“You’re giving me a headache, Cil.”
“The Dracken need their technology to survive. If they take it with them, then those who aren’t permitted to go will perish. Their technology keeps this world from killing its inhabitants. The Patrician were offering a way out for those of us who were going to be left behind. If we helped them get the technology, they would take us with them. We would be saved.”
“They lied to you. I’ve seen what the Patrician have down to the worlds they invade. Nothing is left, including its people.”
“Did the Dracken show you that?”
My head really does begin to pound the more we go around and around with this nonsense. “At this moment, Cil, I don’t believe anyone. Including you.”
“Suit yourself. But don’t blame me when you get tossed aside by the Dracken when this is all over with.”
“Too bad you won’t be alive to see it.”
I thrust the Kopis into her neck, almost severing her head. I clean the blood from the blade in the tub, hide the suit in the bottom drawer of the dresser, and use the call button. A new Matron is sent up when I advise her that there has been an incident. Cil’s body is removed and the bathroom cleaned. I have to change my clothes again due to the blood spatter, but this time I put the suit back on, covering it up with a dark blue jumpsuit. I belt my Kopis around my waist and look for an apartment number on the communicator.
“Change your mind?” Jack asks as he opens the door a few minutes later.
My Kopis slices his thigh, then I shove him to the floor and quickly close the door.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!” he shouts at me, as he puts his hands on his leg to try and slow the bleeding.
“Tell me about the academy.”
“What?”
“What were you all taught at the academy?”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
I tap my weapon against his other leg. “Tell me or your other leg will be just as useless.”
He winces from the pain as blood flows down around him. “Get me medical attention, then we’ll talk.”
“I need a guarantee then.”
“Like what?” he asks through gritted teeth.
“You leave me the fuck alone. You even try to rape me again, I’ll gut you.”
“Fine.”
I press the call button in the kitchen. Since his apartment is identical to mine I didn’t need to ask where it was. His Matron arrives swiftly. The two of us move him onto the couch so she can begin mending his injury.
“Talk,” I say, sitting on the coffee table, tapping the bottom of his good leg with the Kopis.
“Garrett can have you. Or is it Frey you’re with? Troy tells me you’re quite the object of people’s desires lately. I wonder who’s next for you,” he says through grunts as the Matron applies the healing ointment.
I slide the Kopis up his thigh. “What did I tell you?”
“You’re no fun.” He waits until he’s mended and the Matron leaves before continuing. “The Patrician run the academy. Or at least they used to.” He adjusts his position on the couch, trying to get comfortable. “We weren’t taught much. It was mainly propaganda against the Dracken. What we did learn was that the Patrician are a people who absorb others. They didn’t hide the fact that they’ve destroyed other worlds. In fact, they boasted about it. Told us that if we were to be loyal to them we needed to know our history. The Patrician history.”
“And the Dracken?”
“We had the occasional student voice their opinions about what liars the Patrician are. But that was mainly because their parents were Dracken loyalists. Like Frey’s father.”
“What about your parents? Especially your father. Remember, he’s the reason my parents are dead.”
“Your parents’ own ignorance are the reason they’re dead. Not because of my father. They just couldn’t leave well enough alone. Our society was making great headway with the Patrician in creating an alliance with them to secure our existence, but your parents had to go and fuck everything up.”
I’m half-tempted to punch him in the face for being so naive, but I need him to keep talking so I try to keep myself calm.
“What my father did was for our own protection. Including yours,” Jack adds.
He moves his leg slightly, checking its strength. The healing ointment has done its job, so he’s able to put his weight on the leg. He gets up and goes into the kitchen. I stay seated on the coffee table. He brings a pitcher filled with a pale red liquid and two glasses. He hands me one, pours me a drink, and sits back down on the couch. I know better than to trust anything I’m given now, so I sniff at the drink.
Cinnamon.
“Nice try,” I say, setting the glass onto the coffee table.
“Hey, you know I’m not going to give up, Max. You’ll eventually see things my way.”
“Have you always been this arrogant, or am I just lucky?”
He laughs as he pours himself a drink from the same container. “Not only does this stuff increase your desires, it also relaxes the hell out of you.” He raises his glass then pours the liquid down his throat. “Ah, now that’s better.”
“Why would you want to form an alliance with the Patrician? They obliterate worlds, including its people.”
“And the Dracken aren’t any different,” he says, pouring himself another. “At least with the Patrician, you’re given a fighting chance. The Dracken are just cold-hearted individuals that only believe in the preservation of the most worthy. Of which, there are few.” He empties his glass, then pours more.
“So, what did the
