Starbreaker

by Amanda Bouchet

  Shit, that’s huge. The equipment I’d kept below my shop in Albion City was a hundred times more sophisticated than the things the crew of the Endeavor could afford. I’d spent ten years accumulating the best gadgets on the market so I could be discreet and efficient, and now here I was, walking down the street next to a holographic map twice the size of my head.

  Wariness pricked the back of my neck as I glanced from side to side. The deserted street didn’t help assuage the cold unease growing inside me.

  Two dots advanced together a couple of blocks ahead of us on the neon-green gridgram. Merrick’s speck remained stationary on the ship. The whole thing blinked in and out like a beacon, especially in the shadowed alley. I was two seconds from covering Tess’s wrist with my hand when she flicked her bracelet closed, cutting off the ginormous pyramid of light.

  “You’re a lot closer to the ship than we are.” She tucked her loose hair behind her ears and started moving faster. “Merrick, can you power up? ETA is fifteen minutes.”

  “Will do,” Merrick answered.

  “Eight for us,” Jax said.

  “Wait… Is that purple clawberry?” Excitement electrified Fiona’s whisper. “Most people don’t know the fruit is edible and just use the bush for shrubbery. I need a cutting. This is too good to pass up.”

  She needs a plant? Tess’s gaze snapped to mine. Through her lightweight but long-sleeved shirt, she tapped her still needle-marked inner elbow twice and then flapped her hands like a bird, not making a sound her necklace would pick up.

  I nodded. I got it. We had to fly away fast and bring her A1 blood to Reaginine by tomorrow or her uncle—a fucking Dark Watch general and my ex-boss—would arrest one of the two women Tess considered a mother. Mareeka or Surral. Nathaniel Bridgebane would take one of them to Hourglass Mile if Tess didn’t deliver the six bags of blood that were currently hidden in a cooling unit on my little star cruiser, and I was pretty sure the safety and well-being of the Starway 8 orphanage, the kids in it, and the two women who ran it meant more to Tess than anything else in the entire universe.

  We still hadn’t come up with a good excuse for the two of us taking off on our own to the Grand Temple on Reaginine. Announcing that we had to go hand over a cooler full of the base ingredient for the Overseer’s super-soldier serum wasn’t going to cut it. I could say I needed to pray at the home of the Church of the Great Star, but needing to pray right now was kind of ridiculous. And everyone knew Tess was firmly agnostic. The fact was, she’d stolen the Overseer’s supply of enhancers, and Bridgebane had blackmailed her into giving some back—or at least the means to make several new batches.

  Now, I just had to make sure she didn’t get caught—by her Dark Watch enemies or her rebel friends. Either would be disastrous.

  With a questioning shrug, I held up five fingers and mouthed Five minutes? It wouldn’t make a difference at this point, and Jax and Fiona were already ahead of us on the walk back to the ship.

  Tess bit her lip and then said, “Sure. But be quick, Fi. People don’t seem to hang around outside in this place. Jax, watch her back.”

  “Always, partner,” Jax said.

  “I can’t quite reach it from the street,” Fiona muttered a few seconds later. “There’s a high fence. I have to go into the park for it.”

  “Park?” Tess hesitated midstep before letting her long strides eat up the pavement again. “There could be surveillance.”

  “It’s empty,” Fiona assured us over the coms. “Not a soul in sight.”

  A bad thought suddenly ignited like gunpowder in the back of my mind. The ambiance on Korabon—the crowded restaurant but the empty streets, the swarming shuttle system but no real pedestrian traffic—was starting to scratch at something in my memory, something from one of my early hunts. I tried to remember… Could Korabon be on parole?

  Tess caught my brooding look. “What is it?”

  “Do you think this place enforces any AGLs?” I asked.

  Her eyes widened. Worry shot through her expression, and she immediately spoke, low and urgent. “Fiona, I think you should stop. Merrick, check my tablet. Have any additional galactic laws been imposed on Korabon? Something that would explain why people keep off the streets?”

  “They’re not common, but I’ll check,” Merrick answered.

  I swore under my breath. This was the shit that happened when you went in blind.

  “I’ll be quick,” Fiona said.

  “Leave it, Fi.” Tess turned toward where we knew the others were, despite it not being our best route back to the ship.

  I followed, matching her rapid pace and letting my limbs loosen and my body warm up. Something told me we’d be running before we finished this walk.

  Paroled planets generally kept a low profile, trying not to attract anyone’s attention, let alone the Overseer’s. I’d studied up on a lot of places for different jobs, but I didn’t know the situation of every rock in the Dark. Nearly a decade ago, I’d followed a prize to a planet required by the Overseer to prove good behavior for a fifteen-year period in order to benefit from galactic financial and medical assistance again. Now that I thought about it, the unnerving emptiness I’d encountered outdoors there had felt a lot like this.

  “I’m seeing incident reports,” Merrick relayed from the Endeavor. “Riots and uprisings in Koralight Crown about twelve years ago… Iridium deposits around and underneath the city… Nonviolent sanctions to preserve the continued exploitation of the element…”

  Ir? I’d worked with it once. “Iridium is used in the manufacture of hyperdrives.” My engineering studies didn’t feel like a lifetime ago, even though in some ways, they were. I’d expected to use them again, just not like this. “It’s expensive and difficult to shape but extremely durable. Even at two thousand degrees Celsius, it won’t corrode or melt. A hyperdrive reactor lined with iridium lasts on average three times longer than one that’s not.” Essentially, the silvery-white metal was one of the only things able to withstand some of the severest conditions technology or nature could create.

  Tess looked at me, her mouth pressed flat. I nodded, furious also. With just a little more time to prepare, to ask ourselves the right questions, we would’ve known this. Better yet, someone in the Fold could’ve handed us a fucking file with the information we needed. Even Ahern might’ve mentioned it.

  “This has AGL written all over it.” Tess nearly broke into a jog and checked herself at the last second. “Everyone to the ship. No stops.”

  “It’s okay to steal when it follows your agenda?” Fiona snapped. “We take risks every day for orphans and the Outer Zones, but I see a fruit-bearing plant and I can’t have it?”

  “Of course I want you to have it,” Tess ground out. “But AGLs don’t pop up in cursory searches, and we didn’t have time for anything else. If there are additional galactic laws here, the Dark Watch will be twice as nasty as everywhere else. It’s free rein to terrorize people. Fines. Imprisonment.”

  “Oh, you mean a regular day in the galaxy,” Fiona shot back.

  “No, I mean worse.”

  “Fruit, Tess. Fresh fruit on board. Think about it.”

  “If you can make it grow,” Tess said.

  Fiona scoffed. Tess let out a tight breath.

  I stayed out of it. I understood the allure of a berry bush for a space-rat botanist. Hell, I’d only been living like a Nightchaser for a matter of days, and I already missed the food, fresh air, sunshine, and comforts of planet-dwelling life. But Tess was right. The Overseer didn’t want his draconian AGLs headlining as anything unusual on the rocks he’d imposed them on. For the citizens of Korabon, these laws were simply the norm, and outsiders just shouldn’t come here.

  The thing was, we hadn’t come. We’d been sent—and someone should’ve warned us.

  I ground my teeth in frustration. So far, the rebel leadership seemed
as full of assholes as the Dark Watch.

  “I’m almost there.” Fiona’s stubbornness didn’t surprise me. It seemed an automatic extension of her perpetually swinging ponytail.

  “Jax!” Tess didn’t say more. One word was enough.

  “Let’s go, Fi,” Jax said.

  “Not without my plant.”

  “Now.” Steel laced Jaxon’s voice.

  “Ow!” Fiona sucked in a sharp breath.

  Tess’s pace turned furious. “What?”

  “I forgot it had thorns. Cut myself,” Fiona said.

  “Someone’s coming,” Jax warned.

  Shit. I broke into a run, my heart boom-booming with a surge of adrenaline. Tess didn’t run; she sprinted. I stretched my legs to keep up.

  “Oh no, they’re here.” Fiona’s quiet horror made my hair stand on end.

  “Sit on a bench. Hold hands. Look natural,” Merrick said from the ship.

  We turned a corner and caught sight of the park. An eight-foot-tall spiked fence closed it off from the street. I didn’t see a gate.

  Reaching out, I gripped Tess’s wrist and pulled her to a stop. Silently, I signaled for her to wait. She twisted out of my grasp with a scowl. I shook my head. If we barreled in, we could make things worse. I tapped my ear, telling her to listen to what they said. She nodded but continued toward the park at a determined walk.

  “There are no benches!” Fiona’s hushed voice rose in pitch.

  “Then hold hands walking around,” Merrick said.

  “I’m not armed,” Jax mumbled.

  None of us were. It was a risk we’d all taken. Guns weren’t illegal, but they were the height of suspicious. Getting caught with one meant an automatic interrogation for anyone without clear ties to the Dark Watch.

  “Are you bleeding?” Tess asked.

  “A little. Jax is hiding my hand in his.” Fiona’s almost inaudible response faded into a mere hint of sound as a whistle blew in the background. Its shrillness shot me through with tension. Tess flinched but didn’t slow down.

  A masculine voice replaced the screeching whistle. “Loitering is prohibited under AGL, Regulation 19.”

  “Isn’t this a public park?” Fiona asked.

  “Are you talking back?”

  Typical Dark Watch. Even asking a question was a risk.

  “We’re new to Korabon,” Jax said after a beat of silence. “Are parks off-limits?”

  “I guess you should’ve read the Citizen’s Code if you moved here. The only place it’s legal to gather outdoors is at the shuttle gates.”

  “But we’re not gathering,” Fiona said.

  “I see two people,” a woman sneered. “That’s a gathering.”

  Tess’s head swiveled my way, her jaw dropping in silent protest.

  “She giving you attitude, Drake?” a different male voice asked. “The captain told you loitering’s prohibited. That’s a fine.”

  “Three hundred units.” The captain again, Drake. “Pay up and we’ll walk away. Pretend we never saw you.”

  “I want to see this code,” Jax grated. “And the fines by regulation.”

  The goons all murmured. Someone snickered.

  “More attitude,” the female said with an audible sniff. “That’ll be six hundred units, since there are two of you…loitering.”

  “Six hundred!” Fiona cried. “That’s ridiculous!”

  “You bleeding?” one of them asked. That was a fourth voice, another man. The Dark Watch rarely went anywhere with fewer than three goons if they were on duty. The typical foot patrol was a unit of five.

  “I tripped and cut myself.” Fiona’s carefully even tone only highlighted her hostility. “Accidentally broke a branch.” I pictured her holding out a thorny stick to show them.

  “Disorderly behavior,” someone barked. “Misdemeanor, a night in jail, and full background checks.”

  “This is harassment,” Jax ground out.

  They laughed. Of course it was. That was the point.

  Tess was done listening. She started running again. I took off alongside her, looking for a way in.

  Fiona suddenly gasped. “Jax!” she cried out.

  “Don’t. Touch. Her.” Pure volcanic fury boiled in Jax’s voice.

  “Or what?” one of the men asked.

  “Or you’ll find out,” Jax growled.

  Tess and I shot through a stretch of fraught silence. Light steps. Pounding breath. The gate!

  “Eight hundred, and I forget I just heard that threat,” the captain snarled.

  “Extortion!” Fiona fumed.

  “Big word, bitch. We charge extra for those.” The captain and his goons all grunted and snorted like animals. The Dark Watch really was the devolution of humankind. “That’s a thousand now, or we drag you both off.”

  “Try.” The word rumbled from Jax like a landslide.

  “Five of us. Two of you—and she obviously doesn’t count for much.” The captain paused. “You wanna say that again?”

  Jax didn’t bother. A crack I’d recognize anywhere snapped over the audio, the bone-crunching sound of fist to face.

  A quick and angry uproar followed. The hum of shock wands sent a buzz of electricity into my ear. Shock wands hurt like a bitch and could incapacitate. Having them probably meant this group wasn’t carrying guns.

  Tess and I whipped through the gate and sprinted into the park together. Five goons surrounded Fiona and Jax.

  Two turned, sensing new prey. They started toward us. One had the gall to smile, all teeth and confidence. A blue-white current sizzled at the top of his two-and-a-half-foot-long club. The second soldier widened his stance and lit up his stick also.

  They had a lesson coming if they thought being armed meant victory. Jax was a solid wall of muscle, Tess was comet-fast and ferocious, even if she lacked fighting finesse, and I was willing to water this nice grass with Dark Watch blood if it meant getting all of us to safety and away from this parody of peace the Overseer had created.

  I smiled back, all teeth and disgust. This was Novalight’s grand galactic gift? The calm we should all be so grateful for? The last ten years of my life suddenly made me so sick that I wanted to kick the shit out of these goons and make them pay for my regrets.

  Tess didn’t slow down at all. She rocketed toward the closest soldier like a missile with coordinates locked in. He raised his shock wand, either to attack or defend. It didn’t matter. She went low, sliding in underneath it to knock him down. He hit the ground with a harsh grunt of surprise. Tess wrenched the shock wand from his hand, tossed it to me, and pounced like she was going to eat that goon alive.

  Who’s the animal now, asshole?

  Narrowing my eyes, I lit up the stick and slashed it at the other goon who’d come at us. He parried with his own, and for a second, we stayed locked in place, weapons crossed, both of us pushing hard. Hot light crackled in my face. The searing energy made my hair vibrate. He was strong, and I was done with this. I spun out of the deadlock, shifted my weight, and kicked him in the gut. He doubled over, exhaling.

  I glanced at Tess. She was still on the ground, behind the goon now with her arm in a tight V around his neck. Her other arm pushed his head down as she increased the pressure on his arteries. He flopped but couldn’t shake her. In seconds, her sleeper hold knocked him out without even touching his windpipe.

  “Cuff him!” I shouted. He’d wake up almost as fast as she’d put him under.

  Tess dug zip ties from a pouch on the goon’s belt while my guy lunged at me. I weaved, avoiding his fist. He blocked my jab and I spun into a kick, knocking him back a step. I pressed my advantage just as Jax roared like a monster. I looked over to see him taking a jolt in the chest to protect Fiona.

  In the second I turned my head, the goon got me in the hip with his stick. The zap of
electricity numbed my right leg to the ankle. Leaning into my left side, I threw a punch that split my knuckles and cracked his lip. He reeled backward.

  Tess trussed her goon up, hands first and then feet when he came back to himself and tried to kick her.

  Jax fought like a madman to keep the other three away from Fiona, all fists and growls until the Dark Watch captain sent him to one knee with another violent thump of volts. Jax’s shirt smoldered. He’d have burns on his chest. I needed to reach him.

  The patrolman I was fighting popped up in front of me again, his face bleeding. Good. Let’s end this. I sidestepped his attack, grabbed him, and rammed my knee into his groin. He folded in half, and I brought my elbow down hard between his shoulder blades. He fell flat and coughed into the grass. Crouching, I struck the vulnerable spot in his neck that would knock him out. He didn’t move again. I found his own restraints and cuffed him.

  With Tess beside me, I sprang toward the trio still trying to get the best of Jax and Fiona. From his knees, Jax threw up a thick arm to shield the scientist. In the big man’s shadow, Fiona didn’t even pretend to fight; she was fishing something from her vest pocket. The female goon suddenly hauled off and cracked Jax over the head with her stick. Already shocked into a stupor, Jax swayed and almost toppled. His lips pulled back in a grimace.

  Pure rage ignited in Fiona’s face. Tess grabbed my sleeve and jerked me to a halt just when I would’ve jumped in to defend Jax. Before I could wonder why she stopped me, Fiona shot her hand out over Jax’s head and squirted something into the woman’s face.

  The woman shrieked, a bloodcurdling scream that cut through the heat of battle. Pain. Fury. Fear. She stumbled back, swiping at her skin. Her fingers smoked. She dropped her hands, still screaming. Blistering face. Bubbling eyes. Fiona yelled like a banshee and whipped a thin branch across the woman’s burning face, taking off a chunk of her disintegrating nose with it. Fiona didn’t miss a beat, bringing her arm back around to slash the branch at the two men. They scrambled back, trying to avoid the thorny weapon.

  Jax groaned, and Fiona stood protectively over him. In a flash, she squirted a second dose of acid and melted Drake’s face. He screamed like a baby.