by F. T. Lukens
Asher sat heavily on the edge of the bed. “I wouldn’t have done that.”
“I know.”
“And now?”
Ren lowered next to him, their bodies flush from hip to knee. “The others in the debris told me that I am a supernova.”
“What does that mean?”
“It’s what I did on the bridge. If I allow myself, I will collapse and explode outward. It’s why everything is burning darkly now. It makes me more powerful, and it’s how I can defeat Millicent. I can overwhelm her, maybe.”
“But?”
Ren winced. “Supernovas explode.”
“You’ll… explode.”
“Not literally,” Ren said. “I don’t think. My power might become too much and I’ll…” Ren mimed a blast with his hands.
“Huh,” Asher said. “So, you’re at risk of losing your humanity if you become too entrenched in the ship, which I’ve seen and is frankly terrifying, or you might tear your star to pieces trying to defeat Millicent.” Asher laughed. “Nothing is easy with you.”
“You’re not mad?”
“I’m confused and frightened, to be blunt.” He shrugged. “But what can I do? Other than protect you and be at your side.” He twined their fingers. “I’ll be your anchor when you need one. And I’ll piece you back together like a puzzle if I have to.”
Ren blinked. “Are you serious?”
“Absolutely.”
Ren smiled, the relief of Asher’s words a balm to his worry and anxiety. “I can’t believe you.”
“I told you, Ren. You’re it for me. And I’ll want to be with you in all your weirdness, whatever form that takes—star host or supernova. Get it through your thick skull, you idiot duster.”
Laughing, Ren tackled Asher to the bed. “I love you, you arrogant drifter.”
“You better,” Asher said, rolling Ren off of him.
Propped up on his elbow, Ren faced Asher. “I can’t wait to have a life with you. When this is all over, I want you and me, on a drift, living together and being us.”
“Sounds perfect.” Asher pulled their clasped hands and hugged them to his chest. “But until then, get some rest.”
14
“Do you know what you’re doing?” Rowan asked, eyebrow raised, as Liam plumped a pillow and dropped it on the floor.
“Yes. I’ve been doing this for a while.”
“And you’re going to be able to find Vos and VanMeerten and pull them into your dream?”
Liam nodded. “I can make it a nightmare if you prefer.”
Rowan smiled and patted his shoulder. “My kind of kid. We’ll talk later about that option.”
Smirking, Liam lay down, limp red hair splayed across the crisp white pillowcase. “My kind of captain.”
Rowan laughed. Asher rolled his eyes as he shouldered past her into the room.
The entire crew stood around the bare floor in the common room watching as the three of them prepared to meet their enemies. The room was tense with questions and disbelief and nervous banter, but Ren trusted Liam, trusted that his brother could pull this off. He’d spent the last year manipulating dreams. He had the experience.
Ren rubbed his brow, as Lucas cracked a joke about damp dreams, then crouched to the floor, squeezing into the space between Liam and the couch. Asher flopped onto the cushions; his arm fell off the edge to grab Ren’s hand in his own.
“This looks like a bizarre sleepover game.” Darby bent at her waist and squinted. “Like that game where you pretend to levitate someone with your fingers but turn off the grav instead and freak everyone out.”
Rowan pressed a hand to her chest and appeared vaguely scandalized. “What kind of party game is that?”
“The fun kind.”
Ren rolled his eyes. He squirmed trying to find a comfortable position. The deck plating was cold, hard, and flat, and reminded him of the medical cot where he’d spent weeks asleep. His hands went clammy where his palm pressed Asher’s and where he gripped Liam’s wrist.
“Hey,” Liam said, head turned, voice low. “I’m sorry, by the way.”
Ren furrowed his brow. “For what?”
“For losing it on the bridge last night.” He scratched his ear where it was tinted red in a blush. “I… uh… have things to deal with. And I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”
“It’s okay,” Ren said, squeezing gently. “I’ve been there. I still am there, dealing with things. Don’t forget that I’m here if you need me.”
“Yeah,” Liam said, rolling his head back to look at the ceiling. “I’ll remember that for next time.”
“Please do.”
“So what now?” Darby asked. “You fall asleep?”
“Yes and no. I have learned how to enter dreams on command by accessing my power. I’m going to pull them in with me.” Liam jerked his chin toward Asher and Ren. “Hopefully. We’ll see. It might work.”
“You don’t sound very confident,” Darby said.
“It’ll work,” Rowan interrupted. “We know VanMeerten is on the same drift as our mother and it’s the middle of their sleep cycle right now. She should be asleep and be easy for Liam to find.”
“And Vos?” Lucas asked. “The dude we really need to be there.”
Liam shrugged. “If what you’ve all told me is true, then I’ve met him before. I already have a connection with him through my star. I should be able to grab him and suck him in.”
“Even if he’s not asleep?”
Liam nodded. “Yeah. It’s something I learned since the last time we talked,” he said, casting a glance at Ren. “It’s easier when someone is asleep or relaxed or if I’m touching them, but I’ve been successful with nabbing someone who was wide awake. I did it once at the prison.”
“That’s terrifying,” Darby said, eyes wide. “Utterly terrifying.”
“More terrifying than freaky science-magic?” Ren asked, craning his neck.
“Yes!” she said with a sharp nod. “Can you imagine going about your day and suddenly you are pulled into an alternate reality created and controlled by someone else?”
Liam cocked his head to the side and scrunched his brow. “I never thought about it that way.”
“That’s because you’re the one doing it!” She flung her arms to the side. “Honestly, what would you all do without me to be your moral star chart in these situations?”
“I think we’d make do,” Rowan said, drily.
Darby huffed. “I think you’ve been living in star host reality for too long and forgotten what it’s like for us normal people.”
“Normal?” Penelope waltzed in, blankets in her arms. “Who’s normal? No one on this ship surely.” She passed the blanket pile to a confused Lucas, then pulled the top one off and shook it out. Stepping through the small crowd, she draped it over Liam, then tucked him in tightly. “In case you get cold. I know how Ren can sometimes play with the environmental controls when he’s stressed, and we’d hate for a chill to disrupt negotiations.” She took the next one and did the same with Ren, laying it over him and jamming her fingers around Ren’s body, tucking the thick fabric close while Liam looked on in confusion and vague horror. The last one she tossed in Asher’s face. He sputtered, and she grinned.
“Thank you, Pen,” Ren said.
She waved away his thanks and turned to the group. “Okay, let them get to it. The rest of you have things to do. Right?”
“No,” Darby said, jumping up on the table and kicking out her legs. “I’m watching this.”
“Out,” Asher barked, pointing his finger to the door. “Liam needs to concentrate.”
Darby groused but hopped off the table and followed Ollie and Lucas out the door. Rowan crossed her arms. “Do you need someone to stay behind and wake you up?”
“No,” Liam shook his head from hi
s blanket cocoon. “We’ll be fine.”
“Fine then. Come find us when you’re done.” She said it as if she wouldn’t be hovering as soon as they were asleep. Ren knew otherwise.
Penelope was the last to leave. “I’ll check in periodically.” She smiled warmly. “Good luck.”
With Penelope’s departure, the common area went quiet. Their breaths and the creaks of the ship were the only sounds in the room.
“Are you nervous?” Ren asked Asher.
“No.” It was a lie. “You?”
“No,” Ren lied back.
Liam rolled his shoulders and closed his eyes. “Relax,” he said.
Ren followed suit, snuggling into the blanket, and closing his eyes. He made sure he had a tight grip on Asher’s hand on one side and Liam’s wrist on the other and took a deep breath. He tightened his muscles and relaxed them, starting with his toes, then his calves, then his thighs, moving up his body as he slid deeper toward sleep.
One moment he was in the common room drifting on the edge and the next—
They were at the lake. The soft sounds of the waves ebbing and flowing on the shore were as familiar to Ren as the feeling of Asher’s hand in his. The coarse sand pricked the bottom of his feet, and the sun shone on him, bright and hot.
“Really?” Ren asked, turning to find Liam.
Liam sat on a large rock at the line where the beach met the forest. Long grass tickled his ankles and wisped in the breeze. He shrugged. “I figured it was neutral ground, and this is where I want to be.”
Asher’s body slowly came into focus as he stood by Ren’s side. “I hope this works.”
Ren dug his toes in the sand. “Me too.”
“Liam?”
“I’m good. I can hold it for a while.” Liam scrunched his face. “I’ve got VanMeerten.”
As he said it, VanMeerten coalesced a few feet down the beach. She wore her uniform and shielded her eyes from the harsh planet light. She scowled as she approached. “Is this your idea of contacting me for a meeting?”
“It worked, didn’t it?” Ren said.
VanMeerten narrowed her eyes, but otherwise appeared unruffled at being pulled into a dream. “Where are we?”
“Erden,” Ren said. “Where we grew up.”
“Charming,” she said with a frown. “Where’s Vos?”
“He’s slippery,” Liam said with a grunt. Sweat appeared at his temples. His brow furrowed; his teeth dug into his lip. He gripped his knees. “Got him.”
Ren looked down the beach and watched as Vos appeared. He wore all black and he frantically spun around, kicking up sand, before his gaze lit on Ren and VanMeerten.
“What is this?” he said, walking forward, his black boots sinking into the beach. “Your little dreamwalker here to steal my thoughts again?”
VanMeerten sniffed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sure, you don’t, you old hag.” He pointed at Liam. “That little weed slid into my dreams and stole my secrets. He trapped me in nightmares and tortured me for nights on end.”
Liam waved. “I don’t remember doing it. If that helps.”
“No, it doesn’t. And you,” Vos said, turning his attention to Asher and Ren, “left me at Perilous Space.”
“You escaped,” Asher said, voice flat.
“With no help from you.”
Asher shrugged, unconcerned. “I left a weapon.”
“With barely any charge!”
Asher smirked.
“Anyway,” Ren said, “I gathered you here for a reason. The two of you have a common enemy.”
“You?” Vos offered.
A harsh smile tickled the side of VanMeerten’s mouth.
“Hardly. I didn’t steal your army,” Ren said, addressing Vos. “And I’m not venting yours. Though I could.” VanMeerten’s smug smile flattened.
Vos crossed his arms. “So, you want me to corral Millicent. Is that it?”
“You were the idiot that released her into the drifts,” VanMeerten snarled. “You should’ve known as a star host she was dangerous.”
Vos laughed. He pointed at Ren. “This one is more dangerous than five Millicents. And just as you can’t control him, you can’t control her.”
“Neither can you.” VanMeerten clenched her fists. “After she blows through the Corps, the planets will be next. You will be next.”
Vos huffed and crossed his arms. “She doesn’t concern me.”
“So, you freed him?” Ren asked. “Abiathar? You were able to get him out?”
Vos smiled. “I did. Is that what you want? Abiathar to stop her? Then what? You throw my friend back into prison where you muzzle him until he’s needed again?”
“You created this mess,” VanMeerten shoved her finger into Vos’s chest. “You need to own this.”
Vos knocked her hand away. “Me? Your military regime came to my planet and interfered. I didn’t have designs on the drifts until I found a Corps regiment snooping and caught the son of a high-powered drift official with them.” Vos nodded to Asher. “How’s the shoulder by the way?”
“You’re lucky,” Asher said, “that I promised Ren I wouldn’t kill you here.”
“A soldier to the core. Even when branded a traitor.”
Ren pinched the bridge of his nose. “This isn’t getting us anywhere. I understand that there will be no trust between us. We’ve all betrayed each other. But we must stop Millicent. If you don’t want more Corps dead and if you want freedom for our planet, you’ll both shut up and listen to each other.”
Vos raised a black eyebrow and stroked his hand over his goatee. “Fine. I’m willing to bargain.”
“Not you, too,” VanMeerten said with a roll of her eyes to the heavens. “What do you want? A pardon?”
“Hardly,” Vos said, strolling around them in a circle like a shark circling its prey. “I want Erden. I want to rule.”
“No!” Liam stood. The dream wavered; reality shimmered. Holes opened in the sky and in the ground, revealing stark darkness just beyond the image he created. “You were a horrible baron. You kidnapped my brother and my friends. You stole our food and our livelihoods.”
Vos held up his hands, head tilted. “I can’t argue.”
“We’re not sacrificing the planets to save the drifts,” Ren said.
“Well, then,” Vos said, backing away from the group. “No deal.”
“We don’t need him, anyway,” Asher said. He shrugged. “His army defected to Millicent, so he wouldn’t be helpful. And I doubt he knows where she’s going to strike next.”
Vos stopped his retreat. He looked at Asher and let a slow smile bloom over his face. “You’re trying to appeal to my vanity. You think I’d care about what you think of me, a Corps traitor and a little boy who stayed in my prison for a year? I don’t.”
“But you’re not walking away.”
Vos clasped his hands together in front of him. “No, I’m not.”
“It burns you that your faithful so easily abandoned you for another. Granted, her power is spectacular, but it pales in comparison to Ren’s.”
Vos tapped his lips with a finger. “I admit it stings. What would my part be in all this? You already have an army,” he said, gesturing to VanMeerten. “And you have a star host that can presumably stop her. What do you need from me?”
“We don’t need you,” VanMeerten said with a frown. “And I am having a hard time understanding why you’re here.”
“We need a backup plan,” Ren said. “I don’t know if I can defeat her. She has manipulated me in the past. Vos is a duster. He cultivated the devotion and respect of the people who follow her now. He may be able to turn them back to his side. He also has Abiathar, who can help me. Abiathar can stop both of us if it gets out of control.”
“And he probab
ly knows where she is going next.”
Vos didn’t refute Asher’s statement. “And again, we’re down to compensation,” Vos said. He spread his hands. “I gave you my terms.”
“You can have Erden,” VanMeerten said, with a wave of her hand.
Ren stiffened. “No.”
She spun on her heel, sand flying. “You want the planets to be able to govern themselves. Correct? Well, if they don’t want him in leadership then they can revolt. That is their choice of action. Not mine. Not the Corps. We won’t interfere if that happens, but if he’s so important to this mission, as you seem to believe, then I will not have you and your brother stand in the way of stopping this madwoman.”
Ren took a step back. “You’ll install him as a puppet?”
“No,” VanMeerten said. “We’ll give him a ship and his army and will not interfere when he comes back to this,” she swept her hand to encompass their environment, “dirt hole.”
Liam shot to his feet. “No!” The dream wavered again, the sky turned purple, and the waves slapped against the shore as reality shuddered.
Ren held out a steadying hand to Liam. “It’s okay,” he said to his brother, then turned back to the group. He bristled. “Fine.” He glanced at Vos’s arrogant and pleased expression and his stomach churned. “I’ll have people waiting for you. Don’t think it will be easy.”
“Oh, I welcome a challenge.”
“Enough.” Asher pulled Ren to his side from where he had drifted toward both VanMeerten and Vos. “Tell us where she’s going next.”
“In my plan, my next two targets would be Nike or Ephesus.”
Asher crossed his arms. “Both small and far away from the major routes. Why?”
“Liam,” Ren said, keeping his gaze glued to Vos. “Can you bring up a map?”
A large map of the cluster sprouted from the ground between them, then bloomed outward. Planets and drifts spun lazily.
“Highlight Phoebus and Echo. What was the other drift she’s taken?”
“Viktory drift.”