Chapter 10

TEN

Ellion strode into the communications room, his wings tucked tightly against his back in agitation. He had to speak to the Axis, to try and appease them and find a solution to the unrest in the settlements, and he was due for his weekly report, anyway. The room was dimly lit, the air cool and filled with the low hum of machines. A large screen dominated one wall, displaying the convoluted security codes that always came with contacting the Axis.

The codes were received and a white pulse rhythmically flooded the room with too-bright light, acknowledging Ellion’s presence. “Axis, I have a report,” he said.

The pulse didn’t abate as a cold, mechanical voice filled the room. “Overseer of settlements 112-1 to 112-4 of Penal Colony 5-11B, we have been expecting your report. The last shipment of crops from the Terian settlements was subpar. They have not made their quota for the month.”

Ellion’s jaw tightened. “I am aware of the shortfall. Colder than expected temperatures stunted the crops in the beginning of the growing season—as I reported at the time. Also, the disappearance of the six females has caused unrest and disrupted the workflow.”

“That is not our concern,” the Axis replied, the voice devoid of emotion. “You are the overseer. Ensure the settlements meet their quotas. Quell unrest by any means necessary.”

Ellion’s jaw clenched as he fought to conceal the anger in his voice. “The Terians are not machines. What would you have me do to them?” he asked flippantly. “Beat them? Kill them? That would only deplete the workforce further.”

“You forget what they are,” the Axis countered. “The products they send us are worthless. Their status as prisoners is all that matters. They are meant to suffer. The Axis are paid to see that discomfort is central to their existence as inmates of Penal Colony 5-11B.”

Ellion couldn’t conjure anything remotely civil in reply. Even though he knew all this, hearing it said so coldly and factually made his dragon’s blood burn hot. “Acknowledged.”

“We have noted an anomaly in your fortress. A Terian female resides there. Explain.”

Ellion was hoping they did not yet know about Turi. He should have expected they did, despite no obvious surveillance devices. The Axis knew enough to keep everyone on edge. “She was part of the group that was taken by the Rasharks as payment. I had one of them under personal protection. Having contact with an outside species left her unable to return to the settlement so I brought her to the fortress.”

“What is her function there?” came the question that had Ellion’s claws extending.

He swallowed back dragon fire and fought the sudden urge to transform to his dragon form. That was how much he wanted to shield Turi from the Axis. “She will be used as a servant. My Skrac slave is training her.”

“Usage is approved.” There was a pause, then the Axis spoke again, the voice like ice. “Her presence is tolerated, for now. You are forbidden from offering special protections to any Terians in the future, however. They are not to interfere with your duties, Overseer. They are your first and only priority.”

Ellion’s hands clenched into fists. “My duties,” he echoed, the words tasting bitter on his tongue, “will not be affected.”

“Your response is satisfactory,” the cold, mechanical voice said. “We will take the Terian response to the removal of six females into our equation and determine how many can be harvested in the future without inciting unrest.”

Ellion stood rigidly before the pulsing screen of the Axis. All he knew of the group of shadowy figures was that they held profound power in this sector of space. In the past, statements like this by the Axis wouldn’t have affected him. The Terians were a herd he kept watch over and sometimes disciplined. But now, knowing Turi, he questioned all he had been told by the Axis.

Yes, they were prisoners. Inmates of Penal Colony 5-11B, but they had done nothing to earn this. If ancestors of theirs had, well, that debt had long been paid. “Acknowledged,” Ellion said flatly.

“This ends Report 8994-38 given by Overseer of settlements 112-1 to 112-4 of Penal Colony 5-11B,” the Axis’ communication said. “Transmission end.”

The white pulsing stopped. Ellion was left alone in the dimly lit communication chamber. He let out a breath, his muscles tense with pent-up frustration and anger. The rules, the restrictions, the constant surveillance—it was all becoming too much. He rubbed his eyes in an effort to fend off the headache that had sprung in his temples. The session with the Axis had been frustrating. They would never take steps to make the Terians’ existence more bearable. He remembered a time when it wasn’t this bad. When he heard laughter in the settlements. When there were flowers, and bondmates were chosen of mutual agreement, not with hobbles and forced matings.

A sharp pain pierced through Ellion’s head, where that metal implant was. He winced and held a hand over the spot as a memory came to mind. It was not his. Nothing in his experience with the Terians included fat, giggling babies and overflowing stores of food like the scene in his mind. In it, the sky was bright. The star, Purrik, which provided most of the light on the planet, was unobstructed. Now, the Axis’ communications relay—that swirling abomination in the sky—sat in front of it, blocking the light and making it harder for plants to grow. The image faded, but the pain in Ellion’s head did not.

The door to the chamber slid open and Ara slipped in, her shadowy form barely visible in the low light. “Is it over?” she asked, her voice a soft whisper.

Ellion turned to face her, thankful for a friend. “Yes, finally.”

“Did you have to call me a slave to them again?” Ara rose up to her Terian-shaped form, probably to be able to show expression in her gestures. The friendly Skrac talked with her hands a lot.

“Yes,” he replied. “And Turi is a servant you’re training.”

Ara laughed. “Glad to hear I’m useful.”

Useful . That’s all he was to the Axis. They didn’t even call him by name when they addressed him. He was no different from the Terians being assigned numbers at birth. “Tell me, Ara. Do you think the Axis’ objective is to wear the Terians down slowly, over many generations, until nothing of their true culture remains and they’re reduced to beasts? Because it seems that way to me. And I cannot help but wonder when they will feel their job is complete—when the Terians have devolved so much they’ve lost all scraps of who they are? Or when they die off, one by one, until the last of them has blinked out of existence with all the significance of a dead cibrat? ”

Ara moved closer. “Something happened to you.”

He shook his head, his wings rustling with irritation. “I saw an image of a past that wasn’t mine just now. It must have been my predecessor’s, but I don’t know how I could have gotten it.”

“Before that,” Ara said sharply. “What were you thinking about?”

“I was angry with the Axis. I can’t remember my youth, Ara. Don’t you think that’s strange? I can’t remember making the decision to come here and take on the role of overseer.” His hands clenched into fists at his sides. “I’m tired of their rules, Ara. Tired of being their puppet.”

Ara placed a shadowy hand on his arm. Her touch was cool and comforting. “I know, Ellion. But you’ve never questioned your role, your duty before. What’s changed? Think hard.”

Ellion looked away, his gaze fixating on the spot where the holograms had been. “I don’t know. Everything. Nothing.” He paused, his brow furrowing. “I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t serving them. But why? Why can’t I remember my past?”

Ara’s form shifted. The edges of her turned more ragged. “I can’t answer that, Ellion. The last time I tried to, it caused more harm than good.”

His mind tried to untangle the meaning of those words. “We had this conversation before, Ara? There’s another thing I can’t recall.” He threw up his hands. “Why do I follow their rules? What have they ever done for me, for any of us?”

Ara was silent for a moment, her form pulsing gently. “Those are dangerous questions, Ellion. The Axis do not want you asking them. They don’t want you thinking them.”

Ellion’s anger flared, his wings spreading wide. “I’m not a mindless drone, Ara. I have thoughts, feelings, desires. I have…” He trailed off, his mind drifting to Turi. Her smile, her laughter, the way her eyes lit up when she read a passage that captivated her. The way she felt in his arms, her lips on his.

Ara’s voice was soft, almost sad. “You have Turi.”

Ellion’s gaze snapped to hers. “Yes. I have Turi. And I can’t… I won’t let them take her from me. I won’t let them dictate my life anymore.”

Ara nodded, her form solidifying slightly. “Then you must decide, Ellion. You must choose your path. But know this—the path you choose will not be easy. The Axis will not let you go without a fight.”

Ellion’s jaw set. His determination hardened. “Let them try. I’m done being their pawn. I’m done living in the shadows of their rules. It’s time for me to make my own rules, my own life.”

Ara smiled, her eyes glowing softly. “That’s the Ellion I know. That’s the Ellion I’ve been waiting for.”