At least he isn’t using bots.

  “Give the private, secured signal, Quinn.” he said.

  The signal was just that. A signal that would alert Toshi to the fact that Alexander wished to speak to him urgently. Toshi might take hours or days to get back to him, depending on how busy he was to how easily he could bypass all the surveillance that didn’t distinguish between the Elite and others.

  “Miss. Flett has just woken up,” Quinn said. “Her heart rate is elevated.”

  “I’ll go to her,” Alexander said.

  He could have used Nishati, but if Paige had woken from a nightmare, which was likely, he didn’t want to startle her further. Fortunately, her room was nearer to his own room.

  “Paige?” he called before knocking. “May I come in, darling?”

  “Yes,” she said, and she sounded lost and scared.

  He felt so helpless as he entered the room to be faced with her tear-stained face. Quinn hadn’t told him she was crying. It wrung his heart. “What is it?” he asked as he approached her.

  “Bad dream,” she said. “Can you hold me, Uncle Alexander?”

  “Of course, love,” he held her and she lay her head on his shoulder, her hair tickling his nose.

  He patted her head softly, not knowing what to do. What would David have done? Or Ellen? He sighed, holding her close, and kissing her head. He wasn’t either of her parents, but he was all she had now. He just hoped he was good at this. It felt similar to the times when Niek had first come to stay with him. He had felt the same helplessness then, the same feeling of inadequacy. What did he know of children or their needs? It wasn’t a feeling he was familiar with.

  He smiled inwardly at the thought. Considering everything that was happening, inadequacy was something he was becoming quite familiar with.

  Paige’s heart rate had gone down to a steady rhythm, her breathing had evened out and he realised he had been rocking her gently. She had fallen asleep and he gently lay her back down on the bed, pulling the covers over her.

  “Alert me if she has another nightmare, Quinn,” he said softly, exiting the room.

  I

  t was almost noon when Zain left the room he shared with three others. Nolan had taken George’s empty bed, though Zain noticed that he had fallen asleep only when the sun was almost up. Zain too couldn’t sleep, but he was at the diagonally opposite side of the room and hence couldn’t have talked to Nolan without waking everyone else up. Besides, Zain didn’t think he and Nolan were awake for the same reasons. Falling asleep so late must have been why Zain had overslept.

  He made his way to where Kanye and Joyce were, not bothering to have any food, though his stomach rumbled softly in protest. He wasn’t surprised to see Lucas, Alexander, Daniele and Amir all there already. Joyce was absent. Kanye was eating something while Amir and Alexander were sitting next to each other in front of a console, while numerals and letters floated in the air in front of them.

  “Had any food?” Lucas asked.

  “Not yet. Have we figured anything out?”

  “Nothing,” Daniele said. “You should have something to eat. There’s no saying how long there’ll be food.”

  “There’s enough for this week,” Alexander said. “After that we may need to ration. But we’re not in danger of immediate starvation.”

  “That’s not something I’ve ever suffered from,” Zain said, gratitude towards Lucas swelling his heart. “But many among us have, and I’d rather not subject them to that again.”

  “We’ll just have to figure out a way then,” Amir said. “Maybe the rationing will work.”

  Zain certainly hoped so. “Where’s Joyce?” he asked, accepting the plate of eggs Lucas handed him.

  “Asleep,” Kanye said, speaking with his mouth full. “We thought we’d be more productive if we all got some rest, so we’re taking turns.”

  “You should have some rest too.” Zain said, as he put the eggs in his mouth. It had come from a synthesiser. He could tell that immediately. Before they had the communal kitchen in Selenia where they actually cooked, he wouldn’t have noticed it.

  “I had some rest once you all left,” Kanye said. “And from our calculations, it would take Aitheras at least another year to reach a critical stage, but once that stage is reached, we won’t have much time left.”

  A year. Zain didn’t know why he felt nothing. Was it sleep deprivation or shock? He couldn’t really tell. A year was too short a time, and yet it seemed long enough as well. Surely, they’d be able to find a solution in a year? With the kind of brains they had in this very room, it wasn’t outside the realm of possibility.

  “Is there a way to stop it?” Alexander asked, swivelling around in his chair.

  “Not at the moment, not with any technology we have now,” Kanye said.

  “If something like that were developed, would it be possible? At any point?” Daniele asked.

  “I would assume so,” Kanye said. “But really, we can only speculate. Not all the simulations in the world can help with something as unprecedented as this. We can only hope for the best.”

  “Or find another place to move to,” Amir said.

  “Well, the nearest habitable planet outside Helios will take five years to reach with the kind of technology we have now,” Kanye said. “And there’s no saying just how far the effects of Aitheras’ implosion will spread. If it causes the forcefield to disintegrate or if it closes the tiny gateway we have now, we can’t say. Both are possible. The first may cause galaxywide repercussions. The second, hopefully will keep everything contained within this system. But even if we were to leave, it will take us at least six months to equip ourselves for a journey of that duration.”

  “We can’t leave everyone in Cynfor to die while we escape to safety!” Zain said, not understanding why everyone was staring at Kanye.

  “You mean you actually know of a habitable planet outside Helios?” Lucas demanded, staring at him, brows furrowed. “You never said anything till now.”

  “It wasn’t relevant till now,” Kanye said. “It was one of the things Thaxter used me for, while I was his prisoner. It was a top-secret project, to find other habitable worlds in the galaxy.” He paused. “He doesn’t know about this particular planet, though. I discovered another one that is a few hundred light years away and told him that was the nearest.”

  “And he didn’t cross check with anyone?” Alexander asked, frowning.

  Kanye shrugged. “I may have tampered with the tech a bit, so no one else would be able to find it.”

  “Why?” Zain asked, bewildered. “Other than the purpose of thwarting Thaxter, what good did it do?”

  “None, I suppose,” Kanye sighed. “I was petty enough to want to have something, and he seemed quite invested in wanting to find a habitable planet. The project was scrapped after everyone told him that the nearest one was a few hundred light years away. But it must have been important to him, because his next project was faster than light travel, of which I wasn’t a part, except occasionally to check theoretical possibilities.”

  “So, that means we have a planet to escape to, whose existence Thaxter isn’t aware of,” Alexander said.

  “We can’t leave everyone in Cynfor to die,” Zain repeated.

  “We won’t,” Amir said. “We’ll find a way to stop this.”

  “An escape plan is the best possible scenario at the moment,” Kanye spoke. “And Zain, we can’t save everyone in Cynfor. Not when Thaxter’s in charge.”

  “Then we get rid of the bastard!” Lucas said.

  “Easier said than done,” Alexander said. “Sure, he doesn’t have too many Elite around him, but he still has an army of bots and humans. Plus, the Sentient. There’s no way of taking him down in the time frame we have without a war, and we are neither trained nor equipped for that.”

  Zain hated that both Kanye and Alexander were right. They simply didn’t have enough time to rid themselves of Thaxter, and without doing that, there was no way to save Cynfor or all the people in the four planets. A mass exodus might attract attention.

  “Private call for you, Mr. Selwood,” Quinn said.

  “I need to take this,” Alexander got up and disappeared. Zain sat down on the chair he had vacated, scooting it a bit closer to Amir. Teleportation was almost like magic. Even if someone explained the science behind it, Zain didn’t think he would ever stop being awed by it.

  The alarm started blaring.

  T

  he Central Console felt so empty these days, especially the conference room where Cesar Thaxter sat at the head of the table, looking at them. Rishabh and Toshi both sat together, the last of a group no one thought would ever be decimated like this. Toshi had to work to keep his elation from showing. For all the comments he got about how it was difficult to read his expressions, the Ruler had known him for centuries, and he was as shrewd as could be. Everyone underestimated Thaxter, including his own Elite. It wasn’t a mistake Toshi would make.

  “You’re sure about this?” Thaxter asked, breaking the silence that had fallen.

  “The reports are clear,” Toshi said. “It’s like the rebels have vanished off the face of Cynfor. Even the ones whose DNA is available with us cannot be tracked anymore.”

  “Hiding away in another moon, probably,” Rishabh said. “I mean, Hafi and Aeras have many more moons. We could check them.”

  “None of them are habitable,” Toshi said.

  “Neither was Selenia,” Thaxter said. “We’ll search the moons. Any news on Selwood?”

  Toshi shook his head. “Elena and her pet rogue swore he blew his own house up when he was surrounded. But the only remnants we could find from DNA tests were that of the Defenders Elena had dragged there and that of her and Llewllyn. No unknown DNA, which means if he was indeed there, he had already escaped before the place blew up.”

  Alexander owed him big. Toshi had blown up the room that had been standing so that part of Elena’s story at least wouldn’t be too credible.

  “She also said the room he had been in was intact, but there was nothing but rubble,” Rishabh said. “She had to have been lying. After all, how could he have got there? He was here. We have the footage to prove it.”

  “But nothing about how he killed one of my assets before putting Luis in Cryo,” Thaxter said. “Or about how he and his companions escaped. Rishabh, I need you to work on the Cryo cells. Study the technology. Find a way to open them.”

  “Is that possible?” Toshi hadn’t considered the possibility.

  “Not the way they are built,” Rishabh said. “They’re impossible to destroy, or to open. That was how they were designed. But every technology has a loophole. We’ll find a way. We’ll bring our friends back.”

  “We couldn’t even find all of them,” Toshi said softly, trying to look sad and hopeful at the same time. Frank was missing, which meant he was already in Nishati. Valeria and Luis were the only ones they had been able to find, both locked in Cryo cells.

  “We’ll order a search of Nishati,” Thaxter said. “It is possible the Resistance is hiding them there. We should have a monitoring system for the damn thing.”

  “Agreed,” Toshi said. “I shall get the scientists to work on that and on a search of the place for Cryo cells. It could take years to find them, even if they are indeed there.”

  “We have time,” Thaxter said. “Also, it needn’t take years if we could just find Selwood.”

  “Something we have failed at time and again,” Toshi reminded, gently. He didn’t want to bring down Thaxter’s ire on him. Not now when they were so close to victory.

  “Besides, even if we do find him, there’s no saying if he would co-operate,” Rishabh added. “He’s no stranger to torture. Even Elena couldn’t make him talk.”

  “I can’t believe she had him and she just let him go,” Thaxter muttered. “Torture? Bah! She should have brought him to me!”

  “She didn’t know who he was,” Toshi said. “None of us did back then. It was only later you told Mason and I, and the rest didn’t even know he was an immortal till recently. You never told us why you wanted him either.”

  “You’re right, I haven’t,” Thaxter said, his expression cold, and Toshi bowed his head.

  He hadn’t expected it to work, but it was worth a try. Even Alexander didn’t know why Thaxter was so obsessed with him. Revenge seemed like the obvious motive, but revenge for what? For making him look like a fool at a time no one now even remembered? Or was it because Thaxter thought Alexander’s blood and body and genes would be the key to reverse engineering the drug that had made them all immortal? Both were possible.

  “Dismissed,” Thaxter said. “Get to work, both of you.”

  Toshi left first, and went to the Science Wing. He conveyed the ruler’s directions and couldn’t blame the scientists for looking flabbergasted.

  “But the Nishati . . .” one of them said. “It’s . . . it’s another dimension . . . it’s just energy . . . it’s not possible to find something there unless we know where we put it.”

  “The ruler says to find a way,” Toshi said. “Do you want me to convey your words to him?”

  “No,” the man muttered, his form slumped. “We’ll do our best.”

  Satisfied, Toshi left. They would try, and probably fail. Even if they succeeded, it might take years. By which time hopefully, they would have brought Thaxter down.

  He made his way into his quarters in the Console, turned off the surveillance and turned on the privacy enhancers. It would last for fifteen minutes at the most before it gets recorded, but that was all the time he needed.

  Alexander answered almost immediately. “Aitheras is going to blow up,” he said without preamble. “Dr. Okilo thinks it could destroy the rest of Helios.”

  For a moment, Toshi felt a strange elation. If the entire solar system was destroyed, perhaps they would finally be free of Thaxter. But reason asserted itself the next moment.

  “How long do we have?”

  “One year, according to him, which I have no reason to doubt.”

  Toshi rubbed his nose. He was no expert, but one year didn’t seem like enough time to come up with something to counter this. Not without–

  “I need to inform the Ruler,” he said, forcing the words out.

  “I know.” There was understanding in Alexander’s voice.

  Perhaps he alone of everyone Toshi knew understood how much it cost Toshi to keep working with Thaxter, to interact with him as he did, to pretend to follow him as he did. It was his understanding of Toshi’s grief at a time when he had been in his darkest place that had caused Toshi to take a leap of faith. He hadn’t regretted it, even during the times when Alexander did nothing except save his own skin, because in a way, Alexander was thwarting Thaxter by just surviving and staying free.

  “I somehow have a feeling he won’t much care for saving the people of Cynfor,” Toshi muttered.

  “Not all of them perhaps,” Alexander agreed. “But without them, he is nothing. He would save enough of them to make him feel important.”

  Toshi had no doubt that Alexander was right. Thaxter’s need to feel powerful was almost as much an obsession as his wish to capture Alexander. Without the people of Cynfor to cower before him and feed his ego, how would he feel that?

  “I shall inform him,” Toshi said, his eyes on the clock. Two more minutes before it would be brought to Thaxter’s attention that Toshi had privacy enhancers on.

  “Can you do that without his suspecting anything? Only a direct scan of the planet can show what’s happening.”

  “Then I shall conduct such a scan.” Toshi rolled his eyes. “And yes, I do have a way to do it without him suspecting anything.”

  Alexander was just being concerned, but he should have enough faith in Toshi by now. How lucky that Rishabh mentioned the moons and Thaxter ordering him to scan them. He could just say he’d decided to scan Aitheras as well.

  “I need to go now.”

  Toshi disconnected the call with a few seconds to spare. It was risky, doing this from here instead of from his home where he could have privacy enhancers all night and during the day for an hour. Thaxter didn’t trust anyone, not even his supposedly trustworthy lieutenants.

  He turned to the desk in the corner. He had a few scans to do. He will leave Aitheras to the last. After all, they had a year.

  “M

  y bad,” Amir said loudly as his finger swiped across the panel on the desk, shutting off the alarm. He could feel the heat rushing to his face. Stupid. “Sorry.”

  It was embarrassing. What was wrong with him? He tried to calm his racing heart, desperately hoping that Quinn wouldn’t draw attention to it. Blessedly, Quinn stayed silent. What was he thinking? Why would he have reacted like that? All because Zain brought his chair a bit closer. It was Zain for fuck’s sake! The man who had been like a father to him since his parents’ death. It wasn’t like Zain would ever hurt him. If only he could convince his stupid body that Zain wasn’t a threat. It was probably seeing Llewllyn again that had messed him up so badly. He hadn’t realised it had affected him so much. The bastard was locked away for good now, then why was he still behaving like this? At least he hadn’t done anything overtly embarrassing like jump or try and hit Zain.

  He didn’t like it, his reactions. Just the other day, Zain had sat next to him, had even hugged him, and it was all right, but here he was, back to square one.

  Amir had not noticed till Zain had scooted his chair closer that Alexander had been sitting farther away than usual when they worked together. Daniele had been on Alexander’s other side, so there was no one closer to him. That must have been it. He probably freaked out because Zain was close to his space so suddenly. Anyway, no one probably noticed anything. It was a stupid mistake was all. Could have happened to anyone.

  “Are you all right?” Zain asked. “Have you been working all night too?”

  “No, of course not,” he said. “And I’m perfectly fine, thank you.”

 

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