Chapter 14

Ryker

Ryker shed his shirt. He used it to wipe the sweat from his face and chest, then tossed it behind himself into the path of the guards.

There was a moment when he'd lost them for long enough to dip quietly into a storage closet. It was an obvious hiding spot, but he was desperate to catch his breath. Those men were relentless. He wondered if they were human or if they only looked human.

A.I. or alien, it didn't matter. What mattered was that he needed to lose them before returning to the docking level or his departure from the Heaven's Pearl would never happen.

When their footsteps paused at the closet, he unholstered his second blaster and shot a series of warnings through the door, then burst out and made his escape as they scurried for safety. In a swift glance backward, he caught sight of sparks erupting from one of his pursuer's legs.

A.I. They'd never slow down.

In all those years stuck fighting for survival on the planet he now called X-Terra Lyra, Ryker never felt as defeated as in this moment. Everything he held dear was slipping through his fingers, including his freedom.

The broadcast overhead had long faded into the background, but Ryker's attention was seized when two familiar names were spoken.

"Chancellor Ysander Abernath of the planet Xiridian IV has accepted, without question or amendment, the marriage proposal of Chancellor Talia Steele of the generation ship New Horizon."

Ryker slowed and his vision began to slip away. He reached out a hand to steady himself and felt the patterned ridges of the door beneath his palm. It was the door to the ladies' parlor. He pushed off of it and picked up his pace again, the guards at his tail.

"You may recognize her as the daughter of Edward and Amelia Hal, explorationists and humanitarian pioneers," the speaker continued, "and as the widow of the late Vice-Chancellor Ryker Steele. As Chancellor Abernath takes his place beside the officiant, donning an impressive golden boar mask with ornate tusks, we wait to see if Chancellor Steele will follow through and meet him there."

Absolutely not, Ryker decided, as he lunged for the ballroom's entrance. A large hand intercepted his wrist, twisting his arm painfully behind his back. The other two guards whipped out their electro rods, which crackled loudly with the popping sounds of static.

"Stay down!"