Page 95 of Nova Academy

But then the Tornu officer’s words played back in my brain. I needed to be careful here. I was sure there were surveillance cameras watching our every move and that anything I did would be used to propagate my ‘guilt’. These idiots weren’t worth it, so I turned my back on them and walked over to an empty corner to wait.

‘Yeah, that’s what I thought. You’re nothing but a weak little coward,’ the Drakfern tried to get a reaction from me, and while my muscles tensed at the insult it was more in preparation for a physical attack in case he tried to come at me while my back was turned.

I continued to ignore him. All four of them spent the next few turns – or however long it was that we were waiting for the Tornu officer to return – spewing insults at me and trying to coax me into a fight. I refused to take the bait, losing myself in my mind and everything that had happened these past few weeks.

One thing I was positive of was that Arthur Mercer was a good person. I blatantly refused to believe otherwise. Even today witheverything he was going through, he still stood up for me despite his inability to actually do anything. He still believed in me and stood by me in spite of the accusations and arrests.

And Bromm saw it in him, too. I wasn’t attracted to Arty so I struggled to wrap my head around the jealousy I felt when those two were together, or when I found out that they had fooled around. It probably stemmed from my desire to have a real friend, one I could have all to myself without anyone trying to take them away with lies or manipulation. I knew it wasn’t the same, that their attraction for one another was real, and it was obvious it burnedhot, but that didn’t stop the pang of self-consciousness that I wasn’t enough for him; that he wouldn’t want to remain friends if he had someone like Prince Brommyt Min’Tuk by his side and in his bed.

I had never wished to be gay more than when I saw those two making heart-eyes at each other. I wanted his attention on me, and it was such a deeply rooted response that it confused me more often than not. If I hadn’t been so confident in my sexuality I might have started questioning myself. Stars, Ihadstarted questioning myself, but I kept shooting it down. Was that it? Was I attracted to Arty and was refusing to acknowledge it?

Well… either way it didn’t matter now. I was being carted off to a jail cell while he was with Bromm, so there wasn’t anything I could do about it now.

Nor could I tell Bromm about my epiphany. Whatever Arty was truly here for, it had something to do with that illegal experimentation organisation. There was no other explanation. I just prayed to the stars and anyone who would listen that he would find what he was looking for and successfully take them down. If anyone deserved a win it was him.

Maybe it would even help him to heal his past traumas. At the very least he deserved a good night’s sleep without being haunted by those nasty nightmares of his.

Something banged loudly against the suite’s front door, and each of us jumped, the other guys immediately pausing in their verbal assault. It happened again, and then the door suddenly slid open only for the Tornu officer and CWO Brin to tumble inside. Brin was huffing and puffing, her face flushed and her eyes wild. The officer was in a similar state, but was composed enough to close the door and, for some reason, engage the locks.

‘Brin?’ I drew her attention to me. She relaxed marginally when she saw me and immediately joined me in my little corner, her arms going around me in an embrace.

‘Oh, thank fuck you’re okay,’ she mumbled into my chest.

I wasn’t able to hug her back with my arms stuck behind my back, so I settled for resting my cheek against the top of her head and nuzzling into her. ‘I’m fine, Brin. What’s going on?’

‘We’re under attack,’ the Tornu stated as he stood above us as if he could physically shield us from whatever was going on outside with his body alone.

‘An attack? From whom? Where are the others?’ I asked, my voice rising in pitch alongside my worry.

‘I don’t know,’ Brin admitted. ‘All I know is that Xander sent Kir to come get me because it’s not safe. Then there were these…soldiers. They had weapons I’ve never seen before and they were shouting and shooting and people were dropping…’

‘Did you check the other rooms?’ I asked.

‘No–’ she began but was cut off by the Tornu… Kir.

‘The other rooms have already been overrun. The Carina is compromised, cadet. Stars,Nova Stationand everything on it has been overrun.’

‘What do we do?’ asked one of the other apprehended cadets, this time someone other than the Drakfern.

‘We hunker down and wait it out until we either find a way out or we’re captured,’ said Kir, his expression hard but he sounded beaten.

‘That can’t be it,’ I argued. ‘There must be something we can do.’

Kir came to stand behind me and released my wrists from their restraints. I rubbed them, relieved to be free but wondering how long it would last.

‘The captain has been captured,’ he informed us.

‘No!’ Brin cried. ‘No, he’s fine! You’re lying.’

The sadness in his gaze as he looked down at her told me everything. He was being truthful.

‘No…’ she repeated, and then slumped to the floor and hung her head as tears streamed down her pink cheeks.

I settled beside her and pulled her in close, letting her cry into me. There wasn’t anything to do. If Kir was correct and the entire station was under siege, we would either have to wait until someone came to get us – which would be whatever side won – or we’d have to go out there and fight, and possibly lose our lives in the process.

But by the way Kir was behaving, I got the sense there was no point to either. Whatever was going on out there, I suspected we had already lost.

CHAPTER 39

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