by Lili Zander
“He can’t, can he?” I get up off the chair and pace around the small yard, mindful to stay within the cone of silence. “Here, he’s my husband. He has to pretend to be desperately in love with me. That’s the cover story.”
“Hmm. And at the rebellion, did you ever see him flirt with anyone? Go out with anyone, express any interest in any of the many women there?”
I think back to Bestea. “Just because I haven’t seen it doesn’t—”
“Mala asked him out. He turned her down.”
“Oh.” I didn’t know that.
“Maybe,” she continues. “He’s really interested in you.”
Could it be…? But that’s impossible. I’m too broken. Danek’s seen me cower in response to the klaxons. “I had a panic attack yesterday. The alarms went off here, and I was supposed to follow the evacuation protocol, and instead, I blacked out. I woke up in the bathtub.” I grimace. “What the hell am I doing, sleeping with him? I’m too fucked up.”
“I had a panic attack yesterday,” Alice replies. “So what?”
My head snaps up. “You did?” Alice seems so pulled-together all the time. She has her shit figured out. She’s studying to be a healer. She’s in a relationship with Kadir. I can’t imagine her in the middle of an anxiety attack.
“Sure. I have nightmares, just like you do. I’d love to start a family with Kadir, but I’m also terrified. What the scientists did to me, what if they messed something up so badly that my baby bears the brunt of it? The healers think I’m fine, but nobody knows for certain, because nobody knows exactly what the scientists injected into me. Their notes are gone, and they’re all dead. There’s no one to ask. No way of being sure.”
She gives me a sad smile. “I can’t talk to Kadir about this, because what if he desperately wants children but then it turns out that I can’t get pregnant? I don’t want to raise his hopes and then shatter them. I don’t want to break his heart.” She takes a deep breath. “Enough about me. So what if you blacked out? The process of healing is not a straight line. Some days, you’ll have setbacks. That’s just the way things are. What counts is what you do the day after.” She laughs. “Look at me. I should learn to take my own advice.”
Green about the edges. Constantly seasick. Throwing up a lot. A smile starts to grow on my face. I don’t think she knows. She’s so focused on what could go wrong that she’s not seeing what’s right in front of her. “You know something? You should really talk to Kadir.”
And I should really talk to Danek.
As soon as this mission is over.
I used to go on adventures when I was younger. I used to be brave. I used to do stuff and embrace life and put my heart on the line.
Somewhere, I lost my way. Somewhere, I became afraid. The rogue scientists who tortured me played a role, and so did Will’s premature death.
I thought the sixty-day-mark was the day I reclaimed myself. I thought the day I opened my apartment door and went exploring was the day I started to live again.
But that was a false door. A false transition. Because I’m still guarding my heart. Danek has given me every indication that he cares, and yet, I’m still afraid.
Time to take the next step, Naomi.
26
Danek
According to Director Lashi’vi, the new dome is two hours to the north-west of our location. That doesn’t make any sense. “The oxygen tanks on the skimmers—”
She rattles off a serial number. “That skimmer has a hidden backup atmospheric purifier,” she says. “It will start working as soon as you switch to manual mode.”
Sneaky.
A portable atmospheric purifier will extend the skimmer’s range from two hours to something much more. They’re prohibitively expensive, which is why they aren’t default equipment on all skimmers.
I head out toward the dome, making plans for tomorrow. I’m trying to ignore the pressure in my skull. I took a dose of cranisum this morning, right after breakfast, but it doesn’t seem to be working. Sixth had warned me about this moment. “When it stops having an effect, you need to tell me,” he’d said. “And when that happens, you need to get the hell away.”
One more day. Based on what Director Lashi’vi said, the shuttle carrying the imprisoned Draekons will be here tomorrow.
Mirak comms me as I’m driving, materializing in the seat next to me. “We’re in range,” he says. “Say the word, and I can be on Noturn’s surface in three hours.”
“No, you can’t,” I reply. “Noturn isn’t safe for any of us, remember?”
“Do you think Sixth has been idle all of last week? He’s got me taking some kind of preventative blocker. It doesn’t work if you’ve already been exposed to the resonance sickness, which is why he hasn’t put you on it, but I’ll be good for a few hours. Long enough to pull you out.”
“Clever Sixth.” My expression turns serious. “Mirak, I want you to promise me something.”
“Of course.”
“Whatever happens tomorrow, make sure Naomi is safe.”
He gives me a sideways look. “What are you not telling me?”
Everything. “Promise me,” I insist. “Please.”
“I promise.”
The prison dome is precisely two hours away from the encampment. Unlike the dome we’re living in, it’s devoid of greenery. Draekons don’t need pleasant living conditions, I guess. Especially not when they’ll lose their minds in ninety days.
There’s no one around. I do a quick but thorough safety check, using the zero-grav cuffs to clamber all over the dome’s external surface, making sure the glass is sealed tight, the welds are thorough, and Noturn’s poisonous atmosphere isn’t leaking through.
Then I go back home. To Naomi.
Today has gone entirely according to plan. I can only hope that my luck holds out tomorrow.
27
Danek
Morning arrives far too soon, but we’re ready for it. Even before the dome has switched to ‘day’ mode, we pack the floofs and the rest of our belongings in the skimmer and prepare to head to the prison dome.
Neither of us had talked much last night. I’d come back home, and I’d alerted Director Lashi’vi that the safety check was complete. I’d waited on the line while she’d transferred money into my account, and then I’d hung up, our business concluded.
And then, because I’m not a fool, I’d set the drones Ruhan gave me on a perimeter watch. If something attacked us that night, the drones would fire back, and the lasers were set to kill.
The Cindifin Fourthborn is cooperating with the High Empire in direct opposition to her House’s political stance. Perhaps they’re bribing her for her silence; perhaps they are blackmailing her. But in either case, Lashi’vi cannot afford to take the risk that I might mention the prison dome. She would be wiser to wait until another safety inspector was on Noturn, but I estimated that there was a ten percent chance that she would mount an assassination attempt immediately after my report and prepared accordingly.
Once I set up the drones, Naomi and I had eschewed going to the neighborhood potluck, and we’d stayed in. We’d kept our conversation light and trivial. Naomi told me about the book she was reading, and then I pulled up the Zorahn soap opera she wanted to watch. It was as terrible as I figured it would be, and we spent the better part of an hour mocking it.
Then we’d made love.
No assassination attempt had materialized in the night, which means that it’ll happen today. Director Lashi’vi will likely bring in a replacement safety inspector on the prisoner shuttle, and once that person is on the planet’s surface, she’ll make her move. I’m prepared. I’ve programmed the drones accordingly. They will encircle Naomi, protecting her from harm while I take care of the threat.
After about an hour of silence, Naomi clears her throat. “What’s the plan for today?” she asks, giving me an inquiring look. “I was going to ask you last night, but—”
“But I jumped you.”
&nbs
p; She laughs. “I think I jumped you first.”
“Let’s call it a mutual jumping.” I slant a smile in her direction. “It’s not a complicated plan. Once the shuttle lands, I disable the guards, convince the prisoners that I’m there to help, hijack the shuttle, and pilot it out of Noturn. Mirak’s on alert, keeping an eye out for the High Navy’s ships. If they materialize out of nowhere and start shooting at us, he’ll handle it.”
“You’re making it sound all so simple.”
It is simple. Well, it would be if the crushing weight pressing down on my head would go away. I wink at Naomi. “I am Draekon. I was built for battle. This is what I do.”
She laughs again. Good, she suspects nothing. “All this and a pretty face too,” she quips, patting my hand. “My hero.”
The shuttle touches down a little after midday on the flat plain outside the dome. I’m comming with my brothers, and so they too can see it land. The ramp descends, and…
Four battledroids march out, heading directly to the airlock.
Kadir inhales sharply.
Bast. It couldn’t be easy, could it?
I turn to Naomi. “Stay back,” I warn her. “The drones will protect you, but do not get in front of me.” Lie. The drones won’t be able to hold off four battledroids, not on their own. I have to defeat them.
“Umm, Danek.” Her face is white. “Those things are huge.”
“I’ve fought them before. We used to train against them.”
“And did you win?”
Sixth grimaces, and his words echo, once again, in my ears. On Noturn, you are dangerously mortal.
I give her a bright grin. “Every time, sweet Naomi.”
And then I step forward.
28
Naomi
I thought I’d seen Danek fight.
Turns out, I haven’t seen anything yet.
Danek goes into battle against the monstrous, hulking robots. He’s plagued by resonance sickness, and, as much as he’s trying to hide it, his head is obviously bothering him. He can’t shift to his dragon form because he’s inside a dome. There’s just one of him and four of them, and the robots have guns embedded in their arms and also, they can fly.
And he takes them apart, one by one, and I realize, for the first time, exactly why they called him the Draekon Warlord.
The instant the first one clears the airlock and enters the dome, Danek is on it. He leaps in the air and lands on its shoulders with the balance of a cat. In a smooth motion that’s so fast it’s a blur, he bends down, catches its head between his hands, and flexes his muscles, snapping its neck.
If I’d blinked, I would have missed it.
He jumps off its shoulders, ripping one of the droid’s arms off on his way down. He lifts the arm up, aiming it as if it were a gun at the second battledroid that’s just about clearing the airlock, and he fires, one deadly accurate shot to the middle of its head.
The second robot crashes to the ground.
The third and the fourth robots hesitate, revising their battle strategy. The airlock cycles, and the instant the blast doors open, they rush through. Danek fires at them, but the gun jams.
The robot lifts his hand and fires back. Danek jumps out of the way, but he’s not fast enough. The laser burns a hole in his arm.
I gasp out loud. Shit. Shit, shit, shit.
The other Draekons watch, their faces expressionless. I can’t imagine what they’re thinking. Maybe Danek really fights robots like this all the time, and maybe they think it’s no big deal.
Then I notice Sixth’s hands are clenched into fists.
Once again, shit.
Danek flings the robot’s arm at the knee of the battle droid closest to him. It is knocked off balance. The other robot fires, but Danek ducks behind the temporarily downed mechanical monster, picks it up, his muscles bulging, and throws it at the last standing battledroid.
They both go down in a clatter of metal, briefly stunned. Before they can get back on their feet, before they can even bring their arms up fire, Danek skids over, claws open the nearest one’s chest, and rips out the wiring.
It makes a horrible, screeching noise, and dies.
“Use the jolter,” Ruhan shouts.
Danek hears him. For a second, a sheepish expression washes over his face, and then he slams down on the last robot. A blue spark jumps from his hand onto the metal chest, and the final robot goes limp.
The entire fight couldn’t have lasted more than five minutes.
Danek staggers back to me. He has a cut on his forehead, and bright blue blood drips over his eyes. His arm is bleeding too, and his flesh smells singed. Despite that, he’s grinning widely. “That was stupid,” he says with a laugh. He holds up his right hand, his fingers covered in rings. “I can’t believe I forgot the jolter. Ruhan is never going to let me forget.”
He wraps his arm around me and presses a hot, hard kiss to my lips. I kiss him back, relief making my knees weak. “See?” he says. He’s breathing hard, his chest rising and falling. “I told you I’d fought them before.”
“You did.” I smile up at him. “You were amazing.”
Is it over? Have we won? Can we leave now? Because it’s obvious to me that Danek is holding it together out of sheer willpower, and he’s hurt much more seriously than he’s letting on.
“Let’s head to the shuttle,” he says, reading my mind. “No offense to Noturn, but this planet’s messing with my head. Let’s go talk to the Draekons and get the hell out of here.”
That’s when it all goes to shit.
29
Danek
I need to make sure there aren’t any more active threats, and so I head into the shuttle ahead of Naomi, my nerves on edge.
I’m barely holding it together. My arm, hurt by the battledroid’s laser, is growing numb. My muscles ache, and my head feels like it’s being battered by a herd of tussur mammoths.
Sixth’s projection moves near me. He stares into my face, and then he swears out loud. “When did the cranisum stop working?” he asks, keeping his voice low so Naomi cannot hear.
“Yesterday.”
“When yesterday?”
“The morning dose didn’t do anything.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asks, running his hands through his hair in frustration.
“I’m fine. I don’t know if you noticed, but I just fought four battledroids.”
“Four. I’ve seen you take out two dozen of them, blindfolded and with one hand tied behind your back.”
“Oh, come on. You’re just exaggerating now.” I enter the cockpit. As expected, there’s no one there. Noturn has a reputation, and no Zorahn Commander is going to put her pilots at risk when they can use a bot.
Kadir is a half-step behind me. He’s on comm, so he sees what I see. “This is weird,” he murmurs. “Everything about this is weird.”
“In what way?” I head back to the ramp and give Naomi the all-clear.
“Look at the size of this shuttle. It’s not very big. Last year, two thousand Draekons tested positive. This ship can’t hold two thousand people.”
“Where is everyone, anyway?” Ruhan asks.
“Stasis, I’d imagine.” I wait for Naomi to join me, and then head to the back of the ship. Sure enough, the cargo area has been retrofitted with dozens of stasis pods, stacked one on top of the other from floor to ceiling.
Naomi shivers as she takes in the units. Idiot, Danek. This won’t bring back good memories for her. I put an arm around my mate, drawing some raised eyebrows from my brothers, a reaction I ignore. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.” Her voice is soft. “Sorry. I’m being an idiot. I was just remembering waking up from stasis and being auctioned off to the highest bidder. I thought they wanted us for sex slaves.” Her lips twist. “Turns out the reality was that much worse.”
My brothers turn away to give us privacy. I brush a soft kiss across her lips. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. You didn’t to
rture me; you saved me.” Her fingers hover over the cut in my forehead. “You’re bleeding. The wound in your arm looks nasty. You need a healer.”
“No time. We need to get out of here. There’s a med-kit in my pack. It’ll patch me up.”
“Do it now,” she insists. “You can hardly fly the shuttle if you’re about to pass out from your injuries.”
“Clever woman,” Sixth mutters under his breath. “I like her. She’s too smart for you, Danek.” I give him a death glare, and he returns it. He’s furious at the risk I’m taking—they all are. I’m in for one hell of a chewing out when I get back.
Kadir is counting the pods. “Three hundred and forty-five occupied stasis units,” he says. “The five pods on the bottom of the rightmost tower are empty. Something isn’t right.” He looks up. “Ruhan, I need a passenger manifest. Can you find me one?”
“Sure.” My brother transfers his attention to his tablet, and less than a minute later, ace hacker that he is, he smiles triumphantly. “Got it. Hang on, this isn’t right.”
“What is it?”
“These people.” He frowns. “Look at who they are. Three members of the Saaric. Seven ruling lords. Seventeen scientists. Lenox’s personal physician.” He inhales sharply. “They’re cleaning house.”
I stare at Kadir, shock bouncing around my gut. “What does this mean? Why now? What has changed?”
“I don’t know. The discovery of Ashara, maybe. Learning that Arax is alive, and that he now has a youngling who is a potential claimant on the throne. Who can tell? I need to alert Tarish. Dariux, Zunix, and Theldre might be able to make some sense of this.”
Naomi clears her throat. “Okay, this might be a stupid question, but how is the House of Cindifin mixed up in this?”
Clever girl. Kadir looks up. “I don’t know,” he admits. “We’ll find out.”
