“Yell at Loch,” Veronica said. “He’s the one who decided to jump out of the ship after you. Without his calming influence, Rhys and I were left to our own devices.” She said it with a straight face, but her eyes danced with humor.
I rounded on Loch. “You did what?”
“I told you I was there when you blew up Rhys’s shield in Rockhurst’s face. I wasn’t on the ground when Polaris took off, so how did you think I arrived? You might not like jumping out of ships, but I don’t mind it.”
“Wait, wait, wait . . . back up,” Rhys said. “You blew up my shield? Do you know how much trouble I had to go through to get that?”
“Hopefully, it was a lot,” I said without remorse. “But we’re getting sidetracked. We were discussing how Loch jumped out of the perfectly good ship he promised to take to Father.”
Loch shrugged. “I never promised anything. You just assumed I did because I made a vaguely agreeing statement.”
I glared at him. “You made an agreeing statement right after I asked you to promise. Next time I’ll get it in writing, in triplicate,” I grumbled. “So you jumped out of the ship. Then what?”
“All of the soldiers were wearing Rockhurst space suits. So was I. In the chaos you created, one of them disappeared and I took his place. Once I was on board the Santa Celestia, things got dicey a few times, but no one expected a foreign operative on the ship.”
I certainly hadn’t expected it, so I doubt Richard had even given it a moment’s thought.
Loch continued, “I knew approximately when Rhys and Veronica were due, so I just had to find your cell. It took longer than I expected; Rockhurst kept your presence quiet. Otherwise, I would’ve given you warning. Nice escape, by the way.”
“I’d spent the day going over my marriage contract. I was getting out of that cell no matter what.”
Veronica turned to me. “Rockhurst still wanted to marry you?”
“If you can call it that. He was blackmailing me into a sham of a marriage with a number of threats, including one on your life and Rhys’s.”
“You wouldn’t have gone through with it, right?” Veronica asked.
“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “The way the contract was originally written—no. Richard wanted me to feed false information to my House, which would’ve cost hundreds of thousands of lives. I was modifying it when Loch rescued me. If I could’ve gotten it into a halfway decent state, I would’ve signed it, only to breach it as soon as an opportunity presented itself. Signing it would’ve given you and Rhys at least a slim chance of escape.”
“But that would me—” she started.
“Trust me, I knew what it meant,” I said.
Veronica bowed her head to me. “I am glad we rescued you from that,” she said.
I smiled at her. “You and me, both.”
“You want to clue in the rest of the room?” Loch asked.
“When two Houses join in marriage, there is a marriage contract that lays out all of the details, like the dowry. The lower houses try to marry into a High House for power and prestige. High Houses marry into lower houses for strategic purposes or because the lower house offered money, territory, or technology as part of the contract.”
“Sounds mercenary,” Loch said.
“It is and even more so when two High Houses marry. The duty usually falls to younger sons and daughters, those far down the inheritance hierarchy. It pays to have a spy in your enemy’s House, as well as a tiny bit of influence. Plus the contracts are dense with concessions from both sides, and sometimes marriage is the only way to get treaties signed. But neither side actually wants the two Houses to combine, so heirs are not married to rival High Houses.”
I shrugged and continued, “If I’d signed the marriage contract Richard proposed, I would belong to him, both in his eyes and in the eyes of the Consortium. It wouldn’t matter that it was coerced. If I broke the contract, Rhys and Veronica would die. If I killed or escaped him, I would be shunned by the entirety of the Consortium, including my own House.”
Loch looked furious but Rhys didn’t seem shocked. I wondered again about his background. I decided to pivot the conversation back into safer waters. “Where are we jumping?”
“Back to Sedition on APD Zero,” Loch said. “Veronica’s kid and nanny are there. Plus we can drop off this worthless bastard.” He jerked a thumb at Rhys.
“This worthless bastard managed to get his partner out of the Santa Celestia and back to this ship without either of us getting shot,” Rhys said. “How did that work out for you?”
Loch scowled at him.
I turned to Veronica. “I saw video of you and Rhys being walked off the ship and again once you were in your cells. How did you get out?” I asked.
“Loch got us out before he went to get you,” Veronica said. “We went on ahead, dressed like crew, to try to secure Polaris and as much alcubium as we could find. Unfortunately, Rockhurst’s actual crew found us out before we could get the alcubium on board. We retreated and prayed you two would make it.”
The ship chimed. “We’ve got a jump point,” Loch said.
“How long until the FTL is ready?” I asked.
“Ten minutes.” He tapped on the screen. “Looks like it’s good we got here when we did, because Rockhurst is trying to overload the gate with requests. That’s why it took longer to get a jump point.”
“If I sit here and wait for ten minutes, I’ll drive myself crazy,” I said. “I’m going to see if the soldiers found the stuff I hid.” I stood with only a minor wobble. Whatever Loch had given me for the pain was wearing off, which made my balance better but tiny daggers stabbed down my arm when I jostled it.
On top of that, the regeneration gel had started to kick in. I schooled my expression so no one would worry.
“I will help you,” Loch said. He followed me out of the room. “How’s the arm?” he asked after the door closed behind us.
“Still attached,” I said. When he frowned at me, I continued, “It hurts like the devil has decided to jab me with his pitchfork every time I even think about moving.”
“Pain meds wearing off?”
“Yeah. If it gets worse, I’ll take something.” That wasn’t technically a lie. It would just take extreme values of worse to make it true. Unfortunately, I had a feeling I’d be there before too much longer.
I pressed my right hand against the control panel for the captain’s quarters. The door slid open. I stumbled inside. Sweat dotted my brow and trickled down my back. Maybe I’d lie down until the regeneration gel did its thing.
“Are you okay?” Loch asked.
I nodded then immediately shook my head. “It’s the regeneration gel,” I said. It had been a decade or so since I’d needed to use it, but the side effects remained burned in my memory. True to its name, regeneration gel healed even major wounds quickly. But in return, it was hell while active.
“Shit, I should’ve brought extra anesthetic,” he said. He led me to the bedroom and helped me lie down. “I forgot how some people react to the gel. You probably know this, but you’re about to be in for a bad time.”
He stood and went to the intercom. “Rhys, I’m going to need you to pilot. Veronica, can you get me some anesthetic, both local and general?”
“Sure thing,” Rhys said. “Veronica’s on her way down to the medbay. Everything okay?”
“Ada’s regeneration gel is kicking in. She’s feverish.”
“Good luck, friend. Let me know if you need anything. I’ve got the ship.”
I closed my eyes as a wave of nausea rolled over me. I’d like to think that Loch was overreacting, but based on how I felt right now, he might be underreacting. My arm burned like liquid fire.
Time stretched. I focused on breathing through each second without screaming. The doorbell broke my concentration, and I whimpered.
“Hold on,” Loch said. “Veronica’s here with the painkillers.”
Loch disappeared and returned with Veronic
a. She frowned at me. “You should’ve told us you were in pain earlier,” she said.
“It wasn’t this bad,” I gritted out.
Loch injected me with something that took the fire from an inferno to a smolder. My arm still ached, but now I could think around the pain.
“Remind me not to get shot again anytime soon, okay?” I said. My stomach dropped as the FTL drive kicked in. We would be on Rhys’s planet soon. “Any idea how long it’ll take until I’m healed enough for my arm to stop feeling like it’s burning off?”
“With a small wound like that, probably half a day,” Loch said.
The fact that a missing chunk of my arm was something Loch considered a “small wound” was telling. “Any reason I shouldn’t move around?”
“You’re not feeling it, but you’re still feverish. Your body will be weaker than you expect. And you’ll be loopy from the anesthetic. So long as you don’t try anything crazy while feeling invincible, you should be okay.”
“Does that sound like something I would do?”
“Yes,” Loch and Veronica replied at the same time.
“Ada, if you’re awake, I’m going to land us in one of my hangars,” Rhys said over the intercom. “It’s more secure than a public spaceport and you know Richard is going to look here.”
“Thank you,” I said. “How long until we’re on the ground?”
“Looks like about forty minutes,” he said. “I’ll give you a heads-up before we enter the atmosphere, but it should be a smooth ride—this ship is fantastic.” I beamed like a proud parent. I may’ve stolen Polaris from Richard, but the ship was mine now.
I sat up. My arm burned, but it was a distant pain. The painkillers had worked their magic. I stood up and my pain didn’t increase, but I was a little shaky.
I opened the closet and got a nice surprise—my extra clothes were still inside. Hopefully that meant my com, necklace, and cuff were safe. I’d hidden them in a concealed drawer in the top of the closet. I’d only found it on accident while looking for a hiding place, then it had taken me five minutes to figure out how to open it.
“Could one of you help me?” I asked. “There’s a hidden drawer, but it requires two hands to open. There’s a button in the far back corner that you can barely feel. You have to press it and pull on the front at the same time.”
Loch popped the drawer open then handed me the contents. I put on the cuff and necklace, though I didn’t bother arming them; I’d wait until I was alone.
I’d locked the com before I stored it, which meant it needed my real identity chip to activate—the chip in my left arm. I made it through the series of hand motions required to activate it with barely an additional twinge of pain. Whatever painkiller Loch had given me was good.
I held the com to my identity chip then went through the verification process. I immediately sent my sister a quick update. I hadn’t been lying to Richard about the consequences of failing to contact her.
It was only after I’d sent the update that I checked the news.
House Rockhurst had declared war on House von Hasenberg. Father had responded in kind. House Yamado remained neutral for now, but the various lower houses were already choosing sides.
“We’re at war,” I said, as if voicing the words would make them feel real. The last full-scale war between High Houses spanned two decades, claimed nearly ten million lives, and resulted in one less High House in the Consortium. Since then, we’d been at peace for more than five generations.
“Who declared?” Veronica asked.
“Rockhurst, against us, yesterday,” I said. I shook my head. I had been planning to send Polaris to Father through an intermediary after we negotiated terms. That plan was dead. I would have to return home as soon as possible.
I met Veronica’s eyes. “I need you to think very seriously about your future. I can still try to take you with me as a Cabinet member, but only if that is what you want. Houses at war are not the safest places. I will likely be sent to the front lines. If you don’t travel with me, my protection will be limited.”
She nodded. “I will consider it carefully. I will also go tell Rhys the news in case he hasn’t heard.”
Chapter 24
After Veronica left, I sank down on the edge of the bed. Worry pressed on my shoulders. There hadn’t been any news of outright attack, but it would only be a matter of time.
Loch leaned against the wall across from me. “What will you do?” he asked.
I sighed and rubbed my eyes. “I have to go home. I need to be there for my siblings. I’ll still negotiate with Father before I go, but it’ll be rushed. We’ll both have to settle for less than we wanted. What about you?”
“I don’t know. I thought I might try my hand at private security. You know anyone headed to a war zone who might need a little backup?”
I looked up in shock. He met my gaze calmly. “I might know someone,” I said, fighting a smile. “What are your qualifications?”
“I was trained in the military. I’m tough. I heal fast.” He gave me a smoldering look. “And I’ve been told I’m fantastic in bed.”
“Hmm, I’m not sure my brother much cares about that last one, but I’ll be sure to pass it along,” I said with a straight face. Loch laughed and the sound loosened some of the tension I carried.
His expression turned serious. He sat next to me and rested his elbows on his knees. I couldn’t see his face. “I joined the RCDF when I was seventeen,” he said. “I was the perfect candidate—strong, smart, and eager to fight—except that I had a difficult time taking orders.”
I sucked in a breath when I realized what he was doing.
“But I still managed to toe the line enough to rise quickly through the ranks. So when my commander approached me about a new project, one where I would command my own elite unit, I jumped at it.”
He shook his head. “I was still just a kid. When they told me they wanted to make us supersoldiers, I thought it sounded awesome. They called it the Genesis Project. There were four squads of eight that started the project, broken into groups based on DNA similarities. I was the squad leader for my group.”
I wanted so badly to ask questions, but I kept silent, afraid if I moved or made a sound, he would stop talking.
“We signed away our rights without reading the contracts because our supervisors told us everything was on the up-and-up. The scientists tinkered with our DNA. My eyes are not ocular implants, they’re genetically engineered.”
I gaped at him. The sanctity of DNA was one of the foundational principles of the Consortium. We might introduce nanobots into our blood or augment ourselves with biomechanical implants, but our DNA, the core of who we were, was strictly off-limits. It had been that way from the beginning of the Royal Consortium. Genetic engineering could still be found, of course, deep in the black market, but only the most desperate would risk it, because it carried a Consortium death sentence for both provider and patient.
“Soldiers started dropping right from the beginning, but they didn’t cancel the project. It was hell. My squad was the only one that made it through, and only just,” he said. Old pain laced his voice.
I wrapped my arm around his back and squeezed him in a half hug.
He continued, “We spent months in training missions. The conditions were brutal. The scientists wanted to see what we could do, how much damage we could take, and how quickly we would spring back. Requests for reassignment went nowhere. Fornax was our first real mission.”
“Rhys was there with you?” I asked quietly.
“Yeah, he was in my squad. We were elated to be sent on a real mission, thinking the worst of it was over. We were wrong. The people of Fornax Zero were starving because House Rockhurst was taxing them to death. They were rebelling against the price of food.”
He took a deep breath. “Because it was a Rockhurst planet, House Rockhurst sent Richard to oversee the operation. I think it was his very first assignment and he was eager to prove himself by what
ever means necessary.”
“But he couldn’t have been in the Santa Celestia,” I said. “I distinctly remember that was after Fornax. And there was no mention of him being at Fornax at all.”
“No, at the time he was in an older ship. He had a passel of military advisors with him, but he ignored their advice and ordered us to attack. We were sent in to quell the rebellion by killing women and kids, which is probably why House Rockhurst didn’t proclaim his involvement.”
Loch shook his head in disgust at the memory. “At that point, we all knew the only way out for us was death. As the squad leader, it was my responsibility, so I ‘killed’ them. Then I really did kill the bastards in charge, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. If I could get my hands on Richard, I’d kill him, too. Unfortunately, the fucker seems to know about my abilities and has taken precautions every time I’ve gotten close.”
“Why didn’t you go to the Consortium?”
Loch laughed without humor. “Who do you think funded the entire thing, sweetheart? And who increases my bounty year after year? House Rockhurst might’ve owned Fornax Zero, but all three High Houses approved the Genesis Project.”
I wasn’t so naive as to believe the Consortium was all rainbows and puppies, but I’d never truly been exposed to the darkest parts, either. “How did the others in your squad escape notice?”
“The Consortium wiped all external record of us once we went into the program. A minor name change and a new black-market ID and they were good to go. Even their prints and DNA don’t have matches in the system.”
I had to be careful about my fingerprints and DNA when using a false identity because either could lead someone straight back to my real name. Not having to worry about it would relieve a huge burden.
“So your eyes are not implants? But you can still see in the dark?” I asked. I’d been fascinated by his eyes from the beginning and knowing they were genetically engineered didn’t detract from their allure.
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