Athena's Ashes

by Jamie Grey

  “There’s nothing we can do. It’s all up to Renna now,” he answered. “But I know what I can do to help you.” Viktis winked, and Keva flushed violet.

  “Meet you in my quarters later?” she asked softly.

  “You better count on it.”

  Surprise shot through Renna at their exchange. She’d never in a million years have guessed Viktis and the uptight lieutenant would be attracted to each other, but it made sense. The pirate needed a good influence, and Keva needed to loosen up.

  Renna grinned. She would give Viktis such hell the next time she saw him.

  Around her, the Athena shuddered as the FTL spun up. Pressure built inside her head until her ears felt like they were going to explode. Another blink, and she was on the flight deck with the Athena’s pilot, Lieutenant Kojima.

  “Dammit. What the hell is wrong with these sensors? They’re off the charts.” He tapped a command into his communicator. “Sergeant Gheewala, check them again. It’s still not working.”

  Kojima’s fingers flew across the controls as he rearranged the flight path. Renna recognized their destination. Viktis had contacts in the small merc colony on New Rhea. The Athena would be able to hide for several weeks safely there. She wouldn’t have to worry about them.

  But that damn longing surged through her again.

  The only thing she wanted was to be back on the Athena. To be with Finn and Myka and Viktis. It felt strange to say, but for the first time in her life, she’d felt like she was finally home when she was on that ship. She sighed softly, and suddenly the sensors on the flight deck went crazy.

  “What the hell is going on?” Kojima pounded on the console, but the numbers blinked and spun like they were possessed. “Captain Finn! Flight deck now!” he shouted into his comm.

  Kojima struggled to get the ship under control as it rocked and shuddered. The navigation console lit up bright red as warning sensors went off across the Athena.

  Finn thundered into the deck. “What is it? What’s going on? Did we hit something?”

  Kojima shook his head, too busy trying to regain control to salute his superior officer. “She’s gone crazy. I’ve completely lost control of her. It’s like someone reprogrammed all her nav systems. She’s set a course for the Coro system.”

  Finn grabbed the back of Kojima’s chair as the ship shuddered again.

  A sharp ache started behind Renna’s eyes, and she squeezed them shut. What was going on? Were they in danger?

  “What the hell is in the Coro system?” Finn demanded as he studied the system specs.

  “Nothing. There’s a small backwater colony on Tartarus, but that’s it.” Kojima typed a few more commands into his console before finally throwing up his hands. “It’s completely locked. I can’t even get into the command prompt. We’re tied to this course until whoever has control releases us.”

  Finn’s face went pale. “Too dangerous to send out a distress signal?”

  Kojima nodded. “We’re in MYTH space. They get word and it’s all over.”

  “Fuck.” Finn’s hand trembled as he raked it through his hair. “Keep trying to regain control. I’ll prep the team for evasive maneuvers and get Aldani and the kid loaded onto one of the escape shuttles.”

  Kojima turned back to his console, while Finn stared out the window at the blackness surrounding them.

  “Dammit.” Kojima flipped on the comm. “Crew, prepare for jump to light speed.” He turned back to Finn. “I’ve never seen this before. It’s like the Athena’s come to life. She’s got a mind of her own.” More beeps from the nav system as it recalculated. “And she’s not backing down.”

  “Keep it together as best you can, Kojima. And let’s hope whoever is in control of our ship knows what they’re doing.”

  Renna reached out to touch Finn as he passed, but her arm wouldn’t obey. All she wanted was for him to know she was okay and for them to be safe. She wanted him to know how much he meant to her, even if she couldn’t say the words out loud. But so much distance separated them. Even in her dreams she wasn’t able to reach him.

  A searing pain shot through her as the ship jumped to light speed and Renna gasped.

  Everything went black again. Except the streaming of the stars around her.

  SIXTEEN

  “Is she going to be all right?” Lieutenant Blake asked softly. Renna tried to force open her eyes, but her body was trapped in a foggy softness.

  “I hope so. I think she got a bigger dose of the tranq than I did, but she still should have been awake by now.”

  Commander Jayla sounded worried, and Renna struggled even harder to pull herself out of the blackness holding her down.

  Vibrations from Jayla’s pacing trembled through Renna’s body. So she wasn’t dead. Always good news.

  Blake spoke, a smile in his voice. “The poor girl’s probably exhausted. She’s had a lot going on.” He chuckled. “Besides, Finn won’t let her sleep much longer anyway. I thought he was going to throttle me when I said he had to wait to see her.”

  Jayla chuckled. “The man’s got it bad. I’ve never seen him like this.”

  “Hope she doesn’t break his heart. Renna doesn’t seem like the settling-down type.” Blake sighed. “Not that you meet a lot of those kinds of girls in this job anyway.”

  “Lieutenant, are you getting romantic in your old age?”

  “Gods no. Who has time? I have a galaxy to save.” Blake’s footfalls approached the door. “And if that was a hint, I’m on my way back to the CIC. Sir.”

  Renna tried to claw her way out of the fog before they left, but her eyes remained closed, her body still. She wanted to scream, to tell them she was listening, but her voice wouldn’t obey. She was trapped here in the dark, in her own mind, as it slowly disappeared into…nothingness.

  “I’m sure she’ll wake up when she’s ready,” Jayla said, sounding troubled. “In the meantime, Finn and I have a lot to discuss.”

  Finn? He was here? Renna’s mind thrashed, but she still didn’t wake. She felt the throb of the ship around her, the machinery running through the floor and walls, but she couldn’t feel her own fucking body.

  The soft swish of the door sliding shut behind them left Renna alone in the room with her screaming thoughts. She tried to force her consciousness to wake, to listen to the commands she was giving it, but instead, she grew more and more tired, her limbs heavy like lead.

  Until she drifted off to sleep again.

  Renna jolted awake as a warm hand brushed against her face. She’d been dreaming again. Of ships and stars and men she’d thought long dead. And right now, she had no idea what was real and what she’d made up in her head.

  Renna licked her cracked lips and opened her eyes. It took a moment for them to focus on the face hovering above her. A face from her dreams.

  “Finn,” she croaked.

  “Shhh.” He smiled down at her, expression full of concern. “Don’t talk, just take it easy. You’re going to be fine.” His fingers brushed a strand of hair away from her cheek, and her skin erupted in goose bumps.

  If she wasn’t so weak, she’d have thrown herself at him. Instead, she ordered her own hand to touch his. It resisted at first, but eventually it moved and Finn curled his fingers around hers.

  The touch lent her enough strength to ask, “Are you really here? How are you here?”

  He gave her one of those heart-twisting half-smiles of his. Maybe she’d died and this was heaven. Maybe this was just another dream. But damn, if that was the case, she never wanted to wake up.

  Her tongue felt like a wad of cotton in her mouth. Gods, when was the last time she’d brushed her teeth? She gestured to the glass of water on the table beside her bed. Finn helped her hold it to her lips, and she drank thirstily.

  When her hand started to shake, Finn gently took the glass from her and set it on the table. “I was hoping you could tell me that,” he said, brushing back another strand of her hair. His gaze softened, making him look young a
nd vulnerable.

  An electrical jolt shot through her with an emotion she didn’t want to name. Putting her feelings into words would make them too real.

  “The Athena brought us here on her own,” he said. “But Gheewala said she could sense your electronic signature on the ship. We didn’t have much choice but to believe her. And then we arrived in the space port and saw the Eris.” He studied her for a long moment, his expression curious but wary. “How did you do it?”

  Renna frowned at him. “I don’t understand. Do what?”

  “Control the Athena. You brought us here.”

  What did he mean? The dull ache was back again, and she let her eyelids drift closed. It was so much work to keep them open right now, so much work trying to figure out what was going on. Sleeping was so much easier.

  “Hey, Renna. Stay with me, love.” Finn’s warm hand cupped her face, and she struggled back to consciousness.

  “I’m here.”

  “That’s my girl. Was it the implant? Did it allow you to contact our ship?”

  Renna forced herself to focus on his worried face. “I don’t know. Maybe? Once, before you went on the run, I thought I could feel the ship inside my head. Maybe we connected somehow because of the implant or the drug. But I couldn’t have controlled her. It’s not possible.”

  Except that wasn’t true. She’d longed for Finn in her dreams, but maybe they hadn’t been dreams. Maybe she’d actually been there, a part of the Athena.

  Finn stroked a finger gently down her cheek. “Well, whatever happened, we’ll figure it out later. Right now you need some rest. I’ll be waiting for you when you wake up.”

  “Promise?” she asked.

  Finn took her hand, settling back against the wall beside her on the bed. “Promise.”

  SEVENTEEN

  The murmur of low voices woke Renna a few hours later. This time she was able to stretch in bed, to curl her fingers into her palms and yawn as she drifted awake. She turned her head on the pillow toward the voices. Dr. Aldani and Finn stood at the open door of the cabin, the light from the passage giving them both halos.

  “Why is it taking so long for the drug to get out of her system?” Finn’s words were clipped and short.

  Aldani shook his head. “I don’t know. Her blood levels are fine. The pressure in her brain has eased. There’s no reason for her to still be comatose.”

  “Is it the transition? Is her implant killing her?” Finn’s voice cracked.

  Aldani put his hand on Finn’s arm. “We don’t know that. She’s strong, Finn. We’re going to find a way to get her through this.”

  “But you said…”

  “I know what I said. The drugs Samil gave Renna have caused some neural damage. They may have caused the implant to start integrating even faster. But it will take time for me to try to work out a new formula from what little data is left of Navang’s experiments. I only have a partial code.”

  Renna’s fingers twisted in the sheets as she clenched them into fists. Dr. Samil. Pallas. The woman’s betrayal rushed through her, aching and painful like a physical wound. Her pulse thundered so loudly it drowned out Aldani’s voice. She’d let herself trust the woman, and Samil had done worse than betray her. She’d tried to kill her. Not that Renna was any stranger to death, but at least in the merc business, you usually knew who your enemies were.

  And after walking right into Samil’s trap, the woman had still escaped. How was she going to find Samil again? How was she going to stop her before the implant took over? Before she turned into a monster.

  A stupid Shakespeare quote popped into her head: Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it. Macbeth.

  With a groan, she pushed the thought away. She was proud of her life—she’d done some amazing things. She certainly wasn’t giving up now. And why the hell were useless quotes the only thing she remembered from her few years of school? That was some quality education right there.

  Except wait. Renna paused. Shakespeare.

  Something tugged at her memory and she sat bolt upright. “I know someone who might help,” she croaked.

  Both men jumped at the sound of her voice, spinning to face her. She would have laughed at their expressions if she hadn’t been so tired.

  “Renna.” Finn was at her side in an instant, perching on the edge of the bed to take her hand. “How are you feeling? Can I get you something?”

  She smiled weakly. “I’m all right. Calm down, Finn.” She looked past him to David Aldani, whose dark eyebrows were knit together with worry, too. “There’s a merc on Lenue who took a sample of Navang’s original drug. He might give us the formula if we give him the right incentive.”

  “Viktis’s contact. I remember.” Finn squeezed her hand. “I’ll have the Athena head out immediately.”

  “No, wait. We need to think this through first. Samil knows I’m on to her. She knows the Eris will be tracking her. What she doesn’t know is how or if you’re involved. The Athena needs to stay off her radar for as long as possible, and Myka needs to stay safe. She’s determined to continue building her army and she could still use him.” Renna swallowed against the cotton balls that felt like they were clogging her throat. “Water?” she asked.

  Finn poured her a glass from the pitcher beside the bed. She downed the glass in three large swallows, then dropped back against the pillows. Her heart raced like she’d fought a band of thieves, not taken a simple drink. “Doc, what’s going on? Why am I still so tired?”

  Aldani shook his head. “I can only guess your body is trying to repair itself, to fight against the implant taking control. There’s a war going on inside you, and both sides are evenly matched.”

  “Which is why we have to get that drug right the hell now.” Finn shot to his feet. “Samil or not.”

  Renna shook her head. “Listen to me, Finn. The Athena and the Aldanis need to disappear. You can’t get caught in the middle of this. We’ll take the Eris to Lenue. Hopefully that’ll keep Samil off your trail a bit longer.”

  “I don’t like this. There has to be another way.” Finn paced the room, arms behind his back. “I need to talk to Viktis. He’ll have some ideas.”

  Renna’s eyes widened and she turned to Aldani. “Did he just say he was going to voluntarily ask the pirate for advice, or is my implant fucking up my hearing, too?”

  The doctor chuckled. “I think they’ve become friends. It was quite touching to see both of them so worried about you.”

  She shook her head and turned back to Finn. “I think Viktis will agree with me,” she said.

  The captain shrugged. “There has to be another way. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He pressed a kiss to Renna’s forehead and strode from the room.

  Gods he was beautiful. She could’ve stared at him all day. And the fact that he was here, with her? She was selfishly ecstatic. He should be far, far away, safe from Pallas or Samil or whoever the hell the woman was, but just his presence had already made her feel better.

  When the door slid shut behind Finn, she turned back to Aldani. “So how about the truth now, Doc. What am I looking at? Hours? Days?”

  The man sank into her desk chair, the lines around his mouth deepening with his frown. “I wish I knew. Your body seems healthy. There are no signs of physical rejection yet. The bigger problem is your nervous system. As far as I can tell, the implant has started to fuse and take over some of your basic bodily functions and systems. The drugs Samil gave you have accelerated that process, but your body is fighting it as hard as it can. Unless we find some way to make them both work together, you…”

  “Won’t make it.”

  Aldani shook his head. “You’ll make it. You’ll just be something… different.”

  “What do you mean something different? Different how?” A boulder sat on Renna’s chest and she struggled to prop herself up against the pillows so she could breathe.

  Aldani wouldn’t meet her gaze as he continued. Instead he chose to stare at the white til
ed floor. “Myka is a hybrid. Part-human, part-machine, and while both of his systems have integrated and work together, they’re still separate, like with most cybernetic additions people have installed.

  “But what’s happening to you is different. The machine is starting to take over, to become you. When this process is finished, your implant will be another organ you need to keep you alive. It will simply be an extension of yourself, and the connection you feel with the Athena, with other mechanics, will deepen.

  “Navang thought Myka was the apex of his work, but you have far surpassed him. You’ll be something new. The implant will become inseparable, indistinguishable from your own systems. Constantly evolving and changing. Growing on its own, even.” Aldani rubbed his clean-shaven jaw. His dark skin had gone ashy as he finally met her gaze. “You’ll be a new species. The genesis of something new in this galaxy.”

  Renna’s mouth went dry. She opened and closed it, but there were no words. How did you respond to something like that?

  Aldani got to his feet. “But we’re going to stop that from happening. We’re going to make sure you stay in control of this and not the other way around, okay?”

  Easier said than done. If she’d commanded the Athena while unconscious, the implant was already taking control of her brain, her body. Was she even herself anymore?

  “Stop looking like that,” Aldani chided. “Finn will have my hide if he comes back to find you pale and terrified.”

  Dear gods. Finn. Her heart twisted in her chest, and Renna sat up. “Don’t tell him,” she pleaded. “Whatever happens, I don’t want him to know. I’ll disappear first, find some way to put an end to being a monster, but he can’t know.”

  “Renna… I…”

  “Please, doc. I want him to remember me as I am, not some… robot. I am going to do my damnedest to beat this, but if the worst thing he thinks is that I died because of the implant, so be it. I don’t want him to see me changed. What if I don’t recognize him? What if I hurt him?”