“I will kill both of you,” Fi said, stepping toward Sora. “It’s the only way.”
“Let Selas go,” Sora said, shaking his head. He kept his rifle aimed at Fi. “You care about him more than anyone else. If you kill him, you’ll regret it.”
“I have no choice.”
“There’s always a choice,” Selas said, blinking the mental pain back and pointing his spear at Fi. “You taught me that. We choose what we let control us, and you’re letting Queen Bettina control you now.”
“You’re right,” Fi said, spinning around and stabbing again. Selas blocked it. “I need the control to atone for my failures.”
Selas jumped to the left, throwing up the spear as Fi took another swing. He didn’t know if he could beat Fi in a physical fight, but he didn’t want to try. He thought back to her on the ghost ship. She used words to beat Anziar, not force.
“What failures?” Selas said, backing away. “As long as I’ve known you, you’ve failed at nothing.”
“I’ve spent my life living in failure,” Fi said, jumping into the air and landing behind him. She slashed his lower back. “You know nothing.”
Another shot from Sora distracted Fi, allowing Selas to stumble away. The sting ran down his back, but the pain in his head felt much worse. He rubbed his temples, trying to suppress Anziar’s next attack. He felt the darkness press on the new wound on his back, sneaking through the new vulnerability.
“Indeed, you know nothing. She cannot protect you anymore.”
Selas screamed. Fi kicked his back and sent him to the ground. He managed to block her next hit, but he couldn’t do much more than that.
“Fi, stop!” Sora said, firing again. His shot again, and intentionally missed. “You don’t want to do this.”
“I must,” Fi said, looking from Sora to Selas. She loomed over him, pressing her sword against his spear, much like Anziar had on Graig.
“Fi,” Selas said, lifting his back above the floor. He tried to focus on her eyes as the mental pressure resumed. He needed that comfort. Instead of his duel on Graig, he recalled the bridge of the Bombard. “Come…come back to me. Come back and stay centered.”
Fi froze, retracting her sword. Her intricate eyes looked more void than he’d seen before. “I let him die, Selas. I watched my mother kill my brother. I can never come back from that.”
Selas grimaced. He never asked Fi about her family history and he should have. She may not have wanted to discuss it, but at least he could have asked. Instead, for all these months, his own family problems consumed him. Fi supported him and he only once thought to do the same for her.
“Your attachment to that woman weakened you and you failed even her. Pathetic.”
“The failure is not yours, but mine,” Selas said, wincing from the pain and forcing his throat to contract so that he could emit words. “I should have asked when you mentioned him on the ship. We do what we must to survive in this life, correct? Doesn’t that take precedence?”
Fi’s hands shook, but she threw her sword forward again, forcing Selas to crawl backward on his hands. “Not all of us have the chance to make up for that pain. I gave up that chance the moment that I let her kill him.”
“What could you have done? You must have been a child,” Sora said, firing again. Fi ducked, allowing Selas to get back on his feet. “I refuse to believe that is your fault. Bettina twisted your mind.”
“Neither of you understand. Both of you were able to see justice for your lost loved ones,” Fi said, turning to charge at Sora.
Selas leapt in front of her and their weapons again clashed. She removed her sword only to put more strength into her next strike, shoving Selas back. As much as he hated it, he stabbed with the spear and struck Fi’s arm. She didn’t allow the pain to register, but swiped across Selas’ stomach. He winced again, trying to block out the mental and physical pain.
She swung at his hand and Selas lifted it away seconds before her sword would have cut off his fingers. Fi wouldn’t stop attacking, but how could he best her and still save her?
“Then do not focus your mind on the battle of your bodies. Focus your mind on your brother’s soul.”
Kossk’s words briefly overpowered the headache. Selas had to focus on Fi’s identity, much like he focused on Jekk’s. He started this fight with that mentality and he couldn’t let it fade now.
“Fi, I brought Jekk back,” Selas said, blocking her next attack. She pressed forward and the collision of metal hurt Selas’ ears, but now, they only stood inches apart. “I did it by remembering the support you and Sora gave me on the Bombard. I remembered what you said to me. You focused on who I am and empowered me. Is that not enough redemption?”
Fi didn’t remove her sword, but she released the pressure. Selas focused on her intricate eyes, wanting to find that comfort. He needed to see a flicker or twitch, like he saw in Jekk. He needed to find that familiarity.
Nothing. He didn’t see the comfort in her eyes. The blackness didn’t look the same.
“You have nothing.”
Anziar wanted those words to resonate. Shrieks followed his statement and Selas closed his eyes, allowing the pain to course throughout his mind. When he shut his eyes, he saw Anziar standing before him with his flowing hair and long nails. He extended his nails, reaching toward Selas.
Selas yelled, opening his eyes. Fi stood in Anziar’s place, recovering from her pause. She lifted her sword.
“I…I need you,” Selas said, tossing the spear to the side. He used what little strength he had to reach forward and run his hand over her shoulder and up her arm. “Stay with me.”
Again, Fi paused. She glanced at his hand as it lingered on her wrist. Selas still didn’t see a flicker in her eyes, but they focused on his hand. The shrieks grew louder, but he managed to keep his hand on her wrist. Her void eyes drifted from Selas’ hand to his face. Sora lingered in the background, still aiming his rifle at Fi.
“You are a good man, Selas. It would not be just to kill you. Perhaps I won’t find redemption in Queen Bettina,” Fi said, stepping backward. His hand fell from her wrist.
The shrieking ceased, but Selas still didn’t see comfort or care in her eyes. They still held nothing.
“But you don’t need me and I still need redemption and justice.”
Fi held the sword above her own head, pointing it at her neck. Selas lunged for her, but Anziar’s bellow stopped him, overpowering all of his senses and sending him to his knees. The throbbing caused his entire body to tremble and darkness crept into his peripheral vision.
“Once again, you have failed. It is time.”
Fi lowered the sword, but as it reached her neck, a green laser collided with her scalp. The sword fell to her side and Fi became motionless, collapsing to the ground. Sora ran forward, placing his rifle in its holster and throwing Fi’s sword into another empty holster.
The shock pushed Anziar away from Selas’ mind as his vision returned. Sora shot Fi?
“She’s unconscious,” Sora said, leaning down and gently lifting her off the floor. “I stunned her.”
Again, the shrieking resumed, but this shriek caused Selas no discomfort. Instead, anger and wrath filled the shriek. Selas gritted his teeth, focusing all mental energy on his senses and forcing them to return. He stood, regaining total use of his body and mind while Anziar fled.
“Is he gone?” Sora said, cradling Fi in both of his arms. Unlike Fi, compassion and concern filled his wide eyes.
“For now, at least. Your intervention kept him from regaining his place,” Selas said, grabbing the spear while gazing at Fi. “When will she…when will she wake up?”
“I don’t know,” Sora said, walking toward the exit. “We need to get out of here if we’re going to find out. Our 45 minutes are almost up.”
Jaskia hit the wall with more force than anticipated, pressing her shoulder to the panel to uphold the rest of her body. Red lasers flew around the corner, following Kurt as he slid across the
floor. Nait and Naos ran ahead of them both, aiming their pistols at the corner behind the group. The stampede prepared to round it.
Jaskia gasped, sucking air into her weak lungs and forcing herself to stumble forward. She hated that her injured body ran low on energy, but she couldn’t deny it. The wound in her stomach burned and her legs wobbled with every next step. Only this corridor sat in-between Jaskia and the hangar, but the journey seemed longer than the path to Scout’s cell.
Nelson swung around the corner with three soldiers on his tail. Jaskia forced her legs to move faster, firing some distraction shots toward the group. Kurt took out one soldier, but two more replaced their fallen comrade. Kurt ran away from the soldiers and reloaded his silenced pistol, while more soldiers joined Nelson. Red lasers dominated the corridor and one struck Jaskia’s back.
She winced, grabbing the wall again. Nait turned around and rushed toward her, getting off as many shots as possible while he covered her and ushered her forward. Jaskia bit her cheeks and tried to ignore the burn of her back while she kept walking. Naos stood at the hangar entrance several feet away, firing blue into the red chaos.
“Move faster!” Kurt said, allowing his armor to take several hits while he took out two more soldiers. He crept backward, keeping a healthy distance between himself and Nelson. “Less than 10 minutes left.”
Jaskia finally gave her feet a break, diving through the hangar entrance and rolling into the hangar. She felt like her stomach could rip again as she spun toward the ships. As her momentum decreased, she glanced back at the hangar to see Nait, Naos, and Kurt charging away from the red barrage. Kurt ripped Naos’ pistol out of his hand and fired at the panel next to the door. The circuits exploded in a flurry of colors.
“Don’t le—”
Nelson’s statement faded as the door automatically shut and locked.
“Are you all alright? Where’s Scout?”
Jaskia pulled herself off the floor, ignoring her stomach’s cries and her legs’ reluctance, and looked at Sora and Selas as they ran through the door on the left. Sora held a silver-haired woman in his arms, presumably the Fi everyone kept talking about. Jaskia didn’t know whether that meant success or failure.
“Uh…I...don’t…”
Nait stopped, grabbing his chest and catching his breath. Jaskia saw the water forming in his eyes. Selas grimaced, putting a hand on Sora’s shoulder. Sora looked from Nait and Naos to Selas. His lip trembled and formed into a frown. Jaskia saw the pain in his eyes.
“No,” Sora said. “This doesn’t make sense.”
“Bettina wanted Scout dead from the start,” Jaskia said, limping toward the group. Lasers echoed from the right door. “She used her body as a trap. Sorry, Sora.”
Naos sniffed, sucking the tears and congestion deeper into his head. “Um, is Fi…?”
“She’s alive,” Sora said, lowering his voice. His lip trembled again. “Just unconscious. It’s a long story.”
“The job’s done,” Kurt said, nodding at Jaskia and heading for his ship. “You only have a few minutes left, so I’d cut the crap and board your ship. Then transfer my payment.”
Jaskia looked from Kurt to the four other men. All of them looked despondent and Jaskia didn’t blame them, but she didn’t want to waste time crying over Scout. That wouldn’t avenge Bettina’s crime or improve their circumstances. Jaskia didn’t want to waste time debating about their next move or who to trust. If they’d moved faster, then maybe they would’ve saved Scout. Jaskia couldn’t erase the image of Scout’s electrocuted corpse and she didn’t want to see another orphan end up like that.
Li and Sem. She needed to keep them from a fate like this. She needed to keep a lot of people from a fate like this. Sentiment and trust wouldn’t keep anyone from death, no matter what Nait or Sora said.
“Kurt!” Jaskia said, causing him to stop but not look back. “Take me with you. I need to go back to Peor.”
“What?” Naos said, sniffing again. She didn’t look at him. “We just got you back. We especially can’t lose you now!”
“You didn’t ask for that when you hired me,” Kurt said, still not looking at her. “It would cost extra.”
“Trust me, I’ll make it worth your time,” Jaskia said, looking to Nait. His despondent face looked even worse. “I have people I need to get back to.”
“If you’re coming, then come on,” Kurt said, continuing his approach toward his ship.
“Jaskia, I need you here. I think we all do,” Nait said, stepping closer to her but motioning at the others. Sora nodded in agreement. “It’s dangerous for you to go with him. What’re you thinking? First, you let him leave Scout behind, and now you’re travelling with him?”
“That was the smart call, just like this is,” Jaskia said, shaking her head. “You don’t remember our talk? I told you that the Nebula needs people like you, but you shouldn’t expect the same from me. The Nebula needs people like me, too, and I have two kids who need me right now.”
“So, you’re going to take off with some merc and let the Queen get away with murder?!” Nait said. His face reddened and his nose twisted. “Is that you now?”
More lasers hit the door. They’d make it inside in seconds and the lockdown would commence in minutes.
“No, I’m not,” Jaskia said, stepping in Kurt’s direction. “I’m going to protect other kids like Scout from the Queen. Just because I’m not on your do-good crusade doesn’t mean that I’m not doing good.”
Jaskia would do more than good. She would build something. Something that would give kids on the street a purpose and stand against Bettina. Whatever that would become, it wouldn’t fit this crew’s innocent picture.
“Jask, don’t go. This isn’t the right decision,” Nait said, grabbing her arm. She scowled on instinct and ripped her arm out of his grasp. The right door vibrated in the background.
“Don’t do this,” Jaskia said, gritting her teeth.
“Two minutes,” Kurt said. He stood on his boarding ramp and the red flame of his ship’s engines burned to his right.
“Nait, this is Jaskia’s decision. Regardless of our feelings, if she wants to go, we have to let her go,” Sora said, raising his voice and gesturing to the Killer. “Scout would do the same, and Kurt’s right: We have to get out of here.”
Naos scoffed, shaking his head at Jaskia and walking toward the freighter. Still, he didn’t know how to talk to her, which she found comical at this point.
Nait swallowed. “Jask, there’s no reason—”
Jaskia grabbed his collar and leaned in, kissing him. After a few seconds, he pulled himself away from her with raised eyebrows and a blank face. Jaskia didn’t allow herself to smile, turning away and again approaching Kurt’s ship. She heard the shuffle of footsteps in the background as the Killer crew escaped.
As she reached Kurt’s ship, he grabbed her arm and pulled her up the ramp. While he charged to the cockpit, an explosion echoed in the background as the soldiers made it through the door. Jaskia hit the button that would close the ramp but turned to view the events. The Killer and Kurt’s ship both lifted off and zoomed out of the hangar. Ten seconds later, the hangar doors re-activated and clamped together.
As the ramp finished closing, Jaskia watched the Killer disappear into the clouds.
Yeah, she would miss him.
12
Sora watched the waves fluctuate on the computer next to Fi. The machines in the medical bay gave her fluids and monitored her vital signs, but she remained unconscious. She lay on the bed, completely motionless, but she still looked more at peace than she had inside the prison on Danforth. He’d had never seen that side of Fi and he hoped to never see it again.
Selas sat on the other side of the bed. Jekk hovered behind him, while Selas held her hand. “If she has brain activity, why isn’t she awake by now?”
“The rifles that Ursun gave us can pack a punch,” Trika said, leaning against the doorway. She sighed. “I guess a headshot can do s
ome damage, even for a stun.”
Sora frowned. He acted on impulse when he shot Fi. He couldn’t watch her kill herself, so he had no time to think. The stun option presented itself and he took the chance.
“No. That action may have been the catalyst for her body, but my mind concludes that her brain acts on its own accord,” Kossk said, pointing his claw at the computer and then at Fi. He rested the claw on her cheek and closed his eyes. “The body needs the brain to restructure itself, but my mind does not know why.”
“Since when did you become a doctor?” Trika said, scoffing.
“My mind bases these conclusions on the fluctuations and on instinct,” Kossk said, opening his eyes and removing his claw. Sora noticed that he put weight on his injured leg. “Her brain waves move in a way my mind has never witnessed.”
“Queen Bettina did something to her mind,” Selas said, narrowing his eyes and looking from Sora to Kossk and Trika. “The Fi that we fought in that prison was not the Fi we know. Whatever is happening is a result of Bettina’s actions.”
“Judging by what you said, you undid some of that by speaking to her,” Jekk said, giving Selas and Sora a look of reassurance. His right eye twitched. “That has to be a good sign.”
“Still, she wanted to commit suicide,” Selas said, grimacing and grasping her hand tighter.
Sora didn’t understand Bettina’s actions. They encountered no resistance other than Fi, and when he shot her, no soldiers came to provide re-enforcement. Sora knew that Bettina watched everything on that camera, but he didn’t know why she let them escape. He also didn’t understand Scout’s death. Yes, it served as a trap, but that accomplished nothing. Sora assumed that Bettina would have come in person if she really wanted to kill the other three teenagers inside the prison.
Maybe he just didn’t want to accept Scout’s death. He blinked the growing tears away.
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