Athena's Ashes

by Jamie Grey

  The guard opened her door, gesturing with his gun. “Time’s up. Come along, Miss Carrizal.”

  She bit back a smirk. He was lucky she felt generous this morning. The kid’s grip on the blaster was all wrong. What exactly was MYTH teaching their recruits? It would only take her two moves to disarm him. Finn would have read him the riot act if he’d been under his command. He’d been so tough on the new recruits. More than a few of them had burst into tears during his training sessions.

  Renna fell into step with the private as they started down the long, brightly lit hallway. Another guard joined them from a nearby room as they passed. The two men flanked her, walking close enough that the scent of starch on their stiff gray uniforms tickled her nose.

  “Where we headed?” she asked as they turned right down another corridor. The plain white walls and metal floors were standard pre-fab bunker materials used in most buildings on the Outer Rim. Her surroundings didn’t lend much help in figuring out exactly what planet she was on, but maybe she could get one of these rookies to slip up.

  The younger guard walked like a marionette beside her, pretending not to hear her question. He wouldn’t last long with that stick up his ass. She’d be more than happy to knock him down a peg or two. “Come on. It’s not like I’m going anywhere.”

  “The admiral and her staff are waiting in the large conference room.” He snapped out the words with his jaw clenched. “There will also be six MYTH agents and four guards stationed outside. I suggest you stay on your best behavior if you ever want to see the outside of this facility again.”

  “You sound like you’re scared of me, private.” Renna smiled slyly. “I’m so honored. But didn’t you hear that I’ve turned over a new leaf? Respectable, that’s me.”

  His whole body was one stiff mass of muscles, and Renna chuckled. Baiting him was too much fun. He was just so…earnest.

  They reached the end of the hallway and turned left. Four guards in their gray-and-gold uniforms stood at attention beside a thick glass door, each carrying a modified sonic rifle.

  Renna let out a low whistle. “What exactly do you think I’m going to do to the admiral? I don’t even have a weapon.”

  He blinked slowly once, and then his flinty eyes settled on her face. Without moving his stone-hard facial muscles, he pressed his thumb to the scanner on the wall and the door slid open, revealing a large conference room with a round, white table and eight chairs.

  “Sit down. The admiral and her staff will join you momentarily.”

  “Whatever you say, sweetheart.” She flashed him an unrepentant grin and threw herself into one of the chairs. A low buffet table sat along the far wall with a pitcher of water and eight glasses, while a giant holoscreen took up the opposite wall. Just another non-descript room, in a non-descript building, on a non-descript planet. Pretty much exactly what she’d expected from MYTH leadership. Everything was neat, orderly, and by the book.

  No wonder they had no idea Pallas was running circles around them.

  The door opened, and six MYTH special agents marched into the room, taking up stations in each corner, with two on either side of the door. They wore the shiny, black, full-body suits she’d first seen on Finn back on Hesperia.

  Another twinge of longing shot through her. Dammit. Why did everything remind her of Finn?

  Stop it, Renna. Staying on her game was the only thing that mattered right now because, if she failed, she’d never get the chance to see Finn again.

  She crossed her arms and pretended to study her fingernails while she snuck glances at the motionless soldiers. Three men, three women. Two were Ileth, one Delfine, and three humans. None of them had Finn’s intimidating presence, just the same cold glare that he’d shot her when they’d first met back on Hesperia. That look had almost turned the blood in her veins to ice.

  But this was quite the honor guard for a lowly thief, even if they weren’t as scary as Finn. What exactly had they told everyone about her?

  The door slid open again, and a tall, muscular woman marched into the room. Her jet-black hair was pulled back into a no-nonsense bun, and wrinkles framed cool gray eyes.

  The agents snapped to attention, saluting as she took a seat at the head of the table.

  Renna continued to lounge in her chair, legs outstretched. She wasn’t MYTH yet and didn’t owe anyone a salute.

  After the admiral had taken her seat, two more humans with major’s stripes on their chests entered the room—one male, one female. Renna’s muscles went rigid. Larson. What the hell was he doing here? Her skin crawled with his unexpected presence. One of Navang’s last reveals was that Major Larson worked for Pallas. He was a traitor to MYTH and to the Coalition.

  He was also apparently part of the admiral’s advisory group.

  Something surged in her implant, sending a zap of pain through her. Renna sucked in a sharp breath and squeezed her eyes closed. Her mind spun and sputtered as her implant tried to process a new stream of information. Unlike feeling the facility’s communications arrays when she’d first arrived, this was sharp and painful, like needles stabbing into the soft tissue of her brain. A slow trickle of data started to download to her implant, easing the pressure enough that she could open her eyes.

  The admiral quirked an eyebrow. “Is everything all right, Miss Carrizal?”

  Renna forced her voice to stay steady. “I’m fine, ma’am.” She’d have to be careful, especially with Dr. Samil. They couldn’t know about the changes happening in her head or they’d never let her go.

  “Very well then, let’s get started. I’m Admiral Kamila Usamov. We’ve brought you here today to debrief you on the Myka Aldani rescue mission and the destruction of Draven Navang’s facility on Vall.” The admiral steepled her fingers and watched Renna, letting the silence stretch between them.

  As much as she wanted to be stubborn and wait the woman out, Renna needed to make them think they had the upper hand. Engaging the admiral in a battle of wills wasn’t part of the plan. After thirty seconds, long enough to make it look like she was putting up a fight, Renna dropped her gaze to the table.

  The admiral smiled, but before she could speak, the door slid open again.

  Renna’s jaw dropped as a dead man stepped into the room.

  THREE

  “Major Dallas?” Renna’s words were barely a whisper. The major had been the one who’d recruited her for the mission to rescue Myka; it was his fault she was sitting here today. But he was supposed to be dead, killed in the attack on Hesperia.

  “Hello, my dear.” His blue eyes crinkled as he smiled and took the seat beside her.

  Renna’s thoughts did cartwheels through her head. “We thought you were killed in the explosion when we left with Myka.” Finn would be so relieved his mentor was still alive. She couldn’t wait to tell him the good news.

  Dallas chuckled, shaking his salt-and-pepper head. “Takes more than a bomb to kill me. Our bunker held, and eventually another MYTH team was able to get most of the staff out. I’m glad to see you’re doing well.”

  Her face tightened into a frozen smile. There were a few other words she would have chosen instead of “well,” but at least she was alive.

  Usamov nodded at him. “Thank you for coming, Major. As the original commanding officer for the Aldani mission, your input is invaluable.”

  “Of course, Admiral. I’m honored to be included.” Dallas squared his shoulders and fixed the other occupants of the table with a cool gaze. “According to my intel, we have a rogue element within our ranks.”

  Renna felt dismay flicker across her face, and she quickly schooled her features to remain blank. How the hell did he know that? Pallas and Major Larson’s betrayal was still secret. Only the crew of the Athena knew the truth about what had happened on Vall.

  Dallas continued, oblivious to her sudden tension. “I was shocked and dismayed to hear Captain Finn has stolen the Athena and is on the run with the Aldani boy. The captain has been completely loyal to our cau
se since the day I recruited him. There has to be something we don’t know about this situation.”

  Renna’s muscles unclenched, and she let out a silent breath. Her secret was still safe. She’d have to make sure it stayed that way. As soon as Pallas knew they were on to him, he’d either go to ground and they’d never find him, or he’d launch his attack and they’d all be dead. Neither option really appealed to her.

  Admiral Usamov glanced at Renna. “That’s why we’ve asked Miss Carrizal here. We’re hoping she can tell us what happened on the mission. Perhaps there’s an explanation for the captain’s behavior.”

  Every eye in the room focused on her, and Renna swallowed thickly. Everything depended on her answer. Finn, Myyka, Viktis. The galaxy.

  Nothing like putting a little pressure on a girl.

  She let her gaze drift around the table, stopping briefly on each of the majors before speaking. “As I’m sure you all read in my report, after tracking the boy across most of this system, Captain Finn and I broke into the facility on Vall and discovered that Dr. Navang was using Myka’s DNA to create a cybernetic army. We rescued him, and Captain Finn took the boy back to the Athena for medical treatment. Unfortunately, I was captured by Navang’s men. He ran several experiments on me before I was able to escape.”

  “Do I understand that you had a pirate on board the Athena as well?” the admiral asked.

  Renna nodded. “Correct. Viktis Korrik. Son of former President Korrik.”

  “And now a pirate.” Usamov’s lips thinned in distaste.

  “A very good pirate,” Renna corrected. “He agreed to help us infiltrate Navang’s lab and rescue Myka after his ship was destroyed and his crew murdered by Navang’s henchmen.”

  Dallas raised one of his neatly trimmed eyebrows. “And Finn agreed to this?”

  “He didn’t have much of a choice. As Major Larson can confirm, we left Lenue in a rush after the attack on that city. Viktis was already on board.” Renna paused. “Whatever you may think about him, it was lucky we had him with us. Navang was working on some seriously illegal tech.”

  Among other things.

  The horrors she’d seen there still haunted her at night. Men and women transformed into cyborgs with glowing eyes and metal limbs. The sound of their screams as they died in a shower of sparks and blood. The technology that had taken over their humanity.

  Renna noticed her fingers drumming against the tabletop and quickly dropped them to her lap. Tells like that would get her in trouble here.

  “Navang was behind the attacks on the various cities in this system,” she continued. “He took the injured citizens and experimented on them, implanting them with his cybernetics. He created a drug that melded the implant technology into human physiology.” Renna paused, swallowed. “He turned them into hybrids.”

  Beside her, Dallas inhaled sharply. “Could he control them?”

  “Yes. He was creating an army.”

  Shocked whispers and mutters broke out at the table. Renna sneaked a glance at Major Larson from beneath her lashes. He sat perfectly still, no reaction, no indication he was part of Navang’s plan. That would have been too easy, of course.

  Finally, Usamov held up her hand. “Silence. Let Miss Carrizal finish.”

  Nausea burned the back of her throat as she pushed away the images of the stark facility, the blind obedience Navang had forced on his test subjects, the way the hybrids had gone eerily silent as Viktis had dispersed a technological virus through their neural network. Instead, she focused on the people in the room to steady her trembling heartbeat. She couldn’t afford to feel guilt or fear.

  “Dr. Navang used Myka’s genetic material to develop a new drug, which he then injected into me after Viktis and I were captured. According to him, it will force my neural implant to fuse to my nervous system and eventually become part of me. If I survive the process.”

  “Did he say anything else?” Larson asked. “Any hint as to why he would do this? What he hoped to accomplish?”

  Renna watched the major. A trickle of sweat crept along his hairline, but he didn’t break her gaze. “I’m afraid not,” she said finally, shaking her head.

  “But what about Captain Finn, Myka, and the Athena?” The admiral sat back in her chair, her gray eyes troubled. “Why would they run? Once you retrieved him from Navang, the boy was safe.”

  Renna shrugged. “I have no idea. I thought everything was fine until we landed at Aldani’s lab. That’s when I discovered Finn and Viktis were actually working together. They took the boy and Aldani and fled, leaving me behind.”

  “But why?” Dallas asked. A frown marked deep lines around his mouth. “Finn would never work with a pirate.”

  “I wish I knew. Maybe they thought they were protecting the boy?” Renna paused, letting her shoulders sag. “I trusted them.” She let her voice hitch on the last word.

  “I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation.” Dallas patted Renna’s hand. “I know Captain Finn, and he would never do something like this without good reason.”

  Usamov rose to her feet and paced behind the table, arms clasped behind her ramrod-straight spine. “I don’t disagree, Major, but the bigger question is: What did Navang hope to accomplish with this army, and is anyone else involved? It concerns me that we don’t have any intel on this. How did we miss it?” Her voice sharpened into icy daggers as she stared at her advisors.

  Renna bit back a shiver at the woman’s expression. She was suddenly very glad she didn’t report to the admiral.

  Finally, Major Larson cleared his throat, breaking the uncomfortable silence. “Unfortunately, we can’t ask him, since Renna and her crew decided to destroy the facility. All traces of the experiments, hybrids, and tech are gone. We have nothing. The boy is our last clue to what Navang was planning. He must be found.”

  Usamov turned her laser gaze to Renna. “Can you tell us why Finn’s team destroyed the facility? He must have known how important that intel was to MYTH.”

  Renna shook her head. “I don’t think the captain was behind it. He and the Athena had already left the planet. Maybe Navang rigged it to explode if it was discovered.”

  “Or perhaps you had something to do with it yourself.” Major Larson’s gaze bored into hers as if he could somehow read the answers there.

  And there it was: casting suspicion on other people to cover his ass. Good thing she needed him to lead her to Pallas or the major might wake up to a knife at his throat the next morning.

  Renna forced away the delicious image of him begging for his life and shook her head apologetically. “I think you forget, Major. Navang had been experimenting on me. I was lucky to make it out of the facility before it exploded. I was in no shape to go setting off bombs.”

  “Renna has done exactly what we asked of her, Larson,” Dallas protested. “And at great risk to herself. This situation is not her fault.” He turned his gaze to Renna. “I understand Dr. Samil has started to synthesize a version of the drug, and it seems to be helping slow the fusion of your implant?”

  She blinked at him. The last thing she’d expected was for Dallas to come to her defense. Maybe the guy wasn’t so bad after all. “As far as we can tell.” She turned to the admiral. “Ma’am, the lab might be destroyed, but you do have one last example of what Navang was trying to do. Me.”

  Usamov stood motionless at the head of the room, pinning Renna with her cool gaze. “What exactly are you offering, Miss Carrizal?”

  This was it. Everything rode on her convincing them of her sincerity. It might just be the biggest con of her life. “I want to help you. I want to become a part of MYTH. Let me track down Finn and the Athena and get to the bottom of this. I might be the only one who can find them.”

  A nearly inaudible gasp spread around the room, and the MYTH personnel fell into a shocked silence. But Renna ignored them, keeping her expression calm and not breaking the admiral’s gaze. Right now, no one else mattered. It was like facing down a man-eating
terrorcrest. One heartbeat of fear and it was all over.

  Dallas was the first to speak. “I agree. I was the one who brought Renna into this, and I still stand by my decision. With a little discipline, she could be a real asset to MYTH. And she’s right. Finn and the pirate have worked with her and they trust her. She knows where mercs go to hide. She can find them.”

  Admiral Usamov shook her head, her lips barely a slash on her stern face. “This is highly unusual.”

  “We can’t trust her,” Larson protested. “Even more importantly, she’s the missing piece to Navang’s experiments. We can’t just let her go traipsing around the galaxy. What if we could use her to strike back? To uncover his data? This could be the leap ahead MYTH needs to become—”

  Usamov held up a hand, cutting Larson off mid-sentence. “I think we have everything we need from you, Miss Carrizal,” she said coolly. “You may return to your room. We will need to discuss your proposal further.”

  Renna stood and let her gaze drift across the group one last time. “Please believe me when I say I’m not proud of my past, but I’m ready to make a change. To do the right thing. I think my skills could be invaluable in your organization, and I would be honored to be part of MYTH. I hope you consider my offer.”

  The words felt rehearsed in her mouth, but she hoped they came out as sincere. If nothing else, the intent behind them was true. She needed them to agree to this or everything was lost.

  Dallas smiled encouragingly at her, but the rest of the staff kept their faces blank. Not a good sign.

  Renna straightened her spine and brought her hand up to her forehead in a crisp salute. Then she marched from the room in her best military manner.

  Only when she rounded the corner to her room did she let her shoulders sag.

  She’d done the best she could. Now it was up to them.