He jolts back and frantically scans the area in front of his cell. “What the fuck?”
“Reality is not as beautiful as what we make up in our minds, but it is far more precious,” she adds.
“Zariah?” He swivels as if she’s somehow entered his cell. “Where are you?”
I smirk when he glances at me as if I’d tell him.
Zariah continues. “In order to grow, we must first stop dreaming and accept the here and now. What can we do with this? What could our next step lead to, depending on what it is? Is it going in the direction we want? And do we have a goal that will benefit us today and tomorrow, not just in this moment?”
“What’s with the riddles and shit?” Cazir demands.
Zariah lets out a breath but doesn’t quite sigh in irritation like I would. She is more patient than I am. “Brother, listen to me. I cannot get you out of here. And I don’t want to. You killed a lot of people, stole from even more, betrayed your family, and gave up on the boy I knew when we were younger.”
His jaw slacks. He hangs his head and looks away.
“You remember when you picked me up from the gravel pit after I fell during kickball? You bandaged my knees with scraps of fabric from your own shirt.
“You think I learned to be good from Mom, but she was only part of it.” Zariah shows her face to him. “Look at me.”
He reluctantly meets her gaze.
“There is goodness in you that rotted out because of our father. I know you were just trying to survive. I just wish you had run with me. But you didn’t. And here you are. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have a better life.
“Talk to the feds. Tell them what you know. Help us make this universe a better place.
“The war with the Nebulous Empire isn’t getting any easier. We need to be united. You’ve been on the inside of critical vessels. Help us help each other.”
He runs a hand down his face.
“I miss that good side of you, brother. I want to see it again,” she says. “Our sons would benefit from seeing you break the cycle and heal from the poison our father laced your veins with.”
“I have two nephews?” He tugs on the bars of his cage out of frustration. “I can’t make promises, Zariah. It’s been a year.”
She steps back. “Then I’m afraid this is the last time that I will visit. I don’t want my children to grow up with your kind of influence in their lives. I want them to be proud of you, not pity or hate you. So they will just not know much of you at all.”
Zariah conceals herself completely, her face fading like a hot mirage over a cooling starship thruster. She walks toward me. “Let’s go. This was clearly a mistake.”
Nothing Zariah does is a mistake.
“Wait,” her brother calls to her.
She stops. I can hear her beside me and catch the scent of her musk in the air. My core heats and eases light to the surface of my skin.
Cazir studies me as I draw her protectively close.
“Call the guards,” he says. “Tell them I need Tenac. I’ll give them everything I can. Just promise you’ll visit.”
“I’ll make that promise when I have proof you’ll do what you say,” Zariah replies.
He slumps and leans against his bars. “Fair enough.”
She slides an arm around me. “I may be disappointed in you, but I still love you, brother.”
He lifts his head in surprise as Zariah leads me out of the prison. I relay his requests to the out-processing officer, then walk out to the hangar.
Zariah uncloaks when we’re aboard my ship. MONA closes the ramp as we slip into our seats. I guide us out of the dock and into space.
Zariah doesn’t speak as she belts in and stares out at the stars.
