Threshold of Annihilation Read online

  Graydon would be lucky to eat and sleep during the ten days and nights.

  For the first time, the man smiled, his expression playful. "You won’t be alone. I'm sending another Face with you."

  That would free up Graydon from the countless demands people would make on his time. Depending on the Face, Graydon's presence could be reduced to a formality.

  Graydon looked up to find the man watching him carefully.

  “Why do I have the feeling you're keeping something important from me?” the man asked.

  Graydon debated the merits of revealing what he’d learned.

  Something stopped him.

  One of the hardest things any Face learned was the precarious balancing act that came with the position. Some secrets needed to be kept. The last thing any Face should do was force the emperor into a corner where he’d have to act.

  Sometimes discretion was the better part of valor.

  From what Graydon saw in Kira’s memories, Jin’s existence was a thorny problem. If his suspicions were correct, Jin was the first soul bound since the Tuann seized freedom from their masters.

  According to their stories, Jin should be nothing but a mad creature, thirsting for blood. A danger to all Tuann that needed to be eliminated at all costs.

  Yet, from what Graydon had seen, Jin was none of those things.

  Until he knew more or at least why Jin was different, Graydon’s best course of action was to stay silent.

  He shoved aside the voice inside saying the real reason for his inaction was the fear he’d lose Kira forever if he brought danger to Jin.

  "There are many things," Graydon allowed. "I will share when the time is right."

  Graydon was a man defined by duty. He’d do what was right even at the cost of his own self-interest—but only if it became absolutely necessary.

  They hadn’t reached that stage yet.

  The man studied Graydon with eyes that seemed to see through him. "I'll trust in that promise."

  Graydon started to leave, then hesitated. "There is one thing I forgot to mention."

  The man waited patiently.

  "The girl, Elena. She had a warning for us. She said the others are waiting to see how we treat the youngest before they make their decision whether to trust us or not."

  "That is an interesting choice of words."

  They shared a look, each thinking the same thing.

  Kira wasn't the youngest child taken. That was the emperor's eldest son, born three hours after Kira.

  THREE

  THE HOSTILES CLOSING in on the Wanderer dispersed in specs of golden light.

  "We made it," Elena whispered in relief.

  "Yes, we did." The question was how?

  Elena punched her fist in the air. "I knew you could do it."

  Kira shook her head grimly. "That wasn't me."

  No matter what tricks she had tried or how hard she had pushed the Wanderer to its limits, she couldn’t lose the target lock. For a minute there, she'd debated the merits of ejecting in a last-ditch effort at survival.

  Graydon or Harlow had to have called the beams off. It was the only explanation.

  Kira didn't waste time questioning their luck further. Those anti-aircraft defenses could come online at any moment. She needed to be as far as possible from her current position before that happened.

  After only a second of hesitation, Kira pointed the nose of the Wanderer toward the sky and punched the ignition. The ship jolted before it leapt forward, heading for the upper reaches of the atmosphere.

  The hull shimmied around them as Elena whooped with excitement in her seat. That same excitement caught hold of Kira, and she smiled before shaking her head in resignation.

  The pull of the planet lessened as the Wanderer broke from its gravity. There was a sucking sensation on Kira, as if the planet's soul was reluctant to let her leave. The warmth and energy from the Mea'Ave she'd gotten used to over the last weeks drained away, only a small thimble full remaining.

  Kira exhaled as her body adjusted to the sudden loss.

  "I guess I know now why the Tuann rarely choose to leave their planets."

  If this was what they felt every time, it was a small wonder they left at all. While not painful, Kira couldn't say the sensation was comfortable either. It was like an entire set of senses had been stolen from her. The vibrancy of the world around her dialed down a few notches.

  It was possible this was another symptom of her ki poisoning. Quillon, the Tuann healer overseeing her treatment, had warned her she'd need to stick close to planets with a Mea'Ave until she was further along in her healing.

  Now she saw why.

  The Mea'Ave's loss was akin to going from an oxygen-rich environment to a depleted one. Kira could still sense the invisible force she associated with the Mea'Ave, but it was considerably scarcer.

  Elena shook herself all over. "It's definitely weird."

  "What does it feel like to you?"

  Elena pursed her mouth as she considered. "Like fizzy bubbles in my middle. Nice, but it gets itchy after a while."

  That was different than Kira's feeling. It could be because of Elena's non-traditional heritage. She wasn't full Tuann, whereas Kira was.

  Kira shrugged off the questions, putting them aside for later. Even if she wanted to, she wasn't likely to get answers now. Only a Tuann who understood the Mea'Ave far better than Kira would have an answer.

  From above, the sound of knocking came. Almost like something was hitting the sides of the air vents.

  Kira and Elena looked up.

  Cautiously, Kira unlocked her safety harness, wanting to be free to move in the event of danger.

  Before she could do more than touch the release button, a grate popped open, and a ball rolled out.

  Elena caught it before the object could hit the deck, peering at it in puzzlement.

  "Uncle Jin, where did you come from?"

  Jin re-oriented himself, his antigravs whirring as he lifted himself out of Elena's palm. "A place no one should have the misfortune of venturing."

  A foul stench invaded the air. Upon closer examination, Kira could see small specks of matter stuck to his shell.

  With a grimace, Kira covered her nose. She had a feeling she knew what avenue he'd taken to get here.

  "Darling child of my sister, do you know what hells I had to travel? What horrors I've seen?" Jin asked with a false sense of calm that did nothing to hide the brewing storm.

  Elena looked like she was about to throw up as she held the hands that had touched Jin as far away from her body as she could. "I think I have some idea."

  A sense of menace came from Jin as he crept toward Elena. "No, my dear, who is in the most trouble she's ever been in during her short life, you don't, but you will."

  At that, Jin swooped toward Elena, evading her hands as she tried to bat him away. He rubbed his sides along her face and torso, ignoring the wails of dismay and the flailing. He was merciless as he smeared the matter on his shell all over Elena.

  "Auntie! Help!"

  Kira shook her head. Not a chance in hell. Kira knew better than to get in the way of Jin's revenge. Not unless she wanted to fend off the same attacks.

  "Oh no, you're on your own for this one."

  "Auntie!" Elena screeched in protest.

  "Let this be a lesson, my dear." Jin finally backed away from Elena. "If you're going to steal the ship, at least give your Uncle Jin a heads up so he can be on it when you do."

  "Or she could not steal the ship at all. That'd solve all our problems."

  Elena bolted out of her seat, making a beeline in the direction of the ship's pitifully small passenger level—and the enzyme shower that waited there.

  In her absence, Jin threw himself at Kira, only for her to dodge away. After guessing how he got into the ship, Kira wasn't going to let him touch her. No way; no how.

  "Kira," Jin started.

  "You stay away from me." Kira pointed at him. "While you're at it
, go get cleaned up."

  "You forget there's only one enzyme shower on this ship, and the brat is currently in it."

  Kira grimaced. Maybe she had been a little hasty denying her niece aid earlier.

  "This is a cluster fuck of epic proportions." Kira could feel a headache coming on, its origins residing in her niece and this entire situation.

  "We've become a cliché; we're runaways from home," Jin whimpered.

  "Technically, the Wanderer is our home."

  It was hard to be considered a runaway when you were standing on the bridge of said home.

  "You know what I mean."

  Sadly, Kira did.

  Current events were so far outside her plans that it was a little concerning. What was supposed to be a quick jaunt—out and back before anyone knew she was gone—had turned into a situation spiraling out of Kira's control.

  Nowhere in her plans had there been an impromptu trip off-planet.

  Now, not only did Harlow and Graydon know about Elena, they knew about the existence of the forty-three as well.

  On top of that, Kira's hope to use the quorum as a chance to search for Elise in Haldeel space was gone.

  They could try to return, but Kira was pretty sure the planet's defenses would shred them before they even got through the upper atmosphere.

  Even if she could land, what would she say to Harlow?

  Sorry. I'm back, please forget my temporary escape?

  Elena and Kira would be lucky if they weren't locked up after this stunt. Forget any chance of attending the quorum.

  "As much as this has really thrown a wrench in everything, I kind of understand where she's coming from." At Kira's look, Jin got defensive. "Don't tell me if Himoto or Jace came up with a plan to rescue Elise that you wouldn't insert yourself into the mission."

  "That's different."

  "Oh? Because you're you?"

  Kira scowled. "She's a kid."

  "Physically she's older than we were when we staged our escape from the camp," Jin pointed out. "Developmentally, you were only a few years older than her when you started fighting in the war."

  Because of Raider's contribution to her genetics, Elena matured at a faster rate than either Kira or Jin. She looked like the thirteen-year-old she biologically was. By contrast, Kira was ninety-two and still looked to be, at most, in her mid-twenties. As near as Kira and Jin could figure it out, once a Tuann reached physical adulthood, their aging stagnated.

  One example of this was Harlow who despite being nearly two thousand years old, didn't look any older than his mid to late thirties.

  Kira and Jin would have been Elena's equivalent age when they were forty or fifty—right around the time they rebelled against the camp’s masters.

  It was anyone's guess whether Elena would have a lifespan closer to a human's or a Tuann's. As the first of her kind that Kira knew of, Elena’s existence raised a lot of questions but not a lot of answers.

  They couldn’t risk a scientist becoming aware of her and using the information for their own experiments.

  Their best source of information was on the planet shrinking in their rear view.

  "Elise didn't entrust us with her daughter so we could put her in danger," Kira argued.

  "I would say Elise didn't do a very good job of entrusting us with anything."

  There was a bitterness in Jin's words that Kira understood.

  After Rothchild, it had taken far too long to find Elena. Nearly four years passed before Jin caught whispers about her existence.

  Kira only knew the barest of details of that time. Enough to know their niece's earliest years hadn't been sweet and easy. The person Elise left her daughter to was long since gone, either dead in the war or for having abandoned Elena.

  Jin bore the brunt of finding her a new home, knowing it was far too dangerous to have her with them while Kira was in her coma. Even after Kira recovered, they had only been able to manage short, periodic visits.

  It was no wonder Elena wanted a family. In a way, she was much more restrained than either Kira or Jin at that age.

  "I don't want Elena to go through what we did," Kira said. "She deserves to have the adults in her life protect her."

  It was why they had placed her with that guardian—so Elena would have a place to grow up where she'd be safe and loved. Where she didn't have to fight every second for survival or have her personality twisted by forces outside her control.

  The stakes of the game Kira and Jin were playing were harsh. Here, death would be far preferable to capture. To the Tsavitee, Elena would be a priceless treasure—the culmination of years of experimentation, fallen into their lap by chance.

  "Elena is far too much like us and her parents to sit idly on the sidelines for long. You need to figure out how to handle that aspect of her or you risk having more events like today in your future," Jin said seriously.

  Much as Kira wanted to deny it, Jin had a point.

  Her expression turned mournful. "When did we start raising a rebellious teenager?"

  Jin bobbed in front of her. "I blame you for this. Being raised by the Phoenix—of course she'd be a little hardheaded and rash."

  "Me? You're the one who told her bedtime stories about the Curs and their exploits," Kira accused as she turned to the console, her hands flying as she initiated a system check.

  The ride through the atmosphere had been bumpier than normal. Probably courtesy of the golden lights getting too close for comfort.

  It was best to know the extent of the damage here, where they could still signal for help, then out there where there could be millions of miles between them and the nearest source of assistance.

  Kira frowned at what she saw.

  The ship itself looked unharmed for the most part. A few scratches on the hull, but nothing that would affect its integrity. The power readings also looked good. No overloads anywhere she could see, nor any sign of damage to the engine.

  For having escaped a planet protected by the pinnacle of Tuann technology, they were remarkably intact. Unnaturally so.

  "I'm getting some weird readings around the cargo bay. You wouldn't have anything to do with that, would you?" Kira didn't look away from the console as she tried to understand how they'd come out unscathed.

  At least two of those golden lights had struck the ship. There should be more damage than this.

  Jin hovered over Kira’s shoulder. "I came through the pipes we use to offload our waste. I was nowhere near that area."

  Kira extended the parameters of her search, pausing when she noticed two major spikes in that area coinciding with the timing of the lights hitting them.

  Kira tapped her finger, thoughtfully.

  She stood abruptly. "Come with me."

  Jin bobbed along behind her as she strode off the bridge. "What about my shower? I need to get this stench off me."

  "You don't have a nose, which means you have no sense of smell. If I'm willing to put up with it, you certainly can."

  Jin moaned but didn't argue further. "Where are we going?"

  "To see if we have a stowaway."

  Jin abruptly stopped. In the next second, he darted in front, spinning so his 'eye' faced her. "Impossible. My scanners would have picked them up."

  Kira didn't stop walking, forcing Jin to drift backward.

  They rounded a corner only to find their passage blocked. A tall Tuann stood in the middle of the corridor, his hand wrapped around the neck of a much smaller figure. The Tuann held the person up in front of him, his victim’s toes barely brushing the floor.

  Kira shot Jin a look that said see. "Those same scanners that continually fail to detect Graydon or any oshota?"

  Jin lowered several inches, his tone sulky. "I suppose you're never going to let me forget this."

  Kira glanced at the two figures in front of her. "You suppose right."

  The figure in Finn’s grasp lifted a hand in a halfhearted wave. "I'm guessing you have a lot to say right about now."


  "You've got that right,” Kira said grimly

  "Have the oaf put me down, and we can discuss."

  Kira glanced at Finn to see one very unhappy oshota. Something told her he wasn’t in the listening mood. Considering recent events, she didn't blame him.

  As her accepted oshota, it was his duty to protect her from all dangers. Something that became exceedingly difficult when Kira went off on her own.

  Unsurprisingly, Finn didn’t loosen his grip, Odin dangling like a scolded cat.

  An eye patch covered one of Odin’s eyes, the other a green so brilliant that it looked like an emerald. No glint of an earring could be seen, signifying Odin was in his masculine persona. His features a little less feminine than the last time she'd seen him.

  The change was subtle. The line of his jaw a little sharper, his nose and cheekbones a little blunter. Even with these changes, his face had a certain androgyny to it. Not female but not male either, rather a perfect blend of both.

  Odin came from a rare race that had minor shape-shifting capabilities. They didn't experience gender in the same way humans did. For them, there were three possible genders: masculine, feminine, and the sye—which as near as Kira understood meant all and none. It was a sort of nongender that refused definition.

  For as long as Kira had known him, Odin had flipped through the three forms according to whim. She'd once asked him how he decided between the three. He'd told her that the spirit knew and the body followed.

  When Finn's expression didn't relent, Kira focused on Odin. "Something tells me you're on your own."

  Odin shot her a sour look but didn’t struggle.

  "I suppose I don't need to ask how you got on the ship," Kira said, glancing at Finn.

  As they'd seen more than once over the last month or so, Jin's scanners weren't fool proof when it came to the oshota. Their synth armor combined with a very interesting manipulation of ki shielded them from detection. Her time on Ta Sa'Riel had opened her eyes to the wide world of ki's application. Everything she'd thought she'd known before only touched the barest surface.

  Nor was she surprised Odin had managed to circumvent the scanners. Like Finn, the hacker had probably been on board the entire time, only being discovered by Finn once the excitement faded.