The Mir Chronicles- The Complete Series

by Leisa Wallace

  "I'm just saying maybe we should try something else."

  "Yes. Great. You tell me what to try and I'll do it," Evren said sharply, rolling back to his keyboard and picking up whatever he was doing there.

  Lena picked the bot back up. She wanted to throw it at him. Instead, she started repairing the section that she had broken.

  After what felt like hours but was probably more like minutes, Thora interrupted the monotony. "Do you have what I asked for?" Thora asked Evren.

  Evren reached for a small cube sitting on the edge of the table beside him. Lena had noticed it while fixing the bot but didn't think to ask what it was.

  "Here," he said handing it to Thora and then immediately going back to work on whatever he was trying to program.

  "This is all the relevant information?" Thora asked, turning the cube over in her hand.

  "Yes," Evren answered.

  "Including the x-rays of Gideon?"

  "Yes, everything is in there," Evren answered, sounding annoyed at the continued questioning.

  Thora looked at Lena for an explanation. Lena didn't know what to say so she just shrugged her shoulders and kept fixing the bot.

  Thora looked back and forth between the two for a moment. "Good," Thora said. She acted like she wanted to say more to the two of them but after a sharp look from Evren decided against it. "Thank you, Evren," she said before leaving the workroom.

  They worked in silence a few minutes more before Lena's curiosity couldn't take it anymore. "What was that all about?" Lena asked, trying as hard as she could to keep her former irritation from her voice.

  Evren threw his hands in the air and pushed away from the computer. "If I answer this question will you stop asking pointless questions?"

  "Sorry," Lena said and quietly went back to working on the bot.

  Evren gave a deep sigh. "Thora needed something to give the Alliance, but didn't want to give them everything in fear they'd also try to build their own device. So I stayed up through the night and made her the cube you just saw."

  "Wait, you've been up all night?" Lena asked.

  "Well, if you haven't noticed, there is a lot that has to be done around here that apparently only I can do. So yes. I've been up all night. Another pointless question," Evren answered without looking at her.

  Lena's irritation left immediately replaced by remorse. His eyes had dark circles under them and his hair was messier than she'd ever seen it. And now, she noticed he was wearing the same clothes as she saw him in yesterday. How could she not have noticed how tired Evren had looked?

  Lena put the bot down. "Evren, I'm sorry. I should have noticed how hard you've been working."

  Evren shoulders relaxed as he looked at her. "It's okay. I know it's been stressful for you in other ways.”

  She halfheartedly fiddled with the bot on the table. "I think we should take a walk and stretch for a minute. When we come back, we can start over again."

  She stood and stretched. As she did, her stomach growled. She was so anxious to get the nullifier fixed, she skipped breakfast and, as she thought about it, she didn't remember eating dinner either. Her nerves had replaced her appetite. If Thora knew how little she'd been eating lately, she'd probably get a lecture. Then again, Thora was busy with problems of her own. Lena stepped towards the door. "Come on. Let's go. We need to eat at least."

  Evren looked at her and stopped programming. "Well, I can't program this part without watching you. And I could actually use some food myself. I'll come with you," he agreed. "As much as we need to get this done, food will probably help me think.”

  Side by side they walked from the workroom. The first door they passed was the infirmary.

  Lena looked through the window and immediacy stopped walking to look in the window. Tern and Birdee were inside. Birdee was laying on the bed and Tern sat faithfully by her side. Aaron was standing over the two. Evren joined her at the window.

  It looked like Birdee had just woken up from surgery. But when she turned her groggy eyes towards the window where Lena stood, she weakly lifted her hand and motioned them inside.

  Stepping inside, Lena smelled the disinfectant immediately. It was as if the service bots in charge of keeping this room clean went overboard. The smell stung her nostrils. There were service bots still flying around the room, and when Lena and Evren entered, the bots stopped in front of them and disinfected them. The smell reminded her of when she programmed the service bots to clean the med bay at the Defense Training Facility. That thought immediately reminded her of Gideon again. She tried to push him to the back of her mind.

  "How did it go?" Lena asked Aaron as she pushed the bots away from her face.

  Aaron stood from checking Birdee's vital signs and adjusting her oxygen levels. He motioned them to the side of Birdee's bed.

  Lena watched as Tern stood to adjust Birdee's pillow. When he was done, Birdee clasped his hand in hers and relaxed.

  "Well, the caverns don't have the same advanced technology as other places like The Port would," Aaron said. "But we were able to put Birdee together well enough that she shouldn't have many problems. The knee was the worst of it. Her kneecap was mostly shattered. We were able to put two large pieces of bone back together while eliminating the parts that were mostly dust. It looked like someone had taken a bat to it or dropped her on it. She says she can't remember too much about how it actually happened. The lungs though will heal themselves.”

  Birdee took a deep breath. "Hey, I'll have a good story ta tell," Birdee said, before closing her eyes. "See, nothin's so broke that it can' be fixed. Ya just gotta figure out how ta do it." With one deep breath, she was sleeping again. The hissing of her oxygen and the beeping of the machines filled the silence.

  Lena took one look at her bruised and broken friend, and the one who gave nearly everything to rescue her and knew what Birdee was trying to tell her.

  She felt Evren nudge her elbow and motion her outside. Silently, she and Evren left the room.

  "You heard her," Evren said. "We just gotta figure out how to put the nulli back together."

  "Nothing's so broke that it can't be fixed," Lena repeated. She didn't know how Birdee did it, but even half conscious and coming out of surgery, Birdee had made an effort to lift Lena's spirits. The least Lena could do is stop complaining and keep working on the device. She could fix it. She bit her lower lip. She hoped she could fix it anyway.

  "Come on," Lena said. "Let's get our food to go. I don't want to delay any longer than we need to."

  Chapter Four

  Lena and Evren quickly grabbed food from the replicators. As they were leaving the main cavern Suki's voice called to her.

  "Lena," Suki's said. She sounded worried and was breathing heavy as if she had been running.

  Lena signaled for Evren to go ahead without her. "What's wrong?"

  "Gideon's leaving."

  "What!" Lena dropped her plate and closed the distance between Suki and her. "What do you mean he's leaving?"

  "They didn't want you to know," Suki panted. "Thora needs to take the evidence of the device to the council. Aaron and Gideon are going with her. I think Gideon is going to turn himself over to the Alliance."

  "Where is he?"

  "Follow me," Suki said. "They're in the hangar.”

  They ran towards the residences but took a left before they got to Lena's room and down a carved out tunnel to an elevator.

  The elevator descended then moved sideways. It opened to the hangar. The hangar was at least as big as the main cavern and it had a small runway with three small planes.

  Thora and Aaron were at one, already loading it with bags and equipment. When Thora saw Lena running towards her, she sighed and looked annoyed, but stopped loading the plane and waited to meet her.

  "I thought I told you not to let Lena know we were leaving," Thora said to Suki as they stopped in front of her.

  Suki just shrugged. "I thought you were wrong so I made up my own mind about it," Suki answer
ed. She was still breathing heavy from running but held her head high as if challenging Thora to defy her.

  Thora didn't defy her. She just shook her head at the girl before turning her attention to Lena.

  "Where is he?" Lena asked.

  Gideon stepped from around the other side of the plane. Both his hands and his ankles were cuffed, making it so he could barely take any steps. His shoulders were back and he stood straight and tall but he didn't look confident. Not like he used to. He looked stricken. Dark circles were under his eyes. The lines of worry seemed to have deepened from when she last had seen him yesterday morning. She wondered if he'd been up the whole night.

  "You were going to leave without telling me?" Lena asked, not hiding the anger in her voice. "Is that why you called me last night? You wanted to say goodbye without giving me the same courtesy?"

  Thora sighed and continued to load her equipment in the side door of the plane.

  Tarek stepped next to Gideon. Lena hadn't realized he'd even been around. Her whole attention had been on the cuffed boy in front of her.

  "Eves, I..." Gideon started to say.

  "You thought it would be easier if you just left, didn't you? Just like after you shot me? You could just pack up and leave the mess for me to deal with alone." Lena knew she was crossing a line that she couldn't come back from. But the words wouldn't stop. "You can't just leave when things get hard."

  Everyone watched in horror. Not even Thora was loading the plane anymore.

  Gideon's jaw clenched and he stared her down. "It's not like that, Eves, and you know it."

  "Then why?"

  "If you really want to know, I'm turning myself over as evidence to the interplanetary alliance."

  "You're what?" Lena's anger turned to confusion. Her thoughts stumbled over one another as she tried to understand what he was saying. "You're not the enemy Gideon."

  Gideon relaxed his jaw and let out a deep breath. "I never said I was the enemy. I am proof. Proof of what Selene can and probably has done to members of the Alliance Council."

  "And you think that turning yourself over to them is going to convince a council that is already being manipulated? It's not going to work, Gideon."

  "We've talked it over and think that if I'm there, there will be others forced to look into her claim. Others who aren't on the council per say, but have influence over it. Maybe influence that's not distorted by the Priestess."

  "Who talked it over? Certainly not me. Why would you make this decision without me, Gid? You know we are meant to do this together."

  "This is the part I'm supposed to do, Eves. You can't be there for it because your job is here. Fixing the device so others can't be controlled."

  "I can't fix you if you're not here."

  "You can't fix me anyway, Eves. But maybe you can help someone else."

  The words felt like a punch to the gut. The truth of them ugly and unkind. Lena opened her mouth to argue but Gideon cut her off.

  "Evren told Tarek who told me that the device was beyond what he knew how to fix. And it's better that I'm away from you. The doctors at the Port are Alliance doctors. They have technology there that we don't have here. They'll be able to help."

  "No," Lena shouted. "No, you can't just run away because things are hard right now. You can't just leave again. You just can't. I'll figure it out. I promise I'll fix it. I'll fix you." Lena was sobbing. She didn't know when the tears started running. "If you go, who knows what they'll do to you."

  "Lena, you can stop her. You can stop Selene from doing this to anyone else. And I won't be the one to make it so you can't."

  "No," Lena yelled. "You don't just get to leave.”

  Lena stepped towards Gideon.

  Gideon stepped back, hands held up to stop her. "Eves, look at me," he said. "With my mother in my head, I'm a monster. I will do everything I can to protect you. Even leave. I love you," he said. "I always have, I always will."

  "Stop," Lena said. "You don't get to act like this is the last time I'm going to see you.”

  Gideon stared at her. His deep brown eyes looked so calm, as if he was memorizing every detail about her.

  Lena's heart plummeted.

  "You can stop her," Gideon said.

  "No," Lena said. "Not without you."

  "You can," Gideon said. "You are the strongest person I know."

  They stared at each other, not saying anything. "Don't go," she said, her voice breaking.

  "Bye, Eves," Gideon said. Then, turning to Tarek, he added, "Take care of her.”

  He turned to walk the few steps to the plane, his cuffed feet making his movement jerky.

  Thora climbed into the passenger seat as Aaron readied the plane.

  Lena felt Suki's prosthetic arm pushing her towards Gideon.

  "Gideon!" Lena called, running to Gideon.

  As Gideon turned, she wrapped her arms around him. Their eyes locked for a split second before he pressed his lips hard against hers.

  "You're stronger than you think," Gideon said as Tarek grabbed her and pulled her away from him.

  "I love you, Gideon."

  The plane's door closed between them.

  Tarek released her and she collapsed to her knees.

  They watched as the plane turned on its cloaking device and disappeared.

  Suki came and knelt beside her. "You'll see him again, Lena. Your epic romance doesn't end here." She gave Lena a playful shoulder bump.

  Tarek stood in front of them offering them both a hand up.

  Lena blinked to clear her fuzzy eyes. They hurt. And she could feel their puffiness. She felt disconnected from everything around her. Still, she tried to talk. "You didn't go with him," she said to Tarek. Her voice was shaky, and her throat hurt.

  Tarek gave Suki a concerned glance before clearing his throat. "No," he answered. "Someone needed to stay to keep you two in line." Without waiting he grabbed their arms and pulled them to their feet.

  Lena turned to Suki. "You gave them the device to get inside the shield of The Port?" she asked.

  "Yes, they'll get in safely," Suki answered.

  Lena gave a nod. "Okay." She turned towards the elevator that would lead them back to the residence halls.

  "How much time do I have to fix the device before he turns himself in?" she asked

  Tarek gave Suki a reluctant look. "I'm not sure," he said.

  "I'll have Evren find out," Suki said.

  "I can ask him myself. I have to fix the nulli before Gideon turns himself in."

  Suki and Tarek didn't say anything. They just followed her back to the workroom and stayed close as she began to fix the bot again.

  ***

  Lena was the only one in the workroom. She had convinced Suki and Tarek that they were distracting her and she couldn't work with them asking if she was going to be okay every few minutes. Eventually they left. She didn't know where Evren was but at this point it didn't matter. She couldn't concentrate. All she could think about was Gideon leaving her.

  She didn't know how long she sat there staring. She was completely lost. She rubbed her hands, then noticed her insignia. The Priestess' insignia. Dorry's insignia. She rubbed her thumb over it. Sometimes she thought she could feel the ridges and the wires in it latching on her nerves. She studied it for a moment remembering when Dorry told her about giving it to her. She'd never had any trouble getting access to anything in the training facility but didn't realize the insignia was unique to her until recently. Dorry made it special for her. She suddenly missed her old friend. His wise advice he always had for her. A lesson in every visit. He was always watching her. Always had her back.

  "Dorry, I wish you were here to help me now," she whispered as she rubbed her fingers over the design.

  The lights from the screens around the room flashed brightly. Then off. Then on again. Dorry looked at her from one of the holograms.

  "Dorry?"

  He blinked a couple of times as if trying to figure out where he was. Then,
as his eyes adjusted and focused on her, he smiled. The crinkles in his eyes were so warm and inviting she wanted to reach through the screen and give him a hug right then.

  "Ahh, my angel. I was wondering when you'd contact me. Why have you waited so long?"

  Lena closed her eyes tight before opening them again. Was she really seeing Dorry? "Where are you?" She nearly shouted. She suddenly was very angry at him. "Where did you go? You left. The priestess attacked the facility. How was I supposed to know I could contact you?"

  "Yes, I've been watching you from where I am. Wasn't it obvious that your insignia would be linked to me? How do you think I kept track of you?"

  It took a moment for her to pull her thoughts together. "I didn't know I could contact you or I would have. If you were watching, you'd have known that. Where are you?"

  "Oh, I'm not going to tell you. I'm not going to tell anyone where I am. But I see you made it to Thora."

  "I nearly got captured," Lena said. "In fact, I did get captured, then escaped, then got captured again, and nearly sold." Lena knew she was rambling but didn't care.

  "Well, you seemed to have escaped just fine, so that's neither here nor there. How is Gideon?"

  "You said you've been watching us so I assume you know that he's had the control device implanted in him. He's turning himself over to the Alliance."

  "Why would he do that? I gave you the counter device. Seems foolish that he would just hand himself over."

  "If you've been watching, then you know I broke it jumping from a plane," Lena said rather cheekily.

  "Well, fix it."

  "I don't know how."

  "I've taught you how to fix nearly everything in that facility, Lena. You can fix this."

  Lena pointed to the table where the nullifier was laying in pieces then to hologram they had been using to try to replicate the missing pieces. "As you can see, I can't fix this. It's missing pieces.”

  He studied it for a moment.

  "Can you help me?"

  "Ahh yes, I can see the problem. I'm afraid you'll need to get my blueprints to be able to rebuild some of the pieces."