Nebula's Music (7 page)

Nebula stood on her tiptoes and pushed on the metal door slightly. The door groaned but didn’t move. “Yes.” She turned around to face him, fully confident.

After testing their confines, she took note of the others hiding in the corners of the cell. There was a young boy around fifteen years old, leaning against the back of the cell. He peered at her through his floppy hair, which drooped over a freckled nose. Next to him sat an older woman wrapped in shawls.

“No way.” The boy crossed his arms. “I’ve been trying for days now and the hinges won’t even budge.”

“Eldin.” The woman pulled his shoulder back. “Don’t antagonize them. We don’t know who they are.”

“It’s fine, Ma. What are they going to do, kill us? We’re already as well as dead.”

“That’s enough!” The woman looked at Nebula and wrinkled her nose. “My apologies for my son. His anxiety is getting to him.”

“No worries, ma’am.” Radian brushed the comment off like a stray hair on his shoulder. “We’re all under stress right now.”

Nebula popped the lock on her handcuffs with a jerk of her wrists. The shackles slid to the hay-strewn floor and the boy stared in awe. “Whoa, how’d you do that?”

“Come here.” Nebula held out her hand and he took a few slow steps forward, eyeing her with suspicion as he stretched out his arm. She could see the metal digging red welts into his wrists. With a single click, his constraints fell to the ground with a clank. Nebula turned to the older woman. “Please, ma’am, let me undo yours.”

She stood and walked toward Nebula, staring into her unblinking eyes. Nebula had seen that particular expression of wonder and restraint before. She knew the woman recognized her kind. Although Nebula appeared human, she could never hide she was an android from another human being.

“Thank you,” the woman replied. Nebula was surprised she didn’t mention she was a cyborg. She rubbed her wrists and offered her name. “Illena.”

Nebula took her hand. “Nebula. And this is Radian.”

Illena looked at Radian but was hesitant to offer her hand. Nebula had to remind herself he was still wearing his punk rebel clothes and dyed hair. “Nice to meet—”

“Hey, you’re a robot.” The boy gawked at her and then at the broken cuffs. “A real robot.” He went over and poked her arm.

Nebula pulled away, a pang of hurt piercing her stoic composure. She felt inferior, as if she were a mere gadget or toy.

“Eldin,” Illena scolded. “You can’t just walk up and touch a stranger.”

“But she’s not a person, Ma. She’s an android, a machine made from the dead.” Eldin regarded Nebula in awe.

Nebula glanced at Radian but his eyes wandered away, as if he were guilty of making her the monster this boy made her out to be. She wanted to melt over to him and tell him she forgave him for always seeing Mirilee, for cursing her, for sending her away, for everything. But she didn’t move. The moment came and went, and she stood motionless.

Eldin interrupted the silence. “If you’re some all-powerful robot, then why don’t you break down the door right now? Let us all out so we can steal a scout ship?”

“Because we are not trying to get away, not yet.” Nebula’s tone had an edge to it. She was going to have to control this boy’s raging emotions or he would get all of them in trouble. “We plan to travel to Gryphod and release a certain prisoner held hostage there. When the time is right, when the ship has landed, we run.”

Eldin stared at Nebula with a smile plastered on his face. “Rescue mission, huh?”

Radian nodded. “That’s right.”

Nebula threw Illena’s cuffs on the ground, stirring up dust. “You can help us or not, your choice.”

Eldin looked back at his mother before offering his hand. “Count me in.”

Canyon’s Rim

Nebula longed for her music. Her fingers twitched with the urge to touch the keys of her Steinway, still back on the abandoned flight ship, drifting to nowhere fast in space. Now she felt the melody flow through her as more than a series of codes and craved its swell and its release. Maybe the music could help her understand the feelings she harbored for Radian, emotions threatening the nature of who and what she was.

Radian propped himself up with his back against the cell wall, eyes closed as if he were asleep. Nebula could tell by his breathing he was only resting and could spring into action at any moment. Eldin and Illena lay beyond him, their huddled forms rising and falling in deep slumber.

“Don’t you ever sleep?” Radian’s whisper surprised her. She hadn’t noticed him open his eyes. She hoped he didn’t sense her staring moments ago.

Nebula was embarrassed to have to justify her nature. “No, it is not necessary for my survival.”

“Don’t you ever crave an escape?”

Nebula leaned forward with intensity in her eyes. “Every day.”

She could see her honesty surprised him because his eyebrows rose and he straightened, adjusting his position. “What is it you want to escape from? You have a great position, a fulfilling career.”

Nebula titled her head, assessing how much to tell him. Despite the caution lurking in her logical mind, her words flowed freely. “The black void inside me. It throbs with a hunger I cannot satiate.”

Radian shook his head. “That’s awful. Is there anything that quells the pain?”

Her face went blank as if she put herself on pause. How could she tell him he was the remedy? It would sound desperate and irrational. Besides, any pull of emotion would complicate their mission and possibly jeopardize their success.

“It does not matter. The solution is impossible, unattainable by any means.”

Radian narrowed his eyes. “Nonsense. There must be some way for you to find happiness.”

“Not all of us have that option.”

The ship shifted underneath them. The chains hanging from the ceiling moved from a perpendicular angle with the floor to a sixty-degree slant. Nebula felt her circuits speed faster, her defensive programming kicking in. “The ship is landing.”

Radian rose and shook Eldin and Illena. “Put your shackles on quickly, before they come to get us.”

Eldin rubbed his eyes, groggy. “I’m not putting those things back on again.”

Nebula had already collected his and was by his side. “You have to. They cannot know we are free.”

“Come now,” Radian encouraged him. “You said you want to help. Besides, you won’t get anywhere if they see you’ve already escaped their handcuffs.”

“All right.” Eldin held out his hands. “But don’t make them so tight.”

“I will make them only as tight as you can wiggle your hands out when it is time.” Nebula adjusted the metal restraints.

Meanwhile, Radian slipped Illena’s cuffs on as well. Nebula noticed how gentle his fingers were as they re-clasped the metal around Illena’s slender wrists. His punk appearance was all show. There was a gentleman hiding underneath.

“Who’s gonna do your cuffs?” Eldin wriggled his hands to see how far he could bring them down before the cuffs fell off.

Nebula turned her head back. “I can do them myself.” She secured the restraints with a click of the metal and turned to help Radian. When she reached out for his hands, he surprised her, taking her hands into his. She almost dropped the cuffs back on the ground.

“We’ll find her, don’t worry.” He rubbed the palms of her hands with his thumbs.

Nebula’s body temperature rose by a degree. She could feel her cheeks go red. “I appreciate your reassurance, but we do not even know if she is still alive.”

“I know she is. I can feel it.”

Nebula took a step back. Was he referring to empathic abilities or just a hunch? She’d heard of some humans having a degree of paranormal powers, but never to the extent of Trilithians, like Venus. Although Venus failed to read Nebula’s burgeoning emotions, she was considered by the UPA to be a true empath. If Radian did have these abilities, did he sense her feelings as well?

A loud thud from down the hall made everyone in the cell jerk. The main door to the prison chambers opened. They could hear the taloned feet of the Gryphonites scraping the metal floor as they marched toward the cells. Nebula surveyed her team. Radian looked determined, giving her a brief nod, and Illena looked up at Nebula in resignation. Eldin was the only one holding a glimmer of fear in his eyes.

Nebula smiled and saluted the boy with the formal UPA hand wave. She tried to be encouraging. “Come on, soldier. Let us go.”

The metal door unhitched and swung open. Two Gryphonites stepped in, holding a long chain. They attached each set of cuffs to a link in the chain and pulled them forward. Nebula stood in the lead, followed by Eldin, Illena and Radian. She’d planned it well. The weakest links were in the middle, and in her heart, she knew Radian always had her back.

They emerged from the darkness onto a drop chute. A blue sky and a simmering sun blinded everyone except Nebula, who had inner shade protection underneath her lids. She’d heard the Gryphonite home world was a lot like the Grand Canyon back on Earth, the plateaus and canyons covering ninety percent of the land mass. She’d never seen either in person, and one look at the landscape left her swooning.

Cliffs layered in the colors of burnt red and blazing orange dropped thousands of feet into bottomless crevices. A sheer wind molded curves into the rock, blowing so hard she felt it rip through her UPA uniform to penetrate the pores in her skin. The starkness and extreme contours of the land made her dizzy, thrilling her sensory inputs with loads of new information.

Nebula saw Gryphonites soaring through the air, reaching each plateau with no need for bridges or ladders. It was the ideal environment for an air-bound species, one in which they would thrive at the handicap of every land-ridden mammal.

The platform dropped underneath their feet. Eldin screamed and Illena clutched her son to her chest. Radian put a hand on Nebula’s shoulder as if to lend her strength and down they went, reaching a lower plateau in seconds.

When the door opened, Nebula began her calculations. There were only three Gryphonites with them, and she believed she could take them all on. She’d been studying their bodies and analyzing any points of compositional weakness in their muscles and bone structure. Although wide, their wings were light and brittle, and she suspected she could break a few bones here and there if she had the chance. The probability of a diversion long enough to allow a getaway was high—the terrain made for easy hiding and there were enough factors of surprise on their side. All she needed was an alternate escape route.

The Gryphonites yanked the long chain and they teetered near the canyon rim. At first Nebula thought they were going to push them all to an untimely death and braced herself to fight, but then she saw the narrow staircase carved in the rock, descending to the lower ground levels of the colony.

Radian caught her eye and blinked a question. Nebula guessed he was asking if they should make a move. She tilted her head and shook it slowly three times. Not now. She put a hand over Eldin’s quivering fingers and tapped gently. Soon. They followed the lead Gryphonite down the steep incline.

Halfway to the ground, Illena slipped and the chain pulled taut. Nebula gripped the chain and pulled against her weight as Illena flailed on the edge of the rim. She looked over and saw Radian yank on the chain. Meanwhile, Eldin cried out and held his mother up as best he could with her robes. Although the cuffs were meant to hold them in place, Nebula knew Illena’s were loose and she could slip through any moment. If she pulled any harder, the Gryphonites would suspect she was more than an average human and their plan to escape would be jeopardized. But her programming to preserve all human life overrode all other concerns.

Before she could react in a definitive way, the Gryphonite in the back took flight, its wings spread. It swooped once in the air and lifted Illena, placing her back in line.

“Thank the gods!” Eldin hugged his mother.

Nebula heard Radian let out a sigh of relief. The Gryphonite separated the mother from the son with a jerk and motioned for all of them to keep going. Eldin had tears in his eyes. He looked like he would shed his cuffs right there and fight.

Nebula gave him a stern look to keep him in check. “Come on, solider, I need you to play along.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he whispered through gritted teeth.

As they continued, Nebula computed the rescue venture. The Gryphonites did not want any of them to die—they were too valuable as slaves. That would mean the Gryphonites would be reluctant to use the lasers in their side holsters.

The stairway ended in a series of crevices leading like open tunnels throughout the colony. There were so many options, an escape might be feasible. Nebula counted the Gryphonites flying in the air and the time it would take for them to descend. If she waited any longer, chances were they would move ever closer to the horde in the center of the establishment. Now might be the optimum time.

Nebula shot a look at Radian, who was watching her like a lion ready to pounce. She brought her chin down and blinked twice, giving him the answer he’d been waiting for.

Before anyone could react, Nebula sprang into action. She jumped on the back of the lead Gryphonite, wrapping her legs around its torso. In one motion, she grabbed the wing and bent it at an unnatural angle. To her satisfaction, the bones gave way and snapped, loose feathers falling to the ground. The Gryphonite let out a high-pitched shriek as Nebula leaped off and pushed it into the chasm below.

She turned to see the other two Gryphonites coming at her. Radian ran to help but she yelled, “Stay back! Get Eldin and Illena to safety. I will catch up with you later.”

The Gryphonites closed in. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Eldin and Illena slipping through their handcuffs and disappearing down the farthest tunnel.

Radian stopped in mid-step and looked back. “Nebula, I can’t leave you here!”

“You must protect Eldin and Illena.” She shifted from foot to foot, preparing for battle. “I will be okay. Go!”

She watched as he stood in indecision, shaking his head. Eldin was a surprisingly good listener and followed Nebula’s direction, reemerging from the tunnel to pull Radian behind the corner with him. Soon her friends were obscured by the feathered bodies coming at her.