Chapter 16 Lexa
LEXA
I recognized pieces of the Nostos everywhere as we approached the settlement.
Hull plating bent at wrong angles, support beams repurposed as structural columns, sections of corridor twisted into walls.
The ship that was supposed to carry us across the galaxy had been cannibalized, transformed into this desperate cluster of shelters that looked like they'd collapse if the wind blew hard enough.
My escorts kept close. Not threatening, not restraining, but present in a way that made it clear I wasn't free to wander.
They'd introduced themselves during the walk, names I'd already forgotten because my brain was too busy screaming at me to turn around, to fight my way back to Nyx, to stop pretending I needed rescuing.
People stared as we passed. Humans in various states of survival, their clothes patched and faded, their faces marked by months under these brutal suns. Some looked curious. Others pitying. Like I was something fragile that had been saved from a terrible fate.
I wanted to scream at them. Wanted to tell them I'd chosen that fate, that the only terrible thing happening right now was being separated from him.
But I kept my mouth shut and my expression neutral. Assessed instead of reacted.
The buildings were crude but functional. No power that I could see, no comms arrays, no tech beyond basic structural engineering. Everything manual, everything low-grade. They had shelter and probably water somewhere, food stores hidden in the cooler structures. Survival basics.
How the hell had they pulled off a rescue operation in Ignarath with this level of resources?
The question circled through my mind as we walked deeper into the settlement. The answer mattered. If they had weapons, organization, intelligence-gathering capabilities, that changed everything about how I approached this situation.
One of my escorts, the woman who'd been so relieved to find me safe, gestured toward a larger structure ahead. "Captain's waiting. She'll want to meet you, make sure you're okay."
We stopped at the entrance to the central building, their own little City Hall. The woman knocked twice, waited. A voice called out from inside, words I couldn't make out but the tone was clear.
Permission granted.
The door swung open. Not automatic, just hinges.
Inside was cooler, the thick hull plating providing insulation from the heat.
A desk made from salvaged materials dominated the space, covered in maps and documents.
Behind it sat a woman maybe ten years older than me, her dark skin marked by wind and old scars.
She looked up. Her eyes were sharp and assessing, the kind of gaze that cataloged threats and weaknesses in the same glance.
"Lexa Petrov." Not a question. She already knew who I was. There were probably files somewhere with all of our biographical data. "I'm Captain Awiti Runa. Please, sit."
I remained standing. "I'd rather not."
Her mouth twitched. "Suit yourself." She gestured to my escorts. "We’re fine in here. I'll call if I need you."
They hesitated. The woman who'd been so concerned about my safety looked between me and the captain, clearly reluctant to leave the captain alone.
"She's safe here, Karima," Runa said. Her tone made it an order wrapped in reassurance. "Go."
They left. The door closed behind them with a solid thunk.
Silence filled the space. Runa leaned back in her chair, studying me with that same calculating expression.
I studied her right back. She had a military bearing that was beginning to fray at the edges from months stranded here.
There were calluses on her hands from hard work. And a blaster at her hip.
A leader who'd kept her people alive through months of hell.
"You must have questions," she said finally.
No small talk. Good.
"How … who—?" Now that I had her attention, my words got all tangled up. We’d come hoping to find a handful of humans. Not this. I gestured vaguely at the door. "What happened?"
Runa's expression didn't change. "There was a catastrophic malfunction on the ship.
Our automatic systems couldn't compensate.
The emergency crew was awakened to handle the crisis.
" She paused, her fingers drumming once against the desk.
"We were fortunate. This planet was close enough to reach, had breathable air and water. We had to make an emergency landing. Which we weren’t designed to ever do. "
My stomach dropped. A generation ship was a massive thing. It had been built in space, lived there. It was never meant to land. That anyone had survived was a miracle.
"The entry was … bad," Runa continued. Her voice stayed level, professional, but something flickered in her eyes.
"We lost several sleeping pods during descent.
Jettisoned accidentally, damaged beyond recovery, or destroyed on impact.
Approximately two hundred people disappeared before we even hit the ground. "
Two hundred. At worst, I’d thought we were dealing with a couple dozen people. Not a small town’s worth.
"You must have been among the jettisoned pods," Runa said. She was watching me carefully now, gauging my reaction. "We've been searching for survivors since we landed, but the planet is vast, and our resources are limited. How many of you made it?"
"Ten women." The word came out rough.
Her eyebrows rose fractionally. "All female?"
"Does that matter? We survived and sought shelter in Scalvaris, it’s one of the cities here. We—"
“You don’t have to worry about those monsters now. Tell me about this city. We can get your friends back." Not a question. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt it was possible.
I would have sagged with relief if I heard this from the Blade Council. They vacillated back and forth and barely cared. Here, she’d only just met me and already wanted to mount an assault.
“I don’t think there’s any need for that. We’ve not come to any harm among the Drakarn.” The opposite of harm, for many of us, though I wasn’t about to say a peep about that to Runa. Not yet.
Runa's expression hardened. "I know it’s hard to believe we can help. But we've seen what they do to humans. We can’t leave our people there. We just rescued a group without taking any casualties; we’re more than capable."
“Scalvaris is far more fortified than Ignarath; it’s underground. And, believe me, if my friends want to leave, they’ll be allowed.”
“If?” She raised an eyebrow.
I was dancing near dangerous territory. "You mentioned recovering humans from a city," I said, redirecting before I said something that would blow my cover. "How many? Who?"
"Seven." Runa stood, moved to a map pinned to the wall behind her desk.
The geography was rough but recognizable.
Ignarath's territory marked in red, the settlement's location in blue.
"We discovered them being held in what can only be described as slave pits.
It took us weeks to plan the extraction, longer to execute it. "
"Is Larissa Cheng one of them?" Kira had nearly given up hope, but if she could know her sister was safe, this would almost be worth it.
Once I got Nyx back.
What the hell were they doing to him?
Runa's expression shifted. Something cold crept into her eyes. "She is. Along with six others, all in various states of trauma from their captivity."
Relief flooded through me. Larissa was alive. Kira could stop torturing herself with worst-case scenarios, could have her sister back.
"Her sister has been searching for her," I said. "Kira Cheng. She's been trying to find Larissa for months, ever since we realized there were other survivors."
"Not hard enough."
The words hit like a slap. Cold and judgmental and completely dismissive of everything Kira had been through, everything we'd all been through trying to survive in a world that wanted us dead.
Heat surged through my veins. My hands curled into fists at my sides.
"You have no idea what we've been dealing with," I said. My voice came out flat, dangerous. "We crashed in hostile territory with no supplies, no shelter, and no idea if anyone else had survived. We've been fighting to stay alive every single day."
"So now it’s fighting. I thought they welcomed you," Runa turned from the map, faced me fully. "Stockholm syndrome is common in these situations. I understand that you’ve had to perhaps do things you’d never imagined. But you’re not under their power anymore."
I wanted to laugh. Wanted to scream. Wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her until she understood that I knew exactly what I was doing, that my choices were my own, that Nyx had never once treated me like property.
But I had to make this blunder worth it.
"Where are the recovered humans now?" I asked instead. Changed the subject before I said something I'd regret. "Can I see them?"
"They're being housed in the medical facility.
Such as it is." Runa moved back to her desk, shuffled through papers with the efficiency of someone who'd been doing this too long.
"Most are still recovering, physically and psychologically.
Larissa has been asking about her sister. I'll arrange for you to see her."
"What happened to the Drakarn they found with me?" I tried to sound neutral, but there was a hint of desperation.
If they’d hurt Nyx, I wouldn’t be responsible for what I did.
Runa's eyes sharpened. "You don't need to worry about that thing anymore. It's been secured. It won't bother you again."
Thing.
It.
"Where is he?" I meant to let it drop, but I couldn’t. I had to salvage it. "I need to know he's contained. Please."
Runa studied me for a long moment.
"He's in a holding cell," she said finally. "Restrained and monitored. We're still determining what to do with him."
Fuck.
Like he was a problem to be solved, a threat to be neutralized. Not a living being who'd chosen to help me, who'd flown me across hostile territory, who'd offered me everything he had on bended knee.
My nails bit into my palms. The pain helped, gave me something to focus on that wasn't the rage building in my chest.
"Has he said anything?" I asked. "Made any threats? Tried to escape?"
"He doesn't speak our language." Runa's tone was dismissive. "And we don't speak his. Communication has been impossible. He's been violent when approached, aggressive.”
Of course he'd been violent. He'd woken up in a cell, with no idea where I was or if I was safe. Any warrior would react the same way.
Any mate would.
"I want to see him," I said.
Runa's eyebrows rose. "Why?"
"Because I need to face him." To let him see that I’m okay, that I’d figure a way to get us out of this.
Runa considered this. Her fingers drummed against the desk again. "That's not advisable," she said finally. "You're still processing your captivity. Seeing your captor could trigger a psychological setback, make you regress into survival patterns."
"I'm a soldier." I straightened my spine, let my training show in my posture. "I've been through worse than this and come out functional. I can handle seeing him in a cell."
"Perhaps." Runa's tone suggested she disagreed but wasn't going to argue the point. "But not today. You need rest, medical evaluation, time to decompress. We'll discuss it after you've had a chance to settle in."
Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen. But clearly, the captain wasn’t going to be any help.
So I’d just have to find Nyx on my own.