by Abby J. Reed
Sure enough, his voice cut through the remaining trees. A call for help.
I’d never sprinted so fast.
He was between the trees and the base of the mountains, half a klick away from an Extrat ship. His clothes had torn and his skin was a mass of opened and freshly closed wounds. He must’ve inserted his line for the nanites again.
A lone Extrat was on top of him. Malvyn’s legs kicked, but he was pinned on his back.
Anger flared.
Not yours. Mine.
Two great steps and I launched at the Extrat. My dark matter stirred. My ribs seemed to stretch, as though a stubby hand reached out to hold the Extrat. A flash of mini and it was dead.
I patted the dark matter. I was gonna like this new addition.
I turned to bring justice to Malvyn.
He lay on his side, hands pawing over his slick, smooth, expressionless face.
No.
I whirled around to check. There. The dead Extrat wore Malvyn’s sneer.
No, no, NO.
I was too late.
The anger turned cold and violent. Malvyn’s chest heaved as he flailed for a breath that wouldn’t come. He writhed against the dirt as though a drowning man.
I brought out my dagger. I’d punch the trachea. Let him breathe. Let him live. Let him feel everything over the next several horas without being able to scream. Let him feel my power, my ownership of him.
“Luka.” The voice was maddeningly soft.
Yana’s hand settled over mine on the dagger. I hadn’t even heard her approach. Wasn’t she supposed to be on a shuttle out of here? She was grimy with dust and dried blood. The only clean spot on her was where LuLu usually hung. Mateo must have her now.
I gripped the knife harder. I wanted Malvyn to be mine. I wanted justice. I wanted—
But it was not my justice to give.
Finger by finger, I peeled away my grip, and my right, from the dagger.
I held it out with an open palm.
I thought this gesture would bring me to my knees. I thought it would be the end of me.
It wasn’t.
It was the beginning.
Yana took the dagger and stepped over to Malvyn. She raised the dagger to punch the trachea, then stopped. Instead, she bent low, crouched next to his ear, and whispered.
The wind took her words.
His torso stiffened as he listened, and he flailed harder, grasping, his touch begging for mercy as he pawed at the person he had once given none to. She stayed next to him, continuing to whisper, until his movements slowed and he asphyxiated.
She pushed off her toes, walking back to me with a light gait. Her expression was near blank, save the tiny fire roaring in her eyes.
“What did you say?” I said.
She handed the knife, handle first. Then she was already moving into the tree line, back toward her husband and child, with her past dead and behind her. “It’s not yours to know.”
Chapter 58
JUPE
I must’ve fallen asleep because I’d lost track of the time and the chaos outside the window had solidified into a rhythm. Ships no longer spun out of control or fired haphazardly on each other but were organized, grouped together with a faction ship overseeing them. Breathing was difficult. Must be running out of air in our sealed-off corner.
Then I realized what woke me.
A slight squeezing on my fingers.
I sat bolt upright, twisting. “Tahnya?”
Her eyelids fluttered open, revealing unfocused beaut brown eyes. “You’re here.” Her voice was more raspy than usual.
The sound of her voice filled every spare centi of my soul. Our clothes were stiff and smelled of blood, but I didn’t care. I shattered over her, as the waves of joy and relief hit. A soft tapping on my back was all she could manage to comfort me.
A pounding came from the barrier door. My name carried over a loudspeaker. “You in there, Jupe?”
It was Raelyn.
The rescue team had arrived.
I rolled onto my back again, regripping Tahnya’s hand as though I’d never let go. “Here!” I managed to croak. My medito throat wouldn’t let me speak any more.
“The control panel says the area is secure.” Raelyn’s voice chirped on. “But the protocols were knocked out, so we’re gonna have to manually open it. We’re working on getting the oxygen recirc back on. Should be any min. Did you hear what happened? The Queen is dead and did you see that asteroid? It flew right out of orbit!” She kept prattling, but I stopped listening. The relief was overwhelming.
“Is it over?” Tahnya whispered.
The floor had definitely grown tacky. It wouldn’t easily let me slide closer to her until our thighs touched. Tahnya was warm and I was warm and we were together and we were gonna be okay.
“Sí,” I said. “It’s finally over.”
Chapter 59
BREAKER
I blinked to see Malani’s face hovering over mine. She then sat back in a silver chair, breathing hard. “You’re awake.” She fumbled for my cap. Pink rimmed her eyes and dark bags hung heavy. “Astook, help me, I wasn’t sure you’d ever wake up.”
“I—” I stopped at the sound of my voice. It sounded like scraping rocks, like I hadn’t used it in a while. My body felt numb and too heavy to lift, not that I had the energy anyway, and strangely pain-free. “I’m okay.”
A tsking sound came from the end of my bed. A wizened man with body-modded fingers tapped against a transparent tablet. “No thanks to your adrenaline.”
“Who—?” I glanced around the room, taking it in. Painted banners hung from the walls in stripes, echoing the structure of the windowpanes looking out onto a blobby brown surface and an ochre horizon studded with three suns. A new planet? “Where—?” A memory pounded me. A distant beeping accelerated as my heart rate shot up. The feel of the dagger puncturing the Queen. Tipping over and seeing Brody’s face on that Extrat. Brody, drowning without air. Brody—“Where’s my brother? Where’s Brody?”
“He’s here. He’s fine. Don’t worry.” Malani patted my arm. “Scorpia is paying for facial reconstruction for him and any of the other surviving victims.”
“He has a face?”
“Not yet,” another voice said. Mom. I rolled my head to face the other side of the room. My parents stood to the side. They wore bioSkin and dark matter gleamed on their arms, but they didn’t look as wrung out as before. “It’ll regrow and he’ll more or less look like his old self. But he’ll be able to talk and eat and live a normal life.”
The relief felt like sinking into a cloud. He’ll be fine. Brody’s fine. “I want to see him.”
“Not yet,” the old man said. “You need to reach baseline yourself.”
My dad came forward, sat on the edge of the bed. He wore a patch over part of his cheekbone. “We’re . . .” His voice thickened. “I’m glad you’re okay. Please take your time in getting better.”
“You’re on Cartenyo,” Malani said. “It’s a yellow-zone planet several systems away from Scarlatti. It’s the nearest hospital that could fit everyone who needed medical attention and had the right equipment.”
“I don’t remember coming here.”
“You wouldn’t. You passed out on Scarlatti. Dr. Carson kept you in a coma while they sorted out what’s wrong with you.”
“What’s wrong with me?”
“Besides having a city dropped on your head?”
Dr. Carson scrolled through the flashing screen. “You did a number on that noggin. And the rest of your body. You broke your arm, three ribs, cracked a hip, and don’t get me started on the internal bleeding and—”
“I get the idea.”
“If you’re wondering why you
can’t move, it’s because you’ve been drugged with a heavy sedative while you heal. It should wear off in a couple horas. But I’d advise you not to move until we run some tests. Speaking of . . .” He turned to Malani. “Are you satisfied?”
She nodded. At my questioning glance, she said, “They want to run tests on my wings. On everyone’s dark matter. I refused until I knew you were okay. You’ve been under for dias.”
Dr. Carson pointed to my cap with those impossibly long fingers. “I’d love to run tests on you as well, if you’re willing.”
“Only if you let me examine your tech before you do.”
He grinned. “Deal.”
I glanced to Malani. “You’re not hurt, though? I didn’t see you during . . .”
Her wings shifted, flaring at the tips. “I’m not hurt. I’ll fill you in later.”
A light knock on the door. It opened to reveal a stiff royal Solteran soldier. “Princess Scorpia is here.” He stepped aside for her to walk through.
Scorpia wore diamond white, her kpinga strapped to her side. For a sec there, I swore she was the Queen, they looked so much alike. But her face hadn’t been honed yet by false kindness and she still wore her vibrant violet scarf. If anything, it was her overall gruffness that set her apart from her mother. “I would like a moment alone with Breaker.”
Malani leaned in and whispered, “I’ll see you when I can.” She planted a kiss on my forehead and left.
Mom joined my dad at my bedside. “Before we leave, we want you to know,” she said, swallowing. “We want you to know how proud we are of you, Breaker.” She glanced at Scorpia. “We’ve always known you were meant to walk your own path. Whatever you choose to do, even if it’s not the choice we want, we will support you.”
Dad glanced at Malani’s wings disappearing around the corner. “Both you and Malani. We’re sorry for the part we played in pushing you away. It takes a man to face his mistakes. And we’re facing ours. As you did.” He shifted, shoulders straightening as he locked gazes with me. “You did well, son.” He gripped my hand and squeezed. “Very well.”
A still-lingering knot inside my soul unraveled. Those words . . . As though a hug I’d longed for was stuffed inside the letters. I never thought I’d hear them say proud and my name in the same sentence. I didn’t know I needed those words.
My return grip was weak. “Love you.”
My dad’s voice thickened. “Love you too.” He wrapped his arms around my mom and they both departed, leaving me and Scorpia alone together.
~ ~ ~
I eyed Scorpia, my muscles tight. “Last time you were this close, you violated my stump and released an electric current into my body. Sorry if I’m not hopping with joy to see you.”
“I understand.” She folded her long legs to fit into the silver chair. “Still, I want to thank you for standing up to my mother. And for killing her. I owe you a great debt.”
My own tension lessened. Only a little. “What about the dark matter?”
Scorpia’s fingers clasped over her belly. “I have been speaking with Chief Cal, and the new Elik and Heron representatives. Your planet is now one of the wealthiest in the galaxy. With the asteroid gone, dark matter is now not only a limited resource but the most valuable.”
“And?”
“We decided to keep the news quiet while we work out details. The last thing we want is for an entire system of desperate people to siege the planet before we are ready. Though I am optimistic everyone will be able to benefit from an agreed-upon arrangement. I still hope to use the dark matter to better the galaxy.”
“If this is such good news, why are you here?”
A single eyebrow raised. “Is my gratitude not enough?”
“Paying for my brother’s new face showed your gratitude. My mom also hinted there’s something else you want. What is it?”
Her lips twisted into a wry smile. “I did tell them what I planned to say to you. I am here to ask for your help. Again. You see, the asteroid is not truly gone.” She gestured out the window, toward the strange sky. “It is on a direct path toward the singularity.”
“Isn’t that a good thing? Nobody will ever be able to get their hands on that amount again.”
“Except that amount of energy can cause a lot of damage.” She leaned closer, her voice hushed. An eager air hung around her. “If that amount of unlimited energy enters the singularity, we risk the event horizon swallowing the entire universe.”
“You mean the entire Sirkel Galaxy could eventually be drawn into the singularity?”
“Exactly.”
I should’ve been shocked. Horrified. But the even way Scorpia spoke made this sound like it happened every cycle. She wasn’t worried. “That sounds more like a catastrophe than something I can help you with.”
“It does not have to be.” She gave me a meaningful look.
A thrilling pulse ran through my body. Pieces clicked together as my mind flitted over the files Jupe had given me. That right gorgeous design. “The ring portal.”
Scorpia nodded. “If we activate the portal, it will direct the energy from the dark matter and use it to open the wormhole, sending the asteroid through.” Her gaze flicked to me. “And whatever, whoever, else happens to be there.”
I could barely breathe. “That’s how the Queen planned to go home.”
“We’ve been tracking the asteroid since it left Scarlatti’s orbit. We’ve been doing our best to make you are ready to leave as soon as possible. At the rate the asteroid is traveling, by our calculations, you will still be able to catch up to make sure it leaves this galaxy. As long as we are ready on time.”
“You want me to babysit a rock?”
“To be honest, I am not sure. I have never been through the wormhole. I will not pretend to know what it is like. I do not know if you will actually need to do anything. I only need to make sure it leaves this galaxy.”
“Will I be able to come back?”
Scorpia hesitated. “When the Queen came through, the wormhole collapsed.”
“So I could die?”
“More likely there will be some sort of time disruption. Remember, the Queen and the Extrats entered the wormhole simultaneously. Yet, they did not come out of it at the same time. Nor did the dark matter.”
“So, for everyone I leave behind, it’ll feel like I took a one-way trip,” I said. More more more, my heart sang. If we were to activate the portal, open the tunnel, the coordinates would solidify.
The red dot. We could finally follow it and find out where it led. To the Solterans’ home? To somewhere else?
I’d finally know.
At the cost of leaving everything behind. Possibly forever.
“Why are you asking me?”
“Your ship is one of the few that still runs on fuel. You will need the dark matter fuel in order to catch it and keep up.”
“You want me because of my ship? It’s destroyed.”
“No. Not only that.” She held my gaze. “Because you and my mother had one thing in common: You both belong to the stars.”
I looked out the window. The blobs on the planet’s surface had shifted. There was no smoking compound, no Heron fortress, no Elik city. Ever since Brandon had died in front of me, I’d been searching for a way to atone for not being able to save him. To fix and save everyone. First Brody, then Scarlatti. This need drove me to unintentionally hurt them both. I had cost my brother and Scarlatti so much.
Or.
Maybe I hadn’t.
If I had never left Scarlatti, we would never have met Scorpia, never have met Jupe. It was only a matter of time before the Extrats broke past the Herons and flooded our valley. Who knew how long the Elik could’ve fought them off. If I had never left, who could say that my family, that Brody, would
still be standing, that there would be any survivors at all.
Maybe I had truly saved Scarlatti. Maybe I was a hero from Brandon’s stories after all.
There was no way to tell.
The old me would’ve leapt at the chance.
If I did go? Could I really live with never being able to see Brody grow old? Really live with knowing I’d be another lost son to my parents? Scarlatti was on the brink of something new. Getting her on the right track would take a lot of time. Did I really want to risk everything I had gained and go off on another adventure? You couldn’t do it, Breaker. You weren’t strong enough, Breaker.
But Brody was wrong. I was strong enough. In the end, I was strong enough to not choose him.
I was strong enough to say no to this choice, too.
“I’ll think about it,” I said.
Scorpia tapped her lip. “You have until my coronation tomorrow. The doctor says you should be well enough to go. Everyone here is invited, at my expense. Those who don’t wish to join will be shuttled back to Scarlatti.” She stood in a fluid motion, all grace and ease. “If you agree, you will have a couple dias to get settled before you must leave. If you still say no, I will ask someone else.”
I turned back to the window, letting Scorpia see her own way out. In her wake, an uneasiness rang in my chest. No, not uneasiness.
Disappointment.
Chapter 60
MALANI
The tests weren’t unpleasant, but they reminded me too much of lab for me to be at ease. I had to walk out of the room every other test at first, just to prove to myself I could leave whenever I wanted. With snacks and drinks brought whenever I requested, the process stopped feeling so stuffy and I settled into longer and longer testing segments.
