Cadence

by China Dennington

  ​“That really shouldn’t shock me, but it does.”

  ​“There’s more. A lot more. It’s so hard to even know where to start.” She paused for a moment then continued, putting emphasis on her next words, “He controlled all of the tribes, Astrid. Both of them. Akayta and Velee.”

  ​“What?” she asked, blinking with disbelief.

  ​Grief and tiredness showed in the lines around Honor’s eyes. “He was controlling their leaders through fear, and they were doing whatever he demanded. He used the assassinations and the threat that he possessed a super weapon to gain a hold and keep it.

  “He was torturing them through terror, then his plan was to take over completely and make them slaves. The reason he gathered the Star was so that he could have a small army of people who would take orders directly from him, not the leaders. He guessed that outcasts would be somewhat easier to control, because of the submissive mentality pounded into them from the time they were children. Cipher worked to attract the vulnerable. Those desperately searching for love and acceptance. He took advantage of them, Astrid.

  “He was worried that the Akaytans or Veleens would try to fight back. And that’s exactly what the Veleens did when they attacked the complex. Cipher told the Veleen high commander that he would pay if anything like that happened. He made good on his word. The Veleens attacked the complex, and so Cipher had him assassinated.

  “Astrid. That’s not all. He was planning on dropping a bomb on the Akaytans and Veleens once his ship took off safely. They are all safe right now because you took control. He would have gone through with it. I know he would.” She looked down at her hands.

  ​Astrid closed her eyes in horror. She worked to keep her breathing steady as bile rose in her throat. He was going to kill all those people. He was going to murder them simply because he felt like it.

  In addition to that, Cipher had used the Star as nothing more than soldiers. People to die for his personal whims. People who didn’t know how to stand up for themselves. He took advantage of their oppression to satisfy his desire for revenge and power. Her horror bled into anger.

  ​“He didn’t.”

  ​“Oh, he did. It was torture, I couldn’t help. I couldn't tell anyone without him killing me. I couldn’t get out. And there was no way to contact anyone else.”

  ​Astrid shook her head in amazement. Cipher’s had been in control of Akayta and Velee for the past year. That also explains why he was waiting for us at the shiphouse. The Akaytans sent the message. They would’ve had a transmitter strong enough to send it that far.

  She paused awkwardly for a moment, wondering if she should ask a question that had been nagging at her. “Was there any rational reason to be wary of the machine in the Avocation Hall? Or was that just...I don’t know.”

  Honor started nodding before she even finished her sentence. “It was a mind control machine. Once someone spent three hundred hours in it, they would be programmed to obey only one person. That person was Cipher. It uses addictive agents to keep you coming back. Cipher was frustrated that it would take so long to brainwash someone, but it was the best model he could find on the Veleen Black Market. I know because I saw the transaction records.

  His plan had three phases. One: get control of the Akaytan and Veleen leaders through threats and violence. He wanted to torment them with fear of a weapon from Cog, while waiting for the Star to come completely under his control. Two: he would stage a military takeover in the open and create radical changes. He was going to make the Akaytans and Veleens suffer in all the ways he suffered. Three: eventually he was going to leave with the Star for the “paradisal planet.” It isn’t necessarily the same as the planet in the Avocation Hall machine, but it does exist. As he left Dalanda, he planned to drop the bombs that would destroy the Akaytans and Veleens.

  ​“I’m speechless.”

  ​Honor just shook her head slightly, her desolate eyes telling of her experiences with the Star.

  Then she brightened a little and looked back at Astrid. “But that is over. We don’t have to worry anymore.”

  The magnificent burden Honor had been carrying lifted as the realization dawned on her. She laughed lightly as tears came to her eyes and she quickly swiped them away.

  ​The corners of Astrid’s mouth lifted. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

  ​Honor smiled, truly smiled, for the first time in a long while.

  Chapter thirty-two

  Cipher sat in the cafeteria on the ship.

  He’d woken up in a room guarded by a member of the Cover. The last thing he remembered was Astrid shooting him. When he asked the guard, he learned that the core had indeed exploded, and he now resided on a ship with the Star and the Cover. He also learned that Astrid died, which had shocked him into silence. He could barely begin to reconcile his present situation, but with that added information, he couldn’t think straight.

  ​Later he learned that she survived, but he still didn’t know what to do with himself. He pushed down any remorse he felt, instead focusing on the anger about being held captive by his brother and the disappointment and frustration of his failure.

  ​Now, he was sitting in the cafeteria, just like everyone else. Except for the fact that his guard ate with him, staring at him wide-eyed. Cipher examined the faces around him, trying to take in the sudden change in his position and the new surroundings. He saw many familiar faces of the Star, who all turned their gazes elsewhere when he looked their way. Faces he had never truly bothered to see, because he didn’t want to.

  There were also the many new faces—those from Rune’s rebellion. Astrid and Rune sat on the other side of the room, laughing with their friends. His gaze drew Astrid’s eyes for a brief moment. She gave him a sympathetic, pleading look.

  ​He could read her expression as clearly as if she was talking to him. She was asking him to apologize, to reform himself. To stop hating. It was her nature, but it wasn’t nearly as easy for him. He couldn’t just forgive everyone who’d ever hurt him. The wounds went too deep for that. He fought to remember all the reasons he’d carried out such violent actions as his sense grand purpose ebbed away. Rune either couldn’t see him, or was ignoring him. Neither of them had come to sentence him or talk to him...Cipher turned his head in anger and continued scanning the sea of faces.

  ​He did a double take. A face he recognized all too well.

  Dev.

  Rage burned through him. He stood up abruptly, but sat down again when his warden gave him a challenging look.

  How could Rune associate with such a...violent, evil person? Rune, who championed the cause of the oppressed. Yes, he’d always been opposed to violence, even against the golds. But...he couldn’t have allowed Dev to become part of his tribe, could he? Yet Dev wore the Cover colors. How could Rune betray him in such a deep way?

  ​He pressed his hands into the table and glared at Dev in disbelief. The wretched, horrible irony. Here he was, a prisoner of his brother, while one of the very golds who’d mistreated and humiliated him was free. Was respected, while he was ignored.

  ​Dev saw him staring. He looked back down at his food in shame. Confusion settled over Cipher for a moment. That shame on Dev’s face would never have even considered alighting there when Cipher knew him.

  ​Cipher narrowed his eyes. What had caused this apologetic attitude? Dev glanced up at him again. He pushed aside his food, then made his way to Cipher’s table and sat down.

  ​“Can you watch him for a few minutes while I go get some food?” the guard asked. Dev nodded.

  The guard left and Cipher laughed sarcastically, crossing his arms as he leaned back in his seat.

  ​“Cipher. I’m sorry,” said Dev.

  ​“You had to come over here and gloat of course,” he replied, putting on the cool, intimidating demeanor that he’d perfected.

  ​“No,” Dev shook his head. “I just came to say I’m sorry for how I treated you all those years ago. It was wrong
. It was so wrong.”

  ​Cipher laughed bitterly. “Of course it was.”

  ​“Are you sure you know that?” he asked hesitantly.

  ​“What?”

  ​“Are you sure you understand that it was wrong? I heard about your plan. Everyone knows now. That’s wrong... and yet you were about to do it.”

  ​“That wouldn’t have been wrong, it was…” Cipher fought himself, trying not to give in to the remorse, trying to remember all the reasons he hated the ones. All the reasons he hated Dev.

  He looked into his reformed oppressor’s eyes, and it made him want to scream. There was no more malice towards him there. Nothing to fight against. Only repentance.

  Suddenly his thirst for revenge against Dev, against the ones seemed...empty. In panic, he let rage fill his mind with its corrupting current, overpowering those emotions which threatened to break down his resolve. He didn’t want to feel again.

  ​“Something happened to me, Cipher. I realized how terrible my actions were.” Dev’s voice broke, “I changed. That part of me was ripped away and remade into something else...when I let it happen. What I’m saying is that you don’t have to let your past actions determine who you will be for the rest of your life. Or my past actions…” he said. “I’m sorry. That’s what I’m telling you. Please don’t let my old hatred define you. Please, Cipher. I’ve changed and you can too,” he said solemnly.

  “My sister was murdered by a one! Murdered by a man like you. I have plenty of reasons to be angry. I have plenty of reasons to seek vengeance,” Cipher said, raising his voice.

  Dev locked eyes with him. “My younger sister was murdered by a one as well. It caused me to see the error of my ways. And change. You have the choice.” Dev got up, and moved back to his old spot as the guard returned.

  ​Cipher was speechless. He allowed his anger to rule him. Cascading over him as an old friend.

  But a steady tide of emotions, ushered in by Dev’s words, were crashing against that wall of rage, breaking it down.

  Chapter thirty-three

  Cipher sat in his room, arms crossed, trying not to think. If he started thinking, then he would come to an emotional conclusion he didn’t want to face: he was wrong. He’d been cruel and malicious, he’d disregarded life and everything important for money— for the want of power. Stupid, meaningless power. There was no triumph in that...none. He shook his head, forcing himself to stop thinking about it.

  He was still clinging onto that last shred of hatred. If he didn’t have that, who was he? A hero? That thought was laughable. Impossible. A coward? Most likely.

  If he turned his back on his hatred Cipher would lose his pride because he would be forced to admit his brother was right. He would have no fin to stand on, no creed to identify himself with. But his brother would hate him eternally either way. If the difference was only in his own mind and his own eyes, then what did he have to lose by destroying his enmity? More importantly, what could he gain?

  At that moment Cipher realized that his sense of self had become enveloped in loathing and anger. They’d consumed him. He didn’t want that. He wanted to be a person worthy of honor. Worthy of respect. But it was too late for that. Much too late.

  Screams and clangs echoed down the hallway, startling him out of his thoughts. The door flew open and Dev, who’d been posted as a guard outside, hurled himself into the room, followed by laser fire. He banged the button that shut the door.

  ​The hatch shook as if was being hit from the other side. Dev panted, staring at it in disbelief. His weapon hung loose in his hand.

  ​“What’s happening?” Cipher shouted over the din outside.

  ​“The-the other Dalanadans are attacking us. They’re boarding.”

  ​“They’re boarding?” Cipher asked in shock.

  ​Dev nodded grimly. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then headed towards the door. He paused, then turned back to Cipher and met his eyes.

  “We need everyone on our side fighting. What do you choose?”

  ​They stared at each other. Dev understood the war Cipher was fighting with himself. He was giving him a chance. And that was all Cipher needed to let that one last string of hatred and fear and anger go.

  ​“I’m ready. I forgive you, Dev,” he replied steadily.

  Relief flooded him as well as remorse and sorrow. He understood what he’d done, he was looking at it honestly for the first time, and it tore his heart out. But now...there was the relief of no enmity. He hadn’t realized how much it’d been weighing on him, eating away at his soul.

  ​There was silence for a moment, then Dev smiled and handed him a gun. “Let’s do this.”

  ​With that, he opened the door. Lasers zoomed everywhere, and swarms of angry people rushed about. It was a miracle that neither of them were shot. Cipher barely had a second to think before dodging another lethal laser. One after another, he stunned the attackers. They were disorganized. Cipher perceived this fact easily enough. It gave him a small bit of comfort. Many had a crazed look in their eyes. Their world had changed so quickly. They were desperate and confused and they didn’t want it to change. This was no well-organized assault. Adrenaline pounded through his head. His eyes remained focused as he and Dev were able to hold their position in the hall, incapacitating a fair number of the attackers.

  ​The hallway was finally clear. Without a word, they both hurried toward the bay. Surely enough, the other ship was connected to the mouth of the bay, creating a wide-open doorway between them.

  Cipher’s eyes rapidly swept the area, searching for the controls. Once he spotted them, he rushed over and closed the doors.

  “I managed to undock the other ship,” said Dev as he flipped a series of switches on the control panel.

  ​“Good job. We need to find out what’s happening in the rest of the ship,” Cipher stated. Dev nodded and they made their way through the hallways, laser guns ready, eyes alert. They rushed towards the sound of fire in the large command room ahead.

  ​A battle was raging, but Cipher could see that it was winding down, just like the battle in the hall. He spotted Astrid and Rune, panting, next to each other— as he’d noticed they always were. Only a few more. Rune’s eyes briefly flashed with surprise when he caught sight of Cipher, but he turned away, focusing on another target.

  ​Astrid’s eyes, on the other hand, were trained on him. She froze and he cringed at the horror on her face. Cipher’s eyes were drawn to an upper class Akaytan and where the end of his gun was pointed. It happened so quickly that Cipher had no time to think and Astrid certainly had none, as she saw it a moment after him. Cipher didn’t hesitate for a split second.

  He shouted, “No!” and fired at the man who was about to kill his brother.

  ​Astrid gasped, Rune whipped around, his eyes alert, swiftly perceiving what had nearly happened as the man slipped to the floor. Only a few more, and finally the only conscious people in the room belonged to the Star or the Cover. Astrid and Rune stared at him amid the fray of people suddenly talking and urgently trying to help their injured friends.

  ​Dev stood by him, but his expression held no shock. Discomfort filled Cipher’s veins. They all knew what had just happened. The tension rose as Astrid and Rune glanced at each other in astonishment. Cipher had just saved Rune’s life.

  ​Cipher could see Dev smiling out of the corner of his eye. In that moment, he didn’t want to look his brother in the face. Memories flooded back to him of joking and laughing with Rune. What he’d done was unspeakable, and he hated the sadness, the shame that occupied Rune’s eyes because of him. He didn’t want to see it. Yes, Cipher had just saved him, but he knew they were now trying to assess whether he was a threat. Whether he’d only done it out of self-preservation. Finally, he braced himself and looked up.

  ​Their eyes locked. Despite the buzz of chatter around him, Cipher’s world was silent as he saw the sharpness, the confusion in Rune’s gaze. He almost turned away, but the
n he saw those things give way to something else. Something he hadn’t seen in a long time.

  Love.

  ​Rune’s mouth turned up the slightest bit. Yes, there was pain, betrayal in those eyes, but there was also hope. Rune firmly placed his gun back in its holster.

  ​Astrid was crying, but she was smiling too. Cipher sighed. No, she will never be mine. But maybe that’s alright, he thought as they approached him.

  ​As Astrid looked at him, he registered that this was the first time no fear or confusion were present in her countenance. Relief flooded through him at this realization.

  ​“This isn’t the end, Cipher. Not even close. This is the beginning,” she said with a smile.

  Epilogue

  Some of the Akaytans and Veleens had considered their own ships too cramped, and therefore attacked. However, the attack was disorganized and an utter failure. Astrid and Rune still extended the invitation to join Dellinia, but they generally refused. Some decided to accept the offer, but most wanted to hold onto their practices of oppression, and couldn’t even fathom a different world. So they parted ways.

  It was a hard few weeks in those ships, with little food and water. By the time they got to Earth, Cipher’s “paradisal planet,” they were half-starved.