She docked in slot thirteen and took a few minutes to set a return course into the ship’s autopilot. She didn’t want to waste a minute getting out of here or have to think about navigation if things went wrong. All she would have to do was flip the engage switch and the stolen Purist ship would be up and away—headed for orbit around Colossus the minute the hyperdrive came online.
Satisfied with her preparations, K forced herself to stand upright. Invisible spikes dug into her lower abdomen but she ignored them and straightened her shoulders. Then she touched the pressure tab behind her right ear. Immediately the cowl of her skinsuit slid down, obscuring her face and hiding the damning evidence of her gold ringed eyes which days in the skinsuit had been unable to change back to black. No one seeing those eyes could mistake her for anything but Erian but K didn’t intend for anyone to see them. She was keeping the cowl in place the entire time, going in hard and fast and leaving the same way.
She checked herself for hidden weapons—a few sharp blades stashed in various places around her suit—and wished for her plasma gauntlets. They were gone, however—left back on board Boone’s ship. Even if she’d had them, she couldn’t have used them. Her mind was far too chaotic now, she would never be able to control them again. Well, she didn’t intend to blast her way out, anyway. If things went according to plan, she would slip in and then slip back out again with Shayla in tow, completely unnoticed.
“Time to go,” she muttered under her breath. Sensing her readiness for combat, her skinsuit dug its needles into her arms and K waited for the cool wash of nothingness that always followed. It didn’t come. Either she was too far gone into contamination to ever commune with Purity again or her suit simply couldn’t cope with her body’s changing needs. Whichever it was, it was clear K was on her own.
Taking a deep breath, she hit the hatch release and stepped out into the frigid Midas atmosphere. The pshalite-rich planetoid was at the far end of the solar system’s temperate zone, ensuring that it was always freezing. In the past, K’s suit would have protected her from the worst of the chill or else injected her with enough blockers and dampers to keep her from caring that she was cold. But now she felt every icy gust of wind as it swirled around her, bring the distinctive spicy tang of pshalite to her nose even through her cowl.
Keeping her head high, she marched forward, refusing to shiver or wrap her arms around herself. Purity but she wished her suit’s chemicals still worked on her! It was harder than she’d thought, pretending to be what she once was when all she wanted to do was curl on her side and give in to the pain.
I will not give in, K told herself grimly. I am still a fourth level Paladin—I fear nothing, I feel nothing. Lifting her chin, she strode up to the command center door and waited for it to scan her suit’s internal sensors and let her in.
There was a long pause as though the door was having trouble reading her suit—long enough for the armed guard to look at her appraisingly. K couldn’t see his eyes—they were hidden by the eyeshades built into his sleek silver helmet. But his finger stroked lightly over the trigger of his blaster as he watched her.
K had a moment of panic which she repressed sternly. She forced herself to stand steady and still, completely immobile and yet relaxed, seemingly at ease, portraying a Paladin’s infinite patience when faced with adversity. At last, the vast, thick metal panel, which was twice as high as she was tall, slid to one side, granting her entry.
The guard on duty waved her through with a nod. K ignored the gesture and stalked inside, listening as the door slid shut with a muffled booming clang behind her.
Inside she paused in the small dark entryway that led to the main corridor and allowed herself a single deep breath. It was warmer in the control center and she was out of the biting wind but this was the most dangerous part of her journey. She had to walk through the large center to the mines, hoping all of the officers and higher ranking officials who lived and worked on Midas wouldn’t notice or question her. Once out in the mines, K was confident she could find Shayla—she’d seen Boone’s holo-picture of her often enough she was certain she could recognize her easily. It was getting through the control center that worried her.
You’re wasting time. Get on with it!
Squaring her shoulders, she stepped out into the busy main corridor. Striding confidently, she fell in line behind two minor officials who were speaking some kind of corporate finance jargon. To her left, several higher ranking officials passed by and then a pair of Sage-kind—the priests of Purity—swept past, their long black robes trailing. A squadron of Paladins, all wearing skinsuits jogged by in the opposite direction. K’s heart seemed to catch in her chest but still she kept on walking.
Everywhere she saw black-on-black eyes and heard the quiet, emotionless speech of those fully devoted to Purity. In the past she would have thought nothing of it. Now her heart ached at the familiar sights and sounds.
I don’t belong here anymore, she thought as she strode briskly along, head up and shoulders back. Maybe I never did. She remembered waking up in Boone’s arms and falling asleep beside him, remembered hearing his voice in her ear low and soothing saying he loved her, remembered feeling warm and comforted and safe. She had traded all this—the life of a rising Paladin—for those few, brief days, for those tender, forbidden emotions.
K couldn’t bring herself to regret it.
Boone, she thought as she marched along, just another faceless, anonymous part of the crowd where she no longer belonged, Boone, I’ll do my best for you. I’ll get Shayla back to you even if it kills me.
A sharp turn off the main corridor brought her to the entrance of the mines. They were deep underground, reachable only by a pneumatic lift at the end of the short hallway. K pressed the button for the ground floor and stepped aboard. She was relieved to be the only passenger—the moment alone in the lift gave her a brief respite from her façade.
Slumping in the corner, she put a hand to her abdomen. Purity but it hurt! While she had been out in the crowded corridor, passing as one of the many Purists going back and forth, she’d been able to mostly ignore the pain. Now it came back with a vengeance, reminding her that the war between her suit and her hormones was most likely tearing her body apart from the inside out.
It doesn’t matter, K told herself, trying to believe it. Doesn’t matter if it hurts—just get the job done. Just finish and then…
Then she could die.
The lift landed and the door opened with a muted chime. K straightened up and forced herself to step into the dark subterranean tunnel that greeted her. A gust of chilly, spice-laden air swirled around her. Just a little further—she could make it just a little further, she was sure.
The tunnels twisted and turned in ways she hadn’t expected. She’d been to Midas before but only to refuel and drop off prisoners. There had never been any reason for her to go down into the mines—there really wasn’t any reason for any Paladin to be down here. K held her breath, hoping none of the black uniformed guards would ask her business. Some of them did look at her—their faces blank and immutable, their eyes hidden behind their black eyeshades—but she wasn’t stopped. K was thankful she outranked them all. The guards knew it might mean trouble to question her so they let her pass.
K walked confidently, scanning the miserable, dirty faces of the slaves as she went. She was responsible for putting a good number of them down here. She felt a twinge of shame as she remembered all the raids she’d been on, all the captives she and her squad had delivered to the mines. But there was no time for regret—she had to find Shayla and fast. The pain she’d been enduring for days was sapping her strength. She didn’t think she could search all the many winding, twisting miles of tunnels for hours on end—she simply didn’t have the energy reserves to do it.
She rounded another corner just as a particularly sharp cramp stabbed at her. K winced and was forced to grab a wall for support. Despite all she could do to hold it back, a soft cry of anguish escaped her. Im
mediately, one of the uniformed guards was at her shoulder.
“Paladin? Are you well?” His voice was surprisingly concerned and despite his black eyeshades his face looked worried. It also looked strangely familiar.
K shook her head. “It’s nothing. I stumbled.”
“If you need assistance…” He held a hand out to her and then drew it back quickly, as though suddenly aware of the impropriety of his gesture. “Forgive me, I—”
“Apologies are unnecessary.” K straightened up, ignoring the burning, stabbing pain in her abdomen. His hastily withdrawn hand bothered her—jogged a memory she’d almost forgotten. Who else had approached her in such a way? Who—?
Suddenly the face she’d been looking for appeared over his shoulder. It was grimy and wretched and the blonde hair was cut short and ragged around a too-thin face but there could be no mistaking who it belonged to.
Shayla!
K forgot about the strange behavior of the guard, forgot—momentarily—about the pain in her gut. She stepped around him and beckoned to the female who was staring at her fearfully.
“Prisoner, come with me,” she directed in a low, commanding tone.
“What? Why?” Shayla shrank back from her. Like Boone, she was a giant and she had a good head on K in height. Still, she managed to make herself look small as she crouched against the rough stone wall.
“Why does not concern you,” K said sternly. “You are to come with me now.”
She marched forward and grabbed the girl by her ragged shirt, being careful not to touch skin even though her skinsuit covered her hands. She was no longer as horrified of contamination as she had been but no true Purist would voluntarily touch another being if they could help it.
“What’s this about?” The guard who had offered to help her up was frowning now.
“Prisoner transfer,” K replied shortly.
“Where are you taking her?” He stepped up to block her path.
K was beginning to feel desperate. The pain was back, stabbing into her like rusty knives. She didn’t have the strength to deal with this now.
“She is being moved by order of the High Sentinel,” she said, having a sudden inspiration. “Would you care to take it up with him?”
“No.” The guard abruptly fell back. “My apologies.”
“None needed.” K yanked on Shayla’s shirt. “Come.”
The girl followed her, seeming numb with fear and misery. K was relieved that Shayla wasn’t putting up a fight. In her weakened condition, she didn’t think she could have managed a rebellious prisoner.
They rode up the lift in silence and K pressed a hand to her abdomen, trying not to cry out again. She couldn’t let Shayla sense any weakness in her—not while she still thought K was an agent of the enemy. Once they got aboard the ship and were out of Purist air space, she could collapse and let the autopilot do its work. In the mean time, she had to stay strong for just a little longer…
Shayla kept her eyes down and her hands twisted together. She shuffled silently out of the lift when the doors whooshed open and K tugged on her ragged shirt. They navigated the crowded corridor with only a few curious glances being thrown their way. A Paladin escorting a lone prisoner might be a little unusual but it wasn’t far enough out of the ordinary to cause outright suspicion.
Then, just as they were only a few yards from the small, dark hallway that led to the docking area, Shayla began to moan.
“No…no.”
K cursed her luck and tugged harder on the girl’s shirt but Shayla resisted, pulling backwards and shaking her head.
“No,” she moaned. “The mines are bad enough. I don’t want to go someplace worse.”
People were beginning to stare. One of the Sage-kind even paused for a moment, giving the moaning girl a quizzical look, before moving on in a rustle of long black robes.
“Come, on.” K tried to keep her voice unemotional and failed. Purity, they were so close. If only the girl would shut up and keep moving! But Shayla was going into some kind of emotional fit. She had stopped dead in the middle of the hallway, refusing to move. Her blue-green eyes, so much like Boone’s, were welling up with tears.
“Please,” she begged. “Please, don’t.”
With the last of her strength, K gripped the back of the girl’s neck and steered her into the small, dark hallway.
“Stop it,” she muttered. “Just stop it now. I’m not going to hurt you or take you someplace worse.”
Shayla was crying openly now. “Please…I just…I can’t…”
“Look.” Making sure her back was to the main corridor, K pressed the pressure tab behind her ear. The cowl of her suit retracted, baring her face and most importantly, showing her eyes.
“Please,” Shayla moaned.
“Look at me. Look at my eyes,” K insisted in a low voice. “I’m here to help you—sent here by your brother—by Boone.”
The tears stopped abruptly and Shayla looked at her with a mixture of hope and distrust. “Really? But…how do I know you’re telling the truth?”
“Have you seen anyone else around here with eyes like mine?” K demanded. A sharp pain stabbed her and she had to grab the wall with one hand to stay upright. “Look, I’m in a lot of pain here. I need you to come with me to my ship while I’m still able to walk.”
“Oh!” Concern filled Shayla’s eyes. “Are you wounded?”
“Not externally,” K said grimly. “Internally is another matter. I have to get you out of here before—”
Suddenly a heavy hand landed on her shoulder and spun her around. K blinked in surprise as she looked into the face of the same guard who had offered her help down in the mines. Then his eyeshades retracted, showing the rest of his face.
“Commander?” he whispered, a shocked look on his face. “Commander K?”
“Six?” K looked at the former pilot and member of her purge squad trying to make sense of it. He was supposed to be dead! Boone had said her entire squad was wiped out—hadn’t he? So how could he be standing here alive in front of her now?”
Apparently Six was thinking along the same lines.
“You’re dead,” he said blankly. “They declared you purged.”
“Well, I’m not,” K snapped. Turning to Shayla, she shoved the girl at the door. “Come on. I have to get you past the guard and aboard the ship.”
“All…all right,” the girl stammered.
K shoved her roughly toward the vast metal door and out into the chilly Midas twilight the minute it slid open. She kept her face turned away from the armed guard, hoping he couldn’t see her eyes.
“Wait!” Six was still tagging along behind them.
“Leave, Six. Go back and leave me alone,” K commanded but for once he didn’t obey her orders.
“You can’t just show up here like this and then leave, Commander! I thought I’d never see you again.”
K wished to Purity he hadn’t. Of all the rotten luck, running into the one person on Midas who would recognize her seemed the worst. Then again, how could she have known Six would be here, demoted from a Paladin to a guard? He was still tagging along after her, like a puppy that has found its long-lost master, following them right up the gangplank to her stolen ship.
“Stop.” K turned to face him, thrusting her palm into his face to force him to halt. She keyed open the ship’s door and shoved Shayla inside—or tried to, but the girl resisted. Purity was nothing going to go K’s way today? No one was obeying her orders and the pain in her abdomen was getting so bad she wanted to scream. It felt like someone was sawing a hole in her with a rusty, dull knife. She tried to push Shayla inside again but again Boone’s little sister resisted.
“Wait,” she protested. “Where are we going?”
“The autopilot is set with the course that will take you to safety,” K said, unwilling to give away information in front of Six. “Just flip the engage switch and you’ll be on your way. Go.”
“Without you?” Shayla looked at her u
ncertainly. “But if my brother sent you, he wouldn’t want me leaving you behind.”
“Just go,” K ground out. “There’s no help for me but I want you to get away.” The pain was getting so bad she was certain she was going to die from it. There was no point in going with Shayla—there was nothing anyone could do for K now. Well, other than the woman who called herself K’s mother back on Eros, and her solution was unthinkable. K would rather be dead than let a bunch of strangers contaminate and penetrate her. The rusty knife in her gut was cleaner and more preferable than that. “Go!” she urged Shayla again, pushing her into the ship. This time, to K’s great relief, the girl went.
“Hey, where is she going?” Six demanded from behind her. “I thought this was a prisoner transfer. You can’t send her off in a ship by herself!”
“I can do whatever I want, Six. How dare you question me?”
K tried to make her voice commanding but it came out weak and filled with pain. Still, she forced herself to keep standing upright. The guard at the door was shooting them suspicious looks. He was too far away to hear what they were saying but clearly there was something wrong going on. Any moment he would come over and join Six in demanding answers and explanations. K knew she had to hold them off long enough for Shayla to get the ship underway but Purity, the pain was so intense. Hurry, she mentally urged Shayla. Flip the switch. Get away!
At that moment there was a muted roar from the shiny black hull of the stolen ship. K felt a surge of relief when, with a rush of hot air, it rose to hover behind her. Thank Purity, Shayla hadn’t hesitated. She was going now—on her way to Boone. Soon she’d be out of Midas’s thin atmosphere and on her way to freedom.
K turned her head and watched as the ship rose up higher and higher until it became nothing but a black dot in the dusky sky. As it winked out of existence, an immeasurable wave of sadness washed over her. If only she could have gone on the ship, if only she could have gone back to Boone! But there was no hope for her. Nothing she could do except try to die with honor.