Chapter 18 #2
The area beyond was cramped with stacks of containers pressed up against the outer walls, each stamped with the same raven symbol she’d seen on the Marked Notices in Emerson’s files. The air was warm, wet with chemical tang. Sweat prickled under her collar.
Earth already felt unbelievably far away.
Nikos and Mihail moved toward the glass, speaking low with the techs. Audrey turned toward Emerson.
“What is this?” she whispered.
“A bridge,” Emerson said quietly. “To another Silo. Not all routes go directly from planet to planet. Aggregate systems layer checkpoints to monitor everything. Their entire purpose is to control movement and maintain order at any cost. The Separatists are smart, though. They know how to get around the Aggregate.” He glanced at the door ahead.
“We’ll catch a ship to Nepra after the checkpoint. ”
Her mouth went dry at the prospect of landing on the Voírían people’s home moon.
“Is this…” She hated the word but couldn’t find a better one. “Teleportation?”
He nodded, chin dipping toward the crates. “Cargo Silo, though. Not meant for people.”
The lump in her throat swelled until it hurt.
Emerson sighed, eyes still on Mihail. “Chin up, killer,” he murmured. “You’re headed home.”
Mihail spun away from the glass and clapped his hands, the sound carrying in the gloomy room. “Alright, prisoners. Pick a cage and lock yourselves in.”
Five metal, cramped cages were bolted to the floor. Audrey stepped into the nearest one, pulling the door shut. The lock engaged with a heavy clunk.
Oh God. I’m going to die in here.
She rubbed her face, then grabbed the grates.
“All you have to do is shut your eyes,” Mihail said, moving down the line, checking their doors to make sure they were locked. “There will be a bright light. Your body temperature might spike. When you open your eyes, we’ll be there.”
A high, thin whine built in her ears. The poison coursing in her veins warred with the flood of adrenaline.
This was happening. There was no waking up.
She wrapped her fingers around the bars and squeezed until her knuckles ached.
Beeping started—sharp and methodical. One. Two. Three. Four—
On five, light filled the surroundings, bright even through her closed lids. She pressed them tighter, as if she could block it out.
Heat rolled through her, starting in her hands and feet, rushing inward. It was the wrong kind of heat—rewriting her edges, making her blood hum.
The light shone again. Then everything went black.
No restraints. Just a crate and physics.
She screamed as gravity seemed to disappear, and she fell backward. Her neck banged against the back of the cage; her head smashed sideways into the metal, and sour bile surged up into her throat. She puked onto the floor.
Darkness pushed against her eyelids, and a crawling dread slithered below her skin.
Did we make it? Or did I get cut in half somewhere in between?
Her hand shot to her stomach, her neck, her legs.
Everything felt… attached. Intact. But she had to imagine there was a risk for someone getting sliced.
And what about the radiation? Audrey prayed that a society as advanced as the Ezebethians would have figured out a way to protect themselves from those deadly effects—but did it apply to cargo? She could only hope it did.
Still, she never wanted to do it again. Not for anything except a means back to her sister. If she survived Nepra, she would find Cary—even if she had to claw through every layer of this system to do it.
Lights flickered overhead, dim at first. The room around her resolved slowly—white walls, clean floor, the mess of her own vomit the only stain.
Footsteps sounded, then a curse in Voírían. Mihail came to her cage and unlocked it. The door banged open. His hands caught her wrists, fingers pressing hard against her pulse points, and her forehead.
“She’s fine,” he called over his shoulder.
Fine? Inside, she was still screaming.
He dragged her out of the cage. Her knees wobbled, but the floor stayed where it was supposed to. Emerson stood nearby, leaning against the wall, wrists secured, expression carved from stone.
Audrey swallowed hard, trying to force her thoughts into order. “Where are we?” she asked. “What are we doing?”
“Transit station DF-3,” Mihail said briskly. “Waiting for clearance to board a cargo ship to Jalnor. Capital of Nepra.”
“What happens in Jalnor?” she pressed after a beat.
“We procure a vehicle,” he said, checking her restraints.
“To go where?”
“A safe place,” he said flatly. “Stop talking.”
She laughed once, humorless. “You’re taking us to see Ryker. Aren’t you? Did we just jump galaxies for this?”
“Galaxies?” He almost laughed. “Not even close.” He shifted close, breath hot against her ear. “But yes, you know exactly where I’m taking you. He’s difficult to drag out of hiding. I’m hoping he’ll make an exception for a living Simas—even the wrong one.”
“I’ve seen him,” Audrey said, lifting her chin. “He doesn’t scare me.”
Lie. But she held eye contact anyway.
Mihail’s eyes narrowed, black irises devouring the light. “I said stop talking.” His hand slid up around her throat again—firm and not quite choking. A promise held in check. “We have a long trip ahead, and you need your medicine.”
A man in a white coat stepped in, carrying a small case. He popped it open on a nearby counter. Needles gleamed inside with vials lined up in neat rows. More sedatives.
Audrey wanted to recoil. Instead, she locked her face down, letting it go blank. She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing her flinch.
Emerson made a low sound next to her. The rough, furious noise of a man forced to watch and do nothing.
“Hold still,” the tech said.
Audrey didn’t.
Nikos caught the back of her neck and forced her head to the side. The white-coated man stepped in, fingers cool and practiced.
“Drugs first, but not too much,” Mihail said. “I need her walking in a few hours.”
A second vial clicked into place.
“Welcome to the route off Earth,” Mihail said, patting her cheek. “Try not to die before Nepra.”
And whatever waited on the other side belonged to Ryker.