by Day Leitao
“That’s not what I’m talking about. I heard you. I had to steal a ship and come to your rescue.”
She knew it made sense and knew she’d tried to somehow reach him through the great ocean in the universe. “I’m glad you did.”
He looked at her. “What do you want to do now?”
“Stop a war? And stop the destruction of your city?”
Dess nodded. “Let’s try it, then.” He took her hand. “Together.”
They walked back to the control room.
Sylvia and Marcus weren’t there, which was a relief, somehow. Saytera didn’t want the girl’s judgemental look on her. Still, Saytera let go of Dess’s hand.
He glanced at her then turned to Nadia. “So, any clue on what your father was doing?”
Instead of answering, the girl asked another question. “How did you leave Sapphirlune?”
“I stole your father’s escape shuttle.”
Her eyes were wide. “You what?”
Dess walked to the edge of the counter and leaned on it. “Did you ask them to arrest me?”
Nadia got up. “Dess! No. You should be safe.”
He rolled his eyes. “Should, right? It wasn’t as if me and Marcus wouldn’t be the first people they would look for after you escaped. They think I’m guilty.”
“Well, you wouldn’t talk to me or trust me. I had to do something. I doubt you would be able to get the Mainlanders out of the city with everyone watching you. I did it.”
Dess stared at her. “And you didn’t ask your father for any favors?”
She frowned. “No idea what you’re talking about.”
Dess pointed to Saytera and Christina. “Your father threatened to kill them.”
“Why?”
Larissa stepped between them and extended her arms. “Guy, guys, no arguing. There was clearly a misunderstanding. Now everyone’s here and we’re all safe for now. Great, right? We need to get the systems up and running.”
Dess pushed her hand and pointed to Nadia. “I need to know if I can trust her.”
“You got no choice,” Larissa replied.
Saytera walked to her friend. “I don’t understand. You’re so fast at breaking into systems. You’ve been working here for hours… You still haven’t figured it out?”
She shook her head. “No. And it’s not only that. We need to get the residential area working, and see where to get resources. It’s a strange system with a master control. I’m hitting dead ends.”
Saytera tried to encourage her friend. “It’s fine if it takes a while. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”
Dess was beside her. “What kind of master control?”
“A lot of it seems bio-based. You’d need the right fingerprints or blood.”
“From whom?” Dess asked.
“The creators of this place and I guess a handful of authorized personnel,” Larissa replied.
Nadia sighed. “Probably all dead by now. My house had some of these bio-security systems, too.”
“There should be a master security room,” he said. “I’ll find it with Saytera.”
He reached out his hand. Saytera took it. They turned around and left in time to see a grin on Larissa’s face and a look of surprise in Nadia’s and Christina’s.
Dess led Saytera to a corridor, and wasn’t surprised anymore that the doors opened at his contact. Memories came back to him, his mother, showing the plans for a building, his father, putting Dess’s hand on a mold. Their excitement about planning something.
Dess walked to a round room with a small circular column in the middle. He put his hand on it and it lit up. Saytera’s strange, beautiful eyes were locked into him.
“Can you guess why I can access the master lock system?” he asked.
“You’re authorized.”
Dess nodded.
She thought for a moment. “Your family. Were they involved in building this?”
He took a deep breath. “I think so. I didn’t know it. Or didn’t remember. They had so many plans.”
She looked away, thinking. “Your name… it’s the family that discovered this moon. Tahari. You’re Dess Tahari.”
“Kades.” It was strange to say and hear this name after so long. He looked down. “My little sister called me Dess.” He felt his eyes getting misty from emotion in remembering little Anise and relief in telling someone this secret. “You can still call me Dess.”
She held his hand tight. “I’m sorry for your family.”
Dess pulled her closer and hugged her. Perhaps this was what he needed to confront his past, someone to hang on to.
“All this time, I’ve been hiding who I am, lying about who I am, knowing very well I wasn’t hiding from the Mainlanders, I was hiding from Lunars.” Dess looked down. “And yet, somehow I still manage to be surprised when I see corruption and stupidity.”
“Do you know who you’re hiding from?”
Dess ran his hand through his hair. “I told myself it could be a Mainlander spy. I told myself that if I ended this war I could maybe tell the world who I was. In a way, I’d never have my family back. I couldn’t undo what had already been done. But deep down I know that whoever killed my family is in my city, or at least works close together with someone there. And now they’ll figure out I’m alive.”
“You can hide if it comes to it.”
“Maybe I’m tired of hiding.” He looked at the panel again. The lights lit, and he unlocked all systems. “There. They’ll have an easy time now.”
Saytera smiled. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Cause I’m Kades Tahari? Or because I’m Dess Starspark?”
“Aren’t you both?”
“I am. But the only reason I came here was because of you. I was worried. I wasn’t thinking of… reclaiming this, confronting any of this.”
“I went to Citarella wanting to know more about Somersault and the killings. I never thought I’d visit Sapphirlune, Tahari moon. And yet… ”
“Sometimes destiny comes to us.”
Saytera looked away. “I don’t believe in destiny.”
“I thought Terens…”
“I never said I was one.”
“Are you going to tell me now? Tell me who you are? Not that you have to, but…” Perhaps all he wanted to know was whether she saw him the same way he saw her.
She took a deep breath. “I guess I owe you the truth. I was raised on an island. Down in the middle of the ocean, where nobody can go, due to the storms. But there were people there. We studied matterweaving, which I guess you could call magic.” She looked at him. “You ask me if I’m a Teren, I had never heard this word when I lived there. We were… the islanders. We didn’t talk much about us versus the rest of the world, even if I studied Human politics, especially about Ringon and stuff. I didn’t learn much about Mainland, though. It was as if we weren’t part of it. In a way, we weren’t.”
“And how did you get into their army, then?”
“I came to the continent once, to visit. I was supposed to go back.” She hesitated, as if afraid of saying something, then closed her eyes, looked at him, and continued. “I never made it back. The woman who brought me was killed. There were Terens trying to kill me. I hid and never heard from my people again.”
Dess was shocked. “There are Terens in Mainland wanting to kill you?”
She shook her head. “They came from another planet. They have… other ways to travel. I don’t know exactly how. There are many things I don’t know. The people who lived on those islands left the planet, too. So I was left alone in this system.”
It didn’t make sense. “Why were they trying to kill you?”
There was a hint of pain in her eyes. “I don’t know. Something about destiny, who I am. But Yansin, uh, the woman who brought me up, she doesn’t believe in that. The Islanders don’t believe in that. But I have nobody to give me answers.” She looked down. “They’re all gone.”
“Maybe one day you’ll see them again.
”
Saytera shrugged. “I sometimes wonder if hope is good or bad.”
“You take the Mainlander-Lunar war pretty seriously for someone who has no stake in it.”
“It’s the destiny I found. I don’t want to hear about some distant planet, some abstract notion of what one day I could do. I want to do what I can do. I want to make the difference that I can. I’m trying.”
“We’re trying.”
Dess pulled her for a hug again. He still felt somewhat surprised that he had a girl that could have stepped right from his dreams in his arms. He kissed her chin, then moved slowly to her lips, pulling her even closer, delighting in the moment, the feel of her. Two flames burning as one. He ran his hands through her magnificent hair, moving down to her hips. There was nothing else in the universe but him and her. That moment. How much he truly wanted them to become one.
30
Revelations
Dess smiled at those eyes as he pulled back from the kiss.
Saytera was breathless. “We’d better go help the others.”
Dess knew she was right, but at the same time it was hard to let go. He took a deep breath and nodded.
They were back in the control room.
“You did it.” Saytera’s tall friend, Larissa, smiled at him. “What did you do?”
There wasn’t much point in hiding anything anymore. “I can control the master system. This place was designed by my parents. My fingerprints will work on everything here.”
Nadia cocked her head. “Your parents?”
“The Taharis.” There. The truth was out.
Her eyes were wide. “What?”
“I never told anyone for fear of being killed and because I promised my mother.”
Nadia looked at him. “You’re Kades Tahari, then.”
Dess nodded.
“Why did you hide it?” She asked. “You know you would have inherited a fortune, right?”
“A fortune and a target on my back. Do you think whoever killed my parents wanted me hanging around?”
Nadia frowned. “We don’t know who killed them. It was an accident, wasn’t it?”
“That’s a valid theory, for sure. Can you come up with other theories? Now just think for a moment on the implications of that.”
The girl was thoughtful. “My father worked for your parents. He would have done anything to help you, Dess.”
“Sure. Maybe. In fact, I brought something from your father’s office.” Dess turned to Saytera and her friends. “He owns Staralloy, the mining company in Sapphirlune. The company that used to belong to my parents.” Dess took the stick from his pocket. “And I think we should check his information.”
Nadia crossed her arms. “What do my father’s matters have to do with anything?”
“He was in their testimony. Too calm. Wanting to arrest me. I’m almost sure my suspicions are wrong, but I’d rather be a hundred percent sure.”
Nadia snatched the stick from his hand. “Fine. Let’s check it, then. Let’s invade my family’s privacy, just because he happened to act like a concerned father.”
Dess glared at her. “Concerned? Threatening people’s lives?”
“I mean arresting you or whatever he was going to do.”
For a second Dess feared she would break the stick, hide it, or do something else with it, but she inserted it on the terminal. “Ready to fall asleep with business stuff?”
Project Zeta popped on screen.
“Wait,” Saytera said. “We saw this in Citarella, too. This project was somehow related to the shieldbreaker.”
Nadia moved to the next screen, and there it was, a diagram of the weaponized ship, showing its ability to destroy Sapphirlune. It was very long with a bulge on its bottom, probably from where it shot whatever it did to break a city shield. It also seemed to have a dock for some fighter ships, probably to defend it.
“That’s what we saw,” Saytera confirmed. “Not that there were that many details.”
Dess scoffed. “It explains why they weren’t surprised.”
Nadia shrugged. “So they knew it already. I guess we’ll see what they’re planning, then.”
The next page was entitled New Sapphircity, depicting a modern city, not on a moon, but on a planet, likely Mainland.
For some reason the sight gave Dess chills. There was something horrific about it, and yet, he couldn’t quite put it into words.
Nadia tilted her head, as if there were a different angle to see it. “It’s as if… they’re planning an alternative… in case our city gets destroyed.”
That made some sense, and yet, the fact that they had known it and told nobody, apparently had taken no action…
Saytera’s short friend, Christina, who was normally quiet, approached the screen. “Hum. It doesn’t sound as if they have any issue with Mainland’s plan. If anything, it’s almost as if…” She paused. “They’re working together.”
Nadia rolled her eyes. “Nonsense. It’s clearly just a prediction for a worst-case-scenario.”
Dess dreaded whatever came next. “Let’s check what else is there.”
A document popped up on screen.
Nadia exhaled, as if relieved. “It’s the peace treaty, from the Peace Alliance in Ringon.” She then read, “Unmotivated aggression against civilians results in severe penalties for the systems who commit it.”
She pivoted in her chair and faced Dess, Saytera, and her friends. “You know what this means, right? They know the plan and they’ll find a way to negotiate, to prevent Mainland from going ahead with it. Because if they go ahead with it, they’ll suffer even more than they’re suffering. The Peace Alliance in Ringon will have the power to intervene. So I think they’ll use this argument to convince Mainland not to strike.”
That was one theory, for sure… But then, there were other possibilities that made Dess shiver. And it sounded somehow off, perhaps naive even. Or Nadia was the naive one.
“Is there more?” Saytera asked.
Another document.
“Staralloy and Heliumforge… merge? It must be something related to business.” Nadia sounded uncertain.
There was just the title, without more explanation. A plan to merge the companies. They were silent for a moment.
Dess was thoughtful. “Heliumforge is a mining company. They explore Sumeria. They also manufacture weapons. Can you go back to the shieldbreaker?”
Nadia begrudgingly went back. There is was, Heliumforge’s symbol.
Dess said, “It seems that Heliumforge is providing the shieldbreaker. They are the ones Mainland is dealing with.”
Saytera said, “Well, it is about business, right? Heliumforge is providing the shield destroyer. If they are planning on merging… ”
The unsaid words rang heavy in the room.
“Is there more?” Dess asked.
Nadia shook her head.
Larissa approached. “There should be encrypted details there somewhere. I can try to break them.” She pulled a stick from her pocket. “I also have the information from Mainland.”
Nadia’s eyes widened. “You had it with you?”
“Aren’t we glad we didn’t give them to the nice people on your moon?” Larissa said. She then turned to everyone. “Can you give me some time? All of you. I want to check this stuff but I need peace of mind. I’ll have an answer in an hour or so. Go.” Her eyes were beseeching. “All of you. I need to focus.”
Dess, Saytera, and her other friend were leaving the room. The girl turned to Nadia. “You, too.”
She got up and followed them. Once they were out in the hallway, Dess said, “I’ll try to see if I can get a kitchen working and maybe find supplies.” She turned to Nadia and the other girl. “You two, can—”
“Dess, you’re not giving orders,” Nadia said. “You just got here.”
“Wow, sorry. Didn’t know I was disrupting an already established hierarchy.”
Saytera turned to him. “We could all go together to the ki
tchen and try to find something comforting.”
The architecture in that place was similar to Sapphirlune, with hallways with glass walls. The kitchen was similar to the one in the academy. Dess smiled. “I could get this up and running.” He opened the storage. “There are some supplies.”
“Are they still good?” Saytera asked.
“I’ll check. Anything with less than 7 years expiration will get thrown, of course. Did you guys bring anything?”
Nadia bit her lip. “Not anything to make new food, just meal bars for a couple days.”
“I think there were supplies in your father’s ship,” Dess said. “I’ll try to bring them here.”
Saytera turned to Nadia. “Has your father ever said anything about escaping or something?”
“We had a ship ready—which Dess took. But it’s normal, right? I mean, if things get bad, we’re obvious targets.”
“True.” Saytera nodded.
Perhaps she was getting into something. Dess tried to insist. “But did you think he’d been considering leaving Sapphirlune? Building another city?”
Nadia sighed. “He’s always wanted to leave. I always thought that he would like the war to end, then move to Mainland. We all do, in a way. Nothing out of the ordinary.” She then got serious. “Guys, really. I get that my father was hiding something, but he’s a good person. You’re acting as if he had some kind of cunning, evil plan or something.”
“No,” Saytera said. “We’re just trying to understand what’s happening in Sapphirlune, and what they’re planning. And since you’re close to people who make decisions there, you could know something.”
Nadia crossed her arms. “Well, I don’t know anything.”
Dess looked at the shelves and found something. “Hey, this is powdered juice. We can mix it with water—” He stopped. “I need to check the water deposit. The main one.” He checked the kitchen deposit. “We have enough for juice, at least. Who wants one?”
Christina frowned. “Seven-year-old powdered juice?”
“Life on a moon. We learn to appreciate sugar and flavoring.” Nadia said. “I’ll have one.”
Saytera bit her lip. “Later, maybe.”