Purge of Prometheus (49 page)

Manifesting his powers, Yen searched the ground and air for exits from his prison.
 
The white world, however, held against his intrusions.
 
Throwing his hands skyward, Yen yelled into the oblivion.
 
“How are you keeping me here?
 
Who is doing this to me?”

“I am,” came a familiar feminine voice.

The white landscape in front of Yen began to ripple as first a tanned leg, then a tanned arm, emerged from the nothing.
 
The rest of her body quickly followed, pulling itself free from the ether.
 
With a final shake, the white landscape reasserted itself.
 
Before Yen, a personification of Keryn stood naked, her silver hair flowing freely over her shoulders.
 
Yen’s eyes drifted over her body, which stood in sharp distinction to the white background.
 
He quickly pulled his eyes away before he fell into the trap of thinking the figure before him was truly his lost love.

“You’re not Keryn,” he stated, matter-of-factly.

“Keryn is…,” she replied, pausing as she sought the right words, “unavailable right now.”

“What are you?” he asked threateningly.
 
“Are you a parasite?
 
An insect?”

“No, no,” she answered, shaking her head.
 
“I’m very much a part of the whole.
 
Consider me a vizier for Keryn’s decision making process.”

Yen turned away from her, not wanting the temptation of looking at her.
 
“You’re talking in riddles!” he yelled.
 
“You’re playing with my mind, showing me her body.
 
I don’t even want to look at you.”

After a pause, she spoke.
 
“Is this better?” she asked coyly.
 
When Yen still refused to turn, she continued.
 
“I promise I’m not naked anymore.”

Yen turned and, true to her word, she was no longer naked.
 
A white robe clung to her body now, revealing only the plunging neckline, face, and hands.
 
“Why do you keep me prisoner here?
 
Why can’t I leave?”

“You’re here because you need to know the truth,” she answered.
 
“No, more importantly, you need to accept the truth.”

“What would a succubus know about the truth?” he sneered.

“I know what lies in Keryn’s heart,” she said softly, before her voice took a hard edge, “and you’re no longer in it.
 
You’ve been replaced.”

“I don’t believe you,” Yen said, stepping dangerously toward her.
 
“What do you want from me?
 
Answer me, damn you!”

“I want you to accept the fact that she has moved on with her life,” she said, not backing away from his threat.
 
“It’s time you moved on with yours.”

“The only reason she would keep me from her heart is if you told her to forget about me.
 
That’s what parasites do!”

“You silly, little man,” she said, tilting her head back as she laughed.
 
“I didn’t tell her that she didn’t love you.
 
She
told
me
.
 
And I could no sooner remove myself from her than I could remove her lungs.
 
I’m very much a part of her.”

Yen lost the words of his sharp retort as the realization dawned on him.
 
“You’re her Voice,” he said, dumbfounded.
 
He had been so very wrong about Keryn.
 
It wasn’t that something had invaded Keryn’s mind; Keryn had invaded her own mind.

“I don’t know what she ever saw in you, honestly,” the Voice replied.
 
“You’re arrogant and conceited and, as we just witnessed, not very bright.”

“Don’t threaten me, woman,” Yen growled, feeling his power bristling along his spines.
 
“It would not be a very wise move to upset me.”
 
From his back, dozens of small, sharp tendrils protruded, floating in the air above his head.

“You don’t threaten
me
, child!” the Voice yelled.
 
Wind began whipping her hair and robe as she grew angry.

“I do whatever I want, witch,” Yen replied calmly before sending all his small blades toward her chest.
 
With little effort, the Voice raised her hand, facing her palm toward the oncoming blades.
 
Instantly, they all stopped in mid air, frozen by her powers.
 
Yen strained to drive them forward, but to no avail.
 
The Voice had them under her control.

“You made a poor decision there, Yen,” she explained.
 
“We’re not in the real world.
 
Your powers are simply a personification of your own mind here.
 
But this is Keryn’s mindscape and, in turn, my realm.
 
My powers are absolute here.
 
And, though this may not be the first time you’ve heard this comment, I’ve left you impotent.”

Yen howled in rage, feeling helpless against her mental control.
 
“Let go of me at once!”

“Only after I’m sure that you understand that if you ever return, I’ll destroy your mind once and for all.
 
It’s a point I’d really like to…” she paused as she twisted her wrist, turning the blades away from her and pointing them at Yen, “drive home.”

Flicking her fingers at him, the blades drove back toward Yen.
 
He threw up his arms defensively, but the blades pierced through his skin.
 
Pain lanced through his body as dozens of blades slipped into his body.
 
He screamed as the white world slowly melted away.

Lowering his arms, he looked around at the now silent and surprised Captains, all of who watched him curiously from their seats.
 
Tentatively, he touched his chest and was relieved to find that he was not injured.

“Sorry,” he mumbled to the gathered Captains, “my mind was elsewhere.
 
What were we discussing?”

Keryn turned toward him, a fire burning behind her violet eyes.
 
“I was just explaining that the
Ballistae
was going to conduct the research on the Deplitoxide.
 
I just informed the Captains that you would support my decision one hundred percent.
 
Isn’t that true, Captain Xiao?”

Yen locked eyes with her and knew immediately that he spoke to the Voice once more.
 
A nervous spasm rolled up his back.

“Yes, I support their decision,” Yen added, struggling with the words.
 
He was not used to being on the defensive.
 
“The
Ballistae
will conduct the research while we’re in transit to Arcendor.”
 

Before any responses could be mustered, Yen quickly added, “If there are no other issues, I would like to bid you all adieu and good luck.
 
This meeting is adjourned.”

Perplexed, the other Captains were slow to rise as they made their way out of the room.
 
Keryn and Alcent stood and left without a word, which Yen considered a small consolation.
 
When everyone was gone, Yen sat alone in the relative darkness of the War Room and fumed about the turn of events.
 
She no longer loved him.
 
He had trouble accepting the truth, but knew that the Voice wouldn’t blatantly lie to him.
 
The Voice was merely an extension of Keryn’s own mind.
 
Still, she had said something he couldn’t forget:

You’ve been replaced.

CHAPTER 35:

Keryn felt her irritation burn through her veins as she and Alcent boarded their ship and prepared to return to the
Ballistae
.
 
Though they had won every argument they had put forward in the Captains meeting, she wasn’t pleased with using strong-arm tactics in order to get her way.
 
The meeting had not gone at all like she had planned.
 
In her mind, she foolishly believed the other Captains would see reason and let the
Ballistae
continue its research into the Deplitoxide problem.
 
Instead, she found herself improvising to the point of pulling her pistol on the other gathered Officers.
 
It surprised her then and still did, but the intimidation she should have felt while being in the presence of so many accomplished commanders just wasn’t there.
 
Instead, she had felt only disdain for their haughty attitudes.

Her biggest issue came from Yen.
 
Though the Voice had handled his intrusion into her mind, she still felt violated.
 
More importantly to her, though, was that she felt disappointed in him.
 
The Yen she had once loved would have never resorted to invading someone else’s mind in order to get answers.
 
He had been understanding and an effective leader because of his interpersonal skills.
 
The man who had sat at the head of the table only physically resembled the man she once knew; his personality had been replaced by something monstrous.

Alcent had the decency not to speak to Keryn as they ran through the preflight checks.
 
As the engines started and the Terran ship lifted off the hangar bay floor, Keryn activated the radio.

“
Ballistae
crew requesting permission to depart the
Revolution
hangar,” Keryn called flatly to the control room.

“Roger,
Ballistae
crew,” came the quick reply.
 
“We are depressurizing the bay now.
 
You are clear to depart.”

“Keryn,” Alcent said quietly as he drew his sidearm.
 
“I’m detecting an increase in our ship’s mass compared to when we arrived.
 
If I had to guess, I’d say we have a stowaway.”

Keryn turned sharply, belying Alcent’s caution, and activated the rear compartment’s lights.
 
The sharp halogen lights filled the room with light.
 
In the corner, crouched behind one of the rows of benches, a scared female face peered out.
 
Tears streamed down her face as she shook her head, begging for Keryn’s continued silence.

“Please,” the woman mouthed.

“
Ballistae
crew,” the control room called.
 
“Is there a problem with your departure?”

Keryn kept her eyes locked with the scared woman’s as she reached over to the microphone.
 
“Negative,
Revolution
,” she said, still watching their stowaway.
 
“There is no problem.
 
We are exiting the ship now.”

Reaching over slowly, Keryn turned off the lights to the crew compartment, casting the back room into darkness once more.
 
Turning back to the controls, she maneuvered the ship out of the hangar bay and began the short flight back to her own ship.

When they were far enough away from the
Revolution
, Keryn motioned for Alcent to take control of the ship.
 
She turned the lights back on in the crew cabin and walked back to talk to the stowaway.
 
As she left the helm, Keryn quietly closed the door behind her.
 
Whatever was to come from her next conversation, she didn’t want Alcent hearing.

Keryn sat down on the couch beside which the frightened woman hid.
 
Patting the seat beside her, Keryn invited the woman to join her.
 
Slowly, obviously fearing for her own well being, the woman took the seat, though she kept her tear-filled eyes focused on the ground.

“Would you like to tell me what you’re doing on my ship, Iana?” Keryn asked as the Warrant shook with sobs.

Stifling her tears, Iana managed enough composure to reply.
 
“I had to run away.
 
He was going to kill me!”

“Who was going to kill you?” Keryn asked, suddenly interested in her story.

Iana met Keryn’s gaze only briefly before dropping her eyes once more and shaking her head.
 
“You wouldn’t believe me, even if I did tell you,” Iana whispered.

Keryn placed a hand on Iana’s arm.
 
“I think you’ll find that I’m willing to believe just about anything.
 
Now, tell me who is trying to kill you.”

“Captain Xiao,” Iana mumbled to herself.
 
“Yen is trying to kill me.”

Her answer hit Keryn like a heavy weight in her chest.
 
Her concerns about Yen’s behavior earlier seemed to pale in comparison with Iana’s accusation.
 
Yen had tried to invade Keryn’s thoughts, but she wondered if he was truly capable of murder, especially murdering one of his close friends.
 
In the end, she shook her head.

“I can’t believe that Yen would try to kill you, Iana.
 
He actually considers you one of his closest friends.”
 
Keryn leaned back heavily against the couch and thought again about Yen killing Iana.
 
She just couldn’t fathom him committing that act.
 
“You’re trying to convince me that the Commander of the Fleet is trying to kill one of his pilots?”