And since I know he’s going to try to sweet-talk me into opening up, I strike first.
“I told you I wasn’t ready to lead the armada when we were on the Hippodrome stage, but you insisted I was. It didn’t matter to you that I didn’t want that role. Then you pushed me again on Centaurion by recruiting an entire army of teens using my name without even asking whether or not I wanted the charge! And on Phaet you claimed I would lead us, but you were totally fine with censoring my reports. You’ve gotten so used to being the puppeteer behind the scenes that you treat me like one of your androids!”
He flinches at my words like they’re projectiles, and before he can defend himself, I say, “I know what I’m doing. And if you really believe all the things you’ve said about me, then you’ll respect my choices.”
I walk through him to leave, and since he’s a hologram, he can’t follow. “Rho—wait!”
But I don’t.
I have no idea how private that conversation was—if he and Ezra haven’t been caught yet, then maybe we weren’t either. But what if Aquarius knows all about Ezra and Gyzer, and he’s just playing along for now? Either way, I’m pretty sure nothing I said could make Aquarius distrustful.
I hope.
When I get to the medical bay, breakfast is brought in for us. Nishi wants to hear all about dinner and everything that’s happened since the Sumber. So I tell her in detail about Pisces, from my reunion with Mom to what went down in the Cathedral, and then I fill her in on the Artistry Pride. I pretend I can’t talk about the Zodai army so I won’t give away their headquarters, even though I already have.
Whenever Nishi asks about the deal I struck with the master to be here or begins to reference an escape plan for breaking out, I change the subject to remind her we’re being watched. We visit my quarters in the afternoon, where there’s a matching purple suit in Nishi’s size waiting for her. We take turns showering, and right as we’re flipping on the wallscreen to check the news, there’s a knock on my door.
“Nishi’s transport is here,” announces Blaze.
“What—what’s going on?” Nishi turns to me in alarm.
“We’re leaving,” I say. It’s half-true.
We follow Blaze downstairs, and I keep up with him so that Nishi can’t try talking to me. We step outdoors onto a hangar deck in the back of the vessel where there are three small black bullet-ships, but only one of them has its engine running.
Aquarius must have spacecraft positioned all over the galaxy if he picked up Gamba this quickly—and they must fly exceedingly fast.
“What’s happening?” Nishi asks me again, and she doesn’t bother keeping her voice down. She knows something’s wrong, and I know I can’t hide it from her anymore.
I pull her in for a hug and whisper all I dare say into her ear. “I can’t go with you yet. Find Hysan. Tell him it’s Dark Matter that will make the sun go dark, not the portal, and that’s why Aquarius is leaving. See if Hysan can disprove it.”
She stares at me in awe as we pull apart, her long, slanted eyes bright with disbelief. She seems ready to cause a scene, but something in my expression shuts down the impulse, and instead she says, “Be careful, Rho. You might not like yourself when this is over.”
They’re the same words I said to her on Aquarius. I nod like I agree, but she doesn’t realize that for me it’s already over.
The only reason I’m still fighting is for her.
Tears fall from Nishi’s eyes, but mine don’t even burn. I’m so numb that it shouldn’t be hard to convince Aquarius I’m ready to embrace his plans. I just have to be like one of those razed buildings Blaze described that’s ready to be designed anew.
I’ll make this up to Nishi and Hysan and the others when I uncover Aquarius’s exact plans for opening the portal. It’s the last thing I’ll do for them before I join my brother.
“Please go, Nish,” I say softly. “I woke up and left you in the Sumber when you asked me to—now I’m begging you to do this for me.”
She stares deeply into my eyes, and I see something there that I haven’t felt in a long time.
Trust.
“Hold on for me the way I held on for you,” she says, and she squeezes my hand before turning to Blaze.
She spares him a dark glare and flashes him an obscene gesture that almost makes me smile, and then she starts walking toward the Marad soldier that just disembarked from the bullet-ship. But before she gets there, another soldier deplanes, struggling with a bound and gagged Gamba.
Nishi freezes in horror.
She turns to me with an unfamiliar expression, one completely different from the way she just looked at me moments ago. Like she’s seeing me clearly for the first time.
“Rho, what did you do?”
I spin and walk away, unable to see that look on Nishi’s face.
“RHO! How could you? You knew I wouldn’t want this—not at this price! How could you?”
She keeps shouting at me, but I move onward, unwilling to hear her screams. She can hate me if she wants, but I got her out—that’s all that matters. Her fate is finally in her own hands.
When I’m back indoors, I know Blaze is following me up the stairs, and after a moment I say, “I’m fine.”
“Would you rather I leave you alone?” he asks.
“Can you take me to Ophiuchus?”
“Aquarius is the only one who sees him.”
I figured as much. I guess that means it’s time to face my other childhood monster.
“Then take me to my mother.”
? ? ?
Mom is in one of the smaller rooms belowdecks, but she has her own private lavatory and wallscreen, so it’s no prison cell. Her eyes look tired and her skin is sallow, but I see no visible bruises.
I was expecting to feel sorry for her—so the anger takes me by surprise. The moment I step across the threshold, I feel like I’ve crossed a barrier that releases some of the darkness that’s been keeping my numbness in place.
My brother died protecting a mother who stopped protecting him ages ago. A mother who lied to us every day of our lives, then abandoned us, and then replaced us with a child she chose to love honestly.
“Rho!” She springs off the bed and throws her arms around me. “Are you okay?”
It feels foreign to be hugged by her, and my arms don’t know what to do, so they stay limp at my sides. After the moment we shared on Pisces, I thought the worst between us was over—only it turns out she wasn’t being completely honest. I wonder if she was ever planning on telling Stanton and me about our sister.
“Why are you here?” she asks, pulling away, her brilliant blue eyes studying my face as she probably analyzes the possibilities.
“Gamba told me Aquarius is going to use Ophiuchus to activate the portal. Is that all you know, or do you have more information?”
She takes a step back.
The shadows under her eyes deepen and her mouth tightens, and she suddenly looks about twenty years older.
“How . . . how do you know Gamba?” Her voice fades to a whisper midsentence.
“Who is she?” I ask, and I’m fleetingly proud of how my voice stays even and my heart keeps quiet.