Page 113 of Akur

“We can’t let that happen,” Alaina said.

Constance swallowed again. “Where is this orb?”

“Safe,” the cyborg said.

“We have to destroy it.”

“I’m with her. We destroy it,” Diana said.

“No.” V’Alen’s voice was so calm, it was like he was talking about something mundane. “The orb cannot simply be destroyed. Its power must be contained, controlled. Destruction could tear reality apart.”

“And leaving it intact could give the Tasqals exactly what they want!” Diana countered.

“We might have another solution,” Alaina whispered.

Constance’s gaze shot to her a moment before there was a soft sound from the center of the table. A circular depression suddenly created itself before turning into a hole where two vials emerged from. The contents swirled within them.

“What you’re looking at,” Alaina said, “is the Tasqals’ salvation…or their destruction.”

She reached for the two small vials—one filled with a clear liquid, the other a murky green. “125, one of V’Alen’s brother clones, gave us these before we left V’Alen’s world. One contains the cure for the Tasqals’ disease. The other…” She swallowed hard. “The other could wipe them out completely.”

The room went completely still. Even Yce seemed frozen, his ethereal glow dimming slightly.

“A genocide in a bottle,” Diana whispered, but there was no triumph in her voice now, only weight.

“We can’t make that decision.” Constance shook her head. She couldn't believe what she was saying, but it was the truth. “Not alone. Not without consulting, I don’t know, the rest of the Restitution! We’re talking aboutgenocidehere. And they’re not all…not all of them are assholes. Killing them all is a decision we need to think about. Properly.”

For a few long minutes, silence filled the table. They knew she was right.

V’Alen suddenly straightened. “That is not a weight you beings would like to bear.” Her brow furrowed slightly. He spoke like he had firsthand experience in that regard, which was troubling. “Akur,” he said, “your communications device. May I see it?”

Akur frowned but reached up to his ear, removing a tiny disk. V’Alen took it, his cybernetic components whirring as his chest opened and he slipped the device in.

Suddenly, a voice filled the room—scratchy, distorted, but unmistakable.

“—anyone receiving? This is E’lot. We’re stranded in…qrak…some barren wasteland. Hedgeruds at every turn. The human—” Another voice cut in. Female. Unmistakable. “Meredith, you big lump!” E’lot groaned, stressing her name unnecessarily. “Meredithis injured, but alive. I lost the other shuttles carrying the other humans and Akur…he went after one. Only gods know if he still breathes. My coordinates are…” He listed off a string of coordinates. “A planet that shouldn’t exist. If anyone receives this—we have found the Tasqal base.”

The transmission cut off. Constance felt her heart in her throat as she looked at Akur, saw the raw emotion in his eyes at hearing his friend’s voice.

“That transmission,” V’Alen said, “was saved in your comm’s buffer.”

Akur’s brow tightened. “I didn’t hear it.”

The cyborg handed him back the device. “The magnetic interference…whatever is hiding that planet…must have interfered with the signal.”

“How long ago was that sent?” Akur rested his arms on the table, his focus on the two vials in Alaina’s hands.

“On the same turn that you went silent,” V’Alen said.

“If they’re still alive,” Constance stood. “We can’t just leave them there.”

“No,” Akur agreed, his voice hard with determination. “We can’t.”

Alaina shook her head. “You would go back? To that place?”

Constance’s hands formed into fists. “I will do whatever it takes to end this.”

Alaina gripped the vials, gaze shifting to them. “So will I.”

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