Out of the Ashes

by L. A. Casey

  “Your items were destroyed.”

  They were worthless anyway.

  “Whatever. I’ll just say goodbye to Surkah, and I’ll be out of your hair.”

  “I don’t understand that reference.” Kol frowned.

  I waved him off. “You don’t need to.”

  If I had known that simply arguing with Kol would have gotten me kicked off the Ebony, I’d have done it a lot sooner!

  I turned and walked away from Kol, grateful that he didn’t pick me up again. He did follow me, though, and the annoying ass gave me directions to the medical bay when I had no idea what turn to take in the enormous spacecraft. He laughed when my frustration began to show again, and it only caused me to want to pummel the idiot.

  After what felt like an eternity, we came to the hallway I was familiar with. Mikoh was leaning against the wall adjacent to the medical room’s entrance. I raised my brow, wondering how he got here then I wondered if he and Surkah were informed of the new humans needing medical attention by Kol with their mind comms when they went for second helpings. They must have left the mess hall when Kol sat with me. Now that I thought about it, I was sure he sat with me to appease Surkah because she knew I’d be scared to be left on my own.

  “I smell blood,” Mikoh said as we approached.

  “She attacked me with a cutter,” Kol said nonchalantly. “She hit the bone, too.”

  Mikoh burst into laughter, and it struck me as incredibly odd that he would find it funny that I stabbed Kol. What was weirder was that Kol had barely bled after I stabbed him. He wiped away the blood that was spilled, and nothing fresh had come from the wound since. I blinked when Kol manoeuvred around my body, briskly sliding by me and quickly entering the room that housed me for the past two days

  “I’m with him,” I said to Mikoh, jerking my head towards the room where Kol disappeared into.

  “He said for you to wait out here,” Mikoh replied as he moved in front of me.

  “He said no such thing,” I argued. “I’d have heard him.”

  “Your ears don’t pick up sounds as ours do. He said it so you wouldn’t hear him.”

  “What an asshole.”

  Mikoh laughed. “You continue to surprise me, tiny one.”

  “Nova.” I sighed. “My name is Nova; I wish you Maji would use it.”

  “You’re pretty fierce for such a… tiny one.” He laughed when I scrunched my face. “I am sorry, but you are tiny.”

  “To you maybe, but not to my people.”

  “How do you protect yourself?” he asked me curiously. “On Earth, how do you survive? Surely, you don’t attack everyone with a cutter?”

  I deadpanned. “You’re just hilarious today.”

  Mikoh grinned. “Tell me how you survive.”

  “I run and hide.”

  He frowned. “You need to do that?”

  You have no idea.

  I humourlessly laughed. “The most threatening thing on Earth is other humans, Mikoh. Many of them have tried to kill me, maim me, kidnap me to sell me into slavery or sex work, and that’s just naming a few. I’ve been on my own since my father and cousin died when I was sixteen. Running is all I know, and I’m really good at it.”

  Mikoh looked furious.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, wary of him.

  “I wish to painfully kill the humans who have caused you pain and fear,” he growled. “You’re small and female. You’re precious and should always be protected.”

  “Females don’t have the same value on Earth, Mikoh. Our gender and size, for the most part, means we’re an easy target. Our value is credits.”

  Mikoh gave his attention to the open door of the medical room and growled low and deep in his throat.

  “You cannot allow it, Kol!” He suddenly snarled. “You heard what she just said. Her people will kill her or worse.”

  I knew exactly what the ‘or worse’ was as images of me working in a sex hole flooded my mind. I always swore that if I were ever caught by a gang, I’d take my own life before they could make a sex worker out of me. I was startled when Mikoh placed his large hands on my shoulders.

  “Will you not stay with us?” he asked. “I will not… I will not tease you anymore.”

  I blinked. “Why do you care what happens to me? And don’t say because I’m female.”

  He sighed. “My intended is fond of you.”

  “Uh-huh. What else?”

  His lips twitched. “You’re aggravating.”

  “So I’ve been told.”

  His laughter drew a small smile from me.

  “If you were ever hurt, my intended would be hurt, and I must admit I would be furious, too.”

  “Aww, you care about me.”

  “Don’t push it.”

  I laughed, and he smiled.

  “Nova?” Kol’s deep voice called.

  Mikoh nodded for me to enter the room, so I did but halted my steps almost immediately when I found Kol and Surkah weren’t alone.

  “I’m sorry,” I said when I saw a patient on the bed I’d slept on. “I didn’t mean to—”

  I cut myself off when I noticed the patient was a human female.

  “It’s fine,” the light brown-haired woman assured me. “I’ll just be one more minute. I have to get back to work anyway.”

  Work?

  That couldn’t be right. She couldn’t work for them because Maji had only been on Earth a little over two days. They couldn’t have established their own base of operations with human workers so quickly. It was… impossible. I was about to ask the woman what work she was referring to when my eyes flicked down and landed on the wound on her leg that Surkah was examining. She wasn’t touching her, which confused me because I knew that was how Surkah healed her patients. Instead, it was more like she was observing the wound as if waiting for something to happen.

  I tilted my head to the side, and I too watched the wound on the woman’s leg. My heart slammed into my chest, and my skin broke out in a sweat. The ripped open skin was knitting itself back together, and with each passing second, the wound became less and less. My breath got caught in my throat when the woman reached down with her left hand to adjust her pants. Her left mechanical hand that was previously hidden from my view.

  Run.

  Without a single word, I turned and fled the room.

  “Nova!”

  It was Kol who shouted my name, and I guessed it was his footsteps that pounded against the floor as he chased me down.

  “No!” I cried out when I was suddenly lifted into the air.

  “Stop running from me, little one.”

  “She’s au-augmented,” I stammered.

  I struggled against Kol’s hold, but he didn’t release me.

  “Let me go!” I shouted and clawed at his arm.

  He growled, and it brought my movements to an abrupt halt.

  “Be still,” he said, his voice low.

  “I can’t,” I argued. “Not around it!”

  “I’m a woman just like you are, Nova,” the filth’s voice stated from behind us. “I won’t harm you, I promise. My name is Sera.”

  Kol turned us around and placed me on the ground while keeping his arms around my body and his abdomen pressed against my back.

  “Liar!” I bellowed. “You’re a filthy aug! I’ve seen what your kind can do!”

  “Kol, what in Thanas’ name is going on?”

  I looked around Kol and saw a male was walking down the hallway towards us.

  “An altercation of sorts, Nero,” Kol replied with a sigh.

  “Do you need assistance?” Nero asked, a snort laced around his words.

  “No, but stand by,” Kol said, and I heard the amusement in his voice. “She’s human, but she’s small, fast, and I wouldn’t doubt her to attack.”

  Nero chuckled, and it annoyed me further.

  I focused on Sera. “Get the hell away from me, abomination!”

  “Nova.” Surkah frowned as she stepped into the h
allway. “Please, Sera is our friend.”

  I remember Surkah mentioned a human named Sera who taught them about humans and Earth.

  “Friend?” I sputtered. “She is augmented!”

  “Why is that such a problem to you?” Mikoh asked from behind Surkah.

  He was standing close to her.

  “Because,” I spat angrily. “Augs are nothing but controlled murderers.”

  “What?” Surkah said with raised brows.

  Sera sighed. “She means the war.”

  Surkah winced. “Oh.”

  “What war?” Kol questioned

  “The Great World War that took place in 2104,” Sera replied to him. “I’ve told some of you about it, but for those who haven’t learned of it, listen closely. After the year 2080, any human that had augmentations fitted to replace limbs and organs were fitted with a collective chip that was fused into the brain. It was required for each augmentation to work with updates like it was supposed to. Each chip had a code, and unfortunately, there was also an alpha code that controlled every collective chip. That code fell, or was sold, into the wrong hands. With the use of the alpha code, every collective chip was rewritten, and it turned people with augmentations into an unaware army. Hundreds of millions were slaughtered in mere weeks, reducing our already depleting population to almost extinction. Because of that, augmented people became the enemy.” Sera gestured towards me with her hands. “As you can see, even eleven years after the Great World War, the dust between originals and augmented has still not settled.”

  I felt all eyes on me, but I refused to look away from Sera.

  “I will never forget. I was twelve when the war started, and I helplessly watched an aug break my twelve-year-old cousin’s neck when he tried to reach his dead father then two other augs gutted my other two cousins. I was twelve, a fucking baby, and I tried so damn hard to stop the bleeding, but I couldn’t… and they died in my arms.” I said, a lump forming in my throat. “Augs will never be trusted. That collective chip is inside all your heads. It’s only a matter of time before the alpha code is rewritten, and it’s not only humans you will kill this time but Maji, too!”

  Sera didn’t reply to me; she only looked down and sighed. I turned in Kol’s arms and looked up at him.

  “How many augs are aboard this ship?” I demanded.

  He held my gaze but didn’t answer.

  “How. Many?” I pressed.

  “Surkah,” Kol said, his eyes still on mine. “Answer her.”

  “Sixty-eight that I have examined so far.”

  My heart slammed hard into my chest. One aug could easily kill one hundred men, sixty-eight of them on board the Ebony would result in a massacre.

  “I’m leaving,” I stated.

  “I don’t think so,” Kol said, his voice hard.

  “Am I prisoner here?”

  “No.”

  “Then I demand to leave.”

  “Nova.” This came from Surkah behind me. “Your chances of survival—”

  “I was doing just fine on my planet before you and your species showed up. I would rather take my chances in the wastelands than be anywhere near a filthy aug.”

  “Nova—”

  “You cannot convince her, sir,” Sera cut Mikoh off. “Originals… they fear us, and I fear they always will.”

  Kol sighed. “Nothing I say will convince you, little one, will it?”

  “On this?” I questioned him. “No.”

  He frowned down at me, displaying obvious distress. He gave me a light squeeze and used a hand to brush a stray hair from my face; the affectionate action surprised me, but what surprised me more was when he said, “Don’t hate me, okay?”

  An alarm went off in my head.

  “What?” I blinked. “Why would I hate you?”

  I felt a pinch on my neck, and then everything got fuzzy. My body felt heavy, my mind was a mess of colours, and then I was lost to darkness, but not before I heard one last conversation.

  “She will awaken not only fearing augmented humans but Maji, too, when she learns we have lied to her,” Kol said, his voice unusually deep. “Detain all humans and recall all rescue crafts for an emergency departure. The planet’s core is cooling rapidly, and the surface is destabilising faster than we anticipated. I want to be on course to Ealra within twelve hours before the Earth becomes uninhabitable. I want a constant watch on her. And Surkah?”

  “Yes, brother?”

  “Alert me when she wakes,” he rumbled. “I want to deal with her personally.”

  Pain.

  It flooded my senses and thumped away inside my head like sticks on a drum. I turned my head and pressed it farther into the cushioned pillow underneath me to escape it, but my actions proved futile. I was stuck with a headache that I prayed would disappear soon. I groaned and jerked my head to the side when I opened my eyes, and a bright beam of light attacked my pupils.

  “What the hell?” I said, groggily.

  I sat upright and placed my hands over my eyes until the spotting of light went away.

  “Nova?”

  “Yeah?” I rasped.

  My throat felt like sandpaper.

  “How are you feeling?”

  I tried to swallow. “Like I’ve been kicked in the head.”

  Was I kicked in the head?

  I groaned loudly and moved my hands to my pounding temples and rubbed in circular motions to ease the painful ache. I dropped my hands to my lap and exhaled a deep breath. Nothing but time would take away the pain that pulsed away.

  “Nova, are you okay?”

  The voice was familiar.

  “Nova?”

  I turned my head and smiled crookedly when I saw Surkah.

  “Hey.”

  “Hello,” she said, a wariness to her tone. “Are you well?”

  “No,” I mumbled. “My head is killing me.”

  Surkah said, “Maybe the dose I gave her was too high?”

  Huh?

  “What are you talking ab—”

  “I contacted Kol. He is on his way.”

  Mikoh cut me off. I squinted my eyes until his form became clear. He was standing behind Surkah with his arms folded across his broad chest. He was leaned back against the wall next to the doorway.

  “How are you, tiny one?” he asked, tentatively.

  “I don’t know,” I replied as I adjusted the gown I couldn’t remember putting on. “My head hurts, and I can’t remember falling asleep in here. Wait… Am I dreaming? Is this a dream?”

  “Would that make me the male of your dreams then?” Mikoh asked, grinning.

  “Stop it,” Surkah growled. “You’re not helping.”

  I smiled at him.

  “I disagree,” Mikoh replied and nodded his head at me.

  Surkah saw I was smiling, and rolled her eyes.

  “It is the effects of the konia,” she said with a wave of her hand. “She’d most likely spew her Earthly curse words at you if her mind wasn’t… What was the word Sera said? Cloudy?”

  That was exactly what my head felt like. Cloudy.

  “What is a konia?” I questioned.

  “A medical agent we use to induce instant unconsciousness.”

  I stared at Surkah, trying to make sense of her words.

  “And you used this konia on… me?”

  Surkah couldn’t look me in the eye as she said, “My brother gave the order through his comm. We could not run the risk of you attempting to flee us because we feared you would be hurt in the process.”

  What. The. Hell?

  “I don’t understand any of this,” I said as I placed my hands on either side my head. “Why would I flee? You’re going to rebuild the Earth and fix everything. Why would I fight against that? Why would I fight my salvation?”

  Surkah still couldn’t look me in the eye. Hell, she couldn’t even look in my direction. Dread swirled in my abdomen, and worry prickled my skin. I had a feeling that something bad was about to happen.

 
“Are you my friend, Surkah?” I asked, my voice barely a whispered.

  She jerked her head up and locked gazes with mine.

  “Of course,” she breathed. “You’re my only true friend. I have bonded with you very quickly, Nova.”

  “Then tell me what I’m missing,” I pleaded. “I can’t remember anything after talking to your brother in the hallway.”

  That freaky Maji picked me up off the ground like I weighed nothing when I ran from him.

  “Everything will be okay,” Surkah promised. “Nothing will happen to—”

  Surkah was cut off when the door to the room opened, revealing Kol. I blinked as he entered the room. His stunning violet eyes were on mine, his thick dark brows were drawn together, and his lips were thinned to a line. He didn’t look very happy, and after a few seconds, I knew why. My recollection of the events earlier suddenly hit me and caused me to draw in a deep, unsteady breath. My conversation with Kol, Mikoh, Surkah, and Sera flooded my mind and caused my already pounding headache to amplify.

  They kidnapped me.

  “Stay the hell away from me!” I bellowed as I scrambled off the bed and away from Surkah, who looked like she was about to cry.

  She took a step forward, and I screamed, so she took five steps back. She did cry then, and Mikoh was there to comfort her. I had never seen them touch one another affectionately, but when he put an arm around her shoulder and hugged her body to his, she didn’t fight him.

  “Please,” she blubbered. “Don’t fear me. I am your friend.”

  Liar!

  “No!” I shouted. “You pretended to me my friend so you could kidnap me! You’re just like humans, Surkah. You lie, steal, and hurt people. You’ve hurt me!”

  Surkah’s whine was filled with pain, and so were her whimpers that followed. Mikoh was glaring at me, no doubt furious that I had upset his intended, but I didn’t care. I was hurting, too. I thought she was a good Maji, that I could trust her with my safety, but she was like everyone else. She used me.

  “Nova.”

  I narrowed my eyes to slits when Kol called my name, but I refused to look at him.

  “Let me go.”

  He sighed. “We cannot.”

  “Why?” I demanded. “Why have you taken me?”

  The many human women I saw in the mess hall filled my mind, and I knew in my heart that the Maji had taken them too. Was it under false pretences? Or were they aware of what had happened to them?