by Cheree Alsop
“It’s alright,” he said gently. “You don’t have to continue if you don’t want to.”
Zyla let out a shuddering breath. “It’s important,” she said, forcing herself to go on. “Everything got messy. Lunarians turned their branded into soldiers with the promise of freedom for those who served faithfully. Solariats began kidnapping civilians and turning them into branded overnight, increasing their armies. Dweller ships were being ravished and only the bravest, or most foolish, dared to go to the Gatherings. People were starving and the upper classes didn’t care.”
She closed her hand tightly around her knife. “But in my dream, King Tolier and Evangeline, Empress of the Lunarians, were together. They were watching the world burn and they were laughing about the chaos they had created. They laughed until I took off my goggles and the room turned blue. Everywhere I looked, the darkness fell away. The sludge faded and the monsters of the deep became smaller. Ships gathered below with guns pointed up at the great room.”
Zyla’s dream took over. She fell back into the memory.
“Don’t do it, Orion,” Tolier said. He lifted a sword in triumph. Nine blue gems glowed from the blade. “I can give you everything.”
“You’ve already taken everything from me,” I replied in a voice that wasn’t my own. My chest felt as if it was on fire. I looked down to see nine points of bright metallic silver glowing beneath my shirt.
“It’s him,” Evangeline whispered. “The prophecy.”
The sword King Tolier held glowed with the same blue light from nine gems that lined the blade. When I looked at it, the glowing increased as the gems burned with internal fire. I held out my hand.
“No!” Tolier cried.
Despite his struggles, the sword tore from his grasp and flew to mine.
His eyes widened. “Don’t do it,” he pleaded.
I raised the massive sword and stabbed it into the glass floor. Cracks spiderwebbed away from the center. Evangeline gave a scream while Tolier raised his gun.
“You’re done,” he growled.
I slammed my sword against the floor at the same time that his bullet fired. The glass shattered, and then we were falling. The pain in my chest was so severe I couldn’t breathe. It felt like I had been there before, suffocating and falling to my death, but I couldn’t say where it was from.
Zyla blinked and the memory of the dream faded. She met Orion’s blue gaze. “When I found you on that ship, I realized why I hadn’t felt like myself in the dream. It’s because I wasn’t me. I was you.” Her expression was insistent when she said, “You are the Orion that will end all of this. You’re the one in the prophecy. You’re going to free us all.”
Chapter Eight
Orion
I could tell by the look on Zyla’s face that my silence unnerved her. I wasn’t able to remember what I did a fortnight ago, and she expected me to fulfill a prophecy to save her world from some crazy, power-hungry tyrants? I was one man, and young enough to admit that I was barely that. After everything we had gone through, I hurt enough that even the thought of more fighting was cringeworthy.
It was also not my battle. Despite all she had told me, the comradery of the Circinus crew, and the acceptance I had found with the Revolters, I wasn’t one of them. Deep in my heart, I felt like it would be dangerous for her if I got involved.
I couldn’t say any of that to her, not when Zyla watched me with a mixture of embarrassment and expectation. I could have called her crazy, but it was easy to see how that would crush her. I debated if I should just join her cause to see where it would take us, but I was lost enough as it was without involving others in my fate.
But I owed her something. We had survived so much together in such a short period of time. I couldn’t ignore the fact that she had saved my life, and the memory of her unconscious face in the water-filled hold of the Indus haunted my mind. Something had thrown us together and I wasn’t foolish enough to ignore it.
I sucked in a breath and said the truth. “I’m not sure I can do all the things you expect of me.”
The light of the stars reflected in Zyla’s gaze when she tipped her head upward to look at the sky. “Sometimes I fear the same thing about myself.”
That caught me by surprise. “What do you mean?”
Zyla let out a faint sigh. “Uncle Demetri doesn’t agree with me, but I need to finish what my father started. He knew something was wrong with both ruling classes. Even before the constellation disappeared, he met with other Volters and tried to get them to understand how dangerous the world was becoming.” She blinked, refusing to let the tears that filled her eyes fall. “He always said he wanted to make the world a safer place for his grandchildren.” She shook her head. “But now, even if I survive to someday have children, he’s not here to see them.”
I took her hand. It was a bold move, one that surprised me, but I couldn’t help how much her sorrow made my heart ache. I hated to see her hurt. “I didn’t know your father,” I told her gently. “But I know that if he’d seen you in action today, he would be very proud.”
Zyla ducked her head and wiped her eyes with her sleeve as if embarrassed to let me see her cry. She sniffed and then looked up at me. “You think so?”
“I do,” I told her honestly.
She shook her head and a gave a little self-deprecating laugh. “I’ve made a mess of my life since he’s been gone. I’m not so sure he’d be that proud.”
“It’s hard to see the truth of something when we’re so close to it.” The moment the words left my mouth, the familiarity of them struck me with a jolt.
“What is it?” Zyla asked, reading my expression.
I shook my head. “I don’t know,” I said slowly. “I just…I’ve heard those words before from someone else. But she was crying.”
Zyla stiffened slightly. I barely noticed as I searched my foggy memory. Whispers of images hinted at the edges, but if I focused on them, they vanished like a drop of water in a puddle. It was extremely frustrating.
I finally gave up. “I can’t remember.” I rubbed my eyes hard, but refused to give in to the helpless emotions. “My memories don’t even feel like my own.”
“Maybe you hit your head,” Zyla suggested. She watched me, her eyes unreadable. “I’ve heard of instances where someone hits their head and can’t remember anything for a long time.”
I grasped at that. “But they eventually get their memory back?”
She gave a little shrug. “I think so.”
I couldn’t tell at that moment if she really wanted me to remember. Her expression had changed since I remembered the girl. I wished I could tell her it was nothing, but I also wished it was something because then she would be someone real in my life. Maybe I needed to find her, whoever she was.
Footsteps sounded on the steps behind us, and then Tower appeared.
“The Cap’n would like to see you,” he said. His deep, rolling tones sounded like thunder. He was a hulking sailor who, from what I had seen, was no more dangerous than a hummingbird. His smile, seldom gone from his face, spread across it when he continued with, “You found my favorite place on the ship.”
I rose and held out a hand to Zyla. I regretted the gesture when she used it to stand and nearly put me on my knees again with the pain in my ribs. I gritted my teeth and said through them, “We’ll let you have it back. Thank you for allowing us to borrow it.” I gingerly pulled on my shirt and worked my arms through the holes, then put my goggles back on.
“Anytime,” Tower replied.
Zyla led the way down the steps and across the main deck to the door.
“Looking good, Lou,” she said to a young man who appeared close to our age.
“Thanks, Ms. Dawes,” he replied with a respectfully lowered gaze before he returned to his work of sanding and then patching a chunk a bullet had taken out of the main mast. Metal bands and tools to tighten them waited at his feet for the next step.
I paused with my hand on the door and g
lanced back at him. The ship processes came far too easily. Zyla had only mentioned a few terms, yet the names for the rest filed into my thoughts with ease. I was familiar with ships. Though it felt strange to travel in the sky, the deck and everything within was akin to home.
“You coming?” Zyla called over her shoulder.
I stepped into the hall and let the door close behind me. The faint glow of the orb light led us along the hall to the Captain’s Quarters. Zyla knocked on the well-etched, thick wooden door.
“Come in,” Captain Dawes called out.
We entered to find that several of the crew members were already gathered.
“Welcome,” Captain Dawes said. He motioned for us to sit on the edge of the bed.
Doc, Jack the tinker, a woman with leathery skin and beads in her hair that I hadn’t met yet, and Hayes, sat on the couch and a chair that had been brought in. The captain sat on another chair facing them. He waited until Zyla and I were settled before he began.
“Welcome to my gathering of the minds,” he said. He gave a small smile that lifted his long white mustache and shot me a look. “At times like this, I’m conscious that the decisions I make will impact the ship and the entire crew. I don’t put my family at risk lightly.”
“I feel like that’s the sign of a good leader,” I said.
Nods of agreement came from the other crew members.
The Captain inclined his head. “Thank you.” He sat back in his chair and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Captain Lapero might be an ugly memory, but he was no doubt in contact with other assassins.” He sighed. “With the price on my head, they’ll be looking for the Circinus at every gathering. Lapero’s disappearance will further that.”
“Maybe we should start our own bounties,” Hayes suggested.
There was a tonic-dulled sheen to his eyes that let me know the first mate was still heavily drugged. I was surprised to see him up at all. His leg was stretched out in front of him and propped on a crate for comfort.
The captain gave his first mate a tip of his head. “That’s one option, but I’d rather not increase the search if we can help it.”
“So what do you suggest, Uncle?” Zyla asked.
Demetri’s eyes scanned the faces of his crew as he gave his answer. “The way I see it, we have two options. We can run, find some tiny patch of sky to call our own, and hope we can survive on rations and the few Stashers who dare fly out that far.” His expression said what he thought about hiding, but he continued in a level tone, “Or we head to the Gathering. Dwellers, Growers, and Marketers will all be there, as well as the city ships.”
I glanced at Zyla and saw that her eyes had widened and face paled.
“What is it?” I asked quietly.
She answered my question loud enough for everyone to hear. “That’s madness. The enforcers will be there, as well as the Airborne Defense. We can’t hope to avoid them all.”
There was a hint of panic in her voice she struggled to keep repressed, but failed. Her hands tightened on the patchwork blanket that covered her uncle’s bed, knotting it in her fists. The expressions of the other crew members were identical to her own; it was obvious each was hiding from something, and a Gathering didn’t sound like a subtle place to be.
Captain Dawes lifted a hand. “I understand, my dear. But hear me out. We have something that turns the tide of this war.” His gaze shifted to me.
My heart gave a double beat before resuming its steady rhythm. Exhausted both mentally and physically, I was in no shape for this conversation.
As if he read my thoughts, the captain’s sharp gaze was touched with understanding. “Zyla told me how you saved her life, and also of her dream. I’ve seen the selfless things you have done for strangers, including myself.”
I shifted uncomfortably and glanced at Zyla. She watched me with an expectant expression.
I turned back to her uncle. “I’m not worth risking your crew over, Captain.”
“Being the sort of crew we are comes with its own set of risks,” he replied. “We aren’t exactly safe anywhere. The way I see it, I’m tired of hiding and ready to make a difference.” Sadness touched his expression when he glanced at Zyla. “I should have been there when my brother stormed the Orion. It’s time to make up for that.” He looked back at me. “But only if you’re ready. I see no reason to push someone where they don’t want to go.”
I appreciated his consideration, but as I looked around, the expectancy on the faces of his crew and Zyla made it nearly impossible to say no. They wanted to risk everything to get me to this Gathering. Zyla’s dream aside, I wasn’t sure what they thought I could do.
“In the heavens stars align,” the woman with the beads in her hair said.
“To bring us freedom in their time,” Doc echoed.
Hayes sat up straighter and recited, “With faith in foe and sea divine.”
Zyla took over with, “The fates change footsteps with the nine.”
Captain Dawes took up the last refrain, “Orion’s fall and freedom’s rise bring independence to the skies.” He looked at me. “We were wrong to place so much power in a prophecy. It shook the world when the Orion didn’t fall the way we thought it would and free us from the persecution of the overlords.” His eyebrows lowered thoughtfully. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t take the prophecy and shape it into what we need it to be.”
“What do you mean?” I asked quietly, not sure I wanted to know the answer.
He gestured to my goggles. “Your eyes and those tattoos were enough to start a battle during a protected trade where such a thing is outlawed.” He lifted a shoulder. “So what if you aren’t the Orion, you’re a figurehead others will follow.”
“What are you saying?” Zyla asked.
I was surprised to hear the wariness in her voice. When I looked at her, she met my gaze with a guarded expression. It reminded me that her father had died for the cause Demetri wanted to pursue. The thought was sobering.
Her uncle nodded at me. “I’m saying that if he’s up to it, we’re going to give the Revolters someone they can put their faith in. We take the war to the Orion the way your father tried to, and we show King Tolier the error of his ways.”
Nods came from the other crew members. I could see the fire in their eyes that the captain’s words ignited. They would follow me, a nobody that they had found lost at sea.
I studied the healing marks around my wrists where the manacles had been. “You’re asking me to lead people to their deaths,” I said quietly.
“No,” Demetri replied, his voice firm. “I’m asking you to give the Volters a symbol.” There was pain in his words when he said, “So many of us have given up. We’re slaves, Orion, branded like cattle on the ranging ships and sold with as little thought.” He lifted his hand to show me the brand on the back. “Those of us who have escaped are hunted to the end of our days. There is no peace.” He looked at Zyla, “And none for our families, either.” His hands clenched into fists. “I’m tired of looking over my shoulder. No man or woman should own another. It’s time we took the stand the prophecy ignited.”
The others in the room nodded. Jack opened his mouth, then shut it again and waited for the captain to speak.
Demetri turned his hand palm-up. “Truth be told, I could be the one who leads them and inspires them to fight; I could rally my friends, my family, and those who are at the end of their rope and ready to fall.” He met my gaze and held it. “But you have something undeniable, Orion. Whether or not the prophecy or Zyla’s dream come true, you could give the people something to believe in.”
I sucked in a steeling breath and sat up. The movement pulled at my shoulder, reminding me of Zyla’s kindness in patching me up. The warmth that radiated from her washed against my left side in a subtle yet pleasant way. I looked down at her and found her gaze to be tumultuous and unreadable.
“We’ve been through a lot together,” I told her.
She watched me without speakin
g, but gave a little nod.
I admitted what I felt in my heart. “I can’t help feeling as though our fates have been connected since the moment you walked into that cell on the Indus.”
“Me, too,” she admitted softly.
I glanced at her uncle; he nodded before I looked back at his niece. “I want to say yes, but I need to know how you feel about it. I know…I know you lost your father in the same battle and you’ve been forced to serve as a branded ever since. Do you dare go back?”
Zyla lowered her gaze to look at my shirt, though I could tell by her expression that she was seeing something beyond the room in which we sat. Her voice when she finally spoke was so quiet I had to duck my head to hear it.
“My father used to say that to enslave a person was to take away their humanity, but in being a branded, I have found humanity in the darkest and most hopeless of places.” She ran a finger over the brand on the back of her hand. “I’ve realized that the lack of humanity comes from those who look down on others as inferior. Whip someone, burn them, take away those they love, and throw them in chains, yet the gentleness of the human heart can remain. But the lack of empathy or mercy I saw in the eyes of the enforcers and owners took something from my soul.” She shook her head. “Nobody deserves to be treated as less than anyone else.” She looked up at me. “If you can make a difference, even a small one, this fight is worth it. My dad knew that, and I believe it with all of my heart.”
Silence followed her words. I stared down into her eyes, eyes that were the one constant in a world I couldn’t remember.
“It’s up to you,” she whispered.
Her hand slipped into mine and her fingers tightened reassuringly. I couldn’t help marveling at how small her hands were compared to mine. Aware of the expectant tension in the room, I searched for anything to ground me. My eyes found the brand on the back of her hand. It was a raised scar, old and worn with the smaller scars of those used to life on a ship. I couldn’t imagine anyone taking the hand of the sweet girl next to me and pressing a hot brand to it. The thought of any class of people who could mar such a soft-hearted soul made my shoulders tighten with resolve.
