by F. T. Lukens
“That girl is your problem. Not the people you had falsely imprisoned. And we didn’t do anything criminal unless correcting an injustice is considered wrong. We freed a young man whom the Corps had taken from his home village planet-side. Last time I read the law, not only was kidnapping a crime, but planetary affairs were out of Corps’ jurisdiction. You didn’t belong on Erden, you didn’t belong on Crei, and you didn’t belong on Bara.” Rowan tapped her foot. “Now, if you are only here to scream, I’ll end this call now.”
Councilor Morgan reached out. “No, don’t. There’s more.” She looked worse for wear. Though she was dressed in her usual finery, the lines around her mouth and eyes had deepened in the days since they’d last talked. She wore her makeup caked thick to hide the stress evident under her eyes. She swirled a wine glass and took a gulp. “There’s more,” she said, quietly.
“Get on with it then. I have a business to run.”
VanMeerten narrowed her eyes. “Since your little stunt, the star host named Millicent has attacked yet another drift. She continues to vent Corps soldiers and then uses her power to take over the electrical and mechanical systems on the drift. She scares the residents into complying and has an army of zealots behind her. Our efforts have been ineffective.”
“What?” Ren asked. “Zag hasn’t been able to shoot her? How surprising.”
“It worked on you,” VanMeerten said, the lines around her mouth deepening with her frown. “Except it seems death didn’t stick.”
Asher’s hand flexed around Ren’s own. “You mean when you betrayed me and instead of going after Vos and Millicent, the very girl who is exacting her revenge on you right now, you decided to attempt murder on the person who was not the threat.”
“Not a threat?” VanMeerten scoffed. “As I understand it, he’s more dangerous than the others combined.”
“You betrayed us.” Asher said, not yielding. “You betrayed me.”
“You were working both sides from the beginning, Morgan.” She slammed her fist on the desk. “Don’t think I didn’t know that your allegiance was always with him and never with the Corps.”
“That wasn’t always true, General. But when you left me in a cell for a year on a planet, injured and afraid, a hostage to a man who wanted to build an army and wage war, then yes, my allegiance changed to the person who actually cared enough to free me.” Asher’s eyes flickered to his mother, who had grown even paler. “But instead of rehashing everything the Corps has done wrong since the beginning, let’s talk now. What do you want?”
“She’s powerful,” Councilor Morgan said. She finished her glass of wine and poured another one. “And you’re right, the Corps efforts have been unsuccessful. We need help. You can help.”
“We decline,” Rowan said. She smiled sweetly. “Sorry.”
Councilor Morgan squinted at the screen. “You’d allow one of your kind to wreak destruction on innocent people.”
Ren bristled. “That’s implying that Corps soldiers are innocents. She’s otherwise left the residents alone. And why would I want to interfere with a duster doing good?”
Ren lied. He lied and kept a smile plastered to his face, but his stomach churned. He hated the idea of Millicent killing anyone. He hated the idea that she was using her power for her own gain and scaring people and giving people reason to fear technopaths. He planned to stop her, but it would be on his own terms, on his own time.
“I think you have your answer, Mother, and General,” Asher said, clutching Ren’s hand tighter. “Unless, well, we may be persuaded.”
Rowan tapped her chin, sharing a glance with Asher. “You know, you might be right. We could be persuaded. But so far all I’ve heard is a bunch of yelling and no offer.”
VanMeerten sputtered. “Pirates! You are nothing but filthy pirates!”
Rowan cocked her head to the side. “So you’ve said. But I also know that I’ve lost a lot of potential jobs because of your incompetence. And I wouldn’t mind a little compensation.”
“If you don’t assist, then there will not be any drifts left for you to run trade between. Your living will become obsolete.”
“There are planets and, so far, I have a fairly good reputation with all the dusters I know.” Rowan shrugged. “There may be a little longer transit time, but, hey, when I have a technopath on board, I don’t foresee that as being much of a problem.” She winked, and her lips pulled into a smug smile.
General VanMeerten put her hands on her hips and huffed. Councilor Morgan hid a grin behind her glass.
“What do you know about her?” Councilor Morgan took another long drink of the dark liquid, then set the glass on her desk. She brushed her blond hair from her shoulder. “What is her weakness?” She zeroed in on Ren. “What can we do to defeat her? Or persuade her from continuing her rampage?”
“Don’t answer that,” Rowan said. “I haven’t heard a number yet.”
“Rowan!” her mother snapped. “This isn’t a game.”
“No, it’s not. We offered information last time, and you dismissed us. We tried to warn you a year ago, and again, you dismissed us. If you want our help, then we want a deal.”
“Fine!” VanMeerten glared. “What do you want?”
Ren swallowed. “I want my brother and myself to be left alone. I want a place on a drift, and your promise that the Corps will stop trying to imprison myself and other peaceful star hosts. I want the planets to be left alone and allowed to govern themselves without interference from the Corps unless that’s requested. I want you to apologize to me and the others.”
“I want credits,” Rowan said. “Lots of credits.”
“I want an honorable discharge.” Asher’s shoulders tightened. “And an apology wouldn’t go amiss either.”
VanMeerten pressed her lips together in a tight, white line. “I can arrange a discharge. I can arrange credits. I cannot speak to the other requests.”
Ren inwardly wilted, and his face drained of color. He should’ve known. Even if he bargained, he’d never be free.
“You can’t apologize?” Rowan asked. “I find that hard to believe.”
VanMeerten clenched her jaw, and a tremble appeared in the hinges. “I can’t speak to Corps policies. I cannot grant blanket amnesty to dangerous individuals and I cannot withdraw all the troops on planets as I am not the only individual who makes those decisions.”
“Ren is not dangerous,” Asher said. “Neither is his brother. And neither are the ones who had lived quietly in hiding until the Corps began to drag them out. Vos took advantage of a situation the Corps created. Surely, you see that.”
“I can give amnesty to Ren and his brother. No one else. And I will remove troops from Erden.”
Ren shook his head. “I won’t advocate just on my behalf. It has to be all or none.”
“Can you even stop her? You can’t expect us to bargain so much away when we don’t even know the extent of your power. And will you stop her? We can’t trust you. You all lied, and you attacked an encampment.”
“Ren,” Rowan said, lifting her chin, “show them.”
Ren swallowed. He disentangled from Asher’s hand, not wanting to hurt Asher’s mechanical shoulder accidentally. He took a deep breath and called upon the anger that welled within him due to this conversation, the frustration, and the fear and he concentrated on shaking apart, vibrating into pieces, as he collapsed inward. It came to him more easily, and his vision went blue, then violet, darker by degrees as he crumpled, and then his star exploded outward. A rainbow of sparks dripped from his fingers, and his vision swam in technicolor.
The comms crackled with energy and power, and he reverberated across the cluster, stretched along the communication feeds, and into the councilor’s office. It was the farthest he’d ever gone, and he was weak scattered out along the lines, but he flickered in their lights.
“Wh
at are you?” VanMeerten asked, voice breathless with horror.
“I am a star.”
“Ren,” Asher took his hand. “Come back.”
Ren retracted into his body in seconds and let the power go. He heaved in a breath and locked his knees to keep from staggering. The action left him weak, but he refused to show it, not in front of VanMeerten.
“Impressive,” Councilor Morgan said. “But can you stop her?”
“I don’t know,” Ren admitted. “She has abilities that I don’t. But I’ve learned more since I last faced her.”
“Then what good are you?” VanMeerten sneered. “Why should we waste our efforts on you?”
Rowan raised a finger. “Because everything else you’ve tried has led to people being killed. You’ve been utter dirt at protecting the drifts. We’ve seen it. And you need help.”
“We have another ally,” Asher said, shouldering forward. “And he won’t work with you without us. Without Ren. Between the three of us, we can work something out.”
VanMeerten sniffed, but the apprehension in her features softened. “And what? You’ll arrange a meeting?”
“Yes,” Ren said. He caught the look Asher and Rowan shared, but ignored them for the time being. “Yes, if you promise. Promise me you’ll back off and let us live.”
“A moment.” Councilor Morgan placed her palm over the camera and Ren heard a hurried whispered conversation. Rolling his eyes, Ren boosted the sound, and the conversation came loud and clear over the Star Stream’s comm.
“Handy,” Rowan said with tight smile.
With a huff, Councilor Morgan pulled her hand away. “Speak, Grace.”
The general straightened the jacket of her uniform. The medals on her chest gleamed; the braided ropes over her shoulders pulled taut.
“An honorable discharge for Asher. Credits for Rowan.” Her left eye ticked. “And a pardon for the technopath and his brother. Warrants and files deleted. That’s all I will promise. If you succeed, we’ll negotiate for the other pieces.” She cleared her throat. “Does that sound fair?”
“You forgot the apology,” Rowan said sweetly. “I think we all deserve one, but especially Asher and Ren.”
VanMeerten grumbled but the councilor knocked her arm into the general’s back. “Fine. On behalf of the Corps, I apologize for the treatment you’ve both received.”
“Work on the apology,” Asher said. “For when we arrange the meeting. I’d like it to be more specific and sincere.”
“Otherwise? Do we have a deal?”
Asher wrapped his arm around Ren’s shoulder. “What do you say?”
It wasn’t enough. It wouldn’t ever be enough. But his family would be taken care of. Maybe… maybe she would bend when Millicent and Vos were finally dealt with.
“Fine. With further negotiation understood once the threat has been neutralized.”
“Yes,” VanMeerten agreed. “And how will you arrange this meeting? It needs to happen fast and—”
“We’ll take care of it,” Ren interrupted. “We’ll contact you when we’re ready.”
She nodded. “Fine. Don’t dawdle.”
Rowan cut he feed. “Don’t be such a cog,” Rowan muttered once the screen winked out. “Who does she think she is?”
“I think she is the head of a military organization,” Lucas said from his seat. “That was intense.”
Ren had forgotten he was there, but was glad he was another witness to their deal.
“Did you record that?” Asher asked.
“Sure thing. I hit that button as soon as she popped up on the screen. Damn, she’s scary.”
“She’s not scary when you know what scares her.” Ren leaned into Asher’s side. “She’s afraid of me.”
“So,” Rowan sat heavily in her chair and slumped, “how are we going to arrange a meeting with an escaped convict and us and a general who would as soon see us all thrown into jail as smile at us. We can’t go to them. I don’t trust VanMeerten.”
“I don’t trust Vos. He’ll turn on us as soon as he gets a chance. And if he managed to free Abiathar, he could turn Ren against us, or any other star host he may have freed.”
Ren bit his lip. “We’ll use a dream.”
“What?” Rowan stood. “We’ll do what?”
“My brother can enter dreams. My powers don’t work there. I’m certain he could find Vos. He might not remember, but he’s done it before in the prison. And we know where VanMeerten is hanging out.”
“That was Mother’s office.”
“Can he get all of us there? Would it be safe?”
Ren shrugged. “It would be safer than a physical meeting.”
“We’ll ask him.”
“Not now,” Ren said. “He needs to rest. He’s been through a lot.”
“Soon though. VanMeerten is right. We can’t dawdle. Millicent has three drifts under her control that we know of. And with each passing moment, Vos is either getting farther into hiding or starting to rebuild his own forces.”
“I’ll talk to him tonight.”
* * *
The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Restless, Ren stayed in the cargo bay, rifled through the crate Ollie had bought him before the incident, and fixed the spare parts he could and trashed the ones he couldn’t. Asher left him to his thoughts. Liam rested, and Ren checked in on him often, traveling through the circuits to watch the slow rise and fall of his chest. He slept like the dead, sprawled out, unmoving, leaden in the sheets—the sleep of the truly exhausted. Ren intimately knew the feeling.
Ren dreaded asking Liam to use his power to help them. He’d been manipulated by the Corps, tortured if he didn’t comply, and resisted in his own small ways. And now he was rescued, only to be asked to do the same thing. Lost in thought and work, Ren didn’t notice the passing of time until Asher touched his arm.
“Ren?”
Ren blinked, and Asher frowned. “I’m going to bed. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I just… lost track of time.”
“Not like before?”
“Huh?” Ren set a piece of tech aside. “No, not like before. Thinking about Liam.”
“Ah,” Asher sat next to him. “Do you want talk about it?”
Ren scrubbed a hand over the back of his head. “Not really. I need to talk to him.”
“You do.”
“I don’t have much time.”
“You don’t.”
Those were the facts and Ren appreciated Asher for confirming them and not trying to pry anything else out of him or try to offer unwanted platitudes.
“Talk to him, Ren. If he doesn’t want to help us, that’s fine. It means we have to figure out another way. We can do that.”
Sighing, Ren stood. He checked the feeds and was surprised to find Liam was gone from the room he’d been assigned and was on the bridge. Lucas was there as well, tapping away at his console, but otherwise, they were silent.
“Okay. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
Asher’s mouth tipped up in a grin. “I’ll wait for you.”
Ren padded up the metal steps from the bay into the heart of the ship. He passed the common area, where Penelope and Darby played a card game, laughing at each other, then walked down the hall past the crew quarters. He jumped up the small set of steps and ducked onto the bridge.
Lucas looked up from his calculations and stood. He didn’t say a word, only acknowledged Ren with a tip of his chin and a small pat to the shoulder as he walked past.
Liam stood at the viewing screen, dressed in clothes that didn’t belong to him, barefoot, and swaying like an apparition.
Ren waited a few moments before addressing him.
“Hey, how are you doing?”
Liam didn’t turn around.
“I’m fine.”
“That’s good.” Ren knotted his hands behind his back. “I need to talk—”
“It’s right there.” Liam pressed his hand to the viewing screen. “I want to go home.”
Ren wandered toward the screen. “I know.”
“When you were there last, did you see anyone other than our parents? People from the village?”
Ren crossed his arms. “A few. Our home isn’t there anymore, Liam. The village is gone. Our house… well, it was standing, barely, but I doubt it is any longer.”
“We’ll rebuild it. Dad and I can. I know you two didn’t always get along, but between the three of us, we could fix it.”
“Liam—”
“You could convince Sorcha and Jakob to move the village back to the lake. They’d listen to you.”
“I don’t think—”
“Mom told me she was sorry for everything that happened in the laurels.” Liam cast a look over his shoulder to Ren. “She wanted me to tell you. I talked to her through my dreams, when I could. She was harder to contact than you were, and I think it had something to do with her power. I’ve been too exhausted to try for the past few weeks. She’ll be worried.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I want to go home. Please?” He turned wide, wounded eyes to Ren. “We could run down there, and you can drop me off. Or you could transport us. I know you can. I saw that you can.”
Ren ducked his head. “We’re not going to Erden. We don’t know what’s happening down there or where our friends are.”
“Ren—”
“I said no,” Ren snapped. “We’re not going. We have other things to deal with. We have other things to do than worry about anyone planet-side.”
Liam’s features screwed up in anger. His cheeks went red, and his lips trembled. “Just because you don’t want it to be your home anymore doesn’t mean you can keep me from going. I want to go to the lake. I want to see Mom and Dad. I want to be back on the soil.”
“Liam, that’s not why.”
“Yes, it is! Just because you hate it doesn’t mean I do!”
Ren sighed. He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Liam, I don’t want to fight with you. I’ll get you home. I promise. But later. Too much is at stake right now.”