Galaxy of Titans: An Epic Space Opera Series (The Augmented Book 3)

by Ben Hale

  A spark caught her eye and she returned to the front of the cell. Several rows down and across, a human male was at the front of his cage. Siena had been placed last, so she hadn’t been able to determine where the others had ended up. Most were on this level, but she guessed that some might be on the other decks. The boy caught her eye and pointed to his head, so Siena reached out to him through her mind augment.

  What?

  Will you stop talking and get moving? he replied mentally.

  We’re still waiting for the signal, Siena said. But get ready.

  Begle grunted in irritation, both audibly and telepathically, and prowled in his cage. Siena knew he wanted to fight, just as much as Bort probably did. She wasn’t exactly friends with the two brothers, but over the last six months she’d gained a measure of respect for them.

  “You know him?” Asara asked.

  Siena didn’t respond, and mentally reached out to the others. Each sent back a mental image showing their exact location. Siena carefully planned how to release each of them within the time frame.

  Jevin said to Asara, “She has a thinking face. I hope that means she’s figured out how to get out of her cell.”

  “That’s not my problem,” Siena said.

  “Oh?” Jevin appeared amused. “And what is your problem? Perhaps piloting a starship? Or maybe you forgot your dakorian-breaking weapon.”

  She actually smiled. “Neither. Actually, my problem is that I was put on the bottom deck, and for my plan to work, I have to reach deck three before the four krey piloting the ship realize I’m free and seal the ascender connected to the command pod.”

  Asara’s companions muttered that she really had lost her mind, while Jevin grinned in a way that could be either support or derision. Siena didn’t really care, but her time was up, so she reached her right hand out to the side.

  Seracrete molecules lifted off the bones of her arm and flowed down to her wrist, where they seeped out through her pores. The fine black dust coalesced into a black hilt that fit snugly into her palm.

  Jevin was unfazed. “The hilt of a subdermal energy blade. You really are full of surprises.”

  Asara stared open-mouthed, while her three companions were equally as stunned. The other man in Siena’s cell trembled in fear, and for good reason—just holding a weapon could get a slave killed, but Siena’s energy blade was rare and expensive. A treasonous offense.

  “You really want to help?” Siena asked.

  Jevin patted his clothing as if he’d forgotten something. “I seem to have misplaced my own weapon. Perchance you have a second highly illegal yet highly expensive blade?”

  “Only brought one,” she said with a smile, and decided she liked Jevin. “When the first dakorian falls, wake the rest of the slaves and make some noise. The distraction will help.”

  Asara finally recovered. “You can’t possibly think you can defeat a dakorian,” she said.

  Siena didn’t bother responding, and stepped to the door of the cell. It was held by a magnetic clamp which could only be deactivated by a key the dakorians carried. Or by someone with an augment.

  She felt around the mechanism and closed her eyes. Like all the rest of krey engineering, the magnetic clamp was powered by gravitons, subatomic particles that were charged in gravity. There was probably a gravity sphere beneath the decking somewhere.

  Siena activated her gravity augment and sensed the flow of power coming up through the slender seracrete bars. She warped the gravity field, bending the gravity to her will until it choked off. The magnetic lock disengaged and the door swung open.

  There were no dakorians in sight, so she slipped out and closed the door. Not wanting the others to get out and get killed, she released the gravity and the clamp reactivated. Jevin didn’t even ask to get out, and leaned casually against the corner of the cage.

  “I do love a good mystery,” Jevin said. “I don’t suppose you’ll tell me how you are doing all this?”

  Asara pressed her face against the bars, her expression bright with wonder. The three slaves in her cell were huddled at the back in terror, as were the two older men from her own cell. A few from other cells had taken notice of her escape and stood against their cells. On impulse, Siena stepped close to the two of them and lowered her voice.

  “I’m an augment.”

  Asara’s hand flew to her mouth, while Jevin’s expression filled with interest. “Augmented slaves do not exist.”

  Siena activated her energy blade. The purple light burst out of the hilt and hardened into a flat weapon, the light scattering the shadows from the cell. She smiled faintly and turned away, but cast over her shoulder, “Tell that to the dakorians I’m about to kill.”

  An upswell of noise cascaded across the cells as more slaves noticed an armed young woman striding down the center of the aisle. Shouts rang out, followed by curses and the overseer’s frantic screams. She heard Jevin chuckle and say to Asara, “This ought to be good.”

  Then two dakorians rushed into view around the corner, skidding to a halt when they spotted her with an energy blade. Their shock at a human standing with a weapon quickly turned to outright laughter. But Siena had already started forward, and she spun the blade in an expert twirl.

  Chapter Two

  As Siena approached the two dakorians, she activated her gravity and speed augments. The soldiers drew their weapons but did not summon other soldiers, obviously eager for a moment of excitement.

  “Look at the human with a little blade,” one mocked, not even bothering to power his weapon.

  “I get to kill her,” the second replied, and raised his hammer over his head. “And I get the blade as a trophy.”

  Energy thundered through Siena’s body, her augment empowering her muscles, tendons, and nervous system to several times normal human capacity. She closed the gap in half a breath, and the two dakorians had just enough time for shock to appear on their faces before she was inside their reach.

  The one with the upraised hammer swung for her head, but the blow was awkward and off balance, missing her as she streaked between them. Her energy blade sliced deep into the knee of the second dakorian, who cried out and fell against a cage, bending the bars from the impact. The humans inside screamed as the cage rocked.

  “The whelp cut me,” the dakorian bellowed. He touched his bloodied knee and lifted his hand to his face.

  The second dakorian spun and whipped the hammer low. Siena nudged the weapon with a touch of gravity, causing it to swing up and over her head, missing her completely. It slammed into the second dakorian. Bones cracked and he fell away from the cages, a cry of shock on his lips.

  Surprise, confusion, and then anger flitted across the attacker’s features as he glared at Siena. “She’s got a gravity leash!”

  “Will you just crush the roak?” the one on the floor snarled, his hand on his cracked ribs.

  “I won’t miss again,” the attacker snarled, gripping the shaft of his hammer with both hands as he charged.

  Siena ducked and twisted as the dakorian swung his hammer. The heavy weapon passed over her back, grazing her shirt. As she retreated, shouts rang out and footsteps thundered on the decking. Slaves pressed themselves against the bars, most staring in horror and shock, while others cheered Siena.

  “I thought you weren’t going to miss,” Siena taunted.

  The dakorian glared at her and swung his hammer in a sweeping strike. She swapped speed for strength. Both were aspects of her body augment, but she could only use one at a time without severe consequences.

  She jumped straight for the dakorian’s head and flipped over her opponent’s shoulder. She grasped his horn with her free hand and warped the gravity bringing her down. Her weight tripled. The dakorian growled as he was dragged down by his horn. She landed on her feet, while the dakorian slammed down on his back.

  Siena turned to strike, but the second had risen and limped to her. He swung his hammer, forcing her back and away from the one she’d tak
en down. More slaves were shouting, and two more dakorians rounded the corner. They saw her and charged. Behind her, the other four on the level appeared. In seconds, she would be surrounded by all eight soldiers.

  “We’re going to rip your legs off and beat you with your own bones,” the limping dakorian growled as he twirled his hammer and attacked.

  Still with strength active, Siena released her blade and braced her body. She raised her hands, her fingers small compared to the hammer screaming for her skull, and the dakorians sneered in triumph. The hammer hit Siena’s hands—and stopped cold.

  The wounded dakorian stared with bulging eyes. The one Siena had taken down was back on his feet, and the other dakorians skidded to a halt in a circle around Siena.

  “It’s not possible,” one breathed.

  “She’s just a human,” another said.

  Siena used their shock to step out of the hammer, letting it fall to her feet. She leashed a thread of gravity to her blade on the deck and it flew upwards. Then, midair, it reversed direction and came straight down, piercing the dakorian at the joint between neck and shoulder. The weapon sank into the chest and into both hearts.

  His mouth widened, and he stumbled once before the hammer slipped from his grip and he fell on his face. The ring of dakorians recoiled in disbelief, all eyes on Siena as she approached the dead soldier and wrapped her hand around the hilt of her weapon. She pulled it free and flicked it to the side before lifting her chin in defiance.

  “She killed him,” a dakorian said—the captain, judging by the three bars burned into his right horn.

  “Luck,” another said, his features contorting with fury.

  “She caught Pren’s hammer,” a female said. “That wasn’t luck.”

  “Thania is right,” the captain said, eyeing the silent Siena with a renewed wariness. “This isn’t a normal human.”

  The ring of dakorians bristled, and one behind Siena spun his hammer, his eyes eager. “I get to kill her.”

  “No,” the captain said. “We need her alive. House Jek’Orus will want answers.”

  “What’s she waiting for?” Thania asked.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” Siena asked. “I’m stalling.”

  “Don’t talk back to a dakorian,” one of the soldiers snarled, a habitual response.

  Siena pointed to him and warped the gravity around his hammer. It jumped upward, smashing into his face. Two teeth sailed free and he fell backwards. He caught himself against a cage, dazed. The dakorians growled and pointed their hammer lances at Siena, but the captain raised a hand to forestall an attack.

  “I said I want her alive.”

  “But Captain Zelor—” a male dakorian protested.

  “Alive,” Zelor snapped.

  He started forward with a measured, deliberate pace. The other dakorians moved in sync, their ring closing the hole left by the one Siena had stunned. They were soldiers trained to the pinnacle of ability, but Siena was not their usual type of prey.

  “I’ll give you one chance,” Siena said softly.

  Zelor came to a halt just out of reach, and the other soldiers followed his lead. “For what?”

  “To surrender.”

  The soldiers burst into laughter—all except Zelor and Thania, who continued to watch Siena. Maybe they were worth keeping alive. She passed a mental command, using her mind augment to reach outward.

  “Dakorians do not surrender to humans,” one said.

  “Perhaps they need to learn,” Siena said, drawing more laughter.

  Again, Zelor and Thania did not join the amusement. Instead, both looked to the dead dakorian next to Siena. Zelor’s eyes darkened when they returned to Siena, and he asked the only obvious question.

  “Why would we surrender to you?”

  “Because I didn’t come alone.”

  Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the overseer. He was struggling in the grip of a slave behind him, who held a hand clamped across his mouth. In a panicked surge he yanked himself free long enough to shout a warning.

  “Behind you!”

  The warning came too late. Even as the seven dakorians whirled, the humans at their backs attacked. Blasts of energy erupted throughout the cargo bay, the sound reverberating off the metal hull.

  Siena darted to the nearest dakorian and slashed deep across his leg. Weaving between the others, she used her energy blade to devastating effect. When they turned on her, her companions took advantage of the distraction.

  Begle summoned his fire augment and shaped the heat into a blade, driving it into a dakorian body. The others overwhelmed the soldiers using a combined assault of fire, air, and gravity. Ion bolts and shouts filled the cargo bay, accompanied by beams of light hitting slave cages and the roof.

  The dakorians died in disbelief, their bodies thumping to the deck until Zelor and Thania were the only survivors. They put their backs to a cage and eyed the humans warily.

  “Why are we leaving them alive?” Rahnora asked.

  The human girl was a few years older than Siena, her blonde hair and slightly pointed ears marking her part-krey parentage. She had a blade of pure light in her hand, woven from the light in the room.

  “Because they show promise,” Siena said. “Maybe Alina and Worg can help them see reason.”

  “I’d rather just kill them,” Begle growled, waving his fire blade.

  “Siena is right,” Tana said. “If they have the chance of changing, we shouldn’t kill them.”

  Tana was one of the new augments—black-haired, dark-eyed, pretty and quick to smile. She’d been on the first shipment of slaves Siena had stolen, and the augmentation experiment had given her gravity. She was even more skilled than Siena, and could hover a few inches above the deck. It was unnerving to see a human on the verge of flying.

  “Of course you would want to spare them,” Begle growled.

  Quis approached Siena and pointed to the ascender, located at the center of the room. “It looks like the dakorians on the second deck have not been alerted. We’re clear for now.”

  Siena nodded and motioned to Zelor and Thania. “Bind them and find them an empty cage.”

  “I’m not going to let humans bind me,” Thania growled.

  “Yes you are,” Quis said.

  The boy, who was the smallest of the group, grabbed the dakorian’s wrist and pulled her to her knees. He was a quarter of her size, but his body augment was the strongest of any, and he could amplify his strength to twelve times that of an adult human male.

  Thania tried to pull free, her eyes widening when she could not. “What power is this?”

  “Quiet,” Zelor hissed. “Do not resist.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I’d rather they not kill you.”

  Siena regarded him with a curious look. “She’s your mate?”

  He nodded.

  “You’re from clan Hammerdin,” Siena said.

  “How can you tell?”

  Guilt assailed Siena, and her thoughts flew to Reklin. “I have a friend from that clan.”

  “You have a dakorian friend?” Thania made it sound like the idea was absurd.

  “Who are you?” Zelor asked.

  Siena offered a faint smile. “An emissary of your new home.”

  She motioned to Quis and the others to take the two dakorians to a cell. They did not resist, and Siena was glad they did not. She did not enjoy killing the soldiers, and if they could join the dakorians on Lumineia, all the better.

  Onis approached. “We’ve secured the dakorians and prepared the next assault.”

  Siena liked Onis. At forty-six, the man was the oldest of the party. He’d been on the second cargo ship she’d stolen. He was large, with thick shoulders and a thick neck, but one of the most gentle men Siena had met. He’d taken to his sound augment quickly, and earned a spot on this mission.

  “Anyone injured?” Siena asked.

  “Fin was burned by an ion bolt, but the wound is superficial,” he said. �
��A few others are also injured, all minor. No casualties. Rahnora is tending to them.”

  “Excellent.”

  It was better than the last time, when four augments had been killed. The dakorians in House Bright’Lor had trained the group of augmented humans even harder, forcing them to learn how to use their augments effectively. Siena had vowed not to lose another friend.

  “Your orders?” Tana asked.

  Siena didn’t like the prospect of sneaking up another level. They’d gotten lucky in this cargo bay, and only the overseer had tried to warn the Jek’Orus soldiers. But the clock was ticking and she needed to get to the bridge.

  “Kensen can invite them to this deck while I sneak up to the bridge,” she said to the group. “They’ll find these bodies, and in the confusion you can take them down. You think you can handle another set?”

  “Of course,” Begle said. “But you’ll need to find Bort. They took him to another level.”

  “You’ll have to find him after I take the bridge,” Siena said. “We’re running out of time.”

  The redheaded augment stooped and pulled fire from the deck to create an explosive device, which he put beneath one of the bodies. With a grim smile on his face, he went to the next, and then the next. Siena appreciated his clever use of the traps.

  Onis gave a distinct two-tone whistle. He was one of the sound augments, and could manipulate any sound wave. The other slaves retreated to the cages, pulling the doors shut that Siena had released when she’d fought her way up and down the corridor. Tana went along, applying a temporary seal in case the dakorians on deck two checked the cages.

  Siena walked to the cage holding the two dakorians. “I’m sorry,” she said, “but I have to silence you.” She motioned to Onis.

  Thania growled. “If you think you can—”

  Onis subverted the sounds coming from the dakorian cell, bending them to a wavelength that was not audible to human or dakorian ears. Onis turned to Zelor, but the captain abruptly stepped to the edge of the bars.