Unleashed

by D. R. Johnson

  “You hadn’t mentioned that before,” Selas said, furrowing his eyebrows and crossing his arms. “What can the Killer crew do for you, Kit Vel Aath?”

  “I only need one piece of information,” Kit said, leaning on her cane and keeping her eyes on him. “Has the attack begun?”

  Behind him, Kossk hissed. Fi didn’t allow any reaction to display but Selas noticed her lips tighten. Tension flooded the room.

  “How did you know about the Queen’s attack?” he asked, clearing his throat. He felt the itch and the desire to rub his temples.

  Kit chuckled. “Of course, I am aware of the attack. I sent her there.”

  His hand quivered against his arm. Fi discreetly put her hand on his side, but that didn’t take away from the fear that grabbed him. He prevented his legs from buckling but his mind raced to any possible explanation. All reactions seemed unlike him and yet they seemed natural in this second.

  “That would be a conflict of interest,” Selas said, forcing confidence into his voice. He and Kit hadn’t broken eye contact. “You endorsed us going to Catalan, and now you betray us?”

  “As is the trend in the Nebula, tidal waves of magnitude continue to make their splash,” Kit said, shrugging. Her cheerful tone disappeared but the determination in her eyes remained. “Your excursion to Danforth made quite a change, as I feared it would, so I was forced to act accordingly. Or is only Anziar allowed to briefly collaborate with Queen Bettina?”

  Selas no longer noticed any physical discomfort. Nothing seemed natural.

  “How do you know that name?”

  “We must keep our minds focus—”

  “I know the name better than you,” Kit said, scoffing. Their eyes remained fixed on each other. “Darkness has grown in the Nebula at an unprecedented rate, as I once told you, but now, light is growing at the same pace. My role is to ensure that no element destroys the others.”

  Selas remembered the clouds above Catalan. They weren’t thick, black clouds, like the clouds he once saw on Nash. These clouds were gray.

  “I have always remained on the outskirts of the Nebula and gathered mortal resources. As soon as Anziar regained control and wreaked havoc on the Bombard, I felt it. I knew that the time had come for me to take action,” Kit said, stepping forward and slamming her cane. “I hired that reporter and gave him the means to air his message. I knew that the news of the Bombard would reach at least one idealistic planet.”

  Selas inhaled and rubbed his temples. Cyan Feros’ voice echoed as the distant memory became clear.

  “You are your own person. Your name shall be Selas Taban, and you shall keep him at bay.”

  “Obviously, it was not hard to use my connections to find the pirates that hid your crew. We created the underground movement and light grew, beginning to balance out the darkness. However, when you again defeated Anziar, the potential for the light to grow too strong became evident. The assassination of Governor Badesha and this attack advances darkness, allowing neither to gain dominance.”

  Selas didn’t remember the master of gray, but now, he knew why Kit’s face captivated him. She’d stood with Cyan as he’d sealed Anziar inside his mind and created Selas. The master of gray and the master of light united for that common purpose, but that didn’t mean that the master of gray had the same aspirations as the master of light.

  Now, Kit’s actions and statements made sense. Her lack of care for morality, trust, and virtue. Her apathy toward evil and the government of Queen Bettina. Kit Vel Aath stood in-between and rested in the vague space that darkness and light didn’t touch. The space that didn’t have clear rules and that only did what benefited that space. Kit ruled the gray.

  Kossk and Fi both stared at Selas, letting him take the lead. He continued to stare at Kit, making his voice reactivate. “Your actions seem as dark as Anziar’s from my perspective, Kit.”

  “Do not allow Sora Trok’s narrow mind to overtake your own. Morality is relative,” Kit said, scowling. Disgust crossed her face. “Anziar takes life and gives anarchy, hence why he must be kept at bay. He is unable to restrict himself. However, that does not mean that the light has free reign. Such a view is foolish and one-sighted, uselessly pitting good against evil. The gray gives true complexity to the Nebula, so it must survive.”

  Selas growled. Thunder echoed and the roar of engines followed. The next step of Kit’s plan commenced.

  “Darkness has terrorized the life of my family and the people I love,” Selas said, taking Fi’s hand and lifting it. “I refuse to let any of that survive, no matter what that means for the gray. The darkness has taken too many people.”

  “Perhaps that isn’t always negative,” Kit said, spitting. “Some death, such as Governor Badesha’s, are necessary and allow the gray to continue. Selas, I contact you because I implore you to see the truth.”

  “What truth?” Fi said, grimacing.

  Kit didn’t look at Fi but responded. “The truth that you, Selas, stand in a monumental position. Anziar cannot be allowed to return but what remains of him cannot be destroyed. Do not fight the Queen’s army. Allow darkness to retain some grip on the Nebula. That is part of who you are, Selas Taban.”

  Selas rubbed his temples again. Cyan Feros wanted to stop Anziar, but Kit Vel Aath wanted to use Selas as a puppet. A puppet that kept Anziar out of power but kept enough of him around so that the gray could thrive in the Nebula. She’d discouraged the crew from traveling to Danforth so that he wouldn’t fight anymore darkness.

  Again, he felt his head throb, but not from Anziar. Most of his life, Selas refused to fight darkness. He refused it by not facing Jekk and Caleb. He refused it by allowing failure and fear to dominate his mind.

  “Selas,” Fi said, rubbing his hand. “Stay with me.”

  “You were made from darkness,” Kit said, scoffing again. “You use this woman as a defense mechanism because you are incapable of overcoming it. This is the burden that we created you to carry.”

  Selas winced. Kit spoke what he believed. Sora and Fi defeated Anziar each time, not him. Selas lost to him on Wantim and he’d nearly lost to him on Danforth. Every time the darkness encircled Selas, he ultimately surrendered to it.

  “Remember,” Fi said, lowering her voice to a whisper. “You brought Jekk back.”

  Selas heard himself telling Fi that inside the prison. He heard Sora telling that to him inside the medical bay.

  “Focus your mind,” Kossk said, hissing quietly.

  “You brought me back,” Fi said, rubbing his hand continuously, just as he rubbed hers in the medical bay. “Twice.”

  During the last year, Selas chose to fight darkness. He chose it by fighting Queen Bettina and helping the crew. He chose it by overcoming Anziar. He chose it by bringing Jekk and Fi back. He chose it by refusing to dwell on his failure and fear.

  Lasers echoed. The attack began. Everyone needed to step up if they wanted to make it off this planet with Scout.

  Darkness came, Anziar or not, and Selas Taban fought that darkness. That’s who he chose to be.

  “Morality has a place in our crew, Kit,” he said, putting his hand down and returning his stare to her void eyes. He gripped Fi’s hand. “Darkness hurt Fi and she is a part of who I am. As long as darkness retains any grip on the Nebula, I will fight it. That is who Selas Taban is.”

  Selas reached forward and de-activated the central communicator, experiencing the relief as the throbbing faded.

  “Your mind remains focused on the battle of your soul,” Kossk said, nodding at him. “Let your mind take pride in that.”

  “First, we have a battle,” Selas said, looking at both Kossk and Fi. No more arguing. He rushed out the door and into the corridor, heading for the ramp.

  Darkness awaited.

  17

  The tower shook, nearly knocking Chief Bosnan into his newest captor. The younger Catalan native hopped to regain his footing, before dropping the scientist’s chains and darting to the door. He unlocked the door
and allowed it to drift open, peering into the corridor. Seconds later, gunfire echoed from outside the towers. Chief Bosnan blinked and watched in the background.

  “That warrior summoned the rest of Queen Bettina’s forces,” the young man said, shuddering. “We cannot fight back against that.”

  “You are foolish to keep me here. I have done nothing except further the cause of our planet and our people,” Chief Bosnan said, nearly tripping as he stumbled over his shackles. “I have committed no crime against the people of Catalan. I have made advances that could be our greatest discoveries.”

  “You know that I cannot help you,” the young native said, continuing to peer out the door. Shadows of other natives ran in every direction. “Chief Kasco ordered that you be kept here until Lady Cerasi departs.”

  “Yes,” Chief Bosnan said, stumbling another few steps forward and taking a labored breath. “Of course, obey your new chief. I apologize.”

  “I understand that this is a lot to take in, Chief Bosnan. It’s understandable that you would not immediately submit to the man who was once your infe—”

  “My apology did not pertain to Kasco.”

  The young man looked away from the door, confused. Chief Bosnan lifted his wrists and slammed the metal chains into the man’s speckled, tender forehead. The back of his head rammed into the wall and he slumped to the ground. More gunfire boomed while Chief Bosnan lifted his restrained hands and smashed the chains into the door.

  The chains remained tight. The scientist grunted, lifting his hands again and smashing them with more force. Purple blood dripped from his hands.

  Chief Bosnan nearly choked on his next labored breath. He repeated the process and a small crack formed in one of the restraints that wrapped his wrists together.

  He threw his arms back, giving them the most altitude that his body could reach. Then, he dropped his arms in front of him and instantly slammed his entire body into the door, crushing the chains from both sides. The main link broke and they fell off his hands.

  Chief Bosnan gasped, pulling more oxygen into his lungs. He bent down and shoved the remaining chains off his legs, maneuvering his feet through the maze to give them freedom. As he kicked the tangled metal away, he panted and nearly collapsed next to his fellow man.

  However, he opened the door and stumbled into the hallway, allowing his legs to re-adjust themselves. Several others of his kind darted past him but didn’t seem to pay attention, focused on Catalan’s attackers.

  “I will not return to her hell and lay the achievements of Catalan on a royal platter,” Chief Bosnan said, growling as he progressed through the corridor. “Nor will I allow Kasco’s limited perspective to slaughter our people.”

  Chief Bosnan walked around a corner, passing another hurried native. “No, I will resume our people’s cause independently.”

  The scientist quickened his pace, moving his weakened feet as fast as they would allow. He nudged another of his kind as they passed each other, but again, everyone else remained focused on the battle at hand. Chief Bosnan sped up, entering another corridor and colliding with an armored, taller human.

  “Oh,” Chief Bosnan said, backing away and rubbing his head. “Excuse me---”

  The armored man stepped out of the way, revealing Felicia Malone.

  Chief Bosnan groaned. “Oh no.”

  “I believe you meant to say ‘Hello, Felicia, I’ve missed you’,” Felicia said, narrowing her eyes and stepping closer. “We left on such uncertain terms on the Bombard. We are overdue to catch up.”

  “I believe that our terms were quite clear when you rejected my creations,” Bosnan said, backing away. Another woman appeared and blocked his way, forcing him to remain in front of Felicia.

  “Kurt and Jenn see my point of view,” Felicia said, smiling and pointing to the armored man beside her and the woman behind Bosnan. “Now, if I recall correctly, you fled from me in the hangar. I fulfilled my end of our bargain on Wantim, and yet, you never came through. I do hate outstanding debts.”

  “There is no time for this. Queen Bettina is attacking my people, and she will recapture me—”

  “Ah,” Felicia said, widening her smile and raising a finger. “So, you have been serving her Highness. You turned Tian into Lady Cerasi, didn’t you? I know your work when I see it.”

  “The Queen has held me captive for months and forced me to modify the technology I used on my first soldiers. Lady Cerasi now knows nothing of her former life and follows every order of Bettina,” Chief Bosnan said, scowling. “I did none of it out of freewill. Once again, the royal family has robbed the people of Catalan.”

  “Yet you did perfect the control that your brood of monsters so desperately needed,” Felicia said, waving her finger. Her eyes glistened in the bright corridor. “That research could be very valuable to me.”

  Chief Bosnan grimaced. “That research rests in the hands of Queen Bettina. I must go before she—”

  “No,” Felicia said, lowering her voice and hovering her index finger in front of Chief Bosnan’s eyes. Her smile vanished, replaced by a cold expression. “Your brilliant mind would never forget such an achievement. You will replicate all of your research for me. You will add on to the army I am currently building. You will do everything I say…”

  Kurt and Jenn each grabbed one side of Chief Bosnan, squeezing his arms. He winced.

  “…until this galaxy is in the palm of my hand.”

  Chief Bosnan glared at Kurt and Jenn, who both looked unconcerned with his suffering. Felicia’s icy glare rested on Bosnan, who sighed and relaxed his muscles.

  “Yes, Miss Malone.”

  “The conditions will be much more humane than the Queen’s prison, I promise you that,” Felicia said, lowering her finger. She glanced at Kurt and Jenn before beckoning to the opposite end of the hall. “Take him to our ship.”

  Jaskia charged, allowing the freezing rain to pummel her body. She swerved out of a red laser’s trajectory, tilted her pistol upward, and fired at the nearest soldier’s helmet. The shot left a black mark on his helmet but didn’t deter him. She dropped to the ground and rolled to the edge of the platform, while red lasers trailed behind.

  She threw her weight onto her stomach and lifted her pistol again, but several purple lasers killed the soldier before she could. She snorted.

  “Jask, let me out there,” Sem said, calling from a barricade of boxes in front of the doorway behind Jaskia. She pointed her modified rifle at the soldiers marching from the other end of the landing pad. “If I lived through the streets of Peor, I can do this crap.”

  “Nope,” Jaskia said, shaking her head and standing up. “Keep playing target practice. Just consider this training.”

  “She’s right, Sem!” Li said, shaking the water off his own rifle and frowning at the approaching army. “We’re not ready for that.”

  “Shut up, kid, who else is going to have her back out there?” Sem said, scoffing.

  “I’m literally the same ag—”

  “I will,” Nait said, rushing out of the doorway and past the younger kids. His eyes narrowed at Jaskia, while she shook her head. “We’ve got to hold them back for a little bit, right?”

  “If you want another kiss, now’s not the time.”

  Nait didn’t smile or laugh. Instead, he seemed totally focused. “I don’t. I just want my sister back, and we have to fight together to get that.”

  Jaskia nodded, ducking from another laser. Several zoomed past Nait, while Li and Sem gave some cover fire. Nait crouched and reached Jaskia’s side, firing at the marching soldiers. The soldiers stomped side-by-side, as usual, and exited the transports in mass quantities. Only army transports, soldiers, and this group occupied the landing pad. The Killer occupied the next pad, but this one belonged to the royal army. Some soldiers leapt off the edge of the landing pad, descending to the tower cluster’s lower levels.

  It wouldn’t take long for the royal army to overwhelm Catalan. Jenn made a valid point: Th
ey couldn’t stay here for long.

  “Glad you’re thinking straight,” Jaskia said, somersaulting forward and pressing the trigger repeatedly. Orange lasers flew across the platform but she glanced back at Nait. “Looks good on you.”

  Nait fired above Jaskia’s head and she continued to apply her own pressure. Blue and orange collided with the red and purple that closely followed. The lasers only hit a couple of soldiers, while Jaskia scrambled backward from the incoming fire. Two lasers burned her leg but didn’t stop her movement.

  She’d take lasers over a bullet to the stomach. She regained her full mobility and Bettina wouldn’t take that from her.

  “What’s our strategy?” Sem said, throwing her head forward to avoid an incoming shot. Li fired again, providing more cover fire, while Sem lifted her head. “There’s too many to just keep shooting.”

  “We just have to get as many as we can until Naos gets to Scout,” Nait said, raising his voice above the echoing thunder. Lightning illuminated his confident face. “He will.”

  Jaskia didn’t have the blind optimism of the Killer crew, but for once, she wished that she could feel that. She came for Scout because Scout fought for her. They cared about each other and Jaskia wanted to see her friend live. She hadn’t seen Scout at all yet.

  Otherwise, Nait and the others remained as part of her past. The Ghosts stood as Jaskia’s present and future and she preferred it that way. Regardless of how much Nait questioned it, Felicia served as her biggest opportunity to build the Ghosts quickly. Jaskia saw Queen Bettina as the only one worth fighting at this point.

  If Felicia and Kurt helped her find more suffering kids like Li and Sem, she’d choose that future, trust or no trust. That future went far beyond her and her personal preferences.

  Jaskia shoved her back into the railing, evading another three red lasers. She fired at the closest soldier, burning through the last metal in his armor. Nait and Li killed another soldier, but more filled their spots within seconds. Jaskia noticed less of a gap between the landing pad and the doorway.