Synnr's Saint

by Kate Rudolph

  “We were just coming to find you,” Emily finally said. “The others have some questions.”

  “A lot of questions,” Luci added. “Like what year is it?”

  “Luci,” Zac cut her off. She looked unrepentant.

  “I’d answer whatever I can,” he said, “but I’m afraid my time is short. I’d like to speak to Emily for a moment.” He didn’t know why he phrased it as a request. It must have been talking to Cru that put him in a weird frame of mind. He grabbed his Match’s hand and tugged her out of the room and down the hall a bit so they couldn’t be seen through the window.

  “Is something wrong?” Emily asked, face a mask of worry.

  Oz couldn’t have that, even if she had cause. He kissed her gently, but it quickly transformed into something hot and desperate. He wanted to push her up against the wall and have his way with her, he wanted her imprinted on his skin when he went back down to the planet.

  But he forced himself to pull away, though he couldn’t stop the smug grin on his face when he saw the way Emily’s eyes had darkened to a stormy gray.

  “That was nice,” she said, tongue darting out to lick her lips, “but what’s going on?”

  Business. He had to be all business. “I’m going back down to the planet on a mission. It should be quick.”

  She grabbed onto his hands and held tight. “So soon?”

  “Yes. I’ll be careful,” he promised. He couldn’t give her anything more than that, even if he wanted to say he was sure he’d return uninjured.

  Emily seemed to realize that. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath while nodding. “Never thought I’d fall...” She trailed off and he had no idea what she’d been planning to say. “This sucks. I don’t want you to go. And I don’t want you to get hurt. Does it get any easier?”

  “I wish I could answer that.” He kissed her again, but this time he kept it gentle. “I need you and your friends to do something while I’m gone.”

  “What?” She sounded confused, but willing to go along with him.

  “Split up.” Maybe Oz couldn’t stop all of the humans from being put into the Matching system against their will, but he could make things difficult.

  Now she looked even more confused. Oz’s communicator beeped, and he saw that Cru wanted to meet before they left for their mission.

  “Why, Oz?” she asked. “Are we in danger?”

  “No.” Before he could explain further, it beeped again. Cru would be getting impatient. “Jori has been assigned to take some information from you. I want you all to understand better before he does the test. But even if he finds you, you’ll be unharmed. It’s just...” His communicator beeped a third time. “Split up. Make it hard for him to find you. He’s going to your quarters now.” He kissed her forehead and left. If he waited any longer Cru would be reacquainting him with his whip again.

  Oz hoped he’d given her enough information, but judging by the confused look she gave while he walked away, he’d only made things worse.

  EMILY WATCHED OZ WALK away, her mind a whirl of confusion. What the heck was that about? Testing? What did they need to be tested for? And why did he want them to avoid it?

  She could sit around all afternoon and question it, or she could do as she asked and get the group to split up. And since Oz had no reason to lie or trick her, she decided to follow his confusing instructions.

  For now. They’d have words once he got back from his mission.

  And she didn’t want to think about the danger he was running into. Getting her friends to follow his instructions would help.

  She rushed back to the med bay and found everyone basically where she’d left them.

  “What was that about?” Lena asked. If it weren’t for the fact that she was wearing a gray robe that must have been procured from somewhere, it would have been impossible to tell that she’d just been in a two day long coma.

  “Something weird is going on. We’re not in danger, but Oz said we should split up and try to avoid Jori. He’s been ordered to do some kind of medical test on us and Oz says we shouldn’t do it.” Or that’s what she thought Oz had said. Judging by the looks of her friends, they were just as confused as her. And when she saw Zac get ready to speak she knew everything could get out of hand quickly. “I know it’s weird and you don’t have much reason to trust him, but I do. Whatever’s going on, he’ll explain when he gets back.”

  “From where?” asked Joel.

  “He’s being sent on a mission. Back down to Kilrym. You saw we only talked for like two minutes, I don’t have a lot of information. So will you trust me?” She was desperate. What if they didn’t?

  The four shared a glance. Then Lena took charge. “I don’t want us on our own. But we split into two groups. Zac, Joel, Luci, you three stick together and try to avoid Jori. Emily and I will do the same. Take an opportunity to explore the ship, but don’t cause trouble. We don’t want to get locked in our room.”

  Relief flooded through Emily. Luci looked ready to protest, but her companions were already moving, leaving Lena and Emily alone. Once Lena was certain they were gone, she seemed to shrink a bit, slumping down and leaning against her bed.

  Emily rushed over to her. “Are you alright?”

  “I am,” Lena said through gritted teeth. “Just a bit winded. Let’s move.”

  Maybe it would be better to leave Lena in the med bay, but Emily knew if she suggested it Lena would do whatever it took to hit her with something. “Something weird is going on,” Emily said.

  “You’re just realizing this now?” Lena shot back.

  They walked down one hallway and then another. It was all gray and blue, boring and disorienting. Emily had no idea where they were going or who they might encounter. There was probably a map of the ship somewhere, but no one had shown her how to find it.

  “When were you abducted?” Emily asked.

  “About six months ago, you know that.” Lena shot her a strange look before pausing when they came to a split in the hallway. Everything looked the same to Emily, so she let Lena choose her path. They walked past several identical doors before Lena stopped and tried to open one.

  Locked.

  “But when was six months ago?” Emily prodded.

  “April. Why is this important?” Lena kept trying the doors and finally one opened into what looked like a small lounge area. No one was in there, so they both entered and shut the door behind them. “We can hide out here for a while. No need to keep walking.”

  She must have been tired, if the sweat plastered on her brow was anything to go by. But Emily knew Lena wouldn’t say it unless she was a breath away from falling over.

  “April what?” What was so difficult about this question?

  “I can’t remember. I had just filed my taxes, so maybe the seventh?” Lena sounded frustrated.

  “What year?” Emily wanted to shake her, but that was probably not great for a woman who’d just been in a coma.

  “Oh. 2006, of course. Why?”

  “Because it was 2019 when I was taken. Six months ago.” And that was another year to add to the mystery.

  They were both quiet. Emily was beginning to realize that she might have woken up on Kilrym six months ago, but she no longer had any idea how long it had been since she’d left Earth. And she had no idea if there was even a home to return to.

  Chapter Eighteen

  OZ HAD NEVER BEEN ON a mission with Cru and Crowze alone before, and discomfort sat heavy in his bones. At least Cru had traded in his whip for a blaster.

  Crowze was from the same class as Cru, their families knew each other well, and the same hands had been shaken to ensure Crowze had a good placement at the Academy. From everything Oz had seen, the man was a decent soldier, but he couldn’t forget that connection he had to the captain. He couldn’t tell if Cru and Crowze were actually friends, or if they simply relied on their shared family history for social connections.

  But Crowze’s connection to Cru made it so that O
z would never say a word against the captain to the man. No, he reserved that mostly for Solan, who he knew well enough, and occasionally Jori.

  The shuttle ride was tense. Oz was certain if he put one foot out of line that Cru would find a way to punish him, and he knew how to make it stick. A whipping would be the least of his worries if the captain submitted a terrible report to headquarters.

  But he couldn’t worry about that when they were on their way to collect the asset. She was what mattered now.

  A tense shuttle ride led to a tense wait near the rendezvous point. His nerves were on edge, but everything should have been fine. This was as close to routine as missions got. Grace was doing the hard part, getting herself out of the facility and journeying across half the city to find them. Still, he kept his spark at the ready. Trouble was coming, he could feel it.

  But something felt off about his spark as well, like he had to reach farther than usual to find it. It was his first time using his powers when he was away from Emily, and that was probably it, but Oz would need to practice in the future to make sure nothing went wrong.

  The first sign of trouble was the distant whine of sirens. It might have been something to ignore. They were in the heart of the city, after all, and the patrols were looking for more than just Grace. But Oz could feel it in his gut that they were headed his way. And the others seemed to sense it as well.

  A running figure broke out through the space between two buildings and began waving madly at them. “Get down!” she cried, a moment before something exploded behind her.

  Oz dove, and so did Crowze, but Cru wasn’t fast enough. Or he didn’t like taking orders from a human.

  A piece of debris hit him in the shoulder, and another crushed his other arm when he went down. He cried out and then went eerily quiet. The sensors they all wore to monitor their health warned that he was injured, but he was still alive.

  Barely.

  Oz and Crowze unleashed their wings. Or tried to. Crowze was successful, but Oz could barely get a flash before they retracted. He tried again and again to no avail before finally giving up.

  Grace crawled the rest of the distance between the alleyway and the rendezvous point. Dirt was smudged on her face and a nasty bruise covered half her neck. She’d definitely seen better days, but her eyes shone with determination.

  “That should hold them off for a minute,” she breathed heavily.

  “That was you?” Crowze asked.

  “An explosive I set, yes.” Her eyes fell on Cru and she grimaced. “Dead?”

  “Injured,” said Crowze, voice utterly devoid of emotion.

  “We will be too if we stick around. Is the shuttle close?” She looked around, but they’d hidden it well.

  “Can you cover us while we get the captain in the shuttle?” Oz asked Crowze. He had the most reliable power now, and though Grace looked beat up, she was still capable of carrying a man. He hoped.

  Crowze nodded and they didn’t waste anymore time. In the shuttle Oz grabbed the first aid kit from the wall and attached the portable med bot to the captain. It would begin the work that the more sophisticated machines on the ship could continue. They didn’t have a doctor on board, but the machines could fix a lot.

  Cru didn’t stir at all while Oz worked on him, and his breathing was so shallow that Oz had to pause and check a time or two to make sure it was happening at all.

  “Is the captain secure?” Crowze called from the pilot seat.

  “Yes.” Oz would have to leave the med bot to do its job. He secured himself next to the captain and made sure that Grace was safe as well. In seconds Crowze had the shuttle started and they were lifting off.

  Oz couldn’t breathe easy. Patrols had been close behind and if the sensors caught them, they could be followed into orbit. The shuttle wasn’t made for battle, but they had speed on their side. And Crowze seemed to be an adept pilot.

  No one followed.

  “What happened back there?” Oz asked Grace.

  “I was spotted after I made it out of the facility. I had a feeling something like that might happen and I took the explosives when I left.” She glanced over at the captain. “How’s he doing?”

  “Not well.” Oz didn’t need extensive medical training to know that. “But our ship is well equipped.”

  “Med bots are no substitute for doctors,” she said quietly.

  Oz knew that. And while Cru was the last man he wanted as his captain, he’d never actually wished death on him. He had his limits.

  The ride back was somber, but quick. As they prepared to dock, Crowze communicated that they’d need a stretcher, and once they were in the ship Solan was waiting with Ax. Both had worried looks, but their faces went blank when they saw it was the captain who was hurt.

  Oz helped them secure him to the stretcher, but then Jori took over. “I’ll get him hooked up.”

  Solan nodded at Crowze. “Go with him in case he needs help.”

  And just like that, Solan took command of the ship.

  SOMETHING WAS WRONG.

  Oz had been gone a couple of hours and Lena and Emily had stayed hidden the entire time, but now Emily could feel tension in the air like it had infected the ship. She couldn’t stay in their cozy little hiding place another minute. Lena didn’t need to be convinced. They were both up and out of the room with no conversation necessary, and Emily followed some unspoken instinct until they made it to the bridge.

  The second she saw Oz she jumped into his arms, relieved he was okay. A second later she realized that Grace was there. She didn’t fully let go, leaving one arm around his waist, afraid that if she wasn’t touching him he would somehow disappear. It was nonsense, but she needed him and she wasn’t going to question it. Not now.

  Grace gave Emily and Oz a piercing look, but she said nothing. Emily wanted to ask her what she wasn’t saying, but it didn’t matter.

  “I heard Jori had trouble finding you and your friends,” said Solan.

  Oz stiffened, but no one was looking at him.

  “We wanted to explore the ship,” Emily responded. She didn’t think she sounded too defensive.

  Solan glanced at Oz, then over at Lena. “Your friends can come out of hiding. Jori is busy right now and we’ve got other priorities.”

  “I’m still not entirely sure why we were hiding in the first place,” she muttered. Oz’s arm tightened around her.

  “What’s going on?” Lena asked.

  “Do they need to be here for this?” Grace glared.

  Wonderful. Maybe she’d misjudged where Grace’s loyalties lay when they were being held by the Apsyns, but that didn’t make her a pleasant person to be around.

  “It’s fine,” said Solan. Emily was still a bit confused. Since when was Solan in charge? Wasn’t there supposed to be an evil captain somewhere? She kept those questions to herself, sure that if she spoke too much she was going to get kicked out of this meeting, and she was sure Lena would never forgive her if they missed out on the action because of some unwise questions.

  “The new facility is complete enough to begin moving the subjects,” Grace said. “Can you call up a map of the Great Kilrym Desert?”

  Solan nodded at the man whose name she didn’t know. “Do it, Ax.”

  Ax. She committed it to memory.

  The desert took up half a continent. The holographic map gave details that Emily couldn’t read. If she was going to stick around she really needed to see if there was some kind of translator for the written word like she had for spoken. Or she was going to have to learn a new language.

  She really hoped for the space translator.

  “Just beyond the Sunrise Dunes and past Rygor’s Valley they’ve created their facility. It’s not served by any roads and the land is owned by the Apsyn government. Anything gets taken there, we’re not getting to it. At least not with a lot more preparation. So if we’re going to try and extract the test subjects, we have to act now. The whispers I heard had the scientists close to a brea
kthrough.” Grace’s posture was held tight and only at the very end of her report did emotion leak into her voice. She didn’t want to leave the humans behind.

  Emily wondered what her story was. How had a human woman ended up a spy for an alien race against their alien enemies? If things weren’t so tense she might have asked.

  The door to the bridge opened and another alien entered. Not Jori, and not the injured captain.

  “Crowze,” said Solan. “The captain?”

  Crowze was silent for several moments before he gave a small shake of his head. “He’s hooked up to everything we have. But without a doctor I’m not sure he’ll make it. Even then...”

  Emily watched Solan, but his expression gave nothing away. Would he find a doctor for the captain instead of rescuing the humans? Would he risk his captain to pull off a risky mission?

  “Were you injured?” At first Emily didn’t understand why Grace was looking at Oz when she spoke. He seemed fine to her, but she raked her eyes up and down him, looking for anything she missed.

  Oz looked equally confused. “No injuries to report.”

  “Then what happened with your wings?”

  That turned attention from the plight of the captain. “Oz?” Solan asked.

  Oz flashed out his wings and held them extended for several seconds, letting one hug around Emily before he pulled them back. “I had a slight control issue on Kilrym. Given my new status I may need to relearn a few things, but as you can see, everything is alright.”

  Grace narrowed her eyes. “You’re Matched? Since when?”

  “About two days ago,” someone muttered; Emily wasn’t sure who or why they sounded so disgruntled.

  “And you attempted to perform a mission at a distance? Are you mad?” She rounded on Solan. “Are you mad?”

  “Cru sent me down there,” Oz retorted before she could do more than speak.

  “And you should watch your words,” Solan warned. “You are a part of my crew until we return to headquarters.”