30. A Frail Truce, A Frailer Truth
THIRTY
A FRAIL TRUCE, A FRAILER TRUTH
Syasku
“Are you sure he’s not going to kill us?”
“No.”
“Then why take the risk? Just put him out of his misery.”
A male sighs. “We need him, and right now he needs us. He won’t hurt us if we prove to him that we’re here to help, and to do that, we have to help him. I promised I would…” His voice fades. “And I want to try.”
There are two males nearby. I struggle to tell if there are more.
Remaining conscious is agonizing. I am unable to see. I can only feel. Water trickles over my face as the reek of burnt flesh and smoke clog my nostrils, and that is if I can clearly breathe in at all. My lips open, sticky with blood, charred flesh, and peeling skin. I lift my hands slowly to my neck where fire sears my skin, making it hard to swallow.
There’s a shuffling beside me. “Try not to move, you’ll only make it worse for yourself. With the injuries you’ve sustained, it’s a miracle you’re alive.”
I pause. It is Muffin’s voice next to me. As I try to open my eyes, the pain intensifies, and I choke out a groan. I try again anyway, and it is worse than before. Angry I did not take the warning, I slide my tongue across the back of my teeth, relieved to find some power over my body.
“I cannot ssssee,” I barely manage to say, my hiss a garbled rasp.
“What’s he saying?” The other male asks.
Muffin shifts closer. “Can you try speaking again, Syasku?” he asks.
Swallowing, I groan around the tight rawness of my throat. “My eyessss…”
Muffin steps away. “He’s saying something about his eyes,” he announces to the other male. His voice is next to my ear when he speaks again. “You’re blind. Your retinas are burned. They bled for a long time.”
Going silent, it takes me some time to wrap my mind around what he said.
“Right now, you need to focus on not moving, if you plan on ever seeing Vivian again.”
Vivian.
I jerk.
“Shit,” the other male curses. “Can’t we give him something for the pain?”
Muffin shifts over me, ignoring the other. “Syasku, you’re safe here as long as you’re willing to listen. Kyle and I are here to… help.”
Help? “Vivian,” I croak.
“She’s fine… and if you can manage to rein yourself in until you’ve recovered, you may just see her again. Can you do that?”
I try scowling, but it turns into a grimace.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” he mumbles, drawing back. “I’m going to pour more water into your mouth now, try to swallow as much as you can.”
Piece by piece, memories come back to me. Vivian’s worry about the lights, her anxiety and our talk of escape. Her getting sick.
I recall being tranquilized and taken from her. Waking to Asera and Pierce in front of me. My lips twitch as I remember the taste of Pierce’s blood as my teeth shred his throat. Discovering Vivian gone after escaping back to our cell, then the soldiers, flashing red lights, and… Muffin’s reappearance.
Ursula.
A breath releases.
…And the pain.
A scream wants to follow my weak inhale, but it remains lodged in my throat as something wet is placed on my scorched lips. Water trickles into my mouth until it gathers in the back and threatens to choke me. I manage a shallow swallow yet the water gives me no relief. Wincing internally, I have never felt so close to death.
“Good. Drink as much as you can and you’ll be fine.” Muffin dribbles more water on my lips.
“I’ve seen these nagas recover from worse. Zhallaix had his guts hanging out of him and he survived.”
Whoever is with Muffin acts like he knows my kind. More water is poured into my mouth, and I work it down.
“Syasku,” Muffin says my name. “You have to trust me, okay? We’re not here to hurt you. I gave you my word, I promised to take you to Vivian. We are on your side.”
If I could speak I would tell him to save his breath, but then there’s a pinch on my arm and my world fades into darkness.
The next time I wake, my pain has dulled enough to allow me some movement but my blindness remains. Listening to what is around me, unsure if I am alone, I am laid out on something soft with my tail coiled to my left side, hanging off the side. Curling my fingers into stiff cloth, there are blankets beneath me, another on top of me. The smell of my burnt hide lingers in my nostrils, but as I focus on the smells in the space around me, I get a hint of urine, rust, and rot. With pain no longer overpowering my senses, I reach my fingers out, feeling what I can.
The bed I am on is too small. The walls of the room seem close. If I listen, I can hear movement outside the space I am in.
Unable to do much more, my thoughts turn to Vivian.
I need to find her.
I need to move.
After I hear a lock click, a door opens at the end of the bed and to my left. I turn my face toward it, hissing out in warning. The sound comes out as a groan.
Muffin has had ample time to kill me. He did not. But that doesn’t mean he will not change his mind. Closing my lips, I decide to go along with whatever it is he wants until I am strong enough to make my own decisions. I need him to take me to Vivian.
“Vivian?” I say, desperate for information.
Sensing it is he who has opened the door, I hear Muffin approach. “You’re finally awake. Vivian’s… okay. She was the last time I saw her.”
The last time?
I realize I have no idea how much time has passed.
Settled at my side, Muffin shuffles. “I’ve brought more water. If you’re up for it, I suggest you drink it.”
“How… long?”
He is silent for a moment. “How long have you been here? Almost three weeks. Twenty-one ship cycles.”
My teeth grind. I have lost too much time. Anything could have happened to Vivian in that amount of time.
“Part your lips,” Muffin coaxes. “I’m going to give you water now.”
My mouth opens of its own accord as he places a cup on them.
As I work the water down, my body gradually numbs and I fall back asleep.
Over a series of wakings and long stretches of slumber, this pattern continues. I rouse, ask about Vivian, and am told nothing new. I am given water and sometimes food. Then I drift to the sweet embrace of darkness where my inability to do anything besides existing fades away.
I wake stronger each time.
On the sixth or seventh time—I have lost count—I manage to open my eyelids, blinking the gritty glaze out of them. The space around me is murky as I look around.
The room I am in is bigger than I thought, and I was right about being on a bed. There is an open door to my left that leads to what appears to be a much smaller room shrouded in darkness. There is another door along the wall I face that is closed. It is the door Muffin always emerges from and must be the way to leave the room.
There are piles on the ground next to my tail and shapeless furniture along the rest of the walls. The only source of light comes from the front corner of the room and it is dimmed. If there are vents, they do not work.
I do not need the full use of my senses to know the room is disgusting, the smell of rot emanating from the walls. Rust, sweat, and human waste envelops me, mixing with the reek wafting from my wounds. Noticing a familiar tube sticking out of my upper arm, I follow it to where it is attached, coming upon what I believe to be a bag.
Groaning with the effort, I reach over and rip the tube out. Dropping back onto the bed, a sharp hiss wheezes through my teeth as my pain returns. For a time I lie there, taking it all in.
Wherever I am, it is not a nice place, and I hope that wherever Vivian is, she is someplace better. My hands curl, and I close my eyes.
When I rouse sometime later, the tube is back in my arm, and I leave it alone. I blink, but my sight remains hazy. Lifting my head, I inspect my body for the first time. Bubbly black patches have formed across my chest, swollen with pus. The flesh and scales that remain have shriveled. I tug the blanket off to see more, cringing when the material sticks to me.
My tail looks as bad as my chest.
I drop back once more as another painful groan wheezes out of my seared throat. Touching my neck, I discover my collar is gone. My throat tightens as I cup my neck with both hands, feeling it for the first time since my capture.
Scanning the rest of me, I confirm all of the bands have been removed from my body. There is nothing to restrain me anymore, only my wounds.
The door opens, and a male human I have not seen before walks in. I hiss, baring my fangs as he approaches.
He freezes. “Whoa. You’re awake. I was certain the drugs would keep you under for a while longer.”
“Where am I?” I grit, my body tense, ready to strike him if he is not with Muffin. “Where is Muffin?”
He shifts on his feet, and even though his face is cast in shadows, I see his smile. “Syasku, isn’t it? Nice to meet you, I’m Kyle?—”
I growl.
“You’re in one of the unsecured housing sectors outside the core. Muffin will be here shortly.”
“Vivian?” I ask.
Kyle’s shoulders drop. “She’s on the other side of the ship, up by the bridge.”
The door reopens, and Muffin appears. Closing it behind him, Muffin heads to my side, as the one named Kyle moves out of the way for him.
Muffin scans my body.
“Take me to Vivian,” I warn, pushing my elbows under me.
He rubs his mouth, his gaze shifting to my face. “I can’t… yet. You’re far from recovered. Your eyes?—”
I scowl and slide my tail over the floor toward him.
“You’ll never get to her in your state, even if you knew where she was. She’s out of your reach right now anyway, both of our reaches.”
“Out of my reach?” I growl, frustrated by the lack of action. “The bridge is out of reach?”
Muffin briefly looks behind him at the other male. “I told you.” He turns back to me. “She is with her father and being held in his quarters. You’ll need special access codes to reach her. Access codes I don’t have.”
My jaw clenches, recalling the metal walls and the impenetrable security of my cell and how fruitlessly I searched for any weaknesses to exploit.
“Should we tell him?” Kyle says to Muffin.
Sliding my eyes to the other male, my nostrils flare when Muffin’s form visibly tenses and he doesn’t respond.
“Tell me what?”
Muffin rubs his brow. “If you try leaving this room right now, you destroy any chance you have of reaching her,” he warns. “Volp’s soldiers are searching for you everywhere, and you won’t be able to take them on in your state.”
“Why should I believe you?” He is one of Ursula’s.
“Because it took a miracle to get you out of that elevator. I had to haul your smoking ass into a storage closet and pray no one came along to release the security hold on the doors. You would be dead right now without me—without us.” He indicates Kyle. “Killing Pierce made you a lot of enemies, including Vivian’s father. He wants you dead. He’s promised a promotion to whoever kills you.”
“Why not take the promotion yourself?” I hiss, trying to understand why he did not leave me to die. “I could not have stopped you.”
He sighs. “I thought about leaving while I was choking on smoke. But…” He looks away like he’s remembering something important. “What’s happened to Vivian hasn’t sat well with me. I promised that if there was ever an opportunity to save her, I would.”
I nod toward the other male. “And him?”
Muffin shifts to look at Kyle as the younger male steps forward and over my tail. “Not that long ago, I was a soldier myself. Then some things happened that ended up getting me jailed, tortured, and questioned… With the help of several of my comrades, I escaped to the Dregs for asylum. Those same comrades told me of your capture and imprisonment in the medical sector. I started investigating because I wasn’t sure…” He shakes his head. “I wasn’t sure if you were one of the nagas I befriended. When I discovered you were under Dr. Ursula’s authority, I began searching for a way to rescue you. That’s how I met Muffin.”
He kneels, resting his elbows on his knees. “He told me about Vivian, and it was then I realized the situation was worse than I imagined.”
As he continues to speak, it appears to me that he seems to know Vivian. Trying to focus on his face, the details of his features elude me, but as I search, I sense something familiar about him.
“Give me your hand,” I order.
He cocks his head and holds out his hand.
Gripping it, I pull it to my nose and inhale. Catching a clear whiff of his scent, it reminds me of the blonde female in the forest and Vivian.
He is of Vivian’s blood.
Looking between the two men with my vision too blurry to read their expressions, I try finding a reason not to trust them.
“We get something out of this as well,” Muffin adds.
My attention shifts to him. “What?”
“As you might be aware, Volp has put the entire ship into lockdown. He initiated it shortly after Dr. Laura Yulen, Vivian’s mother—and Kyle’s aunt—fled with a high-ranking officer, which was shortly before your arrival. Since then, The Dreadnaut’s ports have been closed to all except the military. Everyone has lost access to their ships. The people are upset. They think Volp is hiding something. There have been rumors that Earth is habitable, that it’s safe to return. With that knowledge, and an unprecedented lockdown, they’re angry, and many of them were already angry to begin with. You’ve noticed the lights, haven’t you? They flicker and dim?”
“Yessss,” I hiss. “I had hoped they would die.”
“That’s exactly what the people ruling the Dregs are threatening to do if Volp doesn’t lift the lockdown.”
His words remind me of the last conversation Vivian and I had before she fell ill and we were separated. The lights frightened her. They made her anxious. “Vivian mentioned something about this.”
Kyle nods. “The lights are powered by three reactors at the center of the ship. Those reactors enable the ship’s engines and systems to run indefinitely. All systems. Why this is a problem for Vivian’s father is because long ago, it made sense to have a ship’s mechanical and engineering staff, as well as their families, live close to the core, in case something happened…”
Muffin reaches into his pocket and uncorks a canister, handing it to me. “Long ago,” he adds. “Not anymore.”
“What does this have to do with Vivian?” I snap. Lifting the canister to my lips, I pour water into my mouth.
“Those people, during the dark ages after Earth’s collapse, took over the core. Since then, leadership has never been able to take it back, and The Dreadnaut has turned into a caste system, with those in the highest castes living in the ship’s outer rings while the rest are sent to the ship’s interior. They are considered the lowest caste if they’re casted at all. They’re allotted less water, less food, and the worst jobs, torn between two ruling groups. They can’t leave either, unable to afford passage somewhere else. The only way to get out is to work up the caste system, which is nearly impossible. They’re stuck, pretty much left to die.”
“Get on with it,” I warn, caring little about the ship’s dynamics.
Muffin takes back the canister. “The Dregs leaders and the ship’s commanding staff have a symbiotic relationship. They need each other. Without the commanding staff, the ship can’t fly, stay safe from outside forces, or resupply. Without the Dregs’ leaders, there is no one to keep the ship running. Without one, the ship fails, and everyone on board suffers. These power dynamics keep the ship functional.”
“And Vivian?” I bite out again, unable to keep the frustration bleeding into my tone. I need my female safe. I need her back under my protection. Getting to her is all that matters, all I care about.
Smelling her scent subtly coming off of Kyle is not helping. It hurts worse than my wounds.
He takes over. “With rumors of Earth being safe, many of the citizens on board want to leave, and not just those suffering within the Dregs. This has to do with her because it impacts everyone. If we can convince those in charge of the reactors to turn them off, there will be nothing to stop the people from getting to the ports and their ships, except for the soldiers who choose to get in their way. The ship will turn to chaos and you’ll have your chance to find Vivian.”
“How would I do that?” I ask, wondering if I can trust them. “Convince them to shut down an entire ship?”
“We’ll have to enter the Dregs and show them that the rumors they’ve heard are true,” Muffin interjects. “No one can do that better than you.” His eyes pin me. “I didn’t spend my entire career as a medical researcher just to break the Hippocratic oath and the Sovereign’s laws because of Ursula’s whims. Show yourself to the people down there, and no one will stop you from going after Vivian and taking your revenge, least of all me.”
“You, Syasku, are the catalyst we need,” Kyle adds. “Not to mention, the soldiers lack a leader with Pierce dead. There isn’t a better time.”
“Then take me there now!” I coil my tail closer to the bed, fighting to rise from the bed.
Kyle blocks me. “Not until you’ve recovered and regained your sight. We’ll need you at your best. For now—” he grabs my shoulder and pushes me down onto the bed “—you need to stay put.”
Shoving his arm away, I reach for his throat but before I can grab it, my body grows heavy and my mind light. Dropping back, I see Muffin inject something into my IV.
A furious hiss builds, and as I try to rise once more, slumber swallows me whole.