Chapter 12
IRIS
Consciousness returned slowly, and it felt like wading through thick mud.
The first thing I noticed was the smell. Musty. Old. The kind of stale air that came from enclosed spaces that hadn’t been properly ventilated in a very long time. Stone and dust and something faintly organic that I couldn’t identify.
The second thing I noticed was that my wrists were bound behind my back.
I kept my eyes closed and my breathing steady, forcing myself not to react. Training kicked in automatically, overriding the surge of adrenaline that wanted to flood my system. Assess before acting. Gather information. Don’t let your captors know you’re awake until you understand your situation.
I opened my eyes. The space was pitch-black to normal vision, but my left eye, the cybernetic one, switched to night mode automatically. The world resolved into shades of green and gray, sharp enough to make out details.
A small room. Stone walls, rough-hewn and ancient. The ceiling was low, barely two meters high, supported by beams that looked like they’d been placed there centuries ago. Debris littered the floor. Rubble. Collapsed sections of what might have once been shelving or furniture.
Ruins. This looked like ruins of some kind.
My mouth was dry, coated with a sour taste I recognized. Chemical sedation. Some kind of fast-acting compound delivered through the bloodstream. My limbs felt heavy, sluggish, the aftereffects of whatever they’d dosed me with still working through my system.
I let my mind drift back, piecing together what had happened.
My room. I’d entered my room after Baleck left me at the door. Had barely taken two steps inside before something pricked my neck. A dart. I’d known immediately what it meant, had felt the chemical start to spread even as I spun to face my attackers.
Three of them. Large. Male. They’d moved like D’tran, had the build of D’tran, but they’d covered themselves in dark clothing from head to foot. Hoods, gloves, fabric wrapped around their faces. No identifying features visible. They’d been prepared.
I’d fought them. Even with the sedative already taking hold, I’d fought. Threw the first one into my table. Kicked the second in the knee hard enough to hear something crack. Got my hands on the third one’s throat before my muscles started to betray me.
Made a mess of my room in the process. Good. Someone would notice. Someone would know something had happened.
And then the chemical had won, and everything had gone dark.
Now I was here. Wherever here was.
I focused my attention on a sliver of light that outlined what appeared to be a door.
Not an original feature of the structure.
Someone had fitted a makeshift barrier into an opening, blocking the only exit.
Beyond it, I could hear voices. Low. Muffled.
Speaking in what sounded like D’tran, though I couldn’t make out the words.
I was not in the village. That much was certain. The architecture was wrong, the air was wrong, everything was wrong. They’d removed me from the valley entirely.
My neck itched where the dart had hit me, and I thought about the tracker embedded beneath my skin.
A small comfort, knowing that someone could find me if they had the right equipment.
But the longer-range scanners had left with the larger delegation when they’d departed.
The equipment Sophie and the others had access to was shorter range, and it would be limited by interference from the communications center.
They would search for me. I had no doubt about that. Sophie wouldn’t abandon one of her people. But it would take time. Time I might not have.
I thought of Baleck.
The memory of him surfaced unbidden. His warmth. His openness. The way he’d held me outside my door, gentle and steady, asking nothing in return. We’d parted there just cycles ago. Or had it been longer? I had no way of knowing how long I’d been unconscious.
Something in my gut told me he would search for me.
Not because it was his duty or his mission, but because he cared.
Because whatever was building between us, whatever strange connection I’d been trying to deny, was real enough that he wouldn’t simply accept my disappearance or leave it to someone else to find me.
The certainty of it made me relax, just slightly. Just enough to think clearly.
I began working on the bindings around my wrists.
They were well tied. Rope, not wire, which was a small mercy. Wire would have cut into my skin with every movement. But whoever had bound me knew what they were doing. The knots were tight, complex, positioned in a way that made them difficult to reach with numb fingers.
It would take a while to get them loose. But I had nothing but time.
I’d barely started when sounds came from beyond the door. Footsteps. Voices growing louder. I went still, letting my hands fall slack behind my back, my eyes half-closing to slits.
The makeshift door scraped open, and two figures entered.
D’tran males. Both of them large, broad-shouldered, with the bronze skin and color-shifting eyes of their species. One carried a small lamp that cast flickering shadows across the stone walls. The other held a bowl of something that smelled like the grain porridge I’d eaten in the communal hall.
“She’s awake,” the one with the lamp said. His voice was deep, authoritative. The one in charge.
“Feed her,” he instructed the other. “We need her healthy.”
The second male crouched down beside me, extending the bowl toward my face. A spoon appeared, laden with thick porridge, pushing toward my lips.
I clamped my mouth shut and turned my head away.
“Come now.” The leader’s tone was almost conversational. “You should eat. But if you don’t want to, that’s your choice.”
I opened my eyes fully and fixed him with a glare. “I’m clearly not being given many of them here.” My voice came out rough, scratchy from the sedative. “Why am I here? What do you want?”
The leader studied me for a moment, his eyes cycling through colors I couldn’t interpret in the dim light. Then he made a gesture, and the other male withdrew, taking the bowl with him.
“My name is Vax,” the leader said, settling into a crouch that brought him closer to my eye level. “And you’re here because circumstances required it.”
“Circumstances.”
“Rezor had me banished to tunnel watch.” There was bitterness in his voice, old resentment that had clearly been festering for some time.
“I tried to warn him about you. About all of you. The sky people who fell from the clouds and disrupted everything we’d built.
I told him outsiders were a threat, that allowing them to stay would bring ruin upon us. But he didn’t listen.”
“Sounds like a you problem.”
Vax’s eyes flashed with irritation, but he continued.
“I accepted my punishment. Hoped to earn my way back into Rezor’s favor through loyal service.
But then the big ships came. More sky people.
Destrans and humans entering our valley, changing everything.
” He shook his head. “That’s when I knew there would be no returning to the life we’d spent so long building.
Rezor had chosen his path, and it led away from our traditions, our culture, our way of life. ”
The picture was becoming clearer. “So you decided to do something about it.”
“I found others who shared my concerns.” Vax rose to his feet, pacing the small space with restless energy.
“D’tran who understood that this intrusion would corrupt us.
Ruin us. Turn us into something we were never meant to be.
” He stopped, turning to face me. “And then we were contacted by an enemy of the Destrans and humans. One who offered to help us rid the planet of the newcomers.”
What now? This was a new twist. My stomach tightened, though I kept my expression neutral. “In exchange for what?”
“Access to land away from our strongholds. A place to build their own base.” Vax’s voice took on a satisfied tone.
“They’ve promised to keep the skies clear of all outsiders once the current delegations are removed.
The D’tran will be able to continue living as we always have, untouched by the corruption of other species. ”
“And who are these generous benefactors?” I asked, though I already suspected the answer. “Who, exactly, contacted you?”
Vax met my eyes. “They call themselves the Brakken.”
I could have laughed at his gullibility. The probe we’d found. The Brakken symbols. It all connected now, forming a picture that was uglier than I’d feared.
“And what do I have to do with this arrangement?”
“The Brakken leader requested that we acquire a hostage.” Vax shrugged, as if kidnapping were a minor inconvenience rather than an act of war.
“You appeared to be the easiest target. The diplomats would have been preferable, but their quarters have significantly more surveillance. Laser monitors on their doors. Extra guards assigned by Rezor himself.” His eyes swept over me dismissively. “Your room was not as closely watched.”
He was right about that. Sophie and Vash had been given priority protection, both because of their official status and because Rezor understood their importance to the diplomatic process.
My room and Anker’s had been considered lower risk.
We were operatives, after all. Capable of defending ourselves. Apparently not capable enough.
“What do you intend to do with me?” I asked.
“Me? Nothing.” Vax moved toward the door, his companion falling into step behind him.
“The Brakken will arrive soon to collect you. You’ll be used as leverage to force the delegations of humans and Destrans to leave the planet.
Once they’re gone, the Brakken will establish a blockade to prevent any others from coming. ”
“And Rezor?”