CHAPTER 1
Dorian
Iclutched Baldr closer to my chest as he squirmed in his sleep, his sweet little face scrunching up momentarily until he settled once more.
My heart clenched with affection for him, swelling with satisfaction at the trust he put in me to protect him in his most vulnerable state.
It also clenched with awe at how Artemis had trusted me to keep him safe as well, but I tried not to think too much about that.
We had bigger things to worry about than my emotions.
Things I was completely in the dark about thanks to my assignment, but I wasn’t going to complain.
The ship shuddered and I extended one hand to grasp the edge of the mattress, my eyes glued to the sliver of hallway I could see through the bent gap from the mangled door in case someone, enemy or friend, came barrelling towards us.
I was so focused on what could possibly come from outside that I startled when my holo-tab buzzed in its pouch, the vibration travelling up my leg with a strange sense of doom.
Baldr fussed at the sudden jostling but luckily didn’t wake and settled right back into his peaceful sleep.
I pulled the holo-tab from its pouch and blanched when I saw it was the cockpit.
Not wanting to wake up the sleeping boy in my arms but also not seeing any way to avoid the call, I answered.
GC Stanson’s face appeared above the screen, tinged blue and flickering, which I found odd.
Something was interfering with our connection, and my guard rose up even higher.
‘GC Stanson,’ I greeted respectfully.
‘How can I help you?’
‘I have received a message from the other ship.
Captain Artemis has asked me to relay a message with instructions.
The plan was successful and we have taken control.
The enemy passengers have been detained…’
‘But?’ I prompted when she trailed off, her expression pinched.
She was hesitant to speak whatever it was out loud, and my gut churned with anxiety.
I glanced down at Baldr, his blonde hair sticking up from where he’s grabbed at it, his plump, rosy cheeks, and his little bow-shaped lips parted in his sleep with a tiny drop of drool just waiting to escape.
My eyes snapped back up to the hologram of the pilot when her tense words registered.
‘The Program is, indeed, working with pirates.
Unfortunately, they have captured and… harmed a group of hostages, one of which is… well, Hironimus’ sister.’
‘Shit,’ I breathed out the word, wanting to shout it but holding back for Baldr’s sake.
‘They’re going in, aren’t they?’
The grim line of her lips was answer enough, but she continued to speak anyway.
‘Yes.
We have been tasked with retreating from the enemy towards our destination.’
My muscles vibrated from the effort it took not to leap to my feet and roar in rage and frustration.
‘They’re sending us away while they storm the enemy’s base?’ I hissed.
‘Our orders are to get the children to safety, Dorian,’ she said, dropping any pretence of formality and speaking to me as an equal.
It both ratcheted up my anxiety and soothed my helplessness, giving me a fa?ade of control that I very much appreciated.
‘We’re to head to Gerinium and lay low until we receive word with further instructions,’ she pushed on, and I steadied my whirlwind of emotions with a few deep breaths.
I had a job to do, one that was close to Artemis’s heart.
If I failed, she would never forgive me.
Fuck, I would never forgive myself. She wasn’t sending me away, she was giving me a mission of the highest priority, and I’d be damned if I let anything happen to these kids.
‘Understood,’ I acknowledged.
‘That’s not all, Dorian,’ she said, her voice suddenly lower in her hesitancy.
I braced myself. ‘Go on.’
‘Per the Captain’s orders, you have been promoted to Interim Captain in her absence.’
I tried to hide the way I choked on my tongue, but the knowing glint in Stanson’s eyes told me I wasn’t very successful.
‘Me?’ I cleared my throat when my voice came out high-pitched and croaky. ‘Why?’
‘Probably because you’re the only one she trusts with the job.
She doesn’t know the others like she knows you.’
‘What about you?’
She chuckled, but her humour was half-hearted and undercut with tension.
‘I already have a job, Dorian.
One I should really be getting back to so we don’t crash.’
‘Right.
Yes.
Asteroids.
Let’s avoid those,’ I rambled, but she took my words seriously.
‘Yes, Captain.’
And then she ended the call, leaving me to stew in my new reality.
I was Interim Captain.
I was in charge of getting an entire ship full of super-powered toddlers to the safety of my home planet.
They were sending me away…
A part of me wanted to stay and fight, to remain with my team and my friends.
Taking Xander’s sister was a personal attack.
The fact that they had gone out of their way to capture someone so high profile was troubling, to say the least, and my heart bled for the older man.
If that had been one of my sisters…
That was how I knew that this was the right call.
We needed to get the kids out of the danger zone and somewhere safe, and while my original task had just grown exponentially, I geared myself up for what needed to be done.
Every part of me screamed in protest at leaving my friends behind.
We had been through so much together as it was, but I reminded myself that I wasn’t abandoning them.
I had my orders to follow while they went on their rescue mission, and I had no doubt I would be seeing them again soon.
There was no way Artemis wouldn’t get them all to safety, especially considering Reece, Adara, Cadmus, and Bromm were a part of the super-power club.
I just needed to trust them, because they trusted me enough with this.
I could give them one less thing to worry about, but first, we needed to get through the asteroid field in one piece.
The ship juddered again and my fist clenched the side of the mattress so hard I heard the loud rip before I realised my fingernails had torn right through the thick foam.
I gently nuzzled my nose in Baldr’s hair and let his sweet baby scent soothe my frazzled nerves.
If he and the other children were now my responsibility, I would take that responsibility seriously.
I would die before I let anything happen to them.