Nexus

by Sasha Alsberg

No, her mind screamed. Stop this, Nor. Fight back!

  But she had no fight left. Her legs moved as if they were someone else’s. She couldn’t even try to stop them. Slowly, Nor and Valen moved toward the satellite, and Nor knew, she knew, that Valen was gone. That he had been for a while now, that he’d never wanted to give himself over to the cause. She’d sensed something was wrong in her office, when he’d told her what he wanted to do, but something had told her to brush it off, to accept what Valen wanted, to put the mission and his sacrifice first.

  It had been Darai all along. This wasn’t a willing sacrifice.

  It was murder.

  And if what Klaren said was true...then Exonia was going to destroy Mirabel. She’d been fighting for the wrong side all these years.

  “Go ahead.” Darai ushered them forward with a hand. Ten armed soldiers joined them, rifles aimed at Androma, the only one not beneath Darai’s compulsion. “Take them inside. Begin the uploading. Aclisia is already there waiting for you, and your trusted analyst will transfer the power from Androma, too. I’ve done all the hard work, Nor. Now you get to have all the fun.”

  It would be the end of everything Nor had ever known and loved.

  A gunshot went off behind her, but her legs kept moving, obeying Darai’s command as she directed Valen into the looming shadow of Nexus, the group of soldiers flanking Androma.

  “No!” Klaren’s robotic voice screamed as they walked away.

  Another shot.

  Keep walking, Darai’s voice commanded Nor. Do not look back.

  Her neck would not turn to reveal to her what was happening behind them. She simply walked, a prisoner without chains as she hauled her brother toward the satellite that would become his grave.

  CHAPTER 38

  DEX

  Well, this isn’t ideal, Dex thought as a dozen angry soldiers surged toward them like a rogue wave.

  He and Klaren were just pebbles against their tide. But even pebbles didn’t always budge in the surf.

  Dex pulled his second gun free from its leg holster. Against Nor’s heavily armed soldiers, he felt seriously outgunned, but surely he made up for that in training and strategy. He doubted any of these mind-controlled troops were Guardians.

  Footsteps sounded behind them.

  Shit.

  Lira, Breck, Gilly and Soyina sidled up next to him.

  “I told you to leave,” he seethed. They each shot him a glare.

  “Well, we didn’t,” Breck said, pulling out her own gun. “Deal with it.”

  Annoyance shot through him. He didn’t want casualties that could be avoided. “Stop being difficult. Get out of here while you can.”

  “Do you really think we’re going to leave Andi behind?” Lira demanded.

  Dex would’ve rolled his eyes if they weren’t narrowing in on the soldiers that were almost on top of them.

  “Of course not, but she wants you safe. So go!” He shouted the last part as the first soldier lunged at him. Dex dipped away, narrowly missing the butt of a gun to his brow.

  Klaren blasted a shot to his head and the man collapsed in a heap. The remaining soldiers paused for a moment, staring at their fallen comrade.

  “You take the guys on the right. I got the left,” he said to Klaren.

  “Who do we take?” Breck asked.

  He couldn’t shake them, and right now, they didn’t have time to argue. “Breck and Gilly, cover Klaren. Lira, Soyina—you’re with me.”

  The girls moved into position. “What are you waiting for?” Dex taunted, and the soldiers continued their procession forward. One took a shot at him, and if it weren’t for the electric shield that suddenly materialized in front of him, he would’ve been a goner.

  “Thanks,” he said to Klaren as she stepped back, retracting the barrier back into her crimson armor. If he survived this fight, he wouldn’t mind adding those gadgets to his personal armory.

  Dex blasted a round at the closest soldier. The man flew backward, as if being yanked by strings, before colliding with two of his comrades. Dex immediately focused on his next target, failing to notice the group of three soldiers coming up behind him.

  A splitting pain radiated through his back and he tumbled to the ground.

  Quick as he could, Dex tried to scramble up, only to be met with the muzzle of a gun hitting him square in the jaw. Blood flooded into his mouth, the metallic taste making him gag.

  The man smiled at him with yellow, rotten teeth.

  “Good night, traitor.”

  He was dea—

  The man crumpled to the ground, followed shortly after by his two lackeys. Dex jumped to his feet, but couldn’t spot his savior in the chaos of battle. Smoke rolled across the estate grounds, concealing bodies as they fell. All the others were busy grappling in their own fights.

  “Soyina was right. You truly are slow sometimes.” He jumped at the sound of a female voice behind him. He turned just in time to see Eryn appear before him.

  “Of course,” he breathed.

  “Bet you’re glad to see me.” She smirked, pushing her shining strands of hair out of her eyes. “Or not see me.”

  “You have no idea,” Dex said, his heart pounding erratically in his chest. “Come on. We have to get to the satellite.”

  “I’ll clear a path through the remaining guards.”

  He nodded, turning to Klaren, who was fighting with an electric baton. She dipped and twirled the weapon in fluid, deadly arcs before bringing it down on her opponents. She lunged and twisted with ease, showcasing moves Dex only wished he knew. With a swift downward kick, she brought one man to his knees and knocked his helmet off.

  He was young, too young. But age didn’t matter in the game of war, and Klaren delivered his death blow, singeing the surrounding skin until it turned black.

  Dex shifted his attention back to the battle, which was almost won. Only a few soldiers remained. As he watched, Soyina blasted one from a few yards away, and Lira had another in a choke hold, holding the woman there until her body went limp. Dex knew she wasn’t dead—that wasn’t Lira’s way of doing things. But among the scattered bodies, the dead and the living were difficult to distinguish.

  Dex turned to follow the path Eryn was mowing down between the remaining soldiers. They dropped like flies, completely helpless against the invisible force.

  “Time to go!” he yelled.

  Somehow, they’d all made it out with their lives intact, though he couldn’t say the same for their opponents. But he couldn’t dwell on death when they still had so much left to do.

  Dex was suddenly, fiercely glad Andi’s crew had stayed to fight, despite his attempts to make them leave. These women had the power to bring the world to its knees, yet here they were, saving it.

  CHAPTER 39

  VALEN

  The interior of the satellite was silent.

  It was a strange disconnect from the battle waging beyond its walls as Nor guided Valen inside, Androma and the soldiers following. The door to Nexus slid shut behind them with an ominous bang, effectively trapping them inside.

  “Welcome!” Darai said, stepping past them. His voice echoed as he held his arms wide, like a proud architect revealing his very first creation to the world. “A beautiful specimen, unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Imagine how good it will feel when she’s finally cast into the sky.”

  Inside his mind, Valen continued to struggle for freedom.

  Fight back, he thought. He’d commanded the minds of millions. He’d turned an entire galaxy to his sister’s side, even gotten Androma’s crew, fiercely loyal, to turn their backs on their captain.

  But now he couldn’t even compel himself to break free of Darai’s mental chains.

  “Look at it, Valen,” Darai said, reaching out and scraping a jagged fingernail across Valen’s cheek. He couldn’t even fli
nch away from that touch, though he despised it so. “See how wonderful it is, your new home for eternity.”

  “Please,” Nor ground out between gritted teeth as she stood beside him. “Don’t do this, Darai. There must be another way.”

  He must have allowed her more freedom than Valen had, for there were tears streaming down her cheeks as she looked around the satellite. And though she couldn’t move her arms or legs on her own, Nor’s head turned to focus on Valen as she begged. “Let us go, Uncle. You can have the power. Take it. Just let us all go.”

  Darai clicked his tongue, shaking his head. “I’m afraid I can’t do that, my dear. We’ve come too far to turn back now. Exonia awaits us, and we cannot disappoint our homeland.”

  He marched deeper into the satellite, motioning for them to follow. And follow they did, as if they were truly caught in a current of his power, being towed along.

  “I’m so sorry, Valen,” Nor said. “I’m so sorry I never saw it, or felt it in him.”

  He wanted to answer her. He wanted to say that he was sorry, too. That they had both made mistakes, both been fooled by the one man they thought they could trust in this galaxy.

  But all Valen could do was take in the sight of the place that was to be his eternal grave.

  The interior of Nexus was just as Valen had imagined, much like the hollowed inside of a metallic egg. Curved silver walls arched toward the sky, as far as Valen could see, lined with lights and metallic panels that hummed with life as the satellite booted up, ready to be launched into space. The Exonian godstar symbols glowed across the interior, as if the entire satellite were a shrine to the other world.

  Valen saw it for what it truly was now, his head filled with visions of the truth.

  A world full of monsters, swirling with eternal darkness.

  A world that would destroy Mirabel, and with it, all light and life, Darai leading the charge toward the end of all things.

  “I don’t suppose I can change your mind,” Andi said, as the guards hauled her forward after Darai. Her voice was so strong, so calm in this moment. “You don’t seem like a man who is easily threatened.”

  Valen regretted every betrayal he’d committed against her now. For she would likely die as well when Darai was done with her, after he’d taken away her title and her power over the weapons network.

  Darai didn’t answer, and so Valen continued to take in the full scope of the space.

  Jutting out from the panels overhead were massive tubes flowing with what looked like liquid starlight. The Zenith virus, full of Valen’s DNA, full of his compulsion power that Aclisia had so flawlessly replicated. He followed those tubes with his eyes, numb to the horror of what was to come. They trailed from the walls like the very veins of the satellite, twisting until they formed one thick cord that led down to the center of the space, where a metal pod, much like the med bay healing pods he’d seen on starships, sat waiting.

  The pod door was ajar, a light inside revealing the throne Darai had spoken of.

  It would be his prison for all eternity, a coffin that would never be buried beneath the ground, but instead, cast out into the stars.

  And there Valen would forever remain.

  “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” a voice asked. Aclisia and Darai came out from behind the pod, Aclisia’s two heads focused on the group. The left head smiled from ear to ear, while the right head spoke excitedly. “You’ve come just in time. We’ve completed our work, and now we’ll finally see the fruits of our labor!”

  “Such a performer, always,” Aclisia’s left head said to her right. Both heads turned and smiled again toward Valen, their teeth sharp as a shark’s. “Come along, Prince. You are to be our very greatest achievement!”

  Both hands reached out toward him.

  “No,” Darai said. “Nor is going to do it herself.”

  Valen felt it then, the horror returning to him as Nor turned, tears pouring down her cheeks as she grasped Valen by his wrists. Her grip was fiercely strong, the nails of her hand digging into his skin, her golden prosthetic as cold as ice against his other wrist.

  “I can’t stop it,” she whispered, pulling him toward the open pod. “I never should have listened to him, Valen. You were right all along. You were the only one who ever sensed his wrongness, and I ignored you.”

  “Get the general into position,” Darai instructed.

  Beside the pod stood a panel on a thin podium. The soldiers guided Androma over to it, flanking her on all sides. She didn’t resist, almost as if she were being compelled by a power similar to the one commanding Valen now. But he knew she was immune to the virus, had known it since she and Dex resisted the attack at Ucatoria.

  Perhaps it was her own resolve driving her to follow Darai, for Valen knew she did not fear death. He’d seen her find her way out of worse situations before.

  Perhaps she had her own plan, as she always did.

  Valen wished, desperately, that he could speak to her, that he could see into her mind to discover whether she was thinking of a way out of this.

  “Valen first,” Darai said, gesturing to the pod.

  “Please,” Nor begged him. “I’ll do anything. Anything to change your mind. Do you truly have no love for all we’ve built together, Uncle? We can still change things. We can still rule in this galaxy ourselves. We have the power. Isn’t that enough?”

  Darai just threw back his head and laughed, the sound so wicked it sent chills skittering across his skin.

  Valen had never heard that laughter before, did not know that Darai could feel such joy.

  But as his uncle’s gaze fell upon Nor, Valen realized it wasn’t joy. It was an evil sort of hysteria, a thick, oppressive darkness oozing from the old Exonian.

  “I am no uncle of yours,” Darai said mockingly. “Pathetic, how you saw me as family all this time. Family has no meaning in Exonia—only power does. And there can never be enough of it. Now stop groveling, Nor, and put your brother where he belongs. The princeling needs a throne, don’t you think?”

  Fight him, Valen thought to Nor. Please, fight back against him. You have compulsion. You have the strength of our mother in your veins!

  But Nor’s hands shoved Valen into the pod, settling him onto the cold, metal throne. “I forgive you—for Zahn, for everything,” she sobbed. “It was never any fault of yours. I see that now.”

  Thank you, sister, he thought. But he knew she couldn’t hear him, so he hoped she saw it in his eyes.

  From inside the pod, he could see the tubes and wires that were to connect him to Nexus. Over his head, a dome-like helmet hung near the ceiling of the pod. Soon it would lower, and it would connect to his brain, stealing his mind from him, just as Darai had explained earlier when he first captured Valen with his power.

  How long before that power ran out? Darai said he’d been hoarding his complusion for years, saving it up for this very moment.

  How much time did they have before the Exonian was no longer able to hold them?

  Not enough time, Valen thought. For everything had already fallen into place, and the plan was nearly complete for the old man.

  “A nice fit,” Aclisia said, grinning down at Valen as she stepped past Nor and began to work on the pod, fingertips flying across the network of glowing panels inside to begin the process. The pod hummed with life as straps snaked tight across his chest, closing over his wrists, his ankles.

  Sweat beaded down Valen’s temples as he tried, with all of his might, to push against the dark power surging within.

  “There will be pain,” Aclisia’s right head said somewhat apologetically as she tapped in a command.

  “Oh, yes,” the other head said. “Though it’s best not to scream or fight it.”

  Another thing Darai had lied about, then.

  “He won’t fight,” Darai said. “He has no strength left in
him.”

  The helmet began to lower until it hovered just over Valen’s skull, and he felt the sharpness of needles above his hairline, ready to be injected into him, like nails driven deep into a board.

  “Don’t do this,” Nor pleaded to Darai. “I’ll give you the crown. You can have it. Just let Valen go.”

  Valen had a clear view of her now. She was beautiful, even with the tears streaming down her face. They made her gold eyes, the color of her lost crown, stand out all the more. She was the family he’d always dreamed of having, and he found himself wondering what could have been, had they lived a normal life, been given the chance to get to know each other without kingdoms and crowns, without compulsion.

  Without Exonia.

  It struck Valen then, what he’d done to the entirety of Mirabel. He wondered if they’d felt any pain, the very same he felt now, when he’d stolen their minds. He wondered if they had gone down fighting, as he was, or if they’d simply ceased to exist.

  The Godstars had seen his sins, and now they were punishing him for them.

  “You’ll be executed publicly when this is done,” Darai said to Nor as he stepped back and watched Aclisia work, arms crossed over his chest. “Valen will be launched into the sky, his compulsion sending out the message that I am now king. They will worship me and me alone.”

  “Initiating the first sequence,” Aclisia said.

  The first needle began to slide into Valen’s skull.

  He tried to scream, but no sound came out.

  “By then, I will have used Androma to gain control of the weapons network. The Void will be blasted open, creating a hole between the two worlds, and when the Exonians come through...they will be mine. Through Valen, I’ll command them to do my bidding. Little by little, we’ll make our way to other worlds, other galaxies. We’ll take over every living soul we can find. All will bow in fear at the sound of my name, and the very Godstars will quake from their thrones in the sky.”

  Valen’s eyes moved to Androma. She stood so quietly, so calmly, amid the ten guards watching her. Their rifles were aimed at her chest, her head. She would not be able to get away from them, not even with her strength.