Cherish was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of support and caring from her team. She wasn’t sure how to process it all. Having others think she was worth something was still a foreign concept to her, despite her time doing close ops in the Carbonari. She had been so willing to sacrifice herself, but she never would have expected the others to choose to take her place. Choking back tears, she set her eyes on the carrier in front of them. “Okay. What’s the plan?”
Eight
Theo woke up filled with rage. His body was sweating, but chills shot through him. The room was dark. The smell of a foreign chemical leaked from his pores, carried out by the sweat that was dripping from him. Was his body healing from the poisoning, forcing it out through his skin, or had it finally run its course? The bonds still held him pinned to a pole. There was no sign of Tort. Had it been hours or days? He was disoriented, shivering, and in desperate need of food that wasn’t toxic.
Looking up, he saw that the door was open. Theo spat on the ground. “What, did you come back to finish off the job now that the poison’s wearing off? It’s going to take a lot more than that to break me.”
The lights flipped on. Theo turned his head away. His eyes needed to focus. Theo tried to summon his strength. He worked on straightening out his vision. Slowly, his sight adjusted. A blue figure was walking towards him. Theo blinked again. As he focused, the image shifted. The figure wasn’t blue, it was green.
Jaedo bent down in front of Theo. Cupping Theo’s face in his hands, the Josti placed a slice of fruit into Theo’s mouth. “Here, chew.”
Theo blinked, and shook his head. “Jaedo? How did you get here? You were shot.”
“Eat.” He placed more food in Theo’s mouth. “After I fell into the lake, I managed to heal myself, and I changed my form to look like one of the soldiers that Cierra killed. I climbed out of the water after Makram took you two away. I followed, and smuggled myself onboard. I’m sorry it took me so long to find you. Where’s Cierra?”
Theo shook his head. “I have no idea where she is. I haven’t seen her since we landed.” Theo’s chest ached. “Jaedo, they took her off to the harem. You have to get her out of there. If that piece of shit touches her, I swear—”
Jaedo turned towards the door. “Shh! Someone’s coming. I’m sorry, Theo.” Jaedo sprinted back to the light, and flipped it off. “I won’t leave you alone, but if they find me I won’t be of any help to anyone.”
Theo watched, as his friend darted to behind a large piece of equipment to hide. The footsteps outside the lab were closer now. He waited, watching the doorway. The fruit that Jaedo had fed him gave him a little more energy. The thought of manifesting super strength and busting through the restraints crossed his mind, but he decided not to reveal all of his cards at once. If the imperials thought he was secure, they might let their guard down more. He needed a chance to assess the situation. With Cierra still being held somewhere, there was more than just his life at stake. He braced himself for what was to come.
The footsteps stopped in the doorway. The silhouette that filled the frame was not the slender, feminine figure of Tort. Instead, Theo found himself looking at a bulkier man. His face was hidden in shadows. The man stepped into the lab with carefully measured steps. He flipped on the light, and let his eyes take in Theo’s constrained form.
The emperor’s eyes were shrewd and dark. “I see you’ve been enjoying our hospitality.” He picked up the empty bowl that Tort had spooned gruel out of. Pollus smirked at the sweat on Theo’s body. Doubtless, he knew that it was caused by the poison. “Not everyone is used to our delicacies. Personally, I like to experience the tastes and sights of the planets in my empire. It helps me understand my people better. I find it fascinating that an emperor and a common peasant can share experiences that way. Recently, I’ve been enjoying the delights of Relisse.” He paused for a moment, and Theo saw an evil glint light up the other man’s eyes. “I bet we have even enjoyed some of the same delights, Theo.”
Theo’s nostrils flared with anger. “Go to hell.”
“Hell.” Pollus pursed his lips thoughtfully. “I wonder if that’s where your children thought they were when Relisse went up in flames.” Theo’s face turned red with fury. Pollus grabbed a handful of his prisoner’s hair, and jerked Theo’s head backwards. “Do you know what human flesh smells like when it’s being engulfed in fire? Perhaps I’ll show you sometime.”
Theo spat in his face. “Go ahead and try it!”
Pollus’s lips parted in an evil smirk that Theo had see before on Karl’s face. “My son, Prince Makramis, has been telling me some wonderful things about your healing ability. Unfortunately for you, I always like to see things with my own eyes.”
The emperor flicked a blade out of his sleeve, and shoved it between Theo’s ribs. Theo’s body shook from the pain, but he refused to show weakness. The food that Jaedo had slipped him gave him just enough strength. His muscles, and skin, knitted back together, pushing the cold, metal blade out of his body.
Pollus frowned. “Hmm, that was a bit of a letdown. I didn’t even get to enjoy any bleeding. Perhaps we should try something with a bit more punch to it.”
Slipping his dagger back in his sleeve, Pollus walked over to a wall where various torture devices were hanging from the wall. His fingers trailed along a barbed hook, but he shook his head, unimpressed. The next item was a large metal corkscrew, but again, the emperor passed it up. Slowly, a sadistic smile curled the corner of his lips. He pulled a pair of thick gloves off the top of a cabinet, and slipped his hands into to them. Once they were secured, he picked up a pair of tongs, and gave them a few experimental clicks.
Opening the cabinet, he used the tongs to gently reach inside and extract a glass orb. The white substance with purple streaks swirling through it made Theo stiffen. Pollus saw him flinch, and his smile widened. “Ah, yes. I heard you had a little run in with my favorite kind of toy back at the armory. From what they’ve told me, you cost me quite a bit of my supply. Don’t worry, though. I don’t keep all of my eggs in one basket, or in this case, all my dark matter on one planet.”
He took slow, deliberate steps towards Theo. The white orb was outstretched, grasped securely in the tongs. Theo gritted his teeth. He knew what it was going to feel like. The hand he had used to grab the orbs at the armory ached with the memory of it. Theo kept one thought fixed in his mind, as the emperor touched the orb to his cheek: if Pollus was torturing him, at least he wasn’t tormenting Cierra.
Pollus smiled as the orb melted through the skin on Theo’s cheek and ate through to his tongue. Theo fought back his screams for as long as he could, but the pain was too intense to keep it at bay forever. His gift had a hard time keeping up with the amount of damage being caused. His face throbbed and ached. The dark matter didn’t just injure the flesh, it devoured it like a flame on a piece of paper. Theo’s eye closest to the orb stopped functioning. He only had vision on one side. It was just enough to see the joy on the emperor’s face.
Laughing in delight, Pollus used his other gloved hand to peel off part of Theo’s cheek that was hanging freely. “Now, that is what I call entertainment.”
Nine
Makka took a deep breath. “Our ships have the stronger configurations of the Relissarium shielding. I think the shielding’ll hold up enough to fly through the carriers and punch a hole through the side. Best case scenario, we can pick a more vulnerable spot to strike and hopefully blow the carrier and its fleet up. Worst-case scenario, we punch a hole though the side and compromise the interior pressure. That would still take out quite a few of soldiers on board, but it might not be enough to incapacitate the whole fleet.”
Fabois mumbled into his microphone. “Actually, I think the worst-case scenario would be if we just crumpled into the side of the carrier and didn’t even make a dent in it.”
Makka was appalled that he would even say such a thing. “Fabois!”
“I’m sorry! You know I don’t do well with these kinds of situations.”
>
Axim eyed the carrier carefully. “The engine room on that model should be near the thrusters on the right. If we can hit that, it should cause the most damage.”
“Okay.” Makka tried to sound brave, but Cherish could still hear the nervousness in her voice. “We can drop the invisibility a few moments before impact. That’ll draw their attention to us. Cherish, you can use the distraction as cover to escape. Everyone ready?”
Fabois quickly answered her. “Makka, before we do this, I just want you to know that you have always been the love of my life. I couldn’t have asked for a better wife, or a better mother to our son.”
Choking back tears, Makka smiled bittersweetly. “I feel the same way. I’m glad we got to spend so much time together. I wouldn’t have changed a thing.”
Axim cleared his throat. “Arden, tell mom that I wasn’t afraid at the end. Tell her I died well, okay?”
His brother nodded. “I will.”
Makka’s nerves were starting to overpower her courage. “Let’s do this before I start overthinking it. Cherish, promise me that you’ll do whatever you can to take Pollus down. Not just for me, but for my son, and every other mother who has lost her child under his rule.”
The back of Cherish’s throat tightened with emotion. “I promise you. He and his sons will pay for everything that they’ve done.”
Cherish, Jiyeon, and Arden watched silently as their companions dropped their invisibility, and surged at full speed towards the carrier. Imperial fighters immediately opened fire on the two ships, unleashing fearsome beams and pulses of energy. With the imperials focused on the other two, Cherish guided her own craft in the opposite direction. Her eyes were glued to the rear monitor, displaying the barrage of plasma blasts raining down on their friends.
Fabois yelled over the sounds of lasers and blasters pinging the hull of his ship. “Hold on! Try to keep it level!”
Makka screamed, as her craft shook violently. “Some of the scales are coming lose! The shield isn’t going to—"
Her voice cut off. Cherish watched as the ship fell victim to the blasts from the imperials. The Relissarium coating was still able to penetrate the carrier’s hull. Seconds later, the ship carrying Fabois and Gird barreled into the carrier. Their impact tore a hole in the enormous ship’s side. An explosion tore through the imperial vessel. In an instant, the flash became almost nuclear in its intensity. Imperial fighters that were close by were simply vaporized. Others that were further out were shredded by shrapnel moving at tens of kilometers per second. Destroyer class escort ships exploded in turn, as a deadly chain reaction consumed the imperial fleet.
The shockwave knocked Cherish’s ship into a spiral. They were catapulted downwards toward Relisse. She tried desperately to right the craft, but the controls were not responding. Relisse’s gravity had them. From the cockpit, she watched in horror as the Relissarium paint coating her ship started to flake. With the shielding weakened, there would be no way for the fighter to withstand such a high-impact crash. Relisse’s gravitational pull had a steadfast grip on them. They plummeted faster. The ship’s spiral was disorienting. Cherish’s stomach heaved from the dizziness.
A warning light flashed on the dashboard. A loud siren screamed shrilly through the ship. The monitors turned red, warning them that an impact was imminent. Cherish pulled up on the controls, trying one last time to pull out of the dive, but it was no use. Relisse’s charred surface was coming at them faster and faster. She braced her arms against the roof of the ship, futilely trying to prepare for the impact. She knew that it wouldn’t save her, but fear and instinct overruled logic.
Suddenly, the ship broke apart. They were expelled in an escape pod. A parachute unfurled behind them. But, they were spinning so fast it wouldn’t deploy properly. The shroud lines, and then the fabric, wrapped around the pod. Now flying blind, Cherish could only imagine the ground rushing towards them. She didn’t know if the pod would be enough to save them. Closing her eyes, she tensed for the impact.
The interior of the pod was instantly filled waist deep with a white substance, which hardened within seconds. A scream ripped through the pod, as it was ripped apart by the impact, and the air rushed out into the parched, mirror flat wilderness of Relisse. Cherish was disoriented. For a moment, she couldn’t tell where the sound was coming from. The white impact absorbing gel began to break down, releasing the occupants from its protective grasp. Blinking in a daze, Cherish turned to see Arden clutching his leg. The bend in the middle of his shin left no doubt that the bone was broken. Jiyeon had a cut above her eye, and seemed slightly dazed. Other than that, the Josti seemed unhurt.
Cherish’s fingers fumbled with her harness, until it released her. Their precious oxygen was leaking out. In a few moments, they would be out of breathable air. Stumbling, she climbed into the back of the pod. “Jiyeon, can you help me move him? We can’t stay in here.”
The Josti spoke too loudly. Her ears were ringing, making it hard to hear. “If we go outside the ship, we won’t stand a chance. There’s less air out there than there is in here.”
Cherish felt Arden’s pulse. It was elevated because of his adrenaline and pain. “What about the breathing filters? I can manage without one if I need to. We just have to make it back to the mine. We can figure out something else once we get there.” She rummaged through her pockets until her fingers closed around the breathing unit she had used earlier. It was shattered into unusable pieces. “Mine won’t do any good. Arden, where’s your breathing filter? I need you to focus, okay?”
His eyes watered with pain. His hand hovered over the pocket that was positioned over his broken leg. “I-I can’t get it. It’s in there.”
Cherish nodded, and placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. “Okay, I’m going to reach in your pocket. I’ll be as gentle as I can.”
Arden snapped his beak in pain. Cherish hesitated. She could feel part of the filter, but something was wrong. Her fingers came away bloody. During the impact, the device had punctured through Arden’s clothing, and into his leg. His eyes were closed tightly, but he felt her pull her hand back out. “Did you get it?”
Jiyeon saw the blood on Cherish’s fingers, and worked out what must have happened. Her eyes widened, but Cherish gave her a warning glance. It wouldn’t do them any good to tell him. It might cause him to go into shock. Cherish chose her words carefully. “Yours was broken, too.”
Jiyeon located her own breathing filter and passed it to Cherish. “Josti can hold their breath for several minutes at a time. He can use mine.”
Cherish nodded gratefully. “Okay, Arden, I’m going to have you hold the filter by your mouth. Jiyeon and I will move you back to the base.”
Arden’s scream when they picked him up made Cherish’s hair stand on end. As the two women opened the escape pod and carried Arden outside into Relisse’s thin atmosphere, the savage pain from the jarring of his leg made him pass out. His cheeks were ashen. The air stung their eyes. Cherish could deal with low oxygen if she paced herself. She hoped that Jiyeon was right about being able to hold her breath.
The mine was still several yards ahead of them. She didn’t see any soldiers milling around. The base looked almost deserted. If she hadn’t seen the general and his advisors inside the dome earlier, she might have thought the entire place had been abandoned.
Cherish glanced behind her. The escape pod was scorched and ripped open like a can whose lid was peeled off. If it hadn’t been for the pod, and its shock absorption gel, she knew they’d all be dead. It was unlikely that even her augmented body could have walked away from a crash like that without any help. Overhead, imperial ships were still exploding like a child’s firecracker. With some of the adrenaline wearing off, she was starting to feel the soreness of her muscles. Judging by the grimace on Jiyeon’s face, she was feeling the consequences of the crash, too. Arden was lucky that he was unconscious. She hoped that at least his mind was unaware of the pain, even if the damage was still there.
Cradling the injured Aphaian between herself and Jiyeon, Cherish wished that Theo would have been there to heal them all. Her mind wandered, wondering how the others had fared in their mission. She hadn’t had any updates from them, and if Hubard had heard anything, he was staying silent on the subject.
Jiyeon’s eyes were starting to water. Cherish could see the other woman’s chest begin to heave. Her lungs were dying for a deep breath, but the Josti kept her composure as best she could. Cherish tried to encourage her. “We’re almost there. Just a little longer.”
They picked up the pace. The wind swept up black dust into a small dirt devil, which promptly blew right in their faces. In a few long strides, they reached the rear wall of the complex. That was when the realization hit. Jiyeon turned to Cherish, waiting on the next part of her plan. The Josti’s eyes pleaded with her to hurry. The green tint of Jiyeon’s lips was fading to light blue.
“Jiyeon, I’m sorry,” Cherish said. The Josti’s eyes widened. Cherish couldn’t believe she’d forgotten about the base security clearance. She slowly lowered Arden to the ground, and propped him up against the wall. Her processors were beginning to misfire. Even she couldn’t avoid the need for oxygen forever. “We don’t have a way to get inside.”
Jiyeon forced some of the precious remaining oxygen out of her lungs to speak. “Earlier you opened the top of the dome. Just do that to the doors!”
Cherish shook her head. “It doesn’t work like that. The doors only recognize certain keycards from outside of the base. It’s a different type of security. Inside the base, I can access almost anything. Out here, I can’t do anything.”
Jiyeon’s face twisted in panicky anger. “No! I refuse to accept that! They sacrificed themselves to give us a chance to get away—to give you a chance to get away! She beat her fist on the wall.
Cherish couldn’t see any heat signatures coming from inside. It occurred to her that the soldiers on the base may have left to join the fight above Relisse. Jiyeon fell to her knees. The world began to tilt around her, as her head began to spin. Cherish watched as she slowly stopped pounding on the base. Cherish rested her forehead on the side of the building, in resignation. So, that was it. Makka and Fabois had died for nothing.
The Relissarium Wars Omnibus Page 57