Within Ash and Stardust

by Chani Lynn Feener

  Delaney was wheezing, her throat not just burning anymore but closing up as well. She tried moving once, not sure if she’d managed to even twitch her finger, and then gave up.

  Because she was already facing that direction, she saw the single figure step from the cloud, though it took her mind longer than it should have to process it wasn’t one of the Rex’s men coming back to finish the job.

  The guy was wearing a black mask over his face, similar to a gas mask, though with flashing lights and strange circular buttons running up the right side, from chin to brow. He was dressed in Kint colors, but the way he moved was familiar, so she didn’t even consider attempting to fight him off when he rushed to her side.

  He dragged her hurriedly onto his lap, tugging something small from his pocket and shoving the end of it past her lips. Without explanation, he pressed down on the side, tightening his arm around her when she jerked as a burst of icy air shot down her throat.

  The racking coughs started again, and he shifted so that now she was bent over his other arm, staring at the floor as her body shook. It didn’t last nearly as long as the first time, and the pain eased away and then disappeared altogether.

  “I trust you had a good reason for not waiting for me as planned?” Ruckus said then, and she twisted her head around to watch him pull the mask off and toss it to the side.

  “If what I did worked, then yeah.”

  “Well, we’re just lucky I happened to stumble upon a room filled with weapons. These certainly came in handy.” Helping her to her feet, he glanced over toward the doorway, where the pink smoke had all but disappeared.

  Discarded on the ground were the twelve Tellers who’d been about to shoot her.

  Ruckus let her go and rushed toward the same computer console the Sutter had been using. After he inputed something Delaney couldn’t follow, the chair holding the Zane emitted a loud beep.

  The metal bands holding him down slid away, disappearing into the arms, legs, and sides of the black metal chair, exposing raw welts and cuts on his wrists from his struggles.

  Trystan heaved himself out of the chair, wavering. Once he’d gotten his balance, he pushed back the Ander, grabbing on to Delaney. His hold was hard enough that she almost had trouble breathing a second time, but he let go before that became an actual issue.

  “What the hell was all that about?” he demanded, pulling away enough to openly glare down at her. “If the Ander hadn’t shown up just in time, my father would have shot you for the things you’d said to him! It was reckless, and uncalled—”

  “Actually,” she cut him off, and then quickly disentangled herself from his hold. She’d planted the gorud between two of the main computer towers, and went to retrieve it. In order to fit, she’d had to squeeze it in at an angle, but even with the device on its side, what had just happened should be clear on camera.

  Before explaining to them what she was doing, she settled the gorud back on her head and sent a message to Fawna, holding her breath while she waited for a reply.

  “Delaney—” Ruckus sighed when she held up a finger, silencing him.

  As planned. It was a brief return message, but it was all Fawna had to say for an all-consuming relief to sweep through Delaney.

  She dropped her hands to her knees and let out a breath, wincing when it caused her shoulder—and really, the rest of her as well—to twinge in pain. When she straightened again, the guys were staring at her, their impatience clear.

  Right.

  “We got it all on tape,” she told them, still trying to catch her breath after all of that. “I had Fawna record everything after I entered the room. It’s on record.”

  “Proof.” Ruckus looked a bit awed.

  “But how much of it?” Trystan asked. “How much did you catch?”

  “Enough, hopefully.” She shook her head and planted her hands on her hips. “We aren’t done, though. Varasow is still under attack, and we need—”

  “To stop my father,” he finished for her with a growl. Without waiting, he headed toward the door, propelling himself forward. “Leave him to me. This ends tonight.”

  She sent Ruckus a pointed look, and then the two of them rushed after him. They caught him at the entrance, just in time to push through into the hall with him. The three Tellers she’d shot earlier were still there, unconscious, and she paid them little mind as she stepped over their bodies.

  “Do you even know where you’re going?” she demanded when the Zane didn’t say anything.

  “He’ll retreat to the hangar,” Trystan explained, clearly positive in his assumption. “Board a ship and go. He isn’t aware that you recorded his confession. For now he’ll attempt to carry out his plan.”

  “Which is?” Ruckus asked, moving briskly at their sides. He had his shing out, and was probably conveying all of this to Sanzie and the others.

  “Arrive at the Vakar palace just in time to save the day.” Trystan clenched his hands into tight fists at his sides. If flexing his wrists like that hurt, he didn’t show it, though Delaney couldn’t imagine how it wouldn’t. Some of his wounds were bleeding.

  “We don’t have enough men on the ground to cut him off,” Ruckus stated. “If the Rex makes it to a ship—”

  “We won’t be able to stop him.” The Zane nodded curtly. “I’m aware.”

  “He got a head start.” Delaney didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but she wasn’t really sure how they hoped to catch up in time. “There’s also the issue that he’s got a ton of Tellers with him, and we don’t.”

  “Survivors?” Trystan directed his question to the Ander.

  “We’re down two.”

  “Brilliant.”

  “We should focus on destroying Clean Slate,” Delaney said, waiting until they’d both paused to frown at her. Under different circumstances, she might have teased them over the fact that they wore the exact same expression and had the same pissed-off military poses. As it were, she kept that little gem to herself.

  “Think about it,” she continued. “We’re too late to stop the Rex from leaving. But we can ensure no one gets to use this device on anyone else.”

  Trystan shifted angrily on his feet. “My father almost killed you. He almost turned me into a slave. I let him get away now, and he’s only going to try it again. Proof be damned. You really think he’s going to let the rest of the world stop him? No, I can still—”

  She grabbed his arm when he went to turn away, tightening her grip when he would have stubbornly yanked himself out of her hold.

  “Protect the people.” She held his gaze, unwavering. She’d caught that part of his speech to his father. Hoped he understood she was referencing it now, using it as a reminder. “Do your job, Zane.”

  He let out a low growl in the back of his throat and tore his gaze from hers, only to look back a second later. His shoulders were still stiff, and there was so much rage coming off him, she could practically taste it. But when he spoke, all of that was contained, tucked back beneath the icy demeanor he’d always been so perfect at projecting.

  “Of course, Lissa,” he said coolly, and then began heading back the way they’d come. It didn’t take long, since they hadn’t gotten very far in the first place, and the room was exactly as they’d left it, complete with downed Teller bodies everywhere.

  “Any chance they’re going to wake up soon?” Delaney asked, toeing one of them in the side as she passed. She’d had more than enough surprises for one day. Having enemy Tellers suddenly spring out of a deep sleep and attack so wasn’t in her cards.

  “That smoke is lethal without the antidote. I didn’t see another way to stop them all at once,” Ruckus confessed.

  Not wanting to dwell on that, Delaney turned away, easing up to Trystan’s side where he was already typing on one of the main computers. The keyboard didn’t look anything like the ones on Earth, and she hardly recognized the symbols, so she didn’t bother trying to be useful there. The weird sentences and patterns flowing across t
he screen were just as foreign.

  “I’m hacking into the mainframe,” he explained, understanding she’d want to know without her having to ask. “The device has been kept on a different server, cut off from the castle’s main systems, so I wasn’t able to do this remotely.”

  Ruckus, who’d been watching the attack on Varasow, which was still playing on the screen, turned away. He went to the computer at the other side of the chair, flicking his fingers over the keys. After a moment he cursed and pulled back.

  “We’ve been cut off from the outside,” he said. “All communications are down.”

  Delaney tapped the button at the side of the gorud she was still wearing. The lights hadn’t gone away, so she’d been under the impression everything was still running smoothly. Now she sent the question to Fawna, waiting to see if they’d lost the connection to her as well.

  Still here, played across the screen over her eye, and she glanced between the two of them.

  “We’ve still got Fawna.”

  “Unless the lovely pilot can access these particular computers,” Trystan stated, not breaking from his work, “I don’t see how that’s very helpful.”

  “What about the others?” Delaney asked Ruckus. “We’re still getting feedback from them, right?”

  “Looks like,” he replied, checking his shing.

  “We should be able to meet up with them soon, Ander.” Trystan smirked devilishly and pressed one last button before leaning back to stare at the screen. “Done.”

  “With?”

  “I’ve just written in a virus to ensure all data on the Clean Slate project is unrecoverable. It should only be a few minutes before everything is erased for good.”

  “Just like that?” Delaney had to admit, she’d expected it to be a bit more complex.

  He scowled. “I’ll have you know this was actually quite difficult. I just happen to be very skilled.”

  “We still have a problem,” Ruckus said. There was a dire look on his face that neither of them liked seeing. “Sanzie was unable to get a direct message to the Basilissa before outside communications were shut down.”

  “I don’t see why that matters.” Trystan motioned to the screen playing the attack. “Clearly she’s aware now.”

  “Yeah, but…” Delaney shook her head. “That means she doesn’t know the Rex is coming…”

  “Specifically to kill her.” Trystan caught on, and swore for the millionth time that hour alone.

  CHAPTER 25

  “I’ll tell the others to get to the garage,” Ruckus told them as they entered the hallway. They’d waited to be sure the data on the computer had been erased, and were now on the move again. “We’ll meet them there and head to the ship as fast as possible. We might still be able to make it to the Basilissa before the Rex does, considering how fast my model is.”

  Before anyone could comment on that, Trystan slowed a step, cocking his head. A second later he grunted and continued at a quicker pace, leading them through the castle determinedly.

  “It appears Sanzie is attempting to get the communications systems back online,” he explained when Ruckus gave him a pointed look. “If she can, we’ll have access to the computer’s mainframe again, and the security feed from the cameras.”

  “Here.” Delaney removed the gorud and handed it over. “You know what you’re doing with this thing, and you’ve got a better chance of keeping it safe. I had to get Fawna to help me do something as simple as hit record.”

  “But it was your idea to do so in the first place,” Trystan said, taking the device anyway and slipping it over his head. After adjusting the screen in front of his eye, he tapped the side button and waited a moment before adding, “The pilot is very rude.”

  “Fawna?” Delaney asked. “What’d she say?”

  “Something about returning the gorud to you because I’m a…” He made a face, then shook his head curtly. “It doesn’t bear repeating.”

  “If Sanzie can get the block down,” Ruckus began, “Fawna should be able to access the mainframe herself and do a wider check of the castle grounds. It’d be nice to know just how many Tellers are still in the building.”

  “Agreed.”

  Delaney blinked at both of them, then grinned when they frowned. “Look how much progress we’ve made. And all it took was the three of us almost dying. About four times.”

  Trystan let out an annoyed sigh before turning to Ruckus. “I suppose I should thank you for showing up back there.”

  Ruckus seemed surprised, but he nodded, a clear indicator that this was the only response he was going to give the Zane.

  “How are you?” Delaney asked, carefully checking around a corner as they reached it.

  “You mean considering my father just tried to wipe my memories?” Trystan shrugged.

  “It’s all right to be upset about it,” she sent through their fittings, knowing she’d only make him feel more uncomfortable if she did so out loud in front of Ruckus. “What he was willing to do to you … That was absolutely awful. If it’d been my dad trying to do that to me, I’d be a mess right now.”

  Trystan hesitated, and just when it seemed like he might respond, a light on the gorud flashed, distracting him from whatever he’d been about to say.

  “Sanzie’s done it,” Ruckus said, staring at his shing. “She’s trying to access the cameras now.”

  “I’m already on it.” Trystan’s eyes flickered from right to left as he half focused on the screen. He kept his pacing even and continued to lead them without difficulty as he did, obviously not having a problem multitasking. “The next two halls are empty. We should be able to make it straight to the garage without issue.”

  “That’s because most of the Tellers have already gone, or are on their way, to Varasow.” Delaney hated that she was actually worried about Tilda. After everything the woman had put her through, she’d kind of hoped she’d hold more animosity toward her, and yet … “How much farther to the garage?”

  “Just around the corner.”

  Sanzie met them at the end of the hall, before the entrance to the garage. As soon as she spotted them, she disappeared into the room, and they picked up the pace, finding her working the controls for the large door at the other end.

  “We’re all set to go,” she told them as they approached. “Gibus stored what information was on the computer about the Clean Slate project on a shing, then we destroyed the source.”

  “He what?” Ruckus swore under his breath.

  “In case there’s a way to reverse the process,” Sanzie said, coming to the Sutter’s defense, and for a moment the two of them glared at each other before Trystan cleared his throat.

  “We need to get going. The Lissa and Ander stay with me,” he told the Sworn. “Your group leaves first. Head straight for the ship.”

  “Yes, Zane.” She nodded once in a partial bow and then turned on her heel.

  Verus and Gibus were already in the back of one of the cars, and Sanzie rounded to the driver’s side and practically jumped in. Before she even had the door fully closed, they were speeding off toward the garage exit. The metal gate was still down, but it began to lift as they approached.

  “This way.” Trystan urged them forward to the second car, which was already running. It was sleek and silver, and would be cramped with the three of them, but it appeared to be fast.

  At the side of the vehicle, the Zane tossed open the door, waiting for Ruckus to get into the back seat.

  Delaney slid into the passenger seat without much thought, realizing what she’d done a second too late. It wasn’t like she’d actively chosen to sit next to one of them over the other. She just preferred the front of the car.

  Ignoring the look Ruckus sent her, she tried to focus on what Trystan was doing instead as he entered the vehicle and began activating the controls with his nimble fingers. He worked quickly, having their destination programmed in and the car shooting forward in under a few seconds.

  Just as they st
arted moving, a handful of Tellers swarmed the garage, coming from the castle. Trystan glanced at them in the mirror, but he didn’t hesitate. He grabbed the controls and angled their vehicle through the still-parked cars, straight for the now open exit doors.

  “Looks like they caught up with us,” Ruckus stated.

  Of course the Rex was going to try to stop them from going after him. She glanced at the gorud. If anything happened to that before they got it to Fawna, all the evidence she’d just recorded would be gone.

  “Hold on,” Trystan suddenly warned, then pressed a triangular button on the console. There was a loud buzzing right before an icy-blue force field formed over the outside of the vehicle.

  Trystan swore, drawing their attention upward, and when Ruckus saw his narrowed gaze, he twisted around to check out the back.

  Two cars were following, preparing to attack.

  “Battle vehicles,” Trystan explained to Delaney, who was also staring back at their pursuers. “They come with built-in herri-fritzes on the sides that let off larger, faster, and therefore more effective rounds than the smaller handheld fritz weapons.”

  “The force field won’t hold for long!” Ruckus warned.

  Trystan twisted the car to the right, then the left, just as one of the enemy cars sped up to their side. The move had him slamming their vehicle into that one, and as soon as he’d righted the car, he did it again. Their force field buzzed upon contact, ripping paint from the other car and shocking it in defense every time they touched. By the third impact, the momentum was enough to send the enemy car flying off the road.

  Delaney watched as it flipped, then rolled behind them, so that the second car had to jerk to the side to avoid a collision. As soon as it’d straightened out, however, the car started firing its herri once more.

  One of the shots clipped the side of their vehicle, going straight through the force field, which flickered out before returning, weaker this time.