by Keary Taylor
“Hold on to something,” he says as he grabs the bar that hangs down from the roof of the ship. “Here we go!”
And I slide back against my seat, hard, as the ship picks up speed. I thought it would be bumpy and feel out of control, when I imagined what it must feel like to take off in one of these ships.
But it’s smooth as steel. It’s like an arrow being shot.
The brilliant lights of Korpillion become a blurred line. Immediately, they grow long and dim.
And there’s this popping sound. Then it’s dark.
For a brief second, I feel myself float in my seat, but the harnesses keep me from drifting off. It only lasts a second though, before the gravity simulators kick in, and I feel five hundred pounds in my seat.
Within an hour, we’re out of the solar system.
I can’t even wrap my mind around it. I can’t make it connect.
Just hours ago, I was running for my life on the same planet I grew up on. And now I’m not even in the same solar system. I can’t see the same sun I’ve always known. I can’t see the moon that has been the constant companion to Korpillion.
I’m out here, in space.
I am unanchored.
I’m free.
As soon as we got out of the system, the Frank again asked me where I wanted it to set as our destination.
“I need to think about it,” I said.
I still have no idea.
So it put the ship into neutral, letting us glide through space on the same path we used to escape Korpillion. It’s not a bad plan. We’re still moving farther and farther away, and we’re preserving our Neron core, saving energy.
The ship has everything we need. There are six bunks for sleeping in. There’s a small restroom with everything we need. There’s a tiny kitchen. The lounge is only a small round table behind the seats in the command deck, where the view opens up to the stars around us.
I don’t think anyone is surprised when I find myself in the mechanical room. There are wires and pipes and tanks and motors. And there’s the Neron core. It stands as tall as I am, and just about as round. It glows brilliant blue, swirling and pulsing with energy.
I place my hand on the glass that keeps it contained. It feels warm, but not hot.
I let my eyes slide closed.
I can feel it. I’m aware of every corner of it, its exact weight.
I’m not even touching it, but I feel incredible.
I feel connected and grounded and free and wild.
“I didn’t know.”
The words slip through the blockade I’d tried to put between our minds before I even give them permission to. But it’s just natural. As easy as breathing. That tunnel, the connection, it’s just there. Like a part of my brain.
“I believe you,” his voice fills my head with such clarity.
The image of his face fills my mind. His smooth, flawless skin. His narrow lips. His deep brows, guarding his glowing eyes. Hair as black as the night. A presence that dominated the entire planet.
“Do you wish I had told you?” he asks when I’m quiet for a good, solid minute. “Who I am?”
I take my time finding my answer. I have to search, deep in my soul. I have to ask myself, am I a good person? “No,” I answer honestly.
“I only regret that you had to see me…like the rest of the galaxy sees me.” I hear that regret in his voice.
“Are you saying that’s not the real you?” I ask, a hint of anger creeping into my voice. “The uniform? The mask? The power?”
I get this…impression from him. Of depth. Of falling. Of darkness. Of pain. Of loneliness.
“You know who I am, Nova.”
The breath floats out of my chest as my lips fall open. Emotions spring into my eyes, and I clutch my hands to my chest.
Because I can feel him. I feel as if I just fell down into his own chest, right into the chambers of his heart.
I’m consumed by rage and confusion and dark. So much dark.
So much pain.
I feel so alone.
“Valen,” I whisper, the name tasting complex and…right on my lips. “What happened to you?”
He doesn’t respond, but he lets me sit there in his heart, gathering the true weight of…him. I feel it, I taste it, I breathe it.
Valen is not a good man. The level of compassion in him starves me, the anger and the bitterness in his blood could fuel The Dominion for centuries.
But he is an empty vessel. He wants to be filled. With something. With hope. With…a reason.
But he is a man who has never felt either of those things.
“Valen, I…” But I don’t know what to say. I remember his touch, the feeling of having him right there, right in front of me. Of him touching me, even for just a brief moment.
I feel empty now that he is not here, right in front of me right now.
And I feel that same feeling reciprocated back at me.
“Did you see anything?” he asks. His voice begs for the truth. “When we touched. Did you see anything?”
Immediately, I see it in my mind. The destroyed planet behind us. Our dark clothing. The black crowns.
But mostly, I remember the love.
It was obvious on every inch of our faces.
“Yes,” I whisper, my voice hoarse. “Did you?”
“I saw the future,” he says. “I saw us, together. But we were different people. What I saw was an absolute impossibility.”
His words hurt. I don’t know what exactly it was that he saw. But his words hurt.
But they’re true.
And they loosen my chest just a little.
We were different people.
What I saw was an absolute impossibility.
“That’s what I saw,” I say the words, even though I hate them.
I want him to take them back.
But I have to face the truth. I have to remember that the love I saw, that I felt, for just a moment, isn’t real.
I have to remember who Valen is.
Tears slip from my eyes. Because another image of him returns to me. Of him standing in the Square. Of him forming that Neron spear. Of him shooting it through those miners, killing them.
I know Valen can feel me thinking about the scene, and another impression settles into me. He doesn’t try to justify what he did. He accepts it. It is a part of him, the same as his Neron blue eyes.
“Why did you help me?” I finally ask as I wipe the tears away. “Why couldn’t you have given me more warning? Why didn’t you save others?”
“Because you aren’t nothing, Nova,” Valen says. “I know there is a reason we formed this bond, and I need you.”
His last three words resound in my heart, over and over and over again.
I need you.
I don’t want them to form in my head, but they do, the words, I need you too.
He doesn’t answer my last two questions, and I feel it, he won’t explain or justify anything.
Valen Nero does not give explanations. He does not apologize for his actions.
There’s something broken inside of him. I feel it like it is as big as a mountain, somehow existing inside of his body.
“You need to go somewhere safe, Nova,” Valen says, moving along. “Please don’t tell me where you’re going.” I feel it: he means it. He doesn’t want Cyrillius to ever use the Kinduri to make him tell Dominion where I am. But he did make that threat, that promise, I will come for you, Nova. “You need to find somewhere isolated. And you need to learn how to wield your abilities.”
“Valen, I’m not-”
“It will be easier if you just accept it,” he cuts me off. But his voice is calm. “Self-hatred and self-denial has never made anyone a better person. You are a Nero, Nova.”
There. He said it. Like it is simple. Like it is a fact.
I can’t be a Nero. Valen is the only Nero born in eighty-seven solars. I’m from Korpillion, a planet with only a little Neron.
I guess I don’
t know that.
Korpillion’s entire core could be made of Neron.
Maybe it’s not entirely impossible.
“I don’t know what that means,” I admit. “I don’t know what that means for my future. I don’t know if that means there’s something I should be doing, right now. I don’t know how to figure this out on my own.”
I instantly feel incredibly lonely.
But there’s that pressure in my mind, the presence.
No. Actually, I’m not alone.
The one person in the galaxy who would know how I’m feeling is already here in my head.
And there’s that thought again: I need him. I need Valen, right here with me.
But I know what he’s done. I know who he works for.
I need someone to guide me.
But I need, with everything in me, to not end up like him.
I know Valen can feel my thoughts. He doesn’t respond with offence or anger. He agrees.
“I’ve heard that the Bahiri still exist,” he says. His tone is quiet, like he doesn’t think he should be telling me this information. “I’ve only heard rumors. But rumors are usually based in truth. You will be safest with them.”
The Bahiri? How could they still exist when the only known Nero is Valen, the very opposite of what they believe in? They exist because they have hope in the Nero, that they can make the galaxy a better place again. They worship the Nero and Neron.
They still exist?
“Do you know where they are?” I ask.
“No,” he states simply. “Find them, stay safe. Stay good, Nova.”
I feel him start to close the connection, but I throw out a frantic thought, like throwing out a hand to stop a door from closing.
“You don’t have to be like this, Valen,” I say, desperate. “You don’t have to stay with Dominion. You’re so much stronger than Cyrillius. Your life could be so much better doing good things.”
The feeling of Valen is heavy. Weighted. Depressed. “I thought there was no more good, Nova. I thought we were all out for gain.”
I remember the conversation we had, not long ago. I was doubtful then, too.
I shake my head, even though he can’t see it.
“It might be hard to find,” I say. “But there is good. Walk away from him, Valen. Don’t be his puppet.”
I know I’ve said the wrong thing, because I feel him harden. I feel bristles and spikes rise.
“Get far away from Korpillion, Nova,” he says. “Find the Bahiri, and never look back.”
And just like that, I feel him close the door between our minds.
Zayne and I sit in the seats, looking out the viewport. The Frank sits in its seat, but at the moment, it’s powered down. I still haven’t given him a direction to head.
It’s so dark out here. Little specks of light dot the view before us, but they’re few and far between.
Reena walks in, sitting in the seat next to Zayne.
“So are we still just aimlessly floating out here, wasting our supplies?” she asks.
She knows she can’t say too much, because she’s just lucky we haven’t kicked her out into space to freeze and die. But she is being logical.
“Reena, have you heard any rumors that there are still any Bahiri left?” I ask. I look back at her, but try not to seem too interested. I haven’t told anyone on board yet what happened just before we left Korpillion. I still don’t believe it, myself.
“The Bahiri?” she asks. “Thought they were all just legends. I can’t imagine any of them are still around. There aren’t any Nero around for them to worship. Valen Nero certainly isn’t what they once revered.”
Footsteps pull my eyes back to the door that leads into the living quarters. Dad walks in, coming to sit in the seat behind Zayne. “I know there are a few of them left. Heard they had all retreated back to the E sector,” he says as he settles into his seat.
The E sector? That’s forever away. It would take us a solar to get there, and that’s if we didn’t stop for supplies, which we’re going to have to do soon.
“What planets are even in the E sector?” Zayne asks. “Can’t say I know a single thing about that side of the galaxy.”
Dad shakes his head. “Can’t say that I really know. It’s just what I heard.”
“I’ve heard that all the planets in the F and G sector don’t have Neron,” Reena says. “Supposedly, Dominion doesn’t have a single planet out that way.”
And it sparks a light. If the Bahiri are in E, we could head toward F or G and ask questions along the way.
“I say we go there, then,” I say, speaking up. “After what we saw happen on Korpillion, I want nothing to do with Dominion. I’ll be glad to be as far away from their reach as possible.”
“It would take us nine lunars just to reach the G sector,” Zayne points out. “It’s forever away.”
“If it means peace, wouldn’t the time be worth it?” Torin says. He looks up at Zayne with heavy eyes before they slide to me. And I know, if it means peace and keeping us safe, he’ll travel wherever, no matter how long it takes.
“We’ll have to make quite a few supply stops,” Reena says. I’m surprised she’s on board. After a life of crime, I would think she wouldn’t run and hide so quickly, but maybe her lifestyle has taken its toll.
I nod. “We have enough to last us another six days. Frank.” His eyes light up and his head turns in my direction. “How far is the nearest planet with supplies?”
He pauses for a moment. “The nearest inhabited planet is Stippe. We would land in five days’ time.”
“Is Dominion on that planet?” Zayne asks.
Another pause from the Frank. “No, Dominion’s presence is not found on Stippe.”
I look around at my little family. We’re bound together now, brought into one another’s lives permanently by fleeing a doomed planet. But we’re here now.
They may not know why I want to reach the E sector, but after three days of aimlessly floating through space, I know they’re just happy to have a plan.
I’m going to take Valen’s advice.
I’m going to find the Bahiri.
And get some answers.
“Frank,” I say. “Our overall destination is the G sector. But take us to Stippe for supplies.”
“Yes, Nova,” he answers flatly. His fingers plug into the controls.
And every one of us barely get two seconds to buckle up before the Neron core surges, and we rocket forward through space, bound for a planet far from here.
Keary Taylor is the USA Today bestselling author of over twenty novels. She grew up along the foothills of the Rocky Mountains where she started creating imaginary worlds and daring characters who always fell in love. She now splits her time between a tiny island in the Pacific Northwest and Utah, dragging along her husband and their two children. She continues to have an overactive imagination that frequently keeps her up at night.
To learn more about Keary and her books, please visit www.KearyTaylor.com.