CHAPTER 30

Lumiea

Year -19 (L.D.)

The flight was a blur. The black-clad rebels blended into the black interior of the Aerolux, while the world outside the windows ripped across Aeryn's view like a stream of light.

Her head swam with dizziness from whatever they injected into her neck. Time felt as if it twisted in loops instead of running straight forward.

With the speed they likely traveled, they could make it halfway across the world in an hour. But when they landed, it felt as if ten hours had passed, and as if it had only been minutes. How could both feel so true? The disorienting contradiction swirled in her mind.

Hands seemed to come at her from all sides. She tried to draw energy into her palms to fight, only nothing happened. There wasn't even a spark of heat. Her vision swooped as she lowered her head to see her hands bare. When had they taken her mods and bound her wrists together?

Aeryn tried to kick at the blur of bodies surrounding her, only they'd tied her legs as well. Her body writhed like a fish plucked from the water and dropped on the deck of a boat. As pathetic as it was useless.

Even though they'd landed, the outside still looked how it had speeding past the window. The trees and empty space between them tangled together. Purple sky streaked down into the ground. Aeryn squeezed her eyes shut and mustered all the strength she possessed to rip free from her binds.

Pathetic. Useless. A total failure.

Her efforts only earned her a swift fist to her rib cage and a scream muffled by a gag she didn't realize was there before.

What the hell had they given her?

Her eyes closed and then she opened them to a dimly lit room. They'd instantly transported her here.

No. What a stupid thought. She'd obviously passed out and woken up here. And time seemed to be running in a straight line again. The drug had worn off enough for her to start to collect her thoughts.

Pain beat around the edges of her skull in a throbbing headache.

On its heels came the flood of anger, with fear buried too deeply within it for her to actually feel.

There were others in the room. She blinked to clear her vision as she looked to another girl lying on her side nearby, bound just like Aeryn. Thirteen others littered the room, most passed out, but a few awake like she was. Her eyes caught another man's stare. While most of them looked to be around Aeryn's age, a few were older. Perhaps, late twenties or early thirties. The one looking at her must have been that age.

Aeryn huffed and tried in vain to rip her arms free once more.

Her squad would be frantically searching for her now. The thought of them worrying about her made her feel sick. She wanted to find a way to comfort them, tell her she was okay, but even if she could do that, it would be a lie. Aeryn had no idea what these people planned to do.

So she couldn't waste her time and energy crying about what happened to her or how her friends might feel. What information did she have? The fellow captives were a good source, not that she could immediately identify many patterns. Only that they were all younger and everyone looked to be in good shape. It wouldn't be a stretch of the imagination to assume they were military like Aeryn. She didn't see any signs of surgical body modifications, like the faint blue of biofluid, but in this light, she doubted she'd make that out. Were they combat soldiers or specialists?

Aeryn searched her memory, trying to discern the fuzzy details. It was hard to remember anything from the Aerolux now, not even how many people had been inside. Before being taken, she'd been collecting samples to create fuel when she heard a hum behind her. By the time Aeryn had twisted to make out the Aerolux hovering behind her, the terrible pain had already shot through her body.

Immediately her hand mods stopped working. She knew how fast it had happened because the instant she saw the Aerolux, she'd drawn upon energy in her palms.

No one should have an Aerolux except for Commander Vehru and those she'd entrusted one to. So it had never occurred to her to view one as a threat. But seeing it directly behind her, she'd known something was wrong.

Everything happened so fast. Aeryn struggled to remember the few short seconds that passed between seeing the Aerolux, losing her hand mods, and feeling the needle slide into her neck.

Wait. Her eyes closed. That wasn't what she remembered. It was what she assumed. Aeryn couldn't actually recall anyone injecting her. Pain had bitten into the back of her neck and within seconds, she'd lost motor control. Her final rational thought had been that they'd used an EMP to disable her mods and drugs to sedate her.

A cold sweat dampened her neck as she opened her eyes. Who were these people to have these kinds of resources? Her hand mods should have been protected from an EMP, but there were those powerful enough to destroy her equipment. Not only did her captors possess powerful weapons and drugs, but they somehow had an Aerolux.

No one on her planet had ever taken control of an Aerolux as far as she knew.

Were these rebels or someone else? Something else?

Hours passed as she tried to string together the few facts she knew into a theory that made any sense. Why had they taken her and the others? Who were they? What did they want?

Aeryn was a private. She wasn't worth much.

Unless they knew she was a candidate for the Witness Program. Maybe they even knew what that meant.

She needed to ask the others if they were candidates too, but no one had been successful in attempts to remove their gags or bindings. One woman had persistently raked her mouth against the ground to try to break the gag free and managed only to rub the tip of her nose raw. The binding was made of something stronger than their skin and it wasn't going anywhere.

Aeryn didn't waste her energy or her emotional wherewithal on attempts certain to lead to failure–which would create discouragement. Instead, she planned. At first, it felt that she couldn't plan for anything. The room was empty. The windows had been boarded closed. No one had entered to say anything to them. For all she knew they'd been left here to starve to death.

But the little information she did have actually told her quite a bit. Unless this was a training exercise–a possibility she would not consider as it would only serve to give her false hope–then whoever had taken her opposed the Federation in a way that the normal resistance did not ordinarily manage. Either they were a threat Aeryn did not know existed, perhaps one from her home planet or even another, or the rebels were capable of far more than Aeryn knew.

As the hours passed, Aeryn felt desperate for water and sleep. She nodded off a few times, but tried to stay awake, afraid she would miss something.

Finally, a woman entered the room. She wore all black with hair tucked beneath a black cap. She offered no name and no introduction.

"As bioengineers, you're all smart people." The woman turned to look at each of them. "As Witness candidates, I'm confident you're also resilient. So forgive us for the uncomfortable arrangements, but we can't be too careful with any of you."

This focused the possibilities in her mind and confirmed her suspicions. First, her captor spoke General American English. Interesting. And she knew about the Witness Program. A wry smile might have twisted her lips if not for the gag. Maybe she'd at least finally learn something about what the hell a Witness even was.

"You're trying to figure out who we are and why we took you. What will happen to you." Clasping her hands, the woman breathed out deeply. "I want to show you the respect of being honest. We will decide which of you should live and which should die."

Aeryn's muscles tightened. Of course, she realized they had not kidnapped them with innocent intentions, but hearing it made it all feel real.

"Commander Vehru has told you little about the Witness program. You don't understand what you're being considered for and just how many people you could hurt." Her eyes landed on Aeryn for a moment before her gaze continued on to hesitate on each person. "Some of you probably deserve to die and some of you probably deserve to live. I can't worry about that. I have one mission that I've dedicated my life to." Her voice hardened. "That is my sole concern. I advise you to cooperate with us."

She walked out of the room and paused before leaving.

"We're moving you within the hour."

Everyone looked to each other after the woman left, their eyes saying what they couldn't speak.

Even with Aeryn's mind reeling from the information, a moment came where she no longer felt alone. The connection with these fellow bioanalyst and Witness candidates soothed her aching chest. At least for a few minutes. It quickly turned into longing for her own people.

What was her squad doing now? Lyon and Nikka would be holding one another together as they tried to find a way to help her. Trin would be investigating and analyzing. Alix…

Aeryn honestly had no idea what Alix would do. He'd care. He'd want to find her. But if he felt helpless enough, then he'd probably just start lashing out at everyone around him and make things worse.

And Jace.

Surprise nipped her at the pain that flooded her chest as she imagined him. Aeryn didn't have to wonder what Jace would be doing. Even though he spent so much time ignoring her, acting aloof, trying to run away, he also ferociously guarded her. She hadn't even realized the extent of it until now as memories turned through her mind. His worry about her flying over the lake, the protectiveness of her in battle, the fear in his eyes any time she was injured. What had annoyed Aeryn and made her feel like he looked down on her now appeared very different to her. It wasn't that Jace didn't trust her competence.

He cared about her.

He would be waging a war right now trying to find her.

Fear had been a constant hum in her mind since she first saw the Aerolux, but it consumed her now as she thought of the danger her squad could get into searching for her and fighting to free her. What if one of them got seriously hurt? Or worse. If anyone would do something crazy, it would be Jace. The thought of something happening to him made her body go rigid with dread and panic.

Aeryn had to find a way out of here and back to her squad.