Nexus

by Sasha Alsberg

  Lon looked down at his boots. “How far we’ve fallen.”

  “You didn’t break your vow to Alara,” Andi told him. “You served her and Adhira faithfully, until her death. Now you can serve whomever you wish.”

  Dex nodded in agreement. He’d been just a few months old when he left Tenebris for the first time. Although he didn’t remember the journey, he knew it must’ve been the first time he’d bonded with the stars. Ever since, he’d longed to be among them, traveling to the deepest corners of the galaxy. That bond was what had initially connected him to Andi. They both saw an opportunity out there, in the spaces between the stars—a place where they could live out the wildest parts of their dreams.

  “We need a plan,” Andi said, drawing everyone’s attention back to the matter at hand. She grabbed the portable holoscreen off the console, which fortunately hadn’t been damaged in the crash. Dex joined Andi as she pulled up a miniature rotating Solera, wrapped by its rings. She zoomed in on a spot in the middle of a jagged ice field. “This is where we landed—the closest city isn’t for a thousand clicks. We’ll need a ship, or a transport of some kind, to make it there alive in this weather.”

  Solera was an ice giant in the Tavina System. It was heavily populated, but every resident lived within one of Solera’s seven domed cities, as the elements were too harsh to bear year-round. As a result, most of the planet’s surface was uninhabited and devoid of civilization, which meant they were unlikely to find help all the way out here.

  “How long do you think we have before we freeze?” Lon paced the length of the bridge, his breath already rising before him in small clouds.

  “Depending on how damaged the hull is... I’d say six hours,” Andi said, handing the holo to Dex and peering out through the window. The sky above them was an icy blue, but beyond, it turned into an angry gray. A storm was rolling in. “I take that back—maybe three, max. The girls and I came here for a job a while back. Solera is merciless.”

  She was right. If there was one thing Dex knew about this planet, it was to beware the shifting weather. Solera’s storms were renowned across Mirabel for the lives they’d stolen over the years, the planet’s icy surface like a glittering grave.

  “Have you looked for military outposts in the area?” Lon said, coming up beside him. “On Adhira, during the Cataclysm, they had outposts built across the planet for the military to be stationed at. There may be some here, too, and if they’re anything like the ones back home, they should be full of supplies and tech.”

  “Worth a shot,” Andi said with a shrug. “Dex, can you do a search?”

  “Can’t,” Dex said. “No access to the feeds on this thing.” He looked at the silver band on his wrist, hoping Alfie would have established a connection by now. But alas, the AI was still silent. He was about to set the holo down when Lon cleared his throat.

  “We’ve got company.”

  Dex turned to look out the window, across the ice field. Beyond the snow whipping in the wind, a triangular shape appeared, moving quickly as it hovered over the landscape.

  A transport.

  “Who do you think it is?” Lon asked.

  “Memory’s down. Can’t ask her,” Andi replied, grabbing her sheathed swords from their spot on the back of her captain’s chair. She buckled the twin belts across her chest, looking more like herself than she had in weeks.

  “Looks like we’re about to find out.” Dex unholstered his gun. “They’re almost here.”

  As if the mystery passengers had heard them, a voice suddenly blasted from the transport’s speakers.

  “Come out, weapons down, or we will fire!”

  “Think they mean it?” Lon wondered, brows raised.

  Dex shrugged. “I don’t plan to find out. Arm up and meet me in the cargo hold.”

  “You can’t be serious, Dex. You want to walk into enemy hands?” Andi huffed.

  Dex felt a flicker of annoyance. “We don’t exactly have many options. We either take our chances with these people,” he said, checking the clip on his gun, “or we freeze to death in here. You decide, Androma.”

  “I have a better idea,” Andi said. “We need a ride to the city...” She looked out the window at the transport, her hands clenching around her sword hilts. “So let’s take it.”

  * * *

  “Where’s Lon?” Andi asked, running into the cargo hold.

  “He had to grab something from his bunk,” Dex said, handing Andi a planetary suit and grabbing one for himself just as Lon rushed in the door as well, carrying a small backpack.

  It was squirming.

  “Nope,” Dex said, shaking his head. “Hell no, Lon. You’re not bringing that thing with us.”

  Havoc’s telltale yowl sounded out from inside the pack.

  To Dex’s surprise, Andi responded this time. “We have to.”

  “You hate that thing as much as I do!”

  She shrugged. “You want to face Gilly’s wrath when we free her, and Havoc isn’t in tow?”

  Dex imagined the little girl’s classic, mischievous snarl. “No,” he said, sighing and looking back at Lon. “Keep the Fellibrag under control, Sentinel, or I’m putting a bullet through its brain.”

  “I’m not entirely sure it has one,” Andi said with a laugh.

  They each pulled on their suits, and although the material was thin and light, that didn’t fool Dex. It was designed to protect its wearer from the harshest environments, ranging from lava worlds to frozen wastelands, like Solera. They’d cost him a hell of a lot of Krevs, and while Dex had once been furious that Andi had stolen the suits, along with the Marauder, years ago, he was glad for her thievery now. Without the suits, they’d be screwed.

  Dex buckled his weapons belt around the suit, as did Andi. But Lon carried no visible weapons, simply slinging the pack he’d retrieved over his shoulder. Havoc hissed in response.

  The only thing left for them to do was step outside and face their fate. Whether that be death, imprisonment or freedom, they had yet to find out.

  The three of them traded looks.

  “We go in as a team, and come out as one,” Dex said.

  “No one gets left behind,” Andi agreed. Dex could see the pain flickering in her eyes as she uttered those words and knew she was thinking of her crew. She swallowed and glanced away from him.

  “We might be going into this blind, but we’ll try negotiations first,” Dex instructed them. “If that doesn’t work, we shoot. Getting captured is not on the agenda for today.” He pressed the button on the side of his neck, and a helmet engulfed his head. Andi and Lon did the same.

  They lined up together on the edge of the loading dock. Andi pulled a lever, and the giant door yawned open. Solera greeted them with a rush of wind that Dex assumed would’ve frozen them in place if it weren’t for the protection of the suits.

  “Let’s not keep them waiting.”

  They left the cover of the Marauder and stepped onto the open ice field. The transport ship had landed a few paces away, and a group of six figures now emerged from its belly in black suits. There were no sigils on their uniforms, providing no indication of whether they were friends or enemies.

  To be honest, Dex didn’t even know if they had any friends left in this galaxy anymore. Everyone he knew was compromised, or at least he assumed they were by now. He’d never forget the glazed expressions of the people who’d turned to Nor, and he was certain they’d do anything in her name.

  Including killing Dex and the others in cold blood right now.

  The group stopped a few paces away from them. Dex put a hand on his gun, noticing Andi’s body tense beside his as the leader of the group froze in place.

  For a moment, Dex thought he saw the person reach for a weapon. But his eyes widened when they instead lifted a hand in greeting.

  “Dextro Arez. It’s been a while.�
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  Dex’s eyes widened as the speaker’s face came into view behind a clear helmet.

  “Klarisa?” Dex asked, utterly aghast.

  “The one and only,” Klarisa said with a wicked grin.

  Dex wanted to rush forward to greet his old comrade, but he held back, knowing he couldn’t allow his emotions to rule him. There was only one way to determine whether Klarisa was still herself, or if she was in Nor’s thrall.

  “Who do you serve?” Dex said carefully, remembering the question that had been asked of the guests in that Arcardian ballroom, just after they’d been shot with the silver bullets and rose again.

  Klarisa thudded her right fist against her heart. “I serve my galaxy, as do you. As do all Guardians. But I serve no queen.”

  Dex took a few steps forward, surveying her face beneath her helmet for the telltale silver veins, but there was no trace of them on her dark complexion. She looked him up and down as well, as if she, too, were trying to see through to the blood beneath his skin.

  “Who do you serve?” Klarisa asked pointedly.

  Dex shrugged. “It depends on the time of day. Griss in the morning, Jurum in the evening.”

  The woman stared back at him for a moment, her comrades utterly silent behind her. Then she burst into laughter. “Arez, you sorry bastard. You haven’t changed a lick since we last saw each other.”

  “Much to your satisfaction,” Dex said, finally allowing himself to step forward and engulf her in a tight hug.

  He hadn’t seen Klarisa since they’d graduated from the Academy. She’d also gone on to become a Guardian, but their paths hadn’t crossed since he’d joined the Bounty Hunter’s branch. He felt a twinge of guilt for not following up with her these past few years, but this surprise reunion gave him the first bit of hope he’d had in three weeks.

  “Sorry to ruin the moment, but what’s going on?” Andi said, coming up next to them. Her hand rested lightly on Gilly’s double-triggered gun at her hip, though Dex was relieved to see she wasn’t yet reaching for her twin swords.

  “Andi, this is Klarisa, a fellow Guardian,” Dex told her. “We attended the Academy together.”

  Andi remained tense, despite his words. “Who are you with?” she asked Klarisa.

  Klarisa looked back at her group. “We’re with the Underground, led by Arachnid. But we choose our own paths—and control our own minds.”

  “Did you bring my ship down?” Andi demanded.

  “We’ve been doing that with any ships that enter this airspace,” Klarisa replied apologetically. “We’ve saved many Unaffecteds this way. Some people were traveling when the attacks happened and weren’t infected with the virus.”

  “You almost killed us, and you ruined my ship.”

  Dex knew then that Andi and Klarisa would never be friends.

  “Usually the ships we bring down are in better shape than yours was,” she explained, surveying the damaged hull of the Marauder.

  “My ship was perfectly fine before you interfered,” Andi hissed, glaring at the woman. Dex tried not to snort at the obvious lie. “So you’ve been doing this a lot? How did you know we weren’t a ship full of Xen Pterran soldiers?”

  “We’ve been monitoring the flight patterns of Nor’s ships, and none of them have taken the route yours did. They usually come and go from Craatia, so we assumed your ship was an anomaly, like the other Unaffected ships we’ve encountered.”

  Andi nodded. “Where is your base?”

  “For safety precautions, I cannot tell you its exact location, but I can tell you it’s in the Briog Sector. Arachnid likes to keep things under wraps, until we know who we can trust. The galaxy isn’t what it used to be.”

  “It’s still a shitshow,” Andi said with a grumble.

  Klarisa barked out a laugh in agreement.

  “How do we know you’re not lying about the Underground?” Lon asked, speaking up for the first time. Dex had come to realize that Lon never asked questions until he’d ascertained a certain amount of information. He was very much a listener in that respect.

  “Who’s this?” Klarisa asked Dex.

  Lon spoke for himself before Dex could answer. “Lon Mette, a Sentinel hailing from Adhira. Nice to make your acquaintance,” he said formally. The backpack slung over his shoulder howled furiously.

  “Adhiran Sentinels never leave their posts,” Klarisa said, eyeing the backpack as Lon shushed it. “Must have been a hell of a choice, leaving your planet behind.”

  Lon nodded, his eyes downcast. “There’s nothing left there for me now.”

  “And you?” Klarisa asked, looking back toward Andi.

  When Andi simply glared at her, Dex rolled his eyes and said, “Klarisa, meet Androma Racella.”

  Klarisa’s eyes widened. Dex smiled, knowing that Andi’s name would give the woman a reason to respect her. A reason to want them to join this so-called Underground led by the red-armored soldier from the feeds.

  “The Bloody Baroness,” Klarisa said, her tone changing as she looked back at Andi, angling her chin high. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

  Andi smirked. “I can’t say the same about you, unfortunately. So tell us, why should we trust you? Seems all too convenient that you found us, and of all the people in the galaxy, Dex just happened to know one of you. And you’re supposedly Unaffected, working for the one man in the galaxy who might be able to fight back against Nor.”

  “I don’t argue with fate, Baroness,” Klarisa said. “And by the looks of you three, you’ll likely be captured the moment you get within a rifle scope’s view of any domed city. There are Guardians,” she continued, glancing at Dex. “A whole legion of them, manning the outskirts of each dome. All of them loyal to Nor’s cause.”

  “Silver veins?” Dex asked.

  Klarisa nodded.

  “I don’t suppose you’ve got a way around that?”

  The woman smiled. “The Underground has its ways. We’re not without specialists in...certain areas.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Lon asked.

  “One of our comrades disabled the heating systems in Craatia a few days back,” Klarisa told him with a smirk. “It used to be as warm as a summer’s day, and now? Well, let’s just say the good citizens of Craatia are mourning their summer fashions now that they have to don their best winter gear. You’ll be safe in your suits and helmets—that will do as a disguise, for a time.”

  “Good,” Andi said. “In that case, will you take us to Arachnid?”

  “We have skills to offer,” Dex added, raising a brow at his old comrade. “We made a vow to each other, Klarisa. Ages ago. To protect each other, and to protect the galaxy.”

  The woman considered, looking him up and down before glancing at Andi and Lon again. She was a good soldier, having earned top marks at the Academy, and Dex would never forget all the late nights they’d spent together during their years of training, with countless other Guardians, playing games of Fleet and swapping bottles of Griss until the suns rose.

  The very best kind of bonding happened when bottles were passed around.

  “We’ll give you a ride to the domed sector,” Klarisa said at last. “As for joining the Underground, Arachnid wants every free mind to decide for themselves. But there’s a gatekeeper. You’ll have to get past her if you wish to join. She’ll check to be certain you’re not a Solis spy.”

  “And if she lets us in?” Andi asked.

  “Then Arachnid will welcome you into a tangled web of—” Klarisa’s response was cut short as a boisterous crack split through the valley. All nine heads turned toward its origin, past the Marauder, as the very ground trembled.

  A wave of dread swept over Dex’s body, making his hair stand on end. Wind gusted across the ice field, sweeping snow from the ground, tossing it into the skies so that everything looked clouded. />
  Another crack sounded out, and the ground shook again.

  “Defensive positions!” Klarisa exclaimed. Andi followed suit, pulling her swords free of their sheaths as a deafening roar resonated around them, the sound unlike anything Dex had ever heard.

  He pulled his gun from its holster and Andi ignited her swords, swaths of electricity casting a hazy purple glow on the snow swirling around them.

  “What the hell is that?” Andi asked. Dex didn’t have an answer—he was just as confused as she was.

  “The locals mentioned a beast in the icelands,” Klarisa said. Her comrades closed in around her in a half circle. Dex, Andi and Lon joined them, backs pressed together. “We thought it was just a story rooted in superstitious lore. We’ve been out in the icelands many times, but never encountered anything living. But if the stories are true—”

  Klarisa was cut off again as the ice around them exploded into fragments. Dex was thrown backward, but as he sailed through the air, he got a glimpse of what he could only describe as something from legend.

  An ice dragon.

  * * *

  He landed on the ice-encrusted ground. Pain shot up his spine, spreading through his nervous system like lightning. The planetary suits were made to protect them from the atmosphere, not bodily harm caused by the planet itself.

  Dex rolled onto his side, his lower back screaming in protest. He didn’t think he’d broken anything, but he would surely end up with a wicked bruise. But that didn’t matter now—what did matter was that he couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of him, and a predator was on the loose somewhere among the flurries.

  Snow drifted around him like slinking ghosts, obscuring his view. Someone else groaned in the distance.

  “Everyone alright?” Dex called, grabbing his gun from the ground beside him and struggling to his feet.

  “I’m here,” Andi answered from close by. Two more voices he didn’t recognize yelled back, as well.