by Roxie Ray
“...then you could be in deep shit, depending on whether Karaak finds out you were helping him,” Suzanne finished grimly. “And even if he doesn't, there are still the Sives and the other scumbuckets in this place to worry about.”
“I just... feel so helpless, you know?” I said in a tiny voice. “So alone.”
She gave my hand a squeeze. “Hey. You're not alone, okay? I've still got your back in here, no matter what.” She opened her mouth as though she was about to say more, but then closed it again.
“What?” I asked. “What is it?”
“Nothing. Just... hang in there, all right? Look, they'll be doing the count in a few minutes, and then you can try to get some sleep. Maybe a solution will present itself in the morning, yeah?”
“Somehow, I seriously doubt that.”
She gave me a small shrug and an enigmatic smirk. “You never know.”
We lined up for the nightly count, and then settled into our bunks. I heard the scratching sound beneath me again – faster this time, more insistent. But I couldn't work up the energy to care what was causing it anymore. I was too tired and wrung out. I closed my eyes, praying that Karaak wouldn't choose that night to invade my dreams.
Not that any of my prayers had been answered in a long time. Maybe ever, for that matter.
Mercifully, though, the universe chose to grant me that small favor, and my sleep was deep and dreamless. When I woke up, it took a few seconds for the pain and misery of the previous day to fall on top of me all over again – and when it did, the weight was so crushing that I barely felt I could get out of bed.
But I had to. Another day, another shift in the clinic. The inmates needed me – otherwise, they'd be stuck with Lozar.
I hurried toward the infirmary with my jailer escort a short distance behind me as always, looking forward to throwing myself into my familiar daily activities as a way to distract myself from my heartbreak.
When the door opened, though, I almost ran headlong into Karaak.
His teeth were bared in a horrifying grin, and his hands were behind him. The waves of malice that rolled off him were strong enough to make me nauseous, and a cold sweat broke out all over my body.
Was this it?
Had he discovered that Surge and I were plotting against him? Was he here to punish me... to send me to the seg cells, or some other gruesome torture? Or would he just kill me outright?
“You have been given ample time to consider and accept my generous offer to you, Paige,” Karaak said. “Since you have apparently chosen not to, your services as a nurse will no longer be required. Instead, you may return to your cell for now while you await the commencement of your new work assignment, beginning with the next shift.”
“Wh-What new assignment?” I stammered. Perhaps I should have felt relieved that he wasn't dragging me off to the seg cells by my hair, but something about his mocking tone told me that somehow, I might be even worse off.
He tilted his head, looking down at me as though I were nothing more than a mildly interesting insect. “You mean you didn't check the terraforming manifests this morning? You've been added.”
My knees turned to jelly, and it took every ounce of strength and determination I had not to collapse. His words were buzzing in my ears like angry wasps. In my mind, I pictured the hundreds of prisoners I'd treated for horrific wounds after they'd returned from their terraforming shifts... and the hundreds more whose corpses I'd cataloged for disposal.
At last, I understood what I'd seen in Lozar's eyes the previous day, and why it had seemed so unfamiliar to me.
Pity.
He'd known my fate before I had, and he'd actually pitied me.
I turned and ran back to unit seven, the chilling sound of Karaak's laughter following me all the way down the corridor.
19
Surge
I charged through the corridors with all the speed I could muster, ducking and dodging around the jailers and inmates who were on their way from one end of the prison to the other. There were a couple of instances when I accidentally nudged or jostled one of them – they looked around for a few moments, confused, then went about their business.
I told myself that I was trying to get back to the seg cells before the energy in my mini-cloak ran out and I was left exposed for everyone to see. And yes, that was definitely my primary motivator.
Deeper down, though, I knew I was more affected by what had just happened than I was willing to let on.
I thought it would be enough to simply say out loud that what we'd shared was over – that it had been reckless on my part, that it had needlessly jeopardized my mission, that my duty to Valkred superseded my desire for her or my certainty that she was my fated mate. I thought simply pushing her away would be enough... and that with her gone, my feelings for her would also leave me.
But it hadn't been enough.
My need for her still twisted and writhed within me, cutting me up from the inside like a snarl of Bakkaran thistle-barbs. I felt sick for having hurt her so badly – even though I told myself that I'd had no choice, that it had to be done, that she'd ultimately be better off now that I wasn't putting her life in danger by forcing her to help me with my mission.
I kept repeating these points inwardly as I made my way down the ladders to the lowest level of the prison. The farther down I traveled, though, the more I felt like my heart was descending into the cold and dark along with the rest of my body.
I'd briefly known how it felt to share myself with someone, to embrace them fully and finally step out of the lonely shadows I'd hidden in my whole life.
Now all that was gone, and shadows had claimed me again, swallowing me whole.
No matter.
The mission was my sole purpose now. Just as it should be. Just as it always had been.
I made it to the seg cells corridor just as the power shorted out in my cloaking device. When I appeared out of thin air, Tetro looked startled – not to mention relieved.
“Your timing is impeccable,” he said. “I've kept the dimensional generators humming, but my cloaking emitter only has another minute or two before it conks out... to say nothing of the fact that my shift is almost up. I tried to bribe B'Naaka into letting me take his shift, too, but he refused.”
I'd expected the first part, but not the second. “Which means I'll need to be in there with the dimensional fields on again.”
“I'm afraid so. I wish there was something else I could do to spare you from the effects, but...”
Suddenly, I remembered the bottle that Paige had given me when I’d first come down to meet with Boola. It was still in the pocket of my uniform. “Actually, I think I might have a solution to that.”
At least, I hoped so. Otherwise, I was in for another ghastly night with those damn bugs, and I wasn't entirely certain my sanity would hold this time.
As I squeezed several drops of the bitter fluid onto my tongue, Tetro took the cloak from the cell, switching it off and stuffing it into his uniform. “I'll be back down here as soon as possible,” he assured me. “Perhaps I can show up early to relieve B'Naaka. In the meantime, do everything you can to retain your faculties... we have much to discuss, and not much time.”
I nodded, feeling the numbing effects of the liquid sink in as I stepped into the seg cell. Tetro shut the door, and I heard the sound of the dimensional generators humming to life. I took a deep breath, preparing to be transported to the same foul hellscape I'd endured before.
The darkness crashed in around me like the waves of an angry ocean... but this time, there were no crawling insects or sibilant voices. Just an icy floating sensation, as though I were bobbing up and down on tranquil seas that seemed to stretch out into eternity.
It was a peculiar feeling, to be sure. But one I could certainly wait out for as long as I needed to.
Still, I couldn't help but dwell on the fact that without the contents of Paige's bottle, my mind and soul would have been under attack again. Whatever i
t was, it obviously shored up an individual's mental defenses and resiliency. Once more, Paige had proven herself a resourceful and valuable ally.
And in return, I had pushed her away.
Maybe for the good of the mission. Maybe for her own good as well. Maybe it had even been the right choice to make. But drifting in the dark, I found myself wishing there had been another way – and wondering just how deeply I'd hurt her. Was she weeping in her cell? Hard to say... there was no way to know how much time had passed, whether she was still in the infirmary or if she'd returned to unit seven.
I promised myself that I'd still fulfill my promises to her: To make sure she found sanctuary on Valkred once this was all over, even if she never wanted a thing to do with me again. But it didn't feel like enough to make up for what I'd done to her.
After what felt like a restless eternity in the void, the dimensional generators shut off and the door opened, revealing Tetro's face... or rather, the face he had borrowed for this mission.
“From the look of you,” he observed, “whatever was in that little bottle did its job. Glad to see you're not raving and jabbering after so many hours inside. Now, before any more time is wasted, tell me: What have you been able to learn about Karaak since you've been here?”
“Your suspicions were correct,” I replied, relieved to be able to focus on something other than Paige and how I may have ruined the opportunity that the universe had provided me to have a mate of my own. “He only feigns interest in terraforming and running this prison. His true motives are far more nefarious. All this time, he has been using the terra-pod 'accidents' as a cover for making blood sacrifices on specific moons all across the galaxy. Likewise, the pods are programmed to carve hidden sigils into the moons' surfaces.”
Tetro frowned. “Sigils, blood sacrifices... he's trying to create some kind of ring around the galaxy, isn't he? To conduct and channel cosmic energy? I suspected as much when I saw the materials in his office, but I wasn't able to put all the clues together then. Based on what I've been able to learn about Lunian magicks since then, though...”
“If he succeeds, he will become more powerful than any Lunian has ever been before. He will seize control of the entire known universe. All planets and empires shall be defenseless against him, and he will rule over everything.”
“Well, if the way he runs this hell-pit is any indicator of his overall leadership qualities,” Tetro commented sourly, “we'll all be in an ocean of trouble if he succeeds. How are we going to stop him?”
“Good question,” a woman's voice chimed in.
We both turned to look at its source, startled.
Suzanne was poking her head out of a hole in the wall of the corridor. Her nose and forehead were smudged with dirt.
“Who the hell are you?” Tetro exclaimed.
“Her name is Suzanne,” I explained. “She's Paige's cellmate. What I want to know is, how did she get down here?”
“Tunneled,” she answered simply. “I've been digging a hole from our cell for a long time now. My plan was to make my way down to the terra-pod bays after lights-out, rig one of them, disable the locks on the bay doors, and zoom the fuck out of here.”
“Did Paige know about this plan of yours?” I asked. It seemed strange that she wouldn't have confided in me – but then, given the things I'd just said to her, I supposed I had no right to be angry about that.
Suzanne shook her head. “I was planning to let her know once I'd finished the tunnel, so she could come with me. Until then, I figured the less she knew, the better... otherwise, Karaak might have plucked the escape plan out of her head during one of his mind scans, and then we'd both have been in big trouble.”
“So what prompted you to stop here and speak to us, then?” Tetro asked. “It seems as though you're taking a big risk by doing so.”
“Because I heard you talking,” she explained, “and the situation's a lot more serious than you both realize, for two reasons. First, on my way down here, I passed the warden's office and heard him muttering to himself. I probably shouldn't have risked stopping to listen in on him, but based on what you guys were just talking about, I'm glad I did... because from the sound of it, this moon we're currently terraforming is the last phase of his plan. He's already made his mark on all the other moons and planetoids he needs to pull off this hocus-pocus. Once this one's done, the circle will be complete.”
“By the Succubi,” I breathed. “That means we don't have much time left to stop him.”
“And what was the second reason?” Tetro asked her.
She grimaced. “Paige got some pretty disturbing news recently... besides the fact that the man she loves is a total asshole,” she added, shooting me a glare. “She's been reassigned. Terraforming duty. Starting with the next shift.”
Her words echoed in my head, and a hot, protective rage coursed through my body. The thought of Paige being torn to shreds in a terra-pod crash... of her pinned by wreckage, bleeding out helplessly, knowing that my last words to her had been spoken in anger as I pushed her away...
Tetro's eyes widened. “Wait a moment,” he breathed. “If Karaak intends to complete the final phase of his plan tomorrow... and he's reassigned Paige to terraforming duty...”
“Then there's a good chance that she'll end up being Karaak's last blood sacrifice.” The color drained out of Suzanne's face. “No. Oh, God, no.”
“I cannot allow that to happen,” I growled. “I will not.”
All of the things I'd said to her in the infirmary came back to me, sounding hollow and moronic. I had allowed my stubborn pride, my sense of duty, to blind me to what was truly most important to me: Her.
My victory in this mission would be meaningless without her by my side. I had waded hip-deep through blood and darkness for far too long. She was my only way out, my last chance at having a real life full of love and joy. I couldn't abandon that.
No. I would succeed in my mission, and once I had, I would spend the rest of my days protecting and adoring her. Both outcomes could exist together – and I would either make sure they did, or die in the attempt. Paige was simply too precious for me to allow any other option.
I only hoped it wasn't too late to win her back.
“So what are we going to do?” Tetro asked. “How can we stop Karaak in time?”
My mind whirled, cataloging our resources and trying to come up with the best ways to use them to our advantage. Technically, I was still the boss of the Sives – I could use them as foot soldiers in the battle to come, but even that might not be enough. Not only that, but I couldn't be outside the seg cells for too much longer, or the warden might choose to investigate and find me missing. If that happened, he'd be on high alert, and we'd lose the element of surprise.
“We need more prisoners on our side,” I mused out loud. “A lot more. Especially the Carnage Riders. Suzanne, is there any way for you to reach them and persuade them to help us?”
She shrugged. “I mean, I could try. A lot of them owe their lives to Paige since she's patched up their injuries. And a bunch of them respect me as a pilot. Plus, most of them love any excuse to cause a ruckus. Mostly, it'll depend on what you have in mind for them.”
“We'll need them to make some modifications to the terra-pods in the machine shop. Outfit them with weapons and explosives... nothing fancy, just enough to create a solid diversion,” I said. “Some of the Sives have contraband blasters and unstable chemicals that the Riders can rig the pods with. Tomorrow, during the terraforming shift, I'll need half the pilots to occupy the station's mounted defense systems while the other half concentrate their fire on the moon itself. With any luck, there won't be enough of that rock left for Karaak to work his magic.”
I turned to Tetro. “Do you have access to the prison's weapons lockers?”
He nodded. “Why?”
“Because once the pilots start running amok, the Sives are going to start a riot inside the prison,” I explained. “And you're going to unlock all the do
ors and arm them, so they can resist the jailers and keep things nice and chaotic for as long as possible. There's no way Karaak will be able to win a war on two fronts at once, especially once he realizes his only hope at becoming a god has been reduced to space dust out there. We'll take him down and seize control of the prison.”
“As simple as that, huh?” Tetro commented wryly.
“Not exactly,” I answered. “We might still require reinforcements from Valkred. Can you contact Dhimurs and have him deploy the fleet?”
“I can try,” he said doubtfully, “but Surge, even at top speed, those ships won't get here for at least a day, maybe longer. By that point, this will all be over... one way or another. And with all of Karaak's powers, the outcome will still be extremely uncertain. By the time the fleet arrives, Karaak may have vaporized all of us and regained control of Karcerikus.”
“Then we'll need another advantage on our side.” I thought it over for a moment, and then snapped my fingers. “I've got it! The best weapon against a Lunian...”
“...is another Lunian,” Tetro finished. “Boola. Will she join us?”
“One way to find out.” I took a deep breath, walking over to her seg cell and retracting the cover on the observation window. When I pushed the button to deactivate the field generators, the swirling miasma disappeared, and Boola was curled up on the floor in a fetal position.
“Open the door,” I told Tetro. He used his key card, and the heavy door swung open.
The Lunian squinted and blinked at us, confused.
“Boola, please listen to me,” I began, crouching down in front of her. “The final phase of Karaak's plan is almost complete. If he succeeds, he will become the ultimate power in the universe. You know him. You know what a monster he is. You know that if he manages to tap into those cosmic energies, there will be no stopping him. He will turn all of existence into a nightmare. We cannot allow that, Boola.”