by Lee Savino
I swallow hard. “I cannot stay,” I whisper, forcing the words from my mouth. “While First remains alive, there is no future for Diana and me.”
My dragon roars in displeasure. Theldre doesn’t say anything for a long time. We sit in silence and drink our civa. Finally, when I get to my feet, prepared to take my leave, he speaks. “More than six months ago, we rescued two human women. Diana Behrman and Lisa Kwok.” A smile flickers over his face. “Diana tried to kill me with a glass blade she’d scavenged from the laboratory equipment.”
Pride fills me. My mate is a fighter. “That doesn’t surprise me in the slightest.”
“She attacked me because she was protecting Lisa,” he clarifies. “Both women are kin. They are the daughters of my heart, blessings beyond measure. Lisa is as smart as Diana. As capable. Every pirate on my ship is skilled. Do you know why Diana is my successor, not any of the others?”
I shake my head.
“We rescued her. We cared for her. The Mahala is her home now. We are her family, and when you are Diana Behrman’s family, she will fight to the death for you.”
He frowns thoughtfully. “No, that’s not quite right. Let me rephrase. Diana keeps her head in a crisis. She won’t engage in pointless heroics, that’s not her style. Instead, she will keep everyone alive. And that’s what a leader does.”
He looks up at me “You don’t need to protect your mate, Mirak. That’s not what she needs. You just need to care for her.”
24
Diana
When I wake up to the steady beep of the alarm, Mirak isn’t at my side.
He slipped out.
A wave of disappointment washes over me. I squelch it ruthlessly. I have no business getting too attached to Mirak. At the bar, he made it clear that he wasn’t looking for anything serious. Just one night, he said.
I’m a hookup to him, and hookups don’t spend the night.
But it had felt like more.
I told him things I don’t tell other people. I told him about Zabek’s efforts to undermine me; I haven’t discussed that with anyone, not even Lisa. I told him about my father, about my upbringing, about how much I’d struggled to fit in when CPS had taken me away from the only home I’d known.
He’d listened, his face serious and intent. He hadn’t offered me platitudes; he hadn’t dismissed my concerns. He’d held my hand, and he’d offered me comfort.
He’s infuriating, and he’s kind. I think I’m addicted to him. It’s going to suck when he leaves.
You have no one to blame except yourself, I tell myself sternly. Now, stop moping about Mirak. You have things to do.
I take a long shower. My muscles are stiff, and I feel sore between my legs. A very welcome soreness. The sex had been amazing. I don’t have a lot to compare it to, but it was the best sex of my life. Mirak was—
My comm beeps. I force the memories away, turn off the water, and towel myself dry. Time for coffee and a good breakfast. I have to confront Zabek this morning, and I really would prefer to do that on a full stomach.
I’m due at the bridge, so I head there immediately after breakfast to relieve Hani’vi, who had the overnight watch. Mirak is there already, seated at the navigation station. My heart speeds up when I see him there, and I have to catch myself before I beam like an idiot.
Every member of the crew probably already knows he spent part of the night in my quarters. I want to stay somewhat professional, though, so I avoid looking at Mirak, and nod to Hani’vi. “All clear?”
“Yes, Chief Officer,” she replies, her face deadpan. “It was a pretty quiet night. Here. On the bridge.”
“Ha-ha, very funny.” I take a quick look at the readings. Mirak has plotted a course that will get us to the Rompthik sector in three and a half days, shaving a minimum of three days off the journey, and getting us there even faster than Parani would have.
There’s a routine notification from one of Thel’s spies. The Zeem Merchant Guild is buying up the entire supply of iboe taojuj in the Zeem sector and reselling it at an extortionate mark-up. Thel’s spy at the Zeemat Exchange informs me that the Guild will be transporting their supplies from one sector world to another in a week’s time.
Zeem isn’t too far away from Rompthik. We could raid the Guild once we drop off the Draekons. I make a mental note to discuss it with Thel and move on through the rest of the briefings. There’s nothing important, nothing on Blood Heart, nothing about First. If he’s found out about his team’s failure on Avela, he’s not talking about it, at least not in front of Thel’s spy.
I know I’m procrastinating. In a perfect world, I’d prefer to avoid this confrontation with Zabek. If I say nothing and let his insubordination slide, I’m creating a terrible precedent. But if I assert myself and demand Zabek’s removal from the Mahala, then I’ll end up breaking Thel’s heart.
I can’t show weakness. Zabek disobeyed my orders. He murdered four people in cold blood. I can’t let that slide.
That’s not the only reason I’m lingering on the bridge. We’re going to tear free from one wormhole and dive into another any minute now. It’s the most dangerous part of the navigation process, and I’ll be honest, I’m just sticking around to watch Mirak work.
Ogle him, you mean.
His expression is serene. He’s not looking at me any longer; he’s entirely focused on what he’s doing. His fingers dance over the instruments in a symphony of competence. I brace myself for the lurch, but there isn’t any. The Mahala glides from one warp to another, and if I didn’t know it was going to happen, I’d have never guessed.
“Wow,” Axion whispers, looking as impressed as I feel. “That was amazing.”
It really was. The things we could do if we had a navigator of Mirak’s caliber…
He’s not staying, I remind myself sharply. My heart pangs. Gritting my teeth, I get to my feet. I need to get the hell out of here before I do something stupid.
Like telling Mirak I need him and asking him to stay.
I look for Zabek in his cabin; he’s not there. He’s not with Thel either. I pull out my screen to search for his location and discover he’s headed toward the cargo hold, where we’ve created a temporary prison for Danax, the Zorahn scientist.
Gritting my teeth, I sprint to the nearest stairway and hurry there, arriving at the makeshift cell a few minutes after Zabek does. For a second, I watch his futile attempts to unlock the door, and then I step forward. “I need to talk to you,” I tell him grimly.
His head snaps up. For a split-second, I see the rage on his face as he realizes that he doesn’t have access to Danax’s prison, and then his expression smooths out. “I was hoping to run into you as well, Chief Officer. I owe you a large apology.”
It’s Chief Officer now, is it? I repress my desire to snort in disdain. How stupid does Zabek think I am?
“You killed four men that were on the verge of surrendering.”
He ducks his head and avoids my gaze. “I didn’t intend to. I snapped, Chief Officer.”
“I’m not buying that. You forget, I was there. After you killed them, you stepped over their fallen bodies without any sign of remorse. Or have you forgotten that you justified what you did by telling me that memory wipes can fail?”
He swallows. “I was in shock at what I’d done. I was trying to save face. To make it seem like my actions were premeditated. Better a charge of insubordination than the truth, which was that I lost control.”
“I fail to see how that’s better.”
“I’m not a savage beast that acts on animal instinct,” he retorts.
Is that a subtle dig at Mirak? If so, Zabek can go fuck himself.
He takes a look at my stony expression, and his face falls. “This is difficult for me to admit,” he sighs. “From the moment you rescued me on Besep 3, I’ve done everything in my power to make your life difficult. I’ve sneered at your abilities. I’ve undermined you. You took my place on the Mahala, and I resented you for it.”
&
nbsp; “And all of a sudden, now that you’re in real trouble, you’ve had a change of heart.”
He shakes his head. “I lay awake last night thinking about what I’d done in the heat of battle,” he says, his voice low. “I came to a realization. My priorities need realignment. You have every right to ask me to leave the Mahala, Diana. But I beg you to reconsider. My father is sick. The disease is ravaging him. I don’t know how much time he has left.” He looks up, and there’s genuine grief in his eyes. “You know Theldre. If you tell him about yesterday’s events, he will throw me out.” He draws in a breath. “I don’t care about being the Second-in-Command any longer, Diana. I’m done with this power struggle. All I ask is that you don’t separate me from my father.”
Fuck. Fuck.
I can’t kick him out. I don’t trust Zabek, and I don’t buy his sudden contrition, but his appeal hits too close to home. CPS took me away from my father, and I never saw him alive again. That wound will never completely heal.
I can’t put Zabek through the same thing. I just can’t.
“Fine,” I say grudgingly. “I won’t discuss yesterday’s incident with Thel.” I swipe my access pass over the lock. “Was that it?”
“Can I hear what the scientist has to say?”
My first instinct is to tell him to take a hike. I trust Zabek as far as I can throw him, which is not at all. But again, I think of Thel, and I don’t give voice to my feelings. “Of course,” I murmur reluctantly. “Come on in.”
After seeing the condition of the laboratory yesterday, and smelling the alcohol on Danax’s breath, I don’t have a lot of hope that the scientist is our answer. But what little hope I have is dashed when I enter the prison, because Danax stares at us blankly. “Who are you?” he asks as soon as we step into the room. “Where am I?”
“You don’t remember? We found you on Avela.”
“Avela.” His expression brightens. “I have a laboratory there, you know.” He leans toward us and lowers his voice to a confiding whisper. “It’s supposed to be a secret.”
My heart sinks. Danax didn’t make a lot of sense yesterday either, but he also reeked of booze, and I thought he was drunk. But almost a full day has elapsed. The alcohol should have worked its way out of his system. I exchange a despairing glance with Zabek. “What are you working on?”
“I can’t tell you.” He looks around the room. “I wasn’t supposed to find out.” His voice sharpens in suspicion. “Who sent you?”
Zabek jumps in before I can. “Brunox did,” he says, referring to the Head of the Council of Scientists. “He read your last report. He’s very intrigued by your conclusions. He sent us to talk to you.”
I glare at him. I loathe Danax for what he did to the Draekons in his lab, but the scientist is not well. Deceiving him like this doesn’t sit right with me, not when it’s obvious that he’s never going to be able to come up with a cure for Thel.
“Brunox read my report?” The man perks up. “What did he think?”
“Well,” Zabek hedges. “Your conclusion took him by—”
“Shock.” Danax nods solemnly. “I was shocked myself. I’ve researched this for years. I haven’t slept. I’ve pushed myself tirelessly. And no matter what I try, I always get the same results. There’s no possible way to remove the Draekon gene from the population, not without unraveling our DNA.”
Wait, what? I sit up. “Explain,” I demand.
He gives me a puzzled look. “The Draekon gene is present in every Zorahn,” he says. “Male and female. In most of the population, the trait is dormant. But dormant or not, it plays a vital role in our makeup. For us to get further in our research, we need to expand our experiments.”
I didn’t know that every Zorahn carried the Draekon gene. Judging from Zabek’s sudden, sharp interest, he didn’t know either. I don’t like the look on his face. Not one bit.
Danax’s expression turns eager. “The authorization I need, do you have it?”
This ghoul wants to subject more people to his torture. I’ve heard enough. “Brunox orders you to stop your research,” I snap. “He has a new assignment for you. A friend of his, an Ekton, is suffering from an autoimmune disorder. He wants you to work on a cure.”
“Ekton?” Horror flits across Danax’s face. “Why would I work on Ektons? That’s not where the prestige is, don’t you understand?” His voice rises. “Tell the Council I’ll work harder. I’ll take more remit. I’ll do whatever it takes, do you understand?”
“Remit?” Zabek spits out, his face contorted with rage. He lunges toward Danax, his fists clenched. “You took remit? You fool, why would you do that?”
My fingers curl over the hilt of my blade. The blade Mirak returned to me last night. “Zabek,” I say evenly. “One more step toward Danax, and you’ll find out exactly how good I am with a knife. Sit back down, calm yourself. What is remit?”
For a second, he looks like he wants to defy me again. Then, awareness fills him. He exhales slowly and backs away from the scientist. “Remit is a street drug,” he says. “Banned throughout the High Empire, it temporarily increases brain function, but prolonged use quite literally rots the brain.” He gives Danax a disgusted look. “This fool isn’t capable of research anymore,” he says. “He’ll alternate between brief moments of clarity and long stretches of madness. He’s useless to us.”
25
Mirak
This next segment in our run to the Rompthik sector is tricky. There are several jumps we need to make, one right after the other, and even though I’ve programmed the route into the nav computer, I still stick around.
The route I’ve calculated will get us there in a little over three days. If I could go faster, I would. I’m acutely aware that there are sixty Draekons on the ship, Draekons that First wants to kill. If he finds out where they are… if he finds us…
I push the Mahala on through a dizzying sequence of wormhole jumps. I’m not used to worrying. I’m not used to caring about someone with such bone-splintering intensity. Even the thought of something happening to Diana steals the breath from my lungs.
I wonder if this is how Kadir feels about Alice. If this is how protective Ruhan is of Lani. How do they survive, with this responsibility hanging over their heads?
They don’t leave when the going gets hard. They stick around. They protect their mates.
I dismiss that unwelcome thought. I don’t need doubt right now. I cannot second-guess myself. I’ve made up my mind to walk away and to focus First’s attention elsewhere, and that’s what I’m going to do.
When the route is stable, I head to my room, shut the door, and comm Dariux. “I’m on the Mahala,” I tell him. “I talked to Theldre last night.”
Dariux leans forward eagerly. “And?”
I shake my head. “Nothing yet. But I might have a lead. Theldre ab Beni is suffering from some kind of autoimmune disease. He walks with a limp. Every step causes him pain. His ankles are swollen. Healing tanks aren’t much help.”
The Draekon catches on at once. “We have Raiht’vi,” he breathes. “You think we should propose a trade? A cure in exchange for the spy network?”
He did not just say that.
“Are you out of your mind?” I snap. “You blackmailed the five of us to look for the human women when we would have done it if you’d just asked. I thought you learned the error of your ways, but you obviously haven’t absorbed a thing.” I shake my head in disgust. “You don’t need captive helpers. You need allies.”
I cut the comm, still fuming. I sympathize with the Rebellion. Their goals are mine. But Caeron, Dariux and Tarish can be dicks.
My next comm is to my brothers. After a quick exchange of greetings, I walk them through my encounter with First. I tell them how he believes he carries the Supreme Mother’s genes. I tell them that the two of them plotted to bring down the Emperor, though I leave any mention of Fifth out of it. For now. I tell them about his cryptic hints that he has more than one plan to overthrow Lenox a
nd become the High Emperor in his place.
“Then I told him he was a self-deluded fool, and the entire thing had been a ploy to keep him distracted while the Rebellion rescued the Draekons,” I finish.
Sixth draws a sharp breath. “That was dangerous,” he says. “You baited First. You deliberately antagonized him. He’s going to remember what you did, Fourth. And you know he holds a grudge.”
“I had no other choice.”
“Really?” Fifth quirks an eyebrow. “Why didn’t you just stop the pirates? You could have intercepted them at the port in Avela. You could have asked Ruhan to hack into the pirate ship and shut them down.”
“I…” I fall silent. I don’t really have a good answer.
Kadir chuckles. “Isn’t it obvious? He wanted Diana to succeed.” He smiles warmly. “Alice and I are looking forward to meeting her.”
Damn Kadir and his ability to read emotions. He’s right. I had wanted Diana to succeed. I had wanted her to succeed so much that any of the other options hadn’t even occurred to me.
“Back to First,” Sixth says. “Fourth, there’s no point telling you not to antagonize First. It’s too late, it’s already done. Watch your back. He’ll be looking for you, and he’ll be gunning for revenge.”
“Good,” I say grimly. “Because I want to meet him again. And this time, it won’t be under truce.”
We finish our conversation. I address Fifth. “Can I talk to you alone?”
“Sure.” The others exit the comm, and he turns to me. “This is about the Great War, isn’t it?”
“Have you been taking mind-reading lessons from Kadir?” I try to smile, though there’s nothing amusing about what I’m going to say next. A thousand years ago, the second-generation Draekons, tired of their appointed roles as soldier-slaves, rose up against their Zorahn overlords. Historians call it the Draekon Rampage, but to the six of us, it will always be the Great War. For a few days, we even dared to hope that the Empire would negotiate with us, and we would win our freedom. And then our hope was forever extinguished.
