by Rachel Bach
It felt more than a little awkward asking Rashid why he was against the people I’d just thrown everything away to escape, but I had my own reasons for fighting the Eyes, and if I was going to have Rashid at my side, I needed to know his. Considering how quickly he’d claimed to be against them, I thought it would be a simple question, but Rashid gave my words careful consideration before he answered.
“On the surface, the life of the Eyes is admirably self-sacrificing,” he admitted. “The brave heroes who give their lives fighting a shadow war for the good of the universe. It’s a heroic tale that the Eyes love to sell, and I think many of them believe it.”
I thought of Rupert standing across from me with his fists clenched as he talked about all the lives he saved. Though I wasn’t feeling very kindly toward him at the moment, I knew Rupert was fundamentally a noble, self-sacrificing kind of guy. A perfect soldier, just like Caldswell had said. And if Rupert hadn’t been so ready to sacrifice me, too, I could almost have admired him for it.
“But you don’t buy the hero act,” I said. “You and Brenton.”
Rashid shook his head.
“Why?”
He stopped and looked at me. “What would you do if you knew the end of all was upon you?”
I frowned. “Is that a rhetorical question?”
“Unfortunately not,” Rashid said. “What if I told you right now that we were under attack by a powerful enemy who could not be fought or detected.”
I saw where this was going. “You mean the phantoms.”
“The word ‘phantom’ is insufficient,” Rashid said with a wave of his hand. “How do you contain a natural force responsible for the meaningless death of billions in a single word? It is impossible. Everything with phantoms is impossible. They are like the earthquakes they cause: unpredictable, unpreventable, and invariably deadly, leaving none to blame but fate. Now, imagine that you are tasked with defending the universe against earthquakes. Impossible, right?”
I nodded.
“Ahh,” Rashid said. “But now, imagine that while you’re waiting helpless for that impossible horror, that unseen death, you stumble over a miracle that could save everyone. Would you take it?”
“Of course,” I said cautiously, feeling around for the trap that was always buried in questions like these.
“Of course,” Rashid repeated, his voice growing more heated. “But what if that miracle came with a price? What if, in order to save your life, you had to sacrifice someone else, someone innocent and completely unconnected to you? A child, say. What if by torturing, enslaving, and eventually sacrificing a child, you could build the weapon that saved the universe? Would you take the miracle then? Would you call it a miracle at all?”
I didn’t have to ask what he was talking about. The memory of Maat’s voice was stuck like a barb in my mind, repeating over and over that Maat was a prisoner and her daughters were slaves. I thought of Ren lying curled in a ball on her bed after the phantom attack, her eyes wide and dead. I remembered Enna clinging to Brenton with her skeletal arms as she cried in great, soundless heaves. I looked at Ren now, who was staring up at the sky like we didn’t exist, and a chill went through me.
“Maat is the only plasmex user humanity has ever produced who is powerful enough to stop a phantom,” Rashid said, his voice tight and angry. “She was the first. But she is only one woman, and she went mad decades ago from handling more plasmex than any human should. So, to keep fighting, the Eyes made copies. Clones at first, but they all died as children. After that failure, they sought a more reliable solution and found the daughters.”
He looked at me, his face pained. “They test every human girl born in the Terran Republic and Paradox. Those found to be compatible are invited to attend a private school when their plasmex starts to mature at puberty, but it is a lie. The ones who go are taken, and the ones who refuse are stolen from their homes.” As he spoke, the hand he’d wrapped around Ren’s began to shake. “They are taken from their families, taken from their fathers, taken even from their own minds. And where they were, only Maat remains.
“This is the Eyes’ miracle, Miss Morris,” he said, his dark eyes flashing. “This is their solution to the phantom problem, these girls they wield like weapons, girls who succumb to Maat’s madness and must be put down after only a few years. The Eyes do not care. They replace the broken ones like spare parts, leaving the children who die for their cause without so much as a look back. And those who would care, the mothers and fathers, all they can do is stare at the sky and wonder which star shines on their child’s grave.”
Strangely enough, the first thing that popped into my head as he told this horrible story was that now I finally understood why Caldswell was so ruthless about keeping phantoms a secret. Even at the time, the panic excuse he’d given me on the ship had rung hollow, especially considering how unbelievable phantoms would sound to anyone who hadn’t bumped into one personally. But the systematic abuse, enslavement, and eventual murder of little girls? That was definitely a secret I could see a man like Caldswell killing to keep. But even so, the real surprise for me in all of this was Rashid.
Despite his expert double-cross, I’d still pinned Rashid as a mercenary. Even when he’d talked about Brenton, he’d only spoken of orders and plans, nothing fanatic. But when Rashid talked about the daughters, he didn’t sound like a hired gun. His voice was bitter as ash, and the more he talked, the more I knew that this wasn’t about Brenton’s mission at all. This was personal.
“Back on Wuxia, you told me about your daughter,” I said quietly. “She was taken, wasn’t she?”
Rashid nodded, and I tilted my head at Ren. “Is that her?”
“I do not know,” Rashid said, reaching out to gently push some of the hair out of Ren’s face. “She looks nothing like my Yasmina, but that’s how the change works. Maat takes everything from them, even remaking their bodies into copies of hers so that she may ride in them more comfortably.” He slid his fingers down Ren’s cheek as he spoke, but the daughter didn’t even seem to notice. She wasn’t even blinking anymore.
“I’ve searched for my little girl for three years now,” Rashid whispered. “I’ve freed several daughters in the process, and every time, I looked for some sign. A gesture, a familiar turn, something to show me that here, at last, was my little flower. But I see nothing. Even now, when I am standing right beside her, I do not know.”
“But that’s why you saved her,” I said. “Because there’s a chance.”
Rashid dropped his hand. “I saved her because she is someone’s daughter. Whether or not she is my Yasmina, she has a father, a mother, a family.”
I winced at the anger in his voice, but that was nothing compared to the look he fixed on me when he turned to face me again.
“I am a father, Miss Morris,” he said. “One among many. Our children were taken to be fodder for a salvation that was a miracle for everyone except those it destroyed. But the true villainy of the Eyes isn’t that they made a hard choice, but that they never sought to find another. I have been a soldier all my life. I understand that sacrifices must be made. But we’ve known about the phantoms for seventy years now. In that time, the Eyes have become experts at keeping the secret, experts in hiding, in responding quickly to signs of a phantom attack. They even learned to manage the lelgis. But the one thing they have never improved, never sought to improve, were the lives of Maat and her daughters. They had their miracle, their weapon, and they have never sought to find another.”
“Is there another?” I asked.
“I do not know,” Rashid admitted. “But I know we’ll never find it if we do not take the time to look. The Eyes have the support of every government in the universe. They have virtually unlimited resources, and yet the only research they do is for new ways to stabilize the daughters so they can use them longer. They do not care about the innocents they crush, and so they do not care about finding a new path. But we care. That is why we fight the Eyes, because we believe
we can find another way, one that does not kill children, if we only have the courage to look.”
“And that’s what you think I am?” I said. “An alternative?”
“Nothing is certain,” Rashid said, shaking his head. “But Mr. Brenton believes you are important. That is enough for me.”
I stopped walking and took a long breath. Rashid stopped too, waiting patiently while I figured out how best to put this. “Look,” I said at last. “I’m very grateful to you for saving me from the Eyes. If it weren’t for you, I’d probably be drugged up and on my way to a secret lab right now. But just because I’m thankful doesn’t mean I’m ready to throw all in with you guys yet. I like you, Rashid, and I get why you’re doing this, but I don’t like Brenton.”
“Understandable,” Rashid said. “The last time you met, I believe he was very impolite.”
I arched an eyebrow. Brenton had raided my ship, killed my partner, and threatened to kill me. “Impolite” wasn’t the word I’d use. But that wasn’t why I didn’t like him. “Brenton is the kind of man who uses the greater good to justify being ruthless.”
“So is Caldswell,” Rashid pointed out.
“And I don’t like him either,” I snapped. “What I’m trying to say is I’m sympathetic to your plight. I understand how dangerous phantoms are, okay? And I sure as hell don’t like what was done to your daughter. I’m perfectly willing to listen to what your people have to say, especially considering they’re on the non-child-abusing side of this setup, but I Don’t. Like. Brenton. I don’t trust him, and quite frankly I’m feeling a little backed against the wall right now.”
That was the understatement of the century. Now that the adrenaline from my fight with Rupert had faded, I felt like I was cornered against a wall of spikes by five Terran tanks. But trapped wasn’t beaten. No matter how much I needed an out, I was not about to give in to Brenton without setting some ground rules.
“I’m not going to vanish into some lab,” I announced, lifting my chin. “I’m willing to submit to testing, but on my terms and with my informed consent. I also want to keep my suit and my weapons.”
“We are not the Eyes,” Rashid said scornfully. “Of course you will keep your freedom.”
My skepticism must have been clear on my face even through my visor, because Rashid sighed. “Miss Morris, if I wanted to take you against your will, I could have disabled you and dragged you off during your fight with Charkov. But those are the Eyes’ tactics, not ours, and we will not stoop to their level. If you wish to leave right now, I will not stop you. All I can do is beg you as a father, and as someone who has saved your life several times now, to please come and hear us out.”
“That’s it?” I said. “Just listen?”
“I would explain it myself,” Rashid said. “But I do not know all of the particulars, and we’ve lost a great deal of time already.”
He looked at the woods as he spoke. I did too, scanning the dense trees for any sign of pursuit. I didn’t see anything, but then, I wouldn’t, would I? Those damn symbionts were ghosts.
I sighed and leaned back into my suit, letting the Lady hold me up while I tried my best to think through all the angles. I really didn’t want to team up with Brenton. Even forgetting how Falcon 34 had ended, his assault on Ample had only reinforced my opinion that he was the sort of man who never hesitated to throw a life away in the pursuit of his goals. Not exactly a person I pictured fighting the Eyes to find a way to stop them from abusing children. But if I left now, I’d be stranded in the woods on a planet I didn’t even recognize.
That made my decision. Even if Rashid was about to screw me over, I was much more comfortable with my odds against him and Brenton than I was with the idea of wilderness survival. My Lady was made for fighting, not camping, and out here in the woods with no power source or chance to resupply, I’d be a sitting duck when Caldswell’s pickup team came for me.
“Okay,” I said at last. “I’m in. Lead on.”
Rashid grinned and slapped me on the shoulder. “Welcome to the good guys,” he said with a wide grin.
I grimaced in reply, but Rashid had already started up the hill again, pulling Ren gently behind him.
CHAPTER 8
The hill ended at a steep cliff. Rashid climbed onto the ledge first, pulling Ren up after him. I tossed my armor case over as soon as they were clear before jumping onto the ledge myself. I landed on the flat rock neatly, but when I glanced around to see where we’d ended up, all I could do was gasp.
Whatever this planet was now, it must have been a mining colony originally, because Rashid and I were standing on the edge of a quarry pit the size of a small gorge. The side of the mountain in front of us had been scooped out to form a huge bowl that had to be half a mile from end to end. Big as it was, though, the mine was clearly no longer in use. The steep cliffs were riddled with tunnel entrances cut into the light gray stone of the mountain like cavities in a tooth, but more than half had already caved in, and the bottom of the quarry had been allowed to fill with murky black water, forming a small, disgusting lake at the ruined mountain’s base.
The ledge we were standing on ended in a vertical cliff that fell straight down into what looked to be the lake’s deepest part, though it was hard to tell for sure. The water was so dirty I couldn’t see the bottom even around the shallower edges. Rusted cranes still stuck up out of the water like broken reeds, but other than a few ashy campfire pits along the lake’s edge, there was no sign that anyone had been here in years. Only the lonely moaning of the wind as it blew past the empty tunnels.
“Where are we?” I asked, leaning over the edge to peer down at the black water far below.
“One of the mining planets the Sevalis sold to Confederated Industries,” Rashid said, dropping his pack on the ground. “CI-Twelve, I think.”
I blew out a long breath, thanking the king that I hadn’t tried to run. Even if the other mines weren’t dead like this one, corp planets were famously empty. I could have wandered for months without seeing a soul.
A clatter interrupted my gloomy thoughts, and I looked over to see Rashid setting up something that looked like a wire clothes rack attached to a battery. “What’s that?”
“Signal beacon,” Rashid replied, extending the antenna. “Encrypted, of course. But we have to make sure our rescue can find us.”
I glanced at the beacon, which had started making a low humming noise. Apparently, Rashid’s professionalism extended to more than pretending to be an excellent ship guard. That was nice to know. But while I was sure the flat ledge made for a good beacon site, our position was much too open for my liking. I was about to suggest that we find somewhere more sheltered to wait when I heard a soft sound behind me.
It was so faint it could have been a distortion in my speakers, but I’d heard enough symbiont claws by now to recognize the distinct click. I spun before I could think, pistol coming up just as Rupert finished landing on the ledge behind us.
I could tell from the way he stood that he was still injured. That was something, though considering the hole Rashid had put in his back, I’d hoped for more time. But as I lowered Sasha’s barrel to plug him in the chest wound I knew was hidden under his scales, my camera picked up another black shape coming in from the side.
“Rashid!” I shouted.
Rashid spun so fast I would never have believed he wasn’t wearing real armor. One moment he was drawing his disrupter pistol to shoot Rupert, the next he was leveling his gun at the head of the symbiont behind him, the one Rupert had been playing decoy for. The one going for Ren.
What happened next happened all at once. I fired, Rashid fired, but neither of us hit. My yell had alerted Rashid, but it had also tipped off our enemy, and fast as we were, the symbionts were faster. Rupert dodged my shot easily, turning sideways to let Sasha’s bullet fly by. I should have seen it coming and shot again, but I was too caught up in Rashid’s fight to pay proper attention to my own.
The new symbiont had flat
tened to the ground before my partner’s shot went off, ducking under the disrupter blast only to jump up again when the air was clear. But when its claws struck out, they weren’t going for Rashid. The symbiont was reaching for Ren, who hadn’t even flinched at the shots flying past her head.
This time, though, Rashid had the advantage, because he already had a hold on the daughter’s hand. But as he pulled Ren behind him, the symbiont changed its trajectory, straightening out its hand. I didn’t even have time for another shout before the long black claws flew through the air where Ren had been to stab deep into Rashid’s side.
By this point, I was already swinging my gun around. I fired as Rashid screamed, but my shot went crooked. While I’d been focused on the new symbiont, Rupert had stepped in to grab my arm. But though he’d ruined my shot, I wasn’t done yet. Quick as a thought, I loosened my grip, letting Sasha slide in my hand until her barrel was pointed down at Rupert’s shoulder.
This close, even a symbiont couldn’t dodge. The force of Sasha’s bullet ripped Rupert off me, pounding him into the ground at my feet. Now that my arm was free, I recovered my grip and dropped my arm to shoot him again, but all I hit was rock as Rupert rolled away.
But even though I wasn’t fast enough, my suit had followed his trajectory. I let my Lady guide me, trusting my targeting computer to line up a head shot that would blast Rupert back into the woods. But as the lock beeped on and my gun came up, I heard a sharp, unmistakable crunch.
I was focused on my targeting system, so I didn’t see what happened, but I’d heard enough bones crack to know what that sound meant. Forgetting Rupert for a second, I glanced back at Rashid. He was standing where he’d been when I’d looked away a second before, and the second symbiont was standing beside him with Rashid’s head gripped in its sharp-clawed hands, his neck broken clean through.
The symbiont let go as I watched, its black claw shooting out to grab Ren as Rashid’s body crumpled to the ground. It was a suicidally stupid thing to do in a fight, but for an endless second, all I could do was stare. It had all gone so wrong so quickly, and now I was alone, facing two symbionts and a daughter back under the Eyes’ control.
