My knees shake as I go back and forth from my closet to my bed, packing my meager belongings. Grey jumpsuits, a couple of colorful blouses, my running shoes. My tablet. I’d packed a photo album when I set off from Earth, but it’s long been lost. When we were abducted, it wasn’t as if our captors allowed us luggage.
My heart is hammering in my chest. My palms are damp and sweaty. If the Empire lands here, if they find me, they will take me captive. I’m sure of it. They will torture me again. The scientists will come for me, in their blue robes, scalpels in hand—
The door bursts open. A man in indigo robes moves toward me. A scientist. What is he doing here? Has the Empire already landed? Have they already come for me? He’s saying something, but I can’t hear him over the pounding of the blood in my head. He’s shouting, gesturing… I back away, my throat dry, and the backs of my knees hit my bed. You’re a fool, Naomi. You should have run for the door. Now he’s going to hurt you, and there’s no way out.
He stalks toward me, and I go very still. Maybe he’ll go away if I’m quiet. If I’m good, maybe he won’t hurt me. I hold up my hands in front of me. “Please,” I whisper, though begging has never been useful. “Please don’t hurt me.” The room is spinning. I sink onto my bed, and scramble backward. The scientist is still talking. His lips are moving.
Then Danek appears in the doorway. He takes a look at the man, and then at me. In two strides, he’s at the bed. “Naomi,” he murmurs, his voice soothing. “I’m here. You’re safe. Nobody will hurt you while I live, I promise you.”
He swings me into his arms.
Relief floods my body. I nestle against him and close my eyes. The world melts away, and with it my fear. I don’t need to be afraid any longer. Danek is here.
7
Danek
Fifteen minutes go by. Then twenty. There’s no sign of Naomi.
I don’t like it. She was pretty shaky when the sirens started. She was trembling. Her face was pale. I shouldn’t have left her alone.
Bast.
I sprint to her apartment, anxiety prickling down my spine. The door is open, and Naomi is on her bed, scrambling backward from a scientist. What’s his name? Taran, Tavan, something like that? Taman, that’s it. The scientist is blathering about needing to evacuate, and with every word he utters, Naomi’s fear intensifies. Can’t the idiot see how terrified she is?
“What the hell is going on?” I growl. “What the hell are you doing?”
He whirls around. When he realizes it’s me there, relief flashes across his face. “Fifth, thank Caeron. I don’t know what’s happening. I came in to check if Naomi Knoll knew where to go. I’m the evacuation coordinator for this section. The instant I entered, she started to react this way.” He wrings his hands. “She’s wearing a translator. I don’t understand why she’s not listening to me. She’s assigned to the colony ship Vestra. It’s docked in the Southeast quadrant. Destroyer ships are on their way. Naomi Knoll needs to get on board if she doesn’t want to be left behind—”
“Stop,” I snap, cutting off his litany. Taman is distressed, and I feel bad for him, but I’m also fighting a strong desire to strangle the scientist. He might not understand why Naomi is reacting the way she is, but I do. The noise, the sirens, the stress—it’s all heightening her anxiety. Then Taman comes in wearing indigo robes, and of course it’s going to trigger a panic attack. How could it not? For almost a year after the Great War, I couldn’t hear the hiss of an ion gun without remembering Koval. “I will handle this.”
I stride to the bed and kneel at the terrified woman’s side. “Naomi,” I murmur, wiping the worry from my voice and injecting calm into my tone. “I’m here. You’re safe. Nobody will hurt you while I live, I promise you.” I lift her into my arms and hold her close. “Go check on your other charges,” I tell Taman tersely. “I have a cloakship. I’ll take Naomi.”
He exhales in relief. “Thank you.”
She’s packed. I grab her bag and her tablet, never setting her down. Her heart is racing. Her skin is cold to the touch. Mehr. She’s not well. She was badly tortured for months. How can all that damage be fixed in such a short time?
People give me curious looks as I stride down the corridors carrying the human woman, but I ignore them. Something on my face must give away how furious I am, because they scramble out of my way. Fucking Dariux. The spy master had better stay out of sight, because I’m ready to break every bone in his body. What possessed him to recruit Naomi on this mission? She shouldn’t be exposed to danger. She needs to be smothered in safety and care.
The ramp to the Aheat is down, and an Adrashian technician is finishing up the preflight checks. “You’re all set,” she says, shouting to be heard over the incessant wailing of the sirens. “Safe journey, Fifth.”
I nod my thanks, but she’s already sprinting to the next craft. I enter my ship, shutting the door behind me. The noise recedes to the background, thank Caeron.
There’s not a lot of living room on the Aheat—most of the space is taken up by engines, warp drives, and weapons. There’s a bedroom, a refresher, and a small galley.
One bedroom. One bed.
I push that thought away; it’s not a complication I need right now. I make my way into the cockpit and set Naomi down on the copilot’s chair.
Bast. I’ll have to buckle her in for takeoff. How is she going to react? They’d strapped her down on a table when they’d experimented on her. Is
