by Hunter, Luna
“Why is that? You got a little army of Zoran and human crossbreeders, is that it? Trust me, we know all about your little ‘Chosen’ group. It’s not a problem to us. We’ll kill all of them when the time comes.”
“Come closer and I’ll tell you a secret,” I say with a raspy breath.
Intrigued, Wellington comes closer. He leans down, so that his face is mere inches from my own. His cologne is overpowering my heightened senses. “Spit it out, Zoran. Your last word. Your dying fucking breath. Make it count.”
“Oh, I will.”
My entire mind is focused on Caia, on her bloodied body, on her pain, her suffering, her anguish. And this lights a fire inside of me. A fire so brilliant, so intense that nothing in the world can come close to stopping it.
Luan is injured, but not defeated. His cut made a dent in my soul, but it is far from fractured. Using every last ounce of strength I still have left in my system, I summon him forth.
And my spirit animal delivers.
My lion leaps out of my very chest and rips Wellington’s jaw right open with a bone-crunching sound, spilling blood absolutely everywhere.
“Argh!”
Wellington stammers back, his hands flying towards his deeply cut neck. He frantically tries to hold his own neck, to close the wound, but blood spurts out regardless, pooling on the floor.
With his dying breath he casts a final look of shock and surprise my way. He tries to utter a final curse... but all that leaves his mouth is a bloody gargle.
The synths freeze all their functions instantly as their leader collapses in a heap.
I rush to my mate and hold her dying body in my hands.
“Caia! Open your eyes, Caia. Caia!”
Chapter Fifteen
Caia
Leto gently strokes my cheek. Every few minutes he plants a soft kiss on my forehead, as he brushes the hair out of my face.
Is this heaven? Because it certainly feels like it. I’ve never felt more cared for in my life. Yep, this has got to be heaven.
“Wake up, baby girl.”
Is that…
I slowly open my eyes, waking from a deep, comfortable slumber, only to see Leto’s sea green eyes looking right back at mine. My heart rises and rises as he comes clearer into focus.
“Leto!”
I only just now begin to notice he’s covered in scrapes, bruises and bandages, which makes my heart leap right into my throat.
“Ohmygodareyouokaywhatsgoingong,” I blurt out in one long word as I sit up straight.
Leto instantly springs into action. He gently pushes me back down and shushes me.
“You’ve got to relax, baby,” he says. “Look at you.”
I glance down, and only now I do notice that I’m bandaged up even more than he is. And now that I think about it, I’m in a tremendous amount of pain!
“What?” I stammer, trying to make sense of it all. “I don't get it.”
He kisses my forehead. “That’s the medicine helping you out a bit, it can give you a bit of a brain fog. It’ll get better, I promise. But right now, you need to rest.”
I look around, but I don’t recognize the room we are in.
“We’re still on the Wellington Mothership,” Leto explains.
At the mention of that name, my eyes grow wide with fear. “Wellington!”
“Calm down,” Leto says, now more sternly. “I’m serious. Your heart rate is all over the place. Just because you almost died doesn’t give you permission to start ignoring my commands all of a sudden.”
Is that a small smirk I detect on his chiseled, purple face?
“Aye aye, captain,” I chuckle. “Tell me now, though, I can’t bear this confusion, this fog.”
“Alright, alright,” Leto says. “But don’t tell Kariza — she’ll kill me. What is the last thing you remember?”
I sit up straight with the help of my mate and a generous amount of pillows. “Uhm, climbing in the vents… that’s the last thing I remember.”
“I think you stumbled onto a SINTRA conference call. You tried to tell me about it earlier. Do you remember that?”
I close my eyes, and slowly it comes back to me. I saw three mysterious figures, and one giant, holographic face... in fact, just thinking about that creepy face makes my skin crawl. I tell my mate all that I remember, and he listens attentively.
“This strange woman, she was talking about opening the Rift and taking over the entire universe. About AI, and gene-splicing, and cloning, and… it wasn’t just about money, or power, or influence… the things they were saying… they wanted to subjugate all life in the galaxy. And… exterminate all Zorans.”
Leto nods thoughtfully. “As I suspected.”
“What do we do now?”
He gently strokes my hair. “We’ll take SINTRA down, no matter what. I promise you that. Do you remember what happened after the meeting?”
I swallow the lump in my throat as I try to remember. I was falling, and then there was a knife, glittering in the light and then… blood… so much blood…
I close my eyes and turn away as I fight back the tears, and Leto squeezes my hand gently.
“It’s okay, you don’t need to tell me. It’s okay.”
“What happened?” I ask. “Is Luan okay? I saw him get cut, and…”
“Luan is fine,” my mate says. “I promise. That cut, it pierced my soul, but I’m still alive and kicking, and so is Luan.”
He tells me everything that transpired from his perspective: Racing up the stairs with his heart beating in his throat, the desperate fight with Wellington, the moment when he thought it was all over… and the moment when Luan ripped Wellington’s throat out.
I’m not happy he’s dead, but the knowledge that a man as evil as him is no longer around is a relief.
“Then what happened?” I ask.
“With their leader out of the picture, the synths all shut down instantly. Their programming was based on fulfilling all of his desires, and with him gone, they got caught in a loop. Kariza was able to wrestle control of the ship, and we’ve changed the course to New Exon.”
“Kariza!” I say. “She’s okay?”
Leto chuckles. “Okay? She’s happier than I’ve ever seen her, running this gargantuan ship all by herself.”
“Well, she did always like telling people what to do,” I chuckle.
“In that case she’s living the dream.”
“What about all the prisoners? Did you release them?”
Leto eyes dart to the side. “I’ve stuck by your side,” he says. “And if I’m honest I’m afraid to go look... what if Rinor is among those killed? I’d... never forgive myself.”
Now it is my turn to comfort him.
“You’ll never know unless you check. And whatever happened, none of this is your fault. You saved everyone’s life, for stars sake!”
“I know,” he sighs, taking a deep breath. “I know. I just needed to know you were alive and well first.”
“Well, I think I’m doing okay,” I chuckle. “Go look, baby. I’ll be right here.”
He stand up, a look of determination in his sea green eyes. “You’re absolutely right. The only way out is through. Wish me luck.”
Chapter Sixteen
Leto
I rush towards Kariza. I find her sitting in the captain’s chair, her eyes twitching as she sends commands to all the different parts of the ship.
“Kariza,” I say. “Caia is awake and doing well!”
Her eyes snap back to their clear selves, and they focus on me. “Really?! That’s great!”
“Yeah, it is,” I say. I take a deep breath and steel myself for the worst. “Have you accessed the entire database of prisoners yet?”
She nods. “I have. You want to know about Rinor, don’t you?”
“I do,” I say. “What can you tell me? How bad is it?”
“According to the data, he was last registered in cellblock 34D15. However, that was several days ago, and I hav
en’t been able to access the data of all the ‘processed’ prisoners yet, so...”
I exhale through my nose. “Right. You can’t be certain.”
“No. I wanted to talk to you about the next step. I can open all of the prisoner’s cells with a snap of my fingers, but I figured it would be better to do so if you could talk to all of them.”
“Why is that?”
“Look at me,” she says, gesturing to her synthetic body. “Are they going to take my word for it that I’m one of the good guys? They’ll all have a very healthy distrust of synths by now. No, I think it would be better if the first friendly face they see is yours.”
“Very well. How many prisoners are we talking about?”
“Right now? Let me scan all the lifeforms on board.. carry the two... sixteen levels... repeating, of course... oh, about 1634.5”
“Point five? How is there half a person?”
“Well, there’s a pregnant woman on board.”
“How long is this going to take me?!”
“If you talk to them one by one, I’d estimate about 270 hours or so.”
Already I feel a headache coming on. “Okay, release them in blocks of, uhm, 100.”
It will still take me most of the day, but this way, it won’t take me an entire month. With a heavy heart I descend to the prison levels, preparing myself for the worst.
The first group hangs on my every word. There are humans, Zorans, Marbits and Rathnids in the crowd, all of them tired and malnourished. I explain to them that they are safe, and that we are headed to New Exon.
I repeat myself again and again to every new group. By the end I’ve got it down to a science, anticipating every question before it comes up.
Every group I scan the crowd for a familiar face, but I don’t see Rinor among them. I lose faith, bit by bit, group by group, until it’s time for the very last one. At first the excitement of the freed peoples energized me, but after talking non-stop for ten hours, my body is broken, and I am close to giving up all hope.
And then I hear him.
“Leto?! Get the fuck outta here! No way?!”
I look up to see Rinor’s fire-red face, his eyes as bright as smoldering embers, looking back at me. He’s a bit leaner than I remember him, but it’s Rinor alright. He pulls me up to my feet and gives me the biggest bear hug of all time.
“What the fuck are you doing here?!”
“Saving your sorry ass, fire-face!” I say enthusiastically. “Why’d the hell you get yourself abducted?!”
He slaps me on the shoulder so hard it leaves me spinning. “You know how it is, they offer you a free shot, you gonna say no?”
“YES!” I say as loudly as I can. “YOU SAY NO THANK YOU! HOW HARD IS THAT?!”
“Ah, hindsight is a bitch, ain’t it,” Rinor sighs. “You know, you’re just in time to join my prison gang.”
“What are you called? The Fire Fairies? No, let me guess. The Fuc—“
“Hey, hey, be nice,” Rinor says. “I’ll let you know that the Rinor Rousers are one the most infamous gangs of the entire 34th floor... or the D wing of it anyway...”
The other freed prisoners, a hundred in total, are crowded around us, looking at us like they’re seeing water itself burning.
“What’s going on?” A human male asks. “Rinor, who is this man?”
“Prox, this is Leto, my good friend and confidant. And to tell you the truth, I have absolutely no idea what’s going on either. Leto, enlighten us. Please.”
I rise to my feet, pure happiness filling every vein in my body. This is not quite as good as the feeling of first kissing Caia, but it’s damn close.
“Listen up, everyone,” I say. “My name is Leto, and I’m a Zoran warrior. I’m sure that you by now have realized that you have been kidnapped by the Wellington Consortium, a subsidiary of SINTRA Corp. It might interest you to know that Casper Wellington is now dead, and you, my good people, are free.”
A cheerful murmur passes through the crowd.
“Really?”
“It sounds too good to be true.”
“Is this another synth trick? He does look awfully muscled. Is it even possible to have that many muscles?”
“If Rinor trusts him, I trust him.”
“Will we go back home?
“What about the ones who have gone through processing?”
I hold my hands up to try and calm the crowd down.
“Please, everyone, may I have your attention please. First off, we are not returning to Corlis Station, unfortunately. That place is still under the control of SINTRA, and so it is not safe.”
The crowd murmurs.
“I know you have family and friends there, but please understand that I’m doing this for your own good.”
“Where are we going then?” A voice calls.
“New Exon.”
“Ah, home sweet home,” Rinor says. He turns to a woman at his side and leans down. “You’ll finally be able to taste that cuhla I’ve been telling you all about!”
“And what about the processing?”
I take a deep breath. This question has come up with every group, understandably, and every time I struggle to tell them all the truth. It’s not the type of thing you want to say, but I can’t lie to them either. No, they deserve to know the truth, as gruesome as it is.
“Processing... it means something quite literal in this sense. Wellington, he... well...”
I can see the faces in the crowd turn ashen grey.
“Yes,” I say. “It’s just like that. The people who went to processing, they are... no more. I am sorry.”
A silence envelops the room.
“I wish I could have gotten here sooner, but...”
Rinor slaps me on the shoulder. “Cheer up, mate. I know you did all you could — you saved all of us! We owe our lives to you.”
The whole crowd bows and thanks me, though it does little the alleviate the dark feeling in my stomach.
Rinor wraps his arm around my shoulder as we climb the stairs up to the command center.
“How are you doing, big guy?” He asks.
“I’m dead tired,” I say. “I’ve just done this talk for the 16th time in a row.”
“I can sense something different about you though, a glow that wasn’t there before.”
I glance at him. Am I that obvious?
“Well, I have met someone... special.”
“You sly dog,” he laughs. “Who is she?”
“Caia Mercier,” I say. “A human female.”
“Ah! I didn’t know they were your type.”
“Neither did I,” I admit, “but so it goes.”
“So it goes indeed! Tell me all about her!”
I gush wildly about my new mate, and my friend listens attentively.
“It seems you have found you true mate,” Rinor says, impressed by my continuous rambling. I could talk about Caia all day.
“I think I have, man. In fact, I am absolutely sure of it.”
“That’s amazing. I can’t wait to meet her.”
Chapter Seventeen
Caia
The days fly by. Leto is by my side constantly, and every day I feel a bit better. Kariza comes by often as well. She’s totally found her groove, controlling an army of synthetic soldiers. She is, of course, using them for good. They feed and clothe all of the freed prisoners, making the ship a bit more hospitable for everyone.
Rinor stops by often as well. I’m so happy that we’ve found Leto’s friend alive and well. Plus, he’s a total hoot. I never expected Leto to joke so much, but when those two get together all they try to do is take each other down in hilarious ways.
Now that the threat to our lives is over (for now at least), I’m happy to get to know this new side of my Zoran mate.
I must admit that it is kinda hard to find the time to do that with all the visitors. All the freed prisoners, all sixteen hundred of them, want to thank me personally. Their gestures are very touching, and they
me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but it can be a bit overwhelming at times.
And now we’re almost at the New Exon Trade Ports.
I’d never thought I’d see them, but here I am, approaching the sprawling space station built on top of New Exon’s moon. It’s massive, it’s gorgeous, and it’s here.
In front of me.
Leto squeezes my hand as as the station grows bigger and bigger on our screen.
Leto taps a button and sends a message to the station.
“Please don’t be alarmed by this humongous flagship headed your way,” he chuckles. “This is Leto, asking for permission to board. Over.”
The comm crackles with static.
“Leto?! Is that you?!”
“Dazer! It certainly is!”
“How’d in the name of the Zorashi did you manage to score yourself the Leviathan?! I don’t know if we have enough space to dock that thing!”
“We’ve got shuttles, it’ll work itself out,” Leto chuckles. “Good to see you too.”
What the men on the comm said was true: The ship is too big to dock. Instead, we descend upon the Trade Ports with an armada of shuttles. When the doors open and I see the station from the inside for the first time, my breath is stolen.
There’s so much glass, so much open spaces, so much splendor.
This is unlike Corlis in every way.
A delegation of Zoran guards is waiting for us. They salute us, and Leto returns the courtesy.
“We have received your message,” one of them answers. “Please, follow me.”
The guards welcome the freed prisoners with blankets and food (our rations were unfortunately running low. Wellington only fed people enough to keep them alive, and then only barely), while we two are escorted to the one of the top floors of the Trade Ports.
The glass doors open and two couples await us there — both of them Zoran males with female partners.
They all rise up and bow politely, and we return the greeting, while I’m still confused as heck.
“I am Theros,” the silver Zoran says. “And this is my mate, Anaya.” He also introduces the other couple, Davor and Leah.
