Chapter 1

The ozone tang of plasma welders burned my nostrils as I leaned against a cargo container in the cavernous rebel hangar, watching crews swarm over the nearly completed third assault ship. A subtle change in air pressure made my ears pop. Somewhere in this labyrinth of a moonbase, massive bay doors were opening. The rebels had done an impressive job carving out this hidden facility below the regular refueling base, complete with electronic shielding that kept the regular Solara Centauri employees and Galactic Unity Alliance agents from detecting energy signatures.

Unfortunately, those same shields prevented Xandia from shifting us directly to the public hangar where we needed to steal a ship to get back to the planet.

Six days had passed since we’d destroyed the starbridge, four of which I’d been awake and hiding in this Unsworn rebel base deep inside Solara Centauri’s moon while the GUA agents stationed on the planet circled in the public base above us like vultures, searching for answers about the starbridge’s destruction, or gathered below on the planet, questioning rebels they could capture, waiting for someone to make a mistake. We’d bought time for the rebellion by cutting off the GUA’s easy access to Centauri via the starbridge, saving the planet from immediate attack by battleship, but we’d also trapped ourselves in Solara Centauri’s space. More particularly, we were trapped inside this hidden base while the Unsworn debated how best to use me to their political advantage.

And somewhere out there was my sister—if she was still alive.

I closed my eyes, reaching for my new synergy ability that had activated at the beginning of our secret assignment from Aeterna’s Aeon Council. Good thing too, because the observation-only assignment had quickly exploded out of control. Thus our current situation. The atomic patterns around the welding crew pulsed with vibrant energy, interlocking webs that shifted in mesmerizing waves. If I could figure out how to properly enhance their efforts, maybe I could help the rebel crew finish their third assault ship in record time. We’d need it when that GUA battleship eventually entered our space—and we all knew they were coming.

I focused on the welder’s energy signature, trying to amplify its efficiency. The tool’s glow intensified, the beam strengthening—too much. The metal began to bubble and warp.

“Watch it!” someone yelled. The welder jerked back as molten metal splattered.

I released my pressure immediately, but not before leaving a fist-sized hole in the hull plating. Slag it. This was exactly why I needed to get off this base before I accidentally helped the GUA by destroying the rebel ships myself.

“Nice work.” Beckett Cadogan appeared beside me, tall and broad-shouldered, his presence sending an unwelcome tingle down my spine. “Though I think they wanted to keep that section intact.”

With him so close, I couldn’t help remembering how more than once his gathered energy had flooded my body like some kind of aphrodisiac—one neither of us had expected. Fortunately, all his energy lately had gone toward healing from his temporary death during our starbridge escapade.

My face heated at his knowing smirk. “I was practicing. Synergy is nothing like my combat ability. There’s no muscle memory, and I know nothing about welding, so it’s like trying to move something while being blindfolded.”

“You’ll figure it out.” He stepped closer, his movements more careful than normal after his massive, fatal energy blast at the starbridge. Thanks to his Aeternai nature, he’d healed from both the energy drain and the subsequent exposure in space. But the memory of how close he—and all of us—had been to permanent death haunted me. I had lost an arm, the one closest to Beckett and his unfettered energy during the blast, and had ended up smothering from my resulting pressure skin failure, but regenerating an arm and healing from exposure was nothing compared to what Beckett had endured when he’d been burned all over his body and then exposed in space.

He grinned. “I think the biggest problem is that you’re going stir-crazy. A combat-gifted Aeternai cooped up in a secret moonbase with no battle or danger to face is a sure way to disaster. You need a good workout.” The dampness of his blond hair hinted that he himself had just come from the small room the Unsworn rebels laughably called a gym—working hard to get back into fighting form.

I rolled my eyes, though I knew it was true. I was fully healed now and aching to get off this moon and on with my quest of finding the sister I’d thought had been murdered with my parents while still in the womb.

“What I need is to get out of here. I have to find my sister.”

“About your sister.”

I stiffened. “What about her?” The Unsworn rebels had finally told me her name, or at least what the GUA called her: Saski Syntris. I couldn’t seem to connect with the name at all. Maybe because her last name should have been Langton like mine.

“There’s something else Kael told me about her before we blew the starbridge. I wanted to tell you before, but . . . well, you know how fast things went.”

I did, but he’d been out of bed a full day now, so I wasn’t going to excuse him. Yet before I could demand answers, boots thundered on the metal walkway above us in the hangar. Larrane Thistledown appeared at the railing, her red braids glowing like copper in the harsh lighting.

“Emergency meeting,” she called to us. “Now.”

My hands clenched. Four days wasn’t long enough to forgive Larrane for revealing my connection with Primara Minna Syntris. Thanks to her, half the Unsworn leadership wanted to parade me around Centauri as some kind of rallying symbol, the lost older daughter of their missing, presumed dead primara. Never mind that we still didn’t know if Minna was my birth mother or my stepmother. With my sister missing, I was all they had.

The briefing room that was the heartbeat of the rebel moonbase was already crowded when we arrived. Kael Dravik’s lean form dominated the head of the table, his dark hair shot through with silver pulled back in its usual knot. A former engineer in Halvrax, he was the face of the Unsworn rebel leadership. Zelaya Orin, leader of the Varnyx Expanse desert rebels, stood at his right, her long black hair in a thick braid and her tanned face grave. Other leaders and top captains of the rebel troops were also present. The members of our own team had gathered at the right side of the table, where CipherX, our hacking expert, hunched over a datascreen, both his electronic eye and his natural one fixed on the display, his black beanie pulled low over his forehead.

“We have a problem,” Kael announced as soon as the door shut. “GUA patrol ships from the planet just entered high orbit. Standard complement would be three vessels, but we’re reading five.”

“You think they’ve detected this base?” Karson asked from his position next to CipherX. My former chaser trainee partner’s voice sent complicated emotions churning through my gut. Things were still unresolved between us and would likely remain so until the GUA danger was resolved—if we survived that long.

“Or maybe they’re searching for their missing starbridge guards,” Karson continued. “I know we deleted the guard ship’s logs, but are we sure there’s no way for the GUA to retrieve them?”

“I’m sure.” Arden Torva’s voice was confident. Our Aeternai technopath wore a neural crown, its metal prongs weaving through her blond hair to touch her skull, allowing her instant access to anything on the HyperNet and more. She didn’t need to look at the datascreen in front of her and CipherX to track information. Though she’d released the control on her nanites that had disguised her as a teen, her slightly upturned nose and wide brown eyes still made her seem innocent and much younger than her twenty-nine years.

“There’s more. This footage was taken last night at the Halvrax spaceport. It’s video only. No audio.” Kael nodded at his top man, who tapped on his armband datascreen. The screen on the wall came to life, showing a stunning blond woman in a power suit talking to some underlings in gray overalls.

Arden gasped. “Chandra!”

I blinked, recognizing Arden’s sister. If Chandra Torva was here, then her father, the famous Captain Habid Torva, already had a presence here in Centauri. She’d have come through before we destroyed the starbridge but after I’d rescued Arden from her, which meant she’d arrived near the time we had. Maybe she’d even come in on the assault ship that had chased us to the planet.

“He always seems to be one step ahead of us,” muttered Beckett as the screen blinked out. A wisp of electricity rolled across his face, and I could feel power gathering in him. I debated siphoning it off, one of the things I’d learned to do with my newest gift, but thought better of it. We might need to fight our way off this moonbase, and in that case, he’d need his power.

“She could be here because the GUA space station is close to being finished,” Arden said, her surprise now masked. “She and my father have invested in it heavily. But if she’d been planning a trip, I think I would have heard about that before Raya helped me, uh—” Her gaze cut to me with a nearly flat smile. “Escape. She must be here looking for me. Or more likely for all of us.”

Still standing, I planted my hands on the table and leaned forward. “We need to move faster. Every day we wait gives them more time to move my sister again—or worse.”

“About that.” Zelaya’s fingers tapped a complex pattern on the table. “Our people intercepted communications suggesting increased activity at a medical facility in Halvrax. Or at least there was activity three days ago.”

“What kind of activity?” My heart raced. After twenty-six years of believing my unborn sister died with our parents, hope felt dangerous.

“Personnel and equipment transfers mostly.” Zelaya’s gaze missed nothing as she studied me. As the leader of the Varnyx Expanse rebels and their only Aeternai, she always seemed to predict emotions and events that involved her people, though I didn’t know what Aeternai ability gave her that talent.

“They’re moving her.” My words tasted bitter. “Again.”

“Which is why we’re going back to Centauri tonight.” Kael’s announcement silenced the room. “It’ll tip our hand, but two of our assault ships are ready. We’ll take over the regular moonbase, capturing any GUA agents and sympathizers before we go. Then we’ll coordinate with ground forces to rally our people in Halvrax. Once we take over the spaceport there—”

“No.” The word came out sharper than I intended. “I’m not going to be your figurehead while my sister needs me.”

“Your sister isn’t the only one who needs you.” Kael’s voice hardened. “The people of Solara Centauri need hope. A symbol. The daughter of their primara, returned—”

“We don’t even know if I’m Minna’s daughter.” I stepped away from the table. “And I won’t play politics while my sister is being held prisoner.”

“Or worse,” Beckett mumbled from the seat next to where I stood.

My gaze snapped to him. “What?”

His bright green eyes burned up at me. “It’s what I was trying to tell you earlier. At the time Kael discovered your sister was alive, he also uncovered records suggesting she’s been subjected to genetic modifications since birth.”

The room spun as white-hot anger coursed through me. The combat Aeternai in me wanted to smash something—or someone. Genetic modification? On my baby sister? I still thought of her as a baby, though she’d be twenty-five now. “Why?”

“We don’t know.” Kael spread his hands. “But the GUA’s interest in both of you suggests—”

“That they figured out my connection with Minna. We know.” Beckett and I had already decided that was why I’d been hired to chase and capture him as a supposed criminal—so Habid Torva, the battleship captain who had killed the Centauri Primarch and effectively conquered the Solara Centauri rebellion twenty-six years ago, could get his hands on both of us.

“Which is exactly why you need our protection.” Zelaya’s tone was gentle but firm. “Let us help you.”

I exchanged glances with my team. “You’re right,” I said, forcing my voice to remain steady. “We should coordinate our efforts. Give us time to prep our gear and—”

An alarm shrieked through the room. CipherX straightened slightly as data streamed across his screen. “Security breach in the public hangar,” he rasped in his husky voice. “Non-regular personnel. Someone’s accessing the database that holds information on all the ships currently docked or waiting for refueling. Arden, can you put the hangar on the screen for us?”

Without speaking or moving, the datascreen on the wall surged back to life, showing us the public hangar. But nothing appeared out of the ordinary. Just workers doing their jobs, none of them particularly interested in any of the docked ships, not even the guard ship my team had our eyes on.

I exchanged a look with both Beckett and Karson, who had abandoned his seat at the table to come stand by me. That guard ship was our way off this moon and our getaway from the Unsworn rebels. It was time to act, and with this breach, the others on our team would have to agree. No more waiting for a better time. I only wished our remaining two team members, a mortal fighter and a combat Aeternai, were here on the moonbase instead of on the planet, where they had stayed behind to help capture the Chomont spaceport. Since our separation, we’d had only limited contact with them through the rebels, and I hoped our pending escape wouldn’t cause problems for them.

“Someone’s there who shouldn’t be,” muttered Kael. “We’d better talk to the base commander and track this down.” He and his men rose from the table.

“Be ready in an hour,” Zelaya said to our team, also standing. “We need to get Raya off-base before whoever is on those GUA ships figures out where we are. She’s too valuable to risk in a firefight.”

As she was also Aeternai, she knew the only way to kill me was to sever all three focus points of mind, heart, and reproductive system. If any two remained connected, I would regenerate. So I could only assume her actual plan was to ensure I didn’t escape during the confrontation with any of the GUA agents on those incoming ships from the planet.

I nodded, forcing a smile I didn’t feel.

Karson nudged me, grinning. “If looks could kill,” he murmured. His hand reached out and captured mine, and I squeezed it back. I’d kissed him when I’d first awakened, and I knew that had sent a message, but I didn’t know if it was the right one. I trusted him, but he’d let me down once. That he was here now said a lot, though, because I’d let him down too.

“Supply room three,” I murmured to my team as we filed out of the briefing room. “Five minutes.”

We split up, taking different routes to avoid suspicion. The Unsworn rebels supposedly considered us allies, especially after our actions with the starbridge, but since I had refused to be their political pawn, they had increased their surveillance at every junction leading to the public moonbase.

I ducked into a side corridor, counting steps until I reached the small storage area. Beckett and Xandia arrived next, followed by Karson, Larrane, and CipherX. Arden slipped in last, her neural crown glowing in the dim light. No one called for a vote or argued for delay, so I knew we were all in.

“They’re watching the main corridors,” she reported, “but I’ve looped the cameras in this section.”

“How long until they realize we’re gone?” Karson asked, leaning against a shelf of spare parts.

“Not long.” I kept my voice low. “Xandia, what’s our closest exit route through the electrical grid?”

Xandia’s blue eyes, with her usual generous layer of makeup, grew distant as she processed the spatial coordinates. Even wearing typical Centaurian clothing over her Aeternai bodysuit, her beauty made her more compelling than even most Aeternai. After only a few heartbeats, she refocused on my face.

“The electronic grid extends around the whole hidden rebel section. The closest way is the exit near the cafeteria, and I can shift us directly to the guard ship once we’re through. But there’s no way we’ll get there without someone noticing, even if Arden and CipherX looped all their feeds. We’d have to fight, and we’d hurt or even kill a few rebels.”

Which none of us wanted, of course. After all, we’d come here to help the Unsworn gain their freedom from the Galactic Unity Alliance.

“What about irregular exits?” I asked. “A closet or supply room.” The best and closest wasn’t always the most obvious.

“Service tunnel Delta-7,” CipherX suggested, tapping on his armband datascreen. “Maintenance access to the public base. Limited surveillance.”

“And limited security,” Beckett added. “Most of the rebels are guarding the doors or focused on prep for tonight’s flight to the planet.”

I nodded. “Arden, can you loop the cameras in that service tunnel?”

“Already done. And inside the public hangar bay as well.” The blinking in her crown slowed. “But something’s odd about the guard ship’s systems. Something different since CipherX and I deleted the flight recordings. I can’t quite figure out what.” She glanced at CipherX, and he nodded in agreement.

“Keep trying to figure it out when you’re not monitoring our route,” I said. “Everyone, grab your pressure skins.”

Over the past few days, we’d taken the skins from different places on the rebel base, storing them here because we knew the guard ship we were planning to steal didn’t have enough for all of us. After what had happened following the starbridge implosion, I wasn’t going to risk anyone going onboard a ship without a skin. Each of us already wore a new synfab-printed Aeternai-designed bodysuit lined with thin but powerful body armor. They even had built-in temperature modes, which were necessary because on top of our armor, we wore an assortment of Centaurian clothing to blend in.

“How far to the maintenance access?” Karson asked as everyone crowded at the door.

“Just down the hall. Follow me.” Arden squeezed out, looking around casually before motioning us forward.

The access turned out to be a simple door with a handprint entry pad, not the hatchway I’d been expecting.

“I’ll take point,” Beckett said. “Karson next, then CipherX and Arden in the middle. Xandia and Raya will cover the rear.”

It was a good setup, with our best fighters at the front and back, so I didn’t object. I met each of their eyes. “Once we start, we don’t stop until we’re on that ship. CipherX, you’ll need to have all the launch protocols ready or overridden so we don’t get stopped. Tell Arden what to do if you need help.” While Arden had greater control over anything electronic, she couldn’t match CipherX’s hacking skills—yet.

“What about GUA agents?” Karson’s question hung heavy in the recycled air. “We know they must have some in the public part of the base.”

“We avoid them,” I told him. “The Unsworn will deal with them soon enough. And most of the regular employees are rebels anyway. If we’re captured, they’re more likely to give us back to the rebels than to turn us over to the GUA.”

Beckett’s face darkened. “And if Torva’s people are waiting? They won’t be easy to avoid.”

“Then we fight.” Energy rippled under my skin, combat instincts rising with anticipation. “Let’s go.”

Using codes on the base’s internal net, Arden opened the door. We moved through it, up metal rungs embedded in the wall, and then into a tunnel.

“How far until we’re past the electric grid?” I asked Xandia.

“Four hundred meters ahead in the tunnel. I can feel exactly where it ends.”

The air grew colder as we neared the public section, artificial gravity fluctuating slightly. After three minutes of careful progress, Xandia raised her hand. “Grid ends in twenty meters,” she whispered. “As soon as we’re through, I’ll calculate the shift with the coordinates.”

“Wait.” Arden stopped moving. “Someone’s accessing the guard ship’s systems. They seem to be searching for something.” Her neural crown blinked furiously. “Pulling up real security feeds, instead of my looped ones.” The footage appeared on all our armband displays, showing the public hangar from multiple angles.

On my datascreen, I spied a maintenance worker slipping something into the guard ship’s access panel. My combat instincts screamed trap even as I recognized him as one of the workers from the footage with Chandra Torva.

I heard a swift intake of breath next to me, noting that Beckett was watching the same image I was. I waited for him to warn the others, who were still fixated on other images, tension tightening the air between us. But there was no time to debate. We had no choice. We had to get on that ship and out of the hangar before the Unsworn realized we were gone.

As if reading my mind, Beckett ground out, “Let’s go.”

We moved fast. An access panel covered the tunnel ahead of us. CipherX overrode it, and Beckett wrenched the hatch open. One by one, we slipped into the narrow walkway beyond, the metal grating rattling under our feet as we navigated through the tunnel. Arden whispered directions, guiding us around maintenance nodes and emergency hatches, while the dim emergency lights flickered erratically, casting long shadows.

“Almost clear,” Xandia murmured. “Looks like there’s open space ahead to shift.”

Sharp static crackled through Arden’s neural crown. “Slag it,” she hissed. “They’re onto us. Security feeds are shifting again—I think they’re running a counter-breach on my loops.”

“They know we’re gone from the rebel base,” CipherX confirmed, the increased hoarseness of his voice hinting at his concern, though his youthful face, recently disguised by surgery, showed no emotion. “They’ve sent out search teams.”

“How much time before they figure out where we’re heading?” I asked.

“Less than a minute, I’m guessing,” Arden said. “If they don’t know already. What other ship could we access? All the others currently docked are manned by the GUA.”

No more sneaking.

I signaled the team to move faster. We emerged from the tunnel and into a dimly lit maintenance room, the cold bite of the public hangar’s artificial climate seeping through the metal plating.

“Now, Xany,” Beckett said.

In the next instant, Xandia opened a fold, pulling it down over our location, shifting us from behind the supply crates into the guard ship.

The transition hit like a pressure drop—one second, we were in the corridor, the next, standing inside the ship’s cramped loading bay.

Beckett and Karson hurried toward the nav station.

“No,” I barked. “Put on your pressure skins first, including headpieces. Then everyone strap in.”

As the others scrambled into their pressure skins, I secured my own, the fabric sealing against my skin with a quiet hiss. There was no time to check what had been slipped into the access panel, no way to know if it was a tracker, a failsafe, or something worse. But none of it mattered. We had no choice. This ship was our only way off the moon—and the only way I’d remain free to find my sister. Whatever trap Chandra Torva might have set, whatever sabotage lurked in the systems, we’d deal with it. Because nothing, not the Unsworn, not the GUA, and not even the risk of this ship tearing apart beneath us, was going to stop me.