by F. T. Lukens
And then Ren was tossed into the Star Stream.
“Go! Go!” Darby yelled into the comm to Lucas. “We got them!”
Ollie closed the airlock and ensured the seal, just as ship left the ground.
“Ren! Can you get that forcefield?” Lucas called over the comm, his panic evident in the crackle and the static.
We have it. Go!
“The others have it,” Ren rasped, from his prone position on the deck.
Ren felt the tingle in his body when the field powered down. The ship rocketed out of the docking bay, leaving the prison behind. Ren pushed to his feet and ignored the calls of Asher, Ollie, and Darby. Stumbling along the way, he pulled himself to the bridge with Asher on his heels. He lurched onto the bridge, knocked his head since he forgot to duck at the top of the stairs, and hurried to the vid screen.
“We’re not being followed,” Rowan said, from her captain’s chair. “Other than by a few pieces of debris.”
Ren flicked his wrist, and the sensors showed four large pieces of debris right next to the hull. He reached out and found the weapons system dark.
Are you okay?
We’re fine. Are you?
Ren smiled ruefully. Maybe.
Did you save him?
Now that they were back in the belt of wreckage, Ren allowed his body to relax. He breathed and rolled his shoulders. Liam was in the common room with Penelope looking him over. Lucas piloted them away.
We did.
Congratulations.
What will you do now? Ren asked.
We’ll protect you until you move on.
What about beyond that? Will you always be here?
We will exist, until we dissipate and float away in the blackness of space with hopes to reform into a new star or planet or new being.
Thank you. Thank you. We wouldn’t have been able to free him without you.
You’re welcome, little one. And what will you do, Ren? You’ve found your brother. You have escaped.
Ren sucked in a breath. I’m going to stop her.
We do not wish harm on another of us, but we understand your conviction. Be careful, Ren. You are stardust. You are part of the universe, and the universe exists within you. And while your constituent atoms are immortal, you are not.
I wish you well.
“Are they talking to you?”
“Yes,” Ren said. “They saved me.”
“What happened?” Asher tentatively lay a hand on Ren’s shoulder. “Was it a trap?”
Ren patted Asher’s hand. “Yes. I tripped something, and I couldn’t… couldn’t leave the prison systems. It was like… it was like a chain wrapped around me and squeezed while a cell was built to close me in.”
Asher moved closer to Ren’s back and dipped his head; his breath was hot on Ren’s neck. “Are you all right?”
“I think so. I feel… shaky.”
“Well, I don’t think we need you right now,” Lucas said, navigating the debris. “We’re going to hide in here and, with your friends around, we should be okay until you’re ready to transport us where we are going next.”
“Once we figure that out,” Rowan said, ruefully. “Vos was not wrong. With Millicent knocking off drifts one by one and the planets crawling with Corps, we don’t have many options.”
“We’ll think of something,” Asher said. “Keep an eye out for anything coming out of that prison. Vos didn’t have great odds but he’s slippery.”
“Lucas and I have it. Go say hi to your brother, Ren.” Rowan smiled. “You have him back. Enjoy it.”
The truth of that slammed into Ren, and he smiled in return; his eyes crinkled. “I do.”
Asher’s hand tightened on Ren’s shoulder, and Ren couldn’t help but kiss Asher’s echoed grin.
* * *
Ren walked into the common area and found Liam sitting on the couch with Penelope looking him over. She took his temperature while he drank a glass of water.
Liam.
Liam was here.
Ren’s throat closed up. The last time he’d seen his brother had been at the lake, after a stupid playfight where they had rolled around on the sand, and Ren had talked about leaving their home for a place among the stars. They were there now, but at what cost? What had Ren lost to achieve his dream? And what kind of dream was it? It certainly wasn’t the one he’d hoped for all those years living in the dirt and wishing for stardust.
Liam didn’t look well, but he’d been imprisoned for almost a year. Was it a year? Over a year? Ren had lost track of time. Between planets, and drifts, and space, and death, Ren didn’t even know what season it was on Erden now. Had he had a birthday? Had Liam? Ren rubbed a hand over his face.
Liam wore medical scrubs, and the dark circles beneath his eyes stood stark in his pale face. His red hair had turned more blond, and his skin, which used to be covered in dark freckles from the sun, had evened out to a waxy complexion. But he was there. In the flesh. Not in a dream. And Ren’s mission was complete. He had Asher. He had Liam. He had Penelope and Ollie and Lucas and Rowan and now Darby as well. But there was one last missing piece—a safe place to land. Vos was right—where could they go?
Liam caught him staring, and a smile broke out over his wan features. “Hey there, big brother? Are you going to keep staring or come over here and save me from beautiful women poking me with instruments?”
Penelope laughed and swatted Liam’s arm. “Asher’s orders to make sure you’re okay. Other than a little malnutrition and sleep deprivation, you appear to be in good health. The drug should be working its way out of your system, but you might feel a little… off for a few hours.” Penelope smirked at Ren. “Sound familiar?”
Liam’s eyebrows raised.
Ren shoved his hands in his pockets. “I went through a few months where I kind of… well… I wasn’t well. I didn’t sleep much and kind of… lost myself in my power.” Ren shrugged. “I’m better now.”
“Really? You didn’t just have a seizure on the deck of a prison drift?”
“That was an anomaly. A trap. I’m okay.”
“Liar,” Liam said, smiling easily. “But keep your secrets. I’m just glad to be out of there.”
“Me too. I’m glad you’re safe.”
Penelope packed up her equipment and touched Liam’s shoulder. “I’ll make you a sandwich or soup, if you want to eat?”
“Yes, thank you.”
Penelope smiled gently and excused herself to the kitchen area.
Liam crossed the small space between them, staggering every few steps, then threw his arms around Ren’s shoulders. Ren grabbed him tight and held on. Liam had had a growth spurt since the last time he’d seen him, and he was the same height as Ren, maybe a tiny bit taller, not that Ren would ever admit it.
“I can’t believe you’ve become such a badass,” Liam said, laughing. “And you have scary-competent friends. And your boyfriend shot a guy for taunting you.”
Ren laughed. “The company I keep, right?”
Liam pulled away, and his green eyes twinkled. “You got what you wanted. You found your place in space. You’re stardust. It’s everything you used to talk about. How are you not bouncing around like a bunny?”
Ren’s smiled faded. “It’s not that simple, Liam. There’s so much going on, and so much has happened and…” he trailed off. “But that doesn’t matter. You’re free. We’re together. That’s what I’ve been striving for since that day at the lake when we were separated.”
Liam took a deep breath. “I know we can’t go home right away, but I really want to be back on solid ground.”
Ren rubbed the back of his head. His hair stuck up. “We can’t go right now. Maybe when it’s all said and done.”
“I look forward to it. Until then, can I eat and maybe meet the rest of the people on t
his ship? I feel like they’re all standing right on the other side of that door.”
There was a cough, and Darby stumbled in. Asher was right behind her.
Seeing their caught-out expressions, Ren laughed. He wrapped his arms around his middle and threw his head back and laughed.
Asher chuckled. “We’ve met,” he said.
Liam waved him off. “I know you. You make my brother happy.”
“I try.”
Asher crossed the room and caught Ren in a hug. He spun him around, and they landed on the couch. Ren’s laughter echoed in the common room. He didn’t know if it was relief from escaping the prison or finally finding his brother, but Ren was giddy. He cupped Asher’s face and kissed him, hard, lips smacking. Asher tightened his arms around Ren’s waist.
“Get a room,” Darby called. Ren felt a cushion hit his back.
He broke away and made a face.
“We have a room,” Ren said. Asher tipped him to the side, and he fell from where he had perched precariously on Asher’s lap. Asher caught him before he slipped all the way to the floor and hauled him back to the cushions.
Settling on the couch, Ren sat close to Asher’s side and tangled their legs together. His head rested comfortably on Asher’s shoulder.
“I’m Darby,” she said to Liam, shaking his hand. “I tried to steal the ship from your brother, but he did his…” She wiggled her fingers. “…thing on me and I ran away. Scared the stardust right out of me.”
A knife in her hand, Pen waved from her place by the counter. “I’m Penelope. Some call me Pen, but it sounds like Ren, and that can get confusing. I’ll answer to either. And that big man is my brother, Ollie.”
“Nice to meet you, Liam. We’ve heard a lot about you.”
Liam raised an eyebrow. “Well, that is unfair. I guess that means I get to tell stories about Ren while I’m here.”
“No!”
“Yes!”
Liam rubbed his hands together gleefully. Ren buried his face in Asher’s chest.
“Well, there was this one girl named Ezzy who adored Ren and followed him around…”
Ren groaned. “Please, stop.”
“He was so oblivious! He had no idea.” Liam grinned.
Liam gratefully accepted the bowl of vegetable soup and a plate of meat-spread sandwiches and plopped down at the table. He shoved one in his mouth, and Ren was happy for the quiet.
“We met her,” Asher said. “She fawned over Ren with big, moon eyes.”
“Not you too,” Ren said, hiding his face in his hands. “She did not.”
“Oh, come on,” Darby said, settling next to Liam and elbowing him in the side. She stole a half a sandwich. “You have to have better stories than that. Granted the only planet I’ve been on was Bara, and that teemed with weird animals the likes of which I’ve only seen in exhibits. But I guess that your home planet was about the same. Right?”
Liam snorted. “Hardly. There were fish in the lake. Some of them were weird, like the eels. And there was a bear that liked to sleep on our back porch in the spring.”
“Boring,” Darby said, drawing out the vowels. “Tell us something else.”
The conversation droned on, each of them sharing stories, and Ren smiled, content to listen and to rest on Asher’s chest. The rhythm of his heartbeat was a comfort in Ren’s ear.
“You okay?”
“Yes,” Ren said. He touched his forehead, where he had a small purpling bruise from hitting his head on the way to the bridge. “Except this.”
Asher chuckled low, the sound of it tingling in Ren’s ear. “How long have you been on this ship? You know you have to duck.”
“Not long enough apparently,” Ren grinned lazily.
Asher’s arm tightened around Ren’s waist and pulled him closer.
The sound of the crew’s voices ebbed and flowed as Ren reveled in the warmth of Asher’s embrace. He melted into it and didn’t care when Ollie teased them or when Liam cast him knowing glances. And for the hour that they gathered with Ren’s brother and his boyfriend and the rest of his family, he didn’t have a care. He was happy and he was grateful the universe allowed him to have that moment of peace.
* * *
Trouble.
Ren stirred from his relaxed posture on Asher’s chest. “What?”
“What?” Asher echoed.
They’re coming. You need to run.
Who’s coming?
Phoenix Corps. Leaving the prison.
“Hey, guys! A few ships just rocketed out of the prison dock. And they’re heading right into the debris field,” Lucas’s voice crackled over the comm.
Ren shot up and abandoned his place at Asher’s side. He ran from the common room, leaving a stunned group behind, and strode quickly to the bridge. He remembered to duck at the top of the stairs.
A small ship barreled into the debris field with abandon. And, even though the Star Stream was well hidden with the other hosts gathered around them, it would only take one misplaced weapon’s blast to reveal them or obliterate them. Three ships followed the fugitive ship, only seconds behind it. All the ships bore Phoenix Corps insignias, but clearly the three were after the one. It had to be Vos.
“I hope you had time to figure out where we’re going next,” Lucas said, “Because we need to flee.”
Rowan tugged her braid. “Any ideas?”
“Yeah,” Ren said. “I have an idea.” He placed his hand on the navigational system. He didn’t need Lucas to program coordinates. He didn’t need any guidance to get where he was thinking. He just had to think of a lake surrounded by a small wood.
He sent his goodbyes out into space.
Goodbye, Ren.
Ren gathered his power, and it came to him more easily than it ever had. Light and sound trembled around him, and, between one blink and the next, they were gone, and then they were in orbit around a broken moon.
13
Blinking away the streaks of blue in his vision, Ren stared at the moon of Erden. A jagged slice through the rock separated the two largest pieces, and debris floated around it in a loose array. The moon was small compared to the planet and the larger drifts Ren had seen, and thus the gravity was less heavy. Ren had stared at this very rock for many of his formative years, wondering what the view would be from another angle. He had it now, and, for all the mysticism that surrounded it on Erden, seeing it this way, a hunk of rock spinning slowly amid a backdrop of stars, much of that mystery was lost. Yet, it was no less beautiful—a reminder of the home Ren once had.
“Erden,” Liam said, from behind Ren.
Ren startled and turned his focus away from the moon. In the corner of the vid screen, Erden was a blue and green sphere. It was stunning, but the memories of the last time Ren had been there bombarded him and made his gut sink to his knees.
“Ren, what did you do? How did we get here? Was that you?”
Darby, for all her glitches, was probably the most socially aware, and pulled Liam away and off the bridge. “Let me tell you all about your brother’s freaky science-magic.”
“You okay?” Asher asked.
“Yeah,” Ren answered. “It was the farthest place I could think of, and there aren’t any drifts nearby for Millicent to attack.”
“We can hide in the fissure,” Lucas said, arms straining as he piloted the ship closer to the moon. “Good call, Ren.”
“Thanks.”
“Now what?” Rowan asked, lounging in her chair. “We can’t keep running. The Corps will eventually find us, and, after that stunt, we’re wanted fugitives.”
“Asher and I were already wanted.”
“We were all wanted once the Corps figured out it was us on Bara,” Lucas added. He piloted the ship into a cove between the two parts of the moon. The rough rock cast the ship in shadow, but Ren could st
ill see Erden on the view screen.
“True,” Rowan tapped her foot. “We need a plan.”
Ren was at a loss. He had pledged to help everyone he could, but he had his brother back now. He had Asher and the crew. He didn’t want to risk them, and any action that put them at risk was that much harder.
“Um…” Lucas said, tapping on his console. “We’re getting a message.”
“From whom?” Rowan tapped her mouth.
Lucas spun around in his chair. “Your mother.”
“Oh.” Rowan and Asher shared a glance. “That can’t be good.”
Asher wiped his hair from his forehead, then caught Ren’s hand in his own. He laced their fingers, and Ren held on.
Rowan crossed her legs and straightened her posture. She cleared her throat and gestured toward Lucas. “On screen.”
Ren held his breath. The screen blinked on, wavered, and then focused on Councilor Morgan and General VanMeerten. Dressed in her uniform, her gray hair pulled back in a severe bun, VanMeerten loomed. The harshness of her scar was matched by the cruelty of her frown.
“What have you done?” she shouted.
Rowan tented her fingers. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t play coy with me, Rowan. I will have you thrown into prison. You and your brother and your crew and—” she sucked in a breath, “you.” She eyed Ren as if he was a bug under a magnifying glass. “You were dead. I saw the footage of your bloody and lifeless body. How are you alive?”
“Don’t answer that,” Rowan snapped. She stood and crossed her arms. “Do you need something, General, or are you here just to yell at me and threaten my crew?”
Her face went nearly purple with rage. “Perilous Space housed dangerous criminals and star hosts and you have set them loose on the Corps and the drifts to fall into league with that girl.”