Page 108 of Last of Her Name

I stare at him in horror, feeling my stomach roll. That was no ordinary Prismic bolt, which sounds like a hiss when fired; Volkov’s gun is the ancient kind, loaded not with energy but with a metal bullet.

All I can think of is Mara, losing her dad twice. While I just sat here uselessly.

“So, you’re awake,” Volkov says, his tone cruelly casual. He doesn’t even look at the dead doctor lying at his feet. “Tell me, how does it feel to finally be who you were meant to be?”

I blink hard, tearing my eyes from Dr. Luka and meeting the direktor’s gaze. My head is still reeling from all the things Danica told me, and it takes a moment for my perspective of Alexei Volkov to shift. It’s like he’s finally come into focus. I see him as I haven’t before. I understand why he killed the Committee and why he’s killed so many other people. I know how close he is to achieving his great purpose, and I understand why he thinks he must do it.

I understand him fully, but I don’t hate him any less.

“You know.” I stare at him flatly. “You know what the Prismata is.”

His eyebrows lift. “You mean that it’s a living entity, an alien mind whose living energy pumps through every inch of our society? Yes, I know, Anya. I know it controlled the Leonovs, poisoning their minds and turning them into tyrants. And I know it’s the most dangerous threat our race has ever faced.”

“No. You knownothing. The Prismata isn’t a monster. It’s—”

“I know that if it wished, it could turn on us at any moment. It could wipe out humanity. How do we know what it wants? How do we know what itthinks? If the truth was revealed, there would be chaos. People would do just as I have done: everything in their power to stop it. Or worse, they might worship it and make it into some sort of god. And we know what sort of evil people can do in the names of their gods. Look at your own family: The Leonovs, in their greed for power, harnessed all humanity to this thing. It was not their right. And now I must set us free.”

“If you destroy it, what happens to all the Prismic energy? If it dies,wedie.” The machine next to me is monitoring my pulse; now it beeps in alarm as my heart begins to pound faster. “Millions of people, in ships and orbital stations like this one.”

Volkov nods. He’s thought of this. He’s thought of everything. The galaxy has always been his Triangulum board. “And if I don’t destroy it, it could wipe usallout. We have survived against all odds, Anya. We survived when our first world died. We survived voyages into the stars in little more than metal cans with rockets strapped to them. We survived harsh new planets, tamed them and made them ours. Are we to end at last so that we could have more power to fuel our tabletkas?”

“Warp travel won’t be possible. The system will fall apart, back into isolation.”

“We learned how to warp once. We will do it again, a better way. These are the hard choices, Anya. You understand that now. That’s why the Firebird awoke in you.”

“You’rethe one who doesn’t understand! The Firebird didn’t activate because I played your stupid game—it activated because I chosenotto!”

He shrugs, waving a hand in dismissal. “It doesn’t matter. What does matter is that after sixteen years I’mfinallyready to finish this. The Prismata cannot be allowed to rule us.”

My hands curl into fists.

“I can’t let you do that,” I say quietly.

“You don’t have much choice, dear.” Volkov smiles pityingly. “The galaxy will thank you, Anya Leonova, the last of your name. Your contribution to the security of the Belt will not go unremembered.”

He raises the gun.

Before he can shoot, I lurch off the table, ripping free of the wires suctioned to my skin. They release with small pops, tentacles unsticking, the pain sharp but fleeting. Little red circles march down my arms and across my chest like a rash.

Volkov fires, and the bullet zings past my ear. I dive behind a table before he can get another shot off.

“Stop her!” he shouts, throwing open a door to the corridor.

Three vityazes who must have been on guard outside move toward me. I stumble across the lab, knocking over equipment and blinking hard as the holos blind my eyes. There’s nowhere to go but the one door, and they’re blocking it. I back away, breathing hard, then kick the table in front of me. It crashes over, spilling glass vials and tabletkas and wires. The vityazes jump back and I jump forward, but I’m too slow. One of them steps in my way, thrusting his shock staff. I gasp as it prods my stomach, electricity surging down its length.

But nothing happens.

The energy sizzles across my body, sinks into my skin.

Hits my brain like a bolt of lightning.

I gasp, my eyes opening wide, as a sensation more powerful than anything I’ve ever felt takes hold of me. Instead of passing out or feeling pain, I seem toabsorbthe charge. Of course—the staff is fueled with Prismic energy. My heart races, my ears crackle with static, and all across my body, golden triangles begin to glow beneath my skin, like subcutaneous armor made of light. For a moment, my entire body shines.

All this happens in a heartbeat. Then my eyes meet the vityaze’s. He looks stunned, hands locked on the rubber grip, still sending the crackling current into me. Behind him, I glimpse Volkov watching, his expression hard but unsurprised.

“Your weapons are useless!” he says. “Get out of the way!

He’s raising his ancient gun again, and now I realize why he has it—it’s meant forme. Prismic bolts can’t stop me, but a metal bullet sure could.