CHAPTER 10
Dorian
The call didn’t connect.
That was not good news.
It meant we were already surrounded by the villagers, and they would be armed.
Eloria and Julius sensed that something was wrong and straightened, expressions shifting from relaxed relief that the journey was over to alert it a fraction of a tick.
‘What is it?’ Eloria asked.
‘They’re not answering.’
She shared a look with Julius, the pair of them having a silent conversation that I wasn’t privy to.
Eventually, it was Julius that spoke up.
‘Where’s Morgrid?’
I frowned. ‘Why?’
‘Because she is the most unstable and unpredictable individual on this ship and I do not believe she will listen to your instructions.’
I blinked at him, waiting for his words to finish processing.
When they did, all three of us jumped up and rushed from the room.
The jostling woke Baldr and he complained for a beat before he took in our frantic demeanours, then he went quiet and watched with eyes that saw far too much for a baby.
As we approached the cafeteria on our way to the room Morgrid was staying I made a last click decision and swerved inside.
I scanned the large room that seemed so small with so many crammed inside and caught sight of Foryk on the far side by the kitchen.
He had a group of kids crawling all over him, and there was a tender smile on his face I didn’t think I’d ever seen on him before.
It almost made me feel bad for interrupting, but I needed Bal somewhere safe if the worst happened. While I didn’t believe my family would ever hurt me, there was no guarantee the village wouldn’t shoot first and ask questions later.
He caught my eye, the smile immediately dropping from his face and a stab of guilt punched through my gut.
Guilt and pity because it was his mother that was the cause of my stress.
He expertly manoeuvred around the kids until he was in front of me, and I was momentarily impressed because that took skill.
‘What’s going on?’
‘Did you secure Morgrid in her room?’
‘As much as I could on short notice, yes. Why?’
My eye twitched.
‘Is there a chance she could get out her on own?’
He frowned, catching onto where my thoughts were going.
‘It’s possible.
She was asleep when I left, but she’s a resourceful female.’
I cursed under my breath then extended Baldr for him to take.
‘I need you to keep an eye on him.’
‘What happened?’ he asked, settling Bal into a secure hold.
‘Hopefully nothing,’ I called over my shoulder as I was already dashing away.
Eloria shot me a knowing look as I emerged from the cafeteria and then we were shooting off down the corridors towards the room Foryk shared with his mother.
Only, when we got there, only the grim realisation greeted us as the door was wide open, the edges bent from where she had forced them open, the room beyond empty.
Morgrid was nowhere to be seen.
‘She must have heard the announcement.
She could be leaving the ship,’ Eloria pieced together.
I turned to Julius.
‘Get back to the cockpit.
If we’re attacked, we must defend the children, but do not use lethal force.
Set to stun only,’ I ordered.
‘Got it, Captain,’ he said and continued down the corridor to the elevator while Eloria and I went the other direction.
Our footsteps thundered through the metallic corridors like a frantic drumbeat.
If Morgrid was disembarking she already had a head start.
There was no way we would get to her in time, but hopefully I could still do damage control before we were engaged in a battle. My people may have been poor, but we were gritty. They wouldn’t go down without a fight, and they were always itching for one.
I was right.
As soon as we rounded the corner to the hangar bay we were greeted to the sight of Morgrid waiting by the doors as they opened.
We had been only moments too late, but the damage was already done.
‘Morgrid!’ I called and she swivelled around to point a laser gun in our direction, the green glow indicating she had already powered it up and was ready to shoot.
‘Stop! Stay back,’ she demanded, stepping closer to the opening as it widened.
Light spilled in through the widening gap, slowly illuminating the hangar bay in the dim natural light of Gerinium.
It was dusty and heavily polluted, so as soon as the outside air hit our lungs the three of us began to cough.
I had grown used to the recycled air. It may have been stale, but at least it was clean.
Unfortunately, that was enough of a distraction to put as in the worst position possible when the door opened all the way, revealing the mass of armed bodies dotted around the perimeter of the ship.
And all their weapons were aimed at Morgrid.
When she turned to step out she froze, unsure who to point her own weapon at now that she had wedged herself between two enemies.
Not that any of us were truly enemies, but she didn’t know that.
‘Put the weapon down!’ a familiar male voice shouted from outside.
When she didn’t respond, maintaining her threatening pose, another familiar voice shouted.
This one made my heart clench in fear as I worried Morgrid would eventually just start shooting, only she would be shooting at my fucking family.
Without thinking it through, I rushed forward.
‘Don’t shoot!’
Morgrid startled, whipping the gun around to point at me again, only she misjudged the distance between us that I had rapidly closed and ended up smacking me around the face.
The impact jostled her finger on her trigger and the heat of the plasma singed a few of my hairs as it shot past my head.
With a yell of my own I used the force of my momentum to tackle the larger Tornu woman to the ground, successfully knocking the gun from her grip.
It clattered to the metal grating of the ramp, another two shots firing in quick succession. Everyone ducked for cover, fearing the unpredictability of the rogue weapon. Luckily, it stilled and powered off after the two extra shots were accidentally fired, recognising that there were no biological signatures of a hand wrapped around it to prove it was in use. It was a failsafe I was immensely happy for in this moment.
A brief pause as we all stopped to process what had happened, and then chaos ensued.
A cacophony of shouts reached me, and I was only able to pick out a few.
‘Dorian!’
‘Not my boy!’
‘Get her!’
I gestured for Eloria to approach and she withdrew her military issued handcuffs without being told, immediately securing Morgrid’s wrists to the metal grating to keep her down while I rose.
Her feet weren’t secured, however, so I had to dodge her powerful kicks.
One glanced my side as I jumped out of the way and I knew it would leave a bruise, but I was grateful that was the only injury that would be received today.
‘Stand down!’ I shouted at the crowd below.
‘It’s just me! Everything’s under control.’
But I had forgot to add into my calculations that these people were not military, and they were unaware of my status as this ship’s temporary captain.
I certainly wasn’t theirs.
My eyes went wide as my mother’s short body flew into mine and bowled me over, her arms wrapping around me in a vice grip.
My father was there in the next instant, gathering us both into his wide arms.
More people piled on top, and they weren’t just my immediate family.
All the villagers seemed to be please that I was home. Their chatter became incessant, each one trying to talk over the next person in an overeager bid to be heard above the rest, but the wails and curses from Morgrid overruled all of their efforts. Those cuffs would hold her for now, but she would break through the grating eventually.
She needed to be secured properly.
I tilted my head back to be heard over everyone’s heads.
‘Eloria, go get Foryk.’
‘On it, Cap,’ she called back, already hurrying away to retrieve our backup.
I was strong, but only a Tornu could match another Tornu’s strength.
And maybe she’d listen to her son.
I wouldn’t hold my breath, though.
My mother pulled away – as much as she could while squished at the bottom of a dogpile – and shot me a surprised look.
‘Cap? Like, Captain? Dorian, are you the captain?’
I shot her a thin-lipped smile, mostly because I couldn’t breathe properly beneath the weight of my entire village, but also because there was so much I needed to tell her and not much time to get our acts together.
The weight of the bodies above me were nothing compared to the crushing weight of the war we were now embroiled in.
‘Get off,’ I wheezed, and everyone finally scrambled to give me some room to breathe.
I took in an exaggerated breath only to choke on the dust that was floating around in the air like a fog made from sand and pollution.
Already I could feel it coating my lungs when I felt like I’d only just expelled the dirt.
After experiencing clean air for so long, it was an oppressive feeling that I had not missed.
When my coughing fit was over and everyone had backed up, another body wedged themselves into my arms.
The familiar scent of Tassie’s homemade soap filled my nostrils and my arms automatically wrapped around her of their own accord.
Old habits were hard to break, even after so much time apart.
‘You’re back,’ she whispered into my chest.
‘For now,’ I said, then pulled away.
I had to gently extricated myself from her grasp.
It would do me no good to fall back into what we were before I’d left for the military.
I had left her behind for a reason, after all.
I didn’t stick around to watch the hurt look I knew would droop her features, not did I care to see the false tears in her eyes.
We had been best friends once upon a time, and then something more, but there was only so many lies one could take before a bond could irreparably tear.
‘Mama, Papa,’ I called out then waited for them to elbow their way through the crowd that had just swallowed them in the melee.
‘We need to talk.’
Just as the last word left my lips, Eloria returned with Foryk who immediately rushed over to Morgrid, ignoring the rest of us.
‘Another one?’ Mama asked, a frown exacerbating the laugh lines around her eyes.
‘That’s Foryk, her son.
She’s… not well.
Her mate was murdered recently and her mind hasn’t been the same since.’
Pity filled her features as her eyes shone with unshed tears.
‘Oh, that’s heartbreaking,’ she said, reaching out to grab Papa’s hand as if holding onto him would ensure he wouldn’t meet the same fate.
And then her expression hardened once more.
‘But she tried to kill my baby, so I no longer care.’
‘It was painful for a lot of reasons, Mama,’ I tried to redirect her ire to something more productive while simultaneously reminding her that Morgrid was a grieving woman who wasn’t in her right mind.
I didn’t think it worked.
‘That’s partly why we’re here.
We need help.’
‘Whatever you need, we’ll do our best,’ Papa was quick to agree.
‘Your face is plastered all over the news.
Terrible things are happening throughout the IU and they’re trying to blame it on you and your friends.
None of us believe it, though, son.’
‘We’re glad you’re home, sweetheart.
We were so worried,’ Mama fussed.
‘And proud, kid.
You’ve made us proud,’ Papa added, and I grinned despite my face flushing beneath their attention and affection.
‘Why don’t you start off by telling us exactly how we can help, because I’m failing so see how we’d be of any use to you and your fancy crew, Captain,’ Mama prompted, a teasing smile lighting up her eyes and those laugh lines crinkled for a much better reason.
‘Right… Well, it’s a bit of a long story.
I’m not sure where to start,’ I admitted.
‘You can start by explaining what we need of them right now,’ Eloria piped in as she came to stand beside me, extending a hand to my parents.
‘Group Captain Eloria Stanson.’
‘Una Ituk,’ Mama introduced herself as she took the proffered hand.
‘And this handsome fellow over here is my husband, Rett Ituk.’
Papa blushed a deep crimson at Mama’s compliment and joy swelled inside my chest at seeing the two of them again, their love apparent even after all their solars together.
‘Pleasure,’ Eloria drawled.
‘But we have a situation.’
That one sentence snapped both of my parents to attention better than I had seen any cadet manage, even during our stint under The Program’s strict regimens.
‘What situation?’ Papa asked, his hand resting protectively on Mama’s shoulder.
‘Children,’ was all the explanation she gave.
‘Lots and lots of very special children.’
‘Special children?’ Mama asked, intrigue moving to the forefront of her brain like it did whenever anyone mentioned kids.
‘Hundreds,’ Eloria specified, then walked off like she hadn’t just dropped a bomb.
Only she’d left it for me to explode.
‘They’re products of illegal biological experimentation.
Children born from a breeding program within the experiment,’ I explained.
‘They have… abilities.’
Mama’s face had paled, and those listening in had mixed reactions of the same sort.
People swayed, faint at the news.
Others turned green as if they felt sick.
Angry curses and nervous mutterings tittered throughout the crowd.
‘Where are these children now?’ Papa asked, taking control of the situation while giving Mama time to compose herself.
I pointed behind me.
‘On the ship.
We managed to set up the cafeteria to house them all for the time being but it’s not sustainable.’
‘So we need some place safe to house them,’ he mused.
‘Some place reinforced,’ I iterated.
He blinked at me.
‘To keep people out, or to keep them in?’ he asked, astute as ever.
‘Both.’
He inhaled sharply.
‘What kind of abilities are we talking about?’
I shot him a grim look.
‘You’ll just have to see for yourselves.
I don’t think you’d believe me otherwise.’
And so I led them through the ship to show them the product of The Programs evil machinations, praying to whatever deity that would listen that I hadn’t brought that evil to their doorstep.
That was a na?ve hope, however.
The Program and the military would follow us here eventually.
My real hope was that we would all survive the fallout.