“Words are pretty little nothings. It must be action that defines us.”

—Philosopher Falgred Dynasa, in her work, The Eldred Races

Zaina was too stunned to speak for a moment. Reida’s cold, murderous eyes were aglow with triumphant malice. When Zaina spoke, she stumbled over her words, unable to take her eyes off the lancer’s corpse. “Wh-what the hell was—what was that?”

Reida shrugged, her demeanor back to normal. “Had to be done—and you clearly weren’t going to do it.”

“But, he was down. He wasn’t a threat to—”

“Do you really want to talk about this now?” Reida shot back. “What’s done is done. But if we don’t get to that extraction point by the time the captain’s there, we’re getting left behind—in which case we have a nice long stay in an Otmonzas prison cell waiting for us. Is that what you want, Zaina?”

Zaina shook her head. She could hardly believe her ears. This was extreme, even for Reida.

“All right, if you care more about some stupid dead lancer who was trying to kill you than your injured friend, fine,” Reida said. “I’ll lug that crystal to the fiftieth floor by myself if I have to.”

“No—” Zaina shook her head. “No, I’m coming with, but I—”

Reida stooped over to pick up the resonedge and shoved it into Zaina’s hands. “No buts. Let’s get going already.”

Zaina cast one last glance at the lancer’s motionless body and shivered. I’m sorry.

Then she followed Reida back out into the elevator shaft.

“How are we going to do this?” Zaina asked.

Reida pulled out her hook-gun. “Same spot as before. From that room we can get into the lower ventilation system.”

“I meant—how are we going to get this heavy ass thing up there?”

Reida pointed to her injured shoulder. “Well, I can’t lift it, so…”

Zaina sighed. “Fine.”

Her hook-gun struggled under the combined weight of her and the crystal, but she managed to ascend to the proper point. Zaina activated her magnetic forearm with her arm facing downward, allowing her to hold the Vahataman Crystal and stick to the wall with one arm. Sweat poured down her face from the strain.

Zaina carved through the security door in silence. She was complicit in the murder of a lancer and a regular person. Her stomach churned. None of this felt right.

Zaina kicked the cut-out section of the wall inward. The room and everything in it had been white but was blackened by shrapnel from Reida’s grenades and the smattering of android parts, some still emitting spark showers throughout the room.

Reida walked to the other side and pointed toward a thin-grated ventilation shaft near the ceiling. “Would you do the honors?”

Zaina again grappled next to the point and carved out their way forward, lugging the crystal the whole time. When the hole was made, she threw the crystal into the duct to be rid of its weight for a moment, taking deep breaths—carrying it was one thing, but trying to maneuver with it was another.

Reida followed into the air duct and said, “All right. Now we need to get to the fiftieth floor. We should have enough coil to make it in a couple tries. Oh, and don’t slam that thing again. We don’t want any pieces chipping off. Ready?”

They both aimed upward. Reida took her shot first and vaulted upward; Zaina followed a second after. Her coil rewound significantly slower thanks to the extra weight.

Reida glanced down at her wrist, then shot and vaulted upward again. “Okay—here it is! From here I’m level with the floor we need.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Zaina gasped for air—finally, the end was in sight. She aimed near Reida and pulled herself up. Then she plunged the resonedge into the air duct’s walls and cut out their exit. Her arms were completely numb from carrying the heavy crystal.

They popped out into a darkened corridor with the same black-striped, blue walls. Alarms flashed every twenty feet, their sirens blaring and their multi-colored lights flickering on and off. There were no androids in sight.

Reida cleared the hallway and said, “All right. We go, we get the Vahataman Crystal to the ship, and we board. Got it?”

Zaina nodded. This was the final stretch. She wanted nothing more than to escape and be done with this mission. In fact, she didn’t know if she ever wanted to see Reida again after this.

How can someone who seemed so friendly be so cruel? The only comfort she mustered was the good that would come from this. She didn’t know if it was worth it, but that minor assurance was better than nothing.

Reida led the duo, with Zaina taking up the rear. There was still no sign of enemies—a rarity thus far for this mission. It was hard to believe they’d made it this far. Zaina’s stomach still trembled with unease.

The end of the hallway neared. A draft picked up spare pieces of paper and trash scattered throughout the halls, carrying them further on. The distinct odor of smoke filled Zaina’s nostrils as she breathed. A dull, low noise came further into focus the closer they got: it was screaming in the distance, and the wails of alarms.

What happened? Her stomach twisted further. She had co-signed on a lot of questionable things today, but whatever this was sounded like another level of extreme.

“We’re almost there,” Reida said. She turned and said, “I couldn’t have done this without you, Zaina.”

The remark sent shivers up Zaina’s back. She didn’t reply.

The hallway terminated at a dome-shaped atrium. What remained of the shattered hyper-glass windows appeared to be shards of printed art hanging on to the outer framework’s bent and contorted edges. Fragments of hyper-glass were concentrated on the floor near the atrium’s edge.

More concerning was the outside—colossal plumes of smoke towered into the night sky of Otmonzas. The screams were louder now, and there were more than Zaina thought. She started toward the window.

“I wouldn’t go over there,” Reida said casually. “What with your weak stomach, and all.”

Zaina cast a glare her way and strode over to the edge. Below was fire and carnage. Smoke rose from several glowing points, and Zaina couldn’t even see the full extent of the damage—most of it was obscured. People were running in every direction—some were running back into the smoldering rubble to find their loved ones. Seething white flames spat from burning cores of blue, energy-like fires spread throughout the city block. All about, emergency personnel in white and green-striped androids were attending to the wounded and directing the non-injured to nearby shuttles. Some people dug through the burning debris with their bare hands and had to be dragged away.

Zaina’s heart sank, and her hands clenched into fists. “Did—did you do this?”

“Me?” Reida’s head tilted. “Nope. How could I? I was here with you the whole time.”

“You know what I mean.”

Reida was silent for a moment—then she smirked. “I told you we needed a distraction. And it worked, didn’t it? Why do you think we encountered so few androids?”

Zaina took a step back. “Don’t tell me you’re okay with this.”

“This is a war, Zaina,” Reida replied. “Don’t blame us for doing what we have to do to win.”

Zaina gestured toward the chaos below. “This wasn’t a part of the plan! None of this was! I thought no innocents were supposed to get hurt!”

“When did anyone say that? You might have wanted things that way, but they’re not.” Reida smirked again and took a step toward her. “Come on, now—we’re doing this for a glorious cause, aren’t we?”

Still taken aback, Zaina shook her head. “No glorious cause is worth this.”

Reida’s eyebrow rose. “What—you think we wouldn’t have had worse done to us—”

“Not by them!” Zaina replied. “Not by the mourning mothers or the screaming children! They were supposed to be who this is for, weren’t they?”

“You think things are that simple, eh?” Reida scoffed. “You’re really willing to lose your only friend over this?”

“Over this?” Zaina took a deep breath. “Yeah.”

“Well,” Reida said, her face turning cold, “lucky for you, we’re almost done here. We’ll get the crystal and part ways. You’ll never have to see me again. You can go off and be a lancer like you want—see if that gets you anywhere.”

Zaina turned away. “That’s fine with me.”

The next few minutes ticked away in silence. Finally, Reida’s vis-screen beeped. Zaina’s head swiveled toward her.

“It’s time,” Reida said, standing up. “Get the crystal over there, and stand back.”

Zaina nodded and dragged the crystal toward the window. Once it was close to the edge, she thought about pushing it over—maybe the crystal was better off in a thousand pieces than in these people’s hands. A humming in the air made her think better of it—she ran back to stand near Reida.

The roaring of ship engines hollowed out Zaina’s chest. The source, an enormous ship, popped into view right in front of them. One of its front-facing prongs was extended toward the window, and a ramp popped open and latched onto their floor. The prongs attached to a flat, circular surface at the ship’s front. Its body was long and the engines were attached to the side; it was familiar in a foreboding way. Zaina’s stomach clenched tighter with every step she took toward freedom.

Where have I seen this ship before?

Nearing the ramp, she got a better view of the behemoth’s form—stripes of white, black, and green paint were obscured and marred by numerous dents and pockmarks. It struck her.

The pirates. The pirates who stranded me here. That means—

Reida stepped toward the ship. “All right, Zaina. Time to go home.”