King of Stars (Arcana Book 4)

by Bianca D'Arc

  She really missed her meditation chamber right about now.

  Julian seemed to be thinking hard as well. Finally, he shot her a considering look. “Maybe it was a good thing you came along after all.” He didn’t look convinced, but seemed willing to think about it. “Still, I probably wouldn’t have had to shave it so close to the Pyramid if you hadn’t brought that tail with you.”

  “Who’s to say they were only sent for me? Maybe they were following you after all? Or maybe, if I had told Winters what I knew about your plans from the beginning, they would’ve been following you all along.” She sighed. “There are many possibilities. One action causes another, but not always in the way we expect. Sometimes it’s best to just concentrate on the hand we’ve been dealt. The Pyramid lived up to its reputation in ways even I didn’t foresee, but it sounds like somebody down there foresaw this.” She pointed toward the rapidly approaching planet.

  “But they didn’t foresee you,” Julian reminded her, speculation clear in his tone. “That could work to our advantage.”

  She met his gaze. “That’s why I’m here, Julian. I’m the wildcard that can—maybe—make this whole crazy thing work out for the best. That’s been my goal from day one. I know you didn’t want me here, but trust me when I say, I have nothing but the best intentions in my heart for you, and for everyone.”

  He seemed to consider her words, then nodded once, slowly. “I believe you. I can’t figure out how they knew to expect me and I’m not sure how this will all play out, but I believe you when you say you’re here to work toward the best possible outcome. Whether or not I believe that means you’ll help me kill the jit emperor is, of course, another story.”

  She shook her head slightly and had to smile a bit. He’d noticed her careful wording. Of course he had. The man was a strategist, and one of the best and brightest among human kind.

  But he wasn’t throwing a fit. That was a good sign.

  The tightly controlled escort didn’t leave them much room to maneuver, but Julian stayed between the escort ships easily enough. They were brought to the surface, skating over the edges of a vast cityscape, and then to a giant complex that had a grand temple at its heart.

  Julian could see another, even grander complex in the distance that must be the emperor’s palace. So close, but yet so far. If Julian had his way, he’d find his way into that palace before too much longer and kill the bastard that sat on that bloody throne.

  Vengeance for his lost family was what had driven him here. It was all he lived for now. Although…

  He had to admit, if only to himself, the time he had spent with Star had changed his perspective in subtle ways. She had given him a new way to look at certain things like destiny and fate. He found himself questioning things he had previously thought were absolutes.

  He wasn’t sure he liked it. Julian wasn’t comfortable with self-doubt. He had always been a decisive man. A warrior through and through. There was little room for doubt in battle. Doubt got you killed.

  And yet…now he had that little niggling thing called doubt infecting his thoughts every so often when he focused on his reasons for traveling to the jit’suku homeworld.

  He’d thought it would take days, if not weeks, to get here and yet, in the blink of an eye and a harrowing ride through an energy vortex, here he was. Solaris Prime. A place he never really thought about before the murder of his entire family. A place he had never thought to see before his life had been forever altered by one heinous raid on a peaceful civilian space station.

  It seemed almost too coincidental that the Pyramid would chew him and his ship up and spit them out here, of all places. And yet…

  Star’s spooky ways were definitely rubbing off on him. He felt at peace with whatever would happen next in a very strange way. Fate was playing with him and rather than laugh in defiance, he felt the need to go along for the ride and see where it would lead him. His mother had always said, you can’t fight fate.

  Although she was long gone, Julian remembered.

  “Vessel Matilda, we can see some damage to your aft landing gear compartment,” came Captain Dyssa’s voice over the comm. “Suggest you run a diagnostic to ascertain the extent of the damage before attempting to land on it. We’ll steer you to a landing pad near the repair shop. It looks like your ship sustained quite a bit of damage in transit.”

  “Thank you, Captain Dyssa,” Star replied in a very professional voice. It was clear to Julian that she’d had the training she claimed. The very best the military had to offer. “I’m attempting to run a diagnostic now, but many of the ship’s systems are still offline, including the AI interface.”

  “Tell him I can handle the landing even without gear,” Julian piped up, not really caring that the comm was open and the Captain of the jit vessel could probably hear him without Star running interference. Julian was feeling just ornery enough to not want to talk to the jit soldiers who’d been sent to capture him and his beloved ship.

  “Did you catch that, Captain Dyssa?” Star asked, shooting Julian a questioning look that he refused to answer.

  “Affirmative. I’ve asked Ground Control to turn on the beacon lights around your assigned pad. Do you see the blinking circle dead ahead?”

  Julian snorted, not caring what the jit thought of his reaction. “I’d have to be blind to miss it,” he muttered.

  “We see it, Captain. We will proceed with landing if you have no objection.” Star shot Julian a look of annoyance this time. He got it. She wanted him to play nice with the alien bastards. Fat chance.

  “Proceed at your own pace,” Dyssa replied.

  “Big of him, seeing as how we’re lucky we still have a hull,” Julian scoffed as Star muted their side of the conversation. “Hang on. This could get bumpy.”

  He brought them in for a fast landing, wanting a few minutes to check the outer hull of his ship himself before the jit bastards landed and took them into custody. He had to know first-hand what he was up against with Matilda. She was his way off this rock and he could only pray she could withstand another take-off.

  “What are you doing?” Star squeaked, clutching her seat as took aim for the indicated landing pad.

  “Landing hot,” he replied easily. “I need a few minutes and this is the only way I might possibly get them.”

  “I hope you know what you’re doing.” It was her turn to mutter as he bounced once, then landed on the pad, his ship at a decided tilt. Yeah, that aft gear was not going to hold. Pity.

  Julian unhitched himself from the restraints and shimmied out of his chair. He had work to do and precious little time to do it.

  “Where are you going?” Star asked, her voice rising in pitch as if she was afraid. He looked at her, surprised. Was she? After all they’d been through, now she showed fear?

  “I need to inspect the ship. Don’t worry, I’m not planning to go out in a blaze of glory just yet. I just want to see what happened to Matilda. Help me out and try to reboot the AI, okay?”

  Understanding dawned in her eyes along with relief, and he was glad he’d taken a moment to explain. He didn’t like to think of the indomitable Star Senna afraid. It just didn’t sit right with him for some reason.

  He left the bridge and headed for the airlock, wanting a few minutes to check his ship. Looked like he was going to get it too. Neither of the escort vessels had landed yet, though he was pretty sure there would be some kind of ground crew around shortly. He had to get moving.

  Julian hit the airlock and extended the ramp he only used for landings. It creaked and groaned, but extended as the landside airlock tested the air quality on the other side before allowing him to exit. Everything was within acceptable parameters, though the percentage of oxygen in the atmosphere of Solaris Prime was just slightly higher than Earth standard.

  The outer hatch opened and Julian got his first whiff of Solaris Prime’s atmosphere.

  Heaven.

  That couldn’t be right. He took in another lung full of air.


  It smelled, and even tasted, great. It shouldn’t. It was the air of the home of his sworn enemies. It should smell foul and uninviting. And yet the opposite was true. Damn.

  This day just got weirder and weirder.

  Julian put it all out of his mind and jogged down the ramp to get a better look at Matilda’s hull. He went around the ship, touching parts that would need to be replaced, making mental notes of the things that could be fixed and those that would have to be scrapped or rebuilt entirely. It would take a lot more work to get Matilda back up to spec than he’d thought.

  It looked grim. If he expected to take Matilda off this rock, some kind of miracle would need to occur.

  “I’m sorry, old girl,” he said, rubbing the side of his ship as a wave of regret came over him. He had somehow begun to think of the Matilda as the last little piece of his mother, the real Matilda. And now, not even the AI that spoke in his mother’s voice was working. He might never hear her speak again. “I’m so very sorry,” he said, an odd emotion choking him, though he fought against it. “Thank you for the good times and for always seeing me safe. You’re a good ship and a good companion.”

  “It is a wise man who values his companions, be they mechanical or flesh and blood.” A voice came to Julian out of the darkness beyond the landing lights that still ringed the small ship.

  Instantly, he was on alert. He watched, squinting, as a man in plain, dark robes walked out from between two of the giant search lights, becoming clearer the closer her approached.

  Julian straightened to face the newcomer. “This ship has been good to me. I would not see her harmed.”

  “It says much for you that your first thought was for your ship rather than your own hide. Had I wished it, you would already be dead. This landing pad is surrounded by sharpshooters and soldiers. Did you not realize?” The strange monk asked.

  “I guessed as much,” Julian answered, raising his chin defiantly. “I figured since you let us land, I could at least get a look at my ship before your guys came out to take us wherever you wanted to take us. It wouldn’t make too much sense for you to allow me to land only to shoot me the moment I stepped out of my ship. It was a calculated risk.” Julian shrugged.

  “Yet one you took in order to see to your ship,” the monk replied, his eyes evaluating Julian’s every move. “An interesting action to consider. What of the woman who traveled with you? You left her aboard?”

  “She’s trying to reboot the AI,” he said casually. “I figured it would keep her busy while I got the lay of the land. Plus, the AI is kind of special. I’d like to know if it can be saved.”

  “Because you expect to leave here, with your ship, at some time in the future?” The monk moved closer, shaking his head and making a tsking sound with his tongue and teeth, as if Julian’s hopes were delusional.

  But Julian was a realist. “Because Matilda is special and deserves a chance to carry on—with or without me.”

  The monk tilted his head and pursed his lips as if considering Julian’s words. “Perhaps there is, as you seem to believe, more to your ship than meets the eye. If it is any consolation, I give you my word she will be treated with the utmost care and respect. If not for her own sake, simply because her name reminds me of someone I used to know. Did you know that Matilda is a common jit’suku name?”

  Julian was nonplussed. “I did not. It was my mother’s name. That’s why I chose it for my ship.”

  “She must have been very proud to have her son think so highly of her,” the monk said in a friendly tone, but his words turned Julian’s blood to ice.

  “She never knew. She died long before I won the ship that bears her name.”

  The monk bowed his head. “I am truly sorry for your loss. The death of one’s mother can be the hardest of all of life’s sorrows.”

  Julian didn’t have an answer for that. He hadn’t thought about receiving any sort of sympathy from his enemy. It didn’t sit well.

  “Julian?” Star’s voice cut through the tension, making him turn.

  “Over here, Star,” he said, wanting her at his side where he could at least try to protect her.

  She appeared around the landing gear and stopped in her tracks when she saw the monk. Her eyes widened and a small smile began to touch her lips.

  “I’ve seen you before,” she said rather openly. “You’re the monk I came here to find.”

  The monk seemed surprised if Julian was any judge. “If that is the case, then you have indeed found me,” he answered. “But forgive me, I did not realize anyone was looking for me. You seem to have me at a disadvantage.”

  “I’m sorry,” Star smiled and stepped a little closer. “I’m Star Senna. I believe you met a relative of mine recently.”

  “Senna?” the monk asked, his gaze narrowing. “Are you speaking of Lady Della Senna?” Even Julian could hear the respect in the monk’s tone as he spoke the other woman’s name.

  Julian knew Della. She’d been the card dealer at the bar on Madhatter Station for some time before running off with the former owner, a vet named Alex Hambly. Alex had been Julian’s first handler for the intel missions he still worked on for General Winters. He was highly connected, and so, it was rumored among the vets who knew them both, was Della.

  They’d been honeymooning for a while now, traveling the galaxy, or so it was said. Julian hadn’t seen either one of them in months, but still counted them as friends. So it was with some surprise that he heard Della’s name roll off the alien monk’s tongue. Had Della been to Solaris Prime? If so, that was news to Julian.

  Star bowed her head. “I am Della’s cousin, Star. I have seen…interesting things about you, sir. I came here on the belief that you and I needed to meet.”

  “Is this something Della told you?” the monk asked quickly, almost hopefully.

  But Star shook her head. “No, sir. It is something I have foreseen myself, for the past few months. I knew I had to be here, with Julian…and you. I have seen your face many times in my visions, but please forgive me, I do not know your name.” Star ducked her head slightly, as if embarrassed.

  “Then you carry the same gift as your cousin?” the monk asked with seeming respect, though Julian noticed the older man didn’t answer her question.

  “We have similar gifts. Each of us in the Senna family has developed our own unique flavor of clairvoyance. I am a remote viewer. I meditate on a topic and I see events surrounding that person, place or thing. Your face, sir, comes up every time I contemplate the jit’suku emperor, but I don’t understand why. I have come here for answers, and to help prevent further conflict.”

  “Prevention of conflict is a worthy goal, but I’m not sure how many answers I can give you,” the monk hedged.

  Star only smiled. “It’s all right. We can get to those things in time. For now, it’s enough that I’m here and so are you. This is what I have foreseen, and I feel we are on a path with a promising outcome at the moment.”

  “Let us both pray to the Lady it stays that way,” the monk muttered as he raised his hand and made a gesture that brought a platoon of heavily armed men out from behind the blinding landing lights.

  Just like that, they were surrounded.

  Chapter Five

  Star didn’t really know what to expect after the soldiers showed up. She admitted to herself that she was more than a little intimidated by the jit’suku warriors, but even more so by the robed men behind them. If the soldiers gave off a badass vibe, the priests were even scarier.

  She got the impression of tight control tempered by inner peace—at least among the older ones. The man who had plagued her visions, for example, seemed more at peace than most of the others, though she could easily tell he was troubled by her words and presence here.

  Well, too bad. She might be the only female in this entire enclave, but by the Goddess, she would be heard! She would not shrink from these imposing men. She knew her worth and she knew she had a mission here. No amount of brute forc
e or carefully veiled combat skills was going to scare her off.

  And she had Julian to think about too. She knew, despite what he might say, that he would do his best to see that she came to no harm. He was a good guy at heart.

  The soldiers surrounded them and began to move them away from the Matilda and into the closest building. From there, they entered a transport system that took them quite some distance within the temple complex, away from the Matilda. After the first few turns and odd angles, Star gave up at ever being able to navigate back to the ship on the run. She was fairly certain the only way they would be leaving Solaris Prime in the Matilda, was with the jits’ permission.

  Rather than some kind of detention facility, Star was almost surprised to see they’d been brought to a medical center. A smiling man met them near the door and the soldiers remained outside. Only the old monk went inside with them. He moved forward to greet the other man, then turned to make the introductions.

  “This is Doctor Terva. He will be running tests to determine that you carry no pathogens that could become harmful to our populace. You will come to no harm as long as you cooperate with him. Is that understood?” The old monk held Julian’s gaze as he waited for an answer. Finally Julian nodded.

  “I’m at your disposal,” Julian said, opening his arms in what was supposed to be a harmless gesture, but came off more cocky than placating. As he probably intended. Star had to stifle a smile. Julian was going to be defiant, but hopefully he wouldn’t piss off any of the jits too much.

  What followed was a fairly routine medical examination. The doctor was kind and took blood samples from both of them. They were also scanned with both a handheld device as well as being put through a full-body scanner. Star wasn’t exactly sure what they were looking for, but she didn’t mind. Many doctors had studied her and her relatives, trying to figure out what made them psychic. So far, nobody had figured it out. She doubted the jits would be able to do so either.

  After about an hour of this kind of treatment, the doctor released them into the custody of a new group of guards. These wore less armor, but they looked every bit as deadly as the others. They looked like maybe they were young novitiates of the Zenai priesthood, which made sense to Star. They were in the Zenai temple, after all, and the Zenai was a warrior order, from all she had heard and seen in her visions.