by Rebecca Rode
The door opened without warning. Ember stood to face two guards.
“We’re to take you to Commander Kane’s office,” the woman said. It wasn’t Amai. The guard’s companion held out the clamps expectantly.
With a sigh, Ember allowed him to lock them over her wrists. Then they set off.
The corridors looked much the same as in the station—one dizzying hallway after another. The Empire liked things uniform and dreadfully dull, it seemed. They turned several corners, rode a lift upward, and then emerged into a much emptier corridor. They took her directly to the last door, where the woman swiped her wristband and let them in.
Commander Kane sat at a conference table, another man sitting to his right. Ember blinked and stumbled, nearly tripping over her own feet.
Stefan?
He gave her a grim smile, but there was nothing happy in his expression. Stefan seemed resigned more than anything. His eye was discolored as if he’d recently had a black eye, and he moved carefully.
But he was alive.
“Gypsy girl,” Kane said, waving the guards away. “We were just talking about you. Come sit down.”
Ember’s gaze hadn’t left Stefan. She watched him for any indication of what was happening, but he refused to meet her gaze.
“The emperor was concerned about your loyalties, girl,” Kane said. “He requested that I ensure you’re to be trusted since you’ll be serving so closely with some of his highest officers. There is only one way to be sure. I believe you two know each other.”
Of course he knew that. There had to be plenty of footage of their evenings together. The Empire would have tracked everything. The only thing she didn’t know was how much Kane had overheard.
Kane motioned to Stefan. “Please.”
Stefan didn’t hesitate. He gestured to the chair across from him. “This will be easier if you sit and relax.”
“I don’t understand. What’s going on, Stefan?” Ember asked, her stomach dropping at his morose expression.
“I’m going to read you.”
Ember shot a glare at the commander, who sat back, looking rather pleased with himself. Then she understood. Kane didn’t care what Ember had chosen to do. All he wanted to know was whether she would really cooperate or not. Even if she committed to him now, she could still turn on him later. This way he would know for certain.
And who better to perform the reading than the one person Ember trusted? It was the perfect way to crush any remaining hope she still held.
“This isn’t necessary,” Ember said, scrambling for her fragile emotional shield once more. If Stefan told Kane she’d been making deals with the Union, it would be the end of the village. She had no doubt Kane would make good on his threats. All of them. She locked her eyes on Stefan. “You promised you would never read me without permission.”
“If I promised that, I shouldn’t have,” he said. “Are you going to stand, then?”
Anger sparked inside her, and she strengthened her mental shield against him. How dare he betray her, set aside all they had shared? How had she allowed herself to trust this man? The way he stared at the ground, almost like she was a stranger . . .
Stefan’s features relaxed for a full minute. Ember tried to sense his touch on her light, but she couldn’t feel anything. Just a slight brush on her shield. Was it strong enough to keep him out? She found herself breathing hard, tensed as if ready to spring. She wondered if the door was locked or if she could make an escape right now. But, no, there would be guards outside.
Stefan’s eyes finally focused and he settled his gaze on her. The emotions she read there were complicated. Warmth, a certain ache. Sadness.
And something else. He was giving her a warning look.
He turned to the commander, and then the expression was gone. “I saw her at your side, sir. She loves her people too much to abandon them. She’ll align herself to your will on their behalf.”
Kane nodded, not seeming surprised. “Thank you, Stefan. I’m pleased you made it to combat training. I’m sure your service here will greatly please your parents and the emperor, long may he live.”
“I hope so, sir.”
“Dismissed.”
Stefan walked swiftly out, leaving her alone with the commander.
Ember stared after him.
“The highest families are the most loyal,” the commander said. He clasped his hands together. “Now that we have that settled, it’s time for a little test.”
For some reason, Kane felt it necessary to move them to a large room with a window. He locked the door behind her, sending a chill down her back. She reached out and felt only a few dim lights, all several rooms away. Kane had cleared the surrounding hallways of any guards. So they wouldn’t overhear, perhaps?
Ember’s heart raced as she scanned the room, looking for anything that could be used as a weapon. A desk with a screen. Several chairs, most of which were too soft, even if she could throw them any significant distance. Several cupboards set into the opposite wall with keypads. Nothing unusual for an office.
“There now,” Kane said, sitting at his desk. “Let’s see where you are in your training. You will obey my every order with exactness and immediate obedience. Do you understand?”
She eyed the door, half hoping Stefan would break through and say it was all a lie. But she knew that wouldn’t change anything. Stefan had just confirmed what she already knew—her destiny was at Kane’s side.
Her insides twisted at the thought.
“I asked you a question.”
“Yes, sir,” she managed.
“Excellent. Now reach out with your mind and extend outward as far as possible. Feel your shipmates but push farther than that if you can. Tell me how many ships are around us and where they are.”
She closed her eyes, but her body shook too much to focus. She took a deep breath and began to hum, and finally she began to relax. She convinced herself she was somewhere else, far from here. She was home and safe.
“Six,” she finally said, not trying to hide her surprise. She’d never tried to read from any significant distance before. Yet the people in those ships may as well have been right in front of her. Their lights blended together a bit from here, but if she focused enough she could separate them. “Two in front and four behind. And we’re all moving, traveling somewhere together.”
“Good.” He sounded almost giddy now. “Now look for one called the Mandilyn. Tell me about the captain.”
She jumped from ship to ship, then finally settled on the farthest one, a fighter with a crew of thirty and several squads of soldiers. This vessel was meant for ground combat. Strange that they’d be so far from a planet.
“Captain Lois Vaughn,” she said. “An older lady with forty-two years’ experience in battle.” A kind woman, a survivor. She’d joined the military after her son’s death. So much war, so many lives saved and lost at this woman’s hands.
Ember felt her tension give way to relief. The commander didn’t mean to attack Ember, or he would have done it already. He was just helping her extend her reach, probe deeper and farther. She could handle—
“Now extinguish her.”
Ember’s eyes flew open, and her humming stopped. “What?”
“That’s a direct order. Do it now.”
Ember stared at him. Surely he hadn’t just ordered her to murder the woman. “But, sir—”
“You didn’t just say ‘but,’” Kane snapped. “This is what comes of a woman with absolutely no prior military training. When I issue an order, the only appropriate response is ‘Yes, sir.’ Now, I’ll say it one more time. Extinguish the woman you just described.”
His words were a jumble in her frantic mind. She saw herself once more, standing next to this man in the window. Her mother’s death had been a terrible, horrifying accident. That assassin had been self-defense. But this? This was murder. And this wasn’t her, no matter what her future said.
She drew herself together and looked the c
ommander in the eye. “No. I won’t do it.”
His response was unexpected. Rather than leaping up and beating her into submission, he sat quietly. “Very well,” he said, almost sounding bored. Then he stabbed something on the desk screen. “Assistance needed in my office, please.”
“Right away, sir,” Talon’s unmistakable voice said.
“Now where did I put that thing?” Kane muttered to himself, almost as if Ember wasn’t even there. The commander stood and made his way to the cabinets on the far wall. He placed his hand on the security screen, then punched in a code. The door clicked open, and he retrieved a small black bundle as the office door slid open.
Talon stepped inside and saluted. “Sir.”
Kane slammed the cabinet closed and handed Talon the bundle. “Place this on the gypsy girl’s neck, just at the throat. This sensor goes right on the spine.” He shook the object out, letting the circular material hang in his hands. A collar.
Ember stumbled backward as Talon took it. She whirled and leaped for the door, but Talon’s fingers dug into her shoulder and dragged her back. Ember spun around and threw a punch at the taller woman, which Talon easily dodged. Ember dropped to the ground to break the woman’s contact and sprinted forward, but the lock clicked before she got there. There was no manual unlock button, which meant Kane must be holding a remote of some kind.
She turned, looking for another exit she might have missed, just as something cold clamped onto her neck. The metal rested on her upper spine. Ember tore away just as Talon stepped backward. “Done, sir.”
Kane was back at his desk, fingers flying across his screen as if Ember hadn’t just tried to escape. “Now let’s see if it’s positioned properly.” He tapped a button.
A jolt of fire shot down Ember’s spine. She gasped and arched her back, stumbling backward against the locked door.
“It appears so. Talon, you are dismissed with a reminder as to the nature of your agreement.”
“Discretion as always, Commander.” Talon eyed Ember with a curious frown. “Would you like me to secure her for your safety, sir?”
“She’s no threat now. You may go.”
Talon saluted and strode toward the door, which opened to admit her. Ember moved to follow and was rewarded with another jolt. She watched the door slide shut in front of her as the pain receded.
“You’ve witnessed only the first setting, gypsy girl,” Kane said. “There are more levels to explore if needed.”
She lifted a reluctant hand, letting it hover over the device around her neck. It was soft like fabric, so it moved with her, but lay stiff against the skin of her neck. The moment her finger brushed against it, the collar gave her a little zap.
Kane’s expression was one of forced patience. “The device can’t be disabled, sliced, or dented. Even a single touch can result in dreadful pain, as you’ve just demonstrated. Try to remove it and you’ll be dead in seconds. One of my last inventions before I was raised. I sold the technology to the emperor himself.”
Gritting her teeth, Ember slowly turned to face him. “Torture, then? You’re going to electrocute me until I obey like a good little dog?”
“Torture?” He chuckled. “I prefer the term ‘training.’ Or even better, conditioning. Eventually even the most resistant animals see their place and allow their masters to guide them. Now, let’s start again. Find that captain and extinguish her.” His finger hovered over a small device in his right hand.
Ember thought of the woman again, the captain who had sacrificed so much and served the Empire well. Then she straightened, steeling herself for another jolt. “Push your button, but I won’t do it.”
“Very well.” He tapped his desk screen.
Pain like nothing she’d ever experienced penetrated her body. Her back arched, and she slammed onto the floor. Her ribs ached at the impact, but she barely noticed. The knife in her spine twisted deeper. The pain intensified until Ember thought she would lose the contents of her stomach. Just as she was about to release a scream, the pain ended.
She lay on the floor, shaking.
“The emperor paid good money for this technology,” Kane continued. “Enough to buy a planet, maybe even two. He wanted to use it as an information extraction device for the captured Union prisoners, but that perspective is terribly limited. This is so much more effective.” He was standing over her now.
The room was a blur, her breaths came in quick gasps, and her body was in deep shock.
“One elderly woman,” the commander said. “She’s frail and likely to die soon anyway. Do it now.”
Ember wanted to weep, to scream, to lash out at this terrible man who wanted her to become something she wasn’t. The thought of enduring that horrible pain again was unbearable.
But she wasn’t the person she’d seen in that awful vision. She couldn’t be what Stefan had described. Surely the stars would allow her a choice.
She reached out—not for the elderly captain but for Kane. She slipped past his defenses and grabbed hold of his light before he could stop her.
* * *
Lazarus smiled and lifted a single finger, then pointed it at the largest enemy ship.
The lights in the windows flickered and died. The starboard thrusters went next. His fighters, seeing the massive ship’s shields disabled, quickly swooped in to finish it off. Seconds later, a huge cloud of fire consumed the vessel.
He grinned again and pointed at the next ship.
The girl at his side flinched. He admired her slender form as she stood there, her dark eyes wide at the realization of what she had just done, her black hair falling forward into her face.
* * *
The pain took hold of her again, and she found herself writhing on the floor. She could see Kane’s still figure staring down at her. His face was bright red.
It lasted far longer than it had last time. The world was red-hot fire, burning through her cells one at a time. It lanced her like a million hot knives until the room no longer existed. The world was simply pain.
It ended abruptly.
Ember’s body trembled. She forced her eyelids open, but her vision refused to focus. Her heart hammered so quickly she thought it would thump right out of her chest. Her cheeks were wet with hot tears.
“If you ever so much as brush my shield again,” he said in a dangerous tone, “I will kill you and everyone else on that pitiful planet of yours. I’ve no use for a flare who refuses to cooperate. For the last time, you have five seconds to extinguish that pitiful excuse of a captain. Five, four, three . . .”
She reached out to the captain again, feeling the woman’s life pulsing with an unusual brightness. The woman was training in her quarters, just like she did every day. She had no idea her right to live was being decided several miles away in a dim, cold office.
Ember tried to move her hands, but they refused to comply. She finally managed to lift one to her neck, although it shook so wildly she could barely control it.
“Two.”
I’m sorry, Dai. I wanted to help you, but I won’t do this.
“One.”
Her fingers hovered over the collar as she gathered her courage. Then she let her fingers close around the fabric and pulled all at once.
There was only pain.
And then nothing.
20
The surface beneath her face was hard and cold.
Ember lifted her head and immediately shielded her eyes from the bright light. The square room glowed with a blinding whiteness—the walls, the floor, everything. Cool air circulated around her bare shoulders. Her jacket was gone.
Was this heaven? Or that white mountain place Stefan had shown her—Empyrean?
“I know you’re awake,” a woman’s voice boomed overhead. She sounded too bored to be a celestial being.
Ember blinked to allow her eyes to adjust. A black rectangle floated on the wall in front of her. She sat up and then doubled over. Sharp, stabbing pains shot through her insides.
“Talon?” Ember asked as the memories came flooding back. Kane pushing a button. The ship captain. The collar.
She hesitantly reached up, afraid of what she would find. Her finger made contact with the collar for the briefest second, but it issued a painful warning. Kane had left it on.
“The commander asked me to take over your training,” Talon said. There was a hint of smugness in her tone. “Said it was time to cover the basics since you’re new to all this. I was more than happy to oblige.”
“I bet you were,” Ember groaned, forcing herself to her feet. “How long was I out? And what is this place?”
“An observation room, and you’ve only been unconscious a couple of hours. Kane canceled my itinerary for today so I could sit here and watch you drool.”
“Nice of him to send me to the medical bay. You know, make sure I was all right and all that.”
“Don’t take that tone with me. You’re lucky to be alive. The commander didn’t have to lift his finger off the trigger, you know.”
Ember’s insides ached like she’d swallowed acid. Tiny pains still shot through her hands and feet, but they were nothing compared to the all-encompassing fire she’d endured earlier. “If he thinks this collar will turn me into his little assassin, he’s wrong. I won’t do what he wants.”
Talon snorted. “You don’t get it, do you? This is so much bigger than you and your morals. Whoever it was he wanted you to kill will just die another way. A slower, more painful way. Resisting Commander Kane won’t save anybody. It’ll just make things worse for you and anybody you’ve ever known or loved.”
Her voice went soft at the end. Ember stared at the black glass, wishing she could see the woman’s face. She reached out to Talon’s inner light, but, of course, it was heavily shielded. “Let me guess. You’re a flicker. And you resisted at first too.”
Talon made a sort of gurgling noise, then the hardness was back. “You’re obviously fine now, so it’s time to start. Fifty push-ups.”
