“Yeah, I can see how that could be scary. Makes me nauseous just thinking about it.”
He laughed. “There was an adjustment period, but it all worked out. Well, until Elarra…”
I looked at him. He still gazed at the ceiling and his jaw worked subtly as he thought back to some traumatic event. Come to think of it, I didn’t recall him ever telling us why he’d been in Xarren Elexae’s dungeons or how he got there. I vaguely remembered something about him trying to break up some shipments the Elexaes were sending to someone—who I’d just as well assume was Tarvath—but maybe I was mistaken.
Should I ask him about it? Now would have been as good a time as ever. But just as soon as I opened my mouth to ask, a voice came over the base-wide intercom. It was scratchy and hollow, but I recognized the voice of Yecella.
“Attention, please report to the mess for an urgent meeting. Courtesy of Lieutenant Navari.”
Jax sighed beside me. “Alright, let’s do this then.” He stood and went to his small wardrobe. He pulled on a crisp crimson uniform like everyone else was wearing. It was worn and torn in some places, but the gold fur that lined the collar and the inside made it look warm.
He grabbed another set for me. “Here. These are Yecella’s. They should fit you.”
“Oh, okay.” I began to put them on over my clothes. “Are you and her…”
With a smile, he shook his head. “We’ll talk about it later.”
“Because it’s perfectly fine if you two are!”
“Later, Jinx!”
I smiled and pulled on the uniform. It was slightly big on me, but nothing outlandish. And it was warm. I felt like I could lie down and snuggle all night in it. That was dangerous. Maybe too comfortable.
When I joined Jax, he looked me up and down, his smile growing wide as he did. “That uniform suits you.”
I punched his arm. “Don’t get too attached. I haven’t joined your precious rebellion just yet.”
He smirked. “We’ll see. Come, follow me.”
I followed Jax down several long corridors. We ran into more than a handful of soldiers, all of whom gawked at Jax. It was clear that just about everyone there had assumed the good lieutenant to be dead. It was amazing to see how loved and respected he was. It also pained me, thinking of Yan, knowing that he was probably panicking about my whereabouts. Once this was through, we’d go to their comms room and call my friends and let them know I was fine.
We stopped at a pair of double doors. Jax grabbed the handles, but before he pulled them open, he paused and looked back at me.
“You ready?”
This was it. I was about to meet the Taolin Resistance. About to see an untold number of my fellow Torgorans. It had been years since I’d been around so many of them.
I took a deep breath. “Not at all.”
“Chin up. They won’t bite.”
“It’s not their bite I’m worried about.” It’s those yearning eyes wanting me to be something that I’m not. A queen.
Jax rolled his eyes. “I’ll be with you. Everything will be fine.”
I so desperately wanted to believe that, but I was having a hard time buying into his positivity.
Without further ado, Jax threw the doors open and strode in. I followed him. We walked into a large room with a tall, rounded ceiling and light streaming in through thin windows at the top that seemed to be built from crevices in the mountain above. I wish I could have just admired the room, but just then I found hundreds of Torgorans staring at Jax and I. The room was full of anxious chatter, much of it involving Jax. Word traveled fast.
Jax led me onto a small stage that overlooked the assembly. It was a bit worn, the floor of it covered in skid marks from countless pairs of boots. Clearly this was always here, ready for someone to give a rousing motivational speech before they all went off into battle against Tarvath.
He stood front and center, arms folded behind his back. I stood slightly behind him. I did not want the attention. Jax cleared his throat and waved.
“Hello, everyone. As you can see, I’m back, alive and well.”
Several peopled whooped and cheered and whistled. Others began to fling questions his way, too many for him to field all at once. He laughed and put his hands up in defense.
“Okay, easy now. I’ll answer all of your questions in due time. I went through a lot and I’ll tell you everything, but first, I have some game-changing news to deliver. Something I discovered on my journey back to you all.”
The soldiers settled into general silence, though some still muttered amongst themselves. Jax looked back at me for a beat, his eyes finding my own, as if asking permission to say what he was about to say.
A part of me—no, the majority of me—wanted to run and hide and keep who I was a secret, but that wouldn’t be fair to Jax. I wasn’t ready for this—for any of it—but then, I doubted I ever would be.
So I may as well get it over with. I nodded to him. He turned back to the assembled army of resistance fighters. He closed his eyes for a beat, took a deep breath, then looked at everyone all at once.
“This is Jinxenna Taolin III, rightful heir to the Torgoran throne.”
Stunned silence. Utter disbelief and shock. And then approval. Acceptance. Excitement. One by one, the assembly dropped to one knee and bowed their heads in reverence. I was flabbergasted. I didn’t know what to do. Did I smile, thank them, wave? Every bit of me hated every bit of this. The attention was not fun, and I didn’t like to have people looking to me to lead.
Not everyone knelt, though. There were a few who looked on sternly, frowning. They weren’t convinced. I was in the same boat as them. Yecella gave him a startled look. He just shrugged. I think there was some anger there. Him just showing up after being presumed dead with a pretty girl that turned out to be the long-lost queen of their people. Yeah, I’d have some questions too.
“How do you know this?” one of them asked.
“You’re very much aware that I was with her as a slave, Arreth. I told you as much. Go look at images of the late king and queen, she looks exactly like them.”
An older Torgoran spoke up. His red hair was faded, nearly gray. “He’s right. She’s the spitting image of Queen Venya.”
He must have had a lot of their respect, because the doubters and everyone else looked at me with reverence, as if I was their savior. All those eyes, all those expectations suddenly thrown my way… I didn’t like it one bit.
“All hail Queen Jinxenna!” someone yelled. To my horror, they all took up the call. They stood, arms pumping, and yelled, “All hail the queen! All hail the queen!”
I put my arms out. “No!” I yelled. They slowly settled into confused silence. “This isn’t what I want. I’m no queen. I didn’t even know who I really was until today.” I crossed my arms and looked at my feet, my cheeks flaring. I hated all those eyes looking at me, imploring me to be their savior, to be something more than I was.
“I was a slave for many years. Then I was a thief, and I roamed the galaxy with my friends. I’m no leader. I’m not a savior. I’m not a queen. I can hardly be in a firefight without having a panic attack.” My voice shook as shame filled me. I would have loved to be what they wanted, but I couldn’t. “You’ll need to look elsewhere.”
I turned and strode from the room. Behind me, I heard the crowd begin to stir and Jax do his best to comfort them. “Everyone, go back to your assignments. I’ll talk to her.”
I quickened my pace. I really just wanted to be alone, so I went all the way back to Jax’s quarters and sat on his bed. My chest felt heavy. This wasn’t a burden I wanted. It was one I’d never imagined I’d have to deal with.
A minute later, footsteps approached, and the door slid open. Jax and Yecella came in. “Jinx, I—”
“Save it,” I snapped, turning away from him. I hugged my knees to my chest.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for them to just thrust that upon you.”
“Yeah, well, that was the ult
imate assumption, wasn’t it? I mean, you should have known that me being the heir would have everyone look to me to lead them. Otherwise, you would have just left me on Caelum 3 with Yan and the others. You expect me to lead. Maybe not now, maybe not soon, but someday.”
He didn’t answer that, which told me everything I needed to know. I didn’t blame him for this expectation, either. If by some miracle they overthrew Tarvath, they would need someone to lead our people, and who better to do that than the rightful heir?
Jax came and sat behind me, his back pressed against mine. We used to sit like this as kids, when we had some time to ourselves, which wasn’t often. I’d always felt comforted when we sat like this, like we were the only two people in the galaxy, me and him, up against it all.
But it didn’t feel the same. I had Yan for that comfort.
Still, I appreciated his effort. “I’m sorry, Jinx,” he said. “I can’t imagine what this must be like. This is so much to have thrown on you. Knowing who you are and where you came from, the mantle and pressure of leadership. It’s overwhelming.” He took a deep breath and didn’t continue immediately. I felt his heartbeat against my back.
“I’ll always be by your side to help you. It’s a lot, but you won’t be expected to lead. At least not right now, maybe not ever. You’ll be seen as a symbol, a figurehead for the resistance to rally support. Will that mean leadership in the future? If we win this thing? Maybe. If it does, I know you’ll be able to handle it. You are amazing, Jinx. Kind and gentle and selfless. That’s the type of queen our people need.”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I didn’t want to lead, not now, not ever. But it was comforting to know that Jax would help me through it. It would be doubly good if what he said was true that I might never have to actually be in charge.
“I don’t know,” I said. “This isn’t the life I wanted. Fighting in the resistance… This isn’t how I envisioned my life.”
“Sometimes life takes unexpected turns.”
“Oh, thanks for that philosophical platitude, wise one.”
He snickered. “It’s a tough decision, I know, but I can make you open your eyes to our cause.”
“I’m not sure I want that.”
Jax stood. “Maybe not, but you need to see what we fight for regardless.” I turned to face him. He offered me his hand. “Come with me, let’s see if we can contact Yan. I know that will put you at ease.”
“Okay…”
Yan would ease some tension for sure, but he certainly wouldn’t just take all this stress away. Yan couldn’t keep an entire planet from wanting me to be their queen.
I followed Jax out of his room and through the base. Everyone we passed paused as we walked by and gawked at me. Their whispers snaked into my ears, their questions and concerns eating at me, wondering if I was right to be their queen. I hated all of it. I didn’t need their gossip or their concerns.
Thankfully, the trip wasn’t too long. After a brief ride on a lift, we arrived at a wide-open room with walls covered in consoles and equipment. Soldiers in darker uniforms than most ran about, almost in chaos. Standing in the middle of it all was a tall man with a balding head of gray-red hair. He was broad shouldered, built with old muscle. His uniform was perfectly pressed and as he turned to face us, tassels and medals swayed.
“Ah, Lieutenant Navari. I’m glad to see you alive and well.”
They shook hands. “General,” Jax said. “A pleasure to be back, sir.”
The general smiled at him, and then his eyes flitted to me, as I knew they would. “And you. I know who you are. Welcome to our humble abode, Your Majesty.”
“Pl-please don’t call me that, sir. I’m no queen.” I didn’t want to be rude, especially to someone of high rank that Jax obviously respected, but I didn’t need these expectations.
“Hm, perhaps not. Not yet at least. Even so, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance Jinxenna. I am General Nima Yullarin.”
I shook his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, sir, truly.”
He smiled. He had a warm face covered in wrinkles and laugh lines and dimples.
“Now how may I help you? I assume you two didn’t come here just to exchange pleasantries.”
“No, sir,” Jax said. He cleared his throat. “I may have…absconded with Jinx here from her friends after we were attacked by inquisitors. It was a hasty decision that she’s still mad at me over. Regardless, we’d like to contact her friends, to let them know that she is okay.”
General Nima frowned, his thick mustache wriggling. “I’m afraid that’s not possible at this time.”
“Sir?”
“Our communications are down at the moment.”
Jax frowned, visibly confused. “What do you mean? When did this happen?”
The general looked between us for a moment before answering. “There was a terrible winter storm a month ago. The worst in centuries. Knocked out the power for a week. We lost a dozen to hyperthermia before we could get it back up, and we still haven’t been able to fix the communications array. Uerex said it was permanently damaged, so we scrapped it and sent out a team to our base on Ollcenia Prime to get new equipment. It’s been a week, though. They should have returned by now.”
Jax cursed. “Not good news to come back to, General.”
“No… No, it is not. But at least you brought some much-needed good news.” The general smiled at me. I tried to be sincere with the smile I returned, but my mind was too caught up thinking about the downed comms unit.
It meant that I wouldn’t be able to tell Yan where I was and that I was okay. I could only pray to Materelle that he was okay and not doing anything too stupid trying to find me. Though, knowing him, he was probably doing the most reckless thing imaginable.
8
Yan
It took us the better part of a day to pack away all our gear. I desperately wanted us to begin our search for Jinx as soon as possible, but it couldn’t be helped. We were down two hands and we had to retrieve all the surveillance equipment and security measures, which meant I had to climb a bunch of trees again. No fun for me, and I had to do double this time. Thankfully, taking them down was easier than putting them up.
Once we were through, we attached a tow cable to the Diego then piled into the Sanara. I could pilot fine, as could Rayvan—another reason to love that girl—but I wanted to keep us all together for the time being.
So, as Ketellin put us in the air, we all took one last look at the homestead, that temporary home we all shared. It had just been a little over a month, but it had been one of the best times of my life—no, the best. No worries, no stresses. My family safe, my friends safe, all together. Celebrating. Truly living.
That was over now, but at least my family was okay. Rago had found them a nice place on Nagenno in the Free Systems. Dad got a job as a dock worker, and Lyra began work at a nursery, helping take care of children, something she’d always loved doing. And Mom was still improving, so everything wasn’t bad.
But for everything to be perfect again, I needed Jinx back.
K put us to jump. The ship hummed and then jolted forward as the stars sped past us. Amara’s contact was on some dingy space station above a gas giant that didn’t even have a name anymore. The place was called Terr-Ten Station. I’d never been, but in Amara’s eloquent words, it was a “wretched hive of scum and villainy.” So, it sounded like my kind of place.
We came out of jump. My jaw fell. Amara neglected to mention that this was one of the biggest space stations I’d ever see. It was monolithic, half the size of a small moon. There had to be millions of inhabitants. Or at the very least it had the space for them. Glittering lights buzzed about around it, thousands of ships—fighters, junkers, cruisers—all coming and going from this seedy, bustling port.
“How have I never heard of this place?” I asked, still gawking.
“I don’t know,” Amara answered, arms crossed, looking unimpressed. “Maybe you’ve had your head in the sand
like an apelex.”
I didn’t know what an apelex was, but I felt stupid for never hearing about this place. A station this big would have every sort of resource, and a great place to lay low and hide. Could have been useful in the past. I would have been mad at Amara for not mentioning it, but then, a place known for scum and villainy probably wasn’t a welcoming place.
Although, who named it so? Good “upstanding” members of society, or the very criminals that called it home? I was a criminal. I didn’t think myself a villain, but all the rich people I’d stolen from sure would label me as such.
Eh, labels weren’t important. It mattered who it came from. Still, if Amara was calling it a hive of bad things, then I’d best be wary.
K put us down on one of the landing pads, though we had to haggle a docking price because the muckfarming snake on the other end was trying to extort us, and I was against exorbitant fees of all kinds.
The pad was dingy, dirty, and covered in some bioluminescent fungi that gave the place an eerie orange glow. I couldn’t imagine that was sanitary, but I didn’t intend for us to stay here long.
As we came into the cargo bay, Amara turned around and stopped us. “Beleak, you stay with K and Pivek and the ship. Dock security is virtually non-existent, so there are frequent robberies, hijackings, and stowaways. Keep your eyes peeled.”
He nodded. “Understood.”
She waved me, El, and Rayvan after her. Looked like I was the man of the group. Ironic since between being a Goon, El and Rayvan’s Elarri bulk, and Amara’s Zarthian super strength, I was by far the weakest member of our party.
We set out.
The hangars were large bays a hundred feet high, large enough for any sort of craft to come in. And they did. Fighters, freighters, cruisers, and even a couple of goliath capital ships. Most ships that size were exclusive to navies of the Elarri Empire or the Hegemony, or just militaries, but these were unmarked, which told me they were owned by some sort of crime group. It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest to learn that the Elexaes had a ship such as this.
The Torgoran Revolt (Plundering the Stars Book 3) Page 6
