Threshold of Annihilation

by T. A. White

Jin twisted one way then another, his emotions spilling into their bond. Anxiety and apprehension mixed with unease. Beneath it all, the smallest kernel of longing.

  “I don’t want to open myself up to hurt down the line,” he whispered.

  Kira’s expression softened. She could understand that. Wasn’t it at the core of why she had so much trouble accepting Harlow and Roake?

  It hurt to get your hopes up only to have them dashed in the end.

  Rejection in any form was corrosive. It ate away at the person you were.

  Both Kira and Jin had been conditioned to expect the worst out of people. It was damn near impossible sometimes to remember the universe wasn’t always a dark place.

  “How would they ever accept what I’ve become?” Jin asked. “The answer is they wouldn’t, and you know it.”

  Kira’s expression was contemplative as she set the cup of chai on the railing.

  The conversation with Graydon pointed to the truth of Jin’s words. Still, she didn’t want her friend to turn away just because he was afraid.

  Jin had always been fearlessly himself, not caring what others thought he should be.

  It was one of the things Kira loved most about him, and she wouldn’t see it change for anything.

  “Perhaps you’re right,” Kira allowed. “But I think I remember it was you who said it couldn’t hurt to learn a little more about these people before we reject them.”

  “This is different.”

  Kira propped her chin on her hand. “I believe I said that too.”

  Jin’s eye turned to Devon as he fell silent.

  She straightened and bopped him on his casing again before he could argue further. “I never said you had to reveal yourself to them, but I also don’t want you making decisions without having all the facts.”

  Kira picked up her chai again. “If you want to ignore this possibility, you can. I’m on your side. Forever and always. Remember that.”

  Wren stepped into view below, catching her eye. He jerked his head in an unmistakable summons.

  “Better go before your seon’yer remembers everything we’ve gotten up to without his permission,” Jin advised.

  “We wouldn’t want that,” Kira said before heading inside.

  It took only minutes to dress in the clothes she found in one of the dressers. Made from the same ballistic proof material as the ones she received on Ta Sa’Riel, she admired the cut of the fabric before heading out.

  Kira’s jog slowed as she found Wren waiting at the bottom of the stairs for her.

  “Something the matter?” she asked.

  “In light of your revelations yesterday, I thought it would be appropriate we spend some time together.”

  Kira descended the last steps, wondering how she got so unlucky.

  Wren quirked one eyebrow at the grudging look on her face. “Unless you have something else to do?”

  Not unless he counted investigating the waverunner who went by the call sign Moonbeam.

  Truthfully, Odin and Jin would be more useful for that.

  Kira shrugged, giving into the inevitable. “I don’t have any plans until the banquet.”

  Which was still hours from now.

  “Good.” Wren set off at a brisk pace, heading for a room adjacent to the training room she’d visited two days before.

  So much had happened since then that it was hard to believe so little time had passed.

  The room Wren entered was empty except for Maksym who waited in the middle of the space with his arms crossed over his chest.

  Before him was a table, various size spheres arranged before him.

  “What’s this?” Kira asked, looking them over.

  Wren stopped next to Maksym. “Your little adventure has cut into my duties as your seon’yer. I thought we’d take this time to fix that.”

  Kira ran her eye over the spheres, not hiding her skepticism. “With balls?” She looked up at Wren again. “Are we going to play a game?”

  Maksym’s cough didn’t entirely conceal his choked laugh.

  Wren looked like he was struggling for patience. “I’ve learned some things about you since your time away. Your problem with ki doesn’t lie in its use or manipulation. If anything, the amount you are capable of accessing is too much. You lack control. Without it, you will only land in the same situation as before.”

  He nodded at the inhibitor she still wore.

  Kira touched it lightly, wondering how he had come to that conclusion. Not that she could argue with his assessment. It fit her thoughts as well.

  “You use ki like a hammer when a scalpel will do just as well,” Wren continued.

  Those words and the disproving look he sent her seemed studded with a double meaning.

  Kira’s eyes narrowed, wondering if he’d somehow managed to uncover some of those files Himoto had gone to a lot of trouble to bury. Specifically, those records pertaining to the burst.

  “What do you want me to do?” Kira asked.

  Maksym picked up a sphere the size of a tennis ball and held it in his hand. A faint glow lit it up from inside. Moments later it lifted an inch off his palm where it hovered.

  Gradually, the glow diminished, and it plopped back into his palm.

  Maksym nodded at a sphere the size of a watermelon on her left. “Start with that one.”

  Tentatively, Kira picked it up, surprised to find it was much lighter than it looked.

  Maksym touched the ball. “Now, push your ki into it.”

  Kira frowned but didn’t argue, focusing on the sphere again.

  Ki, Kira had learned, was something that existed both within and without.

  The Tuann were like a glass and the world around them an ocean. They could only use what was in the glass but the ocean would refill the glass over time.

  Since building a friendship with Joule and spending time on Roake, she’d learned there were set stances and patterns of movement that could help draw out the ki within and give it form.

  What Maksym asked of her was a bit different than what Finn and Joule had showed her on Ta Sa’Riel. Closer in line to how she’d always used her soul’s breath. More reliant on instinct and feeling around in the dark as much as anything else.

  She pooled her ki within before feeding it into the sphere.

  A loud pop startled her as the sphere burst, its shards embedding into her palm and arm.

  Kira sucked in a harsh breath but the cuts and the blood that should have been there were already gone.

  The sphere had attributes similar to a hologram with some type of sensory feedback, Kira realized.

  Maksym doubled over in laughter. “You might be blessed with an abundance of the good stuff, but your control is shit. It’s even worse than Wren told me.”

  Wren’s lips twitched with amusement.

  “What was that?” Kira asked, glaring at the two.

  “A test,” Maksym said, straightening and wiping the tears away from his eyes. “One you failed pretty spectacularly.”

  Kira pressed her lips together as she waited, silently counting to ten in her head. When that didn’t work, she started again.

  Must not try to strangle her seon’yer or his oshota.

  “It’s nice to be on the opposite end of one of Wren’s extreme training methods, for once,” Maksym continued with an easy grin.

  “I’m sure.” Kira’s voice was flat.

  Maksym didn’t seem bothered by her irritation, tapping Kira’s palm. The sphere expanded again, growing out of her hand like it was some type of mutated flower.

  “What the—”

  Maksym’s eyes crinkled. “Let’s try again, shall we?”

  Kira frowned at him but concentrated on channeling her ki into the sphere.

  This time it burst almost immediately. Kira flinched as small streaks of pain whispered across her skin, only to leave her hand whole and healthy again in the next moment.

  “Wren thinks pain helps us learn faster.” Maksym studied her hand with
a clinical detachment. “I’d argue if he wasn’t right.”

  “How long am I expected to do this?” Kira asked, forcing patience into her voice.

  “Until you can channel your ki into that without breaking.” Wren pointed to a sphere the size of a golf ball.

  Seeing her objection, Wren sent her a chiding look. “I’ve seen your niece’s training. It’s quite intense. Are you telling me you’re unwilling to learn in the same fashion?”

  Kira pressed her lips together hard.

  There was a lot she could say to that statement. Most of it sarcastic.

  She kept silent for one reason. He was right. She couldn’t expect excellence from Elena if she wasn’t willing to persevere against her own weaknesses.

  If this would make her a better warrior, keep her healthy once the inhibitor came off, it was worth the small frustration and fleeting pain.

  Approval shone in Wren’s eyes at her acceptance. “Good.”

  Elena stuck her head into the room as Kira lifted her hand again. “Auntie. Finally. I’ve been looking everywhere.”

  Elena walked toward them, looking at the table and its spheres with curiosity. “What’s that?”

  “Training.” Kira grinned. “Want to try?”

  Elena stopped, keeping her distance. She shook her head several times. “No, thank you. I’ve already had my fill of that man’s training.”

  Wren met Elena’s irate stare with a bland expression.

  “Why were you looking for me?” Kira asked.

  Reminded of her mission, Elena bounced forward. “Your yer’se and some of the others wanted to go sightseeing.”

  Kira stopped what she was doing and gritted her teeth. “For the last time, she’s not my yer’se. I’m not her seon’yer.”

  Elena shrugged, not bothered by Kira’s denial. “That’s between you and her. Honestly, I don’t think you’re going to win this one. Ziva seems like the sort to wear you down.”

  Kira’s sigh was loud. “Is that what you came to ask for?”

  Elena shook her head, folding her hands in front of her as she tried to appear as innocent as possible. “Nope. I wanted to go with them. I know Jettie better than them. May I?”

  Kira hesitated.

  Elena’s upbringing had been untraditional in the extreme. Oversight hadn’t really been a thing.

  Selene had many children who needed her attention, and Jin and Kira had to be careful in their visits.

  As a result, Elena was used to using her own judgment and going where she wanted, when she wanted.

  For her to ask permission like this showed Elena felt some guilt over getting caught by Graydon because of her own arrogance.

  It was her way of making it right with Kira.

  And under normal circumstances, Kira would have already said yes. Jettie had always been considered safe because of the Haldeel influence, but with the attack yesterday on Devon and Skye all that had changed.

  “I’ll keep an eye on her,” Wren promised, reading her hesitation.

  Elena’s gaze darted between the two of them, her expression almost pleading with Kira to say yes.

  Kira wavered. Wren and his oshota had proven their motivation in protecting Elena yesterday when they’d gotten her to safety after the attack.

  She could trust them with this.

  “All right,” Kira said finally. “You can go.”

  Elena let out a yip of excitement as she bounced on her toes.

  “But—” Kira pointed a finger at Elena’s face. “You will listen and obey him and his oshota. If there’s another incident like what happened on the Wanderer or like when you got caught, you’re going into lockdown. Nothing and no one will be able to save you then. Understood?”

  Elena nodded quickly.

  She bounded forward, giving Kira a quick hug before racing out of the room with a high-pitched squeal. “She said yes.”

  Kira glanced at Wren. “I’m trusting you.”

  He bowed his head. “I won’t let you down. I promise.”

  Kira watched him set out after her niece, feeling torn. She wasn’t used to relying on others anymore.

  She, Jin, and Selene had been the only ones invested in Elena’s safety for so long.

  The worry of what could happen if the Tsavitee ever got their hands on Elena gnawed at her in the depths of night. It lurked in the back of her mind at all times.

  “You did a good thing,” Maksym said.

  Her gaze met his, reading the sincerity there.

  “His wife’s passing and daughter’s loss broke him. You’ve given him a chance he never thought would come. Thank you.”

  Kira’s eyes dropped, feeling the urge to hide from his words.

  She’d face the possibility of death a thousand times before she willingly dealt with someone else’s emotions.

  Just the thought made her want to retreat to a remote part of the galaxy.

  Instead of running, Kira forced herself to respond, knowing his words deserved an answer. “He will be good for her too.”

  She couldn’t see any downside to having more people willing to safeguard her niece.

  As choices went for relatives, Wren was a pretty good one. He was a powerful warrior and more importantly knew the devastation that came with loss.

  He’d do what was necessary to make sure it didn’t happen again.

  “Now, shall we start again?” Maksym’s smile said he was looking forward to hours of torturing her—for her own good, of course.

  *

  A long time later, conversation ebbed and flowed around Kira as she sipped from a glass of keeva.

  The training with Maksym had been slow and tedious. By the time she’d stopped for the day, she’d only managed to push her ki into a sphere one size smaller than the one she’d started with.

  Her gaze dropped to the hand that held the glass. She knew at a thought she could activate the sphere again.

  It was a little gift Maksym had given her so she could practice any time she had a moment.

  Oh, joy.

  Kira tapped her finger against her glass as she studied the gathering.

  Her position along the edge of the banquet gave her an excellent opportunity to observe her surroundings without having to interact with them.

  The room she was in was one of the most impressive she’d ever seen. With a transparent ceiling and walls offering an unobstructed glimpse outside, the chamber felt like an enclosed bubble nestled in the heart of the station.

  The unique towers of Almaluk rose around them, unfolding like a flower to offer a glimpse of space. Trillions of stars decorated the sky like tiny jewels only overshadowed by the planet Jettie rising off the port side.

  It was breathtaking. You could visit a hundred worlds and travel the galaxy for decades and never come close to matching this view.

  It was a fitting backdrop for the high-stakes discussions taking place around Kira.

  It had only been half an hour since she'd entered the celebration, but she had already learned so much.

  From the small faction of humans interested in mineral rights on a planet whose ownership was highly contested to the group trying to broker a marriage alliance between two powerful, opposing families.

  Take into account, the two previously unknown alien races she'd just encountered for the first time and the possibilities were endless for wheeling and dealing.

  The outfits of those present ran the gamut. Ball gowns and military uniforms were side by side with synth armor.

  Even Kira had gone out of her way to dress the part. For the night, her hair had been swept to one side to spill over her shoulder in seductive, glossy waves she couldn't help but admire.

  Dramatic makeup highlighted her eyes, the colors making them more violet than gray.

  Unlike many of the women, Kira hadn't opted for a ball gown, instead choosing an outfit that would be easy to move in.

  Militaristic in design, it consisted of a formal overcoat with buttons marching down the front. Si
lver embroidery lined the edges before branching out into a complex pattern that covered her upper body.

  The only glimpse of skin came from the keyhole over her chest.

  The coat fit closely through her shoulders and chest before flaring over her hips and dropping behind her to form a small train.

  Soft pants tucked into knee-high black boots completed the look.

  It was the perfect balance between dressy and convenient.

  Movement on the far side of the room attracted Kira's attention as humans wearing the uniforms of the Consortium entered. They were accompanied by seven-foot-tall figures covered in long cloaks.

  Odin emerged out of the crowd. "I was wondering if they'd show up."

  Kira looked around, making sure no one was watching them. "How did you get in here?"

  The guest list for the night was highly restricted. In addition to politicians and some of the most powerful people in the galaxy, only those who'd distinguished themselves in the quorum were invited.

  Odin didn't fit either of those categories.

  Odin swirled the glass of champagne she was holding. "You should know by now I have my ways."

  "I'd very much like to hear about those ways."

  Odin lifted the glass and sipped from it. "A lady never reveals her secrets."

  Not giving Kira a chance to ask any more questions, Odin took an interested look around. "Where's the Tin Can? Don't tell me you left him behind."

  "He has his own matters to take care of."

  Odin's lips curled. "You mean he's spying."

  That was exactly what Kira meant.

  Odin didn't make any more comments about Jin's absence, instead focusing on the trio whose presence had attracted quite the crowd, all of them humans.

  "What do you think of our friends?" Odin asked.

  Kira folded her arms and tapped one finger against the rim of her glass. "I think their presence here is remarkably interesting. Last I heard, the Consortium was decades away from such an advancement."

  Humanity had made great strides in the field of artificial intelligence and robotics before the treaty with the Haldeel, but since then, their research had stagnated. They shouldn’t have been anywhere close to achieving a breakthrough.

  "They're the newest model. The latest and greatest." Odin tilted her head, peering at them with an interest that was a little too pronounced.