by Eva Brandt
“All the men who came to the plaza that day were useless to us. None of them would’ve qualified for the Star Fleet program, because if they had, they wouldn’t have been there in the first place. So it didn’t matter to the king if they died. They were replaceable.”
“They were still people, Brendan,” Selene argued. “It’s not right.”
“I know,” I replied. “You don’t have to tell me that. It’s just the way it is and there’s very little I can do to stop it.”
“To tell you the truth, Selene, that was my main purpose in that battle,” Knox explained. “Brendan sent me there to take care of the terrorists quickly, so that the civilians wouldn’t have to suffer a lot. We didn’t have authorization to do more. Even we have to follow rules.”
Selene’s shoulders slumped. “Oh.”
She fell silent and I ached for her, feeling wretched and inadequate. She had just been through a very traumatic experience and now, I had to go and dump this new information on her. I was an idiot.
I fully intended to apologize, but Selene stopped me. “So how does Jared fit in all of this?” she asked. “What was he supposed to do?”
August jumped at the chance to take the topic in the different direction. “Do you think he was involved with the terrorists in some way?”
“Sphinx said that if I hadn’t been there, she would’ve been stolen. I thought she was referring to the extremists who hijacked her using Gaia’s Gift, but maybe that wasn’t it. There could have been another person in the area with the ability to activate her and steal her. Maybe it was Jared.”
“Can you ask her?” Pollux suggested. “She might know more.”
Selene grimaced, but nodded. “I’ll try. I’ve been using our link a lot since this morning, but it’s still our best option.”
I sat down next to her and took her hand. “Lean on me, Selene,” I whispered. “You might not have to face tachyon fire now, but you can share whatever burdens you have with us.”
I half-expected her to refuse. The bond between a chimera and a tamer was sacred and few people were allowed to ever be involved in it. In that sense, our version of the Grand Chimera Unit had been an anomaly. Our mechas were all friendly with each other, in their own way, and encouraged our intimate relationship. Scylla and Charybdis went even further than that.
Sphinx was a little different, though, a new variable who hadn’t been completely included in the equation yet. Our earlier attempt to use her power—and that of the other chimeras—had worked, but it could’ve just been a one-off.
Selene hesitated, obviously not knowing what to do. August, Pollux, and Knox helped her decide. “You’re the one who made this decision, beautiful,” Knox pointed out. “We’re stronger together than apart, remember?”
“Right,” Selene agreed. “Sorry. I’m still having some trouble.”
We sandwiched her between our bodies, keeping our touches platonic and the contact reassuring instead of sensual. Selene closed her eyes and relaxed. I felt the moment when her mind connected to the consciousness of the Sphinx. She shuddered and grabbed my hand, although she didn’t seem to realize she was touching me at all.
We waited as she spoke with her chimera. I was tempted to approach Typhon for a conversation too, but in the end, I decided against it. I was tired and upset, and Typhon’s idea of comfort would likely not help me right now. As much as I cared about my friend, he did have a tendency to make emotional issues worse than they already were.
It took a good couple of minutes for Selene to return to us. “Sphinx says she hasn’t identified the people threatening her, but there was definitely a power there, at the plaza, who could have claimed her. So maybe that does have something to do with Jared.”
“If that’s the case, there’s very little we can do to figure out what he meant. I doubt his cousin will tell us, assuming he even knows anything about it. And the surviving terrorists are already dead.”
Selene let out a heavy sigh. “Gaia help me, this is so frustrating.”
Pollux reached for Selene’s hand and squeezed it. “We’re not going to solve this one overnight. Let it go for now. We’ll figure out what he meant another day. For the moment, you need to rest. You used some pretty strenuous tachyon manipulation and we have the third stage of the competition to worry about.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Selene answered. She didn’t sound convinced, and all of a sudden, the air between us started to crackle with renewed tension.
The silence stretched out, suffocating, unbearable, a burden that was quickly becoming impossible to carry. Although he was also having trouble, Knox managed to force himself to say something. “Is this where we apologize for lying to you?” he asked.
Selene’s lips twisted in a small, bitter smile. “You don’t need to apologize. I told you I understand. I just want to know where we go from here.” She extracted her hand from Pollux’s grip, but didn’t pull away from us, not completely. “I’m not going to leave. I won’t give up on the academy, or on Sphinx. I’ve already made my decision and nothing you say or do can change my mind. So… Where does that leave us? Do you or do you not want me?”
A few hours before, I’d watched Selene take a tachyon blast head on without flinching. I knew she was brave—too brave for her own good. And yet, there was something in those words that took me aback.
I remembered the earlier incident with Penelope and realized Selene expected us to reject her. She didn’t want us to, but she didn’t blame us for it either. “Not everything is about what we want,” I replied. “And maybe that’s a good thing. I don’t know anymore.”
“Selene, it’s true that we never wanted you here,” Pollux admitted. “It’s much too dangerous for you. You’ve seen what the academy does to people. Jared was killed for nothing, and he wasn’t even a target like you are. We won’t apologize for wanting to keep you safe.”
“Like I said, I don’t expect you to. That’s not really an answer to what I asked.”
“It is, in a way,” August offered. “What do you want? Leaving aside your decision to stay at the academy, do you still trust us enough to be in a relationship with us?”
Selene paused, considering our words. She seemed torn, and I could empathize.
If nothing else, this conversation had made it clear that we still didn’t know one another that well. The sexual attraction was there and we’d already started to build a real, emotional connection. Even so, the secrets we had weighed heavily on all of us.
A part of me wanted to share them with her. In my heart, I knew she was strong enough to carry the burden. But at the same time, I couldn’t help but deem that selfish. I was the one who’d dragged Selene into this mess. If I hadn’t slept with her, my father wouldn’t have taken such a hostile approach.
Maybe taking things further was a bad idea.
“I’ll think about it,” Selene finally said. “This isn’t the best time to talk about our love life anyway. Let’s focus on surviving the tournament and deal with the rest of it after.”
That sounded like a great plan. Nothing good could come of making rushed decisions, especially in such delicate circumstances.
“It’s not really a rushed decision,” Typhon hissed as I returned to my own bed. “You’re just lying to yourself and to your broodmate.”
“Please, stop. I’m not in the mood for your lectures right now.”
“All right, hatchling,” he said. “I’ll give you a break tonight. But make no mistake, I won’t allow you to ruin your own life because of stupid human sensibilities.”
As August dimmed the lights, I covered my head with the pillow and tried to tune Typhon out. It was useless, but he kept his promise and didn’t bug me again anyway. I fell asleep to the sound of Selene’s soft breathing and couldn’t help but think that maybe, Typhon was right.
The Fields of Mercury
Selene
In a perhaps unsurprising development, the third stage of the tournament involved an aircraft battle.
Its location was a little more shocking, and I only found out about it ten minutes before we were supposed to head there.
A drone came to see us in the mess hall and summoned us to the hangars. When we arrived there, Commander Trevor ushered every person who’d qualified into a large vessel unlike anything I’d been on before. It was part of The Crius Guard Corps and I realized this meant we’d be leaving the asteroid. “Sir, if I may ask, where are we going?”
“The Fields of Mercury,” he replied.
He didn’t provide any further explanations, but he didn’t have to. Those simple four words made my situation more than clear.
Mercury had suffered so much damage in the Great Apsid Wars that an asteroid belt had formed around it out of fragments of the ruined planet. Unlike The Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter, the meteoroids in the area were very small. To make matters worse, going there brought us very close to apsid territory. While they no longer attacked Terra directly and I now knew they didn’t actually live on the Sun, they still came here on a regular basis. That meant we’d be exposed to a possible alien attack for no real reason other than entertainment.
“Why in Tartarus’s name are we going there?” I couldn’t help but ask my fellow Chimera Warriors.
“It’s not so unusual for a fighter to head to The Fields of Mercury,” Brendan said with a sigh. “We’re expected to be familiar with the area, just in case we’re summoned for another battle in the future. Everyone else will likely know it pretty well, even if the natural conditions always change a lot depending on the passage of time.”
Was it really that simple? Was the king jumping through all these hoops just to get rid of me? But why? He could’ve just had me arrested on Earth if I’d been so inconvenient to him. And assuming he hadn’t realized I was a threat at the time, there were plenty of other ways to kill me that wouldn’t involve a trip to the Sun.
Then again, maybe I was making things more complicated than they were. Everyone else took the trip in stride. As we were guided to sit down and prepare for warp flight, I heard someone make a comment about his missed breakfast. Two men were enthusing about how much they’d enjoyed themselves the night before with the women of Tartarus Base. “I missed Persephone’s Plaza. Everything’s so easy when you just have to stick it in.”
“I know, right?”
Fortunately, I wasn’t forced to listen to the nauseating exchange for much longer. The seats were sealed and the metal around us started to vibrate. “Warp flight activating now,” a robotic voice reported.
I instinctively closed my eyes, although I knew I didn’t have to. The warp engine was fueled by tachyons, like everything else, but the shields around the vessel kept everyone safe from the radiation. Maybe I was just trying to pretend, for a little while longer, that this wasn’t happening.
What a childish thought. I’d always been aware that I didn’t belong here. Going to The Fields of Mercury didn’t change that in any way. It was just another step on my journey, nothing more.
Maybe the others had a point and this wasn’t such a special day, after all.
“Not really,” Sphinx whispered in my head. “They’re just as nervous as you. They’re just doing a better job at hiding it. Don’t worry about them and focus on the task.”
“That’d be easier if I knew what that task was.”
“It’s not so difficult to guess, but even if I’m wrong, I can still help you.”
Memories not my own drifted into my consciousness, clear, but concise, sliding into my mind like the pieces of an incomplete puzzle. It took a few moments for me to assimilate the information, but when I did, I had a clearer image of how I was supposed to move around The Fields of Mercury.
“I can’t show you more, because it would overwhelm you. Some things, you have to experience by yourself. But at the very least, you won’t be a complete newbie now.”
“Thanks,” I replied. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“To be fair, young Selene, this whole thing is my fault. I’m the one who dragged you into this. If not for me, you wouldn’t have come to the academy in the first place.”
“And I’ll always be grateful for your help, no matter what happens.”
Sphinx said nothing, although I got the feeling she wasn’t so sure I was right. Had she begun to doubt her choice? I hoped not. Yes, I was upset because of what had happened the day before, but I wouldn’t let that stop me.
People died every day. Lies and corruption surrounded us. That wasn’t anything new. If I wanted to change things, I wasn’t going to do it by cowering from the truth.
This tournament might not make a difference, but at least it would keep me alive. Or so I hoped.
The Hyperion Star Fleet had a base hovering in Mercury’s orbit, avoiding the asteroid belt, while still keeping a close eye on any approaching enemies. I forgot all about it when we exited warp flight and I got my first up close view of the Sun.
I’d never seen anything so beautiful and terrifying in my life. From this distance, we could spot the flare of the gases and solar explosions dancing over the surface of the star. Its glow seemed to reach into me, threatening to suffocate me, reminding me just how small I was. At that moment, even if the ship’s shields protected me, I felt as if I was burning alive, assaulted by a power I couldn’t fight even through my creative use of tachyon manipulation.
“Pretty impressive, isn’t it?” August asked. At one point when I’d been distracted, he’d left his seat and knelt next to mine. “I’ve been here a few times, and that’s one sight I’ll never forget or get sick of.” He swept his fingers over my red hair. “It reminds me a little of you.”
The compliment was pretty outrageous, but it still drew a small smile out of me. “Is now really the best time to flirt?”
August shrugged. “Why not? Nobody’s complaining, right? Besides, we haven’t landed yet. Until the competition starts, I can get ready for it using whatever method I choose.”
“And your method involves comparing my hair to the Sun?”
“We’d do more, Selene,” Knox said in August’s stead, “but we’ve already established that wasn’t possible.”
I looked up at him and in his eyes, I saw the same need that had led me to stay by their side even when I’d realized they were lying to me. But I’d already decided now was not the time to focus on that, so I said nothing and forced myself to turn away.
To distract myself from the sudden awkwardness between us, I started preparing for the landing. The others had already gotten up, so I followed their example. A drone was distributing glowing capsules, which everyone was attaching to their uniforms. I did the same, and my uniform lit up.
The capsule contained a boost of tachyons designed to protect us while we were transferring between aircrafts. It wasn’t a space suit, but it did provide us with an extra level of protection against the sun’s hostile rays.
I could understand the precaution, but I hated wearing it. The addition of the new layer of tachyons made my skin crawl. It was interfering with my focus and within seconds, I started feeling the side-effects. I already had trouble mastering my own powers. Now, I had to deal with this, on top of everything else.
A migraine started to pound at my skull. I took a deep breath and forced myself to ignore it. The mild discomfort was a small price to pay in exchange for not getting fried.
While I struggled to recover, our teacher faced us and started to explain what we had to do. “The third stage of this tournament consists in a race around The Fields of Mercury. Your chimeras and other flight units are waiting for you in the hangars here. You are free to incapacitate your opponents in whatever way you see fit. Non-lethal means are highly recommended, but we understand that under such circumstances, accidents happen. We will have staff watching nearby and making sure you don’t drift too close to dangerous territory, but in every other way, you’ll be on your own. The finish line is at Hyperion Base 35.”
It was fairly straightforward
and I likely would’ve had no idea what to do if Sphinx hadn’t shown me. An asteroid belt wasn’t a road and yet, we were supposed to use it to race. Did King Philip have no sense?
“Oh, it’s not so bad,” Sphinx said. “We actually did a lot of similar racing with the apsids during the war. Most of us have gone dormant now, so it’s nowhere near as fun, but you’ll see you’ll enjoy it. ”
Maybe she was right. Out of everything I’d done in the past month or so, the only two things I could say for sure that I enjoyed was piloting my chimera and having sex with the other members of my unit. I’d given up on the latter. I might as well take refuge in what I had left.
As a group, we headed into the depths of the vessel. The hangars were a hive of activity. I’d never seen so many chimeras and ships in one place, at the same time. Other than the Grand Chimeras, there were also a few Harpies, as well as smaller shuttles, compact personalized vessels that belonged to pilots from other units. Some of them probably had an advantage in terms of speed, especially when compared to some of our bulkier chimeras. Then again, I didn’t necessarily want to win this tournament. Sure, I’d do my best, but I knew I didn’t have as much experience as the other competitors. I was aiming for a decent ranking and survival.
“Good luck,” I told the others. “I’ll see you at Hyperion Base 35.”
“See you there, beautiful,” Knox replied. “Take care of yourself. And if you need us, you know what to do.”
I nodded, although I hoped I wouldn’t have to resort to their assistance this time. I was a chimera tamer, damn it. I might suck at everything else, but this was one thing I could do. Even if I didn’t win, I’d put up a good fight. I’d show them all that I deserved to be a student at Chimera Academy.