Riff grimaced. "A planet full of Novas. Lovely."
Nova glared at him and tapped her whip against her thigh. "If you think I'm bad, you know nothing. I'm downright meek by ashai standards. Most ashais would kill you on sight."
Riff cringed and loosened his collar. "Why?"
She gave him a crooked smile. "Because you're there."
He gulped. "I'm going to let you do all the talking."
Steel's lips stretched in a rare smile, tugging up his mustache. "A planet of fighters as deadly and vicious as Nova? Just the sort of people we need on our side." The knight patted Solflare's pommel. "I would be honored to fight alongside such noble warriors."
Riff nodded. "Yes, just pray that these warriors fight with us." He pointed out the windshield. "They're just as likely to fight against us."
Steel's eyes darkened. "Not the warmest of welcomes."
Nova snorted. "They're not firing yet. This is as pleasant as we ashais get."
"Yet is the key word here, I sense," Riff muttered.
He stared out into space. A platoon of starjets—there must have been over a hundred—were flying from Planet Ashmar toward the Dragon Huntress. The vessels were smaller than the Dragon, single-seat fighters, their hulls golden. They were shaped like scorpions, complete with glinting stingers. Riff would have found stepping onto a hive of real scorpions far less terrifying.
The ashai jets stormed forth. At their lead, one jet raised its stinger and fired its venom. The yellow blast flew over the Dragon Huntress's hull, narrowly missing the ship. The other jets fanned out and began circling the mechanical dragon. The scorpions sported small, rounded cockpits, and within them, Riff could see the ashai pilots. Like Nova, they had long golden hair, almond-shaped green eyes, and pointed ears. Like her, they seemed eager to kill.
"Nova, that talking I was going to leave to you?" Riff said. "Now might be a good time for that."
Before she could reply, lights blinked on the controls. One of the scorpion jets was hailing them. Riff flipped a switch, and the face of an ashai pilot materialized on the head-up display. He was a young man, not much older than twenty, with high cheekbones, fiery green eyes, and long blond hair. A thin scar ran along one of his pale cheeks, and he wore formfitting golden armor, the same as Nova wore.
"Enemy vessel!" the ashai pilot said, voice rising through the speakers. "Name yourselves, space worms, so that we can keep record of our kills."
Riff thought he recognized the man's starjet. It seemed to be the one hovering directly ahead of them. Other scorpion jets whizzed back and forth, circling the Dragon Huntress in a typhoon.
Nova stepped toward the head-up display. "Cease your blustering, Senka. Or do I have to scar your second cheek too?"
The ashai pilot—Senka—stared at her. He hissed. "You have nerve flying back to Ashmar, sister. Especially in a human tin can."
Riff inhaled sharply. He looked at Nova. "He's . . . your brother? The ashai who tried to kill us is your brother."
She snorted. "He is according to my father, though Senka is such a sniveling little pup, I swear he's part human."
"Lovely," Riff said. "Don't really know who's insulting me more here."
On the head-up display, Senka turned to stare at Riff. "Is that him? Is that scruffy ape the . . . musician?" Senka snorted out laughter. "You left Ashmar for that? A piece of space scum? It's sickening, sister. To lie with apes. I should kill you now."
Riff reached for the controls, prepared to blast out fire. "If you fire on us again, little man, this ape is going to fling some poop your way."
"Typical ape crudeness." Senka snorted. "Your space pigeon—that is what your starship is meant to look like, isn't it?—won't last very long against a fleet of scorpions. I will demonstrate."
Through the windshield, Riff saw Senka's scorpion jet raise its tail. Another blast shot out.
Riff tugged the joystick, pulling the Dragon Huntress downward. The shot skimmed along their roof. Romy wailed in the attic.
Riff reached for the dragonfire button.
"Stop!" Nova caught his wrist. "Enough of this. Senka!" She turned toward the HUD. "Stop this madness, Senka. You call the humans apes, yet now you pound your chest like a gorilla desperate to show his strength. You want me dead? Let Father decide my fate. Move your fleet aside, and let me see him. I will not die at your fire, only at his whip if I must."
Senka's face twisted into something halfway between a smile and a snarl. His jet's stinger curled up. "Yes, that would amuse me. Why blast you out here in space, only a few sons of Ashmar here to see? I would rather see Father knock you down, drag you out the doors of the palace, and burn you before a crowd of billions. All of Ashmar will watch your death, sister, and the death of the apes you bring with you."
The video feed died. The scorpion ships turned and began flying toward the planet.
Riff tugged his hair and shook his fist at Nova. "That's your version of talking? Choosing one very slow, very painful death over a very fast, very painless death?"
She shrugged. "Hey, slow torture in front of a crowd? Sounds a bit like your old blues shows. Figured you'd like it." She nudged him aside and grabbed the controls. "Relax. A death threat is like saying 'hello' among the ashais."
Riff blew out his breath and sank into his chair. "We can never find a planet where they say hello with hugs, can we? Always spiders saying hello with webs, lobsters saying hello with killer claws, and deranged space lunatics saying hello with scorpion jets."
Nova pushed down on the throttle, and the Dragon Huntress flew among the scorpions, descending toward the fiery world of Ashmar.
* * * * *
It had been years since Riff had visited Ashmar, and the planet looked no more welcoming. Flying down through the atmosphere, he saw no forests, no gardens, no fields. Here was a barren, red land of boulders, mountains, canyons, the yellow sky streaked with orange clouds. The light of Sirius beat down, as golden and merciless as the people below.
As they descended farther, Ashan City came into view below, capital of the Ashai Empire. Riff's hometown, the sprawling Cog City back on Earth, was a mix of a thousand styles: skyscrapers of glass, slums of scrap metal and tarpaulin, glittering boulevards, filthy alleys, lush parks, and grungy urban jungles, a sprawling hodgepodge. Ashan City, meanwhile, was a model of homogeny. Every street and building here was the work of a single designer, it seemed, all carved from the just the right materials, built at just the right size. Curving towers soared like claws, their flanks a dull bronze that turned gold in the sunlight. Streets coiled across the city, the labyrinth as meticulous as an ancient Persian rug. Domes of glass shone below, and countless starjets flitted across the sky. Riff saw almost no colors other than gold, bronze, red, yellow, and silver, as if the entire city were made of metal and dust.
A city like a sword, he thought. A city dedicated to the might of metal, to glory, to war. He glanced over at Nova who sat beside him on the bridge. No wonder she left my home in the Blue Strings. She's a great huntress of the sky, and we were like badgers in a den.
"You all right, Nova?" He reached out and patted her knee.
"Worry about yourself now, Riff." She stared down at the city with hard eyes. "We enter a hive of death. Be on guard." She turned toward Steel. "And you, tin man. No challenging anyone to a duel. You're likely to get yourself killed."
The knight seemed to barely notice her. He was busy staring down at the city, nodding in satisfaction. "Marvelous world, Ashmar. Look at the symmetry of the streets and buildings. This is order, friends. Law and order." He nodded. "Proud world of warriors. I would much like to train with the ashais, perhaps duel one or two."
"See?" Nova slapped the back of Steel's neck. "That's what I'm talking about. Duels bad. Duels mean dead knight."
Steel bristled but said no more.
The scorpion jets flew around the Dragon Huntress, gold in the sunlight. Whenever the Dragon veered more than a meter off course, the scorpions blasted their guns.
Steering the ship, Riff felt a little like a kid in a bumper-ship chamber . . . only these bumper-ships were likely to blast him to a thousand pieces.
The scorpion jets led them down toward a spaceport in the city center. Towers rose around the runways and hangars, each several kilometers tall and shining in the sunlight, great blades reaching into the sky. Highways coiled everywhere in a maze, and aerojets flitted back and forth. In the distance, Riff could make out a massive palace, easily the largest building he had ever seen, a building larger than the Blue Strings would be to ants. Its columns soared, capped with gold, and a crown of great, golden blades crested its roof.
The Palace of Ashmar, Riff thought. Nova's old home.
Riff had never met her father, but the stories he had heard made him shudder. Tales across the cosmos told of King Tavyn's cruelty—an ashai warrior who did not flinch from slaughtering his enemies, the stern ruler who had shattered the fleets of many nations. Suddenly Riff missed his own father—the befuddled old Aminor—but as usual, the magician was off on one of his quests, probably gone for many days or even years.
A blast from a starjet grazed the Dragon Huntress, and Riff cursed. He tugged the controls, lowering the starship down toward the spaceport. The great metal dragon stretched out its wings, blasted its bottom thrusters, and thumped down onto the planet.
Riff stared outside at the spaceport. Dozens of ashai troops were moving about, whips and guns in hand. Their sleek scorpion jets flew everywhere, engines roaring. The skyscrapers rose beyond, their bronzed surfaces nearly blinding Riff.
Ashmar. A land of warriors . . . yet a land that will fall if the Singularity keeps evolving. Stars, let us find the aid here that we need.
The door to the bridge opened, and Romy wandered in, dragging a suitcase. She wore khaki shorts and a safari hat, and a camera hung around her neck. "Ah, a new world!" The demon wagged her tail. "I can't wait to see the sights. Do they have any poodles here?"
Riff pointed at the doorway. "Attic. Now."
Romy whined, tossed down her suitcase, and flounced off the bridge.
"Riff." Nova placed her hands on his shoulders, and her eyes softened. "It might be best if you stay on this ship too. My father did not like the idea of me running off with a human. He's . . . not the most reasonable man."
Riff stiffened. "Perhaps he should meet me then. Learn to see I'm not a total loser."
Nova cleared her throat.
Riff looked down at his torn jeans, the mustard stain on his Space Galaxy T-shirt, and his old sandshoes. He looked back up at Nova. "What?"
She pointed. "Ship. Stay."
He sighed. "Lovely. Treated like the demon. Let me walk you to the door, at least."
She nodded and they left the bridge together. As they walked down the hallway, Giga's voice rose from behind the doorway where she was tied up.
"The ashais won't help you, living ones!" The android's cackle shook the door. "We've already mustered fleets to destroy this pathetic world. It too will burn. You will die, Nova of Ashmar. You will die, Riff of Earth. You—"
"Oh shush!" Riff pounded on the door and kept walking.
They made their way to the main deck, opened the airlock, and walked downstairs to the outer door. Riff paused there and held Nova's hands.
"Be careful, all right?" he said. "We're all in danger here. You are too. I heard what your brother said."
"And you heard what Giga said." Nova squared her shoulders. "She worries me far, far more than my brother and father."
Riff nodded. "Nova, I . . . I'm sorry. That I caused this rift between you and your family."
Her eyes softened and she touched his cheek. "You foolish, foolish human. Sometimes I can't believe I gave up this world for you." She kissed his lips. "Just make sure you help me save it."
She opened the outer door, letting in the hot, dry air of Ashmar.
Outside, standing in the white sunlight, waited a hundred ashai soldiers.
Senka, Nova's little brother, stood at their lead. The prince wore a golden, form-fitting suit of armor, made of the same material Nova wore. He too held a whip. Green eyes burning with hatred, Senka lashed that whip like a chameleon's tongue, grabbed Riff's wrist, and yanked him outside.
"What the hell?" Riff shouted, stumbling out into the sunlight.
"Grab him!" Senka barked. "Arrest that ape!"
Riff tried to make it back into the Dragon Huntress, but Senka yanked him away from the doorway. Other ashais stepped forward and grabbed Riff's arms.
"Brother, stop this!" Nova leaped toward him and raised her own whip. "This is my guest. My—"
"Your lover." Senka spat. "Sickening."
Riff struggled against the men holding him but couldn't free himself. "You might change your mind after you taste my breakfasts. I rustle up some good waffles." He waggled his eyebrows. "I make them with blueberries."
The ashai prince turned toward him. Those green, cruel eyes narrowed. The young man, with his long blond hair, looked remarkably like his sister, so much that he could have easily been Nova's twin.
"Humor?" He snorted. "A human weakness. It might have blinded my sister to your wretchedness, but not me, ape." He turned toward his men. "Warriors of Ashmar, toss this ape into the Crimson Gulag. We'll torture him there for sport. Keep the other apes quarantined on this starship until I decide what to do with them."
"So no to the waffles," Riff said. "Obviously, you're more of a continental breakfast sort of guy. I dig it. Now how about you release me, we settle this over some dry toast, and— ow!"
Riff shouted as Senka lashed his whip, this time with the electricity turned on. The thong slammed into Riff, and pain bolted through him.
"Damn it, brother!" Nova shouted. "Stop this nonsense."
"Grab her too!" Senka said. "Grab my treacherous sister. Drag her to the palace where she'll face the wrath of the king."
Riff roared as another lightning lash hit him. Nova wailed and attacked, only for ashais to leap onto her, grab her, and shock her with their whips. More electricity washed over Riff, and all he could do was scream, and all he could see was the cruel sunlight gleaming off armor and metal towers.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN:
THE PALACE OF ASHMAR
Nova walked toward the Palace of Ashmar, her brother and his goons surrounding her.
"Let go." Nova tugged her arm free from Senka's grasp. "Touch me again and I'll rip off your hand."
Her brother snorted. He was not a large man. He stood no taller than her, nor was he heavier or stronger. But Nova knew he was a deadly warrior. Even a full Ashmari year ago, when he had been but a youth, Nova had watched him slay prisoners for sport, dueling them in the Crimson Gulag to practice killing.
"Soon you'll be begging for my hand to reach toward you," he said, "to save you from the gulag, to deliver you from the pain of my torturers. But no aid will come to you, Nova. You abandoned the throne—the throne that I'm now heir to. You abandoned our family, our planet, our race. All for the humans. For over a year, our family lived with that shame." He sneered. "Now you will pay."
Nova growled at him and snapped her teeth. "Do you remember what happened when you were a boy, Senka? I mean, an even younger boy than you are now. You tried to steal my whip once, to play with it, the way you played with your dolls. I swung that whip against your cheek. I can still see the scar." One corner of her mouth lifted in a smile. "People say we look alike. When I'm done scarring you this time, they'll no longer say it."
Her smile widened to see the flicker of fear in his eyes. She turned back toward the palace and kept walking, head held high.
The Palace of Ashmar, her old home, was one of the largest buildings on the planet—one of the largest buildings in all the planets of the Humanoid Alliance. Its columns loomed, bronze capped with gold. A crown of blades, each as large as a skyscraper, thrust up from the roof, soaring toward the sun. The light of Sirius, Ashmar's merciless star, beat down upon the building, casting out rays of light.
&
nbsp; A great staircase, wide as a runway and hundreds of stairs high, stretched toward the palace gates. Nova climbed, and the other ashais climbed around her. Two scorpion statues guarded the gates, hundreds of feet tall, idols of gold. Ashai guards stood here too, young women holding spears, scorpion sigils engraved onto their armor. As Senka approached the gates, the guards pulled the doors open, then knelt.
For the first time since leaving Ashmar with a scruffy human guitarist, Nova stepped into her home.
A vast hall spread before her. A mosaic covered the floor, depicting a hundred species of arachnids, the tiled beasts so lifelike they almost seemed to move. Guards stood between columns, young men and women in kaijia armor, electric whips and blades in their hands. Upon marble pedestals perched charred husks of metal—the remains of human warships that had attacked Ashmar centuries ago, collapsing under the onslaught of the ashai fleet. For generations, Nova's forebears had kept these lurid souvenirs, a symbol of Ashmar's might, its independence from Earth.
We were human once, Nova thought as she walked into the hall, gazing at these chunks of antique starships. Human soldiers who defected, who landed here in the red desert, who evolved into a species of warriors. She stared at an ancient Earthling skeleton that had fused with the husk of a melted cockpit. With blood and fire, we won our freedom from Earth. . . yet now an enemy is mustering that even thousands of scorpion jets might be unable to defeat.
She tore her eyes away from the mementos on the pedestals. She kept walking.
At the back of the hall, a round skylight let down a sunray. A throne rose here, carved of gold, shaped as a great scorpion. Embedded into the stinger was the Ashen Shard—a spike of steel taken from the first starship to have landed here, bearing Ashmar's original settlers, the progenitors of the race. It was all that remained of that ancient ship. It was the holiest relic on the planet. It was here, at these very coordinates, that the ancient ship had landed. Nova walked on holy ground.
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