by Keary Taylor
“Nothing has been exactly straightforward or simple since getting here,” I hiss, glaring back at him. “Don’t go jumping to conclusions when you know nothing.”
“Apparently,” he says, his tone annoyed and condescending.
We all slow as we come up to a huge opening, a gathering room. A group of soldiers crosses it, every one of them holding a Neron-powered firearm. We wait, silently, until they clear the space.
We silently slip through, heading into the hallway across, and cut through another. I press my hand to the scanner for the elevator and we only wait for five tense seconds before the wall opens up and we step inside.
“The Kinduri messed with my head as soon as Edan and I got here,” I rush into explanations the second the doors close, knowing we have about one minute. “They made it so that I can’t kill Cyrillius. They’ve also been messing with Valen’s head his entire life, making it so that he’s loyal and can’t leave Cyrillius or Dominion.”
I take a deep breath, staring at the shiny metal doors in front of me, trying to sort through all the important information I need to share.
“Soon after I started building weapons on Korpillion, I started hearing this…voice in my head,” I say, and even as I do, I shift my weight so I’m a little closer to Valen, my shoulder brushing against his. “It was Valen, but I didn’t realize it at first. I didn’t know I was a Nero yet, so we didn’t know why we formed a telepathic connection. But we did, and over the lunars we grew closer, confiding in each other. We became…friends.”
With the words, Valen shifts closer to me, and all my blood sparks electric.
“I can’t even explain it, but there is something…” I struggle to find the words to explain this. “Valen and I… We’re…”
“Our futures are tied together,” Valen says in very clear, simple terms. “Neither of us liked what we saw, but the emotional consequences of what we saw in the future changed everything. So I’m going to do whatever it takes to change that future into one we want.”
I’m struck dumb and silent. My eyes slide up to his, and he looks back down at me, his expression dead serious and even.
A small smile pulls on my lips. My eyes shift to meet Zayne’s.
“So you’ve never even met him in person and you’re in love with him because you’ve seen your future, and it’s with him?” Zayne questions in a condescending, questioning tone.
“None of that is true,” I say, feeling my insides harden. “Now, what the void are you doing here on Isroth?”
“What do you think we’re doing?” he says, his eyes hardening. “You took off in the middle of the night with that maniac, leaving a note that you’re going to kill Cyrillius. So when after a lunar with no word on The Black Hole of Truth that Cyrillius is dead, we had to assume the worst. The three of us fixed a ship and came after you to save you.”
“You did a splendid job,” I say with bite as emotions prick my eyes. I’m seeing Cyrillius holding that Neron sword to my father’s throat again. I’m seeing Nymiah bringing down the building.
I have no way of knowing if Cyrillius intentionally drew the blade across my father’s throat, or if it happened by accident with the debris falling.
But either way, he’s gone now.
“Nova, I-”
“They came because they love you, Nova,” Valen says. And I’m surprised by the hard edge in his voice. He shuts me down in my anger and frustration.
I shut my mouth. I stare blankly at the elevator doors.
“We didn’t anticipate the security around Isroth.” It’s Nymiah who continues the story when I hurt Zayne enough he couldn’t speak. “They took us in, took us straight to Gara Lune for questioning by the Kinduri. I…I don’t remember much after that until you and Valen started killing everyone.”
I nod, even if I can’t speak. Thankfully, I don’t have to, because the elevator doors open just then, and we step out into the blinding white laboratory.
There must have been some kind of security alert issued, because normally this lab would be busy with workers, but right now it’s completely vacant. We walk through, and Valen instantly destroys the cameras.
We hook around the stairs that rise up to my personal lab. I take them two at a time, and then stop short when I reach the top.
Edan sits in a chair at the table, his feet propped up on it, having a drink.
“Took you long enough,” he says, looking up at me from beneath his lashes with that manic grin.
“You slam maniac,” I growl at him as I head to the table I left the breastplates on, realizing Edan is already wearing one. I grab the other two and shove them at Nymiah and Zayne. “Here I thought you’d be curled up in some hole, and you’re just lounging out in the open, in probably the most obvious place. I can’t believe we aren’t getting swarmed now.”
“The obvious places are usually the best hiding places,” he says with a smile as he stands. His eyes slide to Valen, who he casually walks up to, extending a hand. “You must be Valen Nero. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Zayne shoots me a dark expression, a look of betrayal, because up until a few minutes ago, he’d heard absolutely nothing about Valen.
“And you must be Edan,” Valen responds as he shakes his hand.
“Pleasure,” Edan says with that scary-looking smile.
“This is all very heart warming, but we really should get out of here,” I say as I help Nymiah strap on the breastplate. I press the touchscreen, activating it. Instantly a blue bubble shimmers around her for two seconds, before it becomes invisible again.
“It’s a personal Neron shield,” I say as I strap the other on Zayne, not looking him in the eye. “It should protect you from any kind of blasts, at least ones the size of firearms. Cannons will be a different story.”
“Should?” Nymiah questions as she stretches her arms out, watching as the air ripples around her, conforming to her shape.
“They’re prototypes,” I say, grabbing the new double-ended staff I made just two days ago, and clip it onto my belt. I had to leave my original one hidden on The Corsair. “I haven’t gotten a chance to test them yet.”
“You’re a beautiful experiment,” Edan says as he claps his hand on Zayne’s shoulder with that manic smile. Zayne shrugs him off with a sneer.
“Let’s go,” Valen says, seeing I’ve gotten everything I need.
Without another word, we turn and head out the door and back down the stairs. We cut through the main lab, and aim for the elevator.
Only when we press the buttons for it, nothing happens.
“Slag,” Zayne breathes.
The next second, the lights all go out. We’re plunged into utter darkness.
I hear a crack, and a few seconds later, blue flames spark, quickly growing.
Valen lit one of the tables on fire.
“You really think that you can escape?” A voice bellows through the room, over the loud speaker. “You really thought it would be so easy? I don’t know if that is endearingly ignorant, or insulting, Nova Nero.”
I hear the sound of metal doors sliding open and then the sound of dozens of footsteps flooding into the lab.
I hold my hands up, creating a shield of Neron.
As my eyes adjust to the dim light, I see hundreds of soldiers flooding into the lab.
I had forgotten there was another elevator, another passageway across the lab. Until the doors open, and out walks Cyrillius.
“Take out the three spares,” Cyrillius doesn’t hesitate in giving life-ending commands. “Do not kill the two Nero.”
“Count again,” Nymiah says as her expression darkens. And she unleashes a volley of Neron spears at the twenty soldiers nearest her.
The shots unleash. The soldiers fire, blasting away.
And all void breaks loose.
I’m blasting Neron as quickly as I can pull it from the air. I’m stealing it from their weapons, firing it right back at them, re-directing it. But there are hundreds of them, maybe
even a thousand, now.
It’s an all-out war. The Nero against the soldiers. And then hand to hand as more and more of them force their way in on our circle. Zayne parries and jabs with his Neron rapier. Edan somehow recovered his club, and swings, completely obliterating anyone it comes into contact with, stabbing others right through the heart with the pointed end.
A scream rips through my chest as I pull all the Neron from the air, and shoot it back out in a solid sheet. The thirty nearest soldiers are sliced clean in half and drop to the ground, dead.
I’m mesmerized as I catch glimpses of Valen fighting. He spins and parries, gathering Neron around his hands, slicing through throats and sending life-ending pulses of energy through bodies as they pile around him.
I nearly forgot. Valen was trained as a soldier before he manifested his abilities. He’s been trained his entire life how to fight.
“Zayne!” I scream as the bodies pile higher and higher around me. “The elevator!”
The lights flicker back on, illuminating the path. “Edan, get out of here. Nymiah! Get to the ship! We will meet you there as soon as we can!”
I see Zayne drop another soldier, but he isn’t unharmed. A rush of blood is smeared all over his face from a cut above his eye. Edan has a big cut rushing up the side of his left arm, but he swings like a maniac and doesn’t even seem to notice as he crushes three soldiers all at the same time, ending them for good.
“But, Nova-”
“She’s a big slam girl, pretty boy,” Edan says as he grabs Zayne by the back of his shirt and hauls him toward the elevator, Nymiah following behind, blasting soldiers out of the way as they run. “Let the Neros handle the rest of this mess.”
And my heart thumps in gratitude and fear as I watch them pile into the elevator and the doors close.
I just hope and pray that they have a clear path once they get back to the main level and make it to the ship.
“You fight futilely against Dominion,” I hear Cyrillius’ voice boom over the speakers. “We have worked together in peace for fourteen solars, Valen. Let the peace continue. Let us work together. We can accomplish such great things with three Nero.”
“You create mindless dogs,” Valen says as he blasts away five more soldiers. “I won’t be yours anymore.”
“You have no choice, Nero,” he says. And through the smoke, I see the shape of him walking toward us. “I saved you. I plucked you from that savage planet. You owe me your life.”
I look at Valen. And I see his resolve weakening. I see the anger in his expression faltering. I see the Neron dim.
“Valen, don’t listen to him,” I breathe. And as I realize that no one is firing at us any longer, because the soldiers were told not to kill us, I grab Valen, and extinguish the blue flames he created.
As quietly as I can, I step over the bodies, keeping Valen’s hand firmly held in mine. I aim us toward the back of the lab.
“Is this really what you want for your life, Nova?” Cyrillius’ voice comes through the dark and the smoke. “You’ve just been cleared. Do you really want a life of running? Of being a wanted criminal? A life constantly looking over your shoulder? Do you really want to live a life of being eternally hunted?”
I can’t see anything, but I rely on my memory. I feel along the back wall. Until, finally, I feel the keypad. I press the button, and hear the quiet mechanical whir of the elevator.
“I am a forgiving person,” Cyrillius continues his speech, and my skin crawls at how near he’s getting. I press the button again and again. “I understand that having the abilities you both possess must come with its own stress. A new relationship creates confusing feelings.”
And my heart drops.
“Someday I would very much like to hear the story of how the two of you truly met,” he says, turning my blood cold. “Watching your reunion was truly touching.”
Valen’s hand tightens on mine. And I feel heat. Blue light begins to shine between our hands.
It happens all at once.
The elevator finally arrives and opens, dinging as it does.
Every light in the lab turns back on, blinding us.
And Valen throws a blast of Neron so powerful that it throws everything in the lab back and away from us.
Including Cyrillius.
We step into the elevator and turn to see Cyrillius and his soldiers that are still alive thrown across the lab and hit the wall across the way with a sickening smack.
I see him slide to the floor and attempt to rise to his feet, just as the doors between us close.
My breath rips in and out of me, pulling in too fast, too fast.
My entire body is shaking from head to toe.
“Slag, Nova, you’re bleeding.”
I don’t even feel anything, but I do feel when Valen’s hands touch me, looking for the source of the blood. He finds where a shot grazed me along my back. It’s bleeding, but isn’t deep.
“Valen, I-” but I don’t have any words. I’m just exhausted and tired. And scared. I pull myself into his arms, burying my face in his chest, instead of paying attention to my injury.
I sob.
I’m not one to cry if I don’t have to. But everything has changed. Everything has fallen apart. Everyone is in danger, or worse.
And I am just too empty in this very moment.
I sob into Valen’s chest.
Gently, Valen wraps his arms around me, holding me close. And for a moment I feel safe, protected.
I let myself focus on the miracle that this is for just a moment.
After nearly a solar in each other’s heads, after resolving myself that we could never, ever be together, here we are.
Together.
“Nova!” a voice yells from my connect-link. And I startle away from Valen. “Are you alright?”
“We’re okay, for now,” I say into the device at my wrist. “Did you make it out?”
“We made it,” Zayne says, and he’s breathing hard. “Nymiah took care of a few soldiers and Kinduri on our way out, but we made it back to the roof for Torin and we’re on The Corsair. How long till you get here?”
I shake my head, looking up at the ceiling. “I’m not going to make it back to The Corsair.” And then the doors to the elevator open and we both walk out, through the dark tunnel, to where the space opens up, and I look down the railing. “Valen and I are going to have to take another ship off this planet.”
We’re slam lucky that this area has also been evacuated. I don’t want to have to kill any more people than we have to.
“Nova, the ship isn’t even finished,” Valen says, and there’s a hint of panic in his voice. “They’ve been working on this thing for solars and they can’t figure out how to make it work.”
A wild grin grows on my face as I dart down the stairs that lead to the ground level it sits upon.
“My brain has been working through this beast for weeks since Cyrillius showed it to me,” I say as I aim for the hatch and walk straight up the ramp like I own this thing.
“What are you talking about, another ship?” It’s Edan’s voice that comes through my connect-link this time.
“There was an experimental spacecraft hidden in a secondary lab, way down deep,” I say as I walk into the bridge of the ship and start pressing buttons. It’s actually quite simple. I start up the core. “It’s supposed to be the fastest ship in the galaxy.”
“Except that it isn’t finished,” Valen says loudly. “No one has flown it yet because they made the core more powerful than any ship can handle.”
“Oh, but they’ve never had a Nero as a pilot,” I say with a smile as I press the controls to close the hatch and begin compression. “They’ve never had someone who could stabilize and control the core and its energy.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see movement. Through the massive glass window before me, I see Cyrillius and his men pile out of the elevator.
They have no idea what to do.
They won’t fire o
n their incredibly expensive ship.
And we’re about to take off.
“This sounds like suicide, Nova,” Zayne’s voice yells over the connect-link.
“I’m the galaxy’s slam best mechanic and engineer,” I scoff. I’ve found my confidence again now that I’m in my territory, my zone of expertise. “Trust me. This I can handle.”
I press the control and smooth as anything, the ship lifts. I hear the sound of hundreds of supports clattering to the ground, and the yells of surprise from those on the ground. They scatter so they don’t get burned to a Neron crisp.
I back the massive ship up, and with all its automatic sensors, it finds its own way through the old mining tunnel and begins working its way to the surface.
“You’re insane!” Zayne yells through the device. “Why do you keep doing this? You keep thinking you can handle more than you can, and-”
“Have a little faith, you apprehensive worry nart,” I hear Edan. “We’ll wait for your big exit and take advantage of the distraction.”
“Thank you, Edan,” I say dramatically as I mess with the controls, figuring everything out. “Now, once we’ve lost everyone from Dominion, I think we need to take a week to make sure we aren’t being tracked. And then meet back at Salypso?”
“Sounds like a plan, Queen Nova,” Edan says.
“Stay safe,” I say, ending the connection so I can focus on what I’m doing.
“You don’t think they’re going to get shot out of the sky in two minutes?” Valen asks, coming to my side and helping me figure out the controls as we rise from the belly of Isroth.
“Zayne’s a slam good pilot,” I say as we lurch and I hear a grinding sound. “Edan is manically smart when it comes to survival. And Nymiah is a Nero. I trust my crew. They’ll be okay.”
“He’s right,” Valen says as he watches the heat sensors start going ballistic. “You’re insane.”
He lays his hands on the control deck and closes his eyes. I feel the power ripple out from him. I know he’s searching, looking for the Neron core. He’s wrapping himself around it, controlling it.