Nexus

by Sasha Alsberg

  But she hadn’t even tried.

  Her eyes met Valen’s for a moment. There was horror in them, for what she was seeing. Perhaps for how he looked, so weak as his body failed him. Perhaps horror for what he’d done, the secrets he’d kept from her, despite the friendship she’d thought they were building aboard the Marauder, despite the forgiveness he’d said he’d given her, for her hand in Kalee’s death.

  But there was something else, too.

  The look of a soldier standing before a firing squad. Facing death...but not fearing it.

  “You are a monster,” Nor was saying. So strange, to see her wrapped up in the arms of compulsion. To see her standing free, when he knew that on the inside, she was just as trapped as he was.

  “And you are going to die,” Darai said, turning to face her as the second needle slipped into Valen’s skull.

  He screamed audibly this time, but Darai ignored the sound as he spoke to Nor. “The entire galaxy will hate you, and oh, how they will call for your death. Your head will be mounted above Averia’s doors for all to see.”

  No, Valen thought.

  Where was his power?

  How had it been crushed so quickly, so easily?

  He dived back into his mind, seeking it out. Begging it to reveal itself, for a tiny bit of it to have remained, as Darai’s power had when the Godstars ripped it from him.

  Still, there was nothing. Only a castle that was slowly cracking as a fault line crept across the black stones, as Darai broke through it piece by piece.

  “Take me, then,” Nor said. “I will go in his place.”

  Darai howled with laughter. “Your pathetic power would be of no use to me, Nor. I’m surprised by how much you believed my praises toward you all these years. You were never as powerful as Klaren, and never even close to what Valen is now.”

  He reached into the pod and touched Valen’s cheek again. “Exonia bred true in you, my boy,” Darai marveled.

  A third needle pierced Valen’s skin.

  He could no longer feel the pain, for he had become it. He saw red fill his vision as blood trickled into his eyes from above. Cold was beginning to take over his body, freezing him inch by inch. He knew death would try to come soon, as Darai promised, but the pod would keep him alive. Barely, so that he would never be able to fight back as his power was used forever.

  Andi’s eyes were locked on Valen, her hands clenched into fists, wrists bound in their cuffs. Yet still, she did not move, did not even try to fight the soldiers that guarded her. They may as well have not been there at all.

  Would she truly give over her title so easily?

  “The entire galaxy will watch as I remove your head from your neck,” Darai said to Nor. “But on the bright side, you’ll finally be reunited with Zahn on the other side.”

  She could not die. Not his sister, not his family. Rage filled Valen at the thought, bubbling up from his very soul. He had to fight. He had to save Nor, if it was the very last thing he did in this life.

  Another needle, this time injected into his arm. His blood turned cold as something filled his veins.

  “The upload is beginning, sir,” Aclisia said. “And we’re beginning cryosis.”

  Valen felt it happen. A shift from within.

  Deep in his mind, something rumbled. Valen slipped back inside, desperately seeking his power, but the doors to his castle were locked, the Solis symbol changed to something else.

  The godstar of death, split in two.

  It was cold here now, and flecks of snow drifted from the sky as his castle began to fall.

  A single obsidinite stone slipped from its place atop one of the turrets. It careened to the ground, tumbling edge over edge until it landed with a soft thunk atop the dead grass, beside a pile of bones. Snow piled over it.

  Another stone fell.

  Then another, until it was like a black rain, quickly covered over by frozen white.

  Darai’s laughter filled Valen’s head, and he was pulled out of his mind, back into the pod where he looked out at Nor, who had fallen to her knees, tears running down her cheeks as she watched him. Was this truly the end for him?

  Then a commotion from beyond drew Darai’s attention away. The sound of gunfire, growing closer. “Useless soldiers,” he growled.

  In that moment, Valen thought he saw Androma flinch. It was almost imperceptible, but he saw it. The shimmer of something silver beneath her magnacuffs, sticking out from beneath the edge of her sleeve.

  Her eyes found Valen’s again, and she nodded, only once, before Darai turned back to look at the group. “Faster!” he said. “The battle is nearly done.”

  Valen wasn’t sure who was winning, but he knew the end was coming, no matter who came through that satellite door.

  “The uploading and cryosis both take time,” Aclisia said, both heads focused on Valen as more blood slowly trickled into his vision. “We need five minutes, my King.”

  Darai’s voice was acid. “We may not have five minutes. Make it three.”

  “We cannot speed the process up,” Aclisia said. “Though you could begin the transfer of power now, if you’re insistent on saving time.”

  Darai glared at her, then signaled to the guards holding Andi hostage. “Bring the general to me. We’ll transfer her power, and then I want her body dumped over the edge of the estate. Let her fall from the sky to the city below.”

  It was then that Androma moved.

  So fast Valen would have missed it, had he not been watching her, feeling certain that she was about to do something to alter Darai’s plans.

  Her wrists were still cuffed, but she’d slid a knife from beneath her sleeve, whirling so that the guard gripping her arm screamed as his wrist popped. Almost instantly, she dug the knife deep into the neck of the guard to her left.

  He gasped, reaching up as blood welled through his fingertips.

  Then he fell, the other guards turning to level their guns at Andi in retaliation just as the door to the satellite burst open. Smoke filled the entryway, accompanied by the sound of gunfire.

  “Don’t shoot her!” Darai commanded the guards as Andi began to fight, turning into the Bloody Baroness that Valen remembered, that he had been waiting to see return. “We need her alive, you fools! Turn your weapons to the others!”

  But then the smoke cleared from the doorway, and Valen’s heart surged with a final bit of hope as Arachnid and Andi’s crew stepped inside.

  CHAPTER 40

  ANDI

  It had been some time since Andi had been in a real fight.

  She embraced the chance, lunging at another guard with her small hidden blade. It didn’t matter the size, so long as the blade struck true. The guard dropped beneath her attack, blood spraying as he fell, staining the metallic exterior of the pod.

  Andi dropped to the ground, wrists still cuffed as a guard swung the butt of his rifle toward her head. He missed, narrowly avoiding hitting Darai instead.

  Another guard leveled his rifle at her, finger poised over the trigger.

  “I said don’t shoot!” Darai howled. “Get the others, but leave the general to me!”

  He had Nor in front of him, shielding his body with hers, the coward.

  Andi turned her gaze to the old man, spinning the small blade around in her fingertips until the tip pointed at him. “You,” she snarled as she strode forward. “You are not going to take my title. You deserve to die for what you’ve done.”

  “Go ahead—try to kill me,” Darai said, glaring at her from behind Nor’s frozen form. “You won’t succeed.”

  He closed his eyes as if he were concentrating, a rather strange reaction to being faced with an enemy and a sharpened blade. Andi realized, too late, what he was about to do, as Nor’s frozen form suddenly lunged forward, her body moving like a trained fighter’s. She swung her leg
upward, then down to arch over Andi’s shoulder, just over the spot where Valen had stabbed her during Ucatoria. The hit struck hard and true.

  Andi fell to the ground, pain lancing through her as she rolled with her hands pressed to her chest, magnacuffs gouging against her skin. The old wound screamed with phantom pain as she rolled to her feet, blade still held carefully in her grip.

  Andi circled, sidestepping Nor.

  “You cannot defeat me,” Nor said, but Andi knew the words weren’t hers. They came from her lips, but they belonged to the puppetmaster she was unwittingly protecting. Her eyes rolled back into her head, revealing only the whites as she lifted her hands, curled them into fists and smiled. It looked exactly like the grin on the old man’s face as he stood beside the pod, eyes closed, motionless. All the while, the two-headed scientist continued her work on Valen.

  The moment it was completed, the moment he was uploaded, the satellite would be cast into the sky. And then all Darai would need to complete his mission was Andi’s General access, to unlock the weapons network.

  “Let go of her mind,” Andi growled. “Release Valen and Nor from your power.”

  “I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Nor said back, speaking Darai’s words. “You have one more chance, Androma, to hand over your title and stop this fight.”

  “And why would I do that?” Andi asked.

  Nor smiled. “Because your crew is about to die trying to get to their dear captain. Every last one of them.”

  The door to the satellite filled with enemy reinforcements.

  They were clad in the crimson, bulletproof armor of the New Vedans, similar to what Klaren wore, but lighter in weight, helmets covering their faces. They filed into the massive satellite, one after the other, at least fifty in number. They far outweighed Andi’s small crew.

  “Line up!” Breck shouted from the other side of the rounded space.

  Andi saw her crew, fearless as ever, get into their formation, side by side, Dex along with them. Her girls, so beautiful in their freedom, were still here. Why hadn’t they left yet?

  But Andi knew. Their hearts were just as loyal as hers.

  She wouldn’t have left without them, either. It made her ache even more, for what she would likely have to do.

  “Fire!” Breck shouted.

  A spray of bullets hit the soldiers, but they rebounded off their armor, useless.

  The soldiers turned their rifles to the crew, and Klaren screamed, lifting her arms up as the soldiers fired. A crimson shield of electricity flared to life, holding back the spray of bullets. They pinged to the ground in a silver rain.

  Breck moved to stand behind Klaren, supporting her as the soldiers shot again. The shield crackled, but held strong. Lira and Gilly were behind it, safe, Dex at their side.

  But for how long?

  “They will fall,” Nor said as she lunged at Andi again. Andi careened to the right, slicing out with her blade, but Nor dodged it. “That shield will not last forever, Androma. And when it fizzles out, I will make sure that you watch me destroy them all one by one. So come forward, and give me your title. You’re only wasting time in a battle you cannot win.”

  “Never,” Andi swore. “I will never willingly give you that access.”

  She’d hoped, oh, she had hoped, that her crew would have been able to fight their way out of this. That they had been able to get to Valen, to kill him before the upload began.

  But the plan had failed, had gotten out of hand.

  Nor laughed, diving toward her again. Andi slashed out with her knife and sliced Nor’s wrist, a wicked cut that went deep, but the woman didn’t even flinch, didn’t even seem to feel the pain as she paced, circling, ready to attack again at Darai’s command.

  My children must live, for the galaxy to be free, Klaren had said to Andi, in their private moments together aboard the ship on their journey here. While the new crew and Dex had slept, they’d met in secret. They’d spoken of their plans to save Mirabel, together, in the midst of a hopeless war. They’d come up with a second plan, should the first fail.

  For they would lose.

  Andi and Klaren had known it from the start.

  Still, she’d hoped there would be another way.

  Behind Nor, Andi could see her crew still fighting. The world seemed to move in slow motion as Breck lifted her rifle, shooting past Klaren’s armored body and the electric shield that spanned from one edge of the satellite to the other, looking for a weak spot in the line of enemy soldiers. Dex knelt, shooting from a low point beside Gilly. Lira paced, waiting for her chance to move forward and swing with her fists.

  More bullets sprayed against Klaren’s shield.

  One broke through, slammed against the back of the satellite’s paneled wall.

  “Oh, dear,” Nor said, laughing. “So close to the end, for your crew.”

  Breck fired, and one of Darai’s soldiers fell. She’d found a break in his armor, locked onto it, the brave gunner. Andi saw Gilly and Dex perk up, following suit as they aimed for the same spot Breck had found on other soldiers.

  A few of the enemy soldiers rushed forward, sprinting toward the solid shield wall. The moment they touched it, their bodies collapsed, seizing until they went still.

  For a moment, Andi felt hope, but it was quickly crushed. The enemy numbers were too many. The satellite had become a dam, ready to break. Soon, the Godstars would choose a side to win and a side to fall. It would be determined the moment Klaren’s shield shattered...and Andi knew which side would lose.

  It was nearly time.

  She’d held off for as long as she could.

  “Release Valen and Nor,” Andi said again. “Release the minds of everyone in Mirabel, or I will kill him.”

  “You can’t get to him, child,” Nor said with a laugh, her eyes still white as bone, still rolled back in her head.

  Andi swung the small blade, but Nor was too quick.

  She whirled, almost knocking it from Andi’s grasp with her foot.

  They circled, lunging at each other.

  They were matched, move for move.

  Andi had to find a way to reach him, free him from the pod before it was too late.

  “The clock is ticking,” Nor said. Behind her, the two-headed scientist clapped her hands, and inside the pod, Valen was practically aglow as his veins filled with cold fluid. His mouth hung open in a silent scream.

  “You know that one soldier’s shield won’t last long against the onslaught, and there’s no way out of here with my soldiers guarding the exit. When Klaren’s armor fails...” Nor smiled. “Everyone you love will die.”

  Andi chanced one more glance back at her crew.

  The shield was breaking down, little by little.

  Nearly thirty soldiers still remained. And even if they fell, Darai would just send more. Her crew would never make it out of here alive.

  Nor landed a kick against Andi’s jaw. It didn’t crack, but pain spread through her face, bringing tears to her eyes.

  Across the satellite, Klaren’s eyes met Andi’s.

  There was so much emotion in that golden gaze.

  Andi nodded at her, stepping closer to the pod where Valen was held, guiding Nor’s attacks in that direction. Darai remained motionless beyond her, controlling Nor’s every move in his mind.

  “Give up, Androma,” Nor said, smiling wide as Darai continued to speak through her. “It’s already too late.”

  The gunfire continued. Klaren’s shield was close to breaking. So, so close, for every bullet that hit, red light spread across it in glowing fracture lines.

  “It’s not too late,” Andi said.

  She thought of Klaren’s words, her promise that she would ensure her crew was well cared for, once all was said and done.

  Andi lifted her blade, watching as Klaren’s shield waver
ed.

  Another bullet got through.

  “No!” Klaren cried out as Eryn fell, her body flickering in and out of existence as she hit the ground, reaching a hand toward her leader.

  Another bullet nearly hit Lira, but Breck turned her body, taking the shot in the back, the bullet pinging against her bulletproof skin.

  It was now or never.

  Andi wondered how it would feel when she fell. She thought of the weapons network, and how it would sense her death. How it would self-destruct without a chosen successor.

  If Andi died, and didn’t choose a successor, no one would have the power. In her mind, that was how it should be.

  Her crew would have no captain. But Mirabel would be safe, the Void impossible to open for a time, long enough for Klaren to discover a way to release her children from Darai’s power.

  “Fly true,” Andi whispered to herself.

  She closed her eyes as she pressed the tip of the blade above her heart.

  CHAPTER 41

  VALEN

  He was nearly gone now.

  Valen felt his very life freezing up as his veins filled with the cryo liquid.

  As his mind, little by little, was pulled away from him, uploaded into the inner workings of the Nexus satellite.

  Inside his mind, the valley of bones was covered with snow that looked like ashes.

  His castle had fallen. Only a few stones still remained.

  He found himself falling in and out of awareness. Half of him was seated in the pod, watching the battle wage on, Nor being used as Darai’s puppet as Androma fought against her, Nor’s body moving in ways it never had before. The other half remained seated in the snow, trapped inside his mind.

  At one point, the snow began to fall backward, drifting up toward the sky.

  Each flake contained a memory of Valen’s.

  One flitted past his gaze. In it, he saw himself as a child, playing with Kalee in the courtyard of Averia. She’d played the part of queen, Valen, the king.

  “Someday, we’ll lead this planet side by side, Val,” Kalee’s small, young voice said. Her smile faded from view as the memory floated upward and away.