AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Then how…” Ranvir began.
“Of course!” Vujcec cut Ranvir off. His eyes gleamed with excitement. “Why didn’t I ever think about that before?”
“What are you talking about?” Tane demanded.
Ganesha spoke quietly before Vujcec could. “Messages. Nonvisual ones only take a nanosecond to transmit, making them impossible to track on encrypted channels.”
“How do you know that?” Ranvir gave him a suspicious look.
Ganesha and Ranvir locked eyes for several tense moments before Ganesha finally answered. “It was how I used to receive my orders from high command.”
“You and your pod were one of the emperor’s assassin squads.” It suddenly all made sense to Ranvir. The secretive vibe he got off Ganesha. The way the other cyborg struggled when he spoke of his pod members. Spinning around, he shoved Taly behind him, whipped out his blaster, and aimed it at Ganesha.
“Shui’s assassin squads are a myth.” Ganesha’s tone remained casual even as he stood, his gaze traveling over the room. “Assassins are never part of a pod. It’s why Shui believed they’d always remain loyal to him.”
“And are you still?” Ranvir demanded. “Loyal to him?”
“I’m here, aren’t I? Branded just like you?” Ganesha gestured to the CR on his cheek.
“You didn’t answer the question.” Ranvir’s finger tightened on the trigger.
Taly stepped away from Ranvir, giving him room to move if needed because she’d heard about Shui’s assassins. Nas had warned her about them. He’d said they should never be trusted. It was rumored that medics tampered with parts of their organic brain to remove their sense of right and wrong during their transformation. That way, they’d follow whatever order they were given, no matter how heinous.
Ganesha hadn’t seemed cold-blooded and without decency to her. Sure, she hadn’t known him long, and they didn’t like each other, but he hadn’t done anything against them either. He’d even supported her when she’d insisted they needed to defend the Celerity against the pirate attack. Why would he do that if his mission was to turn them into the emperor?
“Ganesha?” She moved around Ranvir to make eye contact with the other cyborg.
“Taly, stay behind me,” Ranvir ordered, catching her movement from the corner of his eye.
Ganesha also followed her, his dark eyes zeroing in on her position.
“What is your question, Mamsell Zulfiqar?” Ganesha asked formally.
“Why are you here?” she asked.
“Because I was in the same cell you rescued us from,” he told her, the corners of his mouth curving up ever so slightly.
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” she pointedly.
“I honestly doubt anyone knows what’s going on in your mind, Mamsell Zulfiqar. If you want to know something specific, ask a specific question.”
“And you’ll answer truthfully?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Yes.”
“You can’t trust the word of one of Shui’s assassins,” Pike spat, pulling his own blaster.
“Is that what you are, Ganesha? One of Shui’s assassins?” Taly asked.
Ganesha’s gaze, which had shot to Pike, returned to her. Everyone on the bridge waited for his answer.
“I was,” he finally admitted quietly, making no excuses. “Now, I am not.”
“How can we possibly believe that?!” Pike demanded. “It’s known that Shui placed spies amongst those he accused of treason.”
“Think!” Ganesha ground out, his gaze traveling around the bridge. “Those rumors might have been true if Shui had planned on letting us reach Tyurma. But his ultimate plan was to murder us and blame it on the rebels. Why would he risk loyal resources in a situation like that? Especially when he knew there were still unidentified rebels out there.”
“What caused him to consider you a rebel then?” Taly asked.
