Deus: The Eurynome Code, Book Six

by Gorman, K.

  Gods, she wished she had been.

  “No,” she said eventually. “I’m not.”

  His lips tightened into a smile. “See?”

  “That doesn’t change what I did. And saving the universe doesn’t negate what else I did.”

  “No, but we can figure out how to go from here. There are options.”

  ‘We,’ he’d said. She liked that.

  A weak laugh bubbled out of her. “You mean, I’m not the first person in human history who regrets the blood they shed and the lives they took?”

  “No.”

  She let out a heavy breath, drawing her gaze across the room. Her mind felt thin, like someone had stretched it too far out and put it under the sun. She took in the pastel green walls, drop ceiling, and mustard yellow trim. “Where are we?”

  “Earth,” he said. “Old Earth. Somewhere in Spain. Fallon wanted you grounded, in case…”

  “In case something happened during extraction, and either I or Tia switched everything over into the Shadow world and trapped people and broke equipment?” she asked.

  “Yes, something like that.”

  She winced. “Is Fallon pissed off at me? I remember them being pissed off.”

  “I don’t think anyone’s pissed off at you. You saved the universe.”

  “No, I didn’t. We all did.”

  “You were a big part of it. Arguably, you sacrificed the most out of all of us.”

  “No, the ones who died sacrificed the most.” She winced, and grief fluttered through her heart as she remembered Lieutenant Seki and Specialist Malouf, all of the Centauri who had died on the Aquila, and all of the children who had died at the hands of the Eurynome Project. “How’s Sasha?”

  “Mysteriously vanished. She left you a message on your netlink.”

  “Ah. And Tylanus?”

  “In the library. Alliance is offering him asylum.”

  “Are his eyes still black?”

  “Yep.”

  “Asylum and contact lenses, then. And a hush hush secret posting within their military’s R & D sector?”

  “I think so.”

  “I’m surprised Fallon didn’t jump on that.”

  Marc was silent. His lips pressed into a thin line.

  “What?” she asked.

  “It came out that it really was Fallon who pushed to have Seirlin involved in the mission. One of Seirlin’s heads went to Chamak’s admiralty with a sob story, scheme-y reasoning, and a heavy recompense package.”

  Her jaw slackened. “They got bribed?”

  “Yes.”

  “So much for that well-developed set of moral checks and balances they were always touting.” She rolled her eyes, then immediately regretted the action, tightening her grip on Marc’s hand as the motion made the room tilt. “What happened to Sasha’s Eurynome kids? Don’t they still have some of them?”

  She hadn’t taken them all, she remembered. Just most. Some of them, at the time, had either been returned to their parents or were otherwise off the premises when she did her mass abduction.

  “Yes, they have some of them. The rest…Well, they’re currently on vacation in London, I believe. The UN sponsored the trip, and the Alliance is playing guard with a few local officers to help show them around and keep them out of trouble. On the down low, Tylanus has offered to steal them if any party involved decides to go slack on their human rights’ duties.”

  Given how he’d helped the children in the Cradle, she wasn’t surprised.

  “Suns,” she said.

  “Alliance has already donated a large amount of funds and offered citizen packages with full scholarships.”

  “Uh huh.” And, if the two nations’ politics were anything to go by, they’d likely already shipped a number of other supplies to Fallon’s border for the few kids that Sasha had not managed to scoop up, and were knocking at it with full media fanfare, a carefully cultivated story of heroism and sacrifice, and several hundred ‘independent’ vloggers and reality television hosts.

  Fallon may have the superior warships, but no one played the media like Nova’s elite.

  “And the Centauri? I notice I don’t have any extra guards around?”

  Marc hesitated. “They…took Tia.”

  She frowned. “What?”

  “They took her, Cradle and all, in the dead of night.”

  Her jaw slackened. She gave herself a moment to process that.

  Then, she decided it wasn’t her problem.

  Guess I’m not Grand Regent anymore.

  “You know, I didn’t think she’d let you take her out.”

  Marc’s lips twitched. “She wasn’t going to. Remember that psychic connection you two had, even with her in the tank? Well, the original Tia knew what had happened the second Tylanus brought her Cradle back into our world. But Nomiki pointed a gun at her brain and convinced her otherwise.”

  “Ah. And then the Centauri stole her.” She closed her eyes and thought for a moment. “Where’s Nomiki now?”

  “Currently following Fallon officials like a terrier. She is pissed.”

  There was a small pause. Her mind wandered. Inside, she felt something twist.

  “Gods,” she said. “I almost killed her.”

  Grief ripped through her like a knife.

  “But you didn’t,” Marc said. “That’s what matters.”

  He brought her in for another hug, this time more vertical, and she breathed in his scent, her shaking body relaxing as the familiar smell of soap and sweat came to her.

  Home. He smelled like home.

  “Fuck,” she said. “I am not all right.”

  “No,” he agreed. “But it will get better. Even if it takes time. I promise.”

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  “I had no idea these types of drinks existed,” Soo-jin said, examining the pink liquid inside of the martini glass she held. “I want five of them.”

  Karin glanced over. Though her knowledge of alcohol was severely limited, she didn’t think Pink Ladies were all that uncommon.

  Maybe the Sirius System put a different name on them, like calling the Sol System’s ninth planet ‘Hades’ instead of ‘Pluto.’

  “I’m sure they’ll give you the recipe if you bribe them enough,” she said. “Hells, Nomiki might even have it. She used to bartend, you know?”

  “Oh, shit, I forgot about that.”

  The sun was nice, and the sand. Though a solid breeze blew across the treeline farther down the beach, they’d found a lee in the curve of the land, and Karin was roasting―in a nice way.

  Apparently, removing Tia and all the groundwork processes she’d been training into Karin’s body―and the fit she’d thrown near the end―had overtaxed her Central Nervous System, which was why, despite several days of rest, she still felt as though she’d been run over by a truck.

  But she was getting better. Slowly. Though, right now, all she wanted to do was lounge under the umbrella by the seaside, enjoying the view and getting fed snacks by Marc.

  It was a good distraction. Sometimes, she even managed to forget what she’d done.

  The Alliance had taken her in. After the kerfuffle with Fallon, Marc and Nomiki had torpedoed any consideration of theirs―for which she was glad, as it saved her the effort. The hospital they’d been in was a UN-run facility in the south of Spain, and they’d managed some casual sightseeing before flying to Italy. It was nice to be walking around without armor. And without a giant splint on her arm. Even if the memories still followed her.

  She was due at the UN headquarters in Geneva in a few days, at which both she and Tylanus would be presented a medal, and the rest of the Nemina’s crew, including Baik, Shinji, Jon, and Reeve, would be presented different medals.

  She’d already planned to use her acceptance speech to highlight the need for stronger universal human rights protections on genetically engineered subjects.

  She still had her musculature from Eurynome. Though her weight had emaciated in the hospita
l, she was slowly gaining it back.

  Right now, in the bikini she wore, she looked like a retired body builder.

  And her brain―well, it was back to normal. Ish. It had its quirks, more than usual, and her old PTSD and paranoia kept creeping up, but with the Nemina’s crew, she was among family. There were also strange pains, and she kept getting headaches, and holes in her memory. Extracting an unwilling Tia had been a harder job than they’d let on, and she could still feel the mental scars she’d made on her way out.

  And her brain had changed during their stint together. Her mind had changed. And the old bits of her didn’t quite fit where they’d been―like putting the pieces of a puzzle together, except half the puzzle had warped in the oven.

  But they were slowly fitting back together.

  There was no way she’d be completely back to the old Karin, but she was definitely one hundred percent Karin.

  She and Marc were talking about a home together. Someplace to land the Nemina and sleep in a real bed. With real air coming in, and non-recycled showers, and plants she didn’t have to worry about in zero g. And a nice view of the ocean waves lapping on a beige, sandy shore.

  “Enlil or Belenus?” she asked.

  Soo-jin pushed her lips together, thinking. “Belenus has more happening, but most of the cities on Enlil have nice weather, like, always.”

  “Praise solar boosts and terraforming,” she said.

  “Indeed. It also has a very nice self-defense grid, in case Fallon decides to get handsy.”

  “Hmm.” She relaxed in the lounge chair, taking a sip of her drink. Juice, not a Pink Lady. She was still recovering.

  “How much money did the Alliance give you?” Soo-jin asked.

  It was the fifth time she’d asked.

  The amount hadn’t changed―it was just obscenely large.

  “Enough,” she said.

  “Are you sure? What if you have a sudden, deep craving for your own, custom space station, with like a glass infinity pool looking out onto the stars, and, like, it could have a big slow propulsion engine so you could just drift randomly about the system?”

  “I believe they would call that a grossly inefficient ship,” she replied. “In that case, a custom-crafted Fint would definitely be in my new budget.”

  And a beachfront on Belenus or Enlil. And maybe a stopover apartment on Liber Pater’s higher levels.

  Though not the highest. Those realty prices were, somehow, even more obscene than the amount of money Alliance was giving her.

  “If I get really desperate,” she continued, pausing for a moment as her eyes sharpened on Soo-jin. “I suppose I can always find and sell tickets to that sex world you keep mentioning.”

  “Raphael’s Keep?”

  “Yes. Presumably, the tickets would go for top dollar.”

  “Oh, yes, they definitely would.” Soo-jin frowned, slow on the uptake. She turned around, her face turning to shock. “Wait―can you? Still?”

  Karin met her gaze, her expression serious. Then, slowly, she gave a subtle nod and took a long drag of her drink.

  Soo-jin’s mouth turned into a small ‘o.’ She slowly set herself back on the lounger, her face mixed in thought.

  Except for Marc and Nomiki, she hadn’t told anyone that she still had the Eurynome dimension-warping powers. As far as anyone outside her immediate circle knew, she had gone back to being a human flashlight, albeit a strong human flashlight.

  Combat mods didn't go away overnight. Or ever, in her case.

  She would never use the Eurynome powers for a government again, and she would never let word get back to Fallon or the Alliance that she still had them.

  She didn’t need for her and her friends to become a threat on their radar.

  Movement caught her attention to the side. Marc appeared, along with Cookie, Shinji, and Tylanus.

  Unbeknownst to her, Cookie and Shinji had been seeing each other for the past month―as much as one could ‘see’ another person during the fight against the apocalypse―and the past week off had given them a long-deserved reprieve from work to explore their relationship.

  She and Marc had already been on two double-dates with the pair, though the two were more interested in their own company. Alone.

  Tylanus looked mildly uncomfortable, and he kept himself separate from the other three, his long-strided gait eating up the sand, a pair of beach sandals comfortably on his feet. He’d gained a modest wardrobe since she’d carried him naked into a Centauri diplomacy vessel. He was walking around in what looked to be Earth-sourced khaki shorts and a loose T-shirt, and he’d pulled his long black hair into a braid that ran down his back.

  But he still seemed aloof from the group.

  Given his history and upbringing, that was understandable. Though he seemed remarkably well-adjusted and confident, she didn’t think Sasha had let him hang around with other people too much, either as a child or an adult. She certainly hadn’t at the compound.

  His gaze found hers across the distance, and she gave him a nod.

  Then, her gaze slid inevitably to Marc.

  She couldn’t help it. He was shirtless, putting his impressive physique on display, war injury scar and military tatt included, and he was carrying a plate of food and two drinks, one of which was obviously meant for her.

  A smile twitched her lips.

  She could get used to this.

  “You know, I think I need to find me someone like that,” Soo-jin said, squinting at the oncoming group. “Is that another kiwi I see?”

  “I believe so,” Karin said, spotting the green and brown fruit on one side of the plate. “What about Baik?”

  “What about him?”

  She raised her eyebrows and swung her gaze to Soo-jin.

  The woman had sunk smaller in her chair.

  “Don’t bullshit me,” she told her. “You’ve already admitted your crush. He’s pretty. I bet he would bring you drinks.”

  “Rich, too,” Soo-jin said.

  Karin waited a beat. “So? What about him?”

  Soo-jin met her gaze. Then, she deliberately took an elongated sip of her drink, draining nearly half the glass.

  Right. She didn’t want to talk about it. Fine.

  Karin couldn’t fix the world.

  “Hey guys,” she said as the group got to them. “Have you finally decided to check out the beach?”

  Here, the town was farther up the slope. It was a bit of a hike down to the shore.

  Cookie and Shinji were silent for a moment.

  “We, ah, came down here last night,” Shinji said. “The moon and the stars are beautiful on the water, right, Cook?”

  Cookie shot him a sidelong look. “Yes,” he said, his voice flat. “Very beautiful.”

  Ah. They must have had some romantic time.

  “What’s that drink?” Shinji lifted a finger to point at Soo-jin’s Pink Lady.

  “It’s called ‘Sex on the Beach,’” Soo-jin said.

  Karin rolled her eyes. “It’s a Pink Lady. Soo, just ask Nomiki for the recipe. She probably has it memorized.”

  “I knew there was a reason I liked her.”

  Marc put the new platter of fruit down next to her, handed her a fresh drink, and leaned over to give her a squeeze on her shoulder and peck a kiss onto her forehead.

  “Thanks, love,” she said. “You trying to replenish my missing vitamins in fruit form?”

  “That’s the idea. I might have slipped an iron supplement into your drink.”

  “Subtle. I’ll eat steak tonight.”

  “Done.”

  She smiled as he sat on the lounger next to her and slid her gaze to where Tylanus was standing off to the side. “You doing all right?”

  He inclined his head. “Yes, I am well. Better than I expected to be.”

  A week ago, he hadn’t expected to survive past yesterday. Or, if he had, that he’d be in line for a Fallon or Alliance firing squad right about now. Or suicide, if they decided they needed to
run a bunch of human rights circumventing lab tests in some black site asteroid.

  Now, he was likely going to work on another university degree and enjoy a quiet, protected employment on a Novan base.

  With a pair of sunglasses or a neon visor, he wouldn’t look at all out of place among the population.

  Her smile faltered. “How’s your mom?”

  “Hidden,” he said. “Doing much the same, just…on the other side.”

  On the other side of the dimensions. Sasha, predicting correctly that she would not receive a medal for her actions, had elected to stay behind in Tartarus. She’d released the clones she’d had in the tanks―they were now going to rehabilitation programs in Alliance territory―so there was no risk of her re-activating the Cradle and continuing her plan.

  Besides, a team of Fallon and Centauri techs had spent a good day on site, cutting connections. It wouldn’t work anymore.

  “Nomiki still wants to kill her. Don’t let her.”

  He nodded. “I know. Thank you again for your help.”

  Thank you for not killing his mom and saving both him and her mental state.

  She inclined her head.

  “So,” Soo-jin said. “The latest season of Moon Sailor dropped today, and I happened to acquire a copy. Anyone down for a watch party?”

  “Absolutely,” Karin said.

  “The Nemina’s rec room is big enough for us to sprawl,” Marc said. “Cookie, do you still have that spare holo?”

  “Sure do, cuz.”

  “Good,” Soo-jin said. “We can stock up on a liquor run and make a giant pile of pillows on the floor. I can’t wait to have that Victoria arc wrapped up. Fuck, I hate cliffhangers.”

  Karin caught Tylanus’ eye. “You in?”

  He hesitated. “I’ve…never seen Moon Sailor.”

  A collective silence came over the group. Everyone turned to stare.

  “What?” Soo-jin sputtered. “You haven’t…seen…but?”

  Her face ran through an impressive variety of emotions.

  Then, she took a breath, set her drink down, and leaned forward.

  “Okay, party people, we have a new mission and a limited amount of travel time in which to complete it. Twelve hours to Nova won’t do for fifteen seasons of Moon Sailor, and once we’re there, it’ll be spoilers galore. Karin, you need to up the Earth-based travel ante. I want to see Japan, Korea, Egypt, France, and New Zealand, in that order. If we time this right, and don’t fuck around, we’ll still get in our around-the-world trip, and we’ll likely finish by the time we hit the gate.” She leaned back and picked up her drink. “We start tonight, people. Pack accordingly.”