Empire of Ashes: An Epic Space Opera Series (The Augmented Book 1)

by Ben Hale

“I’m rewriting their genetic code on the cellular level.” Telik spoke in an aside, his attention on the control panel rising from the floor. “Perfection takes time.”

  “And apparently three hundred and sixty-three attempts.”

  Telik glared at him and then gestured to the symbols on the panel, activating the five chambers on the right and six on the left. Small conduits extended from the ceiling and dropped toward the slaves. Some struggled to escape, but the enhanced gravity in the cells held them bound. Brand set her jaw in a grim line, and Ero wondered if she would face down death itself.

  The conduits fastened to the sides of Brand’s skull. She twitched, but it was just a scanner. Information cascaded across the doors of each chamber, the script also appearing on the panel above Telik, who, like all irritatingly intelligent krey, began to explain with a touch of condescension in his voice.

  “As you know, the krey have a perfect genome, so our cells never fail. Humans, on the other hand, are rife with flaws, their code littered with copies and errors that lead to weakness and premature death.”

  He pointed to one of the two redheaded youths. “Take these brothers, for example. They have a marker that will lead to heart cancer. And this one, the branded girl, she has more flaws than the rest of them combined. On her own, she probably would have died by the age of thirty.”

  Telik droned on, but Ero met Brand’s eyes. The girl stared at him with anger and resignation while a breathing apparatus descended from the ceiling and covered her mouth. Straps snaked around her head and buckled her to the floor. Other straps lifted from the floor and wrapped around her wrists and legs, binding her in place.

  “I’m going to activate these flaws,” Telik continued. “The more flaws, the more potential. Your branded girl has the most potential of this subject group.”

  “Are you going to perfect their genome?” Ero asked.

  “Of course not.” Telik sniffed as if the suggestion was stupid. “I don’t have the equipment necessary to build a genetic splicer of such power. In this case, I’m not repairing, I’m bombarding their flawed genetics with a variety of energies, such as heat or air.”

  Telik pressed a floating rune, and energy coursed through the conduits connecting to the heads of the slaves, sinking into their flesh. Muffled by the breathing apparatus and the glass walls, the slaves began to shout. And then scream.

  Telik paused in front of a man trembling and shrieking, the sound trapped behind the thick cell wall. Telik’s eyes were bright with a disturbing hope as he pointed to the writhing figure.

  “I’m forcing energy types into their genetic code to see what power adheres to what genetic flaws. I’ve been working on the volumes for centuries, and I believe I now have them perfected. If it works, it will alter bones, tendons, muscles, and organs at the genetic level, and fuse energy to the very fabric of their body.”

  Sparks ignited in the man’s veins, burning like fire beneath the skin. He struggled so hard the bonds cut his skin, and blood darkened the floor. Drawn to the spectacle, Ero watched the impossible, as fire burst from the man’s hands.

  The flames licked at the restraints, scorching them black, filling the room with smoke. The man abruptly stopped writhing, but fire continued to pour from his hands, spilling across the floor. It scorched the floor, the walls, even the door, but left his skin untouched.

  “What’s happening?” Ero demanded. “Why is he not being burned?”

  “He’s channeling the heat in the room through his body.”

  Telik frowned as he manipulated the small hologram above his crystal, the symbols turning red and orange, and then black. His expression soured, and the fire coming from the slave’s hands turned white.

  “He’s losing control, just like the others.”

  The fire burned through his flesh, and he fell into a seizure, his body convulsing. Telik grunted in disgust as the man’s body brightened, the red veins turning white. Then he pressed a symbol in the hologram, and the man abruptly collapsed, the fire extinguishing in an instant.

  “Subject seven is a failure,” Telik said. “I’ll keep him alive to see the effect.”

  As Telik moved on, Ero stared at the unconscious body, shocked by the surge of anger. The man had been a slave, and Ero did not even know his name—or any of their names—but he felt anger at his loss. He clenched a fist, shocked by the rage, which quickly turned on Telik.

  He rotated in place, the hatred boiling inside his chest like the fire he’d seen consume a helpless man. Telik was a monster, a cruel, barbaric butcher of helpless beings. And Ero had called him an ally, and now he stood by as the scientist experimented on living beings.

  Revulsion mingled with the rage, like acid on his tongue. He grimaced, ashamed that he’d always dismissed them as slaves. As animals. But that was a lie. He’d seen the intelligence in Brand, the force, the determination, the strength of will. Those were not attributes of an animal. They were attributes of a being as strong as any krey.

  He stepped behind Telik and reached for the hilt of his energy blade, which he’d taken to carrying. He eyed the scientist’s neck, a blow that would strike his spine, end his life and his reign of terror. Then he noticed Brand, and Ero’s hand stopped short of his blade. Ero’s eyes widened . . .

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Siena screamed as every nerve burned, her blood seeming to boil in her body. The pain stabbed deeper and deeper, through the tissues and muscles, plunging into the marrow of her bones. She clenched her jaw against the fear and agony, her chest heaving in desperate breaths. And still the power sank into her soul.

  She caught a glimpse of the boy in the cell next to her. Begle’s limbs glowed with red light, and trickles of fire seeped from his flesh like burning sweat, spilling down his arms and across the floor.

  On the other side, Lyn lay in silence, water gathering around her fists, curling and shifting in geometric shapes. Through the haze of pain, Siena realized they were controlling the power, and she latched onto that idea.

  She managed to tilt her head and see her own shoulder, hoping to see fire or water. Instead, her skin glowed with pure, white light, so blinding it filled her vision and engulfed the room. It came from her skin and veins, emanating from inside her body.

  The pain momentarily subsided, and she marveled at the white light beneath her skin. It glowed as if her skin was a dakorian hammer lance, the light resembling an ion bolt.

  The energy rose and fell, surging throughout her body like a ravenous beast. She vacillated between feeling powerful and feeling pain. And still the energy pierced ever deeper.

  Heat washed over her face like a burning fever. It was immediately extinguished and replaced by a surge of cool, much like water washing across her body. In quick succession, a crackling power and burst of gravity burst through the energy bindings. Each brought a new wave of pain, followed by a renewed sense of power.

  She clenched her hand shut, her arms trembling so much the bindings began to stretch. Telik had said he would bombard their bodies with energy, and she felt each and every type, like thousands of needles piercing her bones. Each time, she felt a wave of pain, followed by a surge of strength, and then the white light beneath her skin brightened. She squinted against the glare and gasped for breath, the next energy seeming to sap the air from her lungs.

  The pain spiked anew, ripping a deafening scream from her ragged throat. The sound carried an unseen force that struck the glass walls like a dakorian hammer, shattering the thick barrier.

  Chunks of glass exploded into the hallway, knocking Telik and Ero to the floor. More glass tumbled around Lyn and Begle, their eyes bright with shock and fear—fear of her.

  Siena strained against the bonds, the pain so deep she wanted to wrench them from the floor. The cloth had seracrete threading and was the same type used to strap cargo crates to the floor of starships, but it stretched under her strength—and then snapped.

  She stumbled to her feet and ripped the attachments from her head
, throwing them aside. The room spun, and she fell, striking the floor, the panic sudden and overwhelming. Desperate to have something solid to grip, she scooted to the rear of the cell and pressed her back against the wall. She clenched her fingers around her legs as tears dripped down her cheeks. The racking sobs shook her small frame, and she clenched her eyes shut against the blinding white light.

  The pain began to recede from her skin, ebbing like the sea she’d seen on Verdigris when Laurik had taken her and a few other slaves for a trip. She recalled the ocean flowing across her skin, a rare moment of joy for a slave.

  Her chest heaved as she grappled with the sense of power radiating from inside her body. It was not unlike when she’d dumped the bag on Laurik’s head, or the feeling when she’d fought inside the holochamber on the Nova—yet a thousand times stronger. It was intoxicating and mighty and supreme.

  The light continued to diminish, the pain fading, the inferno in her bones finally starting to cool. She sucked in a shuddering breath; the relief was as sharp as the pain. She opened her eyes to find her skin returning to normal, the glow receding back into her body.

  She grimaced as the pain flared, but it was the final lashing of a dying beast. Breathing hard, she put her hand on the cool wall. The room gradually stopped spinning until it settled into place.

  The sudden absence of the power left her weak, and for several seconds, she could barely lift her head. Then she gathered her courage and looked to her hands, terrified of seeing the light again, but her skin was the normal pale hue.

  She flipped her hand over and examined her palm, but there was nothing, just her calloused palms. Wiping at the tears in her eyes, she looked at her arms and knees, but there was nothing. No pain. No damage. Just her normal body.

  “Incredible.”

  Siena’s head snapped up to find Telik standing in the shattered opening of her cell. But his hands were on the holoview. Information flowed across the holo, the series of symbols too fast for her to read.

  “What happened?” Ero demanded.

  He appeared at Telik’s side, his voice urgent—and if she was not mistaken, worried.

  She instinctively brushed aside the thought. Krey were never concerned about slaves. And even though Ero had shown more kindness than Siena was used to, he was still krey.

  The shattered glass had cut Ero’s shoulder, and blood dripped from the wound. Had she broken the walls? The thought instilled terror, and she looked to Telik. He’d almost killed the other man because he’d had fire coursing from his body. What would Telik do to her?

  “Her absorption rate is higher than I’ve ever seen,” Telik said.

  “What does that even mean?” Ero growled, more angry than Siena had ever heard. Was he afraid for her? Or angry with Telik?

  Telik pointed to the crystal hologram. “Usually a human body only accepts a single type of energy into its cells, although some have absorbed more than one. Subject three has absorbed them all.”

  “What have you done to me?” Siena whispered.

  Her voice was as hard and raspy, like rough seracrete, and she was grateful it didn’t tremble. Telik didn’t look up, but Ero met her gaze and shook his head, a flicker of warning on his features.

  “Her genetic code has been corrected.” Telik’s eyes widened, and he finally looked at Siena. “She’s completely healed of any genetic flaws.”

  “Is she an augment?” Ero asked.

  “I’m not sure.” Telik frowned. “The scan indicates her cellular structure, although repaired, is no different than before.”

  “Then where did that light come from? And how did she shatter the glass?”

  “I don’t know.” Telik’s hands flew through the hologram. “Others have demonstrated bursts of energy, but afterward they also showed no difference. I believe it’s just an aftereffect of the absorption procedure.”

  “You’re saying others have broken their cells?”

  “Of course not,” Telik said with a scornful expression. “That’s starship-rated glass. There’s no way a slave could break it. I’m sure it was just a power surge.”

  Siena, her hand trembling, picked up a small shard of glass. It was as thick as her arm and probably strong enough to keep out the vacuum of space. Had it been a power surge? Or was she the power surge?

  “Is she perfected?” Ero asked.

  Telik shook her head. “As far as I can tell, the aging process has not been affected, although it might have been slowed. I’ll need more data before I can be certain.”

  Telik began to mumble excitedly to himself, and Ero caught Siena’s gaze. The concern in his eyes could have been genuine, but more likely it was concern over the success of their endeavor. She looked away, and her eyes fell on Lyn.

  The woman was still bound to the floor, and Siena crawled through the shards of broken glass, intent on freeing her from her restraints. Telik spotted her attempt and withdrew the inflicting rod.

  “I don’t need walls to contain you, slave,” he said.

  He pressed a rune, and Siena fell to her knee, gasping as her nerves burned. She tried to resist the urge to glare at Telik and failed, her baleful stare daring him to elevate the level. Telik’s eyes narrowed, and he pressed the higher rune. Still Siena resisted, sucking in her breath as she held the scientist’s gaze.

  Siena had been burned many times in her life, but this time a churning anger swelled inside, muting the burning of her nerves. She didn’t just want to fight, she yearned to stand and rip the inflicting rod from Telik’s grip.

  Ero grunted in irritation. “Just let her check on the woman. It can’t do any harm.”

  Telik pressed the third rune, and Ero raised his hand to Siena as if to say, can you stop glaring at him? Siena reluctantly complied and finally looked to the floor, clenching her teeth against the burning in her blood. Still it continued until Ero’s voice gained an edge.

  “Can we get on with things?” he said. “My ship will be ready to depart soon, and there are other slaves to examine.”

  Telik’s lips curled in disgust, but he did as requested. The pain evaporated, and Siena sucked in her breath. For several seconds her hands trembled, but not from pain. The churning in her gut gradually faded.

  She scooted into Lyn’s cell, using the opening created by the shattered wall. Then she stooped at Lyn’s side. Her gray hair hung matted to her forehead, and her smile was forced.

  “I don’t think I care for the new accommodations,” Lyn mumbled.

  Her words were muffled through the breathing apparatus, and Siena grimaced as she detached it. “I’m sorry.”

  “The place of a slave.” Lyn tried to shake her head, and Siena eased the binding strap off her forehead, followed by the other bindings. When she was finished, Lyn eased herself into a sitting position.

  “What happened to us?” she asked.

  Siena wiped the hair from Lyn’s face. “It sounds like they are trying to make us stronger, so we can better serve our new masters.”

  “And the light?” Lyn whispered. “It seemed like you were controlling it.”

  Siena gave a strained grunt. “Krey power manipulates everything, apparently even our flesh. It certainly wasn’t me.” Then she raised an eyebrow. “What about you? Are you okay?”

  Obviously unconvinced, Lyn weakly motioned to Siena’s cell. “You broke your own restraints. How?”

  “It wasn’t me,” she said, but her words did not sound convincing, even to her.

  She remembered screaming, a surge of power flowing through and around her torso, right before the glass shattered. Then she remembered seeing a conduit broken off from where it had attached to her arm.

  Telik had moved on to examine the other slaves, most of which were unconscious, and from what he said, another woman might die. Siena’s gut clenched, and then she saw Rahnora huddled in her cell and breathed a sigh of relief. After a quick sweep of the others, Telik seemed disappointed.

  “Same as the previous experiment,” he said.


  “You mean you failed.” Anger entered Ero’s voice.

  “No.” Telik jerked his head. “They will probably all die within a few weeks, but I’ll keep them under observation until they do. Then I’ll need to start over.”

  “I’m not going to keep feeding you bodies.” Ero was definitely angry now, and Siena wondered why. “You said you could finish this experiment. Then you’d know how to augment an entire population.”

  “They aren’t stronger.” Telik shoved the holoview in Ero’s face. “You see this? Their muscles are the same. Their bones are the same. Their minds are the same. No change. That means if you want augmented slaves, you need to give me slaves to augment.”

  Ero folded his arms. “No.”

  The medical mech behind him shifted, and a lance rose from the top, aiming at Ero’s back. It glowed with power, and Ero snorted in disbelief. “You think to force me to bring you slaves?”

  “We had an alliance.”

  “And an alliance we shall keep,” Ero said. “But only if you can figure it out without killing any more humans.”

  “Don’t pretend you care about them.”

  Ero laughed, the sound so mocking that Telik flushed, his gray skin reddening. “I care about cost.” Ero pointed to the first man. “And dead slaves are wasted glint. Figure it out, or this alliance will be over, and if we go, you will be alone. It’s only a matter of time until a Bloodblade tracks you down and removes your spine.”

  Telik glared at him, and Siena held her breath, unwilling to break the sudden tension. The lance remained alert, ready to kill Ero. Although Siena was still uncertain whether Ero was an ally or enemy, he was better than Telik.

  Ero fixed the scientist with a glare that would melt seracrete, until finally Telik growled, and the lance sank back into the mech. This time, Siena noticed a faint glow in the skin next to Telik’s ear.

  A subdermal cortex, a crystal linked directly into the krey’s brain. The link allowed him to beamcast without a micro-Gate and connect directly with mechs or even a ship. They were the latest upgrade and could replace the customary holoview cortex most krey embedded into their arms. Secondous Laurik had wanted one and lamented their cost on numerous occasions.