CHAPTER 2
Artemis
Xander huffed and puffed in the pilot’s chair, his shoulders rising and falling rapidly while he leaned forward and buried his hands in his hair.
He tugged the black strands with so much force I feared he would tear them straight from his scalp.
We had turned the video off sometime during his meltdown.
There was nothing else to see, and I had catalogued every visual and audio aspect I could memorise twice over.
When we infiltrated their base, I would be able to find and free Amarantha, Reece’s parents and the other captives from their tormentors.
I felt sick at the sight of the cages, their naked, grime-covered bodies crammed into the tight spaces, reminding me of my own experiences inside similar confines. I would be the first to admit that I was lucky to have escaped forming a bad case of claustrophobia, but I had been through worse than when I was trapped in small spaces. But I refused to let my own suffering discount or diminish theirs. Their trauma would stay with them forever and would have been more of a shock to the system. I had been raised in torture chambers of all varieties. Those poor people had not. They had lives out there, people who would miss them.
Like Xander and Reece.
I scanned the room for my friend, finding him leaning against the back wall between two unconscious hostages, staring at his boots with an intensity that I might have believed bordered on obsession if it weren’t for the fact that tears were streaming down his cheeks.
His delicate, silvery brows were furrowed, his pallor both pale and flushed as his emotions warred inside him.
I understood exactly how he and Xander were feeling, for I had been through it countless times with Libby and Bal.
The only thing that would help them now was freeing their loved ones and destroying the bastards that hurt them.
Both of which were on the agenda, which was why they were able to hold onto the pieces of themselves that wanted to fall away at the horrific revelation.
I shelved those types of thoughts for the time being.
Emotions would get in the way, and we needed to remain focused on our objective if we were going to get out of this mostly unscathed.
None of us was delusional enough to believe we wouldn’t leave here without a few more scars, especially when there were more than a few who were already experiencing the wounds.
Seeing Xander actively pull himself together, his surly mask of professional focus slamming into place, I decided my efforts would be best utilised on Reece.
My feet were moving before I’d made the conscious thought to walk over, and I was quick to find myself standing in front of my friend.
When he didn’t react to my presence, his eyes still staring intently at his boots with a glazed, faraway look, I cupped his face in my hands and gently lifted his face until we were eye-to-eye.
I waited patiently until he focused on me, that glazed look dissipating as clarity washed it away.
He blinked a couple of times as if reacclimating to reality, which was a process I was all too familiar with myself.
I sent him a small, sad but understanding smile.
‘Welcome back.’
‘They took my family,’ he said, his tone devoid of all emotion until his voice cracked on the last word.
His eyes took on a reddened, watery look that broke my heart for him, but I ignored my own feelings.
It wasn’t about me.
‘And we’re getting them back.’
‘They’re torturing them.’
‘Possibly,’ I replied, seeing no reason to mince my words.
‘I want them dead.’
The right corner of my lips tugged up slightly into the hint of a smirk.
‘That can be arranged.’
The dimness returned, shrouding his entire being in a darkness I didn’t think I would be able to penetrate.
No, that was something he was going to have to work through himself, but I would be here to support him throughout, no matter what.
What I could do, however, was help him free his parents from their current fate.
But we also didn’t have much time for an emotional breakdown.
I held his gaze firmly with mine, refusing to let him escape this when his eyelids shuddered, a precursor to his intent to slam them shut.
I needed him to hear me.
‘I know that this is hard.
I know that this is your worst nightmare come to life, but they need you to be strong now, Reece.
They need you here, not stuck in your head.
Can you do that?’
He took a steadying breath, squared his shoulders and straightened his spine, a look of cold determination hardening his fair features.
‘We’ll make them pay.’
I nodded once, my lips pressed into a grim line.
‘Can you do this?’
His jaw ticked at the question, but he knew I wasn’t asking out of doubt.
‘I can do this.’
‘Good.
I need you to secure the prisoners.
They cannot be allowed to escape and throw a wrench in our operation.
There are holding cells on the bottom deck that should contain them, but double-check for any hidden devices that could potentially allow them to escape. These assholes are slippery, and I wouldn’t put it past them to have installed a failsafe.’
He nodded curtly, his expression still shut down despite the resolve burning behind his silvery eyes as he immediately got to work, barking orders at random officers like he was the one in charge.
They shot me looks, silently asking for confirmation to follow his orders, which I readily gave, and they quickly began gathering the conscious prisoners, leaving the unconscious ones to come back for later.
‘All right, listen up,’ I called out as I turned back around to face the rest of the crew, pausing while they gave me their attention.
‘You all know the change of plans.
You have a choice to make.
This is your last chance to head back to the other ship, but make your decisions quickly. We will be separating in half a turn, so whichever ship you’re on will be it.’
Pride swelled in my chest when no one moved to leave.
I shouldn’t have been expecting the worst.
I may not have known these people on a personal level, but they had chosen the side in this fight that fought for what was right.
They had the courage to stand up for what they believed in, and they hadn’t run away from the hardships so far.
They were good people, and I needed to trust in them more because they had shown me consistently that they were worth their mettle.
‘Right then,’ I said, letting my satisfaction escape just enough to pull a twitch from my lips as I turned to the pilots.
I didn’t know their names just yet, but there would be time for proper introductions later.
‘Prepare to disengage from the other ship.
We will circumvent the asteroid field rather than try to navigate through it. Hopefully, the pirates won’t dig any deeper until it’s too late and they continue to assume we’re heading through on the other ship. Any questions?’
A hand went up on the outskirts of the room, drawing my attention.
I nodded for them to go ahead and ask.
‘What if it’s more than just the pirates making a base out of the rogue planet?’
‘That’s a very real possibility, but since I’m only taking a small team to recover the captives and the ship will be shielded, you don’t need to worry about that.
Your job will be to keep the prisoners contained and to stand by for backup if needed.
This is an in-and-out mission with the sole objective of rescuing the captives and then retreat, but my team and I will take out the threats.’
He cleared his throat, fidgeting slightly as he geared up to respond, and I prepared myself to hear something I wasn’t going to like.
‘With all due respect, Captain, but how can you take out all the threats with only a small team?’
I smiled, though it was more self-deprecating than anything else.
‘Because they have nothing to use against me, soldier, and you’ve seen only the surface of what I can do.
The Program made me into the ultimate weapon, and now there’s more than just me.’
His shoulders slumped at my answer, wariness over the threat I posed digging its claws into him.
Except he didn’t let them get very far.
He straightened his spine and gave me a decisive nod that had me releasing a breath I hadn’t even known I was holding.
He drifted away then, allowing me the reprieve I needed to gather myself for what was to be done.
I didn’t get long, however, when Xander quickly rose to stalk towards me, Addy a silent pink shadow at his heels.
Her small fingers clung to the fabric at his hip as she tried to ground him and we shared a concerned look that he pointedly ignored.
‘What’s your plan?’ he demanded, bypassing his signature professional front in favour of getting right to the nitty gritty.
While I wished it were any other situation that prompted the change in his attitude, I was glad he had shed the mask, if only for a little while.
I hoped it stayed off long enough for us to build a true friendship between us, if for no other reason than we were working so closely together now.
‘We go in hard, get the captives, and run,’ I said simply, matching his abrupt demeanour.
‘I’m coming,’ he stated, teeth grinding and eyes firing with determination.
‘I know,’ I replied slowly, tilting my head to the side in confusion as I wondered why he was telling me.
My response seemed to stump him.
His chest puffed and his face reddened as he opened his mouth as if to argue, but then he stumbled back a step as the fight drained from him when my words registered.
‘You’re not going to try to force me to stay behind?’ he asked, taken aback.
‘Why would I do that?’ I retorted, equally bewildered, though clearly for a different reason.
‘Because they have my sister…’ he trailed off as if the rest of his explanation was self-explanatory.
I didn’t get it.
‘Right.
Which is why you’re going.
What’s the problem?’
He released a slow breath, the rest of his aggression expelling with it, but didn’t try to argue any further.
Addy piped up, explaining what I was missing, much to her lover’s annoyance.
‘The typical protocol is to remove those with a personal stake in the mission because they are compromised.
They could act based on their emotions rather than stick to the mission and derail the whole thing.’
My brows dipped low and I chewed on my bottom lip as I mulled over her words.
They held merit, but personal experience would have proved me a hypocrite if I followed those rules, so I said as much.
‘If it were Libby, I would be in there with or without your permission.
I don’t see any point in refusing you.’
That seemed to snatch the wind from his sails completely as he slumped back, leaning heavily against the back of the nearest chair.
‘You’re right.
I’d find a way to go even if I had to sneak around behind everyone’s backs.’
I awkwardly lifted a shoulder, ready to move on from the conversation to more important avenues.
‘You have skills I won’t deny would come in useful, and I would never try to stop you.
She’s your family.’
When no one spoke up after that and the silence became like an entirely new entity between us, I swiftly brushed passed them back to the centre of the bridge, taking up my position in the Captain’s chair.
Well, beside it.
I couldn’t sit down since Dave Junior had claimed it for himself and was currently sprawled over it in the most uncomfortable-looking position I had ever seen him in.
He growled at anyone who got too close and gave me a very obvious side-eye when I approached, digging his claws into the padding to ensure I wouldn’t move him. Luckily for him, I was too worked up to want to take the seat from him.
‘Captain, we’re disengaging from the other ship in five clicks,’ the pilot, a female of ambiguous heritage, called out to me.
My shoulder immediately tensed at the news, my entire body locking up at the mere thought of sending Baldr away without going with him.
I was breaking my promise that I would never let him leave my sight again, but I couldn’t see any other way around it.
There was too much at risk, too many opponents currently on the gameboard for me to keep him around.
It simply wasn’t safe, and he and the rest of the children deserved to be somewhere secure. Or at least more secure than in the middle of space, surrounded by enemies and deadly obstacles at every turn.
I nodded at the pilot, my lips pressed in a thin line as I took deep, steadying breaths.
I couldn’t let this decision distract me.
There were too many people relying on me. On us.
When the ship juddered, the first sign that we had officially detached from the others, my emotions surged, every instinct inside me screaming to get back to Bal.
Thoughts of Dorain and Foryk also pushed their way through to the forefront, and a quick glance around showed I wasn’t the only one.
Everyone was straight-faced, pushing their feelings to the side to focus on our mission.
The only way I could manage it myself was to keep reminding myself that we would catch up to them soon enough. This separation was only temporary.
Soon, we would all be together again, Libby and the other ex-subjects reuniting with their children once again.
Today, others would be reunited with their families, only it wouldn’t be so joyful.
As I observed Xander running his fingers through his hair while he anxiously paced, I could only hope their trauma wasn’t so extensive that they couldn’t recover.