“Good point,” she said.
“This was in your pocket as well.” Rikkard handed her back her phone, and she thanked him.
Before she’d taken a turn for the worst, and in the middle of a heated conversation, she’d received a message of some sort, or at least that’s what she assumed the beep from her phone had been.
Selene flicked her fingers across the screen, illuminating a white box with black script across it. The message holder ID told her it was her old phone, the one she’d given to Ivy. The message read: We’re in trouble. We need your help to get out.
Selene’s eyebrows furrowed and her heart raced as she scrolled to the next message, one she must have received while unconscious.
Pate is pissed. He’s moved as many of us as he could grab to his own facility in the desert. I’ve kept your phone hidden for as long as I can. I don’t know how many more messages I’ll be able to get out. I’ve enabled the GPS. Please help.
Her heart pounded hard, echoing loudly in her ears. Shit. If Pate had taken Ivy and the Icarus to his own facility, that could only mean trouble. Though the Dominion seemed to have ended their relationship with the former president, that didn’t mean Pate was done with them, and if he’d been able to take some Icarus with him, who knows what he might do.
“What’s wrong?” Flik asked.
Selene looked up, her eyes widening. “Ivy needs our help.”
“Ivy?” Sav’s eyebrows furrowed. “The Icarus who tried to kill you?”
Selene nodded.
“Why would she want your help?”
Selene bit her lip. “Remember how Ivy didn’t know about what the Dominion used us for?” Sav shrugged. He remembered. “Well, now she does. She saved me from Pate, and when I ran into her last, I gave her my phone so she could contact me if she needed help.”
“No,” Rikkard said.
She turned to look at him, and he glared. “What do you mean, no?”
“I can already tell you’re planning a rescue mission,” he said.
Damn. He did know her too well. “So?”
“So, forget it.”
“Yeah, I don’t know about that, Selene,” Flik agreed. “She’s tried to kill you at least two or three times now, hasn’t she?”
Selene shook her head. “That doesn’t matter. We’re past that. She only did that because of the Dominion.” She didn’t mention the time Ivy left her bleeding out on the floor of the Alliance base. That seemed irrelevant. “Anyway, I’m over it. Ivy could be a good ally against the Dominion.”
Flik tilted his head. He hadn’t thought of that, had he?
“No,” Rikkard said more forcefully this time.
Selene spun to face him. “I don’t think you understand, Rik,” she snapped, anger burning through her. “I don’t need your permission. If you don’t want to help, fine, but Ivy and the Icarus need me, and I’m going to save them.” Even if they had tried to kill her numerous times now.
Rikkard stormed across the room, and grabbed her shoulders. “Selene, why do you insist on saving everyone?”
Selene pulled away, but her retort froze on her lips. Why did she insist on saving everyone? They were right. Ivy had tried to kill her many times, and then there were the people of Earth. She wanted to save all of them from the Darri, but why did she feel the need to do that? Was it just her nature, needing to save those that couldn’t help themselves? Or was it because she couldn’t bear to let the bad guys win?
She sighed and shook her head, her fire dimming. “Can I speak with you alone?”
Rikkard raised an eyebrow, but nodded.
“Let’s reconvene in the morning,” Selene said, looking at the others.
They agreed, and awkwardly slid out of the room, giving Selene and Rikkard passing glances as they left into the hall.
Once the crew was gone, Selene took the lead, heading back to the room Rikkard shared with her. If they were going to have a conversation in private, it might as well be in a private place instead of the lab where any pirate could wander in at any moment.
Anger fuelled her limbs as she tore through the metal halls. Rikkard followed her silently, and she cursed him the entire way.
Ivy and the Icarus could be powerful allies in the coming war, whichever way it turned. They were strong, stronger than normal humans, and would be a great asset in actual battles, or covert operations. Though she couldn’t one hundred percent trust Ivy or the Icarus who’d taunted and tortured her inside the Dominion lab, she could trust their desire for survival, and their anger at finding out their existence was a lie.
Selene swiped her hand over the control panel by the door and it whooshed into the wall. The ceiling lights flickered on upon her entry, and the door closed once Rikkard stepped inside.
Her fists clenched at her sides as she turned to face him. His eyes narrowed, the same stubborn look she knew all too well plastered on his face.
“I’m getting Ivy and the others out of there,” she said. She left no room for argument, though she knew Rikkard would do it anyway.
“Why risk your life for them?” he growled. “You don’t owe them anything.”
“I know that, but the Icarus are strong. Stronger than humans, and stronger than Zahkx civilians.” She crossed her arms. “Whatever happens, they’ll be an asset.”
Rikkard rolled his eyes. “An asset for the war you’re planning?”
Selene snapped her teeth shut on a nasty retort, and instead took a deep breath. If she was going to get through to Rikkard, she had to be rational, no matter how much her blood boiled. “I’m not planning a war, but I can’t very well let the Dominion continue with their plans either, can I?”
“You can,” he said. “You just don’t want to.”
She threw her hands up. “What would you have me do, Rikkard?”
He worked his jaw. “Leave.”
“Leave, what? Earth?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
Selene’s eyes widened. “And where would we go? Deep into space? We know nothing about flying through the void out there, and as Flik has again reminded us, we know nothing about space, or the other alien species.”
His eyes darkened. “It’s better than waiting to be enslaved.”
Selene groaned in frustration. “Staying on Earth doesn’t mean we’re going to be enslaved. All we need to do is get the Dominion out of power, and let humans rise up to replace them. At least then we’d stand a fighting chance!”
“You’re being too optimistic.”
Selene was ready to pull her hair out, or possibly punch him. “And what’s wrong with hoping for the best?”
“Everything,” Rikkard said emphatically. “Not everything turns out for the best.”
“But we can at least try.”
Rikkard stepped across the room, and took her face in his hands. He held her gaze, his eyes stern and his jaw hard. “I love that you want to see the best in people, Selene, but this isn’t the time for your optimism, or for saving the animals that can’t save themselves.” His fingers shifted back through her hair.
Selene’s heart pounded hard and her mind raced, unable to think clearly with him so close. A reply stuttered on her tongue until she bit down on her lip.
“You’re just a pessimist,” the child in her argued.
Rikkard smiled and kissed her. “You’re impossible.” He sighed and leaned his forehead against hers.
A beep broke the quiet left from their fight. Selene stepped away, curiosity lighting her eyes as she pulled her phone from her pocket. Another message from Ivy. Her heart sped as she unlocked her phone and flipped to the message. It read:
Pate’s on a rampage. I think he’s figured out one of us helped you escape. We’re all being tossed into cells. I know we haven’t seen eye to eye in the past, but I don’t know what Pate might do this time. We need your help.
Selene’s chest burned and her fingers tightened on the phone. An image of Ivy from the last time they’d met came to mind. A tight collar h
ad wrapped around her bruising throat. She’d looked exhausted—defeated. Pate was doing something to the Icarus. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good.
She looked up, and met Rikkard’s disapproving gaze. Her knuckles went white as she clutched her phone. “I’m going to help them,” she said.
Rikkard took a look at the text, and his frown deepened. “How do you know it isn’t a trap?”
Selene scrolled through the messages, picturing Ivy in her mind’s eye. Ivy was a proud woman. She’d revelled in defeating Selene, and hated her when Selene had finally won. There was no way Ivy would ask for her help unless the situation was beyond dire.
“I don’t,” she said. “But I’d rather help, and be fooled than go through life helping no one.” Selene jammed her phone back in her pocket and fixed Rikkard with the most stubborn look she could conjure.
After a few moments of inspecting her face, Rikkard sighed. “Fine.” He shook his head and kicked his boots off before throwing himself back on the bed. “We’ll help tomorrow.”
Selene smiled. “We?”
Rikkard peeked out from the pillow he’d buried his face against. “We.”
Selene grinned, kicked off her boots and lunged onto the bed next, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.
A ghost of a smile crept across his face, and once she finally released him, he only turned on his side and pulled her back into his arms.
Her cheeks heated as her face pressed against his chest. She sighed, the kind of blissful, comfortable sigh she hadn’t had in a long time. She closed her eyes. Rikkard had to be exhausted after being torn from sleep halfway through the night, but Selene’s heart pounded and her skin buzzed with energy. She’d been given a new clone body, and it wasn’t tired. Not one bit.
Selene looked up at Rikkard. His eyes were closed, and his features softened, but his breathing hadn’t slowed yet. He opened one eye to catch her staring. Selene bit the inside of her cheek and leaned her head against her hand.
One thing was bothering her about all of this—one thing she wasn’t sure she could ask anyone else.
“What?” he asked.
Selene shook her head. “Do you think Sarah and Kayl knew about all of this?” It was clear some of the Zahkx did, but she couldn’t believe their own crew would know about the Darri and not tell them. Then again, there was so much she didn’t know about her best friend, like why she’d help the Dominion, even if it was supposedly for Kayl.
Rikkard opened his other eye and shifted to lean up against the pillows. He looked off at the wall, his eyes distant. “I don’t think so,” he said after a long pause. “But we could always find Kayl and ask.”
Selene’s eyebrows rose until Rikkard flashed her a teasing smile. She swatted him, unable to stop herself from laughing. “Very funny.”
Rikkard chuckled and pulled her back down into his arms, urging her to rest, even if she didn’t need it.
While Rikkard’s breath evened out, Selene closed her eyes and let her thoughts take her. Though Rikkard had been joking, and she couldn’t imagine looking for the former second-in-command after he’d nearly killed her, she had to wonder… what had happened to Kayl?
Selene sat at the conference table in Erock’s office, her fingers drumming against the table as she awaited the captain’s arrival. Not long after the sun rose, they’d received a message from Andreas to meet in the captain’s office, but an hour or so later, there was still no sign of the man.
Sighing, Selene shifted in her chair. She wasn’t good at being patient, especially when she hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep. All night, while Rikkard slept, she’d tried to come up with a plan to find Ivy and free the Icarus from Pate’s hands. But without knowing the specifics of her location, it was hard to come up with much besides shooting their way in. And no one would be happy about that plan—Selene included.
The door to the room opened. Selene looked up, the word finally on her lips, but instead of the captain, Rem and Flik walked in, looking like the living dead with dark circles under their bloodshot eyes.
“Whoa,” she said. “What happened to you two?”
Rem and Flik exchanged a look before taking a seat across from her and Rikkard. Sav sat on her other side, and Darius across the table, now beside Rem. Andreas, and the female lieutenant she still didn’t know the name of stood at the back of the room, both wearing equal looks of irritation on their faces.
“No sleep,” Rem said. He buried his head in his arms atop the table.
Darius’ eyebrows rose high on his forehead. “Seriously? What have you been doing all night?” He looked genuinely afraid to know.
“Research,” Flik answered, leaning back in his chair, his hand over his eyes.
“Oh.” Darius sighed loudly.
Selene vaguely wondered what he thought they’d been doing. “Research?”
Flik nodded. “We spent all night trying to find out more about the Icarus Project, and the Saegon.”
Selene’s heart leapt. “And?”
Rem rose from his arms, exchanging a look with Flik.
“Not much luck,” Flik said. His face fell. “Most classified information wasn’t held in the datahive you extracted information from. That is held elsewhere.”
“Yeah, elsewhere being basically a deathtrap with servers in the basement.” Rem again buried his head.
Selene’s eyebrows furrowed. “What are you talking about?”
The door to the room opened again, and this time it was the captain. He grinned lazily over his shoulder as he stepped inside. Eria followed closely, winking at the tall man before slipping around the table to join the others.
Selene’s eyebrows rose high as she looked between the two, with slightly dishevelled clothing and hair. They’d definitely slept together. She was somehow surprised and not surprised. Rikkard tensed beside her, and she glanced at him to gauge his reaction. Was he jealous of Erock and Eria? But he wasn’t looking at the captain, or Eria, his gaze was glued to Selene’s phone, which blinked on the table.
Another message from Ivy?
Selene plucked it from the table and flicked it open. The user ID was the same, but the message read: Who is this?
Shit. Ivy must have been found out.
Gulping, Selene showed Rikkard the text before closing her phone.
Captain Erock sauntered across the room to the head of the table, though he didn’t actually sit, more so hovered, his hands splayed on the metal. “Good morning,” he said. His grin didn’t fade as he assessed them. “Why so glum, folks?”
Selene quirked an eyebrow. Are you fucking serious?
Erock waved off her look, and turned back at his lieutenants before joining the smugglers at the table. “I assume you have some sort of plan worked out.”
Selene looked back at Rem and Flik, who’d just been getting into what they’d learned before the captain arrived. Flik quickly brought the captain up to speed, souring the captain’s good mood in the process.
“Is this information really so pertinent?” Erock asked, his eyes darkening.
“Yes,” Flik said. “I know where the Saegon was being kept ten years ago, but they could have moved it for all we know.”
“Not to mention, we don’t know if they’ve done anything to the beacon in the last three centuries either,” Rem mumbled from inside his cave of arms wrapped tightly around his head.
“Plus we need to get up to date on current security protocols so we know what exactly we’re getting ourselves into,” Selene added.
“And that’s all without even knowing if we can fix the beacon,” Erock said.
Selene stiffened. Unfortunately, he was right. “Yeah, it is.”
“So, why aren’t we just heading off world right now?” Erock met her gaze levelly, no hint of his flirtatious side surfacing.
Selene narrowed her eyes. “Because there are still millions of innocent people on this planet, and we’re going to do everything we can to save them, and our planet before we decide to abandon it.
”
Erock chuckled. “I didn’t mean any offense, pretty, but we’re not exactly the save the world types.” He motioned at his crew, two of which guarded the door.
“You don’t need to be ‘save the world’ types. Just think of it as… self-preservation.” Selene smiled as he frowned. She had him. “What are you going to do off world? You don’t know much about space travel, I bet. You don’t have a hyperdrive installed on this rig, or the shields to support one. Even if you did leave Earth, you’d be stuck with thruster speed. You’d be lucky to make it to Mars before the Darri arrive.”
Erock narrowed his eyes. His fists balled on the table, and he worked his jaw. He was pissed, whether it was because she’d already figured this all out before him, or because she was one-upping him yet again, she couldn’t be sure.
“The smartest thing we can do right now…” Selene looked at all of them. “Is defend this planet.”
Though others on Earth certainly had the technology to fly out into space—there had been missions off world already after all—it would take time to create a ship of their own to withstand the dangers of space. Time they’d have if they could get help from the real Zahkx Alliance.
Erock shook his head. “You make a decent point, pretty.”
Selene smiled victoriously.
“So what’s the plan?”
Her smile dropped. “Plan, you say?”
He glared. “Yes, the plan.”
Selene looked at Rem and Flik—the only two to stay up researching all night. While she’d been focusing on Ivy’s rescue, they’d been focusing on the rest of the world.
“We know what information we need,” she began. “But did you find out where we can get it?”
Rem groaned, and Flik looked up at the ceiling like he called to the gods to aid him. “Yes,” Flik said reluctantly.
Selene raised an eyebrow. How is this any worse than the crazy shit we’ve done in the past? “And?”
Rem glared from behind his arms. “There’s an Aldar hovercraft out over the Atlantic. It has all classified Dominion information on its servers.”
The Darri Commission: A Sci-Fi Dystopian Adventure (Dominion Rising Book 3) Page 3
