“That’s good.”
“Will you please just leave me alone?”
Coming around from behind the chair, Rin Alexander stood in front of her. Dana couldn’t look her in the eyes anymore. She’d kidnapped this girl and brought her to Orion Settlement, knowing Mazdaar would probably torture her to get information just like they had Grey.
Dana swallowed hard, reminding herself why she’d done it. Mazdaar only wanted what was best for humanity. General Evangeline Yurkutz wasn’t evil. Yet Dana had never expected to end up here, in Yien custody, her mother as dead as her legs.
“Well, I don’t hate you,” Rin finally said softly.
And then she walked away.
Chapter 11
Grey watched her mother examine the hull with the precision of a doctor. They hadn’t spoken a word since coming out here and Grey, who usually enjoyed silence, couldn’t stand it anymore.
“Is there anything else you haven’t told me?”
Sue Alexander slipped off the silver glove she’d been using to take readings of the hull. The top of it had an LED screen with a readout Grey didn’t understand, and embedded in the fingers were small lights that allowed her mother to examine each crack and crevice microscopically.
“I am sorry we couldn’t tell you everything,” her mother said.
Grey knew her question wasn’t entirely fair since it hadn’t been her mother’s choice to get stuck on Jupiter for the last five years, but she didn’t take it back. “It would’ve been nice to know you hadn’t abandoned us.”
“Is that what you really thought?”
She shrugged, but in the waning light her mother might not see it. “How was I supposed to know when you never told me what you and Dad were doing?”
Sue Alexander turned around. The top two snaps of her uniform were undone, and dirt smudged the white tunic beneath.
“I will never abandon you.”
“If you’d been honest with us maybe—”
“You were just a child, and it seemed right at the time.”
“Do you still think that?”
“Your father and I were trying to protect you. It’s all we’ve ever tried to do.”
“Which isn’t exactly answering the question.” Grey didn’t like to push her mother after all they’d been through, but she had wanted to have this conversation ever since she found out her parents were alive. There’d been no time during the attacks. And while she understood their importance to the Yien cause, she couldn’t deny a niggling feeling that Mom and Dad were more devoted to the Yien Dynasty than to her and Rin.
“I never meant to hurt you,” Mom said. “Not in a million years. But I don’t know how to answer you, sweetheart. We lost five years as a family, and I can say with all my heart that I’d do anything to get those years back.”
Grey nodded, waving at her mother’s sensor glove. “You better finish your job.”
She walked a few steps away, switched her rifle to the other shoulder, and took in their surroundings. Night had nearly fallen, and the cloud-to-cloud lightning would probably start soon. Unless that phenomenon had been localized around Orion Settlement. Her mother would know, but Grey didn’t feel like asking her.
As if in answer, a flash of electricity zapped through the still-swirling clouds above her, and Grey fixed her eyes on them even after they went dark again. The canyon they were in looked narrower in the darkness, and sheer rock cliffs surrounded them.
Grey kicked at the dirt. It was finer than sand and devoid of the colors she’d seen at Orion Settlement. “Did you know Dana was coming with us?”
“I only found out once we landed.”
“Why is she here?”
Sue Alexander ran her gloved hand across a seam surrounding the turret where Grey had manned the cannon. “Commander March’s orders. We couldn’t risk her ending up in Mazdaar’s hands again. She knows too much.”
“So Mrs. March is here to guard Dana?”
Mom tapped at the glove’s screen, and it changed color. “How much do you know about Commander March?”
Grey thought about how the old woman hadn’t told her the truth either, even though she’d known her parents were working for Yien. For her entire life Grey had thought of Mrs. March as an eccentric lady who taught her about survival and smuggling because she felt sorry for the orphaned Alexander girls. Finding out she was a pilot and a leader in the clandestine Yien Special Forces had been almost as much a shock to Grey as hearing her parents were alive on Jupiter.
“She’s Mazdaar’s most wanted criminal and has been for years,” Mom said. “Jet Yien ordered her to leave with us because she’s too valuable an asset.”
“What did she do to Mazdaar?”
Mom stared down at the glove’s screen, its bluish glow illuminating her face. “When she changed sides she brought Mazdaar secrets with her.”
“Like what?”
Sue Alexander smiled. “Even I don’t know everything about Fleur March.”
Chapter 12
Rin carefully unfastened Tram and Trif’s flight harnesses and checked them over for injuries. She’d barely had time to secure the animals before takeoff, and it was a good thing she had after that crazy flight. Yet despite her precautions, blood trickled down Tram’s front leg from a cut on his shoulder.
“Easy, boy,” Rin whispered, squinting to see how deep it was in the dim light of the cargo hold. “Looks like you and Grey both were lucky. It’s not too deep.”
She pulled out a sterile packet of gauze and dabbed at the zorse’s wound. His skin trembled at her touch, but he didn’t move. Zorses were stoic creatures, and she hoped he wasn’t in much pain.
Rin crouched beside him and began cleaning the cut the same way she had Grey’s, which only made her worry about her sister again. Whenever Rin remembered how Mazdaar had tortured her for information about their parents, she started picturing bad things happening to anyone who wore the Mazdaar star, and that bothered her. She never wanted to turn cold and brutal, but it was hard not to wish vengeance on the people who’d hurt Grey.
Dabbing at Tram’s wound, she pondered her conversation with Dana. She wasn’t really sure why she didn’t hate the girl because she represented Mazdaar more than anyone. Maybe it was because Rin had seen firsthand how Evangeline Yurkutz treated her enemies, and she never wanted to be like that. And she couldn’t imagine growing up with that woman as her mother.
“You’re one of the Alexanders, aren’t you?”
Rin turned toward the young man who approached her. He was Grey’s age or a few years older and didn’t look like he’d shaved in days. His tight trousers were wrinkled, and the front pocket of his pinstriped vest was ripped and hung down like a dog’s floppy ear.
“I’m Rin,” she said.
“Grey’s sister?”
She pressed a bioskin patch against Tram’s cut. “Good guess.”
“I sat next to her for awhile on Genesis.”
Rin glanced up. “She didn’t mention you.”
“Paul Alvarez,” he said, “the Third.”
She tried not to grin. He said it with pride, but it made him sound stuck up.
“Any idea where we’re going?” Paul asked.
Dad hadn’t told Rin much, and she wasn’t sure if she should share anything with the rest of the civilians anyway. “I guess they’ll tell us when we need to know.”
“Am I the only who’s a little bothered by that?”
Rin stood up. “About what?”
“Not knowing where we’re going. Or what they have planned for us.” Paul absentmindedly buttoned then unbuttoned the top of his vest, and she noticed he wore a silver ring on each of his thumbs. Rin remembered Grey telling her that the passengers of Genesis had been told by Mazdaar they were on the first-ever commercial flight to Jupiter where adventure awaited them. They had no idea Mazdaar would imprison them upon landing with the intent to kill them and use their bodies to make drones. How did Paul know Yien was any different? He had a righ
t to be worried.
“You can trust Commander March and my parents,” Rin said.
Paul ran his fingers through his hair, which was cut long on the top and nearly shorn to the skin on the sides. “What about that guy?”
She glanced toward Corporal Lennox standing at attention and scanning the hold like they were prisoners.
“Power trip, much?” Paul said.
Rin didn’t want to admit the uneasy feeling Lennox gave her, but she was glad she wasn’t the only one uncomfortable with him. Wasn’t Lennox supposed to be one of the good guys? Despite Dana’s bravado, Rin had clearly seen Lennox harassing her. At least that lieutenant had put a stop to it.
“Where are you from?” Rin asked. Whether they liked it or not they were stuck together, and Corporal Lennox was trained to help keep all of them alive. It was best to focus on something else.
Paul came closer, eyeing Tram and Trif as if he’d never seen a zorse before. “Born and bred in Mazdaar City.”
Well, maybe he hadn’t ever seen a zorse before. Mazdaar City wasn’t exactly known for its wildlife.
“I’ve never met anyone from there,” Rin said.
“We’re a weird bunch. What about you?”
Rin packed up the med kit and patted Tram on the neck. “North America. Near the Alamo Republic.”
His eyes widened. “Could you see the Preserve?”
“I lived there.”
“You’re kidding. I’ve wanted to take a safari there since I was a boy.”
Paul Alvarez III must be rich. Only the wealthy could afford that luxury. Pride for her home swelled in Rin. Powerful individuals paid a fortune to visit a place she’d woken up in every day. It made her miss it all the more.
“So people really did live underground there,” Paul said.
“Yes, we did.”
Paul stuffed his hands into his pockets. “All kinds of stories about you rebels.”
“Like what?”
“First of all, you’re illiterate.”
“I could read before I was four,” she countered.
“You hide in the rocks because you refuse to accept Mazdaar’s gifts of life-giving sustenance.”
Well, she and Grey had lived in an underground silo for as long as they could remember.
“And you’re filthy barbarians,” Paul added.
She smirked, stroking Tram’s neck.
Paul returned the expression. “I guess we were slightly off.”
“Did you honestly believe all that?”
“I might still believe it.”
Rin started to protest, but he winked at her.
“Your sister,” Paul said. “She never told me what she did to end up in Mazdaar custody.”
“Maybe she didn’t want you to know.” Rin couldn’t decide if Paul looked trustworthy. Mazdaar City didn’t breed many dissenters. Paul’s perception of the Yien Dynasty and everything they stood for was no doubt skewed by Mazdaar propaganda, despite what he said now. Yet he’d seen its underbelly too since he took this journey.
“They abducted her,” Rin said. “Right out of the Preserve.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “She must’ve been important to them.”
“General Yurkutz wanted information about our parents. She thought Grey could give it to her.” Rin kept her focus on Tram, ready to leave it at that. But then she realized Paul should know the truth.
She looked him right in the eyes. “While you and everyone else were partying on Genesis, my sister was being tortured and beaten by Mazdaar right under your noses.”
“I realize that now.” Paul’s tone softened. “I’m sorry I didn’t then.”
“You couldn’t have stopped it anyway.”
“It’s hard for me to believe what they’ve done. It’s not the picture any of us were given in Mazdaar City.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t.”
“How do you know you’re on the right side?”
He didn’t say it as an accusation but as an honest question.
Rin snapped the med kit closed. “I think it’s about hope.”
“Hope?”
“And freedom.”
“I wasn’t a slave,” Paul said.
“Could you function without your Dot?”
On Earth, everyone under Mazdaar control was legally required to be connected, and the brain implants—everyone called them Dots—were often inserted at birth. People grew up patching directly into the networks with a thought, and through their permanent ocelli lenses and auris implants, it became second nature for Mazdaar citizens to multi-task and receive subliminal suggestions from Mazdaar controllers across the world while speaking with someone else face-to-face. But Rin and Grey had never been connected, and she never would be. It was too easy for Mazdaar to manipulate the networks and their people. Which is why many who defected had their Dots illegally deactivated or removed. Yien operatives who worked undercover within Mazdaar zones were often fitted with removable implants and Dots to mask their unconnected status.
“What do you think I’m doing now?” Paul said.
“On Earth,” Rin said. “You can’t buy or sell anything without being connected. And if you’re not, you end up like my family. Banished, on the run, and living like nomads. Not that I’m complaining, but when you’re with Mazdaar you are not free. I’d rather die free in the wilderness than live in Mazdaar City a slave.”
Paul Alvarez III gave her two sarcastic claps. “Well, hey. You just might get your wish.”
He shook his head and turned to walk away when the winds hit the ship with the force of a tornado. They whistled and screamed so loud Rin held her hands over her ears.
“What the—”
She could barely hear Paul above the roar. Rin swung around and scanned the hold, searching for Mom and Grey. Were they still outside?
Tram and Trif kicked at the boards of their stalls, and Tram started pawing at the ground. She looked up, and the zorse’s face changed before her eyes. Now Tram was one of Kildare’s tigers crouched, teeth bared, and ready to pounce. She almost asked Paul if he was seeing it too.
But she knew he wasn’t. No one was. And if she told any of these people, they would think she was mad.
What if she was?
Chapter 13
Grey dropped to her knees, squeezing her eyes shut. The dirt pelted her in an unrelenting rain of fine particles. Mom ripped off her uniform coat and held it over their faces.
All Grey could do was hunker down and try to breathe.
“Hold on to me!” Mom yelled above the roar.
The Jupiter winds were stronger than any she’d felt yet. Was the canyon magnifying the effect? The blast seemed to go on forever but ceased instantaneously. Grey managed to get up and wipe dirt from her eyelashes and nose. Mom’s glove was their only light, and it did little to penetrate the blackness now surrounding them.
“You get used to it,” Mom said with a cough, slapping her coat against her leg and slipping it back on.
For some reason that made Grey laugh.
“This is crazy,” Grey said. “Crazy!”
Her mother laughed too, and it felt good to hear it.
Unfortunately, the jubilant moment was short-lived.
As Grey glanced at the gun turret, a scream sliced through the night.
“What was that?” she whispered.
Her mother didn’t answer. Grey watched her carefully pan the area with the glove, but it didn’t reveal anything. Slowly Sue Alexander unslung her rifle. Grey did the same.
“I don’t know,” Mom said.
The scream sliced at their eardrums again.
“That couldn’t be a person, right?”
Her eyes were getting used to the night, and she could see her mother shake her head. “Sounds like a cougar, but I haven’t seen one of those since the Preserve.”
“We should get inside.” She and Rin had been stalked by a cougar once on their way home from a smuggling run. They’d delivered two banned books to Jet Yien, wh
om they thought at the time was just a wealthy collector. Rin had spotted the cat first, perched in a scrub oak tree above the trail. They’d been on foot so they gave the animal a wide berth, but a few minutes later they saw it slip behind a boulder, clearly stalking them. Grey had made them walk backwards most of the way home to keep from being attacked.
“Agreed.”
Clutching her rifle, Mom led the way back. The ship had no windows, and the side access door was airtight and leaking no light, but she could see the outline of the steps.
The shriek came again, pitched higher and more shrill. It echoed off the canyon walls, so she couldn’t tell the direction from which it came. Grey almost broke into a run then stopped herself. You never ran from a cougar. It was proceed slowly and hope it moved on. Or fight.
Sue Alexander raised her sensor-gloved hand, and the light from her fingertips arced upward and hit the top of the vessel.
In that split second Grey saw what her mother did not.
Hulking on the top of the ship, a massive feline, far larger than a cougar, crouched low, right above her mother. Its eyes glowed as it opened its mouth and let off another wail, exposing gigantic teeth.
Just as Sue Alexander glanced upward, the cat pounced.
Grey felt her own scream forming on her lips. She had no time to warn her mother, no space to fire her rifle. There was only one thing Grey could do as the giant cat with the blazing eyes flew through the air.
She launched herself, pushing Mom forward as hard as she could. Her mother tumbled out of harm’s way with a groan, and Grey swung around and braced herself for the swift death she knew was coming.
The feline silently dropped its massive hulk directly in front of her, right where her mother had stood. Their eyes met. The cat bared its fangs and hissed, its foul breath assaulting her.
Grey forced out the loudest gutteral yell she could and swung the butt of her gun at the cat’s face. Metal hit bone with a sickening crunch, but the cat countered her blow with a swipe of its dinner-plate paw. Claws sliced through Grey’s pant leg, throwing her to the ground. The rifle flew from her hands.
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