, have you been able to reach Confederation command?”

  Knup shook his head. “No, Captain.” He furiously typed on his beeping keyboard. “Static is blocking our communications. It’s coming from the Kamtrinian ship.”

  “Vaughn, what do we know of Sutois?”

  “Not much, Captain. The atmosphere is similar to Aria–oxygen atmosphere, water, plants, minerals–and the planet can support life. No advanced civilizations inhabit the planet. However, the scientists had reported before their demise that there was life on Sutois. They were preparing to investigate when they were attacked.”

  Tash rubbed his chin. “Maybe that’s why they were attacked.”

  Vaughn nodded. “Possibly.”

  Nucl glanced over his shoulder. “Captain, the Kamtrinian ship is slowing down.”

  “Be prepared. Yagok said they planned to destroy us.” Tash stood. “Why wait until they reach the edge of our galaxy? Vaughn?”

  Vaughn had returned to his scanner. “Unknown, Captain. But they appear to be firing up their weapons. Wait, there’s a second ship.”

  Tash’s adrenaline whisked through him, his bear demanding to be released. The hairs on his back rose and his nails lengthened. He clenched his fist, struggling to remain in control. “How could we have missed them?”

  Vaughn jerked his head up. “The second ship appears to have had a cloaking system.”

  Tash’s mouth ran dry and the adrenaline pushing through his veins spiked, making him sweat. He hit the alert button. He scrambled for his captain’s voice, almost got it. “Red alert, red alert. All crew members report to battle stations.”

  Rather than calm, cool and collective, he growled. “Nulc, raise our shields!”

  Nulc cried, “They’re firing, Captain!”

  Two torpedoes fired. The spinning white lights slammed into the Intrepid’s shields, and she jerked.

  Vaughn pushed the shields’ control on his panel. “We lost shield number one.”

  Tash ordered. “Return fire!”

  Nucl fired photon ruptors. The ruptors smashed into the first ship, but the second one disappeared.

  Another hit slammed into the Intrepid from behind, and she lurched forward.

  “The second ship is behind us, Captain,” Vaughn said. “We’re trapped.”

  “Not yet, we’re not. Nulc, navigate to maneuver five.”

  Maneuver five meant the ship would move down rather than forward or backward. Just as th
e first ship was to return fire, the Intrepid vertically dropped, so the two Kamtrinian ships were facing each other. A crash rocked overhead.

  “Captain?” Vaughn smiled. “The first ship fired on their own ship, but it disappeared.”

  “We were lucky,” Tash said. “I doubt we will be again. Nucl, circle around to the first ship.”

  “Aye, Captain.”

  “Vaughn, scan for the second ship. Look for any unknown gas.”

  “Yes, Captain.”

  The Kamtrinian ship filled the screen. “Fire, Nucl. Full proton torpedoes.”

  Torpedoes blazed toward the Kamtrinian ship. Victory was at hand, but another blast slammed into the Intrepid, sending her into a spinning nose dive. Tash somersaulted, the bridge rushing around him. He crashed into a wall, dots blurring his vision.

  Sparks bursts through the bridge like a chain of explosions.

  “Captain!” Ryruc yelled over the intercom. “We’re down to one shield and one engine.”

  Tash slowly crawled to his feet, ignoring the pain throbbing in his back. “Vaughn, what the Jiarus happened?”

  “That second ship has a new weapon, Captain. I should have surmised this.” Vaughn was surprisingly still at his post, his hands gripping the scanner. “We can’t withstand another direct hit.”

  Knup snatched his hands off his flickering console. “Our communication system has short-circuited, Captain. Even if we get out of here, I can’t reach Confederation command.”

  Phasers zapped the ship. Lights blinked. The Intrepid jolted, then slowed.

  Ryruc buzzed. “Captain, we need to make repairs or we’ll be dead in space.”

  Tash’s gut dropped to his feet. The Kamtrinians would blow the Intrepid into oblivion. “Evasive procedures, Nucl. We have to save the ship. Set a course for Sutois.”

  “But Captain, we have to fight.”

  “Nucl, there are over three hundred crew men and women on board this ship. I’ll not risk their lives to satisfy your lust for revenge.” He narrowed his eyes. “That’s a direct order.”

  His body bulked up with the bear threatening to cut loose. The navigator flinched and immediately set a course away from the two starships.

  “Ryruc, divert all power to shields. Nucl, maneuver six.”

  “Aye, Captain,” they both answered.

  The ship jumped straight up, just as the two Kamtrinians fired, hitting each other. Explosions flared on the Kamtrinians’ bridge. They tipped forward, hanging in midair.

  “Considerable damage on the two ships, Captain,” Vaughn reported. “This may give us the time to make repairs on Sutois. I would suggest that we land on the planet itself instead of the star port on the moon. The Kamtrinians will be expecting us to land there.”

  “Agreed.” Tash set back in his chair, his heart slowing to a steady pulse. “Let’s just hope we can make repairs before the Kamtrinians find us.”

  “Life forms have been reported on Sutois’s surface, Captain,” Ryruc interrupted over the intercom. “I suggest we be prepared for hostile creatures.”

  “They could also be non-threatening,” Vaughn argued. “We need to study before we attack.”

  Tash glared at Vaughn. “We will be on yellow alert until I know it’s safe for our people.”

  Vaughn huffed and whirled around. He returned to his station, muttering. Sometimes his voice of practicality and reasoning drove Tash crazy. His choices were nil. The Intrepid wouldn’t survive another battle with the Kamtrinian ships. To survive, they needed to make repairs.

  He rubbed his sweating forehead and gritted his teeth, hoping he hadn’t made a deadly mistake.

  Chapter 2

  Plop. Plop. Plop. Heavy rain thumped on Lisa’s coffin.

  Your fault. Your fault. Your fault I’m dead.

  The accusation haunted Kathy of every day, of every morning, of every night. The pain lodged in her gut like a ball of chains. She closed her eyes and hung her head. Her tears splashed on to her tightly closed fists.

  Father James flicked Holy Water onto the casket. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy body and Thy staff they comfort me.”

  Kathy bit her lip, trying not to become a blubbering mess. She fingered the silver unicorn bracelet that had been Lisa's favorite. Her sister had fallen in love with unicorns when she was a child, and their mother had given her the elegant bracelet when she’d turned twenty-one. Kathy thought about burying the silver chain with Lisa, but she couldn't part with it. The little diamond-eyed unicorn was the only thing that had kept her sanity.

  Instead, she had put Lisa's white stuffed unicorn beside her in the coffin. Their father had given it to her one Christmas. Lisa had squealed with delight when she opened a bright, green package with a huge red bow. She’d only been four at the time, but she kept the little unicorn always––even brought it with her to college.

  Emptiness filled Kathy’s gut. Father James was wrong. Lisa did have something to fear in the shadow of death. She had been alone when evil came––evil from outer space.

  “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”

  Kathy sucked in a trembling breath, her lower lip quivered. Lisa deserved to have had a longer life. Kathy could never make up for what she had done. Because of her stupid mistake, her sister had been murdered.

  Agnes Malloy, her best friend since grade school, gently put her hand over Kathy’s white knuckles. Her blond hair was flattened against her head. She’d forgotten to wear a rain coat or hat. Droplets splashed off her leather jacket. Water dripped from her dark eyelashes that framed her new golden eyes.

  Ever since Agnes mated with a Zalarian, her beautiful brown eyes had changed to an eerie gold.

  Kathy stiffened and chills slipped down her spine. Agnes’ eyes slowly sparkled, meaning ghosts were nearby. She could see the dead.

  Agnes leaned close. “Lisa’s here.” Agnes’s voice was so soft Kathy barely heard her, but the words shot through her like a cannon.

  Kathy clasped her trembling hand over her wrist to hide the bracelet, gulping down deep breaths. She desperately scanned the crowded burial, hunting for her sister’s dark head and bright smile.

  Nothing.

  Her shoulders drooped. As much as she tried, her abilities didn’t swing to seeing ghosts. She sighed heavily and dabbed her eyes with a tissue. Kathy’s gift was reading auras and knowing whether people were lying, which had been completely useless in protecting Lisa.

  “This concludes our ceremony,” Father said. “The family is meeting at Lisa’s favorite bar–O’Toole’s located at the corner of Sixty-Fourth Avenue and Indiana.”

  Kathy stared at Lisa’s newly dug grave. She was laid to rest with their parents, Jim and Nancy Strong, who had died in a car accident six months ago. A drunk driver had slammed into their car, killing them instantly. Tears blurred Kathy’s vision and gnawing pain gripped her breaking heart. In less than a year, she’d lost all of her family.

  Agnes squeezed her hand. “Your parents are with her.”

  Kathy blinked away the tears. She leaned forward and sat taller. Her heart beat zoomed to Mach one. She scanned the people that huddled around the grave site, looking for Lisa, an older woman with straight brown hair, and her tall, broad-shouldered father, hoping just this once, she could see them.

  “I’m sorry, Kathy.”

  She jumped at Father James’s voice, adrenaline boosting inside her. Her heartbeat lurched into Mach two.

  “If you need to talk…” He handed Kathy the cross that had been on top of the coffin.

  She nodded, wordlessly. Her throat pinched shut. The world screeched to a stop. Her chest tightened, crushing her lungs. She couldn’t breathe.

  She clutched the cold, gold cross in her shaking hands. The finality slammed into her. All of her family was gone. She was alone.

  “Thank you, Father,” Agnes said for her.

  People shuffled past her, mutterin
g their condolences, their auras light blue.

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “She was so young.”

  “She’ll be missed.”

  In robot fashion, Kathy answered. “Thank you. Thank you for coming.”

  Lastly, Agnes’s brother Frank, an FBI agent, clasped her hand. At the Arvada Police Department, he was a larger-than-life legend, especially after he went to Quantico. Like Agnes, he was the only one who knew what really had killed Lisa.

  “Kathy, I’m so sorry.” His voice cracked. “We should have been able to protect her.”

  “I know. But you tried. Her death was my fault. I never should have insisted on going to get a Starbuck’s.”

  His grip turned firmer. “Daidhl would only have succeeded in killing you like he had with your sister and my agent.”

  Daidhl had been a dragon-shifter from Zalara, who had been possessed by an evil alien. He went on a killing spree and murdered Zalarian designated mates. Unfortunately for the victims, Daidhl mimicked Jack-the-Ripper.

  Frank had ordered a FBI man to guard Kathy twenty-four hours, which was why she thought she could leave her sister without fear. The burly man looked mean enough to take on a velociraptor, but the creature cut him down as if he were a gecko.

  “No. It’s my fault.” She wriggled her hand free. The pain banged against her heart like a sledge hammer. “I should be…lying there…not Lisa.”

  Frank looked around as if to make sure no one was listening. “Kathy, you’re talking nonsense. That creature nearly destroyed all of us.”

  Kathy opened her mouth to argue, but how could she prove a legend wrong?

  “He’s right.” Agnes lifted her chin. “Daidhl was possessed. He almost killed Anonghos…” Her voice faded.