Page 87 of Her Lawless Prince

“Stand down,” Rick ordered. “We’re good.”

“Remind me never to play poker with you.” Nyle leaned back in his chair. “That was one hell of a bluff.”

“It’s easier when the other side knows they’re doing something they shouldn’t. They know they’re expendable to Griggs, just as they know they’re in it for the space credits. Being trapped on a planet with a deadly virus isn’t worth the risk.” Rick grabbed the controls and realigned them toward the planet. They kept an eye on the ship, making sure it left the airspace.

“We’re lucky we got here in time to stop them,” he said.

“Half the galaxy is built on luck,” Rick answered, sounding distracted as he manned the controls.

As theWorld Travelerdisappeared, Nyle focused on the planet. Though glad to see the mercenaries go, he did not feel relieved. It had been so long, but he could picture the cityscape in his mind. There were two images that warred within him—that of his youth full of light and shine, and that of his leaving filled with smoke and char. What would time have made of it? All those endless days and nights passing without disturbance from the Cysgodians. He imagined nature had reclaimed its territory like the citizens had never been there.

The planet became magnified on the viewer.

“There?” Rick asked as the lines of a city emerged.

Nyle nodded. “That’s it. East side is the laboratory. There was an old landing dock that should fit us, but I don’t know what condition it will be in now.”

The ship shook as they entered the planet’s atmosphere. A feeling of dread clenched Nyle’s stomach. Payton should not be here. He’d told her that several times, and each time she refused to hear it.

When the turbulence calmed, the land below came into focus. From the sky the line between city and nature was easy to see, but as they closed in the buildings blocked the long view. The tall buildings that had reflected like wet glass were streaked as if cleaning droids had circled them without fresh cleaner. As if to prove his assumption, he watched as a small unit passed around a structure’s center mass. It hung from a long cable attached to the top of the building.

Nyle felt a hand on his shoulder and glanced up to see Payton next to him.

“You’re supposed to be buckled in, starshine,” Rick said. Payton ignored him.

“It’s so…” Payton whispered to Nyle.

The ship turned through a wide street. The empty roads were clear.

“Is that the hospital?” Payton pointed toward the building.

Nyle nodded.

Her grip on him tightened as if she sensed his inner turmoil and wished to comfort him. “It’s not what I was expecting. The soldiers must have cleaned up when they were evacuating.”

“No. They didn’t.” Nyle put his hand over hers, keeping her against him. He detected a slight discoloration on the street where the pyres had burned, but the bodies were gone. “Maybe they came back? Griggs said they searched here.”

“All right, lady and gentlemen, we’re inside the hot zone,” Rick announced to the crew. “Suits and boots. Best behavior.”

30

Payton had seenthe pictures of Cysgod after its fall. The city looked nothing like the images in her mind, but she could match them to their locations. The photographs flashed from her memory as she looked around. There had been people pressed against the now-empty glass doors of the hospital. The streets had been aflame with large bonfires. An abandoned doorway had held a screaming woman. The echoes of the past were like ghosts in her thoughts.

“Shields holding,” Dev’s voice announced.

“I didn’t expect the apocalypse to look so tidy,” Rick said.

Rick flew slowly through the deserted streets. He angled the ship to navigate around obstacles. Payton held on to the back of Nyle’s chair. The metropolis appeared to be waiting for a populace to take it back. Scarred buildings were shells. Rubble from any damage had been cleared. Roads were clean.

Thank the gods the roads were clean. It was one thing to see pictures of dead bodies and another to see the actual bodies still piled after decades. She didn’t want that memory for Nyle. The ones he carried were bad enough.

“We’ve got movement,” Rick said.

A tiny street sweeper robot emerged from a dim nook and moved forward. It passed under the ship.

“They didn’t turn off the robots,” Nyle said, as if clearing his confusion. “That’s how the city looks like this. The units kept working as if nothing had changed. They cleaned up our mess.”

Payton saw a broken-down unit tucked inside an archway. “It’s not your mess, Nyle. You didn’t do this.”

---