Athena's Ashes (28 page)

“As long as they become your slaves, you mean.”

“I don’t want slaves, Renna. I want willing soldiers, and there are plenty of people who want what only I can give them.”

“And what is that?”

“I can give them a future.” Samil’s smile was so bright she could have lit the room. “And that’s all because of you. Your DNA will fix them, make them stronger. It will help the surgery and the implants and the technology to improve their lives. It will help them connect with each other. You should be proud.”

“Proud that someone experimented on me against my will?”

“Sacrifices have to be made,” Samil said with a shrug. “I’m sorry you’re in this situation, but I thought you, if anyone, would understand. With your history.”

Renna’s heart kicked with unease, but she remained silent.

“Don’t you see how similar we are?” Samil continued. “We both loved someone who betrayed us. We worked for an organization that doesn’t care what happens to us, as long as it remains in power. Our skills can save so many people.”

“Correction. Your skills, my DNA. There’s a bit of a difference there.”

Samil rolled her eyes. “If you must be literal. I have a great deal of respect for what you’ve accomplished and how far you’ve come from that tenement back on Earth. I know how hard it is to rise above something like that.”

“You don’t know a damn thing,” Renna spat.

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Samil pressed a button on her desk, and before Renna could blink, metal cords snaked from the arms of Renna’s chair and wrapped themselves around her wrists.

THIRTY-TWO

Samil pulled a small, clear plastic box from her desk while Renna thrashed and struggled against the ties of her chair.

“What the hell is that? What are you doing?” she demanded.

“A new test. There’s a microchip in here that will allow me to use your implant as a transmitter. I want to see exactly how far you’ve come in your abilities.” She held up the small box. “Does this look familiar? I hear you stole several of these from Dr. Aldani before you left his facility.”

Renna’s blood ran cold. She knew exactly what Samil was talking about. Those devices were meant for long-range communication and infiltration of networks. Gheewala’s words came back to her—the implication that Renna’s changing implant could help her communicate with someone on the other side of the galaxy.

She pressed her back against the chair, trying to get as far away from Samil as possible as the doctor approached. “What are you going to do?”

“First I’m going to upload the new chip to your implant. If you survive, we’ll go from there.” She moved behind Renna and pressed a cool finger to the port at the back of Renna’s neck.

“This may hurt a bit,” she warned. Then she jacked in the microchip connector.

Colors and numbers blazed across Renna’s vision in a wash of hazy red pain. It seared her eyes and shot through her brain like a thousand zaps of lightning. Something clicked, and she felt the program start to run through her implant, spinning and whirring in her mind like clockwork. A dark fog grew at the edges of her vision. As the last of the code inserted itself, Renna moaned and slumped back in her chair. She couldn’t have moved a muscle if she’d tried.

Samil smiled. “You’re still alive. That’s a good sign.” She pressed a finger to her own communicator. “I need someone to take our guest to the recovery room while I prep for phase two.”

Renna tried to open her mouth, to ask what phase two was, but nothing obeyed. Everything was so heavy, her head felt like a boulder on her neck. She lolled back against the back of her chair and let her eyes drift closed. Samil’s wicked face was the last thing she saw before the darkness consumed her.

“Wake up, Renna.” Dr. Samil’s hand squeezed Renna’s shoulder, and for a split second, she thought she was back at MYTH HQ, with the good doctor trying to save her.

Then she remembered. Everything.

Acid burned the back of her throat and her head pounded like she’d had way too much to Draven ice wine, but she forced herself to focus as she searched the space. It was some sort of recovery room, with a hard bed, a wall of monitors, and a long, metal table pushed against the wall.

Samil’s silver med-drone floated behind her head, ready to help if the doctor needed it. “Time to see if the chip worked.” Samil tapped something into her tablet, and the holovid on the wall flickered to life. “Excellent. Looks like you’re back online. Now all I need to do is upload the software.”

“Where’s Viktis?” Renna croaked. She knew Samil wouldn’t tell her, but she had to ask anyway.

“He won’t be bothering us. I promise.”

Renna struggled to sit up, but she could barely move. “What the hell did you do to me?”

“Like I told you, I’ve upgraded your implant with a new communications system. Now we get to see how well it worked.” She tapped at her tablet again. “There. Program uploaded. How does it feel?”

Didn’t feel like anything, if Renna was honest, but it wouldn’t do to let Samil know that. Renna glared. “How the hell do you think it feels? You violated my brain. It hurts like a bitch.”

“I can’t get over how hard your body is fighting this. It’s astonishing.” Samil shook her head and glanced up at the holoscreen. “I wish I had more time to study you before our final phase.”

The ominous words made the skin on Renna’s arms turn to goose flesh. What exactly did the woman plan to do with her?

“Perfect. We’re into the system. You are amazing, Renna.” Samil smiled up at the holoscreens, and Renna followed her gaze. The screen showed a long, empty hallway, but Samil pressed a button and the image separated into four different panes, each showing a different part of some facility, like a security monitor.

Another press and the cameras zoomed out to show the facade of four different buildings.

The pounding in Renna’s head had turned into a high-pitched vibration that made her teeth ache. She clenched her jaw against the pain. “What exactly are we looking at?”

“MYTH headquarters on four different worlds. Including the main headquarters on Titus Beta where you were held. I used the new microchip and your implant’s special attributes to jack into their security system.”

Renna fought the urge to touch the port in the back of her neck. “How the hell did you do that? Dallas said they locked you out.”

Samil preened. “Luckily I already connected you to the neural network installed in their facilities. It was easy, especially since you thought it was just another test. Sorry it hurt so much.”

The memory shot through her with a jolt. The metal machine she’d used to scan Renna’s eyes had been the first step of Samil’s plan. Gods, she’d been so stupid to think she’d ever been a step ahead of this woman.

“Now with this new comm chip,” Samil continued, “they won’t know we’re in their system until it’s too late.”

“Too late for what?” Renna asked. She glanced down at her legs. She was unbound, but her body wouldn’t fucking move. What the hell had Samil done to her?

“This.” Samil typed in a command to her tablet, and a split second later, Renna hissed as a jolt of pain shot through her. Fire sped through her nerves and into her fingers and toes in an angry rush.

“I’ve just uploaded a virus. Using your implant’s connection, it should propagate into the MYTH systems in a few minutes and take down all of their defenses and networks. Then I can pick off each facility at my leisure.”

Renna’s breath caught in her throat. Finn and Jayla were returning to HQ. They’d be there if Samil struck. She had to do something to stop her.

“Let me guess. You have a platoon of hybrids ready to take down each facility?” she asked sarcastically as her brain spun, searching for a way out.

Samil leaned back and crossed her arms. “I don’t need a platoon. I only need one mole inside each command center. And with the virus rampant, MYTH will be blind, unable to communicate with each other. It’s the best sort of divide-and-conquer. All I’ll have to do is sweep up the pieces when the rest of the universe realizes what MYTH has become.”

The images on the holoscreens cycled through different parts of each facility, showing MYTH men and women at their posts or rooms full of servers. There was even footage of the front gate of one of the buildings, with two laser cannons at the ready.

Renna’s skin went clammy. Thousands of people would die if Samil went through with this. “These people are smart,” she protested. “They’ll find a way to stop you and fight back. And when they come for you, I’m going to be leading the charge.”

Dr. Samil chuckled. “You won’t be going anywhere, my little dove. That virus should also destroy any last resistance between your neural system and the implant. You’ll be mine to command in a matter of hours. My ultimate secret weapon.”

Renna stared at the woman. She’d expected to feel horror or fear before she turned into a hybrid, but right now she was fucking furious. Her fingers itched to curl around Samil’s neck, but she needed to focus on figuring out a way to stop Samil or warn MYTH. Not exactly an easy feat when she wasn’t able to move.

But maybe there was another way. Her implant had been behaving lately; maybe she could use it one last time.

Renna let her eyes drift closed.

“Don’t you want to watch, dear?” Samil asked. “I think MYTH is about to find out they’re no longer the ones in charge.”

She shook her head. “I’d rather stab my eyes out with a needle.”

“Even if your former lover is on the screen?”

Renna’s eyes flew open, despite herself. In one of the panes, Finn and Dallas strode through a hangar. Perhaps the
Athena
had landed or was getting ready to leave again. Maybe they’d be able to escape in time.

She studied his tired face as Finn gestured angrily at something Dallas said and the older man shook his head. Dark shadows ringed Finn’s eyes. Even though it had been only less than twenty-four hours since she’d fled from him, he looked like he hadn’t slept in days.

“Perfect. Two of my favorite people.” Samil pressed a button on her tablet, and a moment later, both men stopped dead in their tracks. Finn’s head snapped back and forth as he searched for something.

“That will be the defense warning sirens. The breach is irreparable. I used your implant to take down their shields and render the security systems useless. You, dove, are the best secret weapon in the galaxy. Using you, I can control almost any communication system. Anywhere.”

Horror rushed through Renna, making her stomach swoop as though she was jumping to light speed. She couldn’t let this woman destroy everything. There had to be a way to stop her.

Renna exhaled as she reached out with her implant to the
Athena
. She needed to feel that connection with the ship, to become one with it again. Maybe she could warn them. They could strike Samil’s facility before she hurt anyone else.

Slowly, she felt herself slide into the ship’s systems. This time was even easier than before. The footsteps of the crew as they rushed through the ship to their stations vibrated through her. Another deep breath and she went deeper, into the Peron fusion engine and the network that ran through the ship.

Through both of them.

Across the room, Samil chuckled at something on the holoscreen, but Renna concentrated on her connection, on passing her thoughts and feelings to the
Athena
. She needed to send the ship coordinates to this place. Finn would be able to stop Samil, even if Renna couldn’t.

She tried to enter the nav systems so she could input the data, but around her, the
Athena
suddenly let out a shrill alarm. The ship threw up a firewall, resisting as Renna tried to take control.

The
Athena
thought she was under attack.

Renna backed out, heart pounding. It had to be the virus inside her making the
Athena
freak out. Unfortunately, she didn’t have time to be subtle about it or figure out a way get around the firewall. She’d have to crash through it and hope for the best.

She pushed against the firewall with her mind, using every piece of tech in her implant to bring it down. With a snap, the wall broke and her connection slotted into place. She had control of the ship.