by Rebecca Rode
Candidate One. Report to 46:213A immediately.
Chapter 24
Ember drummed her fingers on the armrest, trying to calm her racing heart. A few minutes before, they’d entered the controlled traffic area, that circular pattern around the Empire ship where ships weren’t supposed to travel. Any moment now an Empire patroller would challenge them.
And if they used mechs, this mission would be over before it began.
“Don’t worry, Lady Flare,” Bex said from his perch. “This will work.”
She forced a smile. “I hope so.” They were supposed to be smugglers. They’d already changed their clothing, and some looked more the part than others. Bex’s shirt came nearly to his knees. Brennan had messed up his hair and torn one of the buttons on his collar right off. He looked more like a beggar than a smuggler.
Bex shook his white-haired head. “Even if an entire legion of soldiers comes, they won’t stand a chance against Lady Flare. You’ve killed thousands with a single blow. Just snuffed them out like a candle.”
Brennan sucked in a quick breath. Ember felt her cheeks heat in humiliation. He made it sound like she’d accomplished a great feat for the Union. Apparently nobody had told him whose side those thousands of innocent lives were on.
Reina glowered at Bex’s words. She turned, staring Ember down, and made her way to the back of the cabin where she plopped into a corner seat, facing the wall.
“What’s her problem?” Bex muttered.
Brennan watched his sister, expressionless. For a moment Ember thought he might go after her. But instead, he took the seat next to Ember. “She knew one of the battle victims.”
Ember fingered the scar on her neck. Her burns from the collar had gone from a vicious red to a gentle pink, although it was obvious they would never fully disappear. The scars Kane had left on her soul were a different story entirely. “There were many.”
Brennan nodded, watching her expectantly. If he wanted her to explain, he’d be disappointed. Some words couldn’t be uttered.
“Who was it?” Ember finally managed.
Brennan glanced back at his sister. “You’ll have to ask her.”
Bex’s grin faded. “I know how she feels. My parents were shot down right in front of me.”
Brennan and Ember looked at each other, alarmed at this new revelation. “Oh, Bex,” Ember breathed.
“Yeah. A Union soldier scooped me up and brought me with her, but I still have nightmares about it sometimes. So I get why Reina is like that.” He made his way over to sit cross-legged in the aisle. His bright white hair was rumpled on one side where he’d slept against his seat, and there was a smudge on his cheek. Ember resisted the urge to lean over and pull the boy into her arms. She wanted to protect him.
She wanted to protect them all.
“My wife too,” Harlow said, turning in his seat. “Did you know that, Bex?”
The boy shook his head.
“Harlow,” Ember began, feeling helpless to explain. “Lillya seemed like an incredible woman. I can see why you fell in love with her.”
“She was, and thank you.” He had a faraway look in his eyes. “I couldn’t believe it when she said she loved me back. It feels like magic, doesn’t it? When somebody who’s become your whole world also sees you that way. It’s like getting the approval of the stars themselves.”
Ember looked back at Reina, who had her feet propped up on the seat in front of her. Her eyes were closed, but she looked too tense to be asleep.
General Pyne had once called Ember’s gift magic, like it was something scornful, a trick to win battles. She liked Harlow’s definition better. She couldn’t think of a better way to describe the moment she’d shared with Stefan on the Empire ship. She’d connected with his light and seen herself through his eyes. At that moment, when their lights had connected, she’d felt at one with him. She saw everything he was—his insecurities, his weaknesses. She saw how he’d fought his attraction to her before finally giving in to it, embracing her with his entire heart.
And then she remembered the devastation on his face when she’d rejected him a few days ago.
Who was Stefan really—the open, honest man who’d rejected his dreams for her? Or the stranger dressed as an Empire officer trying to strip her of her unique gift and keep her from escaping? She felt her old anger and the sharp pain of betrayal come back.
“The thing is,” Harlow continued, “she didn’t want to go that day. Said it was reckless and stupid, no matter the pay. I wouldn’t listen.” His gaze was fixed on Bex, but he didn’t appear to see him. “I wanted so badly to blame her death on Ember, on the emperor, on everyone else. But the truth is, I should have trusted my wife. I swore I would when we got married, but I didn’t. Not when it counted.”
“You didn’t know,” Ember said.
“I didn’t have to. That’s not the point.”
“I’ll tell you what trust is,” Reina said, slamming her boots on the floor. “That moment when the man who means everything to you asks you to be his forever. It’s that moment when you feel like you can conquer the universe as long as you’re together and you tell him yes, a thousand times, yes.” Her face was flushed. “Trust is that quick goodbye when he says, ‘I’ll see you soon’ and then rushes off to his assigned ship to prepare for battle. It’s that moment that you have to let him go, because it means you can be together again later.”
“Reina,” Brennan said softly.
“You want to know what trust is, flare?” she snapped, ignoring her brother. “It’s standing there watching your dead fiancé’s killer walk into a room and not being able to do anything. It’s seeing her glorified and worshipped while the rest of us do the grunt work. Trust is knowing that someday, somehow, I’ll finish what he started, even if I have to do it alone.”
She rolled over to face the window again, turning her back on Ember.
Harlow had lost his wife, Reina her fiancé. Both love stories ended in tragedy at Ember’s hand. There were a thousand more out there. Even if she were able to forgive Stefan for what he’d done—and if he could forgive her—what right did she have to be happy? The stars had removed every source of love from her life. Things were as they needed to be.
“Trust is everything,” Harlow said, breaking the stunned silence Reina had left behind. “It’s the one gift you can give the person you love. Don’t withhold it when it can be freely given, or you’ll end up living without it.” He eyed Reina.
Ember fingered the vial in her pocket. Sand and water. Before now, she’d been the sand—thrown about, used however the water saw fit, grinding down lives and destroying what the stars created.
But maybe she was more than one thing. Stefan was confident and strong, but he’d also had a lifetime worth of ambition and the approval of his parents to overcome. Dai was a kind man, but he’d also run from the Empire rather than trying to face it. Neraline had tried to help Ember, but she’d kept herself from happiness by clinging to the past. And dear, sweet Bianca—she carried too much pain to allow herself to fight for anything yet. But her normal fire would return someday, that much Ember knew. She hoped to be there when it did.
Sand and water. She would be the sand when she had to be. She would kill the emperor given the chance. But in doing so, she would save tens of thousands of lives. Today she had to be their water, too.
The ship’s instrument panel emitted a frantic alarm. Harlow turned back to the dashboard. Then he met Ember’s gaze.
The Empire had sighted them. Their mission had officially begun.
“They know we’re here,” Brennan said, retrieving his stunner. “Just a matter of time now. Everyone check your shields.”
“They won’t have flickers aboard. If anything, it’ll be mechs again.” Reina had already emerged from her corner and was approaching the bench near the hatch, a stunner in each hand. Whatever her feelings about Ember, she seemed determined to see this through.
Ember shook her head. “Mechs wouldn’t
be helpful in close quarters like this, and they’d be a terrible choice in dealing with smugglers.”
“I doubt we could even convince a mech we’re smugglers,” Reina said, eyeing Bex’s shirt.
“You have entered a controlled area,” a man’s voice said over the comm. A human voice, thankfully. “State your business.”
“Just carrying a load of supplies to a nearby station,” Harlow said. “We may have gotten a bit lost. Our apologies.” Ember admired how level and calm his voice was. He’d obviously done this type of thing before.
A brief pause, then a terse reply. “Your vessel isn’t registered in this sector. Halt and prepare to be boarded, or you will be fired upon.”
“Yes, sir, but that’s not necessary.”
“Halt and prepare for inspection.”
Harlow closed the comm and turned around, giving them a nod. “My part is done. You’re up, Lady Flare.”
Ember nodded, uncomfortable with how her companions were watching her. They didn’t want to miss a single detail of what would happen next. “Stand near the back and try to look nonthreatening. Especially you, Reina.”
The girl gripped her stunners even more tightly. “Not a chance.”
It wasn’t worth the argument. Ember intended to make her move before her companions could fire a single shot. She turned to Bex. “You may not want to watch this, buddy. Why don’t you go sit on the floor behind the back row?”
He obeyed, but his head peeked around the corner before she’d even looked away.
Several minutes passed before the boarding team arrived. The airlock knocked and sputtered, making Ember wonder if the ship were about to malfunction and thrust them all into the cold darkness of deep space.
The door finally opened to admit a team of twelve soldiers, stunners raised. No mechs.
“Drop your weapons,” a thin blue-haired man said. He was shielded and very, very tall. He had to be the same species as Talon, her guard from the station.
Luckily, height didn’t matter. Ember tossed a casual blow to their lights, sending the soldiers to the floor. Her attack bounced off the leader’s shield, although it softened under her touch. He stumbled backward, hitting the hatch that had closed behind him, cutting him off from safety.
“I—you—what devilry is this?” he demanded.
Ember examined his shield again. It was shaped like a box, as usual. Normally she would have expected some light to trickle out through the corners, the box’s weakest point. But this time she ignored that and cradled the man’s light as if she were gripping a ball. Then she snapped her hand closed as she’d felt Ruben do, closing the walls in on themselves. The shield collapsed in a heap.
The man jerked and crumpled to the floor.
“Whoa,” Bex breathed from behind the row of seats.
Ember swallowed. Ruben’s method had worked, although it was disconcerting to see it happen from the other side. It was almost too easy. And that explained why Ruben’s shield was round. No weak points.
Harlow’s face twisted in anguish as he stared at the man on the ground. But it was Reina who captured Ember’s attention now. She breathed hard, her cheeks flushed.
“Are you all right?” Ember asked her.
“No. No, I’m not all right.” She slammed her stunners back into her belt. “You couldn’t just let us stun them like regular people, could you? As long as people like you exist, I’ll never be all right.”
Brennan rolled his eyes. “It’s nothing you haven’t seen before, and we don’t have time to argue. We need to steal their ship before the Empire’s notified. They could be sending fighters already.”
“It’s not what I did that bothers her,” Ember said. “It’s how easily it was done.” She bent to feel the leader’s pulse. He was indeed unconscious. She’d just discovered how Ruben penetrated shields so easily.
“Hurry. We don’t have much time.”
They stripped the bodies of their uniforms. As the others changed their clothes, Ember pulled Bex aside. “You won’t be coming with us,” she whispered.
His eyes went wide. “You’re leaving me here? With them?”
“No. We’ll stuff them into the escape pod and eject them far off course. And we’re definitely not leaving you here. You have the most important job of all.”
His expression was guarded. He didn’t believe her. Smart kid. “What’s that?”
“Kollander 23-1 isn’t far from here—maybe three days.” She’d checked the coordinates earlier with Harlow, who had programmed them in for her. “I want you to man this ship and head back to find some relatives or friends who will take you in. All you have to do is keep your harness fastened, and the ship will do the rest.”
“But what will you do?”
“We’ll use the shuttle our new friends brought.” She’d just have to pray that those still on the shuttle hadn’t reported a problem. They desperately needed to slip into the cargo bay unnoticed.
Bex stared at her, his expression guarded. “But how will I find relatives?”
She thought for a moment, then retrieved a few food packets from her bag and handed them to him. “You have enough in your bag to last the trip, but this will keep you an extra two days. Remember to ration your water, though. When you land, tell the officials you got separated from your parents, and give them your relative’s name. But whatever you do, don’t let them know you’re a flicker or mention the Union. Got it?”
He still looked uncertain. “That’s your big important job for me?”
“Absolutely. Someone needs to keep this thing out of Empire hands. Unless you think I should leave Harlow instead.”
He saluted again, nearly dropping the food packets clutched to his chest. “No, I can do it. I won’t let you down.”
Warmth spread through Ember at the boy’s courage. No matter what happened to them today, at least Bex would survive. That single success buoyed her spirits.
“I think we’re ready, Lady Flare,” Brennan said, tugging at his shirt. It was too short, but it would have to do.
“One last thing,” Ember said, looking down on the Empire soldiers she’d felled. There would be many more sleeping bodies before the day was over. “Let’s make them comfortable. They’re going on a long trip.”
Chapter 25
The summons brought Stefan and his entourage to a set of double doors in a private wing, an area normally reserved for high commanders. He’d never seen this part of the ship before. As he moved to follow the crowd, a guard stopped him.
“All candidates are required to pass a screening,” the man said. His uniform was a lighter shade of gray and decorated with decades’ worth of awards. An imperial guard? Strange.
Stefan stepped aside as the guard dismissed Talon and the others. Harpen walked inside without looking back, followed by a high commander and two surprised-looking officers.
The guards ran Stefan through three different screening processes. As he obeyed orders, standing this way and that, his mind circled around a single realization.
They’ve caught Ember. He couldn’t think of another matter that would require the presence of all commanders, candidates, and officers stationed nearby. It must have taken them hours to travel here from their posts. The prize had been captured, and a winner was being declared. It was the only explanation.
He reached out inwardly, eager to find Ember’s familiar light. But there was no sign of her. If they had her, it wasn’t here. Disappointment burned through his veins. He’d have to enter and find out like everyone else. Then he’d decide what to do.
When he was finally cleared, he entered the large conference room to find most of the seats filled. Half the front-row seats were engraved with high commander names. The other half were for candidates, although those chairs were labeled with simple cards. Generals and lesser military officers occupied the seats farther back. Stefan let his gaze sweep across the group. Many of the attendees whispered to each other, a frantic air hanging heavy around them.
&nbs
p; Stefan followed their gaze to the front, where two empty chairs were positioned. Imperial guards lined the side walls. They were special soldiers charged with the safety of their emperor alone. Was the man finally going to make an appearance in person? And if one of the chairs was for him, who was the other for?
Harpen stood behind the chairs, standing at attention, her expression stormy. It seemed she’d finally been briefed on what was going on, and she didn’t like it.
Stefan was one of the last to arrive. He felt eyes on him and fumbled to find the card with his name among the other candidates’ seats. He looked questioningly at his neighbors, who appeared as confused and bewildered as he felt. If one of them was about to be chosen, the individual didn’t seem to know it.
He did a quick head count. Six. Candidate Four, High Commander Zandar’s pick, sat on the end. Even he looked uncomfortable.
Harpen nodded to someone near the door. The lights went low, and the window screen lining the front of the room flickered on, sending the latecomers scrambling to find chairs.
The entire audience straightened. Women adjusted their hair while men sucked in their stomachs, all pasting on their usual smiles. A few seconds of silence, then the emperor’s face appeared. Or rather, the overly corrected version of him. Stefan wondered if the man were fooling anyone. He wouldn’t be appearing in person, then.
“All are present, Harpen?” the emperor asked, his voice unnaturally smooth.
“They are, Your Eminence.”
“Be seated, then.” Although the order was curt, the shadow of a smile lurked on the emperor’s lips. “I’m pleased to announce our new high commander over the flicker force.”
The candidates on either side of Stefan stiffened. He’d been right. That could only mean somebody else had succeeded in finding Ember, and it didn’t seem to be one of them.
Stefan tried to appear calm, but his heart raced. Maybe they’d already put her in that terrible collar room. He shouldn’t have left it intact. He should have broken the collar into a thousand pieces.
