Page 23 of Star Bringer
Of course, that leaves me on the groundalone, staring up athisbottom half and wondering what I’m supposed to do now.
I really don’t want to get on this broken-down piece of space detritus. I really, really don’t want to.
But then the alarms stop. And though I try to take it as a good sign, I suspect it’s because even the emergency systems are breaking down. All around me, the station is creaking and shifting, and the common sense I’ve worked so hard to ignore is telling me it’s only a matter of time—very limited time—before she falls apart completely.
I’m between a disaster and a hard place, and neither seems like the way to go.
But standing here isn’t going to get me anywhere but dead, so I make the only decision I can.
I climb the ladder.
It leads to the top of the ship, and there’s an open hatchway in the center. I peer down but can’t see anything, so with a last look at the chaos surrounding me, I lower myself inside.
Once my bare feet touch the metal floor, I look around and try to get my bearings. I presume I’m in what passed for an airlock thousands of years ago. There’s an open door to the left of me, so I go through it. There’s no one in sight, but I can hear voices, so I follow them and find myself on what must be the bridge at the front of the ship. It’s a triangular space about twelve meters long. There’s a seat right at the front, then three seats down each side, and another, bigger one with an impressive array of controls on the arms right in the center of the room.
Looks like it’s calling my name.
Viewing screens stretch the full length of each of the side walls, but they’re covered with some sort of shields right now. Probably because this thing has been in dry dockforever.
On the plus side, the inside of the ship looks like it’s in a lot better condition than the outside, as though she’s been protected from the vagaries of space. But the layout is unfamiliar, some sort of antiquated setup that’s different from anything I’ve seen before.
Rain, Merrick, and Max are standing along the right wall near a row of seats. Ian is messing with some sort of control panel at the back, while the purple-haired guy—who looks to be around my age and is wearing a black lab suit, so he certainly works on theCaelestis—leans around him with a screwdriver in one hand and a giant wrench in the other.
“I’m telling you she doesn’t work,” he says. “I don’t care how many buttons you push or how many times you push them; the ship isn’t going to magically activate. I’ve been trying to get her to start since I ducked in here, and nothing.”
“Yeah, well, Gage, maybe you’re not as clever as everyone says you are,” Ian snarks as he crouches down to look underneath the console, like he’s going to find some magic button Gage missed.
“I’m a fucking tech genius,” Gage retorts with a roll of his eyes. “And you know it, or you wouldn’t keep coming to me to fix shit for you. Right, Max?” He glances over his shoulder with a smile—then freezes when he locks eyes with me. A slight choking noise comes from his throat, and before I can so much as blink, he bows. Really low. His hair falls to the side, revealing theCTtattoo on his neck—definitely Corporation—and a long, dangly rondolinite earring. Then he peers up at me with a cocky grin. “Your Very Royal Highness. I am a big fan.”
It’s the first time I’ve heard it put like that, but after the day I’ve had, I’ll take it. “If you can get this thing flying, the feeling will definitely be mutual.”
Ian glances up at Gage, a scowl on his face. “If you could stop the royal ass-kissing for a moment, I could use some help here.”
“And I’ve already told you there’s no help to be had. This ship isn’t flying.” But Gage finally straightens from his bow and heads back over to the control panel beneath the console. “Get out of there, will you, before you break something worse than it’s already broken.”
I’m really starting to like his style.
“Can I help?” I ask.
“No!” Ian pounds his fist against the control panel a few times before crawling out from under the console so fast he nearly takes his own head off. “For fuck’s sake, the last thing we need is you poking around down here.”
“Why? Because you’re doing such a bang-up job of it?” I ask archly. “Emphasis on the bang?”
“How about both of you take your seats and let me have another go at this?” Gage asks. “It won’t work, but, what the fuck.”
“I’ve always said your optimism is the best part of you,” Max calls from where he’s now seated against the wall.
“That’s because you haven’t actuallyseenthe best part of me,” Gage retorts as he ducks under the console.
I’m too wired to sit down, though. In here, we seem cut off from the chaos surrounding us, but I can’t help wondering what’s going on outside and how long we’ve got before this whole thing comes tumbling down. I don’t want to die, and I don’t want any of my subjects to die, either.
But I’m deathly afraid it’s too late for that. What about Vance and Arik? Lara? Dr. Veragelen? Are they still alive? Am I just leaving them here to perish?
And what about the heptosphere? Will it survive the certain destruction of theCaelestis?If it doesn’t, what will that mean for the system? It was our only hope.
Which leads me to wonder if this was deliberate sabotage. Maybe the rebels? They hate the Ruling Families, blame us for everything that’s wrong with the system. But destroying theCaelestishurts them as much as it does us. It doesn’t make sense.
There’s nothing I can do about it right now, so I try to shake away the thoughts. Some might say I’m borrowing trouble, but a lifetime surrounded by palace intrigue has taught me to trust my gut…and not to trust people who seem to have their own agendas. Ian and Max are not behaving like legitimate members of the security forces—I’d know; I’ve been around them my entire life. And while I instinctively like Rain, even if she is a part of the misguided Sisterhood, it’s very obvious that she has no training in being an ambassador…which means that she’s here for some other reason. And that her bodyguard is, too. The only one who might actually be genuine is Gage, who seems like a nice guy. But that could just be because it’s what he wants me to see…
