Page 13 of Rebels Rising (The Intergalactic Union #3)

Artemis

L ooking out at the stunned faces of the people I’d once considered my friends, I winced as their expressions morphed into grim fear. I didn’t know if they understood the full scope of what my theory suggested, but one glance at Bromm made the situation starkly clear.

‘Contagious how?’ Henrik asked, jumping into his role as our medic immediately and taking the situation as seriously as I’d hoped.

‘I’m not sure. If it’s airborne, anyone could see start to see symptoms, but I don’t think that’s the case,’ I admitted.

‘You think it’s transmitted through physical contact?’

‘Yes. More specifically, my theory is that it is contracted through bodily fluids which is why Bromm and Cadmus are the only ones experiencing any symptoms so far.’

‘Because they’re the two men you’ve had intimate relations with and they’re the only two experiencing any symptoms,’ he summarised, and I nodded my agreement.

‘This is phenomenal,’ he muttered to himself under his breath, and I didn’t think he intended for me to hear it.

‘One of my abilities, Henrik, is enhanced senses,’ I warned.

His eyes widened in surprise. ‘Enhanced how?’

‘My hearing, eyesight, alongside my senses of taste, touch, and smell are finely tuned. My hearing can detect the quietest of sounds from a significant distance. My sight can detect the minutest of details. My tongue can determine different flavours and ingredients from almost any combination of food or drink. I can feel the vibrations of your words in the air and your footsteps in the ground even from a significant distance. I can pick out different scents in the air and can even determine if they are safe or poisonous.’

‘That’s… but you… I… Did you…?’

‘Did I just hear what you mumbled to yourself clear as day? Yes, I did.’

‘Shit.’

‘I hear and smell a lot of that too.’

Cadmus snorted in amusement. ‘That’s unfortunate.’

I smirked. ‘It can be.’

‘And you think we’ll be able to do all of that?’ Reece asked, his voice quavering. From the information or emotional overload, it wasn’t clear yet.

I gentled my tone the best I could, trying not to freak him out even more. ‘I don’t know what you and Adara will be able to do. That’s what I wanted to discuss with you. Without the interference of The Program reprogramming my nanites they’ve learned to adapt. My senses are even more heightened than ever before. My abilities are evolving alongside them, too. And now with Bromm’s condition and Cadmus experiencing the same symptoms that Bromm did before he collapsed… I think it’s safe to say we all need to be monitored.’

‘The entire ship, too, if the nanites are contagious. We need to watch out for anyone showing any symptoms just in case they accidentally came in contact with any of your bodily fluids, or if not then it could be airborne,’ Henrik concluded.

‘Exactly.’

‘This could be a pandemic,’ he said, his eyes darkening with concern as the gravity of the situation dawned on him.

‘So what, we can’t even sneeze without risking infecting someone? Are you saying we need to be quarantined?’ asked Adara.

‘Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,’ I warned them all. ‘There hasn’t been an outbreak yet, and we don’t know anything for certain. I still believe they’re only being passed on through direct contact, which means it’s containable.’

‘Do we need to warn the rest of the ship?’ Reece asked.

‘No,’ I said firmly, my answer not up for debate. ‘I will not risk a mass panic before we even have any answers to give people.’

‘So what do we do?’ asked Addy.

‘We stay vigilant. Keep an eye out for anyone exhibiting symptoms and report it immediately to me or Henrik if you do.’

‘And what are those symptoms?’ Henrik asked, still unable to fully hide his intrigue despite the severity of the situation.

I explained what Bromm had been through, though I emitted a few more personal details they didn’t need to know about. Cadmus jumped in when I finished to explain his own experiences, and both Reece and Addy took in the information with solemn expressions. Henrik was eager to learn more, no longer attempting to hide his not so appropriate reactions.

Okay, that wasn’t entirely fair. He was doing a respectable job of taking care of everyone and he did genuinely care, but there was a scientific side to him that reminded me of the scientists at The Program that I struggled not to latch onto. There was a significant difference between the two, however, that allowed me to separate him from them, and that was his unabashed thirst for exploring the unknown with a puppy-like curiosity compared to The Program’s dull, lifeless push for power.

‘What’s going to happen to us?’ Reece asked quietly, though I wasn’t sure if it was a question he expected me to answer just yet. I figured they were all just taking some time to process the overload of information and it would sink in eventually. The least I could do in this transition phase was to be patient and understanding, even if I was itching to move on.

‘All I know to expect is that you will change. In what ways, we won’t know until it happens. There’s no way to know without digging into The Program’s files what your nanites were programmed to do, and there’s too much risk of opening ourselves up for them to track and attack if we try to access those files from here.’

‘I think my senses are heightening,’ he blurted and my brows shot up in response to the outburst, though I wasn’t entirely surprised.

‘Which senses? Can you elaborate?’ Henrik jumped into action, retrieving his med kit to start looking over Reece. He began by shining a light in his eye which made him flinch, blinking rapidly from the sudden assault.

‘My eyesight, for starters,’ he sniped, smacking Henrik’s hand away as he lurched forward with the light again. He was back to normal in no time, however, and I understood what he was saying.

‘Can you see more clearly?’ I asked him.

He nodded. ‘Little details I never would have noticed before, and I’m adjusting to light changes more quickly.’

‘That’s the enhanced healing,’ I told him. ‘Any other changes you’ve noticed?’

He shook his head, Henrik now tapping away furiously on his holo-tab as he recorded all the information and I turned to Addy with a question in my eyes.

‘I’ve not noticed anything yet,’ she admitted, her lips downturned as she worried the bottom one between her teeth. Her hand rose in a claw to scratch at her arm, right over where she has recently healed from the cuts made by the scientists and I refrained from showing any reaction to the action. For all I knew, the scars could simply itch. It was something I experienced when I’d first started adapting to the injuries I’d received as a child, so it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. I couldn’t remember the itch lasting this long after healing, though.

‘You will probably start to notice a few subtle differences soon, but they may not be the same as Reece’s. That said, The Program typically paired their subjects to perform the same tests and procedures on, so it’s more than likely that you’ve both been given the same programming.’

‘You’re talking about it like we’re robots or something,’ Cadmus noted, and I nodded.

‘Essentially, that’s what you are now. Living robots.’

‘A new race of beings,’ Henrik breathed in awe. ‘Part biological, part mechanical.’

I nodded. ‘Cyborgs,’ I supplied for him.

‘And hybrids,’ Addy chimed in, a reminder that the experiments those of us in this room had been subjected to weren’t the only ones.

‘I’m going to pull the volunteers to monitor what abilities the children exhibit. I will give you access to that information as well, Henrik,’ I decided.

‘That’s… a lot of work. I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep up with it on my own,’ he told me.

‘You won’t have to. You can build your own team, but they will need to be vetted. We can’t let this information get into the wrong hands.’

‘Of course. I understand.’

Cadmus waved his hand above his head. ‘I’ll help.’

I blinked in surprise. Cadmus kept surprising me lately, his actions never aligning with how I expected him to behave. I was going to need to reassess him in order to anticipate his next move. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust him necessarily, but more than I hated the unpredictability. I didn’t know what to do with it.

‘Um… okay. Sure. If you two could start compiling the information into secure files it would help keep us a step ahead of any potential problems.’

Henrik bent over his holo-tab as he spoke, his focus intent on the device. ‘I’ll need a list of your abilities, Arty. It’ll give me a baseline for what to expect. And if you could get me a list of abilities for the children then I can start cataloguing them.’

‘I can do that,’ I agreed, happy to have a task that didn’t involve leading this small army I’d somehow landed myself in charge of. ‘I’ll talk to Libby about compiling a list of the abilities the other women have and what was done to them, then she can send it straight over.’

The only ones left without any real tasks were Addy and Reece, so I let Henrik and Cadmus get to work and moved towards the last two. Addy wrapped her arms around me in a friendly embrace when I got close enough, but Reece didn’t move to greet me. In fact, I got the feeling that despite our understanding during our escape he had retreated back into himself and away from me. I didn’t like this distance, and I wasn’t sure where to start to bridge that gap. Things were so different between us now. I missed the way we used to be.

‘Have either of you found something to do on the ship yet?’ I asked them, keeping my tone professional despite Addy still dangling from my side. I thought I might have seen Reece wince, but it happened so fast that I wondered if I’d imagined it.

‘I can make myself useful as an engineer,’ Addy offered. ‘I don’t think there’s much for me to do, but I can familiarise myself with the engines in case I’m needed.’

I smiled down at her, pleased that she’d bounced back so quickly after the trauma she’d faced. I had a feeling Reece had lost some of his elasticity and I mulled over how I could possibly help him get it back.

‘I could use an engineer,’ I told her, even though I was perfectly capable of sorting things out myself. I wasn’t an expert by any means, so her knowledge and experience would be invaluable regardless.

I turned to Reece, a single eyebrow raised in question. He didn’t respond, instead seeming to cave in on himself a little as his lips tugged down into a frown. Again, he was quick to rearrange his features into something more stoic, an attempt to hide whatever he was feeling.I didn’t like that.

‘What’s wrong, Reece?’

‘Nothing’s wrong,’ he replied tersely, and I felt as if I’d somehow offended him with my prodding, that he no longer felt I had the right to prod at all.

‘I… Okay. Do you- ‘

He cut me off. ‘I should go. I’ll be sure to update you and Henrik if notice any other changes.’

He stood, giving me and Addy a wide berth as he stalked from the room. I’d never witnessed Reece in a mood like this before and I didn’t know how to respond. I had no clue if it was directed at me or if I was simply the one that got the brunt of it because I was in his proximity, but I couldn’t stop the twinge of loss and longing that panged in my chest as I watched his back disappear.

‘Give him time,’ Addy said quietly, keeping her words between us.

‘Do you know what’s wrong?’ I asked her, guiding her from the room to give the boys some peace. I trailed my fingers over Bromm’s arm as walked by, a silent see you soon .

‘Not here. I don’t think he’d appreciate me airing out his personal business for everyone to hear.’

She dragged me down the corridors until we reached the converted closet that Cadmus and I had used to have our own private discussion before. She pulled me inside, the door clicking closed behind us, and yanked me down into the heap of pillows and blankets spread out on the floor.

‘Is this where you’re staying?’ I asked her.

She nodded. ‘Yeah, Xander and I claimed it so we could let others have the bigger rooms and we could have some privacy.’

‘Ah. Well, I owe you an apology then.’

She cocked her head. ‘What for?’

‘Cadmus and I used this room.’

She scrunched her nose and made a sound of disgust. ‘Gross!’

I frowned, confused. ‘How is that gross?’

‘You fucked Cadmus in my bed!’

I reared back, the venom in her accusation alarming. ‘What? No! I didn’t fuck him. We just talked.’

She visibly deflated, her relief apparent. ‘Oh, good. I thought I’d been sleeping on your sex juices or something. No thank you.’

I snorted a laugh, completely taken aback by my strange friend. ‘If I was going to fuck anyone I’d do it in my own bed, thanks.’

Her nose wrinkled again. ‘Good to know.’

But something she said struck me and I eyed the sheets beneath us suspiciously. ‘Does that mean I’m sitting in your sex juices?’ I asked her curiously. I couldn’t feel any wet patches, but they could have just dried.

She threw her head back and laughed. Loud and boisterous yet still somehow delicate and feminine. Must have been a Griknot thing. Yet, I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it, but I thought I caught an undertone of bitterness to the mirth.

‘No. Xander and I don’t have sex, Arty.’

I didn’t see why that was funny…

Noting my confusion, she suddenly went very quiet and still, her entire body flushing a deep magenta as she became uncharacteristically timid. ‘I… um… I’m asexual.’

My brows jumped so high into my hairline I was sure they disappeared entirely. ‘Oh.’

‘Yeah…’

‘That’s… unusual for a Griknot,’ I commented lightly.

She snorted, but there was no real amusement to the sound. ‘That’s an understatement,’ she said, the bitterness resurfacing and confirming my suspicions.

‘Is Xander asexual too, then?’

She flinched, the topic apparently hitting an open wound I hadn’t realised was bleeding. ‘Uh, no. No, he’s not.’

I tilted me head to the side, unable to comprehend how that relationship would work. ‘How do you satisfy him then?’

She reared back as if I’d hit her, a deep pain in her eyes as she tried her best to hold back her emotions.

‘I’m sorry,’ I said quickly, reaching out to lay a hand on her arm and rub soothing circles on her skin with my thumb. ‘I don’t mean to be insensitive. I’m just trying to understand the dynamics of your relationship. I’m not particularly well-versed in these things. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. It’s none of my business.’

She slipped her hand beneath mine, tangling our fingers together tightly but the rest of her relaxed at my explanation. ‘No, it’s okay. It’s just hard for me to think about, that I’m not enough. My family exiled me when they realised I wasn’t as into sex like I was supposed to be, like everyone else, and Xander says he’s okay not having sex as long as we’re together but I don’t want to hold him back, you know? I’m not giving him up, but I know I can’t give him everything he needs. It’s an argument we have a lot, actually.’

I scowled at the agony in her words, the suffering she’d gone through at the hands of the people who were supposed to love her unconditionally. I wanted to beat them into their graves for making her feel like she was less than simply because she wasn’t interested in sex.

An image materialised in my mind of her parents pushing her to fuck people while she fought them off, some nameless, faceless Griknot attempting to force himself on her despite her protests while her parents stood back and watched.

I yanked her against me, wrapping my arms around her as rocked her back and forth. I stroked my hand over her hair, the thick strands smooth like drying seaweed, and pressed my lips to her forehead. ‘You’re giving him everything he needs, Addy. I promise you. I’ve seen the way that man looks at you. I’ve seen the way he would do anything for you. Just because you don’t want to fuck him doesn’t make you any less of a woman, or any less of a Griknot, or any less of anything .’

I crushed her to me further when she burst into tears, her fingers clawing at my jumpsuit as the deep-seated pain from her past was validated and set free. At least in this room between the two of us, she didn’t have to pretend to be someone she wasn’t.

Light spilled into the room as the door was wrenched open, a masculine growl emanating from whomever had interrupted our moment.

‘What did you do?’ He demanded, his voice low and threatening. It was Xander, and he was pissed.

I twisted my head to look up at him, ensuring Addy remained in my embrace. ‘We’re bonding.’

My answer made Addy hiccup a laugh through her tears and she pulled back enough to look up at her boyfriend. ‘That’s a pretty good description, actually.’

I gazed back down at her, taking in her puffy eyes and the snot bubbling from her nose and held back a laugh at the state of her. ‘We switched.’

It took her a moment to understand, but she gave me a watery grin when she did. ‘I’m so glad we’re friends, Arty.’

My own eyes stung with tears at her genuine comment, and my lips wobbled as they stretched into an equally watery grin. She felt like home. Not like Libby, but no less comforting. I didn’t know how to explain it, but sitting here with Addy I felt like I belonged.

I heard more than saw Xander’s discomfort as he shuffled from foot to foot and he cleared his throat awkwardly. ‘Ah, right. Bonding.’

‘I was just explaining our relationship to her,’ Addy told him. ‘She was curious.’

Silence.

‘What?’

My cheeks burned as I gawped at her in mortification, then I quickly turned to address Xander and clear up any misunderstandings. ‘She means she was telling me about her asexuality. I wasn’t asking for any details, about the, um, intimacy between the two of you, I promise,’ I clarified.

Xander’s whole face flushed a deep crimson, all the way to the tips of his ears. His mouth opened and closed as if he were struggling to find a response and was coming up with nothing. Instead, a strangled sound escaped his throat that made his blush darken even further.

‘Right,’ he finally settled on, the word coming out gruffly. He cleared his throat.

I rose up from the nest – their nest – and wiped at my jumpsuit like it was covered in dust or dirt just to give my hands something to do. ‘I’ll just…’ I pointed towards the open door that Xander was blocking. ‘I should go.’

‘No, wait,’ Addy grabbed my hand, preventing me from barrelling out of the room. ‘We got sidetracked. I still need to talk to you about Reece.’

Xander frowned, stepping inside and closing the door behind him. His large presence made the already cramped room stifling, and I was glad I wasn’t claustrophobic. There was barely any room to breathe without the action brushing up against another body.

‘What’s going on with Reece?’ Xander asked her, and she blew out a shaky breath.

‘When I went to see him he was practically catatonic. I think he was having a flashback or something, but he didn’t even register that I was there for a long time,’ she said sadly.

‘That’s why you stayed with him last night,’ he surmised.

‘Yeah. When he finally came-to he asked me to stay. I didn’t want to leave him alone so…’

‘He’s been through a lot,’ I said, the statement obvious but needed to be spoken out into the world, nonetheless. ‘He’s going to have a response to that trauma. I caught him in the gym today, which is a good sign. It means he’s not giving up. I wouldn’t worry too much about him.’

‘I can’t not worry. Not after…’ Addy trailed off, her eyes glazing over as she got sucked into her own memories.

I jostled her to bring her back to the present, and she sent me a small, grateful smile in response.

‘You’ve been doing better than most would be after everything you’ve endured,’ I told her gently. ‘He’s suffered for longer and through things you haven’t, so he’s got a lot more to sort through to heal.’

‘Solitary confinement,’ Xander said gruffly. ‘He was stuck in a cell on his own for an entire solar and then tortured alongside you.’

‘He needs help,’ she said.

I held up a hand to stop her before she could get too carried away. ‘Let him try on his own first. Make yourself available in case he needs assistance with the healing process, but Reece has always struck me as independent. He took strength from it before. He needs to find that again.’

Neither of them looked convinced, but my gut was telling me that Reece needed time to process before he was bombarded with well-meaning worriers. The determination in their gazes told me that I wasn’t going to win this argument, however, so I decided to change tactics and move away from the conversation.

‘I’m heading back to the cockpit. I left Bal and Dave Junior to nap with Eloria, and I don’t want to know what hell they’ll unleash if I’m not there when one or both of them wake up. Are you coming?’

Xander was staring at me like I’d randomly grown a second head, but Addy rolled with it and took my outstretched hand.

‘Lead on, Captain,’ she said, her mood switching just as quickly as the subject change and befuddling Xander even more. He followed behind us regardless.

‘Women,’ he muttered under his breath. Addy caught it too, and we shared an amused look between us feeling lighter than before we’d entered their room.

Our lives had gone to shit, but at least we had each other. That fact bolstered my resolve to lead these people to safety and fed the demon that hungered for The Program’s destruction.

With these incredibly resilient people by my side, I felt more confidence and hope than ever before. I could do this. We could get through this. I could feel it.