Page 47 of Stars on Fire

‘It’d be my honour,’ J’Kuu said. Then, she gave them her blessing. ‘Kei’Lano would be proud of you both and The Sable Group. As long as the families of the guards, pilots and troops you involve in this counterattack are well informed and taken care of on our end, I approve of your chosen course of action.’

After a few more minutes of chatting and even a tasting of J’Kuu’s delicious soup, Kainan and Selene bade the alderman farewell. Then it was back to the maglev lift for a ride to The Sable Group’s HQ.

Mid-flight, Selene slid a few furtive glances at the quiet, reticent man beside her. While he’d not quite struck her as talkative or ebullient, his energy today was downright reserved. He wasn’t ignoring her, but he was making it clear where the line between them stood.

She couldn’t quite say anything to him without appearing clingy and needy. He’d made her no promises, and apart from the intense gazes and the occasional sparks of charm, he’d been an absolute gentleman. He’d probably just been extending his brand of hospitality to her, and she’d read too much into it.

It was better this way,she rationalised yet again. Keeping it professional was the only way she could keep her head screwed on tight while doing the job assigned to her. Saving Dunia from Massimo Makori’s greed was her priority. But then, why did her heart want so much in defiance of her well-thought-out argument?

Back at The Sable Group’s conference room, Selene, Mirage, and the five Edenite men dove deeper into negotiations and deal-making with Rina and the Council on Dunia. Mirage had set up a series of direct, secure channels between the rebel leaders at various locations on Dunia and The Sable Riders HQ.

They discussed armaments, ships, AI, drones, troops, xentium and strategy for hours until they conclusively brokered the final details of an arrangement that made sense for everyone.

‘Are we all agreed?’ Kainan asked both parties, those in the room and the Free Dunia Council on the planet.

There was a chorus of affirmative agreement, and with that, the negotiations closed. The assembled Council on Dunia said their goodbyes, and the holo screen of their secure feed winked out.

Selene let her head fall to the back of her chair. She was beyond exhausted. She felt ready to crawl into a bed and sleep for weeks. She’d zero energy for another night at The Osirian bar, decadent and thrilling though it promised to be. Instead, she felt flat and drained; the last thing she needed was to pretend she was not. Especially as she’d sat across from the man whose presence was still causing a kick to her core every time he spoke or moved in her peripheral vision.

She was about to ask Kainan for an escort back to the apartment suite when a loud warning klaxon rang through the conference room. Her eyes flew open as her heart thudded heavily against her chest.

Instantly, all five Sable Riders snapped to their feet as their hands slid to the weapons at their hips.

‘Mirage, report!’ Kainan said, his face taut with wariness.

‘There’s been a breach of the building,khosi,’ Mirage said, her voice strangely faint. ‘And of my systems too. We’ve been hacked. I’ve put up a wall so your neural nodes are secure. However, I can’t stop the wave - it’s weakening me. So I’m shutting down to -.’

The AI’s voice trailed off, and Selene watched in horror as the gyrfalcon, who’d been perched on her post, fell with a thud to the floor. The lights in the room flickered wildly, and the foundation they stood on rocked as an explosion roared through the building.

The main doors of The Osirian bar below them flew open, and Selene gasped as a group of dark, shadowed assailants poured into the space. The klaxons kept blaring, and they saw the staff flee into the kitchens behind rapidly activated shield gates.

The attackers turned to face the security drones and guards who’d surged in behind them.

‘What are we waiting for,khosi?’ Kage grumbled, looking to Kainan, eager to counter the ambush.

Kainan gently placed the unconscious gyrfalcon form onto the table before stalking to the glass view windows, his gaze fixed on the mayhem below. ‘Let’s see what they’ve got first, brothers, and what they’re after. If our guards and drones can’t fend them off, then we go in.’

Zane shook his head. ‘Thank fokk, this happened before opening time, so the only people in the restaurant and bar below are our servers and bartenders.’

More blasts quaked through the air.

‘Who the hell are these fokkers?’ Riv ground out, balancing himself as the floor beneath their feet shuddered.

‘They’re not here for the good food and wine on offer, that’s for sure,’ Zane said between clenched teeth as he watched his establishment get blasted.

‘Is this limited to just us?’ Kainan asked Zane. ‘Can you check?’

‘Naam,khosi,’ Zane said. He closed his eyes for a moment and touched his right hand’s thumb and forefinger together, summoning a kind of energy from within.

Selene’s eyes widened as Zane’s own opened, revealing a wildness of blue energy arcs. He tipped his head back, and the lightning-like arches reached into the air, seemingly searching an unseen realm.

‘What’s he doing?’ she whispered.

Kainan sliced his eyes towards her. ‘Nothing to worry about,khamila. He’s tapping into his psionic sight. With Mirage out, his mind can travel between different dimensions and universes and cross over different planes of existence, travelling across various forms of reality. In this case, he’s searching the entire rock for other attacks.’

Selene shook her head slowly in disbelief, watching as the blue energy died down in Zane’s eyes.

He closed his eyes again, and when he opened them, they were back to their human-like features.

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