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“Of course not!” Ganesha denied. “But we’ve already been betrayed once. I won’t be again.”
“None of us want that.” Ranvir’s gaze traveled over the other three. “Which means we have to start trusting each otherandWells.”
“I see you didn’t include Mamsell Zulfiqar,” Ganesha said, crossing his arms.
“Do any of you actually believe she’d betray us after everything she’s done?” Ranvir gave him a disbelieving look.
“She did it to save another cyborg andhispod. She has no loyalty tous.” Ganesha cocked his head to the side. “Is that why you are remaining close to her? To try and get her to switch her loyalties?”
It was apparent Ranvir’s interactions with Taly hadn’t gone unnoticed by the other cyborgs.
“No,” Ranvir told him harshly.
“That’s good to know.” All four cyborgs turned to see Taly had somehow entered the bridge without any of them noticing. Something that shouldn’t be possible. “Because that will never happen, but that doesn’t mean I will betray any of you.”
“You’re the daughter of a Supreme Judge,” Ganesha sneered.
“And I’m the sister of a cyborg,” she fired back. At his shocked expression, she looked at Ranvir. “You didn’t tell them?”
“It wasn’t my place,” he told her.
“Supreme Judge Zulfiqar doesn’t have a son,” Ganesha wasn’t going to let this go.
“Nas isn’t my father’s son. He’s my mother’s from her first marriage to Major Reiji Demeter, Nas’s father. My father had the records either altered or destroyed. I learned about Nas ten years ago. We’ve been in touch ever since.”
“And Shui never found out?” Pike’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“If he had, don’t you think my parents would have been on one of the transport ships,” Taly snapped back, her eyes angrily flashing at the weapons specialist.
“You don’t think Shui would have put you on one?” Ganesha’s question had her spinning around to face him.
“Oh, I’m sure he would have. Shui will destroy anyone who stands in his way in his quest for power.”
“You know when it’s discovered you’re assisting the rebels, Shui will have your parents arrested if not outright killed,” Ganesha continued to push.
Ranvir saw the anguish in Taly’s eyes and wished there was something he could do to take it away but knew he couldn’t.
“I know,” she murmured, some of the fight going out of her. “I love my parents and wish I could change how this will affect them, but they knew what Shui was doing and chose to support him anyway. They’ll have to suffer the consequences of that.”
Silence reigned for several moments until Taly took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders, and looked at them. “So, is that enough to convince you I’m on your side?”
“It’s enough,” Ganesha said, “for now.”
Ranvir wanted to deck the other cyborg, but Taly just rolled her eyes. “Whatever. So what’s the plan? We obviously can’t take all these people with us to Tuater.”
All eyes went to Ranvir, who looked to Tane.
“What’s the closest habitable planet to us?” Ranvir demanded.
Tane spun in his chair and pulled it up on the main screen. “Vemara is the closest.”
“Vemara?” Taly’s brows drew together. “Isn’t that a desert planet?”
“Yes,” Tane responded.
“But these people are colonists,” she reminded them. “They were heading to Gamma-2, where the climate is perfect for agriculture. We can’t leave them somewhere they have no chance of surviving.”
“There’s a spaceport there,” Ganesha said dismissively. “If they still want to go to Gamma-2, they can arrange transportation.”
