Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Chapter 24

Remote Piloting Center, Sovereign

By now, the piloting center was abandoned, the drones having returned from their mission with little fanfare. They were undeserving of it, of course. The Guardians were still alive, having rocketed off at a pace the little gilded sentries simply could not match and disappearing through a jump point that proved impossible to track down. Yes, the Guardians had escaped.

And Ayesha's golden boy had gone with them.

It all amounted to a fit of rage that left Ayesha's nerves frayed to their breaking point, and things only worsened when her summoned audience asked, "What do you mean he's gone?"

Ayesha froze in her frantic pacing to whirl on the High Evolutionary. "I'm sorry, did I not make it clear before?"

The man looked as if he were about to reply, but—wisely—decided against it, and Ayesha took his silence as a sign to continue.

"That little whore got to him." The mere thought of her made the high priestess tense. "I should have known. I should have known! There was no way he could have recovered so quickly from that procedure. She must have"—she waved her hands in frustration—"time warped away the pain or whatever it is she does. Oh, I'm going to strangle her. I'm going to wring that pretty little neck until she turns..."

Ayesha paused. What color did a starry-skinned entity turn when oxygen was cut off to their brain? It was a stupid question, but a suddenly pressing one as well.

But, as usual, the High Evolutionary was quick to ruin the moment. "Is this Fate we're talking about?"

Ayesha's jaw tightened to the point she could hear her teeth grinding against one another. "Of course, it's Fate! It's always Fate! I don't know how she got the Guardians involved with this, but...ugh!"

Her words faded to another angered cry, and the High Evolutionary waited until she'd finished before remarking, "I know you don't wish to hear something like this—"

"You're right." Ayesha glared at him as she stalked back to her seat. "Your voice annoys me to no end. I'm not even sure why I've kept you around, at this point. Adam's..." She paused, realizing she couldn't even think of her creation without risking a whole new wave of emotion.

A beat of silence past before the High Evolutionary saw fit to continue. "With all due respect, High Priestess, I'd advise against getting rid of me just yet."

"Oh, really?" Ayesha rolled her eyes. She couldn't imagine a better stress reliever. "And what, pray tell, could you possibly have left to offer me?"

The High Evolutionary hesitated for a moment. "I know you don't enjoy surprises..." He paused, as if awaiting interruption, and when none came, he continued, "But I may have installed some additional...properties to the soul gem that were kept privy."

Such a revelation usually would have earned him a very spiteful lecturing, but now was certainly not the time for such a thing, not if he was suggesting what Ayesha thought he was suggesting.

"You can..." She paused, realizing how desperate she sounded, and quickly collected herself. "Is one of them a tracker?"

"Indeed." The High Evolutionary sighed. "I know it's not my place to add such things, but I wanted a way to—"

"I don't care." Ayesha waved a dismissive hand as she stood up from her seat and started towards him. "Just show me how to find Adam."

The High Evolutionary dropped his gaze as she approached. "I'm afraid the tracking log is stored on my ship—"