Holby - The Oasis Trilogy

"Talented Colby Hodge delivers space

adventure at a breathtaking clip! Fans of Star

Wars and Riddick will love Stargazer."

S usan Grant , Author of The Scarlet Empress

" I can arrange it so you go straight to prison if that is your desire," she ground out.

"That's just like a woman," he spat out in disgust. "What happened to all those promises you made concerning my freedom if I helped you?"

"You did help me and I'm grateful, but now you're just turning everything around," Lilly cried out in frustration.

"Prove it."

"Prove what?" Lilly felt like crying but refused to do so.

"That you're not controlling me. Plant a suggestion in my head, something that I wouldn't do under normal circumstances."

"It doesn't always work that way," she whispered.

"Do it." The words were forceful; his face so close that she could feel the puff of his breath. Lilly closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind, but it was difficult; it had been difficult to concentrate since she had walked into the cryo bay. Something he wouldn't normally do, she thought to herself. She felt his presence; she knew if she opened her eyes, she would see his staring back at her. Taking a deep breath, she emptied her mind of the turmoil and reached out with the first thought that came to her.

Shaun's eyebrows flew up in surprise as he felt her mind enter his like a cool breeze. He slowly leaned in, tilting his head to the side as their noses touched. Lilly's eyes opened in surprise and she saw herself reflected in the mirrors of his eyes. His lips were a breath away from hers.

"You want me to kiss you?" He said it so softly that she felt the question instead of hearing the words.

Her lips trembled in anticipation. "Where did you get that idea?"

Stargazer

Book 1

M ichael clutched the newborn infant closer to his body even as her mother reached out her arms for the babe.

"Let me see my daughter," the mother cried as she fought against the women who were hastily cleaning up evidence of the birth.

Michael looked down at the tiny face that stared up at him with pale gray eyes beneath long dark lashes. She had eyes just like her mother. Was he wrong to think that was a bad thing?

"Please," the mother begged, tears streaming down her cheeks. Was she crying for her child or for herself?

He couldn't risk the child's life by finding out. He wrapped the blanket tighter around the perfectly formed little body and left the chambers, ignoring the anguished cries of the mother.

The child should be spared the sentence of her mother. Hadn't the Sovereign waited all these long months just to spare the child? The Sovereign had hoped for a male, an heir to take the place of the one who had been lost. Instead there was this girl, who was the image of her mother.

What would he do if the Sovereign ordered that this babe must die with her mother? Surely he wouldn't. The man could not be so maddened by grief that he would condemn an innocent child to death. Could he?

Michael heard the hushed whispers as he carried the infant through the corridors. "It's a girl, a female," he heard as he held the precious bundle close.

What would he do? He had sworn himself to protect the child's father at all costs but had failed miserably. Victor, brother of Sovereign Alexander, had died saving the Sovereign's life. Michael knew it should have been he who died that day, giving up his life as he had sworn to do, but the witch had tricked him again.

Could he allow this innocent child to die for the sins of her mother? For the sins of her father?

"The child is born?" Sovereign Alexander asked as Michael entered the room with the baby girl. Without a word Michael knelt before his Sovereign and opened the blanket so Alexander could see the soft perfection of the child. Surely his heart would soften as he looked upon his niece.

"I had hoped for a male," Alexander commented without emotion as he looked on the babe with bitterness in his eyes. "No doubt Zania thinks this her final revenge upon me."

Michael held his breath as the Sovereign continued, but his face revealed nothing of the emotion that was tearing at his gut. He had always been skilled at hiding what he was thinking.

"Still, she may have her uses if she is trained properly." He dismissed the child with a wave of his hand. "See to it that she is taken care of," the Sovereign said.

Michael quietly released the air he held close in his lungs and stood, careful of his burden.

"Take the woman now!" Alexander let out the command in a burst of frustration and outrage, knowing that the horrendous ending he had planned for the witch would not change what had happened. But still he looked forward to her suffering. He looked forward to hearing her scream.

"The child needs a name," Michael said quietly as the guards rushed to do their Sovereign's bidding.

"I care not what you call her," Alexander said. His eyes were already looking toward the square where the execution would take place.

Michael bowed and backed away, keeping the child close. He considered it a miracle that the baby had not cried out yet. But now he did not know where to take her. Provisions had not been made beyond the moment of her birth. He dared not take her back to her mother's quarters, where even now the guards were dragging the doomed witch down the corridors to her death.

Michael ducked into a small courtyard and sat down on a bench. Water softly gurgled from a fountain placed along the wall and the smell of the great stargazer lilies filled the air. The burst of vivid pinks and magentas was so intense against the pristine white of the outer walls that it hurt his eyes. He looked down at the child and saw that she was captivated by the bright flowers that towered behind his head. Her light gray eyes swam back and forth as she searched for a focal point in the swirl of color.

A horrible scream rent the air. The first of many to come. Zania's skin was to be cut from her body with lasers, one minuscule section at a time. It was an execution destined to last an infinite amount of time while causing an immeasurable amount of pain.

The child jumped in his arms, startled by the horrible sound. Michael rocked her, giving comfort with a song from his childhood, hoping the tune would distract the babe from the noise. Once again her eyes went to the lilies behind his head, and Michael stopped his song long enough to glance over his shoulder at the fantastic blooms.

"Lilly," he said as he looked back down into the pale gray eyes. "We will call you Lilly."

The baby girl closed her eyes, finally lulled to sleep by the peace in the courtyard as her mother's screams faded to moans, her voice gone long before her life would mercifully end.