Marie had made it very clear Dana was to push Commander March for specifics on Yien battle plans. She would be wearing an auris implant so she could hear her instructions. The cameras would be hidden.
“You can back out if you want,” Marie said, pushing Dana into the room.
“We need information. I can get it. End of story.”
“I hope so for your sake.”
And then Marie left her alone as an ocean of regret washed over Dana. She had lost so much. She knew Mazdaar wasn’t all evil, and its people had raised her up in a tumultuous world that would’ve just as easily spit her out. But there had been chains too. Her own mother had authorized her arrest.
When Dana defected, there had been little time to grieve the loss of her prestige as a general’s daughter. She could admit that now. Isn’t that part of the reason she’d allowed herself to be swayed by RedStar? She deserved her mother’s greatness, RedStar had said. She’d been tricked out of it by people like Fleur March.
Dana stared down at her legs. Yet did that mean March deserved to die?
Are you ready? Marie spoke in her ear.
Dana nodded and glanced up at the ceiling. A dark splatter stained an area near the lights, causing her gut to twist. She knew what happened in these rooms. She’d seen what her mother did to those who resisted Mazdaar, even innocent people like Grey. Countless Yien operatives had told her their stories of torture, fear, and even death. She had fought alongside them to expose the truth. Was it all for naught? What was she doing here in this place?
The door whooshed open. Two female drones entered, Commander Fleur March between them. The old woman’s wrists were bound in front of her with shock cuffs, and a bruise discolored her right cheek. Dana guessed she hadn’t been told who would be questioning her, because when she saw Dana her eyes widened.
The drones shoved March over to the lone chair in the center of the room, and she sunk down into it with a wince.
“Please leave us,” Dana said.
She didn’t really expect them to obey but they did, probably listening to commands from Marie and the others watching from the adjoining room.
Watch yourself, came Marie’s curt voice.
And then Commander March and Dana were alone.
March probably assumed Dana had been privy to Marie Johansson’s plan all along, maybe even planning it with her. That bothered Dana more than it should have if she was the faithful Mazdaar supporter Marie and her father thought she was.
“You know I can’t tell you anything,” March said.
“You could.”
March took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Dana…”
“They will kill you if you don’t.”
“I’m not afraid to die.”
“You should be.”
That made Commander March chuckle. “Do you know how old I am?”
Dana eyed the opposite wall where Marie would be standing behind the one-way glass.
“Eighty-two,” March said. “I have spent four decades on each side of this war. I have seen atrocities beyond what you can imagine. But I have also seen love and forgiveness beyond what I deserve.”
“I hardly think that is relevant.”
“It matters, Dana.”
March leaned forward, and Dana saw how tightly they’d twisted the shock cuffs against her flesh. A line of blood dribbled down March’s wrist.
“I have found peace that has nothing to do with whether I serve Yien or Mazdaar,” Commander March said. “You understand as well as anyone that neither side is all good or all evil. There will always be gray no matter which side you’re on.”
She’s playing you, Dana. Don’t listen. Ask her for details.
“You could save yourself,” Dana said. “All we want is information.”
She hoped the Yien commander would understand that even if she wanted to save her, there would be no chance of that happening here. She’d told the commander that Mazdaar was not the enemy. But was the enemy really Fleur March?
Cut to the chase.
Marie’s voice was an annoying buzz in her ear. Dana wanted to curse and tell her to let her do this her own way, but she held her tongue.
“And what will you do with any information I share?” March asked. “I know what’s going on here, Dana. But you’re only hurting yourself by trying to get me to talk.”
Ask her how many Yien forces are on their way to Jupiter.
“When are more reinforcements coming?”
March went silent.
“People are going to die either way,” Dana said. “You’re worth more to Yien alive. So why not sacrifice a few to save yourself and many others?”
“Is that what you believe now?”
“My beliefs haven’t changed.”
“It’s a good thing James Ferris didn’t feel that way.”
Don’t listen to her. She’s a master deceiver, Dana. Don’t fall for it.
She clenched her fingers into a fist to keep them still. March had to bring up the man who’d died to save her. He had been in her mother’s service since before she was born. Faithful to a fault, he would have given his life to protect either of them, but he was the sternest man she’d ever met. For as long as she could remember, he never smiled. That’s what piqued her curiosity the most. When James Ferris began smiling, she asked him about it. That had opened the door to their deeper conversations.
“Did you notice the scars on Sue Alexander’s wrists?” Commander March raised her hands, indicating her cuffs. “How do you think she got them?”
Dana had never asked, though she wondered.
“She was detained after extracting you,” March said. “And spent three days and nights in an interrogation room just like this one because she wouldn’t give you up.”
Shut down this conversation and get back on track, Dana.
“Answer my question,” Dana said. She would’ve stood up if her legs would hold her. Instead she yanked on her wheelchair’s manual controls and placed more distance between March and herself.
“She did that for you.”
“Be quiet!”
Get a hold of yourself. We need information, not useless falsehoods. She’s trying to get under your skin.
“We are talking about you, March!”
“And I already told you I’m ready to die.”
Tell her immunity might be an option if she points us to Jet Yien.
“We can cut you a deal,” Dana said. “You could do more for your cause if you are alive.”
“If you think I would allow others to suffer in my place, you never knew me very well, Dana.”
“More will die if you don’t.”
March’s expression hardened, and she turned and addressed the one-way mirror. “I am who you want. You may question me directly and stop using this girl as your pawn.”
“Sometimes compromise is necessary.” Dana edged the wheelchair closer to March again. “A bone, Commander. That’s all we want for now. Show that you are willing to work with us. That you’re the smart woman I know you are.”
Ask for Benton March’s location.
Dana paused. She thought March’s husband was dead. If he wasn’t, that information would be beyond classified.
Did you hear me, Dana?
She cleared her throat. “Where is your husband?”
“Do you honestly think I would betray him a second time?”
Which meant he really was alive. Before Dana could follow up, Commander March’s face contorted and she doubled over in the chair. Someone had activated the shock cuffs.
“Please, Commander.” Dana’s throat clenched. “You’re being given a choice. Don’t make this hard on yourself.”
March tried to sit up, but she was only able to raise herself a few inches before her eyes started to roll back in her head.
“Turn them off!” Dana glared at the wall. “I can’t question her if she’s unconscious!”
Just when she thought the old woman was going to pass ou
t, Commander Fleur March gasped and slowly raised herself back into the chair. Sweat moistened her brow and dampened her silver hair.
Dana wanted to apologize, but she couldn’t.
“I made . . . my choice a long time ago,” March said, trying to catch her breath. “Now it’s your turn.”
You’re done. We’re coming in.
The drones appeared at the door and lifted March up by the arms. March glanced over her shoulder as they dragged her away, and Dana expected to see the hate everyone said the woman oozed, but all she saw was a nearly unconscious old woman who even in an interrogation chamber was thinking about Dana and not herself. And then March was gone.
Dana ripped out the auris plug and threw it on the floor.
Chapter 32
Are you sure this map is right?” Rin asked as she sidled Trif up to Tram.
Grey held out the hologram disc and studied the lights and contour lines that supposedly would lead them to Benton March. But neither of them could decipher their exact location while in the forest, no matter how hard they tried.
She sighed and flipped off the map. “I have no idea.”
Her stomach was starting to hurt, and she couldn’t tell if it was from hunger or the gross water. The zorses didn’t seem to be bothered, so she hoped she and Rin would fare as well. They had yet to find their way out of the forest, and she was beginning to hate the massive trees.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw something move. Grey swung toward it at the same time Tram and Trif shied to the right. She managed to stay on her mount, but Rin didn’t.
Her sister tumbled off the zorse, somehow managing to hold on to his reins.
“I’m good!” Rin said, jumping to her feet and climbing back on Trif as he nervously jigged. “Emergency dismounts are my specialty.”
“Easy, boy.” Movement caught Grey’s eye again, and she strained in that direction.
“What is that?” Rin was looking too.
As Grey tried to guess whether it was an animal or something else, it became abundantly clear when the creature moved and Grey saw first a leg and then its face. It looked like a rhinoceros without a horn on legs like an elephant. But even from this distance Grey could see it was far larger than any elephant.
Tram snorted, and the beast turned and stared at them, its ear flicking. A leaf hung from its mouth and slowly disappeared as the animal sucked it in and chewed.
“It sees us,” Grey said, trying to decide if they should run or freeze.
“At least it’s eating leaves.”
Grey glanced at Rin. That didn’t mean it couldn’t eat meat too.
Something moved on their other side, and Grey gasped. Another one. This one only fifty feet away. It too seemed to be eating, and she watched it raise its neck and bite leaves from a tree about twenty feet high.
Rin’s mouth gaped. “I’ve seen them in my book, but I don’t remember their name.”
“Extinct?”
“For millions of years.”
“Are there any animals here that aren’t?”
“I think I saw a squirrel earlier.”
One of the creatures grunted, and the noise made Tram jump sideways again.
“If we run, they might chase us.”
Rin nodded her agreement. They had no option but to stay where they were. Grey reached for her violetflare but decided against it. Fat lot of good it would do against one of these things, and she’d probably just end up angering it.
Two more of the beasts seemed to emerge from their camouflage, completely surrounding them. But they seemed uninterested. Had they been there all along?
“It’s like they’ve seen humans before,” Grey said quietly. “Or they are the top of the food chain.”
“What if we start walking slowly?”
“I’m game.”
They gently nudged Tram and Trif forward. The zorses were coiled springs of energy under their legs. Grey had to pull back on her reins to keep Tram from bolting.
“I’ve got you. It’s okay,” she whispered.
“They’re awesome,” Rin said. The creatures’ heads alone were nearly as long as Grey’s entire body. “And they don’t seem to mind us.”
That was a relief. Grey kept them moving forward until the giant rhinos were behind them, and she didn’t allow them to stop until her own heart calmed.
Grey dismounted to give Tram’s back a rest and started walking on foot, leading him instead. She was ready to drop, but concentrating on putting one boot in front of the other would at least keep her awake. They’d need to stop soon so Rin could get some sleep.
“I’ve been thinking about what Mrs. March said about the tunnels,” Grey said. “What could she have meant about getting control of them?”
Space tunnels were a discovery that had changed interstellar travel. Some used to call them wormholes. They connected various points in the universe, making an excursion to Jupiter a mere two-day trip from Earth. There were several tunnels that reached Jupiter, she knew. Dr. Lenoir had told her that Tunguska was the largest and the one Genesis had used on Grey’s fateful journey to the planet.
“Maybe they found some way to turn them on and off,” Rin said.
Grey and Tram squeezed between two tree trunks. “Which would totally revolutionize this war, just like she said. Control who comes and goes, and you control Jupiter.”
“But how could technology like that exist without Mazdaar knowing and taking it for themselves?”
“Maybe they can’t unlock it.” She stopped, waiting for Rin to catch up. “Isn’t that what Mrs. March essentially said?”
“We should listen to the message again.”
Grey pulled out the disc and was about to play it when she looked up. She silently unsheathed her violetflare instead.
“What?”
Grey pointed up at a tree.
“I don’t see anything.”
“Higher.”
The girls could only stare. Built into the branches far above their heads was something they never expected to see in a Jupiter forest.
A house.
# # #
A drone escorted Dana to different quarters this time. The room consisted of only a bed, table, and lavatory. Probably meant for the lowliest of the crew, but at least she wasn’t in a cell.
“Do not leave this room,” the drone said as he exited, and Dana guessed the door would lock from the outside.
She wheeled herself over to the bed. Using it for support, she was able to stand. Her limbs trembling from the effort, she forced herself to remain on her feet until sweat dripped down her rib cage. Only then did she fall onto the bed.
What had she expected? She’d known it was unlikely March would give her anything, but it was her only chance to talk to the commander before reaching Mazdaar City. Why had she felt so compelled to see her one last time?
Dana pounded her fist into the pillow which contoured immediately to her hand. If she didn’t care about Fleur March, why in the world did it make her feel sick picturing Marie or someone else torturing her?
They would kill her. She knew it as much as she knew that she herself was treading on thin ice. It didn’t matter whose daughter she was at this point. Her only chance for survival was to testify against the commander.
They would reach Mazdaar City tomorrow. She had less than twenty-four hours to come up with a plan.
Chapter 33
Grey and Rin approached the area beneath the structure as if they were stalking game, straining to hear or see anything out of the ordinary. But nothing was ordinary about a tree house in the middle of a forest on Jupiter.
The fort was built around several different trees, and it looked like whoever had crafted it had taken care to keep the surrounding woods as untouched as possible. It was so well camouflaged they almost hadn’t seen it.
Grey pointed at a thin wisp of smoke curling from the roof of the tree house. “Stay right behind me,” she whispered.
She clutched her violetflare ti
ghtly in her palm, reins in the other hand. Taking in a deep breath, she smelled the wood smoke and something else. Something that made her mouth water.
“Halt. You are not authorized to be here.”
“Grey!”
She spun around just in time to see a metallic drone step from behind the tree right beside her. He raised his own violetflare to her chest. Before she could think, Grey instinctively fired her weapon directly at the drone’s head. She had no doubt this thing wasn’t flesh and blood.
It lurched just enough for her to slam the underside of her fist against its weapon-wielding arm. It felt like she’d hit a boulder, and she groaned in pain but landed a kick at its knee and then where its groin would’ve been if it were a man.
The drone swayed momentarily then righted itself.
She fired at its abdomen and then again at its head.
Both beams sizzled and sent sparks flying, but the drone remained standing. Its arm shot out toward Grey. She ducked, barely missing a hammer blow to the temple.
She’d have one more shot before her weapon would need to recharge, and Grey made it count. She aimed for the drone’s neck, where the computer was housed, and fired.
The drone crumpled to the forest floor with a clatter. She dove for its dropped weapon as a second drone she hadn’t seen grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms to her sides. Even ancient models like these would have the strength of five men. She didn’t have a chance.
“Run!” she yelled to her sister, knowing she wouldn’t.
The second drone slammed Grey up against the trunk of the tree, jamming her nose into the bark. A flow of warm blood instantly dripped down her lip. Was this how it was all going to end? Death by some rogue drone?
“Thing 1, disengage,” came a male voice behind her.
The drone let her go, and Grey whirled around, swinging her depleted violetflare toward the voice. He might not know it didn’t hold a charge.
The man resembled the wizard in those fantasy novels Rin devoured last summer, or an elderly St. Nicholas. His long white hair was pulled back with a piece of leather string. His tan jumpsuit was Yien issue, but the blueflare rifle he was aiming at her was emblazoned with the Mazdaar star.
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