Darken the Stars(93)

A sound at the door makes me turn around. It’s the Striker with the pirate smile. He sends a chill straight to my heart as he says, “Your father, Excelsior, is expecting you.”

“Thank you, Ceecil,” I reply, using his name just to freak him out. It works. He collars me with a restraint and has me on my knees as he pushes the button and chokes me until I see spots. I drop the fat lip liner.

“What is this gibberish you’ve scribbled on your mirror, eh?” he asks.

“It’s a secret message to my consort. It says that I’ll kill Excelsior and see him soon and to make sure he has my empress crown ready for me when I get back.”

“Does it really say that?” he asks, and I realize that he can’t read English.

“It actually really does. I’m going to kill my father-in-law.” That earns me another push from his button, but this time I don’t just see spots—everything goes black.



My throat aches as I attempt to swallow. I open my eyes. Soft sheets slide beneath my fingertips instead of sterile, course fabric. Lifting my head from my pillow, I try to figure out where I am. I’m alone in a small but elegant bedroom. I’ve never seen it before. This is a new experience! I’ve never been in this room in my life or at any time in the future!

I shiver because I know I’m no longer on the same predictable path of time as I once was. I’m experiencing a new set of events. I’ve changed the future by at least a small degree. Last time, the Strikers brought me to Freming House. I had been conscious. Another very notable difference from this time versus last time is that I’m not having my ovaries removed in an operating room. This is a much better path so far.

I try to move my arm from the bed and find that it’s strapped to a railing. I lay my hand back down on the sheet. It’s a relief that I’m still wearing my own clothes, but it looks as if I’ve been in them for days. I’m rumpled and messy.

The door swings open and a technician enters the room. I recognize him. He’s one of the laboratory staff who had helped perform the procedure to remove my reproductive organs in the alternate time line. Before, he made several sullen complaints about the sloppiness of the other technician. It angered him that his colleague had messed up while creating a new batch with the eggs they had harvested, and it was left to him to exterminate several male offspring as a result.

I blink a couple of times while the technician adjusts the vial strapped to my arm. “Dobrey,” I murmur his name. My voice is thick, like I’ve been asleep for a while. He flinches hearing it, immediately moving away from me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you.” He reaches for a tranquilizer gun, his hand shaking a little. “I have a plan! You’ll never have to kill another batch!”

He pauses. His blue eyes squint at me. “What are you talking about?” he asks.

“I know you’re being forced to do what you do. I know that the moment you stop doing it, you die. If Excelsior is made the emperor of Ethar, you’ll be made to kill on a scale that no one has seen before. You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?” I whisper.

“It’s that virus they’re working on in the lab next to ours, isn’t it?” he asks in a whisper so we’re not overheard.

I don’t really know what he’s talking about now, but I pretend that I do. “It is,” I tell him. “If you untie me and help me get out of here, I promise to get rid of Excelsior.”

He straightens, like I’ve said something completely ridiculous. My mark isn’t falling for it. I try again. He picks up a syringe gun full of clear liquid. “Forget that I said anything. Letting me go will get you in trouble,” I say, as if I care what happens to him. “You should just do whatever you came here to do. What did you come here to do?” I need to know what they’re planning in order to formulate a plan.

“Excelsior ordered me to administer RU7 to you.”

“What’s RU7?”

He holds up the syringe gun of clear fluid, “It’s an interrogation drug.”

“What does it do?” I ask.

“It makes you see the stars,” he says. “And tell the truth.”

“He’s going to make me tell him the truth?” I ask.

“Among other things,” Dobrey admits. He takes a step toward me.

I hurry and ask, “How long have I been here?”

“I don’t know. A couple of rotations I guess.”

“Why have I been asleep so long?” I cringe, wondering if they took out my organs and then healed me.

“They’ve been preoccupied. They’ve been fighting with your consort, Kyon Ensin.”