CHAPTER 6

Bromm

M y heart was still racing from the sheer panic of being discovered. I hadn’t wanted anyone to know who I was. It was a stipulation of my enrolment that I had personally included and actively enforced. I had enough siblings that I should have remained anonymous within the crowd of fellow cadets, but already I had met two people who knew my face and my title. And now that number had doubled thanks to CWO Brin’s formal (ish) response to recognising me.

Stars damn it!

I’d known Foryk from my time doing charity work on Burnos a few solars back. I’d been helping rebuild a settlement that had fallen prey to the never-ending wildfires that plagued the planet, and Foryk had been part of the hired security. We’d chatted a few times, got drinks, and even shared a lover or two before we went our separate ways. I considered him a friend, though we’d fallen out of contact with one another recently, but life got in the way and I didn’t blame either of us for that.

It was good to see him. I hadn’t realised how much I’d missed his companionship.

When he recognised me, all it took was a single panicked look from me to understand I wasn’t advertising my royal title. He’d always been able to read me like a book, which was what had made us such good friends in the first place. I was forced to wear an invisible mask in public to enforce the visual of the Griknot Royal Family’s desired image. Not that it was entirely a lie, but a prince couldn’t just do what he wanted when he wanted to. A scandal could be detrimental to the entire family and our influence. But Foryk was able to see through all that straight away. He had approached me for a night of wild fun when he noticed my forced smile taking its toll back on Burnos.

I mean, who was still smiling after the loss of so much life and livelihood? Me, that’s who. It was deemed necessary by my family’s PR team to ‘boost morale’, and I wasn’t in a position to defy those orders. Father would have pulled me from Burnos and my work before I could blink if he found me acting at all morose.

‘The people look up to us,’ he would say. ‘We must be their beacon of light, shining upon them to light up their darkness and show them the way.’

I didn’t necessarily disagree, but it did become exhaustive after a while.

I’d spent an entire solar of my later adolescence in the Border System with my uncle and cousins in an effort to clean up the more polluted areas. Scrubbing oily residue off of every surface and object had become a gruelling, impossible, never-ending task that still gave me nightmares to this day.

I enjoyed my charity work. Helping people was my main aspiration in life. I wasn’t anywhere close to the front of the line for Father’s throne and I was okay with that, but that didn’t mean I wanted to lounge about like a useless idiot like some of my brothers and sisters. I wanted to forge my own path to help improve other people’s lives. Ruling was out, so charity work it was.

Foryk’s large, steady presence moved behind me, a single oversized hand coming to rest on the small of my back. It was grounding, and I was grateful to my friend for his support. My heartrate slowed significantly, and I was finally able to process the scene in front of me.

The CWO had fallen again, buried under a pile of junk and wriggling to get free. Arty was quick to try to help, but it was going to take a little time to move some of the heavier items off of her to allow her escape. Reece, our most recent addition, was quick to follow Arty’s lead, helping to move things out of the way to free the clumsy woman. I wasn’t mad about him replacing the other guy after the way he’d behaved, though. He gave off a more laid-back, easy vibe. Quiet so far, but there was a kindness in his eyes one didn’t often see in people from the upper echelons of society.

Foryk and I stayed back, unable to find a place to safely fit in the mess, so we kept our distance to avoid adding to the mayhem.

‘Four turns,’ his deep, gravelly voice muttered in my ear. ‘We only have to do this for four turns, and then we can eat.’

I snickered at his eagerness for food. And for this to job to be over. I didn’t blame him. He was a big guy and consumed more than anyone I had ever met. Tall and wide, his space for movement in here was restricted. There was probably not much he would be able to do to help, beyond a little heavy lifting here and there when required. I was just happy we weren’t going to be scrubbing anything. I wasn’t too fussed about the food since I never ate for pleasure, finding it in other, more stimulating ways.

We soon found a system that worked to minimise the accidents after a few more incidents occurred. Arty and Reece worked side-by-side organising a random pile, I stayed on hand, flitting between tasks wherever I was needed, and Foryk played bodyguard for CWO Brin. He had to frequently grab her by the straps of her overalls to prevent her from knocking over everything in her path. At one point he’d been too slow and ended up jumping in front of the avalanche to spare her being buried again. Luckily, he was broad and strong enough to withstand the barrage. We had to stop our current work to sort out that pile instead.

Four turns were over a lot quicker that I had anticipated. We welcomed the next team taking over our shift, giving them a rundown of how to proceed. One of them turned a startling shade of white as soon as he caught sight of the work that needed to be done. But they exchanged glances before rolling up their sleeves and digging in, giving us the chance to get out of there.

We followed Arty one deck higher to our room, where we took the opportunity to freshen up before the speaker alerted us to head back to the mess hall for the evening meal. Then it was a case of elbowing our way through the crowd of cadets all going in the same direction.

When we eventually made it to the mess hall Arty vaguely separated from us to eat his meal on the outskirts of our group, and it left a bad taste in my mouth. Our leader was acting like he wasn’t welcome in his own team and that settled heavily in my gut. I wanted to include him, to get to know him better, to start building a foundation for a friendship. Also, I had been raised with the knowledge that mealtimes were family time. It was a time for bonding and togetherness, and the way he was stripping that away from us didn’t sit well with me. I didn’t think it was personal, though. He was very obviously a reserved character and I understood pretty quickly that it would take some time and effort for him to open up to anyone here.

I wondered what would happen when Arty finally did open up enough to let us in. Would we see a completely different side to him that he kept hidden until we’d broken down those enormous walls? Or was what we saw exactly what we were going to get?

The mess hall soon filled up with both cadets and officers. They created a cacophony of noise from the scraping of utensils on the metal trays, to the chewing and gulping of food and drink, to the buzz of conversation, squashing any possibility of a real conversation. I could barely even hear Foryk or Reece and they were right beside me. I would just have to wait to strike up a conversation at the end of the day when we were alone in our room.

It was a completely different atmosphere from the previous meals we had eaten here, and that was when I realised the captain was nowhere to be seen. It clicked for me then that the tone was different because of his absence. Was he truly such a terror? I didn’t get the sense that he was a difficult person to be around so much as that he didn’t want to be saddled with a bunch of entitled newbies.

Arty rose with his empty tray, deposited it with the others ready to be cleaned, and made his way towards the wall by the exit to wait for us there. I didn’t take it personally, the way he left us. I was prepared to exercise my patience with him to earn his trust.

As I was sitting there eating my meal and minding my own business, I caught a hushed conversation from nearby. At the table behind mine sat a couple of officers I had yet to meet. They were using the surrounding natter to drown out their words, but clearly had overlooked the small gap between the tables that allowed me to eavesdrop.

I had to strain my ears to hear them, but I always did like a good bit of gossip.

‘I heard they shut it down,’ one officer retorted to whatever was said that I hadn’t caught.

‘They can’t shut down what they can’t find, and I intend to find it.’

‘Don’t be stupid. Why would you want to get involved in that?’

‘Why else? I want them to give me the implants. I heard they managed to create a device that heals you within seconds from any injury and stops illnesses before they can take root. And that’s just from one of their legal branches, imagine what they’ve achieved at the illegal ones.’

‘It’s illegal for a reason. They’re torturing people, turning them into monsters–’

The other guy scoffed loudly, interrupting his friend’s objections. ‘Whatever. Your source is just scared of what they don’t understand. The Program is going to change everything, and I don’t want to miss out on being on the right side when shit hits the fan. The entire Intergalactic Union will be ushered into a new age. Just you wait and see.’

The conversation was drowned out by another surge of noise, and I lost track of what they were saying. The parts I did manage to catch left me feeling cold and clammy. Something was happening within the IU that I hadn’t heard of, and it included hurting people. Why? In the name of science? An attempt at terrorism? A coup?

I needed to speak to my father about this.

But I wasn’t the only one to eavesdrop on them. Foryk had stiffened into a statue of muscle and spikes beside me, and Reece was breathing heavily on my other side, a look of unadulterated anger on his face. His pale white skin was turning a ruddy red, the pointed tips of his ears twitching with aggravation.

Whatever we had just learned, it wasn’t good.

‘Should we tell someone? The captain, maybe?’ Foryk whispered as much as he could under the overwhelming volume of the room.

‘Do you know what they were talking about, Bromm?’ asked Reece, his tone fierce with barely restrained fury.

I reared back at the accusation. ‘Why would I know anything about it?’

‘They were talking about it as if it were common knowledge among the military or the government,’ he retorted. ‘And no one is more connected to the government here than you.’

He wasn’t wrong, but he was well off the mark. ‘I’ve never heard anything about what that was. In fact, I was just thinking about talking to my father. He hadn’t mentioned anything, but that doesn’t mean he’s lacking the information.’

I wanted to snap back at him for the way he was directing his ire at me. I had no clue where it stemmed from to be so severe so soon, but this news was clearly triggering him for some reason. I let it slide, choosing to be the bigger person and reassure him instead.

‘I don’t know what’s going on, but if I can find anything out I will,’ I vowed.

He relaxed marginally at my words, but they didn’t do anything to take back what had been overheard. Something big was happening, and it sounded bad .

?? ?

Arty greeted us by the door when we finally caught up, but none of us so much as acknowledged him in return. He frowned at the reception, and then wiped all emotion from his face and turned from us to lead the way as if he didn’t care. I felt guilty for treating him so poorly, especially when I heard my mother’s voice chiding me in the back of my mind about how a prince should behave, but I was too caught up in the new information we had acquired to care too deeply.

I wasn’t sure why he was leading us around like we were incapable of finding where we needed to be on our own, or why we allowed it and followed along like babies toddling after their mother. It didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, but it was simultaneously insulting and a comfort not to have to use so much brain power because it was someone else’s job. It gave me the space I needed to process the information I had accidentally gleaned and decide how to proceed. I needed to inform my father, just in case he didn’t already know. In all likelihood, he was more informed than most of the Intergalactic Union. As our people’s King, it was his duty. What I did doubt was him involving himself in such a matter. He may have been a king, but he was a good one that ruled with fairness and compassion. He would never stand by and let people suffer for any reason.

Furthermore, the highest-ranking officer on this vessel, and the easiest to contact, was Captain Hironimus. The possibility that he already had the information regarding whatever illegal program was being discussed was high, especially with way the officers had spoken about it as if it was already a hot topic. But on the other hand, was he high enough up the food chain to warrant taking action against such rumours? He was taxiing cadets to a from an academy, not roaming the stars fighting battles and policing the IU.

Was it worth bringing him into it?

No, probably not. The Intergalactic Union’s Board of Officials clearly knew what was going on if even their lower ranked military officers were in the loop. There was no doubt in my mind that they were actively working to shut down any illegal experimentations. Particularly if my understanding from what I’d heard was correct and they were torturing people in the process.

That just left speaking with Father, which I would do as soon as we reached the academy grounds, and I had access to methods of communication.

When we reached our room, Arty left us to our own devices, setting the holo-tab on in its place at the foot of his bunk. A white light blinked to confirm it was charging, and then was promptly ignored by Arty as he kicked off his shoes, climbed under his blanket and faced the wall.

If that wasn’t a dismissal, I didn’t know what was. I worried for a moment if we’d offended him or hurt his feelings, but he didn’t strike me as the type to care about other people’s bad moods. Though, he did come to my defence against our previous roommate whose name I had discovered was Tarren Christianson; a name I would actively avoid if I ever heard in the hallways.

It was starting to annoy me how I couldn’t get a read on him. Everything he did was so contradictory that once I thought I was finally figuring him out, he would do something that would completely obliterate my perspective of him.

Foryk squeezed my arm as he followed Arty’s actions, climbing into the bunk above his and curling up as small as he could make himself. If anyone else saw him like that it would be a strange sight to see, such a large man wedged into such a tight space and making it seem even smaller. But I knew better. Foryk preferred cramped spaces when he was feeling overwhelmed. He once told me it made him feel like he was being hugged, and that helped soothe him enough to let him fall asleep. Why he needed to feel that sort of comfort I had never learned, but I wasn’t about to ask him. That wasn’t how our friendship worked.

When we were on Burnos, I often curled myself around him as much as I could manage to help him when he struggled. He had a lot of pain and suffering in his past that would give him nightmares and make whatever sleep he managed restless and fitful. I hated seeing him like that, so I did what I could to help. Now, though, I didn’t want to clue anyone into the depths of our friendship or give our teammates the wrong idea. Foryk and I may have shared a lover between us a few times, but that didn’t mean we were lovers ourselves. Our relationship was purely platonic and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It was one of the main reasons why we worked; he didn’t try to get into my pants like everyone else.

Too many times I had people, both men, women, and others attempted to seduce me for the fun of it. I was just another notch on their bedpost, a dare or bucket list item to check off. Not only would they experience fucking a famously amorous Griknot, but a prince to boot. The last thing I found attractive was being somebody’s one-time kink.

My ability to trust others’ intentions had depleted significantly until I’d met him.

Reece settled in his bunk on his back, staring blankly at the ceiling and caught up in his thoughts. I curled up in my own bed, mulling over the day’s events. I would have to wait to speak to my father, but that couldn’t be helped. Captain Hironimus was a wild card and probably of no use anyway, so that was out.

Right now, the only thing I could do was sleep, so that was what I did.