Page 28

VAREK

R ivera darted to the console, her silver markings brightening as she connected with the ancient system. My body tensed, ready. The unconscious guard lay hidden behind storage containers, but his absence wouldn't go unnoticed for long.

Claire's restraints pulsed with sickly blue energy, her markings flaring erratically beneath them. Even from this distance, I could sense the wrongness of what Hammond had done—forcing connections that should never exist, twisting the natural order of things. My ancestors had warned of such corruption for generations.

"Damn it," Rivera hissed as error messages flashed across her screen.

Claire stirred on the table, eyes fluttering open. "R-Rivera?"

"I'm here, Claire. Just hang on."

Rivera's fingers went quickly across the interface, her face set with determination. I admired her focus, her refusal to surrender to impossible odds. In the short time I'd known her, she'd shattered every preconception I'd held about humans.

", how much time do we have?"

I glanced toward the corridor, listening for approaching footsteps. "Minutes at most. The next guard rotation is due."

My shoulder throbbed, the half-healed wound protesting every movement. I ignored it. Pain was temporary. Failure here would be permanent.

The doors at the far end of the corridor hissed open. Footsteps—multiple sets, moving with purpose.

"Rivera." My voice dropped to a warning whisper. "Company."

She did not look up from the console. "I need thirty more seconds. Just one more power cycle."

I drew my blade, the familiar weight centering me. Three guards rounded the corner, weapons raised. The lead guard spotted the boots of the unconscious human protruding from behind the storage unit and shouted an alarm.

No time for stealth now.

I launched forward, a blur of controlled violence. My first strike disarmed the lead guard, sending his weapon clattering across the floor. The second guard fired, the shot going wide as I twisted away. My blade found the gap in his armor at the shoulder, not a killing blow but enough to disable his shooting arm.

The third guard backed away, comm unit raised to his mouth. "Intruders in Sector 7! The Nyxari is?—"

I silenced him with a swift strike to the throat—not enough to crush his windpipe, but sufficient to cut off his words and his air temporarily. He dropped to his knees, gasping.

The first guard recovered, drawing a sidearm. I kicked it from his grasp, then delivered a precise blow to the side of his head. He crumpled.

", behind you!" Rivera's warning cut through the sounds of struggle.

I spun. A fourth guard had appeared, rifle aimed at my chest. I dropped and rolled as he fired, the shot sizzling through the air where I'd stood. Coming up beneath his guard, I slammed my fist into his solar plexus, then struck his temple as he doubled over.

Four down. But more would come.

"Rivera?"

"Almost there." Her markings pulsed with silver light as she worked, synchronized with the rhythm of the restraint field's power cycle. "The system's fighting me. Hammond's locked it down tight."

I positioned myself between her and the corridor, ready for the next wave. My lifelines brightened, responding to the battle-rush and the proximity to Rivera. The golden light cast strange shadows across the sterile lab.

Claire moaned on the table, her body arching against the restraints. Her markings flared painfully bright, then dimmed to a dull shimmer. Whatever Hammond was doing to her, it was killing her by inches.

More footsteps approached—heavier, more numerous. I steadied my breathing, centering myself. The odds were worsening, but I'd faced worse. My duty was clear: protect Rivera, give her time to free Claire.

"Got it!" Rivera exclaimed. "The next cycle is in five seconds. I've set the override."

The restraint fields flickered, then stabilized. Rivera cursed under her breath.

"What happened?" I asked, not taking my eyes off the corridor.

"Hammond's got some kind of redundant system. I need to?—"

The doors burst open. Six guards poured in, weapons raised. Behind them stood the human second-in-command, awake now and furious, blood trickling from a cut on his temple.

"Take them down," he ordered his men.

I moved without thinking, pure instinct and decades of training guiding my actions. My blade deflected the first shot, sending it ricocheting into a wall panel. I dropped to one knee, sweeping the legs from under the nearest guard. As he fell, I used his body as a shield against the next volley of fire.

"Rivera, get down!" I shouted the warning, hoping the urgency carried if the words didn't.

She ducked behind the console as energy bolts sizzled overhead. The air filled with the acrid smell of ozone and scorched metal. I rolled behind a storage unit, buying myself seconds to assess the situation.

Six armed guards plus their leader. Odds: unfavorable. Options: limited.

One guard moved to flank my position. I waited until he committed, then struck—my blade finding the gap between his body armor plates. He dropped with a grunt of pain, not dead but no longer a threat.

Five remaining.

I caught a glimpse of Rivera through the chaos. She'd abandoned the console and was crawling toward Claire, using the lab equipment as cover. Smart. If she could reach Claire directly, maybe she could disrupt the restraints through physical contact.

Two guards advanced on my position, firing steadily. The storage unit providing my cover began to melt under the sustained energy barrage. I couldn't stay here.

My eyes scanned the immediate area. A damaged power conduit near the advancing guards sparked erratically, spitting blue energy. An idea formed—reckless, but necessary. I grabbed a heavy chunk of debris from the floor.

With a grunt, I hurled the debris directly at the sparking conduit. The impact caused the damaged unit to overload spectacularly. A blinding flash of arcing energy erupted, accompanied by a sharp crackle and the smell of vaporized metal. The two guards staggered back, momentarily blinded and disoriented by the unexpected electrical discharge.

I burst from cover, taking advantage of their vulnerability. Two swift strikes and they joined their comrades on the floor.

Three guards plus their leader remained. My breathing came harder now, the wound in my shoulder sending hot pulses of pain with each movement. I pushed through it, focusing on the threat.

The human leader had taken cover behind a reinforced lab station, firing methodically in my direction. The remaining guards spread out, trying to pin me down with crossfire.

"!" Rivera called. She'd reached Claire and was working to disrupt the restraint field manually, her silver markings merging with the blue energy in a strange, rippling pattern. "I need more time!"

I nodded, though she couldn't see it. More time. I could give her that.

I feinted left, drawing fire, then darted right. One guard adjusted too slowly. My blade found his gun hand, severing tendons. He screamed, weapon clattering to the floor. I struck him again, this time with the hilt of my blade against his temple. He dropped.

Two guards plus their leader.

Pain lanced through my side—a glancing shot from one of the remaining guards. I staggered but kept moving, turning the stumble into a roll that brought me behind a support column.

"?" Rivera's voice held concern.

"I'm fine," I gritted out, the Nyxari words likely lost on her but the intent clear. "Keep working."

The wound wasn't serious—the energy bolt had only grazed me, burning through my clothing to score the skin beneath. But it slowed me, and in combat, speed was life.

The human leader shouted orders, directing his remaining guards to converge on my position. I couldn't let them box me in. Time to change tactics.

I sheathed my blade and reached for the ceiling panels above me. With a grunt of effort, I pulled myself up and over the column, dropping behind one of the guards. Before he could turn, I struck the nerve cluster at the base of his skull. He collapsed without a sound.

One guard plus their leader.

The last guard panicked, firing wildly. I ducked under his barrage, closing the distance between us. He switched to hand-to-hand as I reached him, throwing a desperate punch that I easily deflected. My counterattack was precise—a strike to the throat followed by a sweep of his legs. As he fell, I delivered a final blow to render him unconscious.

Only the leader remained.

He rose from cover, sidearm aimed at my chest. "Don't move, Nyxari."

I froze, assessing. The distance between us was too great—I couldn't reach him before he fired. But his attention was fixed entirely on me, giving Rivera the opening she needed.

"It's over," I said, hoping my tone conveyed finality even if the words weren't understood without a translation stone. "Look at what Hammond is doing. This isn't protecting your people—it's endangering everyone on this planet."

His jaw tightened. "You don't understand. We need this technology to survive. To stay pure."

"Technology we barely understand ourselves," I countered, the words useless against his conviction. "The ancient ruins hold power that destroyed our ancestors. Hammond is repeating their mistakes."

Behind the human leader, I could see Rivera making progress. Claire's restraints were flickering more rapidly now, the power cycling becoming unstable. Just a little longer.

"Drop your weapon," the human ordered.

I made a show of considering it, buying seconds. Hammond is killing her, I thought, focusing on the leader's expression, trying to convey the truth through intent alone. Is this what you signed up for? Torturing one of your own?

Doubt flickered across his face. "She's contaminated."

She's human, I projected silently. The markings don't change that. They're part of this world, part of what happened to all of you when you crashed here. Fighting it will only cause more suffering.

His weapon wavered slightly. Behind him, Claire's restraints flickered one final time, then died. Rivera had done it.

The human leader sensed the change and started to turn. I lunged forward, covering the distance between us in three long strides. His weapon discharged, the shot going wide as I knocked his arm aside. We grappled briefly before I struck him with calculated force—enough to incapacitate, not enough to cause permanent damage.

The human second-in-command slumped to the floor, unconscious.

I turned toward the restraint table where Claire now sat up, supported by Rivera, the last restraint flickering and dying.

The doors at the far end of the lab hissed open with pneumatic finality. We froze.

Commander Everett Hammond stepped through, flanked by four heavily armed guards in pristine security armor that contrasted sharply with the lab's chaotic state. His cold eyes took in the scene—his defeated security team scattered across the floor, Claire freed from restraints, Rivera and me supporting her between us.

"Fascinating," he said, his voice eerily calm, carrying the slight metallic resonance of the translation stone clipped discreetly to his collar—Nyxari tech he despised yet clearly found useful. "I've been wondering when you'd make your move, Nyxari."

His gaze swept over us, lingering for a moment on Rivera, then settling on Claire, whose silver markings pulsed weakly beneath her skin. I shifted instinctively, placing myself partially between Hammond and the two women. My lifelines flared, a silent warning.

Hammond took a deliberate step into the lab, his guards fanning out beside him, weapons raised. "Securing alien artifacts requires... adjustments to standard protocols." He gestured vaguely toward the humming machinery Claire had been connected to. "The potential is enormous. A shame you interrupted the calibration sequence."

Rivera helped Claire to her feet, supporting her weight. "You're killing her, Hammond," Rivera accused, her voice tight with anger. "Whatever you think you're doing, it's overloading her system."

"A necessary risk for progress," Hammond replied coolly. He took another step forward, his attention fixed on Claire. "The markings are the key. They interface with the ancient power source. Once we understand how to control that interface?—"

His words were cut off by a sudden, high-pitched whine from the equipment behind Claire. Lights on the main console flickered violently. Sparks erupted from an overhead conduit.

Claire cried out, clutching her head as her markings flared with painful, uncontrolled brilliance. The silver light pulsed erratically, mirroring the chaotic energy surges now emanating from the machinery.

"What's happening?" one of Hammond's guards asked nervously, glancing between the sparking equipment and his commander.

Hammond's eyes narrowed, assessing the situation rapidly. "Feedback loop," he snapped. "Someone stabilize the primary regulator!"

But it was too late. The whine intensified, rising to an unbearable shriek. Energy arced visibly between the console, the restraint table, and Claire herself. The air crackled, thick with the scent of ozone and burning circuits.

"It's overloading!" Rivera shouted, pulling Claire away from the epicenter of the surge.

Hammond barked orders, but the chaos escalated too quickly. The main console exploded in a spray of sparks and molten metal. The floor beneath us shuddered violently as the energy feedback loop spiraled completely out of control, ancient technology pushed far beyond its limits, tearing itself apart from the inside out.