Before we begin our return journey to the HMS Valediction, we secure the airlock and the dirty glucker inside it. I strip off the soiled atmosphere suit and throw it in there too. In nothing but my HMS Valediction-issued underwear and a mylar blanket Nuna wrapped around my shoulders like a cape, I fall into deep thought. Moon returns us to the HMS Valediction, but in my head, I'm already hijacking this very vessel, driving it to ARC10, then setting this stupid thing on fire and pushing it out to drift in space forever.
I don't want to murder them anymore, but inflicting the most pain or irritation on my way out would be suitable enough.
When we arrive and cross the hatchway into the luxurious space liner, not a single inhabitant of the HMS Valediction ogles me in my crinkly apparel. They wave, smile, welcome me back. Nuna shakes many hands and returns their warmth. Moon speeds us forward until we arrive at Teeno's penthouse.
"Ah! It's good to see everyone in one piece. I told you, Moon. Did I not tell you that she is something special?" He claps a perfectly manicured hand on my shoulder. "Sit! Sit my dear. Ledi!"
"Yes, sir?"
I jolt, startled by the AI's smooth voice filling the cabin.
"This calls for a celebration. Mix us something special."
"Yes, sir."
Teeno ushers us to the four seats from my previous meeting in this room. Moon occupies the chair across from me, Nuna sits to my left and Teeno next to Moon.
A tray laden with drinks drops from the ceiling and rests on the table between us. Already prepared, honey-brown, and pungent, I acquiesce to this one luxury before burning this place to ashes. Grabbing one, I inhale the hint of sugar and wood. It's true heaven, and yes, I realize that I wish I could grab the recipe or figure out how to replace all drops of Junk Juice with this nectar that slides down so smooth, but I'd give it up to get my son and return to my broken ship. The luxury HMS Valediction offers is a glittery distraction. Nothing more.
"To our guest, Commander Janika Lorn," Teeno says, raising his glass. "Whose renown is now inter-galactic."
I choke on the strong drink. "Excuse me?"
"Oh yes! The races are transmitted across the galaxy. You have made me a wonderfully rich man, my dear. I mean richer. You have made me a richer man. Hasn't she Ledi?"
"Yes, sir."
"Transmitted?" I gulp. "Like, others saw it? They watched what happened? They saw me?"
"Of course! Ledi, show our star her big debut."
The lights in the cabin dim. Above our heads, a light flickers on, projecting a 3D hologram on the table before us. It's me astride Bor-Yann's D-Clog, kicking his gunman in the face. Sweat glistens on my face as I look up and squint ahead, my eyes sparkling from the heat and light of the lava tunnel. Directly behind me, Nuna and Moon enter the frame, Nuna twisting to glance at Moon who is staring at my back. The image dissolves into me and Nuna stretching our arms out as we cross the finish line—me and Nuna's kiss, the tears smeared around her cheeks sparkling off the cave lights.
The image blinks away as the room returns to its original brightness. I didn't think I could vomit anymore for the rest of my life, but my stomach turns again.
Teeno slow-claps and rises. "Brilliant. You were absolutely brilliant."
"But we lost," I say.
Teeno shrugs and returns to his seat. "Ah, no matter. We anticipated such results."
"What?" I squeeze the glass in my hand. "You knew that would happen? Why didn't anyone tell me?"
"Janika," Nuna places her drink down to face me fully. "This was all my fault. It was my plan. All of it. I know of your skills, your passion, your ability. I also know you are not skilled in face-to-face conversational strategy."
"What does that mean?"
Moon chuckles into his drink. "You're a shit liar."
The urge to throw my glass at his head courses through me again, so I shove it down and focus on Nuna. "I know you're a spy and lying is your most basic professional skill, but you should have told me. You should have let me in on this because I actually thought I was dying." My breath hitches. The air rushes from my lungs as I try to gasp and speak simultaneously. "I actually was dying."
Moon places his empty cup on the table. "You were fine. I was monitoring you the entire time."
"How?"
"Your suit."
They knew. I was never in danger. They knew exactly what I was going to do and how I was going to do it.
It all went according to plan and I had no idea.
It was an act.
I place the glass on the table and wrap the crackling blanket around me tighter. "I think I've endured enough deceit to last a lifetime. Can I go back to my cell, now?"
"Cell? Oh no, dear girl! I'm mighty disappointed at our Captain's sense of hospitality. Our star and savior will never see the inside of another cell aboard the HMS Valediction if I have any say in it."
"Don't make any promises I have to keep, Teeno," Moon grumbles as he rises toward the bar cart.
The emptiness in my stomach stretches to the rest of my body. Tricked. This whole time I was tricked into believing I was part of the team. Then I was duped into thinking I was sold as collateral. Then after believing I was in danger and on the brink of death, I learn all of it was controlled the entire time—no words could describe the exhaustion in my bones. I'm too tired to be angry.
"Am I excused, sir?" I plead with my eyes, hoping Teeno will just let me go so I can shower and begin concocting plans of my own.
"First, my dear, I have a surprise for you."
I want so much to roll my eyes, tell him he can fuck his surprise because I'm going to bed.
Teeno leans back into his chair, holding his sipped drink up to his lips. Mischief flashes in his deep blue eyes. "Ledi, is the surprise ready?"
"Yes, sir."
"Excellent. Let's take a stroll, shall we?"
I stand, the mylar crunching with each movement. At first, I want to ask if they're going to provide me with a new uniform, but I just want to get the stupid ordeal over with. As we parade through the passageways, none of the passengers react. I remember the finger-pointing, the laughing, the mockery of the people of the URE the last time I was pulled through the halls.
I wrap the mylar around me tighter.
This is different. I have to remind myself. Teeno said it—I'm not a prisoner here. I'm a guest. A guest wrapped in silver.
We descend in Teeno's cushy elevator and ride it down to the bottom of HMS Valediction, Teeno humming some unknown tune to fill the tense silence.
When we arrive, I realize it's the same holding that Nuna and I had trained in before. The hangar is the same as it was before with the exception of a new, small ship resting in the middle of the open space. It is black and disfigured like charred bits of meat left too long in hot oil.
It's a shape I can't identify—a twisted block of familiar metal yet unidentifiable from my wide range of alloy acumen. It reminds me so much of ARC10, but that's impossible. It reminds me of that piece of ARC10 that had been blown off by—
No.
"Holy. Fucking. Heap." My jaw drops as I approach. "Is this the section of ARC10 that broke off from Juno's open fire?"
Teeno's smile widens. "Surprise!"
I gingerly touch my burned ship, the orange ooze no longer leaking from the pustules. No words come despite trying like hell to form them.
"What do you think? While you all were out, I took the liberty of fishing it from where it was abandoned. This little beauty was still in one piece. Lucky I arrived before the scavengers." Teeno raised a hand to tap the hull lovingly but must have thought better of it and kept his hand to himself.
In my peripherals, I notice Moon lurking in the shadows on the edge of the room. He spins on his heel and exits, his coat flaring dramatically behind him.
"Teeno..." It's all I can manage. As I walk the perimeter, I graze my fingers along its side.
"We will help you repair it, get it to full functionality as its own transportation with manual and automatic piloting programs. Ledi will help."
From the hangar's doorway, a man approaches. He's svelte, polished, perfectly pleated in powder-blue coveralls with the name LEDI stitched in gold on his right breast. His eyes are sharp, but when they come into focus, I see they are the cut-steel silver that shines on Teeno's buttons. His black hair is slicked back, every line of him is immaculate.
This is no person.
"I am at your service, Commander Lorn." He bows slightly.
I jab my thumb at him. "This is going to be my grease monkey?"
Teeno pats Ledi's back. "He is here to assist in any need you may have. He'll be most helpful around the electrical components as complex electrical engineering, I'm assuming, is not part of your current skillsets.
The robot's lips pull back in a forced, inhuman smile.
I cringe. "Yeah. I guess."
"You don't have virtual assistants on Earth? No robotic laborers?" Teeno raises one perfectly sculpted eyebrow.
"Absolutely not."
"Odd."
"Well, if there's anything that pretty-boy yes-bot can't do, I'll be here too," came a voice from behind the slab of ARC10. Elias appears under one of the many jagged shadows of the ship holding a bundle of blue coveralls. He throws them at my feet.
Relief that an actual person with real hands and know-how is in the mix puts me at ease."It's good to see you, Elias."
My friend emerges from the shadows, clean-shaven, showered, and in a set of coveralls as fresh as Ledi's. "Finally got out a bit and couldn't pass up the chance to get you in the air again, girlie."
My anger wanes. Even as I throw a skeptical glance at the eerie almost-human machine, a new peace washes over me.
I'm going to be working on my own ship.
My own ship.
My own ship I can fly out of here and return to my own mission. The faster I get this thing airborne—or space-borne—the faster I can save my son and return to my people.
I clap my hands and rub them together, the mylar blanket pooling by my boots like shattered glass. "Let's get to work."
**A/N**
Hello, my lovely readers, star-tappers, and friends.
I wanted to let you know that we're in the final quarter of the story! Remember that big plot-hole I told you I was struggling to fill?
I FILLED IT
Chapter 28 is where I left off. No more waiting. I'll be updating regularly with the hopes of finishing the book by the end of this year.
Hopefully, I can keep a Monday/Friday schedule so that HMS VALEDICTION can keep its schedule. It's been so much fun writing, updating, and seeing all of you here. I've been having a hard time, struggling to find a new job after the abrupt loss of my old job, so HMS VAL posts have been slow, but necessary. If there's any place where I can return to feeling like myself, it's this world with Janika who won't let anything get her down no matter how many stupid things are thrown her way.
I hope with all my heart that you're enjoying the journey (even if it gets pretty dark and yes, it's getting darker from here), and will continue sending those stars and leaving your amazing thoughts.
All my love,
-L