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

by Ben Hale

  “You bet a thousand glint that we would explode?” Siena glanced at Begle, who looked annoyed.

  “What? I thought it likely.”

  “Where would you even get a thousand glint?” Tana asked.

  “I bet against my future,” Begle said.

  “You think we’re going to have glint someday?” Rahnora laughed.

  “Maybe,” he said with a shrug. “We’re augmented slaves on a stolen ship without a krey in sight. I’d say anything is possible at this point.”

  The others laughed, but the amusement gradually faded into a sobering reality. They were as free as they’d ever been, and if they wanted, they could disappear.

  Siena slowly powered down the drive and removed her hands from the controls. She turned her chair to face the group. “It looks like we can get to Rebor. The question is, are we going to?”

  “You think we should leave?” Kensen asked.

  “I don’t have to read minds to know that we are all thinking it,” Siena said, glancing between each of them. They fidgeted, but did not refute her assumption.

  “Where would we even go?” Rahnora asked.

  “I don’t care,” Begle said. “As long as there are no krey.”

  Bort nodded. “We don’t deserve to be owned. We’re not property.”

  “Would they come after us?” Quis asked in a small voice.

  “We’re augments,” Siena said. “And if I’m not being too bold, fairly powerful ones. They’ll never stop hunting us.”

  Tana leaned against the wall of the bridge. “So live in fear as a free slave, or live in fear in captivity.”

  Kensen shook his head. “Those are terrible options.”

  “There might be an alternative,” Siena said.

  “You think there’s another option?” Tana asked.

  “Maybe.”

  Siena hesitated, uncertain if she should voice what she’d been considering since shortly after becoming an augment. It was treason, and yet hadn’t she already committed hundreds of crimes against the Krey Empire? She steeled herself to speak the words and leaned forward in her chair.

  “Back on Lumineia are fifty-six thousand human augments. Soon there will probably be more.”

  “So?” Rahnora asked.

  “I say we use them to create an army,” Siena said. She was suddenly surrounded by very interested looks.

  “You want to rebel,” Tana crowed.

  “Should we expect less from a ferox?” Begle asked, pointing at the scar on Siena’s throat.

  “How would we do it?” Kensen asked.

  Siena struggled to articulate what she’d been planning. “We all know that being a slave is more than just who owns us; it’s our own mentality. Most of the humans on Lumineia think like a slave. Even if we tried to fight, their own fear would keep them from joining a full-scale rebellion.”

  “So we convince them,” Bort said.

  “Without Skorn finding out?” Tana shook her head. “That’s going to be difficult.”

  “More like impossible,” Quis said.

  “I know,” Siena said. “And building a secret army under his nose is not the hardest part.”

  Kensen was nodding. “We have to destroy House Bright’Lor without letting the Empire know about Lumineia.”

  “Or the Empire would just destroy us anyway,” Tana finished. She flipped her brown hair in frustration and leaned against the bulkhead. “So what are we going to do?”

  “We start small,” Siena said. “We are the ones with the most experience with our augments, so as we train the others, we identify those who would be willing to fight.”

  “It’s going to take years,” Quis said.

  “Time we have,” Begle said. “The krey never do anything in haste, especially Skorn. As long as he controls the planet, we can know he will keep it a secret.”

  “He’s our shield until we are ready to stand on our own,” Tana said with a nod.

  “What about Ero?” Bort challenged. “We all know he’s your friend. Would you kill him, if it came to it?”

  “I think he’ll stand with us,” Siena said.

  She was met with a wide range of dubious expressions, and Kensen ventured, “I know what’s he’s given you and us, but he’s still krey. He’s not going to turn against his own race to save a bunch of slaves.”

  There were murmurs of agreement, and Siena realized that if she wanted to save Ero, he needed to realize that humans were not property—not just Siena, but all humans. She leaned back in the pilot’s chair. “First, we have to get Reklin. I know you don’t trust Ero, but Reklin has saved my life, and not because he had to. He took my place when the Ghosts would have taken me to wherever they hide. We can trust him. And his family.”

  “You want to trust the soldiers tasked with killing us if we disobey?” Begle snorted. “You really are mad.”

  “I actually agree with Siena on this one,” Rahnora said. “The dakorians of Reklin’s family have shown a marked hesitation to punish us, and some have even shown a measure of kindness.”

  There were murmurs of agreement. Siena recognized it more as a reflection on Reklin’s family than himself. Aside from Kensen, they didn’t know him well, and only knew of his actions with the Burning Ghosts through Siena. Still, she appreciated the support.

  “It appears we have a plan,” Siena said. “Find Reklin, carefully build a rebellion, and then overthrow a krey House without alerting the Empire.”

  “Don’t make it sound so easy,” Tana said.

  Kensen grinned. “I know it sounds impossible, but what we’re doing today is impossible. A year ago, none of us would have thought we’d be augmented, let alone onboard a ship by ourselves.”

  “We’ve come this far,” Siena said. “And if we can do this, we can be free.”

  “I don’t even know what that would be like,” Rahnora said.

  “Yes you do,” Quis said. They all turned to face him, and the boy shrugged. “Look at what we did the last few days. We worked on a ship, ate dinner together, talked, laughed, and all without fear that a krey would burn our nerves, or a dakorian would strike us for speaking out of turn. The last two weeks on this ship have held more freedom than any of us have ever had.”

  Siena eyed the young man, who looked very little like the timid boy she’d met back on Verdigris. Now he stood tall, his gangly form showing just a hint of the strong shoulders and muscular body he would one day obtain.

  Noticing the looks of the others, he flushed bright red. “What?” he asked.

  “We’re just wondering when you got to be so wise,” Siena said with a smile.

  The others laughed, and Kensen clapped him on the shoulder. “Wise indeed.”

  “So are we in agreement?” Siena asked. “I don’t think I need to tell you what happens if we’re caught.”

  “Then we’d better not be caught.” Bort set his jaw in a firm line.

  Siena measured their looks, and knew they were committed. A thrill spread from her heart into her limbs—a touch of excitement, or was it hope? It built into a ship-sized conviction that she would one day see Lumineia a free world.

  “Set course for Rebor,” she said.

  Kensen grinned and put his hands into the holo. “Aye, Captain.”

  She rotated in her chair and helped input the coordinates. Then she activated the projection rings and the ship jumped to hyperlight. The stars streaked to the side as they zipped through space.

  Siena listened to her friends talk about how they would convince others, and the other humans that might be willing to join a rebellion. It was a small list, but Siena believed it would grow. It would take some time, but the dream she had not dared to speak was now shared, and she could feel a bond had been forged between her and her friends. They’d had a taste of real freedom. And they wanted more.

  The powerful ship may have been hobbled, but it still reached Rebor in just under three hours. As they approached the dakorian world, she dropped them from hyperlight and banked
them towards the bright planet.

  Blue oceans, brown mountains, and white clouds dominated the surface of the planet. Some of the larger cities were visible from orbit, their lights glowing on the dark side. Siena dropped them into the atmosphere and momentarily tensed, but the shields held.

  “Don’t worry,” Kensen said. “We’ve got them fixed.”

  “One day I hope to see this ship at full strength,” she said.

  “I can do that.”

  “I thought you said it would take a decade.”

  He flashed a crooked smile. “I think we should tell Ero and Skorn this ship was destroyed, and keep it hidden from the House. I can work on it in secret.”

  “I love that idea,” Tana said, joining them on the bridge. “But are you sure you can fix it?”

  He grinned. “Trust me.”

  Siena dropped them through the clouds and headed east, following the same flight path she’d flown with Reklin. It brought back a burst of memories: eating meals with Reklin’s family, helping him defeat Olgor at the duel to keep his family safe. It was on Rebor that she’d realized they were friends. And it was now on Rebor that she would find him.

  She dropped towards the islands off the coast and passed through the peaks. The others crowded around her, all eager to see the Hammerdin clan world. Their excitement quickly tapered off as the lines of smoke appeared in the distance.

  “What’s that?” Kensen asked, pointing.

  Siena’s eagerness hardened to apprehension, and then fear as she slowed and glided around the village in the valley. The homes in the trees, the large fighting arena at the center, the cooking pits set outside the homes—all of it was gone. Reklin’s village was a smoking ruin.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “Scan for life signs,” Siena said.

  “On it,” Kensen said.

  “Begle, Bort, the moment we land, I want you fanning out and looking for any sign of body heat. Rahnora and Tana, go with them and watch their backs.”

  The four disappeared to the back of the ship. Siena struggled to retain control over the ship as she fought the swell of fear. Who would have done this? She knew dakorian families within a clan occasionally fought, but nothing like this. The entire village had been destroyed.

  “What happened?” Quis breathed.

  “I don’t know,” Siena said, and then tightened her jaw. “But we need to find Inary.”

  “If she’s alive,” Kensen said.

  “Don’t say that,” Siena snapped.

  Kensen recoiled. “Sorry. I just don’t see any life signs on the scans.”

  Siena’s heart tightened. Please be alive, she thought. Too worried to put the ship in the canyon reserved for starships, she circled the village before dropping the Crescent into a field. The moment she touched down, Kensen opened the rear airlock and the four augments sprinted into the village.

  Siena powered down the ship and jumped up. “Kensen, lock the ship. Quis, let’s go.”

  Without waiting for a reply, she sprinted the length of the ship and out the airlock. She activated a speed augment and Quis followed her lead, the two racing through smoking trees and husks of structures to reach the arena at the heart of the village. Siena slowed and came to a halt, her hands going to her mouth.

  Smoke swirled above charred trees, and the houses had been reduced to craters. Dead korgs lay in their pens, insects buzzing over their bodies. Heat radiated off the trunks of trees and scattered fires still burned.

  “This must have happened yesterday,” Quis said.

  Siena shook her head. “Reklin told me the wood of the trees is too dense to burn quickly. The village must have been attacked when . . .” Her eyes widened.

  “What?”

  “When Inary returned,” she said. “The Burning Ghosts didn’t just take Mora, they destroyed Reklin’s village.”

  There was a shout from the northern part of the village, and both Quis and Siena turned. She took one step in that direction before the other augments burst from the trees, running from ion bolts flying over their heads. Then dakorians charged into the open.

  Siena dropped into the arena for cover and Quis followed suit. The others dove behind fallen trees or even into a crater. One ion bolt grazed Begle, burning a line across his ribs.

  “Now Malikin sends humans?” a voice roared. “Is he that much of a coward?”

  Siena lifted her head high enough to see. Her confusion turned to relief as she spotted Inary at the head of the dakorians. She risked standing higher, but thirty dakorian weapons swiveled in her direction.

  “Inary!” Siena shouted, raising her hands. “It’s me!”

  Inary spotted her, and the tension in her features evaporated. “Siena?”

  Most of the dakorians lowered their lances, and the remainder followed their example. Siena cautiously exited the arena and approached Inary. As Reklin’s sister, Inary looked like him but lacked his stature. Bloody rags were tied to her left arm, leg, and hip, with another across her skull. The other dakorians were equally as wounded, some looking weak.

  “You came,” Inary said, suddenly looking exhausted.

  “Of course I came,” Siena said.

  “When we saw your ship landing, we thought Malikin had returned.”

  “Wait, Malikin did this?” Tana asked, rising from the crater where she’d taken refuge. “Not the Burning Ghosts?”

  Inary passed a hand over her face, her fingers trembling. “Visika kidnapped Mora, but Malikin was apparently in orbit. He came for Visika and didn’t care that we were under her ship. We took refuge in some nearby caves, but many are wounded.”

  “Show me,” Siena commanded.

  “What can you do?” one of the older dakorians asked with a sneer. “You’re only a human.”

  “I can do more than you,” Siena snapped, and then called to Tana, “Take the others to the ship, and tell Kensen to build a cell regenerator.”

  “You don’t have one onboard?” a dakorian asked.

  “The ship was a show model,” Begle said. “It didn’t have much.”

  “What does that mean?” one of the dakorians asked.

  Not wanting to explain the stolen ship, Siena shook her head. “Nothing. Show me the wounded.”

  “This way,” Inary said.

  The dakorian woman limped as she guided Siena west and out of the village. Then she turned south. The ground quickly grew rocky, and as they descended towards a lake, the narrow trail became treacherous.

  “The Burning Ghosts arrived under the guise of another family in the clan,” Inary said. “She claimed they wanted to meet with our elders. The next thing we knew, the elders were dead and they were dragging Mora towards their ship. I tried to follow, but the Ghosts destroyed our two starships in the canyon. That’s when I sent the message. But Malikin attacked so quickly I couldn’t send another.”

  “Which explains why Kevent was not able to reach you after the message about Mora,” Siena said.

  Inary tightened a bandage on her arm, wincing as it pushed against a cracked bone. “Every communications crystal we had was destroyed.”

  They reached the end of the trail, where two large arches were embedded into a short cliff. The stone was cracked from age, and the symbols along the arch were in a language Siena did not recognize. Moss grew on the supports.

  Behind the arches, a large cave extended into the rock. The runes on the stone seemed to be ornamental, but most were all but worn away. Lining the floor were dozens of dakorians on makeshift cots. Nearby, a young male checked their bandages.

  “You’ve been like this for two weeks?” Siena asked.

  “We’ve done the best we could,” Inary said. “But our medical supplies were in the village. You really think you can help?”

  Siena, Kensen said using a distant mental voice, I’m working on the cell regenerator, but it’s going to take an hour or two.

  Do it, she replied.

  “What’s the human doing here?” the dakorian with the
bandages asked, his voice sullen.

  “She’s here to help,” Inary said.

  “A human?”

  “Who is in the worst shape?” Siena asked.

  “Eldeza, Hew’s daughter,” Inary said, pointing to a dakorian near the front. “She was close to a blast, and shrapnel embedded close to her lower heart. Grevin doesn’t think she’s going to make it.”

  Siena approached the dakorian and knelt at her side. She was young, just a child, her body not much larger than Siena’s. “Hew?” She recalled the one-horned dakorian.

  “Dead,” Inary replied. “He shielded her from the blast.”

  Siena examined the girl. She lay with bandages thick across her chest, but blood continued to seep into the cloth, staining it bright red. Her normally brown skin was almost white, and she appeared oddly frail.

  Siena caught the bandages, but Grevin grabbed her hand. “You take that off and she’s dead,” he growled.

  “And if I don’t?” she challenged.

  The dakorian grimaced but jerked his head. “You’re just a human slave.”

  “No,” she said, “I’m not.”

  The dakorian held her gaze, and then reluctantly released her hand. Siena nodded her gratitude before carefully untying the bandage. With great care she lifted the bloody cloth, exposing an ugly wound in the girl’s lower chest. Blood immediately began to flow, and Siena put her hands on the sides of the injury. The skin was slick, the visible bones broken and frayed. Siena had never healed such a mortal wound, but she didn’t hesitate. Activating her healing augment, she poured her energy into the dakorian’s flesh.

  Light glowed beneath her fingers, seeping into the bones and tissues. She could feel Eldeza’s lower heart like it was a holo in her thoughts, the torn flesh gradually taking shape. A piece of metal had nicked her lower heart and cut past the back of her ribs, where it had lodged close to her spine. Gritting her teeth, Siena focused on the heart and willed the split cells to heal.

  They refused. The seeping blood stopped the flesh from closing. Grimacing, she activated her water augment. She hadn’t practiced as much as Rahnora or Lyn, but she forced the water in the blood to come to a stop. The blood ebbed, and then closed off. Siena quickly knit the heart wall, her augment allowing her to push the cells to accelerate their natural healing process. Cell by cell, the wound on the heart closed and sealed.