The Spectrum Force Volume Three - Heather Ray (e novels to read online .txt) 📗

and began pulling the leaves and grass from her tangled ebony hair.

I'm not hurt at all,

she realized, Not a bit. And I was caught completely off-guard. Which must mean that blast wasn't meant to hurt me. But... if it wasn't retaliation from that black goop, was it really just our attack?

That didn't make sense. The one-ringed sphere didn't come anywhere near the destructive power the double-ringed sphere wrought. Either the Force's energies exponentially increase when merged, or Rachel was incredibly more powerful than herself and Keith.

Or... maybe something else was going on.

*Hello?* she called, pivoting in the deathly quiet jungle. *Anybody?*

She shivered in the terrifying mental silence, until finally, someone responded.

*Tam? You okay?*

*Keith!* She beamed ecstatically. *Where are you?*

*Hanging from a tree branch. But otherwise okay.*

*Rachel here,* a new mind-voice indicated, *I'm in one piece, but there's no one in eyeshot.*

*The blast knocked us all in different directions,* Keith realized. *That was... weird.*

*Craig? Matt? Jocelyn?* Rachel broadcast. Tamara could feel her friend's worry escalate. *I... I can feel Matt... but I can't feel Craig at all! Or Jocie...*

Then, a new mind-voice interrupted. Tamara felt herself shiver anew. *I found Jocelyn.*

Chapter Twenty-Six

Green's glassy gaze returned to the physical plane, as he withdrew his consciousness from the rest of the Force. Then, he lifted his index finger, and fired a single, continuous beam of bright green energy into the heavens.

The others would see the beacon, and arrive shortly.

Satisfied that the others would think of something

, his dark green eyes returned to the cold burden lying on his lap.

As he predicted, three flaming auras answered his call. Yellow, Red, and Purple all fell to the ground in front of him.

All were struck silent.

Matthew huddled over Jocelyn. Her body was no longer protected by the magical armor of the transformation. Her eyes were squeezed tightly closed, her arms hung limply at her sides. Her skin, usually glowing with a faint tan, was oddly pale and gray.

Her hands clenching to hold back the trembling, Rachel stepped forward, and knelt in front of Matt. Forcing her eyes away from the sickening sight of her youngest friend, she laid her hand on Green's shoulder tightly.

"What happened?" she asked gently.

"I came to about a minute ago," he answered quietly, "and I realized that I was in the same field. The black stuff was gone without a trace. Then I saw her lying right where the goop sucked her in. I un-Synced her with the belt buttons to check on her... and I saw her like this."

Rachel stared at Matt, recognizing he was in some form of shock. She then rose to her feet, and looked squarely at Keith.

"Remember any of that lifeguard training from two summers ago?"

He nodded mutely.

"Good. See if there's anything you can do to bring her around. Tamara and I will look for Craig."

With that, Rachel grabbed Tamara's arm, and pulled the distracted girl into the air.

Once they departed, Keith slowly kneeled beside Matthew. After staring at him for a moment, he leaned over Jocelyn. After touching his fingers to her neck, he slid back again.

"Her heart's beating, but I can't tell if she's breathing with the armor on."

Matthew didn't respond to Keith's explanation, nor to the flash of light that accompanied Keith's transformation.

"Jeez!" Keith suddenly hissed, "It's hotter than Hell out here!"

He felt the sweat beading on his forehead after only seconds of direct exposure to the planet's blazing sun. Keith swallowed fiercely, fighting the resurgent nausea sparked by the intense heat that all but punched him in the face.

After a few seconds, Keith managed to compose himself enough to turn his attention to Jocelyn.

"Matt, I'm definitely gonna need your help," Keith said, his tone the forced calm of a frustrated parent, "You're the med student... not me."

He slipped his arms beneath Jocelyn, and lifted the prone girl off the Green Enforcer's lap. He then carried her out of the small clearing, and set her down again beneath the shade of a large, full-foliaged tree.

"That helps," he sighed, wiping the sweat before it dripped into his eye. He then touched Jocelyn's pulse with his bare hand.

His fingers retracted instinctively. "I don't get it... why is she so cold? It's a friggin' oven out here! And I know she's... still alive..."

Keith sighed heavily, rising to his feet. He stared at the large, fan-shaped leaves of the tree above him.

"I wonder..." he whispered, holding his clenched fist above him. He closed his eyes, focusing inward just as he practiced during the training sessions.

His perseverance was rewarded when he felt his toes lift off the ground.

So we can

manifest powers without fully transforming,

he mused, staring at the bright energy aura wrapping his body, That's pretty useful... though it takes more concentration to fly like this.

He levitated to the lowest branches of the tree, pulling off the enormous leaves one at a time and blanketing them over his arm.

Once he collected a satisfying number, he returned to the ground, and began rolling the leaves around his forearm into a soft sleeve.

He pulled the sheath from his arm, and then carefully lifted Jocelyn's neck, sliding the makeshift pillow to support her listless head.

He then marched toward Matthew, his face unusually stern as he psychologically adopted the forceful "Big Brother" persona.

The Green Enforcer still sat on his legs, head bowed as if staring at the grass beneath him.

"Matt, you have to snap out of this," Keith demanded.

"She was trying to help me," Matthew murmured, his hands rising to cradle his head, "The monsters were after me first, and then Jocelyn got between us... I just... froze..."

Okay, Matt here clearly doesn't know how to handle high-stress environments...

Keith noted grimly. He'd better adapt, 'cause if we can't count on him, we're all

screwed. But yelling at him won't help any...

The Red Enforcer decided on a different approach.

"Dude, Jocelyn's gonna be fine," he assured him.

Matthew blinked beneath his mask. He lifted his head, gazing up at Keith hopefully.

Finally... a response!

"But I need help making sure we make her as comfortable as possible. So here's the deal... you help me out, and I give you the keys to the Beemer for the weekend."

It almost physically hurt him making the offer... but at least it won a reaction.

"Huh?"

"You heard me. Forty-eight hours, unlimited mileage... but if I see even a smudge of bird-crap on my baby, well... you can start writing your last will and testament."

After several more seconds of confused silence, Matthew uttered a sound.

A chuckle.

Keith grinned broadly. Yes! That sounds more like the Matt O'Conner I know!

"I stand behind my former analysis," Matthew said, rising to his feet and quickly brushing the grass from his uniform, "You're absolutely nuts."

Keith's grin widened into a toothy, almost snarling smile. "Absolute

ly."

His grin then relaxed into his natural, easy-going expression. "Listen up, Kiddo... Jocelyn's still unconscious, but she's breathing fine, and her heart sounds good. I've got her in the shade, but the weather out here is more unbearable than mid-August in Houston. We need to collect some water."

"Okay, from where?"

Keith stared up at the treetops. "There's a waterfall around here somewhere... I'll go find it. Meanwhile, you stay here and keep her cozy. Ray and the others should be back soon, so stay around here so they can find you. By the time they get back, I'm sure Jocie will be wide awake."

Green nodded mutely, watching as Keith stepped back. Red smoke wrapped his body, covering him in the protective flexible-metal of the Red Enforcer uniform, and he instantly leapt into the sky, a burning comet's tail trailing him.

Matt then turned to Jocelyn, his spirits sinking to his heels. "Please be right, Keith..."

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Although she tried her utmost to hide it, Rachel was really starting to worry.

Just relax...Craig's bound to turn up eventually. Maybe he fell asleep somewhere? He's been really tired the past few days... it could've caught up with him.

She tried not to consider the unlikelihood of Craig Gillis falling asleep in the middle of a huge explosion.

*Dammit Craig... if this is one of your stupid jokes, I'll wring your neck!*

Yet again, there was no response to her telepathic outburst.

What did that mean? She was slowly getting used to being able to "feel" her teammates on some peripheral level, even without actually communicating with them. It was a little unsettling to feel Keith flash out of touch for a few minutes, only to flash back.

He probably un-Synced,

she realized, I can only feel them when they're Enforcers. Spectra did say our telepathic abilities only work when we're transformed...

That was the most feasible explanation... Craig had un-Synced as well.

But why? The only possible reason to sacrifice the power and protection of the armor would be to hide. But why hide when your friends were a mere few yards away?

Unless, someone was hiding him

.

Could that black goop have swallowed him as well? Once Jocelyn disappeared into the viscous waves, Rachel couldn't sense her at all. Perhaps he'd been kidnapped, while the others were too focused on helping Orange to even notice?

Guilt sat in the pit of her stomach. What kind of a leader was she... what kind of a friend

was she to not even notice his abduction?

And in all honesty, abduction was the best-case scenario. For there were other explanations to his silence...

She shook off the chilling thought.

"Any luck, Ray?"

Purple opened her eyes, and watched Yellow fall into her field of vision.

"I just can't sense him," Rachel sighed. She pushed off the high tree branch she had nestled on during her telepathic search. "Any