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I’d been in strategy sessions before with my father and his lieutenants often enough to spot the gaping holes in their plan. I tried to bring up my objections tactfully.
“Don’t be ridiculous. That will never work. You’ll all be killed.”
From the dark look Kaal shot me, I realized tact wasn’t my strong suit.
Eldon shrugged. “True. Some of us might be. But it wouldn’t be much of a loss. This...” He waved a hand around the rough stone walls of the shanty. “This ain’t livin’.”
“It doesn’t solve the threat of Starn seizing another man and torturing him, but it buys us time to figure out what we’re going to do in the future,” Kaal said. He started to go on, then stopped.
He didn’t need to continue. I knew what he’d been about to say. It was what we were all thinking.We can’t just stand by and let Starn get away with this. We have to do something.
* * *
Crammed shoulder toshoulder in the clearing that doubled as an assembly area, the inhabitants of Zibaru jostled for a spot closest to the action. Work in the mines had been halted so everyone could attend. Guards lined the platform facing the spectators, all brandishing the black wands they used to control unruly prisoners.
Flanked by Thomas and Brynn, I took my place in the back of the crowd. Unlike many of the others who’d been on the asteroid so long they’d wasted away from meager rations and long hours of backbreaking labor in the mines, they were young, still relatively strong and fit.
All three of us wore gray cloaks covering us head to toe, with the hoods pulled down to hide our faces as much as possible. Before we left the shanty, I’d rubbed my hands in the thick layer of gray dust that covered every inch of the asteroid, a byproduct of the mining operation that ran twenty-four/seven. With its treasure trove of rare minerals, Zibaru wasn’t just a prison. It was a highly profitable business enterprise for the Federation, especially with the condemned providing free labor. I smeared the dust on my face, so my complexion would match the dull gray tone of those who’d been trapped in this hellhole much longer.
We’d just taken our places in the back of the crowd when the line of guards parted. Starn strode to the center of the platform. To my astonishment, he was greeted with cheers.
Thomas saw the expression on my face. “They’re not cheering for him,” he explained in a low voice. “Anything that breaks up our mind-numbing day to day existence here is a treat, and the possibility of witnessing blood and gore adds an entertainment factor we seldom get in one of Starn’s compulsory assemblies.”
I thought back to the spectacle I must have presented up on that platform. Not blood and gore. Something even better. Starn gave them a live sex show, an erotic thrill they could jack off to for months. A naked female paddled and fucked. First crying out in pain, then in ecstasy. I felt myself flush and hoped I’d rubbed enough filth on my face to hide it. These animals had seen enough red cheeks of mine.
“We’re here today because some of you have been deceived. Sucked in by a grifter. A con artist who tells you what you want to hear. She’s already seduced you with her faked screams of passion here on this platform. Now she’s selling another fantasy, one even more tempting. But she’s a liar.”
He called to the guards. “Bring out the prisoner.”
Two guards appeared at the top of the steps, half carrying, half dragging Harald between them. I gasped. Though he was well beyond middle age, Harald gave off the aura of someone who prided himself on staying mentally and physically fit. But he’d aged twenty years in the short time he’d been locked up. He looked frail and painfully thin, unable to stand alone. His eyes were dull and unfocused, his head lolled to one side. Even from this distance I could see his limbs twitching. They’d obviously used the wand on him while they had him locked away, probably many times from the looks of him.
They brought him to the center of the platform and stopped in front of Starn.
He took Harald’s face in his hands. “Hello, 4520,” he said, his voice warm and gentle. “I can see you’re in a great deal of pain. I’m sorry to see you suffering like this. But you can end it. Right now.” Starn waved a hand at the mob. “Tell them what you told me. Tell them you’re here because of Prisoner 9371. Known in her past life as Aria DiMello. She pretended to be just like her father, promising she’d lead you and all your friends in a revolt. Free you from Zibaru.”
He tuned to the crowd and his voice rose. “But she’s a fraud! She can’t help you escape. She’s trapped here just like you are. She’s using you—all of you—to make her life easier. You’ve been protecting her. Hiding her away. Starving yourselves to share your food with her since no one gets rations if they don’t show up for work.”
Was it true? My heart sank. I’d been so caught up in trying to take my father’s place as leader of the rebel forces I never stopped to wonder why they all had to report to the mines every day and I didn’t. Starn had found the perfect way to keep his prisoners in line. No work, no food. Our friends had been giving part of their meager rations to Kaal and me so we could stay hidden. Otherwise we’d have starved to death by now—or I’d have been seized by one of the gangs of criminals when we went into the mines and Kaal was forced to leave my side and work in a different area.
“Tell them, 4520. Tell them she’s a fraud.”
Harald muttered something unintelligible. Starn moved in closer. “What’s that? I didn’t hear you.”
The old man lifted his head and his eyes focused on the warden. We were too far away to hear his response but it was easy to read his lips. “Go fuck yourself,” he said.
The warden backhanded him, then motioned to one of the guards. They stepped away, leaving him tottering, and then one of them pointed his wand at the back of Harald’s neck. He let out a high-pitched wail and crumpled to the ground.
Beside me, Brynn muttered a curse. “They’ve got that damn thing set to full power. I don’t know how much more the old man can take.”
Starn stepped over his body without even glancing down.
“Aria DiMello! You can prove me wrong and save your friend any more pain. I know you’re out there. Come forward and give yourself up. Show these men you’ll stand up for them like you said you would. Protect this prisoner—the way he’s been protecting you.”
I started forward but Thomas and Brynn had been prepared for just such a move. They grabbed my wrists, one on each side of me, and held me in place. No one was paying any attention to us and even if someone had been, their hands pinning my arms at my sides were hidden by the long sleeves of my robe. Once I got over the shock of seeing Harald tortured before my eyes, I quit struggling to get loose. I realized I didn’t dare call attention to the three of us. It was bad enough to see my friend in horrible pain because of me. Although I didn’t care about my own safety, revealing myself to Starn would have put two more innocent lives in danger.
Starn scanned the crowd. “I don’t see her coming, 4520. I told you. She’s abandoned you to save herself.” He stretched out his arms. “Just like she’ll abandon all of you! You can’t trust her. She’s not going to free anybody. No one is going to save you. The Insurrection is dead. It died with that traitor Gaius DiMello.”
Behind him, Harald dragged himself to his knees, then tottered to his feet. The crowd shouted its approval. Everyone loves an underdog.
