by Jaleta Clegg
"Good, you made it," Will said in my ear. I jumped at least a foot. "Bit jumpy, aren't you?"
"Don't sneak up on me like that," I said. My heart was still racing.
"Are you ready?" he asked, searching my face.
I nodded.
"There are three dozen others who will try to stick with you," he said. "Just take whoever makes it and get out of here. Don't wait for anyone. Two months and we'll expect you back here with help." He shoved a scrap of paper in my hand. "Coordinates. Make contact there. Good luck, Dace."
"Good luck to you, Will." I could guess what he'd be doing for those two months. I just hoped he'd still be alive when I made it back. When, not if, I reminded myself. And the others, I added silently. Especially Tayvis. I had to make it for him.
"They're waiting down there," Will said, pointing at a building down a low slope halfway to the port. "You'd better be at least half the pilot Tayvis thinks you are."
He didn't give me a chance to respond. He pushed me down the road as shouts rang out behind us. I felt my collar tingling. I shoved one hand under it, pushing the button. The pain dulled to a slight buzzing in my teeth. I ran for the port.
I flew past the building. The others streamed out of its shadow, their white slave tunics bright in the night. There were a lot more than three dozen running with me. Others joined us from other sides.
"They're headed for the ships!" someone shouted behind us. "Stop them!"
Dirt kicked up from the projectiles they fired. I tucked my head down and ran faster as the sharp crack of more shots echoed from up the hill. I aimed for the closest ship, a smaller one parked in front. Its ramp was down.
We barreled through the gate, running past the dead guards without bothering to look. The others with me spread out, some heading for other ships. I ran straight for the open hatch.
More shots sent dirt spraying up. Someone behind me screamed. Trythians came out of the other ships, weapons in their hands.
I kept going for the ship. A Trythian male looked out of the hatch. He had time for a surprised shout before we barreled into him. I dodged around him, letting those behind me throw him out the hatch.
I scrambled up the passageway to the control room, hoping that the crash course I'd had in flying their ships would be enough.
I stopped in the middle of the control room, panting as I looked around at the controls. The layout was different than the one in the training file. The symbols looked unfamiliar.
"Where do we start?" one of the men behind me asked. "We've got the Trythians off and the hatch closed but we can't hold them long."
I grabbed the back of a seat much too big for me, thinking fast. I stared at the controls in front of me.
"Steering, I think," I said.
"Will said you could fly one of these ships," the man said, pulling me around to face him. "Can you or have we just all committed suicide?" He gave me a hard look.
"Just let me think for a moment," I said and yanked my dress out of his hold. I glared at the controls. That symbol was familiar, and that one, and that clear strip that was currently glowing green should turn yellow if I ran my hand over it. The instructions were filling my mind. I put my hand over the strip. Nothing happened.
I whirled away, to the other stations. There was a strange ball at the front, a wide rounded piece that I knew would have handholds on either side. I crossed to it and sat on the edge of the chair in front of it. Everything was on a scale to fit the Trythians. My feet dangled. I leaned forward, stretching to push my hands into the holds on either side. My cheek rested on cool metal.
"They're trying to open the door," someone said urgently.
"Hold them off as long as you can," the man who'd grabbed me said. He stood right behind me.
I pushed my fingers into the holds, spreading them painfully wide to reach. A sudden burst of sensation filled my head, a taste of brown with the smell of old oil and the texture of metal shavings filled me, demanding answers. I gave it the dominant color of cut grass and the smell of burning orange. It was a weird battle to fight, with sounds and smells and taste in my head. I kept pushing at the demand, changing what I interpreted as smells, answering each change with one of my own.
I gave a last push, an angry red, and the other faded away. My consciousness melted into the ship. I was the ship. I found the engines and fed them power. The ship roared around me.
The others shouted questions at me. I wasn't capable of answering. I was the ship, pushing myself free of the cocoon of gravity that kept me trapped. I was aware of other ships rising with me, chasing after me. I gave myself more power, feeling the vibrations rippling through me as I shot up into space.
I saw it strangely, a vision of energies and waves that washed all around me. A bright object nearby was a writhing mass of power. I felt my engines falter. I needed the energy. I turned the ship towards the mass. I would take what I wanted and keep going. I would shred the larger object apart. I was power, I was untouchable. I was the ship. I drove it harder towards the mass.
Someone ripped my hands free. I screamed at the pain. Every nerve reacted as I snapped back into my own body. Pain washed over and through me. I was blind, deaf, unable to sense the energies.
Someone slapped me, hard. I blinked away tears. The man who'd been right behind me had his hand raised to slap me again.
"I'm all right," I croaked. It sounded weak and puny to my ears.
"You sent us right towards the sun," he said. "And the other ships are chasing us."
I pushed myself up, off the floor. I still felt the pull of that other. But even as I reached for it, it faded away. I couldn't sustain the contact.
"That's navigation," I said, pointing to a set of controls to one side. "At least as close as they come. Find us the right direction to go."
"Where are the flight controls?" the man demanded.
I used the chair to get to my feet. "Here," I answered as I sat back down.
He grabbed the seat and turned me away from the ball.
"No one else here can fly," I said and pushed his hands away.
"You are flying us straight into their sun," he objected.
"Sensory overload, I wasn't ready for it. It won't happen again." I hoped I wasn't lying.
A shot rocked the ship.
"Are these the weapons?" another man shouted at me.
I glanced at the controls in front of him. I had no idea what they were. I shook my head. They ignored me. They started pushing buttons and trying to use the sliders. Nothing was working for them. I turned back to the controls.
This time I didn't let myself get dragged completely in. I kept myself locked out of the computer that ran the ship. It was a struggle. I laid my cheek on the smooth metal and shoved my hands into the grips.
Tug this way, push that. The ship curved up and away from the sun. A bare touch of one finger was enough to send the ship shooting off on a completely different course. We shot back through the ships chasing us. I felt the world sliding by, a huge mass tugging at one side of the ship. I could feel gravity through the ship's controls. I sent the ship up a massive gravity wave, pushing it out into more normal space away from the planet.
"Turn it twelve degrees starboard, up five points," one of the men called out.
The man who'd taken charge put his hand on my shoulder, shaking me until I looked at him.
"I heard," I said irritably.
I was already turning us onto that course. The ship responded to the slightest quiver of a finger.
"I think we're headed the right way," the other man said.
"Good," I said. The contact with the ship was draining me in a way I'd never experienced before.
I slipped my hands free of the controls and reached far to one side. There was a single panel there, a translucent blue that glowed. I slid my hand over it, changing it from blue to yellow.
The ship shuddered and rammed its way into the interface between normal space and hyperspace. We hung on the edge, a twisting of
reality that left me sick. It dragged on and on, hours and days might have passed. I had no way of telling. My head felt as if it was being pulled inside out. Time slowed and pulsed. Each beat grated through me.
I was dimly aware of lying on the floor, retching over and over. I wasn't the only one. This was much worse than the trip in the slave hold of the other ship. This kept going, without a break.
The pulsing ripped through the ship. It shuddered sickeningly. The engines were beginning to burn out. The ship wasn't designed to make one long journey. It was designed to slip in and out of the interface. I had no idea how to do that, so I'd shoved it into one long jump.
The smell of smoke, sharply astringent, finally pulled me out of the daze. I fought the dizzying pulses, dragging myself back into the control seat. I jammed my hands into the holds, biting back a scream at the pain that jolted through my fingers at the contact. The demanding presence was back in my head. I blasted it mentally with darkness, the absence of everything.
The ship quivered. The engines stopped beating. We slid out into normal space. A final twist of nausea and the universe was right side out again. I slowed the ship with what was left of the engine.
The ship died in a blaze of sparks that knocked me back, away from the controls. The lights flickered off. There was one panel left glowing a feeble green at the back of the control room.
"Where are we?" someone croaked.
I slowly slid off the seat and passed out on the floor.
Chapter 31
Smoke poured from the doors, bent and broken now. The stone building still stood, massive and immovable despite the cracks and crumbling along the edges. Lilliasa joined the mob drawn close to the building and its shattered doors. The man who staggered out first collapsed on the wide front steps. No one moved to help him.
There were more figures now, coated with dust and coughing through the smoke as they exited the building. The crowd watching stayed frozen, standing still and silent. Distant screams and the sound of fighting rang out through the night.
A ship launched, leaping up from the ground in a massive surge of power. Lilliasa turned her head to watch, a tiny smile dimpling her mouth. Two other ships rose after it, chasing the first ship up into space.
"Conclave is broken," one of the men gasped as he leaned on a pillar. "The Triad is dead. Treachery." He coughed, his words lost in a croaking gasp as he fought to breathe.
Lilliasa saw Mayguena, across the crowd. Mayguena held her head high. The crowd was shifting now, uneasy as the word treason whispered through the air.
"Conclave is broken," Mayguena said forcefully. She stepped forward, lifting her skirts to climb one step. She turned to face the crowd. "The old ways are gone. We must find new ways."
"Traitor!" The shout came from Bradoc, Lilliasa's brother. "You are the one who did this!"
The crowd muttered, a growing sound of unease and discontent.
Mayguena stared down at Bradoc, lifting her chin proudly. "I was not alone. There are many who call for change."
"So you murdered the Triad?" Bradoc asked.
The words lingered in the air. The crowd shifted forward, its mood growing ugly. Lilliasa held her place, watching the drama unfolding with her tiny cold smile.
Mayguena tried to respond. Bradoc advanced on her, stepping up beside her.
"You defile our ways," he shouted over the top of her comment. "You murder and plot against the Code, against the Triad, against your rightful rulers."
"I did not act alone," she shouted back. Her face was twisted and angry.
"You sully my family's name," he shouted. His face was red and ugly with hate. "You plot with your women and your slaves. It is an abomination."
"Whose hands placed the bombs?" Mayguena demanded.
He moved to slap her. She backed away. Lilliasa watched the door above them. The crowd was frozen, listening and watching. It was unthinkable that conclave would be broken in this way.
A lone figure lurched through the door. Rich robes of deep brown were coated with dust and splotched with blood. The man swayed, grabbing at the chipped pillars as a support. He missed his hold and tumbled down the steps.
"Father!" Lilliasa screamed. She gathered her skirts and ran up the steps of the building. Now it was her turn to steal the spotlight.
She dropped to her knees beside her father. She lifted his head, cradling him against her breast. He bled on her dress. She sobbed loudly, rocking him back and forth. The others watched her. Mayguena and Bradoc stared at her, both suspicious of her actions. Tuarik jerked once, a last breath rattling out into the sudden silence.
"Father," Lilliasa said, her voice breaking on another sob. She slowly lowered his lifeless body to the steps.
She stood, glancing down to assess her appearance while pretending to be overcome with grief. Her dress was covered with dust and blood. Her hands were red with it. She looked up slowly, keeping her face twisted with grief.
"Des Tuarik is dead," she keened. "My father, my older brothers, all dead. And you," she raised one bloody hand, pointing at Bradoc. "You did this. You wanted his position. You wanted his wealth." She took one step down. She pointed an accusing finger at him, one dipped in his own father's blood. "You did this. Traitor!"
The word rang in the air. Bradoc glared at her.
"You were the one plotting, sister," he snarled.
She shook her head. Her hair slipped free of its pins. She knew she looked like a tragic victim. She played the role fully. "How could I betray my own father? My future husband lies inside. My future is dead." She let another sob escape. "You are no brother to me. You have desecrated the Code. You have killed your own family."
She didn't need to finish. The crowd caught her emotions. They roared with wordless rage. The unthinkable had happened. They wanted a target, someone to blame for the sudden chaos of their world. Lilliasa gave them her brother.
Mayguena was looking too smug. She had backed away, putting distance between her and Bradoc. Lilliasa wasn't about to let her escape.
"And you," she shouted, her voice echoed from the stone behind her. She shifted her bloody finger to Mayguena. "Plotting with him. I heard you whispering. I saw what you did. Perversions," she let her voice drop to a disgusted whisper.
The crowd had heard enough. It surged forward, people screaming and shouting, their faces twisted by anger. Someone threw a rock. It struck next to Bradoc. He flinched, retreating up a step. Another rock struck his shoulder. Mayguena turned to run. A rock slammed into her leg. She limped down the steps, shielding her head with her hands. It did no good. Rocks rained down on her and Bradoc. They both crumpled to the stairs under a hail of stone.
Lilliasa wisely backed up to the entrance, out of range of the stones. She watched for only a moment, long enough to know neither Mayguena or Bradoc would survive. She turned and slipped through the ruined doors.
The interior of the building was filled with dust and smoke. Large sheets of stone facing cracked from the walls, landing around her as she walked swiftly through the wreckage. The doors to the chamber were wide open. Bodies were strewn through the rubble. Some still moved. She ignored them, intent on the case at the front of the room.
The clear material was cracked, starred and shattered by the explosion. She raised a large stone and smashed it the rest of the way. She brushed pieces out of her way and retrieved the object the case guarded. It was the length of her hand, a cylindrical crystal of wavering blues and purples. She held it up to what light still entered the chamber through cracks in the walls and roof. The crystal glimmered.
"The Code," she said to herself. The crystal was still intact, a recording that had survived a thousand years. It was the basis of their laws and customs. It was this crystal and the information embedded in it that dictated her life. She raised it high over her head and brought it down against the edge of the case.
A web of darkness spread through the crystal. It was not enough. She smashed it against the case again. And again. The
blue and purple light flickered and died. Pieces of crystal, shards of dull gray, flaked from it to land around her feet.
She cradled it in her hands. The crystal was now gray, lifeless, cracked and useless. She allowed herself a tiny smile of triumph.
"What are you doing?"
She turned to face an apparition from a nightmare. Gyth was covered with dust and blood. His eyes stared from a mask of dark gray. He wavered, the only thing keeping him from falling was a broken bench of stone that he used to drag himself up.
"Winning," Lilliasa said. She tucked the crystal into the front of her dress. She picked up a stone from the floor, bigger than both her fists. She brought it down on Gyth's head.
Blood spattered around her, mixed with brain matter. Gyth sprawled on the floor, dead before he landed. She dropped the stone on him and stepped over him. She pulled the crystal back out and set her face in the appropriate mask.
It was time for her to take her father's place. It was time for her to lead her people to a new existence. It was time for a woman to rule. She stepped out through the shattered doors, the broken crystal held high in both hands.
Chapter 32
I woke slowly, fighting every moment to stay in the darkness. My head ached. My belly was sore and empty. I had the taste of vomit in my mouth. I blinked open eyes that wanted to stay shut.
The room was still dim. The green light cast sickly shadows over everything. The smell of vomit was overwhelming. I groaned as I sat. I was half lying in a sticky pool.
"You survived," the man who had taken control said to me. He crouched next to me. "We found some water." He held out a pouch.
"What else?" I asked. "Am I in charge or are you?"
He shrugged. "It won't matter for long. We have maybe three days of air. And no food."
"Did you find out where we are?" I had to ask. I sipped the water.
