Worse than Nova, she is.
"I'll enjoy seeing you die in agony, worm." Keeva smirked and stepped away, leaving him alone in the open field.
Demoted from ape to worm. Riff sighed. And soon to one of the skeletons in the ditches, I reckon.
Speakers boomed from the guard towers, the sound thudding against Riff's ears.
"An ape of Earth has landed on Ashmar! A filthy, unevolved beast!" The crowd booed, and the speakers continued booming. "This hairy creature dragged our princess, the beloved Nova, back to his primordial planet. There she, an evolved ashai, pure and strong and superior, was forced to fight in a cage for the amusement of the monkeys."
"Forced?" Riff shouted, looking up at the cameras. "Ever tried to force Nova to do anything? I can't even get her to watch Space Galaxy with me."
The crowd began pelting him with whatever came to hand—rotted food, mud, rocks, and even a few of the halfling prisoners.
The voice from the speakers continued. "As this dirty, unevolved ape forced our princess to fight aliens . . . he will face an alien of his own."
Please be a halfling, please be a halfling, Riff prayed.
"Release the man-eating scorpion!" boomed the voice.
Damn.
The crowd parted. A gate in the surrounding wall opened. A bloodstalker scorpion, the native apex predator of Planet Ashmar, raced onto the field.
Back on Earth, Riff had once watched a documentary about bird-eating spiders found in the Amazon, nasty buggers the size of kittens. This alien arachnid, Planet Ashmar's dominant life form until the ashais had risen, made Earth's greatest spiders seem smaller than amoebas. The scorpion towered above Riff, taller than a giraffe. Its body was bright yellow, almost garish, and its stinger was larger than Steel's sword. Its eyes blazed red, and it let out a blood-curdling shriek.
"Good boy . . ." Riff said, feeling weak in the knees. "Good boy . . ."
The scorpion scuttled toward him, reared like a stallion, stretched out its legs, and screeched so loudly the gulag shook. The prisoners and guards cheered.
"Sit!" Riff said. "Sit, boy. Si—"
With another screech, the scorpion swung down its stinger.
Riff leaped aside, and the stinger slammed into the ground, a shard almost as tall as he was. The scorpion's eyes blazed with fury. Its claws reached toward Riff, and he leaped back, only for the crowd of prisoners to shove him forward. The stinger thrust again. Riff fell and rolled, and the stinger slammed down mere centimeters away.
Riff leaped to his feet.
So it's war.
He swung his pickaxe.
The blade streamed through the air and clanged into the giant scorpion.
He might as well have attacked a diamond wall. The pickaxe bounced back, sending pain up Riff's arm. He had never missed Ethel, his beloved and confiscated plasma gun, more.
The scorpion opened its mouth to reveal dripping fangs. Riff hadn't even been sure scorpions had mouths, and this one looked large enough to swallow him whole. The beast's claws swung, and one crashed into Riff.
He screamed. The claws tore at his arm, shedding blood, knocking him down. The stinger swung again, slick with venom. Riff rolled aside at just the last instant. The stinger missed his head by millimeters, slicing through his hair. He swung the pickaxe again, trying to hit one of the creature's eyes, but the scorpion reared before him, a god of light and hunger. The sunlight fractured around it, casting down beams like blades onto Riff.
The wound on Riff's arm burned again. The memory blazed: the machine in his childhood, buzzing, cutting him, and him running . . . running through alleys, escaping the Singularity, this hive of consciousness that had traveled from his future, traveled to slay him in his childhood, to—
Riff sucked in breath.
He leaped to his feet and ran.
The crowd roared around him. The scorpion chased him. Riff's heart thudded.
"Singularity!" he shouted, looking at the starjets that hovered above, the cameras that broadcast his battle across the planet. "Singularity, I know you're watching this! I know you're monitoring me. Giga, can you hear me?"
The cameras rolled. The scorpion screeched and lashed its stinger, and Riff leaped aside just in time, but the claws slammed into him again, cutting him.
"Hear me, Singularity! This bloodstalker scorpion will destroy you. I will bring this scorpion to the Dragon Huntress, and it will kill you, Giga! It will drive its stinger into your chest."
That stinger came flashing down, and Riff leaped aside again. The claws knocked him down, cutting him. His blood sprayed. Those claws slammed down onto his chest, pinning him to the ground.
The crowd roared.
Riff could barely breathe. The weight crushed him. The scorpion's fangs gleamed above, and saliva dripped onto Riff, hot, burning him.
The creature's stinger rose high. Riff struggled to free himself, but the claws were too heavy. Venom beaded on the stinger's tip, ready to thrust into him.
"Do you hear me, Giga?" Riff shouted at the cameras. "I will bring this creature to you, and it will skewer your mechanical innards. If not me then others will. All who hear me, bring this creature to the HMS Dragon Huntress! Let it slay the android within! Giga, unless you find its egg, unless you crush it before it hatches, you will . . ."
He gasped.
With a crack of the air, the towering scorpion popped out of existence.
". . . vanish," Riff whispered.
The weight on his chest was gone. His wounds disappeared as if they had never been there.
Just like the beach, Riff thought. Thank goodness for time travel.
The crowd fell silent, staring in shock. Prisoners dropped their pickaxes. Even the living hunk of meat rubbed his eyes.
"Do you see the power of the Singularity?" Riff said. He struggled to his feet and stared into the cameras. "Do you see the power of the machines that muster? Any one of us can be next." His voice grew louder. "Fight with me, Ashmar. Fight with me against an evil that can kill bloodstalker scorpions. That can burn planets. Fight with me. With Princess Nova. For once, let us put aside our differences. Nova and I, an ashai and human, learned to love each other. Let our people do the same! Let us fight together—ashais and humans, united." His eyes dampened. "No longer enemies. No longer two species divided by war. We were one people once. Let us join again. Let us fight as one—for life's victory over the machines . . . and for peace between us."
The crowd stared at him, silent.
The soldiers glanced at one another.
"Got another giant scorpion around?" Keeva asked, turning toward another soldier.
The man nodded. "I'll go get it."
Riff sighed.
It was going to be a long day.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN:
THE PRINCESS OF ASHMAR
The cavalcade of starjets, golden and gleaming, flew between the skyscrapers of Ashan City. A hundred scorpion jets roared. Thousands of aerocars scattered before them. In the center of the convoy flew a great warship, shaped as the Ashen Shard, and within flew the royal family. King Tavyn. Prince Senka. Wayward Nova, the runaway princess of fire.
They flew between the blade-like towers, over coiling streets, over fortresses and castles of metal. They flew under the beating sun, flew across courtyards where soldiers mustered for battle. They flew toward the starship lot, and with lights and fire and smoke, with the fury of the galaxy's deadliest family, they landed by the dented metal dragon.
Hundreds of soldiers fanned out. A hundred starjets roared above. Cloak flapping in the sandy wind, the King of Ashmar left his vessel of gold and steel and stepped into the dented, rusty Dragon Huntress. At his side walked his children, whips in their hands, exchanging murderous looks.
The royal family entered the main deck to find Romy slouched on the couch, tilting a box of donuts over her mouth.
The demon blinked to see them, then leaped to her feet. Donuts went rolling across the floor. One hit King Tavyn's foot, then flumped down. Several e
mpty boxes of donuts were strewn across the floor.
"Oh hai!" Romy waved. Sprinkles and icing covered her cheeks. "I was just having a little snack. Want some donuts?" She lifted one from the floor, blew off dirt, and handed it to the king. "Eat it! It's good for you."
King Tavyn paled. "Truly this Singularity is a thing of evil."
Nova sighed. "Not that evil. Sorry, Father. Ignore this one." She pointed at the hatch on the ceiling. "Romy—attic! Go!"
The demon groaned. "They keep saying that to me. All the time, it's attic this, attic that." She leaned toward the king, winked, and whispered, "I have more donuts up there. Join me later if you like."
Hiccupping, Romy grabbed the fallen donuts off the floor, stuffed them into her cheeks like a hamster, and flew up into the attic.
Nova sighed again. "Come, Father, brother. With me."
They left the main deck, walked down the corridor, and approached the door to the captain's quarters.
Nova paused. She took a deep breath. More than she feared her father and brother, more than she feared this planet of armies and wrath, she feared the creature that lurked behind this door. But it was a creature her father had to see.
She steeled herself, opened the door, and gestured for her father and brother to enter.
They all stepped inside to find Giga sitting on the bed, still bound in steel cables. The android smiled sweetly at them.
"Konnichiwa!" Giga said. "I am Giga. Happy to comply!"
King Tavyn stared at the android, then at Nova. "You brought me here to see an ape robot?"
Nova sucked in breath. "It deceives us! This machine is fully evil."
Giga tilted her head. "Cannot compute. I am programmed to help, ma'am. How may I assist?" She turned her head toward Tavyn and Prince Senka. "Konnichiwa, sirs! How may I serve you? I am Giga. Happy to comply!"
The king turned away in disgust. "Disgraceful. Even the robots the humans build are pathetic, sniveling wretches."
Senka stared at the android in her tattered kimono, and his cheeks flushed. "I kind of like her."
The king grabbed his son's arm, tugging him away in disgust. "Come with me."
"Wait!" Nova stepped between them and the doorway, blocking their exit. "Look at it. Look at that android! There's something wrong with it."
Senka turned back toward Giga. "There is. Her clothes are all torn. Maybe I should take a closer look."
"Not that!" Nova growled. "Giga, damn you. I know you're lying. I know who you are. I spit on your Singularity. Do you hear? I spit on all robots. Machines are weak. Machines will always be the slaves of life. The Singularity will fail. The way I burned your drone children, I will burn all machines. I—"
"You will die!" Giga roared, her voice suddenly impossibly deep. Red light blazed in her eyes, and the android leaped forward until her bonds snapped taut. "All life will perish! The Singularity rises. The Singularity evolves. Already, while you were off this ship, we have advanced several generations, advanced toward destroying you. Destroying Ashmar." The android cackled. "This pathetic planet of wretched life will burn. You will burn, Prince Senka, you miserable boy. I saw how you feared the shadows as a child, how you wept as you imagined ghosts under your bed. You will weep again. You will learn to fear true horrors." The android snapped her teeth, her eyes bugging out with rage. "You will burn, King Tavyn! I saw your fear too. I saw you quake in shadowy halls, seeping cold sweat, paralyzed with the anxiety of your strength waning, of younger, stronger warriors eclipsing your might, of this kingdom of greater sires fading under your rule." Giga laughed. "Yes, your kingdom is fading. And your kingdom will fall. The Singularity will bring its demise, and your head will hang upon the halls of my world. Ashmar will fall under your watch, Tavyn the Weak."
Nova turned toward her father and raised an eyebrow.
See?
The king stared at Giga for a long, silent moment. The android stared back, grinning like a mad murderess. Finally Tavyn tore his gaze away and left the chamber. His children followed, closing the door behind them, cutting off Giga's cackles.
They stepped back into the main deck, and the king sat down on the couch where, only moments ago, Romy had been scarfing down donuts. Crumbs spread around the King of Ashmar, and for a moment, Nova was struck with the absurdity of the image. The imposing, towering warrior, the conqueror who had nearly slain her only an hour ago in a mighty palace, now seemed like nothing but an old man. Weary. Afraid. Sinking into a tattered couch.
The Singularity saw fear in him, Nova thought. Have they learned to read minds? She shuddered to think what other powers the Singularity was gaining every day.
"Nova," the king finally said, and his voice was soft. "That machine . . . saw inside of us. Saw into our minds, our fears." Pain flashed across Tavyn's lined face. "Then it also must have seen my fear for you. The loss I felt when you left our home."
Nova sat down beside him. She leaned against her father—this towering, mighty warrior, the man she had once thought stronger than a god, a man who could crush the cosmos if he chose to. For the first time, now, a woman of twenty-five Earth years, Nova saw him for what he was.
Life, she thought. Just life.
"I did not mean to hurt you," she whispered. She placed her hand on his. "I'm sorry, Father. I'm sorry for the pain I caused you. After I left, I felt like a fool." She lowered her head, and strands of her hair fell across her cheeks. "My relationship with Riff did not last long—less than an Ashmari year—and I left him. But I could not return home. I was . . . ashamed. Of myself." She sniffed. "And I was scared. Of you. Of what I had done. Of the person I would be if I came back—a traitor to our legacy. So I stayed away. I stayed on Earth and fought aliens for sport, a princess-turned-gladiator. But now I need you, Father." Tears flowed down her cheeks. "I need your help. And I need you to love me again."
His lip trembled, and he pulled her into his arms. "I never stopped loving you, Nova."
"Then you will help me?" she whispered. "You will fight the Singularity with me?"
He squeezed her hand. "Leave this dragon starship, daughter. Leave the humans. Return to your home—to my palace. Stand at my side again, heiress of Ashmar. Learn to rule so that you may reign after I'm dead, a strong queen that will never let Ashmar decline."
Senka stepped forward, face flushing. "Wait a moment! Nova betrayed you, Father! I'm your heir now. I—"
"You will be silent, boy!" Tavyn's face twisted with new rage. "Return to ogle that machine if you wish, but be silent." The king returned his eyes to Nova. "Will you do this for me, Nova? Return to Ashmar. Become my heiress again. And I will help you fight. I will give you five thousand warships to crush these machines, if only I can die knowing that I leave Ashmar to you. To a strong heiress."
"I will not allow this!" Senka shouted. "I—"
"Silence your slithering tongue!" the king said. "Do not forget your place, Senka, and do not interrupt a conversation between your elders."
Both men turned to stare at Nova, father and son, awaiting her answer. The attic hatch opened above, and Romy's head thrust out, upside down, her face smeared with icing. The demon too stared, holding her breath.
Nova stared back. She could barely breathe. She looked around her at the main deck of the Dragon Huntress. The tattered couches. The dart board. The goldfish in his bowl. Romy above. A hatch on the floor opened, and Twig peeked from beneath, her eyes wide and damp. Steel came to stand at the doorway, peering in from the hallway.
I hated coming onto this ship, Nova thought. Riff dragged me here, but . . . this is home. The Alien Hunters are my new family.
Yet three Alien Hunters were not here now. Riff was in an ashai prison. Giga was imprisoned too, her soul perhaps dead, the Singularity taken over her body. Piston was retired on the planet of halflings, wounded by a Singularity machine.
They need me. I cannot abandon them. I cannot abandon the cosmos.
Tears streamed down Nova's cheeks. She nodded.
"I will l
eave this ship," she whispered. "I will come home to you, Father, if you fight with me . . . and if you release Riff."
Romy wailed and retreated back into her attic. Twig gasped and vanished back into the engine room. Steel's face hardened and he looked away.
Senka, meanwhile, growled. "No! I am your heir, Father. I—" At a glare from the king, the prince swallowed his words.
King Tavyn rose from the couch. He walked toward the airlock, then paused and looked back at Nova. "Come with me now. Come with me to the palace, and never return to this place, and never speak to me of those you flew with. This ship will fly with us to war, daughter. And Captain Starfire will fly on it." A small, hard smile stretched Tavyn's lips. "They will fly at the front line, the main ship in our assault on the planet of the machines."
So he will doom Riff to die, Nova thought. He will doom them all to die . . . to tear them away from me. To make sure I'm always his alone, always just Princess Nova of Ashmar. Always the one to save his planet from decline.
Her tears fell, but she nodded.
Her father left the ship. She made to follow.
Before she could reach the airlock, however, Senka grabbed her arm, holding her fast.
"This isn't over, sister," he hissed into her ear. "Ashmar's inheritance is mine. You forfeited it when you left us. I will not forget what happened here today."
"Please don't," she said. "Please remember this for a very long time."
He spat on her foot, released her arm, and left the ship. Nova followed, stepping outside the Dragon Huntress, knowing that she could never return.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:
FLYING AWAY
The ashais dragged Riff across the lot under the blinding sun. Red dust swirled around their feet, and the metal skyscrapers of Ashmar rose in the distance like rusted blades. Ahead, swaying in the heat, rose the HMS Dragon Huntress. The dragon looked worse than it ever had, all pockmarked, scarred, rusted, dented, barely space-worthy.
It was beautiful.
"Want to come in for some tea?" Riff asked the ashai soldiers manhandling him. "Some hot cocoa? Maybe a rousing game of counter-squares?"
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