Dominion Rising: 23 Brand New Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels

by White, Gwynn

  “Discretion as always, Commander.” Talon eyed Ember with a curious frown. “Would you like me to secure her for your safety, sir?”

  “She’s no threat now. You may go.”

  Talon saluted and strode toward the door, which opened to admit her. Ember moved to follow and was rewarded with another jolt. She watched the door slide shut in front of her as the pain receded.

  “You’ve witnessed only the first setting, gypsy girl,” Kane said. “There are more levels to explore if needed.”

  She lifted a reluctant hand, letting it hover over the device around her neck. It was soft like fabric, so it moved with her, but lay stiff against the skin of her neck. The moment her finger brushed against it, the collar gave her a little zap.

  Kane’s expression was one of forced patience. “The device can’t be disabled, sliced, or dented. Even a single touch can result in dreadful pain, as you’ve just demonstrated. Try to remove it and you’ll be dead in seconds. One of my last inventions before I was raised. I sold the technology to the emperor himself.”

  Gritting her teeth, Ember slowly turned to face him. “Torture, then? You’re going to electrocute me until I obey like a good little dog?”

  “Torture?” He chuckled. “I prefer the term ‘training.’ Or even better, conditioning. Eventually even the most resistant animals see their place and allow their masters to guide them. Now, let’s start again. Find that captain and extinguish her.” His finger hovered over a small device in his right hand.

  Ember thought of the woman again, the captain who had sacrificed so much and served the Empire so well. Then she straightened, steeling herself for another jolt. “Push your button, but I won’t do it.”

  “Very well.” He tapped his desk screen.

  Pain like nothing she’d ever experienced penetrated her body. Her back arched, and she slammed onto the floor. Her ribs ached at the impact, but she barely noticed. The knife in her spine twisted deeper. The pain intensified until Ember thought she would lose the contents of her stomach. Just as she was about to release a scream, the pain ended.

  She lay on the floor, shaking.

  “The emperor paid good money for this technology,” Kane continued. “Enough to buy a planet, maybe even two. He wanted to use it as an information extraction device for the captured Union prisoners, but that perspective is terribly limited. This is so much more effective.” He was standing over her now.

  The room was a blur, her breaths came in quick gasps, and her body was in deep shock.

  “One elderly woman,” the commander said. “She’s frail and likely to die soon anyway. Do it now.”

  Ember wanted to weep, to scream, to lash out at this terrible man who wanted her to become something she wasn’t. The thought of enduring that horrible pain again was unbearable.

  But she wasn’t the person she’d seen in that awful vision. She couldn’t be what Stefan had described. Surely the stars would allow her a choice.

  She reached out—not for the elderly captain but for Kane. She slipped past his defenses and grabbed hold of his light before he could stop her.

  Lazarus smiled and lifted a single finger, then pointed it at the largest enemy ship.

  The lights in the windows flickered and died. The starboard thrusters went next. His fighters, seeing the massive ship’s shields disabled, quickly swooped in to finish it off. Seconds later, a huge cloud of fire consumed the vessel.

  He grinned again and pointed at the next ship.

  The girl at his side flinched. He admired her slender form as she stood there, her dark eyes wide at the realization of what she had just done, her black hair falling forward into her face.

  The pain took hold of her again, and she found herself writhing on the floor. She could see Kane’s still figure staring down at her. His face was bright red.

  It lasted far longer than it had last time. The world was red-hot fire, burning through her cells one at a time. It lanced her like a million hot knives until the room no longer existed. The world was simply pain.

  It ended abruptly.

  Ember’s body trembled. She forced her eyelids open, but her vision refused to focus. Her heart hammered so quickly she thought it would thump right out of her chest. Her cheeks were wet with hot tears.

  “If you ever so much as brush my shield again,” he said in a dangerous tone, “I will kill you and everyone else on that pitiful planet of yours. I’ve no use for a flare who refuses to cooperate. For the last time, you have five seconds to extinguish that pitiful excuse of a captain. Five, four, three . . .”

  She reached out to the captain again, feeling the woman’s life pulsing with an unusual brightness. The woman was training in her quarters, just like she did every day. She had no idea her right to live was being decided several miles away in a dim, cold office.

  Ember tried to move her hands, but they refused to comply. She finally managed to lift one to her neck, although it shook so wildly she could barely control it.

  “Two.”

  I’m sorry, Dai. I wanted to help you, but I won’t do this.

  “One.”

  Her fingers hovered over the collar as she gathered her courage. Then she let her fingers close around the fabric and pulled all at once.

  There was only pain.

  And then nothing.

  20

  The surface beneath her face was hard and cold.

  Ember lifted her head and immediately shielded her eyes from the bright light. The square room glowed with a blinding whiteness—the walls, the floor, everything. Cool air circulated around her bare shoulders. Her jacket was gone.

  Was this heaven? Or that white mountain place Stefan had shown her—Empyrean?

  “I know you’re awake,” a woman’s voice boomed overhead. She sounded too bored to be a celestial being.

  Ember blinked to allow her eyes to adjust. A black rectangle floated on the wall in front of her. She sat up and then doubled over. Sharp, stabbing pains shot through her insides.

  “It’s just your singed nerves misfiring. They’ll straighten out eventually,” the voice said. It sounded familiar.

  “Talon?” Ember asked as the memories came flooding back. Kane pushing a button. The ship captain. The collar.

  She hesitantly reached up, afraid of what she would find. Her finger made contact with the collar for the briefest second, but it issued a painful warning. Kane had left it on.

  “The commander asked me to take over your training,” Talon said. There was a hint of smugness in her tone. “Said it was time to cover the basics since you’re new to all this. I was more than happy to oblige.”

  “I bet you were,” Ember groaned, forcing herself to her feet. “How long was I out? And what is this place?”

  “An observation room, and you’ve only been unconscious a couple of hours. Kane canceled my itinerary for today so I could sit here and watch you drool.”

  “Nice of him to send me to the medical bay. You know, make sure I was all right and all that.”

  “Don’t take that tone with me. You’re lucky to be alive. The commander didn’t have to lift his finger off the trigger, you know.”

  Ember’s insides ached like she’d swallowed acid. Tiny pains still shot through her hands and feet, but they were nothing compared to the all-encompassing fire she’d endured earlier. “If he thinks this collar will turn me into his little assassin, he’s wrong. I won’t do what he wants.”

  Talon snorted. “You don’t get it, do you? This is so much bigger than you and your morals. Whoever it was he wanted you to kill will just die another way. A slower, more painful way. Resisting Commander Kane won’t save anybody. It’ll just make things worse for you and anybody you’ve ever known or loved.”

  Her voice went soft at the end. Ember stared at the black glass, wishing she could see the woman’s face. She reached out to Talon’s inner light, but, of course, it was heavily shielded. “Let me guess. You’re a flicker. And you resisted at first too.”

  Talon m
ade a sort of gurgling noise, then the hardness was back. “You’re obviously fine now, so it’s time to start. Fifty push-ups.”

  Ember hadn’t done push-ups since childhood. She rolled her eyes and lowered herself carefully to her knees. Then she gasped as the pain gripped her again, her back arching with the force of it.

  “Too slow,” Talon droned. “Seventy-five.”

  That was how the next hour passed, although it felt far longer to Ember. Talon guided her through a circuit—push-ups, jacks, then sprinting from one end of the room to the other until she thought she’d collapse from dizziness. Then she’d do it all over again with Talon yelling “Faster!” Her arms and legs trembled, but Talon refused to allow her any rest. The moment she hesitated or moved too slowly, the pain returned.

  At one point Ember hit the wall a little too hard from her run and ended up flat on her back. She stared at the ceiling for perhaps a quarter of a second before Talon hit the trigger, sending Ember writhing into a ball.

  “Stand up,” Talon ordered.

  But Ember couldn’t. The nerves in her legs were firing, screaming. Her feeble attempt to move didn’t even register. The pain only intensified. She pawed at the collar at her throat, wishing for the sweet nothing of unconsciousness.

  The pain stopped abruptly. Ember collapsed to the ground again, gulping for air. Her heart beat erratically for a moment before finally evening out.

  “Don’t ever mess with the collar.” If Talon had been angry before, now she sounded deadly. Ember wondered whether the woman would storm in and begin pummeling her as she lay helpless. “The commander said to show you this if you tried that again.”

  The black window lit up. It flickered for a second, then an image formed. Ember was staring at her hometown. It was dusk there, the dark-orange sun sending dark shadows behind the walls. A few lazy tendrils of smoke climbed toward a dull-brown sky.

  “His seekers have been testing residents for days without success, but Kane ordered them to stick around. If you advance in your training, everybody wins. The soldiers keep their distance. But if you knock yourself out again . . . ”

  A longer pause this time. Then the screen shifted to a little girl about six—Jaelle, her neighbor’s daughter. Two soldiers stood behind the girl, their hands gripping her tiny shoulders. They motioned to the camera, and she threw a hesitant wave, but the expression on her face was one of terror.

  Ember knew exactly what was running through the girl’s mind. She was supposed to steer clear of gadje, and now two of them were holding the girl hostage, forcing her to act friendly to a machine when all she wanted to do was finish dinner with her family and sleep in her warm bed.

  Ember’s voice was flat. “If I resist, my people suffer for it.”

  “Well, technically she won’t suffer. It’ll be a quick, clean death. Her family will suffer, though, especially when they hear you could have stopped it.”

  Kane had already removed Ember from her home. Now he wanted to cut any remaining ties and any lingering hope. He didn’t realize how effective that would be. If her kumpania didn’t hate her already, this would definitely tip the scale. And if Ember did manage to escape and return, they’d kill her on sight.

  She rose to her feet, her hands balling into fists to hide the trembling. She would cooperate for now, if only to buy herself and her people time. She wanted to scream at them to leave that place, to escape the soldiers forever. There was just one tiny light in the darkness of her situation here—the fact that they’d chosen a random child to execute. If they knew about Dai, they would have used him.

  “I won’t attempt suicide or unconsciousness again,” Ember said. “Tell them to set her free.”

  “Excellent.”

  A pause, then the soldiers stepped back from the girl. She looked around, confused, and finally ran off.

  Go home, little one, Ember wanted to call after her. Hide from the soldiers. The streets aren’t safe anymore.

  “I think you’ve learned an important lesson today, Ember gypsy. You may return to your quarters. Tomorrow’s schedule will be posted on your wall screen. I’ll see you back here at 19:00. But, remember, as far as everyone else on this ship is concerned, your collar is a necklace, a special gift from Commander Kane himself. One touch, even accidental, and that little cutie on Earth goes bye-bye.”

  * * *

  The next several days flew by. Ember spent mornings training with the other new flickers. She recognized a couple of them as friends of Stefan, but Mar was distinctly absent. A part of her hoped Mar had passed and made it to a different ship.

  Another part hoped Mar had somehow managed to make it home to her world without walls and orders and killings. Ember couldn’t face the alternative.

  Each day was the same. Three classes followed by physical-combat training, then the simulator. Ember hated every second.

  But she hated her time with Talon after dinner even more. The woman seemed determined to squeeze every last ounce of resistance out of Ember, who found herself instinctively obeying even the slightest command.

  She told herself it was all an act, that she would play along for now. But it was disturbing how efficiently Talon had broken her. The tasks Ember performed grew increasingly difficult, particularly after a hard day of training. Yet as the days wore on, Ember grew to automatically and immediately obey every order, almost as if her mind had been removed from the picture entirely.

  When Talon felt Ember had had enough, she would dismiss her into the care of a guard who escorted her back to her quarters every night.

  Stefan wasn’t in her group. She hadn’t seen him since he’d broken his promise.

  By the end of the fourth day, Ember felt like she was on a conveyor belt. Sit, listen, regurgitate facts. Analyze the enemy, name their current formation and intent. Stay six steps ahead. Face off with another student; try not to get hurt too badly. Use your fists, your feet, your head to inflict pain. The same hands that did laundry and cooked for her father gradually grew quicker and more deadly. The Ember she had once been began to shrivel inside her.

  It wasn’t until she walked into the medical bay on day five that she saw Stefan.

  She had tweaked her wrist again in combat training, and her instructor had insisted she get it checked out before the simulator. Her guard took up his usual place at the door, checking his wristband. Stefan was heading out as she walked in. When he saw her, his steps slowed. Stefan’s swollen eye was nearly healed now, and he moved with more certainty. Whatever his injury was, it seemed to be healing.

  Good. Now he could learn to be a killer too. It was what he wanted, after all.

  “Ember,” he whispered. “I need to talk to you.”

  He probably wanted to apologize for betraying her. Again. Although he claimed innocence, he had shown Kane her gift at the market and gotten her kidnapped, then broken his promise to her in order to please the commander. As nice as Stefan had once been, it was clear where he stood now—and where she stood in his view.

  She pressed her lips together and walked right past him. She ignored the greeter’s insistence that she sit and wait, and she headed straight for her usual room. It was empty. She swiped a cold pack from the chill box and sat in the chair.

  Stefan followed her in and settled himself against the wall, arms folded. “Are you okay?”

  “No,” she snapped. “I’m not okay. And I didn’t ask you to follow me.”

  He flinched at the coolness in her voice. “I need to explain.”

  “Was I a nice, comfy step for you on your way up the ladder? Glad I could do that much for you.”

  “It’s not what you think, Ember. I said those things to protect you. And you’re not exactly qualified to lecture me on keeping a promise.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Don’t you?” He folded his arms. “Then answer this. I told you something in confidence, and the next day everyone knew about it.”

  She went still, trying to remember
what they’d discussed that night. His grandmother. “I haven’t told anyone.”

  “Then explain why my grandmother was arrested the next day.”

  Ember stared at him. “Well, it wasn’t me. I went to bed after that, and the next morning they shipped me straight here.”

  “After you killed your attacker in phase three.” He spat the words, each syllable like a knife to her chest.

  Anger simmered inside her. What right did he have to accuse her? “You’re here too. Are you telling me you didn’t fight back?”

  “Of course I fought back. It was a simple test of our reflexes. I took him down with a choke hold.”

  “You didn’t kill him?”

  “No.” His voice was incredulous. “Ember, I should have warned you that would happen. I figured you knew, just like everyone else did. They send in fighters to rough us up a bit and see how you handle yourself. That’s it.”

  Rough them up a bit? That couldn’t be true. Her attacker had tried to choke the life out of her. If she hadn’t killed that man first, Ember had no doubt she’d be dead.

  Stefan leaned in closer. “You’ve changed, Ember. I thought I knew who you were, but now I’m not so sure. First you broke the machine, then you killed someone. And then my grandmother got arrested. Now you’re Commander Kane’s pet.”

  She bristled. “I am not his anything.”

  “Hey,” a passing medic said. “What are you two doing in here?”

  “Leaving,” Ember muttered. She cradled her wrist in one hand, deciding it didn’t hurt all that bad, and strode toward the door.

  Stefan jumped up and extended his arm across the doorway to block her escape. “I’m not done. Hear me out.”

  “Listen to you accuse and insult me? No, thanks.” She started to duck beneath his arm.

  He held out his other hand to stop her. “Look, there’s something you need to know,” he said, lowering his voice. “I didn’t actually read you.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “My shield worked, then?”