Athena's Ashes

by Jamie Grey

  Renna glanced at Major Dallas, still pointing his gun at Samil. At Keva, who wore a grim expression and carried a shiny new rifle. At Finn. She couldn’t live with their deaths. It might be too late to save the tenement residents, but it wasn’t too late to save her friends.

  “Let them go,” she called to Samil. “I’ll come with you.”

  “Renna! What are you doing?” Finn demanded, grabbing her other arm.

  She shook her head. “We have to stop her. This is the only way I know how.”

  “No!”

  She smiled sadly at him. “I’m glad you’re alive, Finn. I could barely live with myself thinking you were gone. Please do this for me.”

  “No. Renna, we can stop her together.”

  “We can’t. She’ll make me kill you. Get out of here while you can. I have a plan. Trust me. You owe me that at least.”

  Finn’s gaze flicked to Samil and then back to Renna. “I do. But I don’t trust her.”

  “Go.”

  He frowned at her, pain seeping into his blue eyes. “But it’s not supposed to end like this.”

  “It’s not supposed to end at all, but sometimes life has other plans. Despite your recent lapse in judgment, you’ve turned into a good man, Nicholas Finn. I’m proud to have known you.” To have loved you, she almost added.

  He traced a finger down her cheek and pulled her into his arms, kissing her gently. “Don’t make me do this, Renna,” he whispered.

  “You don’t have a choice. You have to get as far away from the Athena as possible. As soon as you landed, she took control of the ship with her network, and I don’t know what she’s planning.” Renna’s muscles tightened, and her brain throbbed as Samil ordered her other arm to move. “Go,” she said.

  Finn spun on his heel, barking commands into his comm with one last long look at Renna. The Athena’s crew sprinted from the ship, and the platoon quick-marched away from the tenements.

  “Now that your touching goodbye is over, I have my own goodbyes to take care of,” Samil said. “Did you really think I’d let them leave? Poor Renna.”

  The hybrids surrounding the park suddenly snapped to attention, eyes flashing red.

  “No! I’m coming with you. You don’t need them,” Renna protested, feeling the tug of the neural network surge through her as well.

  “You should know by now that I hate loose ends.” The hybrids marched like a well-oiled army platoon after Finn’s team.

  But Renna’s mother hadn’t moved, hadn’t obeyed the command to follow the Athena’s crew. Ryla watched them go with a frown, then her gaze fell to Samil. Renna wished she knew what was going through her mother’s mind. Was she happy with her choice? Was she truly Samil’s slave? Or was there something else left inside?

  Ryla smiled sadly at her daughter. “I wish things could have been different, Renna. I wish I’d been the mother you deserved. I’m sorry for everything, but I’m so proud of the woman you’ve become.”

  Before Renna could react, Ryla launched herself at Samil, knocking the tablet from the woman’s hand. It went spinning away from them, kicking up a trail of dust.

  Instantly, the painful pressure in her brain cut off, and Renna’s arm dropped to her side. She was free.

  Across the park, Samil and her mom struggled together on the ground. Gray dust streaked Samil’s once-white coat and her neat bun hung in scraggles down her back as she flipped Renna’s mother onto her back. Ryla’s worn dress was torn and her face battered, but she was holding her own.

  Until Samil dug her fingers into the fresh scar’s on Ryla’s head.

  Renna’s mother let out a bloodcurdling scream as she flailed beneath the doctor. Ryla’s fingers clawed at Samil’s face, but years of drug use and starvation had made her weak, and Samil easily overpowered her.

  Renna’s body unfroze, and she dashed toward the tablet, toward the two women. She had no idea what she was going to do, but she had a few tricks up her sleeve, along with a knife or two.

  Four steps later, she knew she was too late. “No!” Renna screamed, stretching out a hand.

  Samil had snatched up the tablet from where it lay on the ground. Her fingers tapped frantically at the screen.

  The world slowed to a crawl. Renna slipped the throwing star from her sleeve and pulled her arm back. As she released it, Samil smiled down at Renna’s mother.

  Ryla screamed again as the implant in her head exploded.

  FORTY-TWO

  “No!” Renna screamed again. Her knees gave out, and she dropped to the ground as the plate in her mother’s head disintegrated. Smoke poured from the wound, and Ryla went still.

  Samil struggled to her feet. Dirt smudged her face as she studied Ryla’s crumpled form. “Don’t cry, dove. She wasn’t much of a loss. Besides, she was mostly machine. I’m sure she didn’t feel a thing.”

  “Bitch.” Renna clawed upright on trembling legs. “I am going to kill you.”

  Samil shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

  In the distance, a volley of gunshots echoed through the alley, and Renna’s head snapped toward the noise. Finn.

  “Looks like my army is tying up those loose ends. Time to finish this.”

  A moment later, Renna’s whole body jerked forward as Samil controlled her again. It felt inevitable somehow. Like everything had been leading to this moment. She didn’t even try to fight it this time.

  Renna glanced back at her mother’s lifeless form as she followed the doctor up the stairs to Samil’s ship. From here she could see only part of her mother’s face, eyes closed, lines softened. For the first time in Ryla’s life, she finally looked at peace. Renna had mourned the loss of her mother years ago, but today she’d seen another side of her. A side she wished she’d known.

  Renna tore her gaze away as Samil ordered her through the hatch and down a narrow corridor lit with bright hololights. Her footsteps rang on the metal floors as they marched through the ship, and she tried to get a sense of where she was. Dimensional Striker models were short-distance transports and ran with minimal crew. Only a pilot and a helmsman, but she didn’t see either as she followed the doctor to a small med lab at the back of the ship.

  Still under Samil’s control, Renna’s knees bent, forcing her to sit in one of the stiff metal chairs. Her right arm lifted on its own accord to rest on the small table in front of her.

  “You haven’t tortured me enough by now?” Renna asked.

  “I know how much you enjoy it. Just wanted to make you feel at home.” Samil’s smile was sweet as she slid an IV into Renna’s arm and slapped some kind of sensor to her forehead.

  Renna’s skin stung and burned as the drug seeped into her veins, but she couldn’t move her arm. The panic started deep in her gut, growing stronger until she gasped for air. Squeezing her eyes shut, she forced herself to take a deep breath as the pounding in her head grew louder. She hadn’t felt like this since she was a kid, since she’d been unable to fight back when her mother had attacked her.

  She’d trained in three different forms of self-defense to make sure she’d never feel that way again. Except here she was, back where it had all started.

  “Not much longer now and you’ll be completely integrated. I’ll be able to use you to control my entire army. From anywhere in the galaxy. We’ll be able to do so much good together, dove.”

  Samil sounded practically gleeful, but Renna didn’t break her concentration. Nothing mattered any more besides stopping this woman. Samil’s ship shuddered as they prepped for takeoff. It was now or never.

  Renna reached out with her mind, searching for the Athena again. The virus running through her had damaged Renna’s connection with the ship, but she could still feel it there, at the edge of her consciousness. Tendrils of electromagnetic waves curled into her, weaving into the implant and the neural network that hummed through Renna. She might be part of Samil’s plan, but she still had enough control to use that to her advantage.

  She found the cracks in Sami
l’s network, the places where she could feel the Athena even more strongly, and focused on widening them until she could feel the ship’s controls, the familiar sense of belonging.

  But there was something else there now. Something dark and monstrous. The virus had already populated through the Athena’s systems. Guilt twisted through her. She knew now that she’d infected it earlier, when she’d tried to send the coordinates from Samil’s warehouse. The Athena was dying.

  She couldn’t focus on that. She needed to control the Athena’s weapon systems before they took off. Renna slipped further into the ship, becoming part of the system. Fear clogged her throat and set her pulse racing. She didn’t want to die, but she was out of options.

  With only an order to her implant, she rewired one of the ship’s missiles to fire.

  She thought of Finn’s heart-twisting smile. Of Myka’s unconditional belief in her goodness. Of Viktis’s sexy laugh. She was doing this for them, but gods, she wasn’t ready to leave yet.

  But a good thief always knew when a job was up, and with one last command, she entered the firing codes.

  The sirens in Samil’s ship screamed as the proximity sensors felt the Athena’s targeting system locking on.

  Samil jerked her head up from her tablet, eyes widening. “What did you do?”

  Renna smiled. “I won.”

  The explosion sent the ship careening across the landing pad. A whole section of the roof blew off, sending cargo and goods flying into the sky. Renna flew across the med bay, landing in a tangle on the far side of the room. Her leg cracked under her as she fell, and she screamed at the white-hot pain shooting through her.

  The metal side of the ship shrieked, shearing off as it scraped against the cement. She gasped for air as smoke filled the med compartment, thick and heavy with the scent of star fuel and burnt plastic. Something warm trickled down her face, and she touched a finger to the blood on her cheek. Somehow she was still alive.

  She forced her gaze to focus on the dark, smoky interior of the med bay. Across the room, Samil moaned, shifting from beneath a tray of tools. Even worse, she was alive.

  Renna felt her muscles clench and unclench as Samil lost control of her and the neural network disconnected. Every cell ached like she’d been beaten to a bloody pulp by a Trezian, but she forced herself to sit up, inch by inch, using every last bit of her strength to keep from vomiting as pain rolled through her in waves.

  As she tried to drag herself across the floor, the ship suddenly tilted as it settled against one of the tenement buildings. Renna slid across the slick tiles, landing with a thud against the wall. She panted shallowly, trying to avoid sucking in any of the smoke rolling into the cabin.

  Evidently, she should have used two missiles. Who would have thought MYTH would cheap out on their ballistics? She giggled hysterically.

  Pull it together, Renna.

  Ignoring the pain shooting through her, she continued forward. As she scrabbled through the debris, she spotted a shiny scalpel from Samil’s tray. Her hand curled around the handle, the cool metal lending her strength.

  The doctor lay near the door. Less than eight feet away. She could do this.

  Inch by inch, Renna crawled closer to the doctor, dragging her injured leg behind her.

  Six feet.

  Four feet.

  Each inch was a victory in itself.

  Samil bolted upright, eyes wild as she squinted through the smoke. She met Renna’s gaze, a flicker of pain shooting across her face as she scrambled to her feet.

  Renna tensed, gripping the scalpel tightly, ready for the doctor’s next move. But instead of attacking, Samil stumbled from the bay, away from Renna.

  Dammit. She was going to escape.

  Renna tried to climb to her feet, but agonizing pain shot through her leg as soon as she tried to put pressure on it. She gasped and collapsed back to the floor with a hiss. Broken.

  She had to finish this. Dragging herself across the floor, she made it to the med bay door as another smaller explosion shook the ship. One of the small fuel cells must have caught fire.

  Heat seared the side of Renna’s face as a fireball shot through the space. Her cheek throbbed angrily, but she forced herself to move again toward the gaping hole in the side of the ship. The metal had been torn away like tinfoil, the edges ragged, but outside, sunlight streamed through the smoke billowing from the ship.

  Hand over hand, she clawed her way out. With a great push, she tumbled through the hole to land in the dirt beneath the ship. Renna screamed as her leg twisted beneath her. Bone ripped through skin as her broken shin shifted.

  Pain. So much pain. If she didn’t do something, she was going to pass out. A command to her implant turned off her neural receptors, and the agony stopped like someone had cut power to her brain. She knew it hurt, could see how bad it looked, but luckily she couldn’t feel a blessed thing.

  Across the park, Samil limped toward the Athena, clutching her side. Her white coat was streaked with blood, her hair hanging in lank strands around her pale face. The bitch was going to get away.

  Even worse, Samil still had her tablet. With a quick tap, she locked onto the Athena’s controls, brought down the hatch, and climbed in. A few seconds later, six hybrids ran toward the ship at full speed, thundering up the gangplank as they boarded. Enough crew to get the Athena off the ground.

  The door slid shut behind them, and the ship’s engines roared to life.

  Fuck.

  Renna watched helplessly as the Athena started to rise. On the bottom of the ship, the missile bay doors opened. The ship cleared the top of the tallest building, and Renna realized what Samil was planning. Dear gods, she was going to attack the tenements.

  An arc of fire shot from the bottom of the ship as one of the bombs burst from the bay. She watched in horror as it hit a nearby building, erupting in a surge of flame and heat. The explosion thundered through the neighborhood.

  As smoke rose from the destroyed upper level, Renna watched another missile descend from the belly of the ship.

  What was left for Samil to target?

  Renna stilled. The missile was for her. If Samil couldn’t use Renna for her evil plans, she didn’t want anyone else to either. And with Renna out of the way, she’d be able to escape and regroup with her new data.

  Then no one would be able to stop her.

  The Athena picked up speed, shooting toward the Earth’s atmosphere as the missile locked into position.

  “I’m so sorry,” Renna whispered as she closed her eyes. She slipped back into her connection with the Athena, saying her goodbyes to the ship before she found the switch in the command systems. Every MYTH ship had one.

  Self-destruct.

  As if it could feel Renna’s intent, the Athena bucked and shuddered against her mind. It might have only been the ship clearing the atmosphere, but it felt like panic beating against Renna’s implant.

  Samil’s neural network felt like cold tendrils in her mind as it reached out to capture her again. It had already infiltrated the ship, using the comm field to broadcast its signal to Samil’s army. The doctor could still control them. Which meant Finn and the others were still in danger.

  Using the ship’s electromagnetic field, she found Samil standing beside the pilot’s chair. The woman’s blood-streaked face was gleeful.

  “Fire at will, then head for Centa IV,” she ordered the hybrid pilot. “We’ll regroup there and figure out our next strategy.”

  The hybrid pilot started typing Samil’s command into the console.

  If only there was another option. But somehow it felt like this was meant to be the end. The Athena had saved all of their lives more than once. If she was already dying from Samil’s virus, perhaps her last sacrifice wouldn’t be in vain.

  Renna’s heart broke as she slipped the last piece of code into place.

  Sirens screamed throughout the ship. “Warning. Warning. Self-destruct in twenty seconds.”

  Samil’s eye
s went wide as the blinking timer counted down on the console. “What the hell is going on? Shut it off!”

  The hybrid pounded at the controls, but nothing worked. The Athena shot closer to space.

  Thirteen.

  Twelve.

  Eleven.

  “Do something!” Samil screamed. She slammed her fist down on the control panel, but the numbers ticked closer to zero.

  “Goodbye, Doctor,” Renna said, leaning back against the ground and closing her eyes. She caressed the ship one last time and shut off the connection. “Goodbye, my friend.”

  Above her, the Athena burst into a searing fireball, the boom echoing through the air a moment later.

  The gunfire in the distance ceased as every hybrid went offline.

  The Athena had sacrificed itself to save them all.

  She glanced upward, at the remains of the Athena drifting in ashes through the afternoon sky. It was so pretty. Like snow in spring.

  And then the pain flooded back through Renna in a blinding wave.

  Everything went dark.

  FORTY-THREE

  When Renna woke, the first thing she noticed was the silence. For the first time in weeks, the strange electric humming in her head was gone. She blinked at the warm, afternoon sunlight streaming through the windows, a soft breeze ruffling the gauzy curtains.

  Had she died?

  Renna shifted on the bed and hissed as pain burned through her leg. Not dead then. In a hospital. She focused on taking in the rest of the room—the soft bed, the pale yellow walls and muted artwork that could grace a museum, the state-of-the-art holomonitor tracking her vitals.

  Not exactly the usual hospital room.

  The soft snick of a door opening drew her gaze, and Finn poked his head in. His smile was as bright as the sun.

  “Can I come in?” he asked.

  She nodded, feeling strangely tongue-tied as emotions swirled through her. He was still alive. But he’d lied to her and betrayed her. And she still loved him. Renna had no idea how to handle any of those feelings. Maybe she didn’t need to right now. Maybe just seeing him was enough.