CHAPTER 2

Alexander

T he cadets marched in two straight lines from one class to the next. My current job was to ensure they maintained correct posture and procedure without deviating from their formation. Even an inch and I would be forced to issue a demerit. Team after team made their way down the corridors of Nova Academy, always moving one step forward, never allowed to stop or take a step back.

This was not what I signed up for when I joined the military. I wanted to make a difference by shutting down the illegal operations that slithered throughout the underbelly of the Intergalactic Union. Instead, we’d somehow ended up under their thumbs.

Dorian Ituk made brief eye contact with me as he and his team passed on their way into the classroom. A quick glance down showed his hand was arranged into a loose thumbs-up. I noted the way the Tornu guard was staring me down across the way, his perceptive glare reason enough to contain the relief that my body was so eager to expel. This was exactly the news I had been hoping for.

I stepped into the classroom behind the last cadet and closed the door behind me. The guards always attempted to sit in on my classes, but I stood my ground with a firm no every time. If they wanted to take a class at Nova Academy they should have applied and paid their dues. Most other instructors agreed with my stance and also refused them entry, though there were some that were either spineless assholes or in league with The Program. I had no proof one way or the other just yet but my bet was they were the moles who allowed them entry onto Nova Station in the first place.

Rule number one of surviving a coup: don’t trust anyone.

Fortunately for me, I was lucky enough to already have a group of people I trusted.

‘Good afternoon, cadets,’ I greeted the quiet room. There wasn’t much levity or conversation these days, but at least I didn’t have to deal with a rowdy class. ‘Today you will be separating from your teams for an assessment. Please find your names on your temporary assigned holo-tables,’ I instructed.

They complied, though with a groan here and there. I was sure that they had studied and would do well individually so I wasn’t worried. It was a requirement at Nova Academy before the take-over that cadets studied rigorously with allocated times and tutoring options available. Now, however, there was no free time for anyone. The cadets’ only responsibilities were sleep, eat, go to class, and study. Socialising was no longer permitted, and we were under such close watch that even trying had dire consequences. I had noticed that the teams were struggling because of this, their inability to communicate with one another outside of Academy business was inhibiting their growth as a cohesive unit.

Which was why that thumbs-up from Dorian was such a welcome sight. It meant we had acquired one of the only rooms without surveillance beyond the assigned guard, and our assigned guard was one of the few that was on our side. For a few hours we would be able to speak freely without repercussions in order to plan.

In the past solar, we had been successful in acquiring the room under the perfect circumstances only four times. This would be the fifth, and it meant we would have to cram in a lot of information into a short time frame. Luckily, we each had plenty of time to ruminate over the problem and try to find a solution. This meeting would hopefully be the last before we had a concrete plan in place that we could finally, finally enact.

The two teams that made up my newest squad were scattered around the room as they took the test. It was simple enough if they’d done their homework, which I was sure they had. Both teams were particularly morose, though one more so than the other. With Arty and Reece no longer members of their team, Bromm and Foryk had been absorbed into another’s. Bromm’s influence as a prince ensured the two of them remained together, but they had the added complication of trying to skirt around their newest teammates to get to our secret meetings.

Luckily, our guy on the inside had enough connections to assist us with that little problem. The Program didn’t just focus on experimenting on people, it seemed. They liked to have a multitude of methods in which to destroy lives and had also invented a concoction of substances for an array of purposes. Our access to those drugs was limited, but we were fortunate enough to have a small in.

I maintained my watchful stance at the podium in the front of the classroom. Sitting down and kicking my feet up could wait for when I was in bed with Addy. We had officially declared our relationship through the correct channels, and now were living together as a couple. It would have been a dream come true if not for The Program tarnishing everything they came in contact with.

I was unsure how many other military bases had been taken, but there were enough that we had been warned that any attempts to reach out for help would be pointless. I had looked into it when everything first went down. My ship was gone, completely destroyed in the attack, and all other modes of transportation were under heavy surveillance. I wanted to get Addy out of here as soon as possible, but that wasn’t an option.

Slow and steady, she'd remind me whenever I got frustrated. We would get out, but we needed to do things properly or else lose our only chance.

I wasn’t the only one who was impatient, however. Addy, Bromm and Reece were especially eager to find Mercer, but I was no longer certain finding her would be the best course of action. The colonel still wanted me to get her on our side, but with her back in The Program’s clutches I didn’t see that happening any time soon. I doubted they would allow for a second escape attempt. They would learn and adapt from the first one.

Our guy on the inside was more aware of that than anyone else, since he was the one who’d helped her escape in the first place.

I wasn’t sure what they dynamic was between them, or why he chose to help her specifically, but he hadn’t elaborated in the time I’d known him. Each time I tried to bring it up he shut down and refused to speak on the subject. It was a curious reaction that indicated to me that this was somehow personal to him. Sure he was one of their guards, but he wasn’t on their side and that was all that mattered to me. His personal stake in this fight was irrelevant.

Didn’t stop me and Addy from theorising, though. It had become our favourite pastime as of late. I wasn’t typically the type for gossip and rumours, but there wasn’t much else to do these days. It helped entertain us in the late hours of the night.

‘Time,’ I called out when the test was over. It was pointless since everyone had already finished, but I did it anyway. ‘You shall receive your results next week. Dismissed.’

I opened the door and stood back to watch over them as they left. Urman brushed by me on his way out, and I felt him slip something into the pouch on my belt that contained my holo-tab. A note, then. I would need to slip away to the restroom, one of the only places that still provided any degree of privacy, to read it. I was eager to find out the time of our meeting.

I found the closest facilities and made my way inside, ignoring the way the guards followed. I entered one of the stalls and made a show of using the toilet for their benefit. I may have added a few extra grunts and other noises using different parts of my body to really sell the act since I didn’t actually have to go, and I took a certain amount of pleasure when I heard them exit back out the door.

Still, I waited for the sound of the flush to read the note then quickly threw it into the disappearing water to dispose of the message. It was the last timeslot available for the private study rooms. Perfect. With no one waiting to use the room after us we would be able to take the time we needed without rushing.

Yet, despite everything going according to plan, I had a bad feeling growing in my gut. Everything was going too smoothly. I was waiting for the catch.

Before I could find out, however, I needed to keep up appearances and eat with the other instructors. We had our own cafeteria separate from the cadets with a better selection of food. Markus had been assigned to the staff kitchens and he was by far the best chef I had ever met. I just hoped that he already knew about the meeting because I wouldn’t get the chance to talk to him beforehand.

Adara was already seated at our regular spot when I walked in and she waved me over as soon as she saw me. She was always happy to see me, her smile lighting her not only her face but the entire room. She was still and always would be the best part of my day.

I swung by her to place a kiss on her head before making my way to the line of food. It was self-serve, everything already pre-made and set up buffet-style. I grabbed a tray, loaded it with a variety of meats and vegetables, and settled beside Addy to dig in.

Neither of us spoke, the risk too great in public. It was even too great in the privacy of our own suite, the cameras that had been installed by The Program obvious if you knew where to look. It was harder for Addy since she liked to talk, but we either stuck to harmless topics or took comfort in each other’s company in silence, speaking with our body language rather than our voices.

It had been an adjustment for me as well. One of the things I loved the most about Addy was her ability to talk about any and everything and never stop. It had become a sort of soundtrack to my life. I used to find it frustrating or annoying at times, but now that it was gone I missed it more than I ever thought possible. I wanted my life to be filled with endless chatter, her bubbly personality shining through in every aspect of her actions.

Instead, I settled for holding her close whenever possible.

On the walk back to our suite I gripped her hand in mine, tangling our fingers together and enjoying the way she squeezed mine back. Our hands swung between us as we walked, and I had the sudden and strange urge to pick her up and carry her instead. It might have had something to do with how short she was compared to me. Her arm was raised to reach my hand and that height difference made me want to scoop her up and pin her to my chest.

No matter what happened in that meeting, there were going to be lots of cuddles tonight.

Typically we would dress down and get comfortable for the evening once we returned back to our suite, but today was not an ordinary evening. Instead, we rolled up our sleeves and lounged about watching something on the holo-board that neither one of us paid any attention to.

Instead, I kept glancing at the time.

As time crawled closer to the meeting, I leaned down as if to bury my nose in Addy’s hair to inhale her scent and whispered in her ear. ‘Staggered exit. Opposite directions. Ten clicks between. You go first.’

‘Hey, I have a tutoring session tonight,’ she spoke up loud enough for the surveillance equipment to pick up.

I raised a brow in question, wondering what she was up to. This wasn’t a part of the plan I was privy to...

‘Oh?’

‘You wanna stop by and walk me back?’ she asked, and

I played along even if I didn’t fully understand.

‘Or I could just come with you?’

She beamed up at me. ‘Sure! That would be fun. You could be my assistant.’

I snorted. ‘Yeah, okay. I’ll be your assistant.’

She winked at me and I chuckled at the insinuation. We didn’t have sex, but those watching us didn’t know that. We realised early on that they would assume our relationship to be sexual in nature, if only because she was a Griknot. We had fun with it most nights, making the bed creak and being obnoxious with our noises. Addy took things a bit further than just nights, though, and tried to be as cringeworthy with her flirting throughout the day as well.

It had become a sort of inside joke between us.

‘Well, sugar tits, we should probably get there before the cadets,’ I exaggerated my wink back while she tried not to laugh at the nickname.

‘You’re right, twinkle tush. Let’s go now.’

Twinkle tush? I sure hoped that one stayed behind closed doors…

I pinched her butt on the way out the door for good measure, and also as a punishment for the nickname. She squealed and smacked at my arm, but the smirk on her face told me all I needed to know. She was going to get me back for that, and I was going to have to find another way to punish her.

‘Brat,’ I teased.

‘Sorry master,’ she retorted and I couldn’t contain my groan. It wasn’t completely faked, either. Just because she wasn’t into sex didn’t mean I wasn’t, and I was finding my hand just wasn’t doing the trick as much lately. If we weren’t being held captive I might have taken her up on her offer to sleep with someone else. As long as she watched.

‘Watch it,’ I warned, letting her know she was close to crossing the line. She was usually pretty good at respecting my body’s needs and not making them worse, but sometimes she got a little carried away.

She tangled her fingers in my shirt sleeve, gently stroking along the skin beneath in apology. We walked the rest of the way like that.

As expected, the study room was empty when we arrived, but it didn’t stay that way for long. Markus appeared with a tray full of food, a grin on his face despite the way Addy stiffened beside me at his entrance. Things between them had always been tense, but ever since the take-over she had been even more stand-offish with my best friend and I hadn’t been able to figure out why. I had decided a long time ago to stay out of it. I trust her ability to read people, but I was still capable of making my own decisions over who to trust. And I trusted Markus implicitly.

I greeted him with a smile and a fist bump, ignoring how Addy didn’t even try to hide her glare. She seemed almost afraid of him, always becoming jumpy whenever he was around. Still, she never tried to explain so I let it rest. I doubted I would ever understand her reaction to him so I saw no reason to agonise over it.

He's also been a wreck since Jorna went missing during the take-over. He hadn't seen or her from her since, and his concern over his girlfriend was evident in the dark shadows beneath his eyes and the rough stubble on his chin. I didn't want to add to his stress by bringing up whatever was going on between him and Addy.

We made small talk while we waited for the others to arrive. It didn’t take long. Dorian, Urman, Cadmus and Henrik arrived first but were quickly followed by Bromm and Foryk. It was when the door closed behind the last of them that our assigned guard arrived, taking his place at the back of the room as if standing out of the way while he watched over us. It was simply to keep up appearances in case another guard checked on us, but he was just as included in this meeting as everyone else here.

He checked the room for listening devices before giving us the go-ahead to start.

‘It’s good to see you all,’ I started.

‘We don’t have much time,’ Markus reminded me before I could continue.

I cleared my throat, hating the way I couldn’t take the time to truly check in with them. ‘Right. Straight to business then. Any updates?’

Our guard stepped forward. ‘They’re increasing their numbers. They have a new shipment coming in tomorrow with more guards.’

‘That’s not good,’ Addy supplied, deterred.

I placed my hand on her leg and squeezed gently, reminding her she wasn’t alone and not all hope was lost. ‘Do you know what’s in the shipment?’

He shook his head. The mask covering the lower half of his face reminded me of a muzzle and I wondered how he was able to stand constantly wearing the thing. It made his voice coming out muffled when he spoke. ‘I wasn’t about to get that much information. I only know about it because of the guards. Our schedules are changing. Security will be a lot tighter.’

I blew out a breath through thin lips. ‘Then we’re out of time.’

‘Maybe not,’ Markus piped up. He pulled out a small metallic item and placed in on the holo-table. ‘The colonel gave me this to show you. One of their facilities was destroyed from the inside,’ he spoke as a holographic image appeared to float above the table.

‘And how does that help us?’ Cadmus asked the question on all of our minds.

Markus simply gestured to the hologram. ‘Just watch.’

The image began to move and it took a moment for us to process what we were seeing. Two women were in the centre of a room surrounded by a contingency of guards aiming weapons in their direction and a single scientist. One woman was on the floor and looked to be unconscious, darts sticking out of her skin, while the other stood over her protectively. But what really grabbed my attention was the unusual substance that seemed to be spreading over the latter’s skin.

She was speaking to the scientist, but I couldn’t get a visual of either of their faces from the way the camera was angled. He pointed his own gun at the pair, first at the unconscious woman, but the vertical female merely squared her shoulders and glared him down.

Gasps echoed throughout the room when he pulled the trigger and a beam of plasma shot right at the woman on the floor, only it didn’t get very far. The other woman had curled herself around her faster than I could comprehend, but that wasn’t all. The plasma seemed to hit an invisible wall, splatting against it before dispersing completely without any harm to the women.

Shot after shot tried to break through the mysterious barrier, but none were successful. When the scientist realised he wasn’t getting through he backed away into the crowd of guards to hide behind them while they shot at the women instead. The barrier had somehow fallen away, but I watched as each dart bounced right off her skin, whatever was coating it refusing to allow anything to penetrate.

The scientist backed away from the room fully just as the woman straightened. The guards seemed to realise the danger they were now in, their earlier confidence no longer present.

I was angry on the women’s behalf that the scientist managed to escape, but that anger quickly dissipated and morphed into shock at what we witnessed next. In less than a minute she had killed every last guard – there must have been around two dozen – brutally slaying them where they stood. A few had enough time to race to the door, but she got them before they were able to escape.

Blood sprayed. Limbs were torn from bodies. Skulls were caved in. She even managed to rip one man’s head clean off his body with one pull. Brain matter and other organs created a macabre carpet on the hard cement floor. My stomach turned at the sight and I had to force down the urge to throw up.

Once they were all dead she took in her work before kneeling beside her friend. She checked her pulse and the way she relaxed told us she was still alive. The woman hauled her friend into her arms, then thought better of it and tossed her over her shoulder. The unconscious woman dangled limply, but it allowed for her to keep one hand free as the cameras followed them through the hallways.

And one arm was all she needed to kill every last person in the facility. At least, the ones that were her enemies. Each one of us was enraptured when she walked down multiple hallways and corridors, unlocking doors as she went. From every door she unlocked, out stepped another subject. All were women. And all were distraught. They cried into each other’s arms while some ran around frantically as if searching for something. Or someone, if the way they called out was any indication.

The original woman was still encased in whatever it was that had covered her skin, and the other began to notice. They flinched away from her as if they would contract it like a disease, and I wondered if that was an actual possibility. Eventually, she calmed them down enough to pass the unconscious woman to another – a redhead – who took her carefully and tenderly. Then they all climbed up the countless flights of stairs until they reached the top. Bright light filtered through when they opened the door into the outside world and stepped out.

All except one.

Room after room, floor after floor, she destroyed everything in sight. She smashed objects, obliterated walls, pounded her fists into metal tables and holo-systems. And when it all burned to the ground she was still inside it.

The feed cut out. The room was eerily silent as we processed what we’d just witnessed.

Whatever they had done to that woman had clearly been a mistake, for they had created a weapon that not only prevented them from controlling her but allowed her to strike back.

Only two questions remained: did she survive the destruction she’d caused, and was she now a new danger to the Intergalactic Union?

‘What the fuck?’ asked Bromm, his voice cutting through the silence like the sharpest blade.

‘How does that help us?’ Henrik asked, and one glance at his green complexion proved how much that footage had freaked him out. Even I had to admit it wasn’t easy to watch, and I had been part of a few bloody battles.

‘That, my friends, was Subject A-173. Her friends call her Artemis,’ Markus informed us, and both Addy and I inhaled sharply as that information sunk in.

‘Holy shit,’ said Addy, her voice breathy and weak.

‘What? What does that mean?’ Dorian asked and was quickly backed up by the rest of his team.

When Markus responded, his words slammed down on us like a physical blow. ‘You knew her as Arthur Mercer.’