Chapter 66

Chapter

Sixty-Six

Jess

I bent over the parchment and inhaled the comforting scent of dust and crumbling leather. There was nothing as soothing as the smell of the Stacks, which was why I liked to come here even when classes weren’t in session. That, and the fact that it was quiet and calm, things that were both in short supply when the academy was brimming with cadets.

The sound of the door scraping open made me look up from the ancient text, but it was the muffled wail of a siren that made me straighten. Why were the academy sirens going off? And how long had I been tucked away within the book-lined walls of the Stacks without hearing them?

Heavy footsteps smacked the floor and told me that it wasn’t one of my female friends looking for me. I would recognize Torq’s confident stride anywhere .

“Over here,” I called, my voice echoing in the quiet.

His pace quickened, and he soon popped around a high bookshelf, his stern expression realizing when he spotted me. “I thought you might be here.”

“What’s going on?” I glanced at my papers, wondering if I should gather them or leave them behind.

“Not sure, but it can’t be good.” He held out a hand. “Come on.”

I sighed and gave a final, longing look at the unrolled parchments before abandoning my table and taking his hand. Torq’s grip was warm and solid as he led me through the labyrinth of shelves and tables until we’d reached the door, which he swiftly pulled open.

Outside the Stacks, the siren wail was louder, and I could feel tension crackling the air. Something was happening, although I couldn’t imagine what.

“Where are we going?” I asked as we walked toward the center of the school and my pulse quickened along with my footsteps as I tried to keep up with Torq.

“To get answers.”

At least there were no sounds of the academy being under attack—no explosions or blaster fire or fighters flying low overhead. “Are we sure this isn’t a drill?”

“It’s no drill.”

I glanced up to track the familiar voice, as Fiona ran down the stairs from the second floor. “What is it?”

“Long story short, there may be part of a Sythian swarm headed for Drex.”

“How did we not know about this?” Torq asked, his grip on my hand tightening.

Fiona’s jaw quivered with barely suppressed fury. “Captain Gorman kept the intel from us.”

“ Grekking bastard,” Torq muttered. “Where is he?”

“In the dungeons and knocked unconscious the last I heard.”

From her tone of voice, I had a feeling she had something to do with him being knocked unconscious. I definitely hoped she did.

“Have you seen Britta?” Fiona asked me then swung her gaze to Torq. “Or any Iron?”

I shook my head. “Not since breakfast. Why?”

“Another long story, but I need someone who’s good at tech to help me implement a crazy plan that just might save us from the Sythians.”

“Britta is your girl,” I said. “But I don’t know where—“

“I’m whose girl?” Britta asked as she emerged from a nearby stairwell at a jog with Morgan right behind her.

Fiona blew out a breath. “Just the Iron I need. How would you like to show off your holographic design skills?”

Britta grabbed her high ponytail and tugged two ends of it to make it tighter. “Count me in.”

Morgan glanced overhead. “Does this have anything to do with the sirens? ”

“Long story short,” I said, “we might be in danger from an alien swarm, but Fi has a crazy plan to stop them that needs some serious tech chops.”

Morgan glanced at Britta. “Hence our brilliant Iron friend.”

Britta nodded as if she heard this type of request every day. “I’m in. What do you need?”

“First, I need to know where we can go to work on some seriously intense and large-scale holo-technology.” Fiona rocked back on her heels. “Then I need to know how we can recruit more Irons to help us.”

“Easy.” Britta shrugged and jerked a thumb over her shoulder toward the archway leading to the School of Engineering. “Irons like to tinker. All the best tech is in our school, and I’ll bet most of the instructors are, too.”

“Then let’s go.” Fiona started toward the high arch with the crossed hammers etched into the ebony stone.

“You sure you don’t want to find out who these guys are first?” Morgan asked in a near whisper, as she stared at the door that led to the shipyard.

We all turned to see a group of massive, bare-chested creatures striding into the academy with swishing tails, silver-striped horns on their heads, and dark marks covering almost every inch of their exposed skin.

“ Grek me,” Britta said under her breath, as the aliens’ boots pounded the floor.

Torq tensed beside me, and Kann emerged from the School of Battle to come stand between us and the aliens who slowed to a stop .

Morgan leaned close to me without taking her eyes off the imposing aliens. “This is the best-looking swarm I’ve ever seen.”

Fiona

I put a hand on Kann’s arm. “These are the Taori, our allies.”

He glanced at me quickly then back at the group of warriors, but he did not relax his stance. Maybe a Blade wasn’t the right Drexian to turn to when it came to diplomacy. To be fair, the Taori’s tails had not stopped swishing behind them.

“She is correct,” the alien at the front of the group spoke, his voice deep and rough. “We are the Immortal Army of the Taori, and we have come to battle the swarm with you.”

Kann shifted, the stiffness in his shoulders unwinding. Now they were speaking in terms he would embrace—armies, allies, battles. I glanced at Torq, who had also stopped scowling.

“Welcome to the Drexian Academy,” I said, even though it was far from my job to be the one to say it. I didn’t have time to wait for all the introductions to be made. Not when I needed to get Britta and the Irons to work. “I’d love to stay and chat, but I need to put our plan to evade the swarm into action.”

One of the Taori stepped forward. “Ruun told me of your plan. I am Zav, a science officer on our sky ship. I am here to offer my skills.”

I waved him forward. “Then welcome aboard, Zav. ”

His brow wrinkled as he walked toward us. “But we are not on a sky ship.”

“It’s a figure of speech,” Britta said, smiling at the alien with long hair braided on one side and numbers etched into his skin along with curling lines.

I didn’t blame her for being entranced by him. I had never seen a science office who also looked like he could have jumped off the back of a Harley before, but Zav did with his scruffy cheeks, low-slung leather pants, and black cord necklace with a blade-shaped pendant dangling between his pecs. It was hard for me not to stare, and I was very much into Vyk.

“Why don’t I escort you all to engineering?” Kann flicked a glance at Torq. “My Blade brother will take the Taori delegation to Admiral Zoran.”

Torq thrust out his chest as he released Jess’s hand and cleared his throat. “Follow me.”

Morgan and Jess exchanged a look, but I pinned them with a stern look. “I won’t be in engineering for long. There is still a need for us to devise an overall strategy.” In case the holographic ruse didn’t work, I thought, but did not say.

“I was on my way to Zoran’s office,” Morgan said. “I got a summons from Tivek.”

I didn’t have time to ask why the admiral’s adjunct was summoning one of my Assassin cadets. There was too much going on to question something so minor, although it struck me for not the first time that the Drexian seemed to have more power than a typical adjunct. “Then I will see you both there. ”

The women hurried off, getting ahead of Torq and the Taori while I resumed walking toward the School of Engineering with Zav, Britta, and our Blade escort, Kann.

“Ruun said you wish to create a holographic diversion so massive that it hides the planet,” the Taori science officer said as we passed beneath the archway and proceeded down the long corridor to the engineering building.

Britta swung her head to me, her eyes flaring. “You want to hide the entire planet?”

I hadn’t been in the School of Engineering for more than a cursory tour when I’d first arrived, so I glanced at the stained-glass slats in the walls of the hallway that let in slivers of colored light that mottled that glossy, obsidian floor. Strange warbling noises emanated from deeper within the school, reminding me of a techno dance party that had been set to slow motion and making me wonder what kind of experiments were going on in the high-tech labs.

I focused on Britta, who seemed to be completely unaware or unaffected by the noises. “If the swarm cannot see Drex, they won’t stop to devour all life on it. They are not a rational enemy that uses logic or even high-tech sensors to search for targets. They’re a swarm of hungry monsters razing whatever they can see.”

“If they can’t see us…” Britta tapped a finger on her chin as she picked up her pace.

“Holographic technology has been used to trick the Sythian swarm before,” I told her .

Zav nodded at me. “When the Taori made first contact with the Drexians on Gerron. A human and Drexian came up with a plan to fool the swarm using holographic trickery.”

“It worked,” I said. “I thought we could do the same thing again on a bigger scale.”

Kann caught up to Britta and cast her a sidelong look. “Is it dangerous to use holo-technology on such a massive scale?”

She gave him a crooked grin. “No more dangerous than anything Blades do on a daily basis.”

“But we are Blades,” he argued, “and you are…”

His words drifted off as he jerked his gaze away and curled his hands into fists by his side. “We cannot risk our best minds on a project that could be deadly.”

I matched his long strides as we reached the end of the corridor. “If we don’t succeed in diverting the swarm, we could all be dead.”

Britta stopped outside a metallic door, touching Kann on the arm before putting her hand to the side panel and waiting for the door to glide open. “This is just as safe as anything in the academy.”

“That’s what I am afraid of,” Kann muttered darkly, as he watched her walk into the holo-lab.

“Do not worry.” Zav gave the Blade a sharp bow. “I will ensure that your female colleague remains safe.” Then he stepped into the dimly lit lab.

Kann crossed his arms over his chest and growled.