The Exiled Earthborn by Paul Tassi Page B

laced with a series of angular tattoos that resembled circuitry. Next to him was a pale, lean woman whose dark red hair had been roughly chopped short around her ears. Her blue-green eyes pierced Lucas with a glare that made him uncomfortable, but he was too preoccupied to be intimidated; Asha consumed his every thought.
    They’d heard nothing from Hex Tulwar or the Fourth Order since the initial video message other than a brief transmission with instructions for delivery of a ransom payment that would never come. Rather, Alpha had used the chemical trace on Asha to reveal she was being held in a fortress buried deep inside the cliffs of Rhylos, a dusty continent tens of thousands of miles removed from the lush greenery of Elyria. Tannon had told him the nation had been in open rebellion for years, but civilian deaths as a result of SDI retaliation strikes had only strengthened the revolutionaries’ cause, and nearby regions had begun to rally to Tulwar and his Order. The only thing they knew for sure about this hidden installation was that Asha was still alive inside of it, and that was all that mattered. Lucas’s thoughts were interrupted by a gruff voice in front of him. The man’s.
    “Did you truly kill Commander Kurotos on this ship, Earthborn?”
    Kurotos. It took Lucas a second. Omicron.
    “Yes, on the bridge.”
    “How,” the man pressed. It wasn’t really a question, only a statement of disbelief. A silver plate on his shirt read “Silo.”
    “I had help,” Lucas said. “My … friends. We all nearly died trying, but his arrogance allowed us the upper hand.”
    “Impossible,” the woman said, finally speaking. Her tag read “Kiati.” Lucas didn’t know if these were first or last names, or merely coded identifiers. The fatigues he had received and changed into were unlabeled. Presumably everybody already knew who he was. Kiati continued.
    “You may be from this planet, Earth, but the stories they’re telling about you? No one could survive that. Especially a fight with a Shadow.”
    “Maston did,” Silo said, but Kiati shot him an angry glance and he said no more.
    “He fought a Shadow?” Lucas asked, incredulous.
    “He killed a Shadow. But it is not our place to reveal details of the Commander’s history. Ask him yourself,” Kiati said, still glaring at Silo.
    Lucas leaned back against the wall.
    “We’re not exactly on the best terms,” he said, rubbing his bruised jaw where Maston had struck him earlier.
    “I heard he saved your life at the palace,” Silo said, scratching at his bandage.
    “That may be true.”
    “And that Corinthia Vale died in front of you.”
    Lucas sighed. Even if it was unwarranted, guilt did plague him. The blast was something unknowable, but the party in his honor? It was the perfect target for an attack with so many important guests in attendance there.
    “She was gone when I reached her, there was nothing to be done.”
    He paused to form a question of his own he’d been meaning to get answered.
    “Were she and Maston … involved? He seems pretty distraught over her death.”
    “We all mourn the loss of the High Chancellor’s daughter,” Kiati said with a stern face, but Silo had locked eyes with him and was silently nodding.
    It was true then. He felt a touch more sympathy for Maston, and recognized his own fury would reach similar levels if it had been Asha murdered instead.
    There was a ping from his chest, and he tapped his badge, where a holographic indicator tumbled out in front of him. The message that hung there told him to report to the communications center.
    “Either of you know where comms is?” he asked hopefully as he rose from his seat.
    Kiati simply stared at him, while Silo jerked his head to the right.
    “Thanks.”
    Lucas was immediately lost after going down the first hallway. He’d only been on the ship once, and that was during a heated battle on the bridge that left him half dead. But as he continued, passing troops