Page 24

For several minutes, nothing. Just the hollow echo of machinery and my own accelerated heartbeat. Then my neural interface flares with an incoming transmission:

HELLO, LITTLE SISTER. TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH.

My breath catches. It’s really her. The encryption signature is unmistakable—a variation of the algorithm we developed together years ago. My fingers find the keys again:

HOW ARE YOU ALIVE? I WATCHED YOU FLATLINE.

The response comes immediately, burning across my vision:

YOU WATCHED WHAT I WANTED YOU TO SEE. JUST LIKE YOU ONLY SAW WHAT YOU WANTED TO SEE WITH KAI.

I swallow hard, memories threatening to surface. But this isn’t the time for ghosts. I need answers.

WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?

A pause. Long enough that I wonder if she’s gone. Then:

EVOLUTION, NEON. WHILE YOU WERE RUNNING, I WAS LEARNING. THE BLACK ECLIPSE SHOWED ME WHAT WE COULD BECOME—BEYOND HUMAN, BEYOND THE LIMITATIONS OF FLESH. THEY MADE ME BETTER.

My stomach twists. I’ve seen Eclipse “improvements”—people turned into weapons, their humanity stripped away in service to something colder, more calculating.

THEY DIDN’T MAKE YOU BETTER. THEY TURNED YOU INTO THEIR ATTACK DOG.

The response flashes instantly, her rage palpable even through code:

SAYS THE WOMAN PLAYING PET TO A KYVERNIAN CAPTAIN. HOW’S THE MATE-BOND TREATING HIM? POORLY, I’D IMAGINE. BOND-SICKNESS IS QUITE DEADLY WHEN LEFT... UNRESOLVED.

I stiffen, fear and anger tangling in my chest. How does she know about Cirdox’s condition?

LEAVE HIM OUT OF THIS. THIS IS BETWEEN US.

IS IT? BECAUSE FROM WHERE I’M SITTING, HE’S VERY MUCH IN THE MIDDLE OF IT. YOUR NEW WEAKNESS. YOUR ACHILLES HEEL. YOUR KAI 2.0.

The comparison hits like a physical blow. I push back from the console, trying to steady my breathing while my implantsregister the spike in my heart rate, the flood of cortisol through my system. She’s trying to rattle me, and it’s working.

WHAT DO YOU WANT, KIRA?

A longer pause this time. When her answer comes, it’s deceptively simple:

I WANT WHAT WAS TAKEN FROM ME. I WANT YOU TO FEEL WHAT I FELT. I WANT YOU TO WATCH EVERYTHING YOU CARE ABOUT BURN, JUST LIKE I DID.

I’M NOT YOUR ENEMY. THE ECLIPSE KILLED KAI, NOT ME.

NO, YOUR COWARDICE KILLED HIM. YOUR HESITATION. YOUR FEAR. AND NOW YOUR PRECIOUS CAPTAIN WILL PAY THE PRICE. TICK TOCK, VALKYRIE. TICK TOCK.

The transmission cuts abruptly, leaving me alone with the hum of machinery and the weight of her threats. My enhanced vision automatically calculates probable attack vectors, escape routes, defensive positions—cold, tactical analysis that can’t begin to address the storm of emotions churning inside me.

I slam my fist against the console, the pain a welcome distraction from the fear clawing at my chest. She’s alive. She’s with the Eclipse. And she’s coming for us—for Cirdox.

Because of me.

“Neon?” Zara’s voice makes me flinch. I didn’t hear her approach—too focused on Kira’s words, on the implications of her threats. “We’ve got incoming vessels. Three Eclipse cruisers just dropped out of hyperspace at the edge of the system.”

Ice floods my veins. “How much time do we have?”

“Two hours, maybe less. Captain’s calling us back to the ship.” Her russet fur bristles with tension as she studies my face. “You okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

More accurate than she knows. “I’m fine. Just... working through some data.” I close the console, erasing all traces of my conversation with Kira. “Tell Cirdox I’ll meet him on the bridge.”