Page 39

ALICE

I hated the idea of sleeping separated from him. I stared at Darlam's dark surface through the window. We were too high up even to make out the ocean and the continent, so I had no idea where he was. He could be on the other side.

I had the comm up to be closer to him, watching him through the drone footage. It had been entertaining watching Zaarek fish. He wasn't quite as good as he had bragged to be, but he did manage to get some dinner for the two of them while Xyrek set up a crude campground and lit a fire. It looked peaceful, and I envied him. It wasn't just that I missed his company; the glimpses I received through the drone footage showed me how beautiful the night sky looked from down there. It would have been nice to be there. With Xyrek. Especially after the kind of day he had.

Returning to the place where we had died couldn’t have been easy. Or watching Zaarek in pain. I imagined Nova was lying in her bed, doing the same thing I was. I watched Zaarek talk on his comm; I was sure he was talking to Nova, probably telling her about all the returned memories, like Xyrek had done with me when his returned.

Xyrek was lying on a pile of grass, covered by a large leaf. I wasn't sure if he was sleeping or not; we had said our goodnights earlier because Zaarek had offered to take the first watch. They could have left it to the drone, but I suspected this was some kind of man-bonding thing, so I didn't intervene. I contemplated working on the bots. I was sure I wouldn't be able to sleep all night, but lying here, staring at the comm, seemed kind of… creepy, too. Minor stalker vibes and all.

I decided I should work on the bots. It would be nice if I got them going again. Before I got up, I looked one more time at the footage, and that's when I noticed it.

"Zaarek," I hissed.

He looked up, startled. My voice was coming through the drone. "Over to your right."

He pulled his blaster with one hand, kicked Xyrek in the kidney with his foot to wake him, and rolled to the side, aiming at the bush I had seen moving. A young Darlam appeared. He looked to be sixteen or seventeen, if I had to guess. It was hard to tell, since I had zero idea how to judge them. Xyrek could be twenty or sixty for all I knew.

"Hey," the young Darlam said.

Xyrek had also pulled his blaster but put it away now that there seemed to be only one of the Darlams.

"Can you send the drones and check our surroundings?" Xyrek asked me.

"Yes," I said, wondering if I should wake the others. But then Nova was probably seeing this too, so I would leave it up to her to decide while I navigated one of the drones through the immediate forest surrounding the makeshift camp.

In the meantime, I kept an eye on Xyrek, Zaarek, and the Darlam.

"I'm Narvale," he introduced himself. "I wasn't with the others earlier, but my friend Horvale told me about you. I was curious."

He sat down by the dying fire and threw on some more wood from the pile that Xyrek had collected earlier. He wasn't the least bit wary, but it was strange observing him.

"About us?" Xyrek asked, sitting down as well, while Zaarek positioned himself between them and the forest. Making sure nothing else would come at them.

"Yes." Narvale nodded, "We've never seen other Darlams before. My friends and I have been combing through the old ruins since we were kids. We have plans to explore the entire continent next year to see if we can find any others."

"Nobody has ever done that before?" Xyrek asked.

"From time to time, but the gods always made them return before they could explore everything."

"What do you mean, the gods?" Xyrek gave words to the question running through my head.

"The gods still come here from time to time to check on us," Narvale pointed up at the sky.

"Do they come on ships?"

"Flying machines, yes," Narvale confirmed.

"Do they look like these?" Xyrek pulled up images on his comm, but I couldn't see them, so I moved the drone, then belatedly remembered to check on the one I had sent into the forest. I’d gotten so invested in their conversation that I wasn’t being a very good backup. The other drone hadn't found anything suspicious, so I focused on the first, realizing that Xyrek was showing the young Darlam images of Ohrur ships.

"Like this," the kid nodded, pointing at a transporter.

"Do you know where they go? Do they fly around or always go to the same spot?"

"Same spot." Narvale's finger moved to point behind the mountains.

"Do you know what's there?"

"I haven't seen it, but the ones who have been there said there are buildings. Large white buildings that look nothing like the ruins, not even like before they crumbled. They said it’s where the gods reside now. It's forbidden to go there."

My spine crawled. That had to be the spot for the shields.

"Where did you come from?" Narvale asked, unaware of the significant intel he had just given us. It seemed only fair to entertain the young male for a while by explaining who we were and how we got here. I hoped he would take our tale back to their town. The information might help others learn to trust us.

* * *

In the morning, Noodar and Tharaax picked up Xyrek and Zaarek. Both looked tired from their long talk with the Darlam youth, who hadn't left until three o'clock in the morning—or the space version of 3 am based on our ship’s clock. But they looked downright lively compared to Noodar and Tharaax. The two Space Guardians had found their place of significance and regained their memories. For all of them, the period between when they died and when they started working for the Ohrurs remained black—that kind of made sense. But the thought of a big fat black nothingness after death had shudders of dread run down my spine despite the knowledge of rebirth, which was still somewhat abstract to me. The evidence was there, but my logical mind still had a hard time wrapping itself around it.

Hannah was the best proof that it did exist. She started to remember more and more. Xyrek said it was because she used to be the High Priestess, the keeper of secrets none of the other Darlams ever knew. It would have been nice, though, to catch a glimpse of my life as Allisaahn. That, more than anything, would have helped dispel my worries and fears.

The men only remembered bits and pieces of their training and initial work as security for the higher-up Ohrurs, which must have been part of the training. That made sense, given what Tharaax and Hannah had encountered on Ohrur.

In the gleaming morning light, the Ohrur's compound on Darlam came into view—an array of shiny buildings that looked like a cluster of silos and warehouses. A large landing field offered plenty of space for them to set down, and four Ohrur ships already parked there left no doubt that we would encounter some of them soon.

"Do not leave the ship," Sloane warned. They would stand out like the proverbial sore thumb if the Ohrurs were watching them, and there was no reason to believe they weren't.

"Get some drones out; make it look like you're just loading and unloading cargo," Sloane ordered. “Are our guests still good?”

None of the three Ohrur prisoners interested me. Still, it was good to hear Noodar answer, “All accounted for. Unhappy and locked in one of the rooms. They finally stopped trying to kill each other and are now conspiring on how to get out.”

“Put them to sleep if you have to,” Sloane said without much emotion. She was focused on the cameras as she set them to zoom in on the buildings. "What do you think?"

That question was directed at Tucker, who sat in the other captain's chair on the bridge.

"There and there," Tucker pointed at the screens.

I squinted and made out what could have been camera-shaped black bulbs.

"Do you think they're surveillance cameras?" I asked.

"No, they're weapons," Tucker said, making my stomach sink.

"Let's get them mapped so we can get a better idea of what we're dealing with," Sloane decided.

Both Sloane and Tucker had been studying up on alien weapons tech, courtesy of Emperor Daryus, who was doing everything in his power to turn Sloane into a superweapon. Now I understood why they had been working so hard on it. To me, the bulbs looked just like the kind of cameras I had seen in stores, like the ones in my lab.

"The moment the men step out, the Ohrurs will know something is up." Sloane cursed under her breath.

"Not even the cover of darkness will help," Tucker agreed.

"So we need to turn them off," I argued.

Sloane turned to me, "Can you do that?"

"Nova, can you hack into their system and give me access to their drones?" I turned to Nova before I answered Sloane.

"On it." Nova grinned, boxing Nock in his side and knocking him almost off balance. Come on, partner. We've got work to do. What do you need, Alice?"

"Access to one or two work drones without the Ohrurs knowing," I said, taking in the multitude of drones around the compound. "Once I figure out their power source, I can have the drones sabotage it," I said to Sloane.

"Excellent." Sloane nodded at me.

"Uhm, Alice, you know I love and trust you," Xyrek's voice sounded out over the comm.

"That doesn't sound like a vote of confidence coming my way," I wagered.

"Well, it's just… were you able to fix the other bots?"

"Xyrek," I made my tone sound sweet, "I love you too. Do you remember what Zapharos told you?"

A loud groan was the answer.

When the time comes, you must listen to her. Trust her, as you always have. She will know what to do. She has always known .

Zapharos' words hung unspoken and heavy in the air between us.

"We're in," Nova announced proudly, high-fiving Nock, who grinned from ear to ear.

"You are the best pupil I’ve ever had," he told Nova.

"I'm the only pupil you ever had," she corrected.

"My point exactly," Nock chuckled. Nova made a face at him, and he chuckled even more. Their easy camaraderie took some of the tension out of the room.

"Okay, these two are all yours," Nova announced, sending a cube my way.

I took a moment to study the drones and commands before I was able to navigate them through the compound.

"What are you looking for?" Tucker asked.

"I don't know yet, but I will once I see it," I told him, recalling my own homework of studying alien technology over the last few weeks. I wasn't an expert by any means. I knew enough to know that I still had miles to learn, but I had a rudimentary understanding of how things worked. Of course, their tech was not only much different than the tech I was used to from Earth, but they differed between species. Some relied on what we called solar power, others on hydro and wind power, depending on their ecosystems. There were also those who relied on what I called nuclear power to make it easier—it was much more sophisticated than that, but in essence, it was similar. Other power sources included planet-specific sources like gas, atmosphere, and so on. There was one planet that accessed an electromagnetic field that fascinated me.

"See anything yet?" Sloane's impatient voice ripped me from my musings.

I shook my head and drew one drone closer to a rectangular box.

"Is that it?" Sloane asked.

"Sloane," I turned to her.

"Yes?"

"This will go much faster if you let me explore. I'll let you know when I see something."

Luph and Zoe snickered behind me. Over the comm came the sound of a sharp inhalation. Tucker’s amused glance bounced from Sloane to me as if waiting for the end results of a football game.

"Point taken," Sloane acknowledged, raising her hands. I looked up briefly and smiled to take some of the sting out of my words. She nodded her head and smiled tightly back at me.

"They also have…" Nova drifted off before she pulled up her screen to project it against the wall, "a backup system."

"Can you hack into it?" Sloane asked.

"On it," Nock replied.

"Hey, that's mine," Nova protested.

"Kids," Sloane warned.

"There!" I called out excitedly, pointing at an igloo-like building.

"Are you sure?" Sloane asked, narrowing her eyes. "It looks like all the others to me."

"Positive," I nodded. "See that?" I made the drone send us an image of large pipes running from the building to the others, almost like roots.

"Well, I'll be damned," Sloane grinned. "Nice job."

She rose from her chair. "Listen up, boys." All of us did, even though we knew she was addressing the four Space Guardians. "Get your gear and get ready to rock and roll. I want you locked and loaded the moment Alice cuts the power and Nova kills the backup system."

"Yes, ma'am," all four resounded over the comm.

My heart became very heavy. I wanted to call out, be careful , but bit my tongue instead. Hannah looked pale, and Nova looked like she was ready to throw up. Luph sank into a chair, clutching her chest. All four of us were aware of the danger our men were about to step into.

"Hold on," I stopped them. We had been so busy focusing on turning the security system off that one important factor had escaped our minds: "This also turns off the forcefield."

"Are you positive?" Sloane's gaze on me was hard. I knew what was at stake here. If I was wrong, and we flew down there to meet our men—bang. We'd be goners.

"She's right," Nova confirmed. "I don't even have to cut the backup; the shield will be down once the main power is off."

A quick cheer broke out. "Well, cut it off then. Boys, wait for us." Sloane ordered.