by AJ Super
Screeching and confusion surrounded Nyx as the people and guards began to realize something was wrong. Suddenly everyone was pushing to the double arched door.
Nyx planted herself in front of it and allowed the press of people to flow by her as she marked them with her blood. They streamed out of the door and down the smooth stone and glass hall. As the final group pushed their way through, Nyx turned to the doors and breathed, sending her tendrils snaking through a rainbow of energy.
She flattened the flames in her wake, and with a muffled rush, everyone foundered and slumped to the ground.
A guard rushed up behind Nyx, prod raised and charged. She lifted her hand and slapped him across the face, leaving a bloody handprint. He paused, confused. She blew him a kiss and his eyes rolled back, and his body went limp.
In the corner, Malcam stepped on a guard and held a prod to his back, causing the guard to convulse violently. Next to him, three other guards laid in a heap.
The wife stood by the window, looking down at the cube with her drink. Nyx walked up behind her.
The woman cleared her throat and downed the last of her drink. “Figured I was way too lucky to get outta that thing alive.”
Nyx laid her palm on the back of the woman’s hand.
“You some kinda angel of death?” She looked at Nyx, face soft.
Nyx nodded. “I’m the Star of Nyx.”
The wife raised an eyebrow. “Bénies sont Les Étoiles. Ce sont des dieux parmi les hommes.” She set her jaw. “At least I get to go to the black knowing the Star sent me there. Thank you.”
Nyx closed her eyes. If it weren’t for the fact that this woman literally stabbed her husband in the back to survive, she’d make a wonderful addition to the Cult of Nyx. But Nyx couldn’t take the chance. Once a survivor, always a survivor. The strong rise… But because she prioritized herself over her loved ones, Nyx could never forgive her. This woman’s strength meant nothing.
“I won’t have to live without my Johnathan.”
Nyx started. And the wife collapsed at her feet.
Malcam walked up behind her. “We done here?”
Nyx stared down at the woman on the ground, then cleared her throat. “We’ll likely find some resistance among the upper echelons of the guards, but other than that, this asteroid is ours.” Nyx crossed her arms and stared at the ring below her. “Doubt we’ll have use for that.”
Malcam smirked. “Bet I can find one.”
19
Nyx glanced around the crowd. She had stunned the sea of miners surrounding the cube into silence. If she was in their place, she wouldn’t be sure what she’d witnessed either. The touch of a hand. A man collapsing as he rushed to attack. And it had happened not once, but twice. Now a crimson-faced captain ground his teeth in front of Nyx, the mystery woman who had taken down two burly guards with the wave of a hand, like magic.
Matthews hovered next to Nyx and bent to her ear, white robes billowing. He nodded to the Warden standing outside of the cube, waiting. “This specimen is the Captain of the guard. He’s a man known for his brutality and fighting abilities in the mines. Are you sure you want to fight him, too?”
Nyx eyed the knife the High Consul held to his side. No. She didn’t want to fight anymore. She was tired, and her nanomedics were straining to keep up with how much she had bled over the day. The massacre in the gallery had drained her, mentally and physically. She wasn’t the kind of person who killed for no reason. Was she? But she had a reason… She was freeing people from indenture. From this black-dust-filled hole in the universe. And yet another man stood in her way of that. “Just give him his weapon. Let’s see what he can do.”
Matthews tapped his heart and walked to the captain. The cruel smile that spread across Matthew’s face as he gave the man the knife sent a chill through Nyx’s limbs. He knew that the man wouldn’t survive this, and he was a cat gloating over a canary.
The cavern around the glass cube swarmed with dusty miners. With a small defensive cut on the palm of her hand, Nyx had already quickly dispatched two minor guards with little fighting skill, big men who thought they could overpower a small woman.
Matthews backed out of the ring, leaving the black and silver clad captain and Nyx alone in the overwhelming quiet. As he left, the soft chanting of “Bénie est L’étoile de Nyx. Elle nous protégera,” filtered through the open passage from the cube.
Blessed is the Star of Nyx. She will protect us. The four crewmen who had volunteered to come with her on the op to take over the asteroid stood out in their Thanatos uniforms. Their mouths moved in synch with the chant, and a couple of the miners around them had also picked up the mantra, slowly spreading it, a disease of faith. Or were her crew just repeating a prayer muttered under the breath of the miners? Did the crowd worship the Star of Nyx on this forsaken rock already?
Her inattention was the opening the captain of the guard needed. He rushed at her, plunging the knife into her side as she stepped away from him. Nyx looked down, lips tight. She would definitely need a new uniform after this. Two rents had been torn in the fabric of the abdomen, and she was bleeding profusely again. She doubted she’d be able to fight much more after this. She was getting tired.
He quickly pulled the knife out and lunged. Nyx wiped her hand in the blood, her gut stitching itself together quickly. She side-stepped and caught his hand with bloody fingers, pulling him off balance as she slid by him. She coughed and wiped her mouth, tasting blood. He must have nicked her lung. She shrugged. It would be healed quickly, nothing to worry about. The blood just tasted bad when she coughed, and she bubbled a little when she breathed. It would pass.
The captain whirled and slashed at her, but she had retreated to the opposite side of the ring and stood there with a defiant look on her face. Even if he surrendered now, she would have to kill him. She stared at his lemony swirls and licked her lips. He looked good enough to eat. She clenched her fist.
The white flame within his swirling yellow energy sputtered and died. His eyes glassed, and he froze mid-step. He exhaled loudly as he crumbled to the floor.
Nyx walked to the center of the ring and lifted her arms, inviting any other challengers. S’il vous plaît, no more. She waved her hands.
Outside the cube, presumably, Matthews was calling for anyone else who wished to rise. When no one came forward, Nyx dropped her hands and turned slowly, overlooking the miners in the cavern. More around the Thanatos’ crew were chanting. She had control of the asteroid now and, presumably, the cooperation of the remaining guards.
She walked to the door of the cube and placed her palm on the glass. The door slid open. Malcam’s idea to use the ring was good. She wouldn’t have to systematically slaughter all the guards this way; that would take too much time anyway. And with him in the control room watching, she felt safe in the cube. If anything happened, he could let her out, or even gas the thing. Granted, she didn’t know what the gas would do to her, but she had faith that she’d live through it, even if it took a while to recover.
She exited the cube and went to the lift to the gallery, where she had begun her slaughter of the evening. The Warden passed her with a nod to gather the body of the captain of the guard.
For now, she would let Matthews and the proselytes work on the miners for a bit, then go back down. She needed to talk with the people from the so-called Isabeau’s harem, and she had asked them to congregate in the gallery after the Warden and a few other guards cleared away the… mess.
She pressed her hand to the glass wall of the lift, and it began to rise. Malcam must have programmed her bio-print into the system already. To think, he had just walked into the room full of patrons and spectators after winning their fight. If only they had known what would happen after… where the winner was going to be taken. It would have been easier if she and Malcam just had her win and go up the lift. Malcam wouldn’t have been in any danger that way… Nyx shook her head. He had promises to keep by staying at her side. The way it went down
had been better for him in the end. He was strong. The strong rose.
It’s not like it was that hard. And she got to kill the foreman and that nasty guard Otis first. She smiled. Now she just needed to get the people in Isabeau’s harem, and this Isabeau, on her side.
The female guard in charge of the harem level was supposed to be a woman by the name of Brenne, but so many things had changed from what the Greene siblings had briefed her, and now Nyx didn’t know what to expect.
She paused in the doorway and stared at Yoon lounging on one of the silver couches in the middle of the room. The bodies of the donors had been cleared from the hallway to the gallery as well and several people lounged around the glass enclosed balcony.
Head draped on Yoon’s lap, a woman with brilliant gold hair laid with her eyes shut, one arm dangling dramatically over her head, the other resting across her tiny waist. She was barely clothed in pink and champagne-colored chiffon, the shadow of her body showing through the thin fabric.
Yoon tapped on her arm, and she opened a peridot eye. She turned her head to Nyx and sat up, smoothing her hair back, then easing into the silver couch and nook of Yoon’s shoulder. He smiled.
Nyx bit her cheek. Yoon was a god. What was he playing at? He looked like some cheap toy for a brothel. She clenched her jaw, walking to the couch. “Yoon, stand up.”
“Sit,” the gold-haired woman growled. “Who are you to order my people around?”
Nyx’s brow shot up. “Your people?”
“The harem is mine. Everyone in it—is mine.”
Yoon stood. “Nyx, let me introduce you to the madame of the harem here. Isabeau, this is the Star of Nyx. Nyx this is Mademoiselle Isabeau.”
“Just Isabeau? No surname?” Nyx smiled like stone.
“Most of us don’t need one anymore. We’re just the lovelies of Yangxi X.” Isabeau shifted and leaned her elbow on the back of the couch.
“You’re free to go.” Nyx crossed her arms. “Free to do what you want. You’re not debtors anymore.”
Isabeau nodded slowly. “And how are we to get off this rock? Are you providing transportation?”
“The next ship that docks is going to be unpleasantly surprised,” Yoon said, a sneer painting his face.
“And what’ll you do with that crew? You’re freeing one set of people to take another prisoner?” Isabeau shook her head. “That doesn’t make sense. I’d rather my people buy their way off if they want out. But, honestly, most of them don’t have homes to go back to. So, what’s a mighty Star going to do about that?”
“If you stay, you’ll have to work,” Nyx said forcefully.
Isabeau licked her bottom lip. “Asteroid has to continue producing to spec, or the Protectorate will come. Right?”
Nyx straightened, face hard and expressionless.
“How long do you plan on even being here?”
Nyx jutted her chin out. This woman could see their plans from the moment Yoon introduced Nyx. She seemed to be a natural tactician and reminded Nyx a little of Phoebe. “Five weeks. But we hope to take a lot of these people with us.”
“I see.” Isabeau paused. “And you’ll expect everyone to work in the mines?”
“In order to produce the same, and have the working conditions be fair and equitable, everyone works. Even my people who opt to be on the asteroid.” Nyx stared at the woman.
Isabeau shrugged her bare shoulders. “I suppose that’s only right. And when you leave, who’s in charge?”
Yoon grinned broadly, “That would be you, of—”
“I don’t know,” Nyx interrupted. “The strong rise. It depends on who the strongest is. You’ll have to determine that yourselves.”
Isabeau smiled sweetly. “The head of the pantheon doesn’t play favorites. Interesting.” Her eyes brightened and narrowed as if to hide a thought. “I thought you would put one of your lackeys in charge. Maybe…” She grinned again, erasing the slightly treacherous look from before. “Yoon here… or that good-looking monster with all the piercings in the control room who keeps ignoring me?”
Nyx stifled a smile. “I don’t play favorites. And I won’t put my people in places they don’t belong. The strong rise. It’s the way of the black.” One corner of Nyx’s mouth quirked up. This woman could be formidable as an ally, terrifying as an enemy. She was capable of presenting one face while plotting with another. It sent a thrill through Nyx. So far, Isabeau seemed to be harmless, asking probative questions and gathering information. But she could easily take that and become a problem, or a trusted advisor…
The faint whisper of a chant rose to the gallery.
Isabeau sat straighter. “I think you have fans.”
Yoon walked to the glass and looked down. “You should probably go to Matthews now.”
Nyx pursed her lips and turned to the lift by the arched door, then paused, glancing over her shoulder. “Yoon?”
He waved her off. “I’ll stay here and enjoy the show.”
She blinked and exhaled hard. It would have been nice to have the company on the way out to the crowd of miners. She strode to the lift and palmed the glass, glad that Malcam had coded her into the bio-lock system.
Behind her, Isabeau tittered. “So which Star are you?”
Nyx got on the lift and watched the stunned Yoon stutter as he sat next to the scantily clad woman. “H-h-how did you know?”
Isabeau’s fingers trailed up his neck and across his cheek. “It’s faint, but both you and she have the same faded grey markings.”
Nyx snorted as the lift descended. Yes, it would be good to keep that woman on their side. Regardless of whether she became a sycophant of the Cult of Nyx or not, she was smart and knew her way around the asteroid and the people on it.
The chanting filtered up through the lift. Nyx took a deep breath. This was happening faster than she anticipated. It had only taken a day to get the miners chanting her name. How long would it take to get them kneeling and praying?
The lift stopped, and she stepped off.
Echoes of “Bénie est L’étoile de Nyx. Elle nous protégera,” filled the cavern.
Nyx paused. Matthews was standing on top of one of the small cubes with his arms raised. Leave it to the half-deluded man to make such a spectacle. And she was about to become a part of it. She strode up to the crowd and sidled through, pushing to the edge of the cube that High Consul Matthews stood on. One of the proselytes from the Thanatos caught sight of her and waved at Matthews, pointing to her. The ex-captain looked down and held out a hand to Nyx. Suddenly, she was being lifted to him, and she grabbed his hand. She swung her feet up and stood on top of the first small cube, thrust before a crowd of miners who had grown quiet.
Matthews put a hand on her shoulder. “Say something,” he whispered.
“Like what?” she grumbled back quietly.
“Tell them why we’re here.”
She shot him a sharp glance.
“The truth is always the best way to go.”
She closed her eyes and shook her head imperceptibly. The truth. Whose truth? Her truth was saving her family. And she was starting a war to do that. If, in the process, she overturned the coup that took the Protectorate, so be it, but that wasn’t her truth. What was these people’s truth? Debt? Servitude? Forced labor? Fighting for their lives?
She cleared her throat.
“You can leave. Whenever you want.”
A hushed mumble rolled through the crowd.
She held up a hand. “Buy your way off with whatever you have when the next ship comes. We’re not going to stop you.”
“So why are you here?” A voice rose in the muttering crowd. “Why is a god saving us?”
“I’m not saving you. If you stay, I plan on using you. Just like you were used before. The only difference is, this time it will be your choice.”
The mumble turned into a storm of voices wanting to be heard.
Nyx held out a hand and the crowd slowly quieted. “If you stay, you’ll work
. If you come with me after that, you’ll fight. The queen has been secretly dethroned, and the old Protectorate is dying. The new Protectorate is corrupt and evil, treating people like commodities instead of human beings. It’s time to set things right. To save our families, and to save ourselves. But it is your choice. Stay or leave. Fight or live. I won’t tell you what to do.” She turned to crawl down the glass of the cube and breathed with the silence of the crowd for a moment, then she pivoted to face the mob again. “If you join me, I’ll be forever in your debt. You’ll be family. And while there may be so many of you I won’t likely be able to know your names, I’ll still count you as siblings, and your sacrifices will mean something to me and those around you who also choose this path. We fight as family. We die as family.”
Nyx spun and lowered herself from the cube. Hands caught her and put her gently on the ground. Above her, Matthews quietly chanted, “Nous vivons pour notre famille. Nous mourons pour notre famille. Nous sommes maintenant une famille.”
“We live for our family. We die for our family. We are family now,” Nyx said under her breath as she walked through the parting crowd.
Slowly behind her, the chant grew louder. “Nous vivons pour notre famille. Nous mourons pour notre famille. Nous sommes maintenant une famille.”
Did she just win over all the miners? She sighed and bowed her head as she strode to the lift. So many of them were going to die in this war. She had grown her family again. And she was going to lose most of them in the end.
20
Isabeau walked arm-in-arm with Yoon beside Nyx. Her gold curls bounced around her shoulders, but at least she had changed into a jumpsuit appropriate for the mines. Nyx had also changed into a spare guard’s black and silver uniform. She would need a replacement for her Thanatos uniform. Emlyn would see to it, but the Thanatos was in a shallow orbit and Nyx hadn’t had a chance yet to settle small details like that. She still needed to take a quick tour of the mines, sort schedules, appoint an interim foreman… She glanced at Malcam. He’d probably have to do for that, until she got to know some of the miners. Besides, she wanted someone to keep an eye on Isabeau for a bit…
