When I woke, I had no concept of time. No idea of where I was, what I was doing there, or where I’d come from. No real idea of who I was, save for my name. I wondered now if I were somehow cloned, maybe raised in a test tube until I was strong enough, or grown by some other high-tech the Ohrurs were keeping a secret. I did not know, but I knew one day I would find out.
I remembered waking up confused, like in a fog, and training. Training my mind didn't seem to want to participate in, but my body obliged. Sleeping and training, with no memories of Allisaahn, or even who I was. It might have been a small mercy that I didn't remember; I wasn't sure.
Every time I awoke anew, there was more training, and then I was guarding someone's house. An Ohrur's house. I learned how to fly spaceships and take down enemies, and as time passed and the training got more intense, it became second nature to me, no matter how much my heart and brain rejected the violence. Until it was who I was. Until I wasn't Xy of Rek any longer, but Xyrek Draalor, feared Space Guardian—a male who didn't know anything but fighting for the Ohrurs.
I had killed for the Ohrurs. I had ended other people's lives—something no Darlam would have ever done. Then again, our planet was peaceful. The greatest crime on Darlam, the only crime ever committed, was when couples mated without the connection of Soulweb Glyph markings. For this, they were expelled from our society. The Darlams’ strong sense of wrong and right demanded nothing less. My planet had no terrible beings like I’d been forced to terminate. So, I didn't know how we would have reacted to someone who had taken another person's life. My gut told me, though, that the punishment would have been equal to the crime. After all, we were ready to fight against the injustice of the Ohrurs—to kill, if necessary. My sense of justice was what allowed me to live with myself now.
I wasn't sure if I should be thankful to the Ohrurs for never making me miss Allisaahn. I died with her, and I woke with no memory of her. Nearly thirty years have passed since I awoke? Became? Appeared? Was that the word for it? Because I was certain I hadn't beenborn. Either way, holding her now in my arms was a gift I would never again take for granted. I shouldn't have the first time around. I should have known better after how long it took me to find her.
* * *
We took a leap of faith, as Alice called it, and trusted Hannah when she told us where their ship was waiting for us. We figured that, if they weren’t hostile, Hannah and her friends were taking a leap of faith for us, too. I still didn't like the idea of Alice accompanying me to meet ournew friends. I would have much preferred her to stay aboard our ship just in case things went sideways, but she remained stubborn about coming with me.
"We're stronger together." She insisted.
I gave her a crash course in blaster use, cursing myself for not teaching her how to fight on our way here. I wanted her to be as prepared as possible if we were walking into a trap.
"If something happens, I want you to run back to this ship. It's programmed to take you to Astrionis," I said.
"I won't leave you." She shook her head.
"Alice," I took her beloved face between my hands, "I need to know that you will be safe. I'm trained for this. I can take their entire ship apart if I have to. I can fight any soldier they throw at me, but I can only do that if I don't have to worry about your safety."
"Promise you will join me on Astrionis," she pleaded, tears welling in her eyes, breaking my heart.
"I promise I will do anything in my power to join you on Astrionis," I swore. Meaning it. I would kill anybody who dared stand between her and me.
Her eyes searched mine. I hated seeing the fear in them. Wished by all the stars that I could take it away.
"We will be fine," I assured her.
She nodded bravely. Sniffed twice before straightening her back. "Okay, I've prepared something too. Xyrek, say hello to Vader and Maul."
Two cleaning bots came around the corner. I remembered her studying cleaning bots on the comm a few days ago, looking at different models. Vader and Maul looked just like all the others.
"Uhm, hello?" I stared from her to the bots. “Ahm, who is who?”
She grinned, "If it looks like it hates everything and fights like it does, too, it’s Maul." She paused for effect, then added, “And Vader here, he doesn’t fight. He executes. If Maul’s a storm, Vader’s the silence after—when nothing’s left standing.”
Before I could react to words that didn’t make the slightest lick of sense to me, she warned, "Don't react!" just as a third robot arrived, this one the fighting bot from the training room—at least, I hoped it was the fighting bot, because it looked nothing like it. It looked like something straight out of a nightmare. Usually, I set them to resemble a Moggadesh or Pronex because they were the most frightening creatures in the universe. But they looked almost tame compared to this thing. "Frygg."
It moved like a shadow come to life, all sinew and unnatural grace, flowing across the floor without a sound. It was long and sleek, its skin blacker than deep space, reflecting the dim light in an oily sheen. Its body was built for killing—lean muscle, sharp edges, no wasted mass. Its head was smooth, elongated, curving back like a weapon forged from bone, but there were no visible eyes. No way to track its intent, no soul to read. Just hunger, pure and unrelenting.
And then it bared its teeth.
A mouth too wide, full of razor-sharp fangs, with saliva that dripped from its maw like acid ready to burn through flesh and bone. And frygging hells—there was another mouth inside the first, snapping forward like a spear.
I pulled my blaster and pushed Alice behind me. No way I was going to take any chances that this might or might not be the fighting bot.
"No, wait." Alice pulled my arm, holding the blaster down, "Watch."
The black-skinned monstrosity lunged, claws scraping across the metal floor. The damn thing was incredibly fast. I had fought some horrific creatures, but this one?
"Vader, kill!" Alice called from behind me.
The small, round cleaning bot—now a fully armed war machine—rolled forward at full speed, whirring with mechanical menace. It looked ridiculous, like a weaponized cleaning bot, but I had already learned never to underestimate Alice's insanity. The fighting-bot hissed and tilted its head toward the fast-approaching Vader. Its elongated skull gleamed, jaws parting, drool dripping onto the floor in a way that shouldn’t have been possible for a machine.
Then Vader launched itself into the air.
