A Star Reborn: A Space Opera Adventure (Seven Stars Saga Book 2)

by AJ Super

“They’re right,” he whispered. “Maybe not about the reasons why. But having the rising religiousness on board contained and directed is preferable to it causing chaos.” He shook his head. “And having that energy pointed away from you like a scalpel, instead of pointed at you… You can use this.”

  Nyx tipped her head back. This was a bad thing. She knew it. There would be a price to pay for manipulating people’s emotions and faith. Faith in Erebus and Phoebe. Faith in Crius and Yoon. Faith in her. But Malcam was right, the Seven Stars religion was heavily influencing her crew, and they needed a focus. “So…” She sighed, exasperated. “You started a cult?”

  Matthews nodded. “A Cult of Nyx.”

  Nyx froze. The Cult of Nyx. She looked at the expectant faces of the Greene siblings who stood quietly at her feet. These people, these children, would be following her. Into who knows what. To find Phoebe and Erebus. To take back the Protectorate. Then what? What came next?

  Nyx’s stomach burned. Could she rule the known universe? Could she take solar systems and dominate them? Make them prosper? Make them love her? The heat filled her whole body, and she trembled. She was the God of Gods. The Star of Nyx. What couldn’t she do? She shook the ideas away. This was all madness. Why would she ever need that much of anything? She didn’t need the universe. She only needed her family.

  She opened her mouth to tell Matthews to figure out a way to stop his unhinged idea, and the Thanatos shuddered.

  Proximity alarms shrieked and red alarm lights flashed.

  Nyx jumped down from the table as the Greene siblings gathered their balance, and she strode to the door.

  They were under attack.

  13

  Nyx sped down the corridor as the gravity generators rattled the ship. She stumbled and held herself up on one of the smooth panels lit red for the proximity and weapons alarms. She ground her jaw, walking brusquely towards the command deck.

  Her comm crackled.

  “What is it, Erebus?” She raised her head as she strode quickly.

  “Non. Pas Erebus,” Sarama said in her thick Queen’s accent. “Je suis désolée. I know this channel is private. Mais… We’re being hailed, and I didn’t know who you were bringing with you.”

  Nyx looked behind her. She had quite the entourage. Malcam and Yoon walked shoulder-to-shoulder directly behind her; Matthews followed behind them, and the Greene twins stalked quickly behind him, keeping their eyes diligently moving to the sides and back of the group, as if they were protecting her on her own ship. A small ball formed in Nyx’s stomach, and she wondered where these two originally came from that they seemed so ready to fight and protect her. She didn’t want to find out how fierce these two children would be in battle either; they looked like two Elysion vipers coiled and ready to strike. Would using their faith be the right decision? What if she lost it? They would turn on her just as fast, and their venom would kill her just as surely.

  “Mon capitaine? It’s Le Loup. What do you want me to do?” Sarama’s voice crackled over the hijacked comm.

  Le Loup. It had come for the Thanatos once before, when Malcam had taken her and Kai hostage and the ore hauler Calliope Three Nine Six had been booby-trapped to set the Thanatos ablaze.

  “Put it up on the view-screen.” Nyx bit her cheek as she came up the corridor to the bridge. “I’m almost there.”

  “Yes, sir. Sarama out.”

  Nyx nodded and started jogging to the pad by the bridge door. She straightened her maroon jumpsuit. If only Malcam had let her put on a uniform, she’d be carrying so much more weight than her civvies could. But this would have to do. Anyone on the other end would have to deal with her in or out of uniform, and she would be formidable. Especially with Erebus at her side. She smirked. Sending any signal to the Thanatos would allow Erebus to infect the intruding ship. The people on the other end had no chance.

  “Erebus, are you ready?” she whispered.

  Erebus giggled through the comm. “To battle?”

  Nyx nodded and slapped the door pad. The door whisked open. Her steps faltered.

  The dark brown eyes of the ochre-robed specter on the view-screen burned through her. The monk crossed his arms and smirked.

  Nyx pulled her lips tight, white skin paling. “Coeus. What hole did you crawl out of?”

  He narrowed his eyes, short black lashes hooding his scowl. “What kind of greeting is that for an old friend?”

  “We’re not friends.” Nyx stalked down the stairs to the black leather captain’s chair in the middle of the first level of the deck. Erebus’ emerald code swirled across the deck behind Coeus, pulsing on the fine strand of signal from the narrow-wave between the two ships. Nyx quirked a brow. How had Erebus so thoroughly infected Coeus’ ship already?

  “Not friends?” Coeus scoffed. “I’m sure that would hurt la reine to hear. She did want me to find you, after all.”

  Nyx’s head snapped up, and she straightened her shoulders. “Do you know where she and Erebus are?” She gripped the back of the captain’s chair.

  Coeus smiled wider. “I’m afraid there’s someone who wants them more than you.”

  Nyx knit her brows. “And I suppose you’re actually working for that someone, you opportunistic merde.”

  He shrugged. “It’s better than the alternative. And all I have to do is bring the fake Star of Nyx to her.”

  “Fake? What fake?”

  Coeus raised an eyebrow. “I mean you, pirate.”

  She pointed at herself. “Me?”

  “No damned pirate can be a god. I’ve seen the real Star of Nyx. She’s much more suited than a putain de brigand.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about, monk.”

  He grunted. “Only the real Star would.”

  Nyx set her jaw, confused. So many things didn’t add up. Why was Erebus in Le Loup already? What was Coeus talking about? A real Star of Nyx? A fake? She exhaled and rolled her eyes. “I don’t have time for your riddles, cafard.” She turned to the Comms Officer on duty and motioned for them to cut the feed.

  “I’ve been ordered to bring you in if I find you. Every privateer from here to dark space has,” Coeus interrupted.

  “Belay that,” Nyx muttered and turned back to Coeus. “By who?”

  “You’re a danger to the universe. You and the whole pantheon. You’re supposed to be worshipped. Loved. Put on a metaphorical pedestal. But la reine rose. And you will too, if given a chance. That’s what she says. The real Star of Nyx.”

  Erebus’ emerald code swirled behind the monk. It dawned on Nyx that she must have infected Coeus’ ship back when Le Loup had come for the Thanatos, when Malcam shot Kai. But it wasn’t Coeus’ ship then… Whose was it? Was it the mysterious real Star of Nyx? Nyx shook her head. There was no such person. The captain of the ship hadn’t hailed the Medusa back then… Maybe Sarama remembered being hailed on the Thanatos and knew who had captained her. And if there was another Star of Nyx, they were just posing. Having grandiose delusions. “Regardless of my plans, I doubt this person has the power to stop a space-flea, let alone an actual Star. Test me and see what I can do.”

  Coeus looked down his sharp nose at her. “Just surrender. You’re outgunned.”

  She smirked and waved a hand. “Erebus, shut them down.”

  The comm was dead silent.

  “Erebus?”

  “Some… thing… wrong.” Erebus’ hoarse whisper crackled over the comm behind Nyx’s ear. A low guttural moan rose. “Nooooo. Make them stop. Make them… Nooooo.” Her voice writhed, slithering up and down in a rasping scream. Erebus wailed. The sound pierced through the comms of the entire ship, high and tight with pain. The command crew covered their ears.

  Coeus’ eyes brightened.

  Nyx doubled over, ripping the comm from her head, hands over her ears.

  Erebus gasped. “Don’t… don’t let them take me.” And the ship was quiet.

  Nyx stood and raised her head, looking around. “Erebus?” she whispered.
“Are you there? Are you still with us?” She stared at the hardware across the deck. Erebus’ emerald whorls had disappeared from the consoles of the Thanatos.

  “Where’s your secret weapon now?” Coeus smirked.

  “What did you do to Erebus?” Nyx growled.

  “Me? Nothing. The Star of Nyx, however, she probably took her sister back.”

  “I am the Star of Nyx!”

  White tendrils shot from her body over the faint green code dancing along the narrow-wave. They twined with the weakened code and stoked it to life. Whatever had taken Erebus from the Thanatos hadn’t disinfected Le Loup. And it hadn’t broken her connection with Erebus either. She could still ride Erebus’ code and control it.

  Coeus knew who was behind Erebus’ sudden disappearance. Anger boiled in her stomach. No one would take her family from her again. He would pay.

  “Float, truc de merde.” She slithered through Erebus’ code and shut down the weapons system, the engines, the gravity, life support, everything but the lights. “I want to see you die. Slowly.” She squeezed her nails into her palms.

  Coeus paled. “How are you…? You can’t. Only the Star of Nyx…”

  “I already told you: I am the Star of Nyx. If you don’t embrace this reality, die in it.”

  He grimaced. “Yes, yes. You made me what I am now. I’ll concede that you have her powers. So, you know you can’t kill me this way.”

  Her anger rose red, bubbling bright. He was too far away to manipulate, but she could see the geometric pulsing of Coeus’ ochre light. She had no link to him, no way to douse his white flame. If she stretched, pushed, maybe she could… Her whole body tensed, and she shook, groaning with the effort, but he was just out of reach. Safe in the black. A scream resonated from her chest as her white face turned crimson.

  Coeus chuckled. “But if you made me, is it really that hard to un-make me?”

  Nyx panted. A heavy hand rested on her shoulder, warm blue waves crashing against her white wisps.

  She took a deep breath. Malcam. He wasn’t questioning her. He wasn’t telling her to stop. He just stood beside her silently.

  “Where did Erebus go?” Nyx growled.

  “It’s getting stale and cold in here.” Coeus rubbed his bare shoulders.

  “Answer my questions, and I’ll think about giving life support back,” Nyx threatened.

  Coeus shrugged. “My guess is they pulled her central consciousness from the Thanatos and put it in the Sia-unit they captured. The other Nyx has the tech to do it.”

  “How is that even possible?” Matthews muttered behind Nyx, startling her. She had forgotten that she had an entourage follow her onto the bridge. She glanced behind her, and Yoon, Matthews, and the Greene twins stood just inside the door on the second level.

  “Who is this other me? What does she want?”

  Coeus’ face darkened. “You. She wants you. She wants all the Stars. She’s gathering the pantheon.”

  Nyx bit her cheek. This other Nyx could start another AI War. But since Nyx had already infected three of the other six Stars, would this other Nyx be able to do what she could and absorb and manipulate their powers? Lenus already said that overlapping Nyx vectors was deadly… Is that why Phoebe and Erebus hadn’t been absorbed by this new Nyx already?

  “Do you know where I can find this Star of Nyx wannabe?”

  Coeus coughed. His breath puffed white. “Life support would be nice. No?”

  “And where are my sisters? Where are Erebus and Phoebe?”

  He shook his head.

  “Just take Le Loup and run. Run far away where she can’t find you. Where I can’t find you,” Nyx snarled.

  He rubbed his shoulders more to warm them. “Okay. I’ll do that, if there’s anything left after this stunt of yours…”

  “Branleur! I just want information! Don’t make me do this!”

  The lights on Le Loup flickered. Nyx’s eye’s widened. It would be the Kokou all over again… Only this time, she would have done it on purpose. But he had to believe she would kill him; le cafard had to believe. She had to believe. Her shoulders stiffened under Malcam’s hand, and he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

  The problem was, she absolutely could kill Le Loup and its crew, just to get at Coeus. Her chest burned with rage. He was a part of the reason Erebus was gone. That was enough for her to want him dead… But also, he was running around free when Phoebe and Erebus were prisoners. What did he do to endear himself to the new Protectorate and its leader? Nyx wanted to strangle him with her own hands but settled on watching him turn blue with cold.

  After a pause, Coeus puffed out an icy breath. “Rumor is there’s a resistance to the new Protectorate.” He grimaced. “The Star of Nyx followed some intel on her way to crush them and knows you already have the answers. I don’t need to give them to you.”

  Nyx held up the datacard she retrieved on Oglae. “This?”

  Coeus’ eyes sparkled.

  She handed it to Malcam, and he walked to the ExO’s console and plugged it into an open drive socket under the workspace. “Opening in secure server,” he grumbled. “It’s a schematic with locations of political prisoners, dates of transfer… and execution. There are just, literal stars in this entry. No names. I’d assume this is them.” He tapped on the console. “What ship is this?” He tipped his head in surprise. “Really?” Malcam looked up at Coeus on the view-screen. “Is this true?”

  “Would love some life-support, then I’ll tell you.”

  “Is what true?” Nyx’s lip twitched in disgust, ignoring Coeus.

  “They never left La Terre.” Malcam’s fingers flew across the keypad on the console.

  Nyx closed her eyes. All this time looking, and they were in plain sight. And possibly in the hardest to infiltrate ship in the known universe. The only reason she’d succeeded before was blind luck and her powers. She’d need more this time with the coup stirring things up. She’d need an army of her own. She looked back at Yoon. She could get access to an army.

  “You have your answers now. Life support?” Coeus croaked, face paling and lips bluing with lack of oxygen.

  She turned back to the monk, her face hard. She slid along Erebus’ weak emerald code and flipped the life support back on. Coeus’ body relaxed, and he breathed deep.

  The smile that crept across his face turned Nyx’s gut. There was no way he could live. Not him. He would forever be a thorn in her side. She dug her nails into her palm and closed her eyes. Forgive her the lives that were going to go the way of the Kokou. At least she could let some escape… Some could live…

  Red lights began to flash on the bridge of Le Loup. The ochre-robed monk tensed and lifted his head. “There are innocent people on this ship, pirate.”

  Nyx was silent. She knew the stakes.

  A chime set off in the background and a countdown started over Le Loup’s comms.

  “It sounds like you have ten seconds to find an escape pod.”

  “Salope,” Coeus hissed and ran from the deck.

  The countdown echoed through the Thanatos’ bridge. “Huit, sept, six, cinq…”

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Yoon asked over the countdown. “Not everyone is going to get off that boat.”

  Nyx stared straight ahead.

  “… Deux, un…”

  “Put Le Loup on screen, s’il vous plaît,” Nyx said calmly.

  The flashy, gold privateer ship sat quietly in space. Small, single person escape pods shot in every direction from the motionless ship.

  Sarama cleared her throat. “Are you okay?”

  Nyx nodded.

  Malcam turned to her. “You turned off the autodestruct at the last second?”

  She sneered a little and snorted. “It was a bluff.” She sighed. It was just a bluff, wasn’t it? She wasn’t going to destroy Le Loup, was she? Her knees were rubber, and she flopped down in the captain’s chair.

  “I’m leaving the ship disabled. Put out an emerge
ncy beacon. Let the Protectorate pick up their own trash.” She turned. “Navigation Specialist… You’re new. What’s your name?”

  The mousy, brown-haired young man turned and tapped his white fingers to his chest. “Paladichuk. George. Mon capitaine.”

  “Well, Specialist Paladichuk George,” Nyx said, smiling at her joke, “jump us to the moon in dark space off the trade lanes.”

  “Aye.” He tapped his chest again and turned to his console, inputting the jump space coordinates.

  Even the newbies were saluting the Star of Nyx, as opposed to Captain Nyx. Matthews might be right; she might need to harness this madness before it ate her alive.

  She stared at Le Loup on the view-screen and took a breath. It was close. She almost killed Coeus, but at the expense of so many other lives. She looked down at her hands and took a deep breath. This new leader of the Protectorate, whatever she was claiming to be, was emboldening even the lowest of the low to do her dirty work. Coeus was proof enough, crawling out of his opportunistic little hole. She was going to have to start taking drastic actions to get her family back from the new Protectorate.

  She stood and straightened her shoulders. Turning to her little entourage, she shook her head. She didn’t want it to come to this. She just wanted her sisters back, and the Protectorate under Phoebe’s watch again. But this was the way it was going to be.

  “It’s time to plan a war.”

  14

  The three-dimensional star map illuminated in front of Nyx. She leaned on the console in the center of her tan desk, elbows straight. She didn’t often use the office; she had no need. Disciplining crew wasn’t something that happened on the Thanatos. And anything else she needed privacy for, she could do in her quarters. “We can go back to the Andraste and get the clones. How many are there? Ten thousand? Twenty? More? Enough to man a Battle Station? Can we just take over the Andraste?” She glanced around the room. Yoon stood across the desk from her, his fists clenching.

  “You said you’d take me back to protect them, not to use them,” he hissed under his breath.