by Jamie Grey
And her mother had failed at that long ago.
Renna had turned and left the apartment without even leaving a note, knowing her mom wouldn’t notice she was gone for two days at least. As her ship left the earth’s atmosphere, she’d promised herself she’d die before coming back here.
Guess that promise was about to happen.
The skunky smell of cheap coffee jerked her out of her memory. She wrinkled her nose as she walked past a crowded coffee shop. The battery acid she used to buy from there had given her stomachaches for days, but it had been the only thing she could afford, beside the day-old rolls the barista kept for her in back. Just beyond the shop, a towering tenement building shadowed the block.
Her building.
She crossed the street and approached it through the alley, stopping as she entered the open space in front of the building. At one time, someone had called it a park, but the grass was long dead and a rickety swing-set sat at one edge with two broken swings. The tenement kids had used it for pick-up soccer games when she was growing up.
Now she’d be playing a much different game.
THIRTY-NINE
Completely out of place in the decay of the tenement, a gleaming ship sat at the end of the street. Samil’s ship. Top of the line Dimensional Striker, if she wasn’t mistaken.
But where was Samil?
Renna took a step forward. Her implant port sparked, the skin on the back of her neck starting to burn.
“Shit!” She clutched at it, rubbing against the pain. A high-pitched buzzing filled her ears, worse than the usual hum from her implant. She took another step, and it grew sharper. Was it coming from the ship? She wouldn’t put it past Samil to have rigged the whole area with some sort of torture device.
“I’m so disappointed you weren’t here waiting for me,” Renna called out. “I thought we were friends.”
Her sarcasm echoed off the walls and reverberated in her head. She wanted to press her hands against her ears and shut it out, but Renna forced herself to stand still. Calm. Unconcerned.
“I was gathering the welcome party.” Samil’s voice had a tinny quality to it, like she was broadcasting over a speaker, and Renna shook her head, trying to clear it.
The doors to the tenement building opened, and a stream of people flowed out. Men, women, even a few children—all with the same gaunt, hungry look Renna remembered from her childhood. Thank the gods she didn’t recognize any of them. There were at least a hundred, walking in single file until they reached the far edge of the park. Then the group broke into columns to stand stiffly, like soldiers.
More hybrids.
Samil had already turned them, probably using Renna’s DNA. She studied the girl closest to her, barely sixteen, with long, dark hair. She wore a mechanic’s coveralls, and her fingers were streaked with grease. A red light flashed deep in her pupils.
A moment later, Samil stepped through the same doors . Her hair was pulled back neatly in a bun, and she wore a tight, white jumpsuit with a white, knee-length coat over it. She practically glowed.
The perfect foil for Renna’s own black clothing. Good vs. evil. Except at this point, with the things Renna had done, it was closer to Evil vs. More Evil.
Samil opened her arms. “Renna. So glad you decided to take me up on my offer.”
“Me, too.” She yanked the pistol from her belt and fired a blast at Samil, aiming for the woman’s heart. If she even had one.
The shot went right through her, shattering the glass window behind her. Samil’s image wavered for a split second.
“Fuck,” Renna spat. Trust the sneaky bitch to be hiding out on her ship. Samil’s chuckle filled the space. That would explain the tinny tone. “You forget, my little dove. I know you well enough to guess your plans. I thought a hologram was a wise choice until we were able to come to an agreement.”
“And what agreement would that be?” Renna tried not to glance behind her at the shuffle of more feet. Another platoon of tenement residents took up their place with the others. “I don’t see that we have much to talk about since you already broke your promise to leave these people alone.”
“You don’t understand, Renna. They wanted this. They were all given a choice, and every single one of them took it. They know what the future will look like. They want to be part of the solution. You should want the same thing.”
“You’ll forgive me if I don’t know what problem you’re trying to solve. Free will? Independent thinking?”
“Pain. Poverty. Despair. What good is free will when you’re starving to death on the street with no hope for your next meal? Or your neighborhood is being taken over by aliens when an organization like MYTH was supposed to protect you?”
Renna shook her head. “I don’t think you give these people enough credit They’d kick any alien’s ass if they tried to move in here. But you have this grudge against MYTH that blinds you to everything.”
“You still don’t get it,” Samil said sadly, the hologram shaking its head. “I’m the solution. My breakthroughs will change everything. No human will need to die senselessly again. You are the last piece of that puzzle. Your unique physiology will make it possible to reach millions of people. To protect them. Don’t you want that, Renna?”
“I want to stop you from hurting anyone else. You’ve killed thousands of innocent people in your misguided vendetta against MYTH. How do you live with yourself?”
“I know it’s for the greater good.”
There was no sign of the woman. Dammit. How could she attack if she didn’t know where Samil was?
Maybe she could use her implant to try to find her… But would that open her up to Samil’s neural network? Would she be strong enough to keep control of her own mind this time?
Dangerous or not, she didn’t have much choice. Renna reached out with her implant. The familiar surge of power shot through her brain, making her shudder as she felt the connections opening.
She pushed deeper, letting the feeling of machine and metal become part of her. She could feel the prickle of the electrons and radiation from the nearby buildings. From speeders. Even from Samil’s ship itself. The connection wasn’t there like it had been with the Athena, but she could feel the ship’s essence flowing through her.
And something else. A strong, underlying command ordering her to obey Samil. It curled like tendrils around her implant, whispering in her ear. It was dark and insidious, and somehow it had affected every electronic device in the area. Anything that came within range would be infected. Samil would be able to control it.
Renna pushed it away. It didn’t matter. She already was infected, and right now she needed to find the doctor.
“I didn’t want to have to do this,” Samil said. Her voice had lost the tinny sound of the holo, and Renna opened her eyes to find the real Samil standing on the steps of the building across from her. A thin, haggard woman stood beside her.
A bottomless pit of guilt, hatred, and fear opened in Renna’s chest.
Samil had her mother.
FORTY
Ryla Carrizal looked exactly the same as Renna remembered—wispy brown hair, sunken blue eyes, hollow cheeks, angry scar stretching from cheek to eyebrow. Renna even thought she recognized her dress. The years hadn’t been kind to her mother, and neither had the drugs. It was shocking she was even still alive.
Samil stepped forward, bringing Ryla with her. “I find it so very interesting my best test subjects come from the slums. Drug addicts, dealers, anyone who’s dabbled in clay. Somehow the drug works brilliantly with my neural implants. Ryla was almost as good a test subject as you.”
Half of Renna’s mother’s head was shaved, replaced with a shiny metal plate. The skin was still red and raw where the two had been fused together.
Acid burned the back of Renna’s throat, but she steadied her voice. “What did you do to her?”
“I wanted to see if it ran in the family. I gave your mother a cranial implant, as well as upgrading some of he
r nervous system. It’s taken beautifully. Though she doesn’t have your communication abilities, unfortunately.”
“Renna? Is that you, baby?” The woman’s voice was like gravel, wavering weakly as Ryla peered out at her. “I can’t tell if it’s her, Doctor,” Renna’s mother said, looking back at Samil. “She looks so different.”
“It’s her,” Samil said. “Renna, aren’t you going to say hello to you mother?”
Renna blinked at the woman she’d been running from most of her life. The woman she’d never been able to escape. Her whole body twisted with tension, her limbs trembling and weak. She couldn’t do this. Dealing with her mother was not part of the plan.
Samil continued. “Your mom happily agreed to help me with my latest round of experiments. I’ve promised she’ll be clean and healthy in six months.”
“That’s what you’ve always wanted, right, baby?” Ryla twisted her fingers in the front of her dirty dress.
Black spots appeared in Renna’s vision as the world spun. “Leave her alone, Samil.”
“Or what? Your mother wants what’s best for you, and she knows this is the only way to get her life back together. I can give her a future.”
“You’ve already taken away her future.”
“Please, baby. She said once I’m clean you’ll forgive me. We can start over.” Ryla’s hollow eyes bored into Renna’s. There was remorse there, but something else as well. Love, perhaps?
It was far too late for that. “Starting over isn’t an option. But trusting Samil will only get you killed. Just walk away, Mom.”
“To what?” Ryla’s calm shattered as her voice rose to a warbling screech. “I’m living on the streets now, Renna. I can barely scrape enough money together for a hit of clay. Before the doctor found me, I hadn’t eaten in days. And it’s not like you’ve taken care of me. I hear you’re better off than the president. Is it too much to ask you to help support your poor old mother?”
Renna’s fists clenched, but she forced herself to stay silent.
When she didn’t respond, Renna’s mother continued. “Dr. Samil promised she’d take care of me. She says it’s not too late for me.” Ryla’s eyes narrowed. “That’s more than you ever did. You gave up on me a long time ago.”
Hurt surged through Renna like a punch to the gut, and her words erupted in a volcano of hate and anger before she could pull herself together. “I gave up on you when you tried to slit my throat in a drug-fueled rage. Did you forget about that? Or the times you were too high to even remember you had a child? Or is it still somehow my fault you’re in this situation?”
She glared at the woman who’d become a stranger. She’d wanted to confront her mother for so long, to tell her how she’d ruined Renna’s life, but this woman was beyond that now. She’d never take responsibility for what had happened. It was up to Renna to finally let it go.
Her anger drained away as quickly as it had come. She felt lighter almost. It didn’t matter anymore. She wasn’t the same child who’d left this place. She’d created a new life for herself. After searching for years, she’d found a new family. And right now the only hatred she should feel should be toward Samil for taking them away.
Renna stepped forward, glaring at the doctor. “Samil, release these people. Release my mother. You promised.”
She shrugged. “I promised to not perform any more experiments. This is my final group of hybrids, and the most powerful, thanks to your DNA.” She raised her arm, and another line of people exited the building and took up their spots with the others.
“You know I’m going to stop you, right?”
Samil smiled. “You won’t because, with one command, I could have your own mother shoot you where you stand. I could have my army swarm you.”
“But what’s the fun in that?” Renna asked. “Don’t you want to face me yourself?”
“I’m afraid your taunts won’t work on me, Renna. Now let’s move this conversation to my ship. Unless you’d like me to kill your mother while you watch.”
Renna’s hand slipped to her waist to unsnap her holster. If only she were as good a shot as she was a thief.
But before she could twitch a finger, the roar of a ship filled the air. Pain burst through her as Renna’s implant short circuited, and she gasped, locking her knees so she didn’t tumble to the ground.
Every hybrid turned to watch the ship land beside Samil’s at the end of the block.
The static in her brain slowly cleared, and her eyes could focus again. Her heart skipped a beat. “The Athena,” she breathed. But how was that possible?
She held perfectly still, her gaze never leaving the ship as she tried to connect with it again.
There! A tiny sliver of the old Athena greeted her, the familiar electromagnetic pulse wrapping around her like a friend’s hug.
Something hot prickled behind her eyes, and she brushed away a tear. They were alive.
The gangplank slowly lowered, and three people strode out, guns at the ready.
“Nick,” she whispered. He was dressed in MYTH gray again, his uniform pressed and clean. He walked with a purpose, and as their gazes met across the park, there was that jolt she’d felt the first time she’d seen him again. Like he was the only one who knew her. Lieutenant Keva and Major Dallas flanked him on either side, their faces grim as they surveyed the scene.
Anger surged though her like a sun flare. At her relief to see him, at his betrayal, at the confusion that flooded through her. Godsdammit. The man was still alive, and he hadn’t bothered to tell her. Again.
His eyes met hers hesitantly, and he gave her a half-smile. Instead of smiling back, she could only glare. If she hadn’t been so fucking upset at his death, she’d kill him herself right now. But that familiar expression sent her skin tingling, despite her anger. She wanted to strangle him and kiss him at the same time.
“Hey, Ren,” he said softly as he approached. “You all right?”
“No thanks to you,” she snapped, but her heart still hitched at hearing her name on his lips.
Samil cleared her throat, drawing their gazes back to her. “Welcome, Major. Captain. I thought I’d taken care of you with your other comrades. I see you escaped.”
Dallas aimed his gun at Samil. “As a matter of fact we did. Luckily, the Athena got a warning message before the attack began. We were able to evacuate quite a few of our facilities before your drones struck.”
Relief flooded through Renna. It had worked. Her connection with the Athena had saved lives. She turned back to Samil. “For someone so smart, you sure do make a lot of mistakes.”
For the first time in days, she truly believed they were going to beat this woman. They were going to win. And then she was going to have a serious discussion with Captain Nick Finn.
Samil shook her head. “I prefer to think of it as an experiment, not a mistake. Because each time I fail, I learn something new. For example, after you escaped my warehouse, I realized the virus had indeed connected you to my neural network, but you’d resisted a full upload. Which allowed me to alter the frequency and gain more control over my followers. It also allowed me to create a failsafe. If you came in contact with the network again, I laid a trap that would allow me to connect to your implant.”
“Doesn’t seem to be working,” Renna said with a shrug. “Give yourself up, doctor. There’s nowhere else for you to run.”
“I don’t need to run.” Samil pulled a small tablet from the pocket of her white coat.
Renna rolled her eyes and reached for her gun. Her hand stopped halfway to her hip. She blinked at her non-responding limb, trying to flex her fingers, but her arm wouldn’t move. Like it was made entirely of cement.
Her gaze flew to Finn’s. “Run!”
FORTY-ONE
“Nobody move,” Samil barked. Whatever the woman planned to do with Renna wasn’t going to be good. She needed to get Finn and the Athena out of here. “Finn. You need to run!”
“I’m not going anywhere, Ren,�
�� he said softly. “I let MYTH convince me that pretending to betray you would be the best way to get Samil out in the open. I’m not turning my back on you again.”
Gods, how she wanted to believe him, but she was still so hurt, so angry at his betrayal that she could barely speak. She stared at him, trying to read the expression in his eyes and finding nothing but regret.
“So touching, this little reunion.” Samil pressed a finger to the tablet, and Renna’s arm jerked again.
Beside Samil, Renna’s mother had pressed her hands to her lips, her frail body trembling as she watched the scene unfold. Tears welled in Ryla’s eyes, but she still stood at the doctor’s side, a mute servant.
Screw her. Renna tried to clench her muscles, to stop the movement of her body, but she had no control over anything. Her arm straightened, and she tried to struggle as Samil made her grab the gun at her waist.
“Please, Finn. Get out of here now,” she begged. “I can’t control this.”
He shook his head. “Fight it, Ren. You can’t let her win.”
Even furious at him, she couldn’t face the prospect of losing him again. It had felt like someone had ripped out her heart and left it beating on the ground. If nothing else, she could make sure they were all safe. “I’m the only one who can stop this. Let me go, Finn.”
Finn’s lips thinned. “I’m not letting you do this alone, Ren.”
The gun was heavy in her hand as she raised it. Tears streamed down her face. “Please.” She didn’t know if she was begging Finn or Samil or some unknown god. She just needed it all to stop before Samil made her shoot someone she loved.
“I don’t want to hurt anyone else,” Dr. Samil called. “Come with me now, and I’ll let your mother and your friends live.”
