Constance
2 9
Constance
She was still on his lap. She’d have let him go. Allowed him to pilot the ship better, but he didn’t seem to want her to move. One arm wrapped around her, he kept her seated as he focused on the controls.
He’d gone silent, and the silence in the ship was almost deafening. From the near-death experience of a moment before, it felt only natural. She couldn’t talk either.
Maybe because her heart was still beating too hard. Or maybe because where they headed next had her spine set in a hard line, so much so that even though she was pressed against him, she could hardly relax.
The coordinates they were following had come from someone…and neither of them knew who.
As she wrapped her hands around his neck, the fin along Akur’s nape twitched—a sure sign he was sensing something she couldn’t.
“Akur,” she whispered, rubbing her jaw against his in a move that was both comforting and grounding. “What’s wrong?”
His jaw tightened against hers. “There’s something…” He trailed off, frowning at the viewscreen. “The scanner is picking up intermittent signals, but I can’t see anything.”
Glancing over her shoulder, she stared into the darkness of space. “More Tasqal ships?”
He shook his head. “No. This is different. Almost like—”
The ship suddenly lurched, throwing her forward against him, and Akur’s arm wrapped tighter, steadying her.
“What the—”
Right in front of them, seeming to emerge from the void itself, a massive vessel was materializing.
Her breath caught. The ship was unlike anything she’d ever seen—sleek, impossibly white, with lines that seemed to defy physics. It hung in space like a work of art, beautiful and terrifying in its sudden appearance.
“Oh my God. Is that the Tasqals?”
Akur’s entire body tensed. “No. That’s…the Elysium,” he breathed.
“You know this ship?”
“I know its captain.” His eyes narrowed.
Before she could ask more, a transmission cut through their comms—or, at least she thought it did, before she realized the sound wasn’t coming from their ship. It was within her head.
“Akur…human female.” The voice was melodic, almost ethereal. Her eyes widened as she stared at Akur. “We have been waiting for you.” The words were smooth, almost as if she was hearing an inner voice that wasn’t hers.
“What the…” she breathed. But it seemed Akur had heard the voice too, and it wasn’t freaking him out.
He straightened, staring at the massive ship before them. “Yce. You sent the coordinates.”
“Yes,” the voice said, still tickling her mind. “Now dock before more Tasqal ships arrive. We have much to discuss.”
She stiffened slightly, glancing at Akur. “You heard it too, didn’t you? ”
His gaze shifted from the large ship to hers before his hand moved to her back, steadying. “It’s Yce. He is Arois.”
Her brows furrowed. That name sounded familiar. And then it dinged. “Arois. Like that male. The one we saw tied up back in that citadel?” Something like unease threaded along her spine.
Akur didn’t respond. Instead, he watched her. “Yce rarely invades a being’s mind like this. Especially one who has never encountered or felt his mind speak before.” His fingers moved up to her temple, brushing away some of her hair. “We do not have to go in if you don’t want to.”
“He’s psychic,” she whispered.
“A powerful one.”
She swallowed hard. Back on Earth, these things didn’t exist. The psychics she knew couldn’t do this. But then again, they couldn’t use orbs to breach reality, either.
“The Elysium is one of the most advanced ships the Restitution has,” Akur went on. “I thought he had lost it on a mission, but…” His gaze shifted back to the large ship floating before them. “We will be safe here.”
But despite his confidence, Constance couldn’t shake her unease. The telepathic voice, the ship appearing from nowhere—it was all so far beyond her experience. She watched as their small craft was smoothly drawn into the pristine bay, the massive ship vanishing around them like a ghost swallowing them whole.
As the airlock began cycling open with a soft hiss, Akur stood, keeping his hand at her back as they moved toward the now open ramp.
They weren’t alone.
Her breath stilled in her throat as Akur moved in front of her, his stance protective as they emerged into the Elysium’s pristine interior.
Four figures waited for them. At the front stood a being Constance assumed must be Yce—tall, ethereally beautiful, with skin that glowed with light as if lighting threaded through his veins. His eyes shone white. The gem in his forehead shone the same. He was exactly like the male i mprisoned in that Tasqal citadel, only, he looked alive. She realized now that without his inner light, that other Arois looked nothing like he should. The gravity of his imprisonment was even greater.
Beside the Arois was a tall human woman with striking ice-blue eyes and red hair. She stood with her legs apart, arms folded across her chest. The sleek black leather that she wore made her look like some kind of superhero or something. Behind them stood the cyborg. V’Alen. The one that had helped Akur that night when the gator-guards had come and taken her away. But it was the fourth figure that made Constance stop dead in her tracks.
“Alaina.” Her heart stopped. Everything stopped.
The human woman was the closest thing she’d had to a friend back on the Restitution base. And she was standing there. Alive! Just like their Tasqal ally had said.
Only, she was so different.
Constance couldn’t move. Her feet felt rooted to the pristine white floor of the Elysium’s docking bay. Her lungs seemed to have forgotten how to function. The world narrowed to just Alaina—this new, changed version of her friend.
Gone was the wild mane of dark curls that Alaina had always been so proud of. Her head was completely bare, and in the bright light of the bay, Constance could see the faintest trace of a surgical scar running from ear to ear across her crown. But it was her right arm that drew and held Constance’s attention. It was encased in what looked like metal—sleek, too.
“Alaina?” Her voice cracked as she stepped forward. For the first time, Akur stayed back. He was allowing her to find her words on her own. Allowing her some space as she came to terms with all of this.
“Constance.” Alaina moved forward and the cyborg, V’Alen, followed right behind her.
“You’re really alive.” Before she knew it, she was hugging the woman. There were so many questions, so much she wanted to say, but the words wouldn’t come. Just holding her, knowing she was truly alive, was enough for now.
“Meredith and the silent woman…I couldn’t… ”
Alaina made a shushing sound. “It’s alright. Constance…it’s alright.”
When they finally pulled apart, she noticed the tears in Alaina’s eyes matched her own.
“I thought…” Alaina’s voice wavered. “When we found Yce, he told us Akur and E’lot had gone after you. We hoped for the best. But then everything went silent…I thought—”
“I’m okay,” she said, even though ‘okay’ was relative after everything that had happened. Her gaze dropped to Alaina’s transformed arm. “Are you?”
“Better than okay.” Alaina smiled. “V’Alen saved my life. He…” She glanced at the cyborg who stood at her back. “He took care of me.”
The cyborg inclined his head. “You were strong enough to save yourself,” he said, his voice carrying a gentleness she didn’t expect. “I merely provided the means.”
The red-haired woman stepped forward then, her ice-blue eyes assessing Constance with careful scrutiny. “I’m Diana,” she thrust her hand forward for a handshake.
Taking her hand, Constance nodded. She remembered her. This woman was one of the original five. The ones that weren’t in stasis pods. The females who were spoken about in whispers, revered by humans and aliens alike back on the Restitution base.
“Welcome,” Diana said. “We’re happy to have you here.”
Constance could feel Akur’s presence as he stepped up behind her. “Diana,” he said. “Still keeping Yce out of trouble?”
“Trying to,” Diana replied with a slight smile, before turning serious again. “Though trouble seems to have found us, anyway.”
The Arois captain stepped forward then, and Constance fought the urge to step back. His presence was overwhelming—not just physically, but mentally. She could feel him at the edges of her consciousness, like standing too close to a powerful electrical field.
“Forgive my earlier intrusion,” Yce said, his voice deeper than it had been in her mind, as if he’d purposely tried to speak softer so as not to scare her. “Time was of the essence, and I needed to ensure you wo uld trust us enough to dock.” The lightning bolts beneath his skin pulsed gently as he spoke. “I am Yce, captain of the Elysium and…” he paused, his glowing white eyes meeting hers, “an ally of your mate.”
Mate.
Her cheeks grew warm.
So he knew.
“You knew where we were,” Akur said, moving closer to Constance. “How?”
Diana huffed a small laugh. “Yce keeps surveillance of all the Restitution’s leading minds. Mine. Yours. Your brothers and all of his unit.” She shifted slightly, her smile growing warmer. “After what happened on the Restitution’s base, we got word you’d left on a ship with E’lot.”
“And I found you…” Yce tilted his head. “But not him.”
Glancing up, she could see Akur’s jaw clench.
They hadn’t had time to speak about what happened to his friend or hers. E’lot, Meredith, that silent woman, and that strange Arois guy were still trapped on that horrid planet.
“You need to rest,” Diana suddenly said, glancing between her and Akur. Their disheveled state must be obvious—clothes torn and dirty. The bandages. The wounds. “We’ve prepared quarters for you both.”
“We don’t have time—” Akur started, but Yce raised a hand, the lightning beneath his skin pulsing stronger.
“A few moments to collect yourselves won’t change anything,” the Arois said softly. “And what we need to discuss…” His gaze shifted to her and all the hairs along her arms stood on end. There was a tickling sensation in her head. She could almost feel him there, hovering just above her brain but not making contact. “It requires clear minds.”
Alaina touched her arm. “Come on. I’ll show you to your room. We have fresh clothes waiting.”
She hesitated, glancing at Akur. He nodded slightly, his hand brushing her lower back one last time before letting her go. “Take all the ti me you need, bright eyes. I’ll meet you on the observation deck.”
V’Alen stepped forward. “I will show Akur to his quarters.”
As they separated, Alaina led Constance through the pristine corridors of the Elysium. The ship was unlike anything she’d ever seen—even the Restitution base seemed primitive in comparison. The walls seemed to glow with an inner light, similar to Yce’s skin.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Alaina said, noticing her wonder. “Arois technology.”
Her gaze scanned around as they continued on. “Just…who are they?”
Alaina shrugged. “I wish I knew. Turns out, we humans are really far behind on…well, everything.”
They reached a door that slid open silently at their approach. Inside was a spacious room with a large viewport. Clean clothes were laid out on a bed. Leather. Like Diana’s.
“The shower is through there,” Alaina gestured to another door. “Take your time.”
Constance nodded, but as she moved toward the bathroom, Alaina caught her arm.
“Constance…” Alaina’s voice was tight. “What happened to you out there? Where were you? We searched everywhere.”
Looking at her friend, it felt like she’d shifted realities. Everything that happened in the past few days felt like a horrible dream. “We were…on a planet. With them.” She swallowed hard. “We were on a planet with the Tasqals.”
“The Tasqals?” Alaina’s voice hardened, her hand tightening slightly.
“They have a world, Alaina.” Constance swallowed hard. “And they have plans. Plans for some orb. We found out exactly what they’re going to do.”
Alaina’s face went pale before she nodded. “Get cleaned up. We need to tell the others about this.” She stepped back, composing herself. “I’ll wait outside.”
The shower was heavenly—hot and cleansing. Constance stood under it until her skin turned pink, trying to wash away the memory of the Tasqal citadel, the grime of the tunnels and those horrible creatures they fought. The stench of death and decay.
When she emerged, Alaina was waiting, as promised. They walked in silence to the observation deck, where the others had already gathered. The room was circular, with floor-to-ceiling windows showing the vast expanse of space. Seating was arranged in a semicircle, and in the center stood a holographic display currently showing star charts.
Akur was there, cleaned and changed as well, wearing a fresh tunic and trouse. For a moment, she could only stare at him. He didn’t look like a male that had died and resurrected. As a matter of fact, he looked exactly like the proud male she’d seen walking around the Restitution base before it all went to shit. And there was that glint in his eye again. The one when he was thinking about bloodshed and murder.
“I sensed your distress,” Yce was saying, his voice almost quiet. “But the signal was…strange. I could not locate you. It wasn’t until you crossed some kind of threshold that I could lock on to you precisely.”
Akur eased back in his seat, gaze sliding to her immediately. He didn’t even have to beckon. Her feet took her over to him as he pulled out the seat for her by his side.
“It’s a planet that exists on no star chart,” he said as she sat. “Hidden. I only found it because of her.”
He gestured to her, and Constance realized they were all looking at her now.
“Their base?” Yce asked.
“Yes.” Akur’s words made a hush go through the room. They were all silent before V’Alen seemed to sit up straighter.
“And you escaped,” he said.
Akur grunted a laugh. “I didn’t. But she did. She saved me.”
They were all looking at her now.
“I had help.” She cleared her throat. Somehow, she just knew what s he was about to say was going to turn this meeting into a glacier. “A Tasqal. He helped us.”
The silence that followed her words was deafening. Diana was the first to react, shooting to her feet with such force her chair floated away.
“A Tasqal ?” Her voice dripped with venom. “You trusted a Tasqal?”
“Diana, my mate.” Yce’s calm voice cut through the tension, but the lightning beneath his skin pulsed faster, betraying his own unease.
“No.” Diana’s eyes blazed. “This is…incomprehensible!” She slammed her palms down on the table, an echoing thud going through the room.
“Enough.” Akur moved between Diana and her, his massive frame blocking Diana completely. His voice carried the weight of someone who’d seen too much to suffer prejudice. “Despite how it tastes like excrement in my mouth to say this…that Tasqal risked everything. Without him, we’d both be dead or worse. I’ve fought their kind for many moons, but I know honor when I see it.”
“Honor…” Alaina shook her head. “From a Tasqal?”
Yce leaned forward as Akur settled back. “He speaks the truth. They both do.”
That tickling in her head grew more intense, and she met his gaze. “He’s part of a faction within their society that wants change. They’re sick—dying—”
“Yes,” Diana spat. “Let them all die.”
“You’re right.” Constance took a deep breath. “I don’t want them to live either. But he helped us. They’re not…they’re not all as bad as we think.”
For several heavy minutes, the silence in the room felt like lead.
She took another deep breath. “I believe there are those who are truly sorry, truly tired of all their species has done. But they are afraid. Their leaders—the High Tasqals—they’re planning something big. Something bad. They have an Arois prisoner.”
At this, Yce’s entire body grew more tense, the lightning beneath his skin flaring bright enough to make her squint. “Yes,” he breathed. “I have felt him through the void. But his signal was…wrong. Twisted.”
“They’re using him,” Akur spoke up. “They’ve found a way to harness his power, to combine it with an orb. They plan to use it to create a massive portal—to transport humans to their world.”
Alaina’s head snapped up from where she’d been resting it against her arms. “What?” She and Diana said together.
Yce’s light flickered violently. The temperature in the room seemed to drop.
“Describe him,” he demanded, his voice suddenly carrying an edge she hadn’t heard before.
“Tall, like you,” Constance said. “But his light was…gone. Like…dim. The gem in his forehead wasn’t shining like yours, either. He looked—”
“Dead,” Akur finished. “But still breathing.”
Yce turned away sharply, his hands clenched. Diana was at his side immediately. She pulled him into her. “Yce…do you know him?”
“No,” he said, his voice barely a whisper. “But he is suffering…and if they plan to do this…to use that orb to create a gateway…”
Constance looked around, gaze shifting from one person at the table to another. “Can they really do that? Are these psychic powers that…well…could one being be that powerful?”
The lights in the room flickered and dimmed, and an icy wind swept through the sealed chamber. Yce turned back to them, his entire body now crackling with energy. The lightning beneath his skin wasn’t just pulsing anymore—it was racing, streaming across his form in violent arcs that made the air taste like metal. His eyes blazed white-hot.
“You have no idea what we are capable of.” His voice resonated oddly, as if coming from everywhere at once. Small objects on the table began vibrating. “The void speaks through us, shapes us, fills us. And if they have found a way to corrupt that connection, to twist it…” The temperature plummeted further, their breath now visible in clouds before their faces.
Diana’s hand on his arm seemed to ground him somewhat. The intens e display of power ebbed, though the lightning still danced beneath his skin at a frenzied pace. “One being? No. But a being forced beyond their limits, their power stripped raw and connected to something like that orb…” His eyes shone again. “They could tear reality apart trying.”
“We can’t let that happen,” Alaina said.
Constance swallowed again. “Where is this orb?”
“Safe,” the cyborg said.
“We have to destroy it.”
“I’m with her. We destroy it,” Diana said.
“No.” V’Alen’s voice was so calm, it was like he was talking about something mundane. “The orb cannot simply be destroyed. Its power must be contained, controlled. Destruction could tear reality apart.”
“And leaving it intact could give the Tasqals exactly what they want!” Diana countered.
“We might have another solution,” Alaina whispered.
Constance’s gaze shot to her a moment before there was a soft sound from the center of the table. A circular depression suddenly created itself before turning into a hole where two vials emerged from. The contents swirled within them.
“What you’re looking at,” Alaina said, “is the Tasqals’ salvation…or their destruction.”
She reached for the two small vials—one filled with a clear liquid, the other a murky green. “125, one of V’Alen’s brother clones, gave us these before we left V’Alen’s world. One contains the cure for the Tasqals’ disease. The other…” She swallowed hard. “The other could wipe them out completely.”
The room went completely still. Even Yce seemed frozen, his ethereal glow dimming slightly.
“A genocide in a bottle,” Diana whispered, but there was no triumph in her voice now, only weight.
“We can’t make that decision.” Constance shook her head. She couldn't believe what she was saying, but it was the truth. “Not alone. Not without consulting, I don’t know, the rest of the Restitution! We’re talking about genocide here. And they’re not all…not all of them are assh oles. Killing them all is a decision we need to think about. Properly.”
For a few long minutes, silence filled the table. They knew she was right.
V’Alen suddenly straightened. “That is not a weight you beings would like to bear.” Her brow furrowed slightly. He spoke like he had firsthand experience in that regard, which was troubling. “Akur,” he said, “your communications device. May I see it?”
Akur frowned but reached up to his ear, removing a tiny disk. V’Alen took it, his cybernetic components whirring as his chest opened and he slipped the device in.
Suddenly, a voice filled the room—scratchy, distorted, but unmistakable.
“—anyone receiving? This is E’lot. We’re stranded in…qrak…some barren wasteland. Hedgeruds at every turn. The human—” Another voice cut in. Female. Unmistakable. “Meredith, you big lump!” E’lot groaned, stressing her name unnecessarily. “ Meredith is injured, but alive. I lost the other shuttles carrying the other humans and Akur…he went after one. Only gods know if he still breathes. My coordinates are…” He listed off a string of coordinates. “A planet that shouldn’t exist. If anyone receives this—we have found the Tasqal base.”
The transmission cut off. Constance felt her heart in her throat as she looked at Akur, saw the raw emotion in his eyes at hearing his friend’s voice.
“That transmission,” V’Alen said, “was saved in your comm’s buffer.”
Akur’s brow tightened. “I didn’t hear it.”
The cyborg handed him back the device. “The magnetic interference…whatever is hiding that planet…must have interfered with the signal.”
“How long ago was that sent?” Akur rested his arms on the table, his focus on the two vials in Alaina’s hands.
“On the same turn that you went silent,” V’Alen said .
“If they’re still alive,” Constance stood. “We can’t just leave them there.”
“No,” Akur agreed, his voice hard with determination. “We can’t.”
Alaina shook her head. “You would go back? To that place?”
Constance’s hands formed into fists. “I will do whatever it takes to end this.”
Alaina gripped the vials, gaze shifting to them. “So will I.”
Easing back, Constance’s shoulders squared. “So what’s the plan?”
They spent hours arguing. Hours coming up with ways to spin their next move. Hours dissecting every possible approach, each plan bearing a devastating cost. The holographic display in the center of the table became a graveyard of failed strategies, each one marked with an angry red block.
“If we go in with a full assault,” Diana traced her finger along one trajectory, “they’ll see us coming. They have more firepower than us. We lose both our people and our element of surprise.”
“How many rebels are left?” Akur asked. “How many escaped? Regrouped?”
“Enough,” Alaina replied. “Several ships made it out. Commander Xul has a few with him. They are ready to fight. Plan is to find those brutes, take down the hostiles, then…use one of these vials.”
“You’d have to get in the base first to do that,” Constance said.
“Stealth approach.” Alaina glanced from one to the other. “Small team, under their sensors—”
“There is no going under their sensors. Not after E’lot and I got in. They’d see them coming. And if they catch them…” Akur’s face was grim. “They’ll have everything they need. They’d have a cure…and no guarantee they would end this war. They would still be a pain in our seed sacs. Only, they wouldn’t be diseased anymore. We’d be handing them the keys to your planet and so many others.”
Constance watched each plan crumble, each strategy dissolve into impossible choices. Save their people but risk Earth. Protect Earth, but kill an entire species. Strike hard and fast, but lose their only advantage. Wait too long and lose everything.
The weight of it all pressed down on her shoulders like a physical thing. Every path seemed to lead to sacrifice—the only question was what they could bear to lose.