The Rogue Prince (Sky Full of Stars, Book 1)

by Lindsay Buroker

  Dominguez grunted. “Maybe I should. But no, I’m out of practice. Marchenko will find someone good on Arkadius, I’m sure.” His mouth twisted with bitterness. “She knows enough Alliance people with sway to make certain of it.”

  The bitterness surprised Jelena. After all these years, was he still angry that the empire had fallen and that people had moved on with their lives? Or was it just that her mom had been one of those who fought to topple the empire?

  Erick touched her elbow. “We should go.”

  “Yeah,” Jelena said, but she didn’t move. They had come all the way down here. To leave with nothing would be so fruitless, and if the people who had worked with Thor these last years didn’t know where he was, how would she ever find him? “Wait.” She lifted her hand, a thought coming to mind. “Can we see his room? Did he leave any of his things here?”

  “Yes, but he didn’t have much,” Dominguez said. “We’ve all lived simply here.”

  How sad that Thor had grown up in this gloomy, spartan place. Had he even been allowed to play with those Zizblocks he’d enjoyed as a kid?

  “I’d like to take a look if it’s all right,” Jelena said. Maybe he had left behind some clue, something they could use to figure out where he’d gone.

  “The room was damaged in the bombing,” Dominguez said, “and we’ve already looked through his things.”

  “Oh, let her look, Alejandro.” Vlad waved a weak hand. “You shouldn’t be so crotchety with pretty women.”

  “She’s not going to tend to your wounds no matter how often you call her that,” Dominguez told him.

  Vlad winked at her. “You never know. Don’t give up on hope, old friend.”

  Dominguez sighed again and headed for the door. “Don’t die while I’m gone,” he called over his shoulder.

  “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

  Jelena followed him out of the room, pleased by the small victory. She hoped it would lead somewhere. Even though she couldn’t truly claim to know Thor anymore, she believed she might see something the old men had missed, some hint that might be clearer to someone who’d once fled from planet to station to moon with Thor. Or maybe her younger eyes would just be better at spotting clues.

  Dominguez led them down the hall and around a corner. Up ahead, the ceiling had caved in, and rubble blocked the route. He turned before they reached it, pushing open an unadorned wood door.

  Even though the stark room they entered held a narrow bed, Jelena wouldn’t have thought of it as someone’s bedroom. More like a guest room that rarely saw use. A dresser and a desk, both empty on top, were the only other furnishings. Rubble littered the floor, and uneven cracks marred all the walls, proof of the damage Dominguez had mentioned.

  Jelena walked to the only wall with something on it. It held a massive map of the system, the three suns, the dozens of planets and moons, and even the major stations. It was made entirely of puzzle pieces that had been glued together and mounted to the wall. There must have been five or ten thousand pieces. Several had fallen out and lay on the ground among dirt and rocks.

  While Erick moved around the room, poking in drawers, Jelena picked up one of the dusty pieces. It was from one of the planets, with a small skyscraper on it to represent one of the major cities. Perun Central, she decided, when she spotted the matching hole on the map. It seemed a shame to have the puzzle, which must have taken hours upon hours to complete, in disarray, so she plunked the piece back into its slot.

  “I need to get back to my patients,” Dominguez said.

  Jelena nodded and lifted a hand. She would prefer to investigate without anyone watching over them. After she finished fixing the puzzle. She bent down to poke through the rubble for more pieces and found one under a rock. She paused. Was that strange? That the pieces would have shaken loose first? It seemed more likely that they would have fallen as the rocks were falling or would have been knocked from the wall because rocks had struck them. In that case, shouldn’t most of the pieces be on top of the rubble?

  “Underwear, socks with holes, and a few black and gray T-shirts,” Erick said, pushing drawers shut. “No clues there, other than that he didn’t have room in his bag to pack everything.”

  Jelena stood up with the second puzzle piece in hand. It had a dark sphere with lights on it to represent a space station. She eyed the map, looking for the spot it had come out of. There. Labels were integrated into the puzzle, and the one below the missing piece read Primus 7.

  “Doesn’t look like he left any papers or anything in his desk drawers,” Erick said. “No diary full of his plans to take over the system. No to-do list with assassination targets on it, either.”

  Barely hearing him, Jelena let her gaze roam over the rest of the map. There were about twenty-five pieces missing, and interestingly, they were all locations. Space stations or cities on moons or planets. With ninety percent of the puzzle taken up by empty space and stars, what were the odds that the only pieces that had fallen out were from the other ten percent? From places.

  “Jelena?” Erick stepped up beside her and poked her in the arm. “Is this map more interesting than it looks, or are you in deep contemplation over the socks and underwear?”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  He gave her a confused look, and she realized that hadn’t answered his question.

  “If you are contemplating the underwear, I assure you, it was boring,” he said. “You’d expect an assassin to have statement pieces. Blood red briefs. Midnight black. That kind of thing.”

  “You think you can judge a person’s occupation by his or her underwear choices?” Jelena pulled out her netdisc, only half-heartedly responding to his jokes.

  “Well, their personality, anyway.”

  Jelena tapped into the satellite on the roof and from there into the sys-net. She searched for a full list of the assassinations that had been attributed to Thor.

  “Like your ponies speak volumes about you,” he added.

  “They’re unicorns.”

  “Unicorns are just as chatty as ponies.”

  “This is interesting,” Jelena said, scanning the list.

  “I assume you’re referring to something other than this conversation.”

  “That’s a given. Look.” She turned her netdisc toward him, the list of names floating in the holodisplay. And the list of locations where those people had died. Primus 7 was on the list. So was Perun Central. “By the Suns Trinity, Erick. I think we found his to-do list.”

  He squinted at the map, then at her netdisc, then back at the map. “Hm, you’ve got twenty-three missing pieces—”

  “Twenty-four.” Jelena pulled Perun Central back out. “I just stuck that in.”

  “All right, twenty-four missing pieces, and twelve people killed, twelve locations. I see what you mean about them matching up.”

  “So, maybe those other twelve are the locations of the next targets.” A chill went through Jelena as she considered the rest of the map, at how premeditated this had all been.

  “Ah.” Erick’s face wrinkled with distaste. Similar thoughts? “If that’s true, then we know where he’s going next. Or I guess we know the twelve spots he’s going next. But not in which order.”

  “Maybe we can narrow it down.” Jelena tapped her search results, reorganizing them to organize the list by dates. The Perun Central one—Dux Bondarenko—had been first. From there, she went down the list, checking the locations on the map and nodding to herself.

  “Something enlightening?” Erick asked.

  “Just that he started on Perun and then went to Draco, one of Perun’s moons, then here, here, here, and here.” She tapped the locations on the map as she spoke. They weren’t precisely linear, since space wasn’t overly linear, but he had chosen them in an order designed to make the travel time between destinations as short as possible. “Still on the to-do list, it looks like we’ve got . . .” Her gut clenched as she stared at a familiar planet with two missing puzzle pieces in that lo
cation. “Arkadius.”

  She met Erick’s eyes.

  “A lot of people live on Arkadius,” he said. “Odds are against Dr. Horvald being one of his targets.”

  “But how many of the people living there were important people who defected during the war?”

  “Probably a lot more than we know about. But look, Arkadius wouldn’t be his next logical stop. It would be the one after this one.” He pointed to another planet. “Blue Armadillo, a city on Upsilon Seven.”

  Jelena grimaced. “He’s going to kill someone on the planet where we used to ride horses? That’s disturbing.”

  “It’s all disturbing.” Erick grabbed her netdisc and shut it down.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Look, Jelena. It was one thing when we weren’t sure if he was responsible, when you thought someone might be framing him. But that’s not the case.” He tapped the map with his forefinger. “He had this all planned out weeks ago, if not months ago. Years ago. Who knows?”

  “I get that.”

  “Do you?” Erick raised his eyebrows frankly. “This isn’t the boy you played Zizblocks with as a kid. He’s all grown up and he’s turned into a psychopath.”

  “That’s not necessarily true. He’s going after the people who wronged his family, who were responsible for killing his parents and maybe for the fall of the empire. Clearly he cares. He’s not randomly—”

  “It doesn’t matter. You don’t kill people because they helped the side you weren’t rooting for in a war. Especially not after ten years. There has to be a statute of limitations on this kind of thing.”

  “Really?” This time, she gave him the frank look. “If someone killed your parents, you’d just forget about it because X number of years had passed?”

  “I wouldn’t assassinate the people who did it. I’d let the law handle it.”

  “Yeah, and what if the people who made the laws were protecting the people who did it because those people happened to be on their side?”

  “You sound like you’re condoning his actions.”

  “I’m not,” she snarled, then took a deep breath and lifted her hands. “I’m not,” she said more quietly. “I’m just not ready to condemn him.”

  “I am.”

  Erick walked out of the room.

  Chapter 9

  The comm beeped, and Jelena reached to answer it, but hesitated when she saw the caller’s identity. Mom.

  The Snapper had left Halite Moon two days earlier, and Jelena had set a course for Arkadius, but she kept thinking about how they were still at a point where they could easily veer off toward Upsilon Seven. Back on the moon, they had found a large island near the equator, one without any giant, crazy predators stomping about, and she had dropped off the monkeys there.

  The dogs, pigs, and cats, all very domesticated, would need to go somewhere with homes where people would take them in. Somewhere like Upsilon Seven perhaps. With all the open spaces there, it should be an animal paradise, and she had already looked up a few shelters that could help with placement. She’d almost talked herself into making the course correction, and here was a message from Mom coming in, a reminder that she and Leonidas and the rest of the family were waiting on Arkadius.

  Jelena needed to see them first. Erick didn’t think she should go see Thor at all, at any point. Ever. He hadn’t been subtle about stating that multiple times, and he’d also pointed out that the Upsilon Seven assassination hadn’t happened yet, or at least that nothing had been reported by the news. The Snapper should reach Arkadius before Thor could, and they could report to the Alliance that Thor was coming to that planet. If Dr. Horvald was a target, the Alliance could protect him if they had warning.

  It made sense, and Jelena didn’t disagree with the notion, but . . .

  She couldn’t help but feel she would be abandoning Thor if she didn’t go and warn him about the Alliance assassins. And she hated the idea of giving them tips on where he planned to go next. Oh, she wanted the assassinations stopped, especially if someone important to her family might be a target, but what if, in tipping off the Alliance, she set Thor up to be captured? Or killed.

  If she could find him first and talk to him, maybe she could somehow convince him that what he was doing was wrong. Erick might not be right about everything, but he was right about that. She didn’t disagree, even if she could understand what was motivating Thor. There ought to be some other, better way for him to fulfill his father’s wishes. Had his father truly wanted this? Revenge assassinations?

  The beep came again. Jelena answered it, though she feared it would be bad news. Even if it wasn’t, Mom would be wondering where she was. She felt guilty that she was glad they were too far away for real-time communications. This would be a recorded message reaching her.

  Mom’s face came up on the display. She smiled, but that weary tenseness still marked her face, the worry lines framing her eyes. Seeing that brought tears to Jelena’s own eyes and made her regret her side trip.

  “Hello, sweetie,” Mom said. “We haven’t heard from you for a few days, so I wanted to check in. Are you on your way to Arkadius? We’ve arrived, and we’re taking Leonidas to see Dr. Horvald now to find out what option is best. How far out are you? Let me know when you’re close. He’s been asking what you’re up to. He has that suspicious squint to his eyes when he asks, like he thinks you’re off finding trouble somewhere.” She smiled at what she must have thought was a joke.

  Jelena swallowed, more guilt swelling in her throat.

  “It’s that same look he used to get when he suspected you’d stuck more than the agreed upon four stickers on his armor case,” Mom added. She paused, her own throat sounding like it was tight. After taking a breath, she went on. “Anyway, we hope to see you soon. Update us as soon as you get this, please. Yumi and Mica and Beck—Uncle Tommy—are coming to visit, and I think Abelardus and Young-hee may even be coming. You know nothing will force Leonidas to get better more quickly than Abelardus making smug comments about his physical condition.” She glanced toward the spot where the chronometer was on the Nomad. “I better go. They’ll be ready for him now. Oh, but one more thing.” Mom’s expression shifted to wry and knowing, and Jelena suddenly worried that she had heard about everything, or at least about the animal rescue. “I don’t have time to record a message for Erick, but do let him know that he left something off Little Ostberg’s résumé.”

  Jelena blinked. Erick’s brother was seventeen—how much was he supposed to have on his résumé? It was impressive as it was that he was so good with machines and engines. Clearly, he got that from his older brother, even if he hadn’t developed Starseer talents.

  “Erick didn’t mention that Austin is afraid of ghosts,” Mom said.

  “Er,” Jelena said and almost answered further, forgetting this wasn’t a live message.

  “He’s decided that since the Star Nomad is eight decades old, tons of people must have died on it.” Mom’s eyes tightened, and Jelena remembered that her own mother had passed away on the ship when a mechanical failure had stranded her without life support. “He’s set up what he calls a ghostometer in engineering,” Mom continued, “and now, he’s got the twins certain that they’re seeing ghosts. They’re alternating between being afraid to go to bed, because ghosts will leap out of the cabinets, and wanting to go ghost hunting in the middle of the night with Austin.” Mom shook her head, somewhere between bemused and exasperated. “If there are ghosts on my ship, not that we believe in such things, I don’t want him stirring them up. We may have to do an engineer trade when you get to Arkadius. Take care of yourself, sweetie. See you soon.” Mom lifted her hand, and the display darkened in closing.

  “Sorry, Thor,” Jelena whispered, and removed her hands from the console, all thoughts of changing their course leaving her mind.

  Since she knew he planned to go to Arkadius after Upsilon Seven, maybe she could catch up with him there. The idea of standing by and letting him kill someone else w
as distasteful, but she also couldn’t imagine contacting the authorities on Upsilon Seven and warning them about his plans. She didn’t want him to keep killing people, but she also didn’t want him to be caught. Did that make her some kind of accomplice? Was she doing the wrong thing?

  “How is this even my battle?” she muttered. Just because she’d stuck her nose in and gathered some information . . .

  But she didn’t truly know that much, right? She knew the destinations, but not the names of the people he would target at each place. Admittedly, with some research she could make some likely guesses. But was it her job to do this research? So she could turn in an old friend? An old friend who’d turned to murder.

  She groaned, her head starting to hurt.

  Under the console, the heretofore silent Alfie flapped her tail against the deck.

  “Don’t worry, girl,” Jelena said. “We’re still going to find you a nice home.”

  Alfie nuzzled her hand. She might have been offering comfort or she might have been looking for a dog treat. Jelena fished one out of her pocket and gave it to her.

  “We still heading to Arkadius?” Erick asked, shooting her a suspicious look as he walked into NavCom. He’d asked that question and given her similar looks every time he’d passed through in the last two days. Even though Grandpa had promised she’d gotten to the point where she could protect her thoughts from other Starseers, Jelena suspected something might be leaking out. Or Erick just knew her too well.

  “Of course,” Jelena said, as if it would be silly to think anything else.

  Erick leaned over her shoulder to verify their course. She gave him a dour look.

  “What?” he asked. “You told the cyborg that she was going to Starfall Station, and the next thing she knew, she was looking out the porthole at a big, green, forested moon.”

  “She has a name now.”

  “Yes, and she has a hobby too.” Erick’s expression grew bemused.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Follow me.” He crooked one finger and walked out of NavCom.