I head out toward the dome, making plans for tomorrow. I’m trying to ignore the pressure in my skull. I took a dose of cranisum this morning, right after breakfast, but it doesn’t seem to be working. Sixth had warned me about this moment. “When it stops having an effect, you need to tell me,” he’d said. “And when that happens, you need to get the hell away.”
One more day. Based on what Director Lashi’vi said, the shuttle carrying the imprisoned Draekons will be here tomorrow.
Mirak comms me as I’m driving, materializing in the seat next to me. “We’re in range,” he says. “Say the word, and I can be on Noturn’s surface in three hours.”
“No, you can’t,” I reply. “Noturn isn’t safe for any of us, remember?”
“Do you think Sixth has been idle all of last week? He’s got me taking some kind of preventative blocker. It doesn’t work if you’ve already been exposed to the resonance sickness, which is why he hasn’t put you on it, but I’ll be good for a few hours. Long enough to pull you out.”
“Clever Sixth.” My expression turns serious. “Mirak, I want you to promise me something.”
“Of course.”
“Whatever happens tomorrow, make sure Naomi is safe.”
He gives me a sideways look. “What are you not telling me?”
Everything. “Promise me,” I insist. “Please.”
“I promise.”
The prison dome is precisely two hours away from the encampment. Unlike the dome we’re living in, it’s devoid of greenery. Draekons don’t need pleasant living conditions, I guess. Especially not when they’ll lose their minds in ninety days.
There’s no one around. I do a quick but thorough safety check, using the zero-grav cuffs to clamber all over the dome’s external surface, making sure the glass is sealed tight, the welds are thorough, and Noturn’s poisonous atmosphere isn’t leaking through.
Then I go back home. To Naomi.
Today has gone entirely according to plan. I can only hope that my luck holds out tomorrow.
27
Danek
Morning arrives far too soon, but we’re ready for it. Even before the dome has switched to ‘day’ mode, we pack the floofs and the rest of our belongings in the skimmer and prepare to head to the prison dome.
Neither of us had talked much last night. I’d come back home, and I’d alerted Director Lashi’vi that the safety check was complete. I’d waited on the line while she’d transferred money into my account, and then I’d hung up, our business concluded.
And then, because I’m not a fool, I’d set the drones Ruhan gave me on a perimeter watch. If something attacked us that night, the drones would fire back, and the lasers were set to kill.
The Cindifin Fourthborn is cooperating with the High Empire in direct opposition to her House’s political stance. Perhaps they’re bribing her for her silence; perhaps they are blackmailing her. But in either case, Lashi’vi cannot afford to take the risk that I might mention the prison dome. She would be wiser to wait until another safety inspector was on Noturn, but I estimated that there was a ten percent chance that she would mount an assassination attempt immediately after my report and prepared accordingly.
Once I set up the drones, Naomi and I had eschewed going to the neighborhood potluck, and we’d stayed in. We’d kept our conversation light and trivial. Naomi told me about the book she was reading, and then I pulled up the Zorahn soap opera she wanted to watch. It was as terrible as I figured it would be, and we spent the better part of an hour mocking it.
Then we’d made love.
No assassination attempt had materialized in the night, which means that it’ll happen today. Director Lashi’vi will likely bring in a replacement safety inspector on the prisoner shuttle, and once that person is on the planet’s surface, she’ll make her move. I’m prepared. I’ve programmed the drones accordingly. They will encircle Naomi, protecting her from harm while I take care of the threat.
After about an hour of silence, Naomi clears her throat. “What’s the plan for today?” she asks, giving me an inquiring look. “I was going to ask you last night, but—”
“But I jumped you.”
She laughs. “I think I jumped you first.”
“Let’s call it a mutual jumping.” I slant a smile in her direction. “It’s not a complicated plan. Once the shuttle lands, I disable the guards, convince the prisoners that I’m there to help, hijack the shuttle, and pilot it out of Noturn. Mirak’s on alert, keeping an eye out for the High Navy’s ships. If they materialize out of nowhere and start shooting at us, he’ll handle it.”
“You’re making it sound all so simple.”
It is simple. Well, it would be if the crushing weight pressing down on my head would go away. I wink at Naomi. “I am Draekon. I was built for battle. This is what I do.”
She laughs again. Good, she suspects nothing. “All this and a pretty face too,” she quips, patting my hand. “My hero.”
The shuttle touches down a little after midday on the flat plain outside the dome. I’m comming with my brothers, and so they too can see it land. The ramp descends, and…
Four battledroids march out, heading directly to the airlock.
Kadir inhales sharply.
Bast. It couldn’t be easy, could it?
I turn to Naomi. “Stay back,” I warn her. “The drones will protect you, but do not get in front of me.” Lie. The drones won’t be able to hold off four battledroids, not on their own. I have to defeat them.
“Umm, Danek.” Her face is white. “Those things are huge.”
“I’ve fought them before. We used to train against them.”
“And did you win?”
Sixth grimaces, and his words echo, once again, in my ears. On Noturn, you are dangerously mortal.
I give her a bright grin. “Every time, sweet Naomi.”
And then I step forward.
28
Naomi
I thought I’d seen Danek fight.
Turns out, I haven’t seen anything yet.
Danek goes into battle
