by AJ Super
Nyx pushed Malcam forward and hissed. “What were they going to do if we were loyal to Phoebe?”
As the NAU man began to ascend the stairs to the winner’s booth, Malcam blurted, “Pardon my asking. What were you going to do if we weren’t loyal to the Protectorate?”
The representative turned around, mid-step, with a large grin on his face. “Blow this asteroid to the Stars.”
Malcam’s fists clenched.
Nyx grabbed his black tee-shirt and held firmly. “Not the time, Malcam,” she whispered. But there would be repercussions for threatening her family…
“We’ll be off as soon as our equipment is packed. And by equipment, I do mean bombs.” The NAU representative pivoted back up the stairs and tread upwards.
“Malcam,” Nyx muttered, nails nearly piercing through his shirt balled her fist into the fabric. “Where’s Matthews?”
Matthews walked out from one of the three entrances on the other side of the cube, where prisoners used to be herded through for the fights. His white robes billowed as he walked. Nyx shook her head. He really took this High Consul role seriously… down to the wardrobe.
He saluted Nyx, two fingers tapping his heart.
“Did you hear?” Nyx grumbled. Ce truc de merde wouldn’t get away with putting her family, her crew, her miners, everyone here, in danger.
Matthews nodded. “Yes.”
“Do you know what I want?”
He pressed his lips together. “I have an idea. I’ve sent a crew to help load their equipment onto their ship. They’ll be off this rock quickly.”
Nyx loosened her grip on Malcam’s shirt and straightened. “I want more than that.”
Malcam put a hand on Nyx’s shoulder. “Are you sure? If that transport doesn’t get back to the Protectorate, we could be in trouble.”
“Red can make it look like engine containment failure, right?”
Malcam smiled. “Red can do anything with a good explosive.”
“I don’t want them blown to the Stars. I don’t want them anywhere near the Stars when they’re gone. I want them dust in the black,” Nyx growled.
Matthews tapped his chest again and bowed. “As you wish, God of Gods.” He pivoted and went back down the stairs he had entered from.
Nyx turned to Malcam and buried her head in his chest. That snake of a man was going to destroy her family, even before she was. “I want them gone.”
“Whatever you want, princess.” He wrapped a freshly healed hand around her head and an arm around her shoulders. “Whatever you want.”
24
Nyx stood, arms crossed. Isabeau hit the mat hard—again. She had healed nicely, and quickly, from the gut stab during the Blessing. Red grabbed her arm and hauled the gold-braided woman up, both sweating. Red swished her copper ponytail and grumbled, “Try it again.”
The sparring room on the Thanatos was spacious and clean. No black dust and no dim red lighting. Only clean, tan wall panels and stark white light. It was nice to be on her ship even for the short period it was docked with the asteroid mine.
This time the two women grappled and Isabeau moved her feet into a stable position as Red went to kick Isabeau’s front foot from under her. Isabeau used her shin to block and stayed standing.
Yoon Chung-Ae walked up silently next to Nyx and clenched his fists. “She’s not a fighter,” he whispered as he watched Red take Isabeau down yet again. “She’s a planner. A general. Not to be put on the front lines.”
“I know.” Nyx’s face was stone. “She wants to be on the cargo ship heist, though. I need her to at least know some basics. And even generals know how to defend themselves. Know how to shoot. Things that you don’t learn in a harem.”
They would pose as guards. Malcam’s idea, but Isabeau said harem guards should be the ones searching for a lost harem lamb. Not only would the freelancers on the cargo ship not expect an ambush from a bunch of guards assigned to the harem who had nothing better to do than guard the sex workers, but it was more plausible that someone from the less secure harem level would be able to get away, especially as the mine’s head guard had a certain reputation outside Yangxi X. His temper was known to be unforgiving when it came to escape attempts by the miners… so it was a rare happening amidst that part of the population. Not that the head guard was a problem since Nyx killed him with ease just four weeks before. Once the head guard was gone, the other guards naturally fell under Isabeau’s control.
“Her politics and planning, though…” Yoon trailed off.
“She’s very quick. Almost as quick as the Star of Phoebe.”
He turned his head to Nyx. “No one is as quick as that salope. Besides, why compare a human to an AI?”
Nyx nodded at Isabeau. “Because I think that human may be as close to an AI when it comes to predictive planning as a human can get. Not sure that she knows it, though. And that may be my saving grace. The only reason she’s an ally and not an enemy.”
Yoon looked back at Isabeau, his face softening. Nyx’s lips drew into a thin line. Yoon had suctioned himself to Isabeau from the moment he went to the harem level, and he hadn’t let go.
He ran a hand through his loose hair. “You do pick some strange and dangerous allies. Matthews, the half-mad zealot. Malcam, who I heard killed your father? Kai, who killed your mother? Isabeau, the astute sex worker who can nearly predict human reaction and interaction like Phoebe. Phoebe and Erebus, two of the most powerful Stars.”
“And you.”
“And me.”
“Keeper of the largest army in the known universe.”
Yoon was quiet.
“Hmmm… If only Crius was in that list.” Nyx broke the string of silence between the two of them, only the pounding of Isabeau’s body on the mat breaking the stillness.
“They’ll never choose a side again.” Yoon pursed his lips.
“Was their sin so great?” Nyx said under her breath, careful not to break the rhythm of the thumping on the mat.
“Crius seems to think so.” Yoon glanced at Nyx sideways. “I tend to agree.”
“They did something on Elysion, something that changed the way that the planet works fundamentally, from ecology to economy.”
“At Phoebe’s order. Because Crius picked a side. Then that side changed sides, and it was a mess for a long time.”
“Still, they’d be able to end this war in one fell shot.”
Yoon puckered his brow. “How’s that?”
“Change Earth. Like Elysion.”
He sucked in a breath. “You wouldn’t.”
“I would.” She turned to the Star of Adonis. It would be a drastic move… One she didn’t really want to take except as a last resort. “If Earth weren’t the centralized power of humanity. If all they had was La Terre and that was ruled over by the Stars… What do you think would happen?”
Yoon’s eyes widened. “The power base of the NAU and ACG and all the other Protectorate under-governments would vanish. All that would be left is the Queen’s Protectorate.”
Nyx stared at Red and Isabeau sparring, panting, and sparring some more.
“It would be the ultimate of coups des états.” Nyx frowned. “The war would be over without much loss, and the strong would rise.” It was worth thinking about. The actual losses would be mostly on the other side. And the likelihood that it would be civilians would be small. Really, the long-term implications on Earth would be the issue. But humanity had long since ruined much of the ecosystems on the planet anyway. This could almost be seen as a restorative solution as much as a political one.
Red raised her hand to Isabeau. “We’re done. I’d say ice your injuries, but you’ll heal before you can even get the ice.” She grimaced and glanced at Nyx. “If you could just share the healing part… Got no use for living forever, but I would love to heal instantaneously.”
Nyx nodded at the muscular woman. “Maybe we’ll have Erebus do her little trick with the nano-medics, but make it finite?” It would be nice
to have some soldiers like Red who were close to invulnerable. “Maybe Doc Lenus has some idea how it was done?” He kept wanting more samples from her and Lily-kitten. She suppressed a shiver. The more samples he wanted meant the closer he would get to something. It was good that he was being kept busy with the miners and their illnesses and injuries on the asteroid for now. It may slow down his progress. Whatever he found out about the Stars and their AI and her hybridization, it would be dangerous knowledge to have.
Red shrugged and walked to the side of the mat where she had a towel and a bottle of water for both her and Isabeau. The two women chatted quietly and smiled at each other, ignoring their bruises.
Nyx turned to the door.
Yoon put a hand on her shoulder, and she tensed.
“Are you really going to start creating an invulnerable army? We didn’t even do that during the first AI Wars.”
Nyx tightened her jaw. She hadn’t expressed to Yoon that she was loathe to create more immortal humans, but his disgust made her blood hot. “Maybe that’s why you lost.” She pushed his hand off her shoulder and slapped the door pad, whisking out of the sparring room. No matter what, she had to consider all the possibilities, all the permutations. She had to win this battle to get her sisters back. Beyond that, what Phoebe did with what Nyx created was up to Phoebe. But she wasn’t going to leave her sister with nothing to get her Protectorate back, nor was she going to go into a battle with La Terre half blind and ill-prepared. If she needed an army, she’d find a way to create it. If Yoon objected to her creating an immortal one, maybe it was an option she needed to consider, at least for the sheer fact that she could control them easier. Kill them easier if something went wrong. The notion boiled in her stomach. It was against everything that she had believed so far… but it would make them stronger. And the strong rose.
25
Nyx dried her hair in the privacy of her own shower stall attached to a small suite of rooms on the Yangxi X asteroid mine. It was supposed to be the foreman’s suite—the meeting room, a bedroom, a toilet, and a shower cube. Downright decadent for the small outpost. The only bigger rooms available were the harem lounge and guest quarters, and then, not by that much. There were benefits to being a god.
Nyx threw her towel on the hook, grabbed her pink floral underwear and white tank, and pulled them on. She ran her hands through her hair as she walked out of the shower cube and into the small closet between it and the toilet room. She grabbed her Thanatos jumpsuit off of a hangar and yanked a drawer open to snag a pair of socks, before striding into the bedroom. Three large old Earth paintings hung from the black and grey rock walls depicting the severed head of a woman with snakes for hair, a young man holding a giant’s detached head in one hand and a bloody sword in another, and a screaming man being beheaded by a disgusted and determined woman in white. Somehow, they comforted Nyx. Even in these, the strong rose.
She plopped on the bed and pulled on her socks. The door chimed. Not many people came to her door. Matthews would barge right in. Malcam… well, he had suddenly turned gentlemanly these last four weeks. He deferred to her. She had a feeling if she asked him to get on his knees, he may actually do it.
The Greene siblings were gone; otherwise they might be standing watch right outside her door, and no one would get in. So, they were traveling the trade lanes. Spreading the word, quietly, about the Cult of Nyx with a handful of other acolytes. Nyx had put them in charge, much to their delight.
Red had security duties for both the asteroid and the Thanatos to worry about now, so she wouldn’t be at the door. Falak was too scared of the mines to leave the ship. And Sarama, she refused to be a part of the Cult of Nyx, so she spent most of her time on the Thanatos, too. Raphael was who knew where. One minute he was on the ship being her best pilot, the next he was with Matthews as another proselyte. Emlyn was, as always, doing her duties with a sweet, if pasted-on, smile.
So… Yoon, Isabeau, or… Malcam had come to see her. She pulled her jumpsuit to her waist and stood, walking with upper fabric dangling around her waist. She slapped the door pad and turned back to the bed, slipping an arm into the black cloth and pulling it over her shoulder.
Malcam strode in, dishwater blonde hair flipped into his eyes. He reached up and smoothed it back.
“Yes?”
“I just wanted to report that we’re working at full capacity again.”
Nyx sat on the bed. “I suppose everyone was glad for the break. They’ve been working hard.”
He shrugged. “They work for their freedom for once. They work for themselves. They work for fair wages and good food and fair hours. They get treated by Doc Lenus when they get hurt or sick. Most of them have never had it so good.”
“Still, a small break never hurt anyone.”
“I suppose not.” He pulled at the gauge in his ear.
Nyx tipped her head. “Do you have something else?”
He pushed at his lower lip with his tongue. “I need a favor.” He hesitated. “Not for me. For the hammer-man, Berto.”
“You know I can’t do favors for everyone, Malcam. And if I do something for one, I have to do it for all.”
“That’s a crap excuse.”
“I can’t play omnipotent god… I can only play Nyx.”
“So do a favor that’s easy. Like tracking down Berto’s family in the LACF. Find out if they’re still alive. If they are, you gain an indebted follower, if not, you gain a righteous one.”
“And if others catch wind that I did him a favor?”
“So what? You’re a god. You’re too worried about those beneath you.”
“I have to. Someone has to… There will come a day when the Protectorate rains fire down on this place, and they’ll die.”
“They don’t know that. And most of them will be gone by then. On one of your ships.”
“In which case, they’ll be fighting a war with me that’ll get them killed just a little earlier.” She ran her hand over the black cotton comforter stretched across the bed. “I’m a terrible god.”
“Terrible. And powerful.” Malcam sat next to her and put his hand over hers. “Whatever you choose, you’ll choose right. And I’ll be there with you.”
Nyx looked into his azure eyes. Terrible and powerful. A god without mercy. That was what she needed to be now. She needed to be his god. Someone that would take what she wanted without a final blink. Without asking questions.
She raised her body slightly and leveled her gaze with his. “Are you sure a favor for someone else is all you want from me?”
He smiled, sadness drowning the corners of his features. “What I want, you’ll never give.”
She leaned in. “I could.”
“You won’t mean it.”
She lifted her free hand and stroked his cheek. “You’d never know the difference.”
He grabbed her hand and twined his fingers with hers. “I want you. You. But you aren’t Nyx anymore. You’re L’étoile. You’re my god. My powerful, beautiful, and terrible Star. When you’re Nyx again. Then you can.”
Nyx sank on the bed, silent, still holding Malcam’s hands. He freed a hand and tilted her downturned face towards him. “I love every part of you. But I don’t need to worship you, Nyx. I just want to love the real you. So, ask me again when this is all done. When you’re done being a god.”
Nyx smiled softly as he pushed her hair from her face. “When I’m done. Once I’ve passed this war on to Phoebe.” She didn’t want to be a god at this moment. “But while I am…” She straightened. “I’ll do what a god should do. I’ll have Sarama find Berto’s family.”
26
Red stood straight, her hair braided down her back, a stark, still contrast to Nyx twisting uncomfortably in her black and silver body armor.
Nyx glanced at Isabeau behind her. The severely coiffed woman didn’t need to be on this op, but she had insisted, wanting to lead by example. At least Yoon, who had stuck to Isabeau’s side since arriving five weeks ago, wasn’
t here.
She turned back to the bay doors, glowering. She needed Yoon for her later plans against the city-ship La Terre. She needed his clone army. His hanging on to Isabeau could pose a problem when Nyx needed him most.
The bay doors cracked open and slid slowly aside, letting a blast of yellow light flare into the wide hallway. Nyx touched the clear disc comm behind her ear. “Get ready.”
Two dozen guards shuffled and shifted to attention. Shoulders tensed; black helmets went on, and reflective visors went down. Hands rested easily on electrical prods hanging from belts. Nyx was just another one of the identity-less guards readying to storm into the cargo ship’s hold.
She smirked and eyed Red out of the corner of her visor. “It’s good to be doing pirate things again,” she whispered.
Red smiled and nodded.
The column of guards swept into the cargo ship’s open bay. The four crew standing at the door ready to greet Malcam, the new foreman, and his usual guard gaped at the show of force. Malcam strode in behind the swarm of asteroid guards and shoved papers at a wildly grey-haired captain with a Queen’s Speech accent.
“Wh-what is going on?” the captain sputtered. “Why are all these people on my ship?”
Malcam towered over the man. “We have a roamer. Someone from the sex worker’s level. We can’t risk them stowing away on your ship, so we’ll be guarding it until it’s time to leave. You can unload the month’s rations and supplies as usual, and we’ll load the ore when you’re done. Nothing changes. We just watch closer.”
Nyx carefully climbed into the mezzanine with several other guards. When she was sure the four cargo crew in the bay weren’t looking, she turned to an open hatch and squeezed through, Red not far behind.
They slipped through the narrow shaft quietly. Just wide enough for two people to pass, the conduit-lined passage would brush the top of Malcam’s head if he were to walk through. Nyx unfastened the electrical baton at her waist and pulled it from its strap. The hatch doors on the side of the corridor stayed peacefully closed in the dim light. There had to be three more crew members on this boat. Cargo haulers like this were crew light for safety’s sake. Also, skimming was more lucrative when there were fewer people to split loot with, so a few roustabouts who could fight or shoot, a pilot and co-pilot, an engineer, and the captain were as much as a freelance-ship like this would employ.
