When I round a block building’s corner, someone rushes out of a nearby dormitory. Automatically, I backtrack and hide behind the building. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to be out and about, and I certainly don’t want to get caught and sent back to the med bay. With half my vision obscured, I keep tripping over my own feet. As I scramble to find cover, my boots slip against the black sand. The person checks over his shoulder, and I dive to the ground, hidden behind a short but luscious palm. I watch the Veritas member through the gaps in the foliage.
He’s a scrawny excuse for a man. On sight, I don’t like him. He has beady black eyes and a pointed nose like a rat. He moves like a rat too, shuffling this way and that, like he’s trying to find the best escape route off the planet. As I spy on him, he pulls out a familiar-looking piece of equipment. It’s an IA-issued Monitor, and I’m pretty damn sure Veritas didn’t assign it to the rat-man. He turns it on, and the screen lights up his face. He taps hastily on the touchpad. Coordinates pop up on the hologram screen. I can’t tell exactly what they are from here, but I do see a tiny map of the space around Adrestia.
Suddenly, the rat-man drops the Monitor. He doesn’t seem concerned with his mistreatment of the equipment. Instead, he stares with wide-eyed horror at his hands.
“No,” he gasps. “No!”
He wrestles with his Veritas gloves. He does everything to attempt to get them off, even tearing at the fabric with his teeth. I’m half-tempted to help him, but I don’t understand what’s going on, and I have a feeling the rat-man deserves whatever’s coming to him. He rips into his hands with his fingernails, gouging into the skin. The more he struggles, the more unlikely it seems he’ll get free of them. Blood drips to the ground, but the black sand swallows it up like it’s simply rain.
The rat-man’s gloves begin to glow. First, it’s a subtle white light. Then, it morphs into red, like it’s trying to warn the rat-man to stop struggling. Finally, it goes indigo. I’d recognize the color of pure opalite anywhere as the gloves eject some liquid form of the mineral poison up the rat-man’s bare arms and across his chest. He yelps and tries to wipe the formula from his skin, but he only succeeds in rubbing it in further. As the opalite solution sinks in, his skin erupts in red and white boils. Before the rat-man can muster a scream for help, the boils take over his face. His lips swell shut, as does his nose. In a matter of moments, he collapses. I swallow bile as he writhes on the ground, swollen and suffocating. It seems to go on forever, but his body goes limp after a few minutes. I wait a minute more, but he doesn’t move.
I crawl out from behind my hiding place and creep toward the motionless man. He’s even smaller and more rodent-like up close, but his facial features are unrecognizable beneath the swelling. The boils have popped. Green and yellow pus leaks out all over the rat-man’s body. It eats away at his skin, revealing the muscle underneath before attacking that too. It’s a grotesque way to die—and it’s definitely not just opalite poisoning. The only things that survive the mess are the leather Veritas gloves. I give the man a wide berth and kneel down to pick up the Monitor he abandoned.
“Don’t touch that, Ophelia!”
Claudia comes barreling out of nowhere and knocks the Monitor out of my grasp. It goes flying and lands a few feet away. Claudia shunts me away from the dead rat-man and examines me from head to toe.
“Are you insane?” she demands. Somehow, it seems like she’s whispering and yelling at me at the same time. “Wandering around on your own like this? You could’ve been killed!”
“Like that guy?” I nod toward the rat-man. “What in heavens did I just witness? That poison came from the gloves.”
“You didn’t get any on you, did you?” She continues to sweep my body for signs of the weird opalite solution. “No, you’re clean. Thank heavens. What were you thinking, O? You’re supposed to be staying in the med bay tonight. I thought I could count on Nova to keep you safe.”
“I wanted to find Vega,” I say. “Are you going to tell me what just happened with that guy or what? And why’d you knock that Monitor out of my hands?”
Claudia glances at the rat-man. His body is almost entirely gone now. The flesh-eating poison has worked its way down to his bones. Claudia grimaces and turns away.
“He betrayed us,” she tells me. “That’s what happens when you do something Veritas considers a threat.”
“The Monitor.”
“Yeah.”
She beckons me to follow her as she approaches the place where the Monitor landed in the sand. Claudia picks up a nearby stick and carefully flips the Monitor open so the screen is facing upward. It’s still on and working, despite its multiple falls, and the screen displays the last information the rat-man was working on.
“Coordinates,” Claudia whispers. “Stupid Carl.”
“Um, who’s Carl?”
She jabs a thumb at the rat-man. “I should’ve known he was a mole. He looks like one.”
“He looks more like a rat to me.”
“He’s a rodent nonetheless,” Claudia replies. She pulls on her leather gloves then gingerly lifts the Monitor from the sand. “I have to get this to Headquarters. Can I trust you to get yourself back to the med bay?”
“I’m not going back there,” I inform her. “It smells like feet.”
“That’s disinfectant.”
“Whatever.”
“Ophelia, this isn’t a game,” Claudia hisses. “Did you see what happened to that guy? If you step out of line, that could be you. Don’t make me lose my sister when I’ve already lost my mom and my brother.”
I give Carl one last look before the sand absorbs the rest of his biological matter. All that’s left of him are his gloves, which appear to be in perfect condition. I look down at my hands, strong and firm within their own pair of leather gloves. Without further ado, I yank the perfectly-fitted leather off and throw the gloves on the ground.
“What are you doing?” Claudia grabs my gloves from the sand and shoves them into my chest. “Why can’t you do anything right, Ophelia?”
“They killed him, didn’t they?” I gasp, holding the gloves by the tips of the thumbs, afraid to put them anywhere near my skin. “That opalite mixture came from the gloves. Veritas killed that man.”
“Because he was trying to get a message to IA,” Claudia replies in an exasperated tone. “Don’t you get it? This is exactly what Orion was trying to tell you earlier. Veritas has to recruit quickly, and we can’t afford moles. Vega caught on pretty quick. The gloves do more than monitor your vitals and act as a communication device. They can also be used to euthanize the wearer.”
“Shit, are you serious?”
She points to Carl’s remains. “You don’t believe me?”
“That’s not humane!”
“It’s also saved us from a whole lot of trouble,” she replies. “You wouldn’t believe how many scouts IA has sent to us. They go through the whole shebang, swearing the oath and everything. Then as soon as they think they have an opening, they try to get information to IA. It’s thanks to these gloves that none of that information goes through.”
“Is it worth it though?” I ask her. “You’re killing people without giving them a chance to explain themselves. How do you know IA hasn’t forced them to come here?”
Claudia shows me the Monitor again. “You see this? It’s not just coordinates for our location. It’s a message about you. Carl was letting IA know that you’re alive and you landed here safely. If that kind of information got back to Harmonia, we’d all be dead within the hour. I don’t entirely agree with it either, but you have to remember what’s at stake here, Ophelia.”
“Claudia, I don’t know if I can be a part of something like this.”
“This is a necessary precaution,” she argues. “You won’t be in any trouble as long as you toe the line. I assume you don’t plan on feeding any information to IA?”
“Of course not!”
“Then you don’t have anything to worry about,” Clau
dia says. “Take Dad for example. He’s worked for Veritas since the Second War, and he managed to never blow himself up.”
“Dad’s gloves have that feature too?”
“They all do,” she says. “Since Veritas was founded. Look, I’ll make you a deal.”
“What kind of deal?”
“I’ll take you to Vega, and I’ll even let her out of holding.” She holds up two fingers. “On two conditions. One, she has to take the oath and get a pair of gloves, and two, you can’t tell her about what you just saw here tonight. In fact, you can’t tell anyone.”
“I’m sorry, how does this deal benefit me at all?”
“Because you get your best friend back,” Claudia replies. “I don’t know what’s going on between the two of you. You fight like a pair of feral cats, but I’ve never seen two people stick together like you idiots.”
I can’t help but grin. “It’s hard to explain.”
“Whatever. I don’t care,” Claudia says. “The secret-keeping benefits all of us. If everyone knew about the deadliest feature of those gloves, no one would take the oath or believe in Veritas. They would think we’re just as cruel as IA.”
“Aren’t you?”
Claudia shrugs. “Maybe we are. Maybe that’s the way you have to be in order to save the galaxy. Anyway, it’s your choice. Convince Vega to take the oath and you get your best buddy back, or don’t and get used to this camp on your own. Either way, you have to keep your mouth shut about the gloves.”
“What if I don’t?”
Claudia gestures towards the gloves in my hands. “Talk shit at your own risk. The gloves decide what’s classified as a betrayal. Like I said, toe the line and you’ll be fine.”
“Oh, you’re rhyming now?”
She rolls her eyes. “Enough quipping. Remember this is bigger than you, Ophelia. It’s not about you and this organization. It’s about the entire galaxy, and we need you on our side. What’s it gonna be? You want your best friend out of jail or not?”
She’s right. The issue is bigger than exploding gloves and potential traitors. I understand Veritas’s need for discretion. With such a small rebel force, we only have one chance to take down IA. Veritas can’t afford betrayals or mistakes.
“Fine,” I finally say. “Take me to Vega.”
The holding dormitory is on the outskirts of the tiny city, close to where Veritas parks its speeders and defense ships. When we walk inside, I’m immediately confused. It doesn’t look anything like a prison. In fact, it looks more like a spa. Most of the rooms are empty, but when I glance inside, it’s not just a metal cot and a sink. Each room has a comfortable bed, a desk, and tasteful decorations crafted from pressed flowers. Like Halley said, there’s a gym and a sauna. The only indication that this building is more than a resort is that the doors lock from the outside, and a sentry stands guard in the hallway. When he sees Claudia, he immediately perks up.
“Hey, Cee,” he says, beaming. “Whatcha doing up so late?”
I can already see what this is. The sentry’s about my age, a little too young for Claudia but completely oblivious of the fact. I can see his moon eyes even in the dark.
“Got the key to Vega Major’s door?” Claudia asks. “I’m releasing her tonight.”
“On whose orders?”
“Mine.”
The sentry shuffles uncomfortably. “Well, no offense, Cee, but I can’t let you into her room. The council specifically told me to wait until they cleared her. She hasn’t even taken the oath yet.”
“I’m going to monitor the oath to her,” Claudia improvises.
“You got gloves for her?”
Claudia’s stuck. We didn’t stop at the community hall on the way here, and we definitely don’t have a pair of gloves for Vega.
Claudia puts on her best doe eyes. “Leo?”
Leo’s eyes widen. “You never call me by my first name.”
“Yeah, I’ve been avoiding my feelings for a long time,” Claudia says. I try not to snicker as I note the sarcasm she’s hiding behind her flirtatious tone. “I can’t say your first name without giving myself away, but I think I’m finally ready to admit it.”
Leo’s eyes, if possible, go even wider. “Are you serious? You’re finally going to go on a date with me?”
She smacks him over the head. “No, you idiot. Let me in, or I’ll tell the entire camp about your ridiculous hard-on for me. Should deflate it pretty quick, no?”
Leo’s face goes bright red. “Fuck you, Holmes. I’m not letting you in.”
“Couldn’t have just thrown the boy a bone?” I mutter into Claudia’s ear.
Claudia reaches into her back pocket and pulls out a cluster of purple leaves. She offers them to Leo. “You know I wouldn’t come here empty-handed, right?”
Leo eyes the vividly-colored leaves. “Where’d you find those? HQ says they pulled all of it.”
“HQ lied,” Claudia says nonchalantly. “There are a few patches up in the mountains.”
“Where?”
“If I told you, I’d lose my bargaining chip.” Claudia brandishes the leaves again. “You want these or not? I can always trade them for some chocolate in the kitchen instead.”
Leo swipes the leaves from Claudia’s grasp and tucks them away in his jacket pocket. Then he flips a small coin at Claudia, who catches it without blinking. She winks.
“You’re a charmer, Leo.”
“I hate you,” he replies.
We pass Leo to reach the closed doors at the opposite end of the hall.
“What were those things you gave him?” I ask my sister.
“We call it starweed,” she replies. “You get a little loopy if you smoke it. It’s totally harmless, but Veritas considers it a distracting substance, so we’re not allowed to have it. Doesn’t mean no one’s got it though.”
“You smoke it?”
“Hey, we all deserve a little fun, right? Here’s our girl.”
Claudia stops at the last door and puts the coin into the slot in the lock. It chimes like an antique vending machine, the lock disengages, and the door swings open. Inside, Vega shoots to her feet.
“Prison break, Major,” Claudia announces. “You’re coming with us.”
4
Claudia gets us into the community hall then disappears into a back room in search of Veritas gloves for Vega. Vega, her Defense training kicking in, takes a lap around the perimeter of the room.
“What’s going on?” she asks as she paces. “Can you see now? Why’s Claudia acting so weird? Did the council change their mind about me?”
“Slow down, Vega.”
I’m exhausted. Despite the lack of scalpels, Nova’s procedure to reinstate my vision took a toll on my energy levels. I take a seat in one of the council’s chairs, and I immediately understand why anyone would join them. The chairs conforms perfectly to my spine, cradling my sore body with its soothing touch.
“I can see,” I continue. “Partially. They fixed my right eye. The left is apparently screwed forever.”
“Did they say anything else?”
I almost tell her the truth—that the opalite in my system will surely kill me in an unpredictable amount of time. As of right now, that little detail is only privy to me and Nova. I haven’t even told Claudia, and for the time being, I don’t feel the need to tell anyone at all.
“Nope,” I answer. “I guess the opalite blast hit too close to my left eye for Nova to save it.”
“You could get a robotic one like mine.” She winks at me from across the room. The metal in her iris glimmers. “It comes in handy.”
“I don’t think Veritas has those kind of resources.”
“I’m sorry. I should’ve blocked that hit.”
“You were barely conscious, remember?” I remind her. “You couldn’t have known it was coming. It was my own gun anyway.”
“Yeah, and your brother’s brand-new scaly skin.” A shudder rips through Vega from head to toe. “Do you think he’s still alive
?”
“With any luck, he and my mother are both buried under the remains of the Intelligence building,” I say. “Along with the rest of that serum.”
“Somehow, I doubt it,” she replies.
“Without Gertrude Holmes, the Intelligence sector would come crumbling down,” I say. “IA would have to rebuild from scratch, and no one else could replicate that serum without my DNA.”
“Not necessarily,” Vega says. “Your mother was the head of Intelligence, sure, but there was always a hierarchy. If she’s dead, they’ll promote Powers, and he’s nearly as bad.”
“Caelum Powers?”
“Yeah, he was your mother’s second-in-command.”
“Shit. They were best friends. He probably knows every one of her passwords.”
“And I’d guess he has access to your DNA sequence too,” Vega adds. “So we’re not out of the woods even if your mom is dead. Sorry.”
I wave off the apology. “She was dead to me a long time ago. We were never going to see eye to eye on anything, least of all compromising the human race. All we can do now is help Veritas.”
Vega doesn’t reply right away, but she must feel the room is safe enough, because she stops surveying her surroundings and plops down on the bean bag next to my chair.
“It doesn’t feel right, Fee,” she says. “This whole oath thing? Those gloves? I’m sorry, but I don’t trust these people as much as you might.”
“I don’t really trust them either,” I reply, “but I do trust what they’re trying to do. By the way, the only way I could convince Claudia to let you out was to guarantee that you were going to take the oath. She’s gone to find you a pair of gloves.”
“What?” Vega kicks aside another bag. It bursts open. It’s full of small, hard beans. They scatter everywhere, the perfect trap for the next person to walk in here. “I told you, Ophelia. I’m not taking that oath!”
“Do you want to save the people of this galaxy or not?” I ask her. “We don’t know how long it will be before IA engineers another version of that serum. We’re not waiting for a war to start, Vega. It’s already begun, and you can’t play your favorite game of ‘whose team am I on’ anymore.”
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