“Yes, that would be a marvelous outcome,” Dr. Roop agreed, “but wishing it does not make it plausible. I sent you young beings to that prison colony because I believed that, with your skills and the intelligence I’d provided, you would be able to rescue the members of the selection committee with no loss of life. If I had not believed it, I would not have permitted you to go. This, however, is another matter. You would need military personnel skilled in covert infiltration.”
“We can’t just leave them,” I said, “and no one else is going to launch a rescue.”
Dr. Roop rubbed his horns. “That is a valid point. I am not used to having this sort of authority. I wish I could pass this one to an appropriate committee.”
“What about the leaders of . . . ,” I began, and then I stopped myself. “There’s no rebel base on an ice planet, is there?”
“An ice planet?” Dr. Roop asked. “Why would anyone put a rebel base on an ice planet?”
“How would such a place have a breathable atmosphere?” Charles asked.
“Sorry,” Smelly said. “My bad. I thought it would be fun to see just how gullible you were.”
I ignored this. “What if we had access to incredible technology? Can we reimplant our standard Confederation skill trees from here?”
“Yes,” Dr. Roop said thoughtfully. “That could be done from here, though I’m not sure I’d advise it. The technology, and the software I’ve found here, has suffered from some degradation.”
“We’ll worry about glitches later,” I said. “We get both the standard skill tree and the military one. We get Tamret to hack them so they’re both maxed out. Then we’re all basically unstoppable. We can go anywhere and do anything.”
Dr. Roop’s eyes widened. “It could be done, but the possibility of errors from the—”
“Man,” interrupted Smelly, “you guys are going to be sick. I think this is a great idea.”
“I forbid it,” Villainic said. “I do not sanction this level of risk. It is dangerous for you as individuals, and it is reckless for Rarels to involve ourselves in matters that don’t concern us. You may not participate, Tamret.”
Dr. Roop gestured toward Villainic with a long, spindly thumb. “Who is he, again?”
I turned to Villainic. “This isn’t the time. We have to do this, and we can’t do it without Tamret. She wants to help. Don’t get in our way.”
“You don’t understand,” Villainic said. “I would have to go, and I do not wish to. I am not like you. I am not made for these adventures.”
“Then stay behind,” I said. This was pretty much the best solution in the history of solutions. Going off, adventuring with Tamret, both of us invincible and invulnerable. Sign me up. “You don’t have to go. Just don’t use Tamret’s vow to hold her back.”
“I can’t let her go off on her own,” Villainic said, casting his eyes down. “I would be the object of scorn and mockery.”
“I am asking you to let her go,” I said, my voice soft. “As a favor. It’s the right thing to do.” It cost me, but I made the word come out of my mouth. “Brother.”
He looked up at me, but I already knew what he was going to say before he said it. For Villainic, tradition and propriety were everything. They were beyond good and bad, more important than justice or friendship or loyalty. “No,” he said.
We all stood there, silent. For a moment an opportunity had appeared. Nayana and Urch were alive, and we would be able to help them. We would turn the tide of galactic injustice and we would all be together again. Tamret and I would be together again. But Villainic’s words had come down like a prison door.
Tamret took a step toward him. “I have a preceding obligation,” she announced.
“What obligation?” Villainic demanded.
“With . . . ,” Tamret began. She made a face, like she’d tasted something disgusting. “Ugh. Okay. Fine. I made her my sister, okay? I did it so she would stop complaining, but I still did it. I made a promise to look after her, to get her out of trouble. Nayana’s life is in danger now, and I have to go help her.”
“She is in prison, not in danger,” Villainic insisted.
“Once they realize she is of no value,” Dr. Roop volunteered, “they will not keep her alive.”
“There,” Tamret said, pointing at Dr. Roop. “See. Nayana is in danger and she’s my . . .” I could see this was hard for her, but she did it. “She’s family. She’s my annoying, shrill, whiny, self-impressed family. She’s like the worst family anyone ever had, but even so. I am obligated to help her, and that obligation takes precedence over my oath to you.”
“Yes!” I said, making a fist pump, which was maybe bad sportsmanship, but still. The wins were pretty few and far between these days.
“No,” Villainic insisted.
“I don’t need your permission,” she told him. “My own honor is satisfied. I’m doing this.”
“You will embarrass me!” he shouted.
“No,” she told him, “I will free you. Villainic, you saved me, and I will always be grateful, but I’m not right for you. You don’t want me around. I’m a troublemaker. That’s who I am at my core. You want stability, but I’m chaos.”
“She’s right, mate,” Steve said. “She wants to do the right thing, and you can’t stop her, so you might as well not stand in her way.”
“They told me it was a mistake to help you,” Villainic said, his voice hard.
“If you hadn’t, I would probably be dead by now,” she said. “Do you think it was a mistake?”
Villainic shook his head. “No, Tamret. I just wish . . . I wish we were both a little different. Go. Do what you have to. Help your friends. Save the galaxy if that is more important to you than protecting my reputation.”
Tamret hugged him. It was a long hug, full of affection, and then she kissed him on the cheek. I kept checking myself for jealousy, but it wasn’t there. Villainic had kept her alive when I couldn’t be there for her. Mostly I felt gratitude.
Tamret turned to Dr. Roop. “Let’s go to work. I’ll get everyone set up with functioning skill trees. We’ll worry about hacking them later.”
I walked over to Villainic. His eyes glistened with tears, and he looked about as defeated as I’d ever seen anyone. He’d just lost Tamret. I couldn’t guess why he wanted her in his life—they couldn’t have been more different—but I guess she had that effect on some beings. She had it on me.
I shook his hand. He seemed perplexed, but that was okay. It was for me, not for him.
“What is this?” he asked.
“This is my ritual,” I said. “You made me your brother before. Now I make you mine.”
He stared at me. “You’ll take care of her?”
“I promise,” I said. “This time nothing will happen to her.”
Dr. Roop and Tamret were hovering over a console. Smelly’s new body walked over to them and shoved them aside, not exactly gently. “Out of the way, meat bags. You’ll be at this for minutes if I don’t step in and hurry things up. Let me get you all prepared with upgraded skill trees.”
“I still urge you to think carefully about this,” Dr. Roop said. “The nanite software here is very old and somewhat idiosyncratic. I can’t recommend rushing into this.”
“Are you saying the nanites here will hurt us?”
“Probably not,” said Dr. Roop thoughtfully. “But they may not work the same way as those you are used to.”
“It’s this or nothing,” Smelly told him, “so don’t be a pessimist.”
I nodded at Smelly. If we could get something like maxed-out skill trees, that was good enough for me.
Alice, I now realized, was standing next to me. “What happens to me now?”
“What do you mean?” I asked. “Don’t you want to help us? Go on a crazy rescue mission with, like, zero chance of getting hurt and a hundred-percent chance of crazy heroic mayhem?”
“She won’t want me around,” Alice said, looking at Tamret.
 
; “She’ll be fine.”
Tamret turned away from the console where Smelly and Dr. Roop were working and leveled her gaze at Alice. “Stand somewhere else,” she said.
Alice gave me an I told you glance.
About ten minutes later Smelly had a black, cylindrical injector ready for each of us. We pressed our injectors into the backs of our hands. I felt something almost like relief. My fully functional HUD reappeared, and I realized the weight of its absence. I finally felt normal again. While they’d been preparing the injectors, I’d told Alice what to expect, and she was now walking around, grinning and looking unfocused as she played around with her HUD. Villainic, who had refused the injection, stood aside and looked glum.
Meanwhile, I cycled through my menus, making sure everything was operational. I checked my connection to the Confederation network, and it was online. I glanced down at my experience points, and this time there were two rows of numbers: 0/1000 and 0/5000. Obviously, it took more points to earn levels in the military tree, which I guess made sense. Also, Smelly had clearly decoupled my skills from experience points, since I’d been unable to earn them before, but I checked my skill tree to make sure it was maxed out.
It was not.
I looked over at Smelly. “Chill,” it said. “I had to void your skills in order to reinstall the experience-point system. Your furry girlfriend will fix you up.”
“I’m all in favor of being upgraded,” Steve said, “but maybe we should work on an escape plan first. Junup knows we’re here, which means others might be on the way. And who knows how long before Ardov becomes a pain in our bums again. I’d rather leave him and his blokes in my dust than get into a firefight.”
We spent the next three hours outfitting a ship, loading equipment, and uploading all the intelligence available about the prisoners and where they might be held. There were dozens of ships in the bay, and we picked the largest one that could be piloted by only two people. It was much bigger than the shuttles and artifact carriers we were used to—it was more like a space yacht, with separate rooms.
Smelly, meanwhile, picked out another ship for itself. It came over to me and stretched out one of its long, thick arms. It placed a small disc in my hand. “I didn’t play fair,” it said, “but you always had my back, and that means I owe you. That is an entangled quantum signaling device. If you ever find yourself in trouble, you can summon me. The entanglement means I’ll receive the summons before you send it, so I’ll be able to arrive when you need me. You can also set it to remind you about relatives’ birthdays, but I forget how to do that.”
“Are you seriously going to help me when I’m in danger? I’m going to have my finger on that thing pretty much all day, every day.”
“I’m serious. Don’t call me if you need someone to open a jar or something. This is only if you think death is imminent.”
“How many times since you showed up has death been imminent?”
“I’m not going to be your butler. You get to bug me once, so use it wisely. If you can.”
I nodded. “Thanks, I guess.”
“Smell you later,” it said, and then it vanished into one of the ships. A few minutes later I felt a brief rumble as it shot out into space and out of my life, maybe forever. One could only hope.
And then it was our turn. Colonel Rage was still out there, but he could find his own way home. I wasn’t about to put him on board any ship I was traveling on. Villainic mostly seemed confused, but I’d assured him we would give him a ride home, so he zombie walked onto the Former ship. I was thrilled to have the newly enhanced Dr. Roop with us, though. After all his warnings about the unpredictability of the Former tech, he’d taken the injection just like the rest of us. I was looking forward to seeing what the enhanced Dr. Roop would add to the team.
We started up the ship, launched into space, and signaled the Hidden Fortress to neutralize its remaining technology. We had to hope the destruct sequence worked, because we had no way of confirming, being in space and all.
• • •
We were heading for Earth. We had to go somewhere, and that was the place most of us called home. My plan was to get supplies, take a shower, and let everyone see their families. If any of the humans wanted out, they needed to have the chance to take it. It was one thing to agree to this kind of thing when far away; it was another to be sure about what you were doing while standing on your own soil.
I knew Steve was not going to let Nayana and the others remain in a Phandic prison, not while we could do something about it, even if we had no idea what that something was. After Earth, I figured we would swing by Rarel and let Villainic off. And then it would be time to figure out how we were going to rescue the prisoners.
Two days after our departure, we came out of tunnel near Saturn and approached Earth. As we moved in closer, I received a warning chime from my tactical console.
“There are ships ahead, orbiting Earth,” Tamret told me.
That wasn’t good. Ships had no business anywhere near my planet. Had Junup sent a welcome committee to recapture us? If so, we were going to have to get out of there fast.
“Let’s see them,” I said, already laying in a course for us to tunnel out ASAP.
She called up an image. There were six of them, orbiting the Earth. Huge, black, menacing flying saucers.
Immediately I tapped into the stream of Earth’s communication satellites. I called up live footage from the various American cable news shows. There were Phands everywhere. Ships landing in national capitals all over the world. Groups of armed Phands were entering the White House. The text on one of the news channels announced: EARTH PRIVILEGED TO JOIN THE PHANDIC EMPIRE OF PROSPERITY.
“I think we need to get out of here,” Charles said softly, “before someone notices us.”
“Yeah,” I said, too stunned to move. Steve shoved me out of the way and took over my console.
“I’m just tunneling to the nearest star on our charts,” he said. “It will only take us a few minutes to get there, and then we can sort out our next move.”
I watched the consoles, looking for any sign that the Phands had noticed us, but they hadn’t. I felt the weird distortion of entering tunnel, and I knew we were safe.
“Junup must be behind this,” Dr. Roop said. “The Phands could only have launched an invasion if the Confederation had agreed to look the other way. This is Junup’s way of getting back at you, Zeke.”
I nodded. It was true. All of this had happened because of me. No, it had happened because of Junup; I wasn’t going to take the blame for what he’d done. For all his flaws, Colonel Rage had been right when he’d said that we can only accept blame for our actions, not the consequences. I wasn’t responsible for what Junup had done, but I was ready to stand up to him.
“What are we going to do?” Alice asked. She sounded shocked. I know that was how I felt.
I didn’t say anything for what felt like a long time. My family was down there. Almost everything I knew was down there. When I’d been on Earth, all I’d wanted to do was leave, but now it felt like cowardice to run away.
But I had no choice. There had to be something that we could do, and we were going to find it. We were going to stop the Phands. Somehow.
“Same plan,” I said at last, trying to sound confident. “We get the prisoners. We get Junup out of power, and with Ghli Wixxix back in office, we get the Phands off Earth.”
“But what do we do now?” Mi Sun demanded. “There’s nowhere we can go. We’re outlaws from the Confederation.”
“Not outlaws,” I said. “Rebels. Dr. Roop, where can we establish our secret rebel base?”
“I may have an idea,” Dr. Roop said. “I was doing a great deal of research while in hiding, and I discovered a planet within the Hidden Fortress’s database. It looks like there may be a cache of artifacts there, things no one knows about—items that might make all the difference in our conflict. I was planning on meeting Captain Qwlessl there once I left Confederation
Central.”
“All right,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “Let’s meet up with her. Then we will all sit down and figure out how to fix all of this.”
I sat back in my seat and closed my eyes. I felt Tamret take my hand, and it was some comfort knowing she was there, finally herself again, ready to help. No matter how hard I tried to do the right thing, I kept getting slapped down, beaten, and tricked by the bad guys, who were meaner, more vindictive, and probably smarter than I was. That was about to end. This time I was going to stop them for good.
It sounded like a plan, but I didn’t know how I could make it happen. It was just me and a few friends against two mighty civilizations, both of which had made me the most wanted being in the galaxy. Somewhere behind me was the planet on which I’d been born, a planet that had fallen into enemy hands as a consequence of my actions. And somewhere ahead of us was an old ally and a world full of lost artifacts. Maybe I would find the answer there. I had to hope so. If not, everything that mattered would be lost.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
* * *
Many thanks to everyone who helped make this book possible. I owe an enormous debt to all of this book’s early readers for their insights and comments: Liza Curtright, Dwight Downing, Hannah Downing, Sophia Hollander, and Liam Taylor. Special thanks go out to my fellow Candlelighters: Robert Jackson Bennett, Rhodi Hawk, Joe McKinney, and Hank Schwaeble. Once again, I am overwhelmingly grateful to the amazing team at Simon & Schuster, especially my brilliant and insightful editor, David Gale, and the greatest assistant editor in the history of assistant editing, Liz Kossnar. Thanks to Karen Sherman for keeping her eye on the many, many balls in the air. As always, thanks to my agent, Liz Darhansoff. Thanks to the cats, especially the ones who helped and/or hindered me as I wrote this book, and to gravity, for existing—even if no one knows why or how. Finally, and most importantly, thanks to my wife, Claudia Stokes, for everything—but in the context of this book, most especially for talking me down from various bouts of hysteria, melancholia, and the occasion agoraphobia; and to my children, Simon and Eleanor. Oh, and also that unnamed relative we keep chained in the attic: I swear we won’t forget to feed you ever again!