Out Past the Stars

by K. B. Wagers

  “Kitchen?” I held up my hand. “Wait. I have a better idea than what you’re about to suggest,” I said, and pointed at Aiz. “Front door. Or the side door, rather.”

  “Sha zhu, you just said—”

  “Let me think.” I waved a hand at Hao, trying to chase the idea that hovered just out of reach in my head. “Kitchen. I need to speak with Vada.”

  Everyone stared at me, but Emmory thankfully seemed to realize where I was going. “You want to speak with the restaurant owner who fed you?”

  “Yes. Her granddaughter Prosa worked for Delphine. Vada can put us in contact with Prosa, hopefully, who in turn can tell us what’s going on inside the Pedalion buildings and maybe even get us inside.”

  “There’s a lot of hope and maybe in that plan.”

  I smiled at Aiz. “I’d think you’d be used to it by now.”

  The streets of Sicenae were sparsely populated even though by the clock on my smati it was still early in the evening and Farians should have been out in droves.

  “People are afraid,” Fasé murmured.

  She, Hao, Emmory, and Gita were all using Hao’s masking programs. Aiz, Mia, and I were using the Shen ability to change our faces, though of the three of us I was the only one with a backup program on my smati.

  And Biea was with us, but all I could see was that flickering in the corner of my eye to indicate their presence.

  My Ekam was slightly ahead of the group with Fasé, and I was following him. Aiz and Mia trailed behind us with Hao and Gita bringing up the rear. To the casual observer we looked like separate groups.

  At least that was what I hoped.

  “Emmory knows where he’s going?” Aiz said over the coms.

  “Yes, he put the location into his map. It’s just around the corner.”

  Shouting filled the air and a Farian came sprinting around the corner. She avoided Emmory but crashed right into me, sending us both sprawling to the ground.

  “I’m sorry! I—Star of Indrana?”

  “Hail, your mask.” Mia choked out the words and I activated the program on my smati as a group of guards rounded the corner on us.

  Three of them grabbed the Farian, dragging her to her feet, but her wide silver eyes remained locked on me and for a terrifying moment I wasn’t sure what she was going to do.

  She straightened in the guards’ grip, back straight and chin jutting up. “Death to the false gods. Long live the Mardis and the Star of Indrana.” Her voice was loud, ringing in the sudden silence of the street.

  One of the guards hit her and blood sprayed across the sidewalk. The Farian went limp and I felt my hands tighten into fists.

  “If you intervene they will take you also.”

  I realized there was a guard next to me with his hand outstretched. He seemed young, and there was a kindness in his golden eyes. He wiggled his hand and I took it, letting him help me to my feet. He offered up a sad smile as he let my hand go and followed the others who were dragging the Farian away.

  “Let’s go.” Emmory grabbed me by the arm and hustled me down the sidewalk. We rushed around the corner and spotted Vada standing at the door of her café, talking to another Farian woman in low tones. They froze when they saw us but relaxed just as quickly.

  Presumably because we weren’t wearing guard uniforms.

  Emmory gave Vada a curt nod as he ushered me through the doorway.

  “Sit,” he ordered, going to a knee. There was a tear in my sleeve and blood on my hands. Only when Emmory took them did I feel the sting of the scrapes I’d gotten when the Farian had crashed into me.

  “I couldn’t—Emmory, we have to help her.”

  “We’re in the middle of a hostile city, Majesty,” he murmured. “There’s nothing we can do.”

  “Is she hurt?” Vada asked. “Let me get a towel.”

  “Hao, door,” Aiz said, unslinging the pack on his back and pulling the guns free. Hao caught them, handing one over to Gita.

  “I’m going to check the back. Hopefully, there’s another way out of here if we need it,” he said.

  “It was those awful guards, wasn’t it? They’ve been—” Vada broke off, staring at us with a towel in her hands. “Are you rebellion troops?”

  I dropped my masking program and Vada gasped. “Star of Indrana.”

  “Where is Prosa?” I started to get up, but Emmory stopped me, his hands still around my wrists.

  “Emmory, let me.” Mia reached out and laid her hands over mine. The stinging abated and I closed my eyes, still fighting the sick feeling in my gut.

  Vada crossed to us, holding out the damp towel. Mia took it with a smile, cleaning my hands and then her own.

  “You are Shen?”

  “Yes. I am Mia.”

  Vada swallowed. “You are Mia Cevalla. I have seen your face. On the news they say you attacked the Pedalion, replaced them. Then the Pedalion guards started grabbing people in the street.” She folded her hands together and shook her head. “It is not true, is it?”

  “Do you want it to be true?” I asked.

  “No,” Vada replied. “Star of Indrana, I want my world back. My granddaughter is—she has not been herself since this all happened. She won’t say the words out loud. None of us will. We are terrified. We rejoiced over the idea of peace with the Shen and though the news of our gods was a shock, it was a comfort to know it had been foretold.”

  “Vada.” Fasé stepped forward with her hands held out, and she smiled when the older Farian took them. “You know who I am?”

  “I do, Mardis.”

  “All will be well. I promise. Now, where is Prosa?”

  “At the Pedalion building. She still visits in the late day, but there will be a guard with her.”

  “We can deal with the guard,” I said, after a look at Mia and her confirming nod. “In such a way that doesn’t—”

  The sudden appearance of Biea in the middle of the café with the Farian woman resulted in startled shouts and the whine of weaponry.

  “Everyone settle down.” Emmory’s sharp command cut through the din like a laser.

  Fasé had released Vada and rushed forward, catching the Farian woman as she sagged to the floor and I slipped out of Mia’s grasp, awkwardly grabbing Biea when the Selan staggered back a few steps.

  “I am all right, Your Majesty,” they managed. “It was more disorienting than I expected to attempt such a thing in this place.”

  “What did you do?”

  “You seemed distressed over the idea that those guards would take that one, so I retrieved her.”

  “We’re going to have guards swarming this place in two minutes,” Aiz said.

  Biea shook their head. “No, they do not remember her or anything about the last few moments. We will be safe from them.”

  “Mia.” I gestured her over and the Shen helped Biea to a table. Fasé was on the ground with the Farian, her hands in her hair. Aiz had gone to a knee at her side, one hand resting on Fasé’s back.

  “Vada, are you all right?” I put my arm around the Farian’s shoulders.

  “This is a lot of excitement for an old Farian, Star of Indrana.”

  “It’s a lot of excitement for a young human, believe me,” I replied, and she laughed.

  “What is that?” she whispered, pointing at Biea.

  “They are Selan, Vada, by the name of Biea. They came hunting your false gods. Thyra and the others are criminals of their people. We are helping them.”

  “Will it bring peace?”

  “Yes.”

  “How can I help?”

  I looked around the café. We’d been lucky so far that no customers had come in. “Do you have a back room we could move to? It will be safer for you if we are not here when you get customers.”

  “Of course; my living quarters are upstairs, back toward the kitchen.”

  I shared a look with Emmory and switched on the com. “Gita, there’s an upstairs, will you check it out?”

  “Already done,
Your Majesty, are you moving there?”

  I smiled. “Yes. We’ve had a bit of excitement. Have Emmory catch you up.”

  “He’s got me on his vid-feed, ma’am. I saw.”

  “Aren’t you efficient,” I murmured to Emmory, and he grinned.

  “We aren’t going to want to stay much longer.”

  “I have to speak with Prosa.”

  “I know, but we’ve gotten lucky twice now and that’s way over our normal limits.”

  I laughed. “You’re not wrong there. Vada, we’re going to want to clean up here before we go upstairs.”

  “I’ve got it, Star of Indrana, don’t worry.” She waved a hand and went into the back.

  I turned back to Fasé as the Farian on the floor stirred. She stiffened and then her silver eyes went wide. She looked around the room quickly before settling on Fasé. “Mardis?”

  “What’s your name?”

  “Tesha, holy one.”

  I spotted the flinch Fasé tried to hide, and Aiz must have felt it because his hand flexed on her back.

  He rose to his feet. “I’m going to take a look around outside.”

  “Be careful.”

  He tapped me on the shoulder with a fist before heading for the door. After a quick conversation with Hao, who’d returned from the back, Aiz opened the door and slipped through.

  “Star of Indrana, it was you,” Tesha whispered as I crouched at Fasé’s side. “You saved me.”

  “Not me, Tesha, but Biea there.”

  She turned and gasped at the sight of the Selan. “They look like the false gods.”

  “They do.” I explained the situation as I helped her to her feet.

  “Tesha, what cell are you part of?”

  “I am not, Mardis. The cells have had to go dark here in the capital. I volunteered to help spread the word, but Adora has begun to suspect everyone. She has spies everywhere. Both in the flesh and in the walls.”

  “In the walls?” I stiffened. “Emmory, surveillance?”

  “Not here, Majesty,” Emmory said. “We checked. Let’s move this upstairs. Hao?”

  “Right behind you.”

  Biea was walking under their own power for the stairs, but Mia walked close to the Selan and the worried look she shot me as they passed spoke volumes. We were going to have to get Biea out of the capital before whatever it was about this fucking architecture caused permanent damage.

  I herded Fasé and Tesha toward the stairs, looking back over my shoulder at the blood smeared on the white tiled floor. Dread settled itself into my gut, staying even as Vada passed us and started mopping up the mess.

  “The Pedalion is alive?”

  Tesha nodded. “When last I saw, yes. Prosa may be able to give you more updated information as I haven’t been in the building for several days. They are not themselves, though. I don’t know what Adora and the false gods did to them, but they act as though they are sleepwalking.”

  “What about Sybil?” Fasé asked. “The Council of Eyes?”

  “I do not know, Mardis.” Tesha shook her head. “I haven’t seen them. No one has.”

  “Hail, see your girl coming up the street,” Aiz said over the coms. “One guard with her.”

  “You can’t kill them,” I subvocalized.

  “I don’t need to.”

  “Prosa’s on her way,” I announced to the room. “Mia, will you take Fasé, Tesha, and Biea back? We’ll follow as soon as we’re done here.”

  “Be careful,” Mia replied, reaching for my hand.

  I squeezed her fingers and headed downstairs, Emmory on my heels. Gita and Hao were in quiet conversation at the foot of the stairs, and they stopped when we reached them.

  “Mia’s taking Fasé and the others back,” I said. “Once I talk to Prosa, we’ll head out, too.”

  “Probably a good idea, Majesty,” Gita said. “Things are getting quiet out there; too many of us in a group would attract attention.”

  “You okay?” I asked Hao.

  “Itchy.” He tapped the side of his gun and shook his head.

  “I feel you there. We got most of our questions answered by Tesha. I just want to see if Prosa can tell me where Sybil and the other future-seers are and if there’s a way to get us into the Pedalion compound. Then we can go.”

  “Grandmother!” Prosa’s call was strained with forced cheerfulness as she opened the door and stepped into the café. I heard her cry out and the brief sound of a scuffle and when I peeked around the corner Aiz was lowering the guard down into the booth by the door.

  “Prosa,” I said. “Are you all right?”

  “Your Majesty. Where is my grandmother?”

  “I am here, Prosa, I am fine.”

  “You must go,” Prosa said, extending her arms to me. “They’ll know something happened to my guard.”

  Emmory and the others stiffened and my Ekam muttered a curse.

  “How?”

  “I don’t know, but they always do.”

  “Prosa, is the Council alive? Do you know where they are?”

  “They are, Majesty. They’re being held in the cells. The Pedalion members are free, but Thyra is controlling them. And there are creatures all over, Your Majesty. Things that look like Farians but are not. They speak like new clones. The ones who are woken before they get a soul.” She shook her head, tears in her eyes. “It is awful.”

  “Can you get us inside?”

  “Inside the Pedalion?” Prosa shook her head, frowning in thought. “I don’t know, maybe? I would need to think on it and see where—”

  “There’s no time, Prosa. It has to happen today.”

  She bit her lower lip at my urgent tone. “Do you remember the spot where I showed you the city?”

  I thought of the tower and the wraparound balcony that had looked out over all of Sicenae. “Yes.”

  “It is open to the street; there are no guards to that stairwell. Come at the thirtieth hour; it is quiet and there is a guard change. I can slip away and open the door for you.”

  “We will be there,” I replied, and leaned in to hug her. “Be careful, Prosa.”

  “May the universe watch over you, Star of Indrana.”

  There was shouting in the street. Emmory grabbed me by the arm and pulled me toward the back where Gita and Hao were waiting.

  “Lay him on the floor,” Vada said to Aiz, and the Shen frowned but pulled the guard from the booth. “Prosa, act as though you are trying to wake him. All of you go, we will be fine.”

  “Thank you, Grandmother,” I replied, and Vada smiled.

  “Go now.” She gave Aiz a little push in my direction. He nodded to her and we slipped out the back door.

  We made it several streets away before I spotted the first sign of Thyra’s army. Or, rather, they spotted us.

  “Stop!” The voice was tinny and metallic and put chills down my spine. The creature resembled a Farian, but taller and more gaunt, the skin stretched across its face, and the eyes were black and empty.

  Aiz shot the Farian in the head and it crumpled to the ground as the five of us continued to run.

  The sounds of pursuit filled the air mixing with Emmory’s cool orders over the coms as we dodged down a street.

  “I’ll take whatever support you can give us. We’re currently headed toward sector eight-five on the map. Pursuit by unknown number of hostiles.”

  “Emmory!”

  He managed to avoid the Farians who’d emerged from the growing shadows, shooting one before it tackled him. I brought my Glocks up and shot a second in the back.

  Gita grabbed me. “Down, Majesty.” She pulled me behind the sharp-edged cover of a building. “Hail,” she said at my level look. “Let them do this.”

  Aiz and Hao had rushed forward and along with Emmory dispatched the other three Farians with ruthless efficiency before I could argue.

  “Majesty?”

  “I’m fine,” I replied to Emmory’s call as I stood.

  The laser blast streake
d in from above us, slamming into a nearby building and filling the air with debris.

  More Farian soldiers poured into the street around us.

  40

  Gita, take Hail and go!” Emmory’s order echoed both in the air and over the coms, but before my Dve could respond a Farian crashed into her, taking them both to the ground.

  I brought my Glocks up. Too late. Gita shot the creature in the chest and shoved them to the side.

  Another blast rocked the area and I spat curses into the air at the small Farian crafts raining fire down on us from above.

  “Less shouting, Majesty, more running.” Gita grabbed me by the arm and dragged me down a side street, away from the others. “I don’t like it either,” she said before I could protest. “But Emmory will shoot us both if we don’t do what he says.”

  We ran and though the foot soldiers didn’t follow us, the fighters did. I could hear the constant stream of updates on the coms. Emmory and the others had fought their way free of the mass of soldiers and were trying to circle around to us.

  “Negative, Emmory. We’ve got the air support on our tail. Make for the rendezvous point and we’ll meet you there.”

  “Majesty—”

  “I am too busy being shot at to argue with you, Ekam, do it. Gita, go left!” I shouted as we raced across a platform. She sprinted ahead of me and slid over the low wall. I followed and blasts from the fighter singed the air around me as I braced a hand on the wall and leapt over. I fired a useless shot at the fighter with my Glock after I landed, pleased when the pilot reflexively swerved.

  “Come on, Majesty.” Gita gestured to the stairs and I followed her. We sprinted down the stairs and around a corner.

  Straight into a pair of Farian soldiers.

  “Don’t shoot!” They both dropped their guns and put up their hands. “We’re with the rebellion, Star of Indrana.”

  “That’s a good way to get killed,” I replied, not lowering my guns. “Who are you?”

  “I am Pelagia,” she said and pointed at her companion. “This is Dimi. We’ve been undercover in the traitor’s guard and were sent out to find you when word came in that you were on the planet. The Mardis put out a call for any available fighters to lead you out of the city.”