by Anna Argent
It no longer mattered that the Raide were here to invade Earth or to force an entire species to do their bidding. It didn’t even matter that they’d already done the same thing to the world where she’d been born, or other worlds before that. All that mattered was that Dimas and Korlayan had hurt her mother and sister. For that alone, they deserved to die.
“Are you okay?” Ava asked her mom quietly, hoping not to draw too much attention.
“I’ve been better.” Pain lurked around the corners of Mom’s eyes and left its shadow beneath.
“I’ll find a way out of this.”
Mom stroked Emily’s hair. “I can’t lose you two girls.”
Ava’s heart broke open and wept silent tears. “I’m sorry I got you into this.”
“It’s not your fault, honey. You can’t blame yourself.” She glared in Dimas’s direction. “We both know where the blame falls.”
Dimas turned his gaze toward Mom, forcing her to look away or suffer. “This is a touching display of emotion, but I simply don’t have the time for such frivolity. We’re on a tight schedule.” He pointed to the shimmering door. “Korlayan, send the transmission.”
As Ava watched, the younger Raide laid his hand over a lighted bulge on the front of his armor. Within seconds, a tiny circle of light an inch across appeared midair. It shimmered like a window, but was too small for anything to fit through.
Korlayan put his hand in a hole in the control console. The screen became a blur of alien text she couldn’t read. After a moment, the image disappeared from the mirror-like screen, leaving it a glossy silver.
“We received a response, Father,” said Korlayan as the tiny window winked out of existence. “All is on schedule.”
“What do you want with us?” Ava asked.
That bizarre text flowed back across a mirror-like display screen. Dimas seemed to be reading it as quickly as it passed. “All I want is the knowledge you hold.”
“And you had to abduct my family and make me hunt you down to get it? What the hell kind of knowledge is it?”
“Nothing you can’t provide with the proper application of technology. Your family is merely here to ensure your cooperation.”
Mom shifted painfully to her feet. “Don’t do it, Ava. Whatever he wants, it can’t be good.”
Dimas whirled on her, catching her in his pain gaze.
Mom screamed and fell to her knees, clutching her head.
“Stop it!” Ava bellowed as she lunged toward him.
Korlayan was faster. He stepped in front of her. She instinctively looked into his eyes, and her whole world exploded in a fiery ball of agony.
The sound of her own screams tore through her skull, threatening to break bones and tear flesh. Time became meaningless. Everything she was—her hopes, dreams, fears and goals—was stripped away, leaving nothing but suffering.
When the torture stopped, she was disoriented, lost in time and space. It took her a second to remember who she was and what was at stake.
Mom panted heavily in the distance. Emily was crying.
Dimas’s voice was filled with pride. “Korlayan was always better at administering pain than any of my other children. If you don’t want your family to experience what you just did, I suggest you cooperate.”
“Don’t,” said Mom, weak and barely audible. “He’s evil.”
Dimas shook his head, making his long white hair sway. “Evil is in the eye of the beholder, Alice. To my people, I’m a conquering hero, expanding our reach to advance our technology and military might. You all are simply collateral damage.”
Ava fought the urge to vomit, though whether from the massive headache or from his flippant statement, she wasn’t sure. “Mom is right. You are evil. Whatever you want, the answer is the same: go fuck yourself.”
Dimas turned to his son. “The young human is awake. Make her scream.”
“No!” shouted Mom and Ava at the same time.
“Then you’ll cooperate?” Dimas asked.
She couldn’t. She wouldn’t. But she was sure as hell going to pretend like she was and hope that she found some way to get her family out of here before he figured out what she was doing.
Radek was still alive. He would get help and come for her. She didn’t question that for a second. All she had to do was stall for a little while.
Ava bowed her head in defeat and nodded. “What do you want?”
“You have inherited your parents’ military instincts and you know humans—how they think and behave. My army will be here soon. When they arrive, I want you to lead them.”
Lead an army?
She was so shocked by that idea that she looked up. Korlayan was waiting for it, and she jerked her gaze away just in time to avoid meeting his.
“She’s a quick learner, Father,” he said.
“She is Soricalia, the natural born leaders of all Soric military troops. Only those with sharp minds and fierce skills survive long enough to breed, and she is the product of two very long family lines. That’s why she was hidden here, where the Loriahans thought I’d never find her. But I did.”
“Proving you are smarter,” Korlayan said.
“If you’re so smart, then why not lead your own army?” Ava asked.
Dimas waved a skinny hand. His body was covered with a thin layer of armor, but even with that, he still seemed scrawny. “I have no interest in the details of war. There are other worlds to conquer and explore.”
“So, you’re just going to leave me here to do as I see fit?” she asked, completely confused.
“Of course not. You’d turn against me the second you were out of my control. Korlayan will stay here, keeping your family in reach so you don’t do anything foolish.”
Emily was groggy, but her words were clear. “Don’t do it, Ava. You can’t. There are people we love out there.”
Dimas glanced at his son. “If the young human speaks again, kill her mother.”
“No!” screamed Ava as she rushed over to the cage.
Emily covered her mouth with her hand to keep herself quiet. Tears fell freely from her eyes, cascading over her fingers as they went.
Ava got between Korlayan and the orange wire cage and glared at his chin. “If you touch her, I’ll back up into the wire and get rid of your father’s newest toy. I won’t be any good to you if I’m dead.”
Korlayan looked worried and backed up a long step. “Your orders, Father?”
Dimas sighed in exasperation. “Perhaps this will help decide you.” He slid his hand into the pocket-like hole in the console. Immediately, the screen was filled with a semi-transparent image of Mom and Emily, kind of like an X-ray, but in full color. Even without any medical training, Ava could see that something was wrong with Mom. Her bones were riddled with some kind of brown mass. It was so widespread, it was a wonder she was still standing. “Your mother is dying. Cancer is eating her from the inside out. I don’t know a lot of about human physiology, but my guess is that she doesn’t have much longer. A few months. Maybe less.”
Grief hit Ava hard enough to make her sway. Emily stifled a sob behind her hands, and Mom simply bowed her head in acceptance, as if she’d already known.
“But it doesn’t have to be like that,” Dimas said. “My people have collected the medical advances of dozens of worlds.” He went to a metal case and opened the lid. Inside were several bottles. He sorted through them until he found what he was looking for, then held it up just out of Ava’s reach. “This liquid is from a plant a hundred solar systems away from this one. It can cure her—give her back her life and protect her from any future disease. I’ll give it to her. All you have to do is help me.”
He made it sound so simple. So easy.
“You can’t do it, Ava,” Mom said. “My life isn’t worth that of the countless others who will be lost if you give him what he wants.”
“I’ll even throw in a dose for your sister,” Dimas said. “She’ll never have to worry about playing the genetic lottery. B
arring accident, she’ll be ensured a long and healthy life.”
Mom’s voice shook with anger. “You monster. You can’t put that kind of choice on her. You can’t ask her to trade our lives for others.”
Dimas whirled around, forcing Mom to lower her gaze. “I can do what I want. I’ve earned the right through all the battles I’ve won, all the worlds I’ve conquered.” He turned back around to Ava. “Give me your decision.”
She couldn’t. She knew without a doubt that if she refused, she’d be killing her family. And if she agreed, she’d be killing the families of countless others. Her best option was to stall. Hold out for Radek.
He would come for her. She’d seen him fight. If anyone was capable of killing a monster like Dimas, it was him. All she had to do was keep her family safe until he got here.
“Well?” Dimas said, his tone impatient. “Do you want your family to live or die? The choice is yours.”
Before she could say anything, one of the Dregorgs came in through the stairwell door, bowing his head to fit through. He carried Radek’s maulst as well as the duffel bag containing Zoe’s WMD.
There was blood on his blade. Radek’s blood.
“The Sorican warrior is dead,” said the Dregorg as he set the weapons in front of the elevator.
Ava didn’t want to believe it. Her denial was fast and hard. But after a second she realized the truth. If Radek was alive, there was no way he had given up his weapons. The only way the Dregorg had them now was because Radek was dead.
There was no rescue coming. No one to save her from being forced to sentence her mother to a slow, painful death.
She was alone.
Chapter Thirty-five
Radek’s progress up the elevator shaft was painstakingly slow. There were no lights in here, only a deep black hole filled with a network of wires and pipes. The smell of paint and flux were heavy in his nose, and every breath echoed back at him.
He had to use a flashlight to search for Raide traps, making each inch he gained take three times as long. The ladder was slick inside his sweaty palms. He held the small flashlight in his mouth, trying to be as efficient as he could in his search.
Arut had said there were two traps here. He’d been very specific about it. And while Radek was almost to the top floor of the building, so far he’d only found one.
As he passed the door to the nineteenth floor, he started hearing voices from above.
A woman was crying, but he couldn’t tell who. The brassy sound of Raide voices—at least two—was also audible.
Ava said something, and while he couldn’t understand the words yet, he recognized the tone easily.
She was terrified and furious.
Something bad had happened.
The urge to move faster clawed against the back of his neck, but he forced himself to slow down. He wasn’t going to do her any good if he blew up before he got there.
A wave of dizziness hit him, nearly knocking him off the ladder. He wrapped one arm around it and held on, breathing through his nose while it passed.
The blockers were wearing off. He didn’t have much time left before he became incapacitated—first with dizziness, then blindness, pain, lethargy, and then death.
All he wanted was to live long enough to kill Dimas. Once he cut the head off the beast, the rest of it would die. Earth would be safe, Loriah would be safe.
Ava would be safe.
He hadn’t spent enough time with her to suit him. Then again, he wasn’t sure such a thing was possible. He could spend every day with her for the rest of his life and still not feel like it was enough.
Not only was he not going to get eternity, he wasn’t even going to get one more day. His time with her was at an end.
A flutter of grief passed through him, sapping his strength.
He couldn’t let himself stop now. It didn’t matter if he was weak or dizzy. It didn’t even matter that he was dying. If he wanted to see Ava again—if he wanted to kill Dimas—he needed to get his ass in gear and get up the ladder without triggering a trap.
Radek shook his head to clear it, then forced his eyes to focus on his path ahead. The flashlight beam bounced around the shaft, adding to his dizziness.
He was no good to anyone like this. He could barely cling to a ladder, much less wield his maulst. How the hell was he going to save anyone when he couldn’t even stand up right now without falling over.
He had no choice but to wait for the dizzy spell to pass.
Seconds ticked by, each one a reminder of just how little time he had left.
Above him, voices grew louder, angrier. Ava’s was now loud enough that he could hear her words. “You killed him? I’ll never do what you want. You and your army can go fuck yourselves!”
Dimas uttered no more than three words, and whatever he said must have been enough, because two seconds later, a chorus of female screams echoed down the elevator shaft—the kind of screams a woman only made when she knew she was about to die.
*****
Ava gave into her fury and launched herself at Dimas. “You killed him? I’ll never do what you want. You and your army can go fuck yourselves!”
She hadn’t made it more than three feet before a giant Dregorg barred her path. The musky smell of his flesh enveloped her as he grabbed her by the arms in a crushing grip.
Dimas gave a casual wave of his hand toward Mom and Emily. “Kill them.”
They started to scream. Ava slammed her foot down onto the fleshy toes of the Dregorg and ripped free of his hold.
A huge, shiny black Cytur skittered forward to do Dimas’s bidding, but before it could, she threw herself in its way, forcing it to stop or skewer her with its claws.
Taking the chance that Dimas wanted her alive more than he wanted to make a point was a huge gamble, but the only one she had. “If you hurt them, all your leverage will be gone. There’s not another person out there I love more than them.”
As she said the words, she realized that Radek was on that list, but it was too late to tell him so. He was gone. Dead. And she hadn’t even told him how she felt. There hadn’t been time.
Dimas held up his hand to stop the Cytur’s advance. “Does that mean you changed your mind about cooperating?”
She scoured her brain for some other option, but came up empty. “Give Mom the cure first.”
“No. You do as I ask first. Once you’ve given me what I want, then I’ll heal your mother. That way I know you’re not lying.”
“Don’t do it, Ava,” Mom said. “I’ve made peace with death. I’m ready.”
Dimas asked, “What about your little girl? Have you made peace with her death too?”
Emily stood taller in an attempt to be brave, but her face gave away just how terrified she was.
Ava couldn’t take this anymore. She’d already lost Radek. She couldn’t lose anyone else. Her only choice was to do as he asked and hope that she found some other way out of this mess before the damage was done.
She bowed her head so she couldn’t see the look of disappointment on her mother’s face. “Tell me what to do.”
Dimas gave her a smirk that said how pleased he was with himself and motioned toward the control console. “Put your hand in the pocket. The machine will do the rest.”
Ava shuffled closer, eyeing the duffel bag with Zoe’s weapon in it. If she could get her hands on that and just a little bit of Dimas’s DNA, she could destroy him. But how?
If she could reach the small knife tucked into her pocket, maybe she could slice off one of his fingers. They were the only part of him besides his face that wasn’t armored.
“Stop stalling,” Dimas ordered. “The door is nearly open. I want all troops to have their orders before we begin the invasion.”
“How long is that?” she asked.
“Five of your minutes.”
Shock made her stumble. She thought she’d have days, or at least hours. She’d never done anything like this before and was terrified that her i
nexperience would get her family killed. “How the hell am I supposed to figure out a strategy in that amount of time?”
“Just put your hand in the machine and all will become clear.”
Her hand shook as she reached toward the hole in the console. It appeared to be nothing more than a flexible metal pocket, but for all she knew, the thing had teeth hidden in there. But even losing her hand wasn’t as scary as all of the other horrors that might await her.
Dimas wanted to enslave the planet. He wanted to add it to his conquests and make everyone here a weapon or a lever.
And she was going to help him.
He stepped closer, eagerness rolling off of him in palpable waves.
“Put your hand in first,” she said. “I want to make sure it’s not going to hurt me.”
Dimas sighed and thrust his hand into the pocket. While he did, she slipped the knife free and eased it open while keeping it hidden along her thigh.
“See?” he said. “It’s perfectly safe.”
As he pulled his hand free, she made her move. She grabbed his wrist and sliced her knife across his hand just as a huge wave of doom settled in her chest. But it was too late for warnings. Her aim was off, and rather than cutting off a finger, she managed only to open the skin across the back of his hand.
He bellowed in pain and rage, and slapped the knife out of her grasp. It skidded along the concrete floor, leaving a pale orange trail of blood in its wake.
Before she could recover from the blow, he took hold of her hand and shoved it in the hole. There flexible metal immediately conformed to her shape and tightened to hold her in place. She felt a tickle of mild static electricity, and then her whole world changed.
Her body fell away, leaving only her consciousness. It flowed through space and merged with some kind of cold, unfeeling logic.
A computer. That’s what she was feeling now—some kind of alien computer.
The machine sorted through her thoughts and memories in an instant, bringing to the fore memories she had never before realized were there. She could see hundreds of battles play out before her—see which strategies and tactics worked, and which didn’t. At the same time, the computer pulled from her everything she knew about the human race. Their strengths and weaknesses, what drove them, what frightened them.