CHAPTER 15

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‘H ow are they?’ I asked my mother.

She placed her mug down with a world-weary sigh. ‘They’re doing as well as can be expected. Their initial tests results have come back and the doctor is preparing his experiments.’

Though I kept my outward appearance calm and collected, inside I was a ball of anxiety and sadness. I hadn’t met Reece yet, but Adara was a sweetheart that had a soft spot for Artemis. That in itself was enough for her to carve a little soft spot inside me just for her, too.

‘Do you know what he’s planning?’

She pursed her lips and shook her head, the movement tense and jerky. ‘I don’t know the details or the intended outcome. All I know is that they’re preparing the operating equipment. I think they’re planning on implanting the nanites, but that’s just my guess. I could be wrong.’

My father’s hand came to rest on her shoulder in an attempt to reassure her, but there wasn’t any reassuring when we were working for the enemy. There was only so much we could do without putting ourselves in harm’s way, and there were already targets on our backs after Artemis’s first escape. We were treading carefully over very thin ice.

Unfortunately, the cracks were already starting to break that ice apart. The only reason The Program hadn’t come for us yet was their focus was on their newly acquired subjects and the children. The breeding program was going to revolutionise their already revolutionary advancements in both genetic manipulation and technology.

If only their methods were more ethical then our support would have been genuine. They’d lied to us about the validity of their experiments once before, tricking us into signing a contract with little-to-no information about their purpose or their actions. I was ashamed that it took as long as it did for me to finally take note of the numerable red flags and put the pieces together. By then, it was too late. We were just as trapped as their subjects.

‘Any news on… her?’ I dared to ask despite knowing someone might be listening. This entire conversation could get us all into a lot of trouble.

Father was the one who answered this time. ‘Not yet. Most of the talk is how shocked they are she hasn’t already followed them here. After her display at the facility they’re preparing for the worst. They’re experimenting with magnetic fields to contain her and gases that will penetrate her shields. They’re pulling out all the stops and taking no chances.’

Pride swelled inside my chest at the fear she struck in these bastards hearts. She had always been strong and resilient, and I’d always viewed her as this almost untouchable, forbidden, magnificent creature. Now, however, she was truly growing into her own. The Program fucked up by giving her those abilities, and by the stars was she using them to counter their attacks.

She was phenomenal.

‘Still daydreaming about running off into the sunset with her, kid?’ Father teased, pushing my shoulder lightly to accentuate the playfulness.

I scoffed in denial but I knew I wasn’t fooling anyone. I’d been in love with her for so long now I could hardly even remember a time beforehand. The past was no longer as sore a subject as it had been since she’d come alone. Yet, my feelings didn’t change the fact that she would never forgive me for my actions. No matter how much I replayed the past in my head with an alternate ending – always a happy one where we live happily ever after in peace – I couldn’t change the past.

What was done was done and I really should have moved on by now.

If only the thought of touching anyone other than her didn’t fill me with revulsion and self-loathing…

‘Nice try, son, but I think you’ll need to convince yourself you aren’t obsessed with the girl before you can convince anyone else,’ he said, and though his words were teasing the message was anything but. He was right, but I didn’t think I would ever be able to convince myself she wasn’t the best thing that had ever happened to me.

Even if I’d lost her, even if she would never need me in her life ever again, I would never regret my love for her, what I’d done for her. She was the driving force of my very existence, and if that meant I spent my life ensuring she had one from a distance, then so be it.

I met my mother’s eyes from across the table and almost flinched at the understanding shining within them. She could always tell what I was thinking, almost as if she were reading my mind. In reality, she just knew me better than anyone else and could see right through any one of my facades.

The silent alarm flashed to let us know that we were due to report for our next shift soon. Father left to put on his shoes and Mother rose from her seat to come around to where I was sitting. She stroked her fingers over my cranial spikes, flattening them against my head. The maternal gesture was soothing, comforting and familiar.

‘Don’t give up hope, my boy. This one’s worth fighting for, and she’ll need that now more than ever.’

Tears stung at my eyes as I fought them back. A part of me didn’t want to believe her for fear of getting my heart broken even more than it already was. The larger part of me, however, latched on to that hope she was offering and tugged it close, refusing to let it go. The sides warred with each other long after we all left and went our separate ways.

I was still stationed at the academy while Mother had been reassigned to the docking bay during the influx of new guards, and Father had managed to secure a spot guarding the new shipment. Seniority went a long way to ensure his position was stable and we relied heavily on the information he was able to glean from working there.

So far, he had counted almost thirty small children, all of them between the ages of one and three. He said there was one that was more rambunctious than the others that he was the most concerned about. A little boy, one of the youngest but also one of the smartest kept trying to run away to find his mama and someone called Annie. The little tyke had even managed to get as far as the exit and took a few steps onto the station proper before he’d been caught and returned to his room.

What was most concerning, however, was that this was days ago and he hadn’t been seen since. After almost a week of constant mischief, he’d gone silent and disappeared. Whatever the reason behind his sudden absence, it was sure to be anything but good.

I pushed the thoughts of the little boy – and the rest of those poor kids – out of my head to focus on today’s task. Since there was no sign of Artemis making an appearance any time soon then we were going to have to enact Plan B. We were running out of time before our secret meetings were noted and the targets on our backs were activated.

Nova Academy encased me in all its shiny, metallic glory. Designed with sharp lines, cubed shapes and perfect corners, it would have been an imposing structure if it weren’t for the rest of Nova Station mirroring its architecture. Technology ran through every inch of the station, even going so far as to warm the floors and walls. Some of it was even accidental, the electricity heating the metal from within.

I preferred my home world. Its rough terrain that gave way to stunning views, the vibrancy of the various life forms that called Tornulis home. It wasn’t the planet the Tornu race had originated from, but it was the planet we’d claimed as our own centuries ago. The perfect place to give us sanctuary, there were many aspects of Tornulis that challenged us to be better, stronger, hardier. The shifting landscapes, the deadly plants, the native predators, even the weather.

It was a much more stimulating environment than metal, metal, and more metal.

Shaking off the homesickness that threatened to overwhelm me, I stepped through the front doors of the academy and made my way towards the study rooms again. I had succeeded in snagging the job of guarding the room that Dorian had booked this evening, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep doing so.

Many of the other guards enjoyed guarding the study rooms if they weren’t assigned the classrooms for the sole reason of learning. Nova Academy was an elite institution that most were denied entrance to, and this was a rare opportunity to learn from the professors and the cadets that they wouldn’t have had before.

I was getting quite the series of complaints from my peers that I was hogging those opportunities for myself.

Navigating the halls of the academy was a bleak affair. I used to imagine them filled with the sounds of youthful men laughing and having fun, their spirits bright and eager for the future. The corridors, their faces, their hopes and dreams, now it was all cold, empty, and shallow.

Chillingly so.

Most of the cadets had already returned to their dorms after the evening meal by this point, only a few stragglers heading in the same direction as me. I knew we were going to have to wait for the prince and his shadow to detach from their other team members before we could begin, so I prepared myself for a long stretch of standing outside the door.

Those were the most frustrating times for me. I would never admit out loud, but I hated not being able to interact with them unless it was behind closed doors. My silence and indifference, though necessary to keep up appearances, was also a barrier between me and them. They didn’t get to know the real me, and the urge to get to know these people that had become close to Artemis (at varying degrees) was increasingly persistent and itched under my skin when I could not achieve it.

Dorian, Urman, Cadmus and Henrik were the first to arrive, settling in around the table and looking busy. Markus and Xander were quick to follow, positioning themselves at both heads of the table. Neither made a sound and the mood was sombre. This was our first meeting since Reece’s trial and the additional loss of Adara, and it was clear they all felt that loss like a physical blow.

Finally, the last pair arrived and took their spots around the table. I closed the door, locking it behind me, and assumed my position against the back wall in clear view of the window. I felt their eyes on me as they waited for me to get settled, but only one pair remained when they started up the conversation.

The heavy weight of Foryk’s probing stare stabbed through me, but I studiously ignored him. I had nothing to say to him. Not now, not ever.

‘T,’ Xander addressed me. The gravelly quality to his voice sounded painful, like he’d been screaming for turns on end, his throat damaged and raw. ‘Any news on the Artemis front?’

Bromm’s spine straightened at the mention of her and his eyes lit up. His sudden and inexplicable excited energy caused more than more brow to rise, including his.

‘Nothing yet,’ I grudgingly admitted.

The captain pursed his lips in displeasure, but it was Markus that responded. ‘Then we’re going to have to find a way out on our own. We’re out of time.’

‘We need a plan to release Adara and Reece. I’m not leaving them behind,’ Xander said, his ferocity like a whip snapping across the table.

‘Bromm had a dream he would like to discuss,’ Foryk stated. I tensed at the sound of his voice, but the confusion and annoyance at his topic change overrode those feelings.

For the first time since seeing him again, I addressed him directly, my tone riddled with venom. ‘What does that have to do with anything?’

It boiled my blood when he merely shrugged, ignored my question and stared at the Griknot while he waited for him to talk.

‘It wasn’t really a dream,’ the prince objected, throwing a glare towards Foryk. That glare soon morphed into a smug smirk, the tentacles that made up his beard writhing with delight. ‘Artemis and I made contact.’

I froze, emotion overwhelming me at his claim. A part of me was glad she had contacted someone, mostly because it meant she was on her way, but a larger part of me wanted to bang my fists and scream that it wasn’t me.

Why him?

‘What did she say?’ Cadmus asked, surprising me. He had never really participated in any discussions regarding Artemis, so I hadn’t expected him to speak up.

‘She’s stuck on an unknown planet. The same place as the facility she levelled. Things for her are… complicated right now.’

‘Complicated how?’ asked Markus, his question more one of intrigue than concern. The guy rubbed me the wrong way typically without explanation, just a gut feeling, but it was times like this when his reactions were off somehow that really drove it home for me. I did not trust him.

‘That facility…’ Bromm began slowly, choosing his words carefully. ‘It was part of a breeding program. All the women Arty freed are pregnant. Two of them just gave birth.’

‘Stars above,’ Henrik cursed from his seat beside Cadmus, his horror evident.

‘That’s not all.’

‘Are you telling us Artemis is pregnant? ’ Dorian asked, his tone pitched higher than usual in a way that I was sure would have matched my own voice if I’d spoken aloud right then. My breathing had picked up at the thought of what that would mean, not only for the children waiting on her but for herself.

‘No, she’s not,’ Bromm reassured us, and we collectively breathed out our relief. ‘The breeding program was already successful, and each of the women there are already mothers, but they took the kids. That’s what’s in the mystery shipment. That’s why Arty’s coming here. She’s coming for them.’

‘They’re experimenting on babies?’ Henrik practically screeched, his voice reaching levels I thought only Adara could achieve and made us all wince. He grimaced. ‘Sorry…’

‘There’s been talk of a breeding program for a while now,’ I admitted. ‘They wanted to provide their own subjects to avoid taking from the civilian populace. Too many people were noticing the disappearances.’

‘They’re using them as cattle,’ spat Urman, the vitriol in his words so unlike him that Dorian and Cadmus leaned away from him warily.

‘So Artemis is the only one of them that isn’t with child and we have babies being held as test subjects. Did she say how long it would take for her to get here?’ asked Xander, bringing us back to the reason for our meeting.

‘She said she’s working on it and will be here soon, but I didn’t get a precise ETA. But that’s what I wanted to talk to you all about. We discussed a plan of escape, but with at least two dozen children and Reece and Adara…’ he trailed off.

‘We need to split up to escape,’ Markus finished for him.

Bromm nodded his confirmation. ‘Her escape will have to be the distraction we need to get out a different way.’

‘But then what?’ the captain asked, his agitation over the situation brimming over into a restlessness that caused him to start pacing. ‘She takes Addy and Reece away from us?’

‘We need to choose a location to meet her when we’re free and clear,’ Bromm concluded.

The captain’s answering frown was deep, his thick brows lowering so far that they almost completely covered his eyes.

‘I know you don’t want to leave Addy, Xan, but Bromm is right. I don’t see any other way we all get out.’ Markus stood and moved over to Xander. The strength of their friendship was laid bare for us all to see, from the way Markus comforted him and Xander leaned on him so easily. He wasn’t openly vulnerable with many people, but Markus and Adara seemed to be the exceptions. I may not have liked the guy, but it was obvious there was some good in him if the captain trusted him so explicitly.

‘So what’s the plan?’ asked Dorian.

‘Arty gets the kids, Reece and Adara. We use her mission to sneak out undetected while The Program’s attention is on her, and we meet somewhere when we’re all out,’ Markus summarised.

‘Where?’ Bromm asked.

‘It needs to be a planet, one they won’t think to look for us,’ Markus said thoughtfully, stroking the blonde scruff on his chin.

‘It can’t be any of our home planets. We’ll endanger our families and that’s the first place they’ll look,’ Urman said, his expression scrunched into one of agonising loss. He must have quite a few people he would miss greatly. I was lucky enough that the only people I cared about were here with me or would be soon enough. I didn’t envy him.

‘Can we ask your father for sanctuary, Bromm?’ Henrik asked hopefully, but the blue Griknot shook his head vehemently.

‘I don’t think he would align himself with The Program, but there’s no way to be sure. If it protected our people then he’d do whatever was necessary. I can’t say we’d be safe there.’

‘Then where does that leave us?’ Cadmus huffed in frustration.

An idea hooked into my mind, shallowly at first but it quickly dug its way deeper as the room continued to debate back and forth. Soon, the idea had solidified as the only option, but it wasn’t a good one. There was a reason our people had fled…

‘I think I know a place,’ I raised my voice to be heard over them all.

Silence ensued as their attention swivelled to me.

‘Not there,’ Foryk objected firmly, apparently thinking along the same lines.

I cast him a derogatory glance before dismissing him and focusing back on the others. ‘We can’t go to any occupied planet, so that leaves us with the unoccupied ones.’

I waited for understanding to hit, and I was pleased that it didn’t take long.

‘The Forbidden Planet is forbidden for a reason, Ta-‘

I cut off Foryk’s continued objections before he could speak my name. I never wanted to hear it from his mouth ever again. ‘There’s nowhere else. It’s the only place we’ll be safe from The Program. There’s no way they’d go there.’

But Foryk was undeterred. ‘We might be safe from The Program, but we wouldn’t be safe from the creatures that call it home. There’s a reason the entire Tornu race relocated to a different planet. We’d be leaving one danger behind for another.

‘Actually, I agree with T,’ Bromm said, causing Foryk to snap his head the other way to glare at his friend.

‘I do, too.’ That one came from Cadmus.

‘I see no other viable options,’ said Xander. ‘Why don’t we put it up for a vote? Raise your hand if you agree that we head for the Forbidden Planet.’

All hands rose bar Foryk’s, and a swell of pride burst inside my chest alongside the urge to gloat that they’d chosen me over him. Well, my idea, but still.

Take that, asshole.

‘Then it’s decided,’ Xander confirmed with a finality that enveloped the small room. It pressed down on us like a suffocating fog filled with anxiety and anticipation. The plan may not have been ideal, but this was our way forward. Whether we liked it or not didn’t matter. We were getting out of here, and soon.