Polaris (16 page)

Then Jeth remembered the Aether Project. He could still upload it to the net, give it away to all of the ITA's enemies. It wasn't as if they would realize the Pyreans were gone, not right away. War would inevitably follow, but at least Jeth would finally be free. Even from Saar. That, he thought, might be worth it.

But Jeth didn't dare express this idea to Lizzie. His little sister was wise beyond her years, but she still clung to her ideals—and starting an interstellar war wasn't one of them.

“We'll worry about Saar later,” Jeth said, summoning his most charming smile. “One tyrant at a time, same as always.”

Lizzie snorted. “I suppose you're right. First Hammer, then Renford. Now Dax and Saar. The universe owes us a
string of benevolent fatherly types, don't you think?”

Jeth grunted. “I surely do. So does this mean you'll keep working on the code?”

“Yeah, and I'll do it discreetly.” She stuck out her tongue. “But for the record, I hate deceiving her.”

“So do I.” He pulled her into a quick hug. “Thanks, Lizzie-bear.” As she stepped away from him, he picked up the implant once more. He raised the stem to the back of his skull and slid it home. Lizzie watched him do it, fear etched around the straight line of her mouth.

He ignored it as he felt his mind come alive. He checked the Axis link, automatically commanding the conversation between him and Lizzie to remain hidden.

Satisfied it was safe, he flashed Lizzie another reassuring smile. “Can you get started now? We're running real short on time.”

“Okay. Good idea. I have no clue how much longer it'll take me.”

“All right,” he said. “And in the meantime, I've got a mission roster to finish.” He cut off Lizzie's protest. “No need to get upset. I'll make the best decision. The fairest. I mean, don't I always?”

Lizzie cast him a skeptical look. Then she huffed. “Sometimes, I suppose. And it is for just one mission.”

Jeth didn't reply. He wasn't sure if that was true or not. Yes, for some of them it would be missing out on only one mission. But he wasn't sure if that would be true for all of them.

JETH CONTEMPLATED THE PROBLEM FOR MORE THAN AN
hour, weighing his options. Five slots. Nine on his crew, counting his mother. He, Marian, Lizzie, and Sierra would be coming, that was a given. That left one slot. But who to fill it? Milton was a doctor, a role that was useful only some of the time. When it was needed, however, it became the most important role of all.

There was Flynn, mechanical genius. If anything went wrong with
Avalon
—
Polaris,
Jeth corrected himself—he would want Flynn there to fix it.

Celeste was invaluable for anything undercover. She was the queen of distracting marks, and she was a skillful pilot, always useful. But he couldn't forget how quickly she had sided with Shady, and the way she had turned on him after Vince's death.

And then there was Shady, of course. He was the best one to have by your side if things turned violent—a skill that might be needed for the Harvester mission. But the idea of trusting him now after the betrayal was impossible.

Rubbing his temple, Jeth knew he needed more information on what exactly the Harvester mission entailed before
he could make a decision. With this in mind, he headed for the door, wondering where he could find his mother at the moment. He tried Cora's cabin first. Marian was staying there now, but it was empty. That meant she was probably in the common room. He reached the ladder, then froze as he spotted his mother racing up from the deck below.

“Where's Cora?” Marian said, panic punctuating each word.

“I don't know.” Jeth glanced behind him. “She's not in her cabin. Wait, can't you sense her like you did before?”

“The link's gone quiet,” Marian said, brushing past him. “She has to be here. I left while she was napping, but it wasn't that long ago. She wouldn't dare go out into the spaceport, would she?”

“I don't think so, but maybe.” He followed his mother back down the passenger corridor. “Mom, I said she's not in her cabin.” But if not there, then where? The answer came to him at once. “She must be in the engine room,” he called.

Marian stopped and swung around, realization lighting her face. “Of course. With the Pyreans.”

Jeth turned back, heading up the ladder with his mother hot on his heels. Moments later, Jeth charged into the engine room. Cora was indeed there, but she wasn't playing or watching a video. She was lying sprawled on the floor, facedown in front of the open metadrive compartment.

“Cora!” Jeth raced toward her, rolling over her limp body. Her eyes were open, rolled back in her head, and blood trickled from both nostrils, startlingly red against her white skin.
“Cora!” He scooped her up just as Marian reached them.

She pressed her hands to Cora's face and then her neck, checking for a pulse. But there was no need; Jeth could feel her breathing. She wasn't dead, just . . . gone.

“Let's get her to sick bay,” Marian said, standing up. “I'll find Milton.”

“Use the comm,” Jeth said, struggling to his feet. Cora was just a child, but dead weight made her heavy, the burden compounded by his fear.

“Yes,” Marian said, and she darted for the comm unit by the entrance.

Jeth walked past her with Cora clutched to his chest. By the time he reached sick bay on the deck below, Milton was emerging from his cabin. He looked bleary eyed and sluggish, and Jeth prayed he hadn't been drinking.

“Set her down on the table,” Milton said. There was gravel in his voice, but not the slowness of alcohol. Savoring momentary relief, Jeth set her down. Then he backed away as both Milton and Marian closed in around Cora.

Hating that he was so useless here, Jeth retreated to the farthest corner, folding his arms over his chest. He listened as well as he could to the conversation between his mother and uncle as they examined Cora, but little of it made any sense to him—stuff about blood pressure numbers, respiratory rate, neural oscillation spikes, and so on. He didn't care what it meant; he just wanted his little sister to come around.

He got his wish moments later, but not in the way he wanted. Cora's body came awake, if not her mind—her
muscles jerking uncontrollably. Jeth had never seen a seizure before, but he recognized this as one. After a few moments, the ship walls began to groan around them the way they did whenever Cora was losing control of her ability to manipulate metaspace. With his heartbeat tripling, Jeth braced for the impending destruction. There was no telling what might get phased. It could be the walls, the chair, even the crew. Fear pulsed through him, and the Axis responded. The door opened and it tried to force its way into his mind. Jeth pulled back, but the Axis only tightened its grip.

Relax,
he thought, trying to convince the rebelling part of his mind to listen.

Across from him, Marian was yelling, “Hurry up and give her another dose of the Verzipan.”

“Are you sure?” Milton said, a tremble in his voice.

“Yes!”

The ship's groaning grew louder, and then a loud pop reverberated through the room. Jeth jumped, forgetting for a moment about his struggle with the Axis. A hole appeared in the floor and part of the door of the cabinet behind Milton. The glass beakers contained inside it cascaded out, shattering across the counter like so many pieces of ice.

Ignoring the crash, Milton rushed forward, carrying a syringe tipped with some bulbous instrument instead of a needle. He slid the instrument up Cora's nose and pressed the end of the syringe.

“What's happening?” Sierra said, appearing in the room with Lizzie beside her.

Jeth shook his head, unable to answer. Sierra joined Marian and Milton around the operating table, offering help, while Lizzie stepped up beside Jeth. She slid her hand into his, fingers squeezing as she sought reassurance. Jeth squeezed back.

Slowly the medicine began to take effect. The ship's groaning quieted as Cora's convulsions first slowed and then disappeared entirely.

“What now?” Sierra said, breaking the silence first. She glanced between Marian and Milton.

“We wait,” Marian said, not taking her eyes off her youngest child. “And hope she comes back to us.”

Jeth swallowed, afraid he might be sick. Beside him, Lizzie raised a hand to her mouth, stifling a cry. For a moment the Axis threatened to awaken inside Jeth again, but he turned his thoughts away from it, letting his mind go passive to its presence.

The minutes dragged on, each second weighted. Jeth held his silence for as long as he could, then he approached the table and touched his mother's shoulder. “Is this because of the Pyreans?” He knew the answer already, but he needed something to fill the waiting.

“Yes,” Marian said, her voice like a fist to his gut. “It is.”

Jeth glanced at Sierra, asking for confirmation. She gave it to him in a single slight nod.

“And destroying the Harvester will make it stop?”

“Yes.” As before, there was no doubt in his mother at all, no hint that the Pyreans might have manipulated her belief.

Jeth still didn't trust them, but he decided he would trust
the mission. What choice did he have when his little sister was dying in front of him? It might be a slow death, but there was no doubt she was wasting away, the life draining out of her the same as it did the Pyreans.

Jeth balled his hands into fists, dark emotions pulsing through him—anger at the ITA and hatred for all they'd done to his family. With it came a new determination as strong as any he'd ever had. He would succeed at this mission, one final job to end all the others. Forever.

But first he needed to sort out his crew. The reminder hurt, a sharp sting in his chest. A few days ago he wouldn't have needed to worry about it. There was no one he'd trusted more, no one he'd rather lay down his life with than the people who made up the Malleus Shades. But that certainty was gone—changed forever by Shady's betrayal.

A memory rose up in his mind. It wasn't forced there by the Axis, but came from his own recollection. It was of Hammer telling him that betrayal was like a cancer, that it had to be rooted out before it spread. Jeth hadn't fully understood what Hammer had meant back then.

But he did now.

The desire to get moving pulsed inside Jeth, but he held back. He wouldn't leave until Cora was all right.

Finally, nearly an hour later, Cora began to stir. Marian, who hadn't left her side even for a second, smiled down at Cora as her eyes opened.

“Hello, sweetheart, how are you feeling?”

“Not good,” Cora said, tears spilling out from her eyes.
The sound of her pain broke Jeth's heart. He gritted his teeth so hard, his gums ached. The Axis began to stir, and he forced himself to relax.

“I know, sweet Cora, I know.” Marian smoothed the sweat-dampened hair from her brow. “Would you like some water?”

Cora nodded, and Sierra came forward, glass at the ready. Cora drank several large gulps then pulled away.

“Good girl,” Marian said. “Now Uncle Milton is going to give you something to make you feel better.”

“Will it make me sleep?”

“Yes, I hope so.”

Cora's lower lip trembled. “I don't want to sleep.”

“I know.” Marian glanced at Milton, giving him a little nod. “But it's for the best. For now. I promise this will all go away soon. Do you believe me?”

“Yes,” Cora said, the word half a sob.

“Good.” Marian stepped back, giving Milton room to step in. He placed a jet injector against Cora's arm and pulled the trigger. She flinched at the faint pop, but didn't cry out.

“So brave,” Marian said, planting a kiss on her forehead. “I'll stay here with you the whole time. I promise.” Then she sat back and waited for Cora to fall asleep—a normal sleep this time, and not like what she'd been under before. It took a while, far longer than it should've, Jeth knew, but that was the price of her high tolerance to the medication.

When she finally did fall asleep, Jeth stood from his hunched position against the wall and said, “We should
give Cora some peace.” He inclined his head toward Sierra, then Lizzie, indicating the door. They both caught his silent request and headed toward it. Milton had glimpsed the exchange as well and he cast Jeth a discerning look that he ignored.

Once outside, Jeth lowered his voice and said to Lizzie, “I know you just got started, but you've got to work fast on that code. Would it help if Sierra worked with you?”

Lizzie shrugged. “Wouldn't hurt.”

Jeth glanced at Sierra. “Do you mind?”

She shook her head. “Whatever we've got to do.”

“Good. Thank you.” Smiling, he motioned them toward Lizzie's cabin. They both went, not questioning his motives. That was good. He didn't want either of them present when he confronted Shady. Sierra would understand, but he knew that Lizzie wouldn't. She let her heart rule her head far too often.

Once they'd disappeared inside, Jeth checked Shady's cabin. He didn't anticipate him being in there, but it was worth not having to come back up. As he expected it was empty, save for the clothes and various weapons scattered across the bed and floor. Jeth closed the door and moved on, descending the ladder to the common deck. Right away he heard the familiar sound of simulated gunfire and robots in the throes of death. The noise made Jeth's teeth clench from a sudden flare of resentment. The normalcy of the situation offended him on a deep, nearly unfathomable level. His sister lay dying only several meters away, and he was
struggling to stay sane while the Axis tried to overtake his mind. And Shady was playing video games.

He strode into the common room, pausing only for a second as he realized Shady wasn't alone. Celeste sat on the sofa next to him, a controller in her hand and eyes fixed on the screen. Her presence didn't matter. She would protest, of course, but she wouldn't stop him.

Celeste noticed him first as Jeth walked up to the gaming table. Her eyes slid toward him then went wide. Her hands stilled on the controller, and she said in a strangely high-pitched voice, “Hi, Jeth.”

Shady's head jerked upward. “Oh.” He cleared his throat. “Hey. Didn't see you come in.” His gaze moved off Jeth's face, homing in on the tentacle curled around Jeth's neck. He visibly paled. “How's Cora?”

“Still alive. Thanks for asking.” Jeth braced, preparing his next words. He couldn't believe he was going to say them. They were the kind of words you couldn't take back, damage you couldn't undo.
No different from Shady's betrayal.
He said, “Why are you still here?”

Shady blinked, his mouth open, lower lip jutting out.

“What do you mean?” asked Celeste, sitting up straighter.

Jeth didn't answer but turned toward the table where Viggo was lying sprawled over the small air vent near the center, absorbing all the warmth. The cat didn't so much as twitch a whisker as Jeth reached out and ran a hand over his large belly. In seconds the cat's body began to vibrate with a growing purr. Drawing some small comfort from that, he turned back around.

“You know exactly what I mean.” Jeth folded his arms over his chest. “We've been back at Peltraz for days now, and you've been free to go nearly as long.”

Shady stiffened, every muscle in his body rigid, knuckles white where they gripped the controller.

“What are you saying, Jeth?” Celeste whispered.

Jeth didn't look at her but kept his gaze fixed on Shady. In the back of his mind, he felt the Axis propping him up once more, lending him strength, “There's no room for traitors on my crew.”

Celeste hissed. “You can't do this.” She clambered to her feet. “He doesn't deserve it.”

Surprisingly calm, Jeth cast a dark look at her. “He contacted Daxton behind my back.”

Celeste tossed her hands through the air. “But everything's all right. We're all safe, and your mom is here. We've got a mission, and if we pull it off, we'll finally be free.”