Chapter Twenty-nine

THE NEXT DAY, TAYLOR found herself wandering the base, unsure where her feet were taking her. She’d left the apartments and Maia with a gentle, mostly-wordless goodbye, hoping the crisp morning air would banish some of her restlessness. The fog outside turned out to be as bad as the fog in her head. It blurred the world around her in smoky grey colors, and breathing it in didn’t do any favors for the tight knot of stress in her chest.

After what she had shared with Maia the night before, she wanted to talk through her feelings, but she wasn’t sure where to go. She thought about visiting Rachel, but decided that she didn’t want to impose on her friend twice in such a short period of time. She didn’t trust Andrew to keep her secrets anymore, although they had come to a sort of truce over the past week when he’d shown up for guard duty even during hours he wasn’t scheduled.

As she passed the mess and spotted a group of naledai strolling down the steps, she thought of Akton. He had told her to find him if she ever found herself in a tight spot, although he probably wasn’t expecting her to pop by and ask for relationship advice. Deciding he was still the best of her three options, she followed the group past several buildings and over to the docking bay. A large naledai frigate was at rest there, and Taylor walked toward its looming, shadowy shape in the fog until it became clearer.

The naledai standing guard outside the ship was surly at first, but once she mentioned her name and told him that she was looking for Akton, he seemed more at ease. "You said your name was Taylor?" he asked, studying her for a moment. "Akton's mentioned you. Says he met you running supplies in our solar system. Not many humans are brave enough to go in the middle of an alien warzone."

Taylor could tell he was grateful. The Coalition vastly preferred to send resources rather than troops to the naledai, a decision she didn’t agree with—but she’d had the opportunity to fight ikthians on someone else’s doorstep instead of just Earth’s, and she’d taken it gladly. "I killed a few ikthians there," Taylor admitted. The resistance on the naledai home world was bloody, and she had seen both humans and naledai die defending it.

"Well, go on in." He stepped aside, opening the door to the decontamination chamber for her. "He's probably down in the engine bay."

Taylor nodded. "I'll keep it in mind." She stepped onto the ship. The naledai crewmembers inside seemed slightly surprised to see a human, but none of them objected to her presence. She walked by them without comment, heading for the elevator. She had been on enough naledai ships to understand their basic layout.

As the guard had predicted, Akton was in the engine bay. He had taken a panel off one of the processors and currently had it in pieces. He stared at the pile of wires and parts as if calculating his next move, but looked up when Taylor entered. "Taylor." Akton straightened up and turned around to greet her, tangled cords dangling from his giant claws. "What brings you onboard?"

Taylor crossed the width of the small room and stopped beside him. "I was wondering if we could talk."

"Sure. I don’t need to have this put back together for a few more days." Akton gestured at the pile of parts. "What’s on your mind? This is about Kalanis, isn’t it?"

Taylor nodded. "I need some advice."

Akton leaned against a wall, dropping the cords on the floor with the rest of the mess. "Well, start at the beginning. I have a feeling this is going to take some time. You have that look on your face like…something bad happened. If you were naledai, I’d say you looked as if a greskar had ripped your mother’s right arm off." Taylor raised an eyebrow, and Akton shook his head. "Well, it sounds better in the native tongue."

Taylor laughed, feeling some of her tension ease. She tried to think about how to best word what she wanted to talk about. "Well, I’ve been spending a lot of time with Maia." She waited for Akton to say something, but he only nodded for her to continue. "And…I think I’m in too deep to go back."

She told him everything. About Bower and the other guards, about her fight with Maia, about how they had made up and tried to get to know each other better. The whole time, Akton listened patiently. After she finished, he paused for a moment, staring thoughtfully at nothing. Finally, he said, "You really care about her, don’t you?"

Taylor was taken aback by the question. "Of course."

"And you think she cares about you?"

Taylor hesitated. "I don’t know. I think so. That’s how she seems to feel when I’m around, but…how can she? I’m standing between her and freedom." She leaned against an engine box and her fingers flexed over the edge of the casing, drumming anxiously on the metal. "The worst part is, I know what will happen to her if the Coalition sends her back to Korithia."

Akton released a low growl from within his chest. "You’re not the only thing keeping her here, Taylor. Remember the armed guards and the mounted turrets on top of all the buildings? Even if you left the door unlocked, it’s not like she would just be able to walk out of here."

"No. But…I am…I was…her guard." Taylor sighed. She didn’t feel like Maia’s guard anymore. That part of their relationship had disappeared long ago.

"You’re also the only human on base that views her as a person now, even if it took you a while. I know what the Coalition tells humans about ikthians. It’s somewhat disturbing. But you know that they’re not all evil, no matter what the Dominion does."

Taylor groaned, massaging her temples. "I know. You should see the way people act around Maia whenever she leaves her chambers. They think she can kill them with just a look."

"But you don’t." Akton gave her a long stare, as if he were considering something. "If you met other ikthians…ones like Maia, who weren’t a threat to the Coalition…would you consider them your enemies?"

Taylor was surprised by how easily the answer came to her. "No, I wouldn’t. Not anymore."

Akton looked around the room before stepping close to Taylor and lowering his voice. "Not all ikthians are members of the Dominion."

Taylor studied Akton intently. Obviously, he knew more than he was telling. "I didn't think naledai soldiers associated with ikthians, unless you count shooting them."

"The situation is desperate on my home world," he said, sounding almost too casual. "My superiors will work with anyone that wants to help set the naledai free. If they happen to be ikthian rebels who want to bring down the Dominion, why should we reject their help?"

Taylor was floored. She’d had no idea that there were ikthians actively working to fight against the Dominion and help the naledai. "Does the Coalition know about this?"

"For the most part, no. A few of the generals might, although I doubt they would admit it in public. It looks bad for them. I’ve seen this sort of psychological play before. They tell you the enemy is without exception. That way, soldiers never hesitate when it’s time to kill."

Taylor pushed off the engine, folding her hands behind her back. She looked at Akton, a plan forming in her mind. Perhaps she could do one small thing to make up for her mistakes.

"How much do you know about Maia’s genetic research?"

"Just what I told you. She had the scars to come out and say the theory of ikthian genetic superiority was full of bunk, and we were all too similar to be enslaving each other."

"It’s more than that. Our DNA—naledai, human, ikthian—is more similar than the Dominion is comfortable with. She’s betting some ancient species helped with our genetic development. You know, introduced a common ancestor we all share on different planets and let evolution do its thing."

Akton’s shaggy brow lowered. "That’s…a big claim, Taylor. My people won’t like that. The thought that our ancestors also gave rise to the ikthians… It’ll be hard for them to swallow, but I bet it would be even worse for the Dominion. Their whole doctrine, their rationalization for taking over the rest of the galaxy, is based on the theory that they’re a superior species. Something like this?" His voice trailed off as he seemed to imagine the possibilities.

"If some of Maia's research magically appeared in your hands, would you know how to get it to someone who could use it?"

"Definitely. The Dominion's argument falls apart if we're all genetically similar to each other. And while some ikthians will overlook it, this might lend us the support we need to turn the tide of this war." Akton considered the possibilities further. "It will still be difficult to completely undermine the Dominion’s authority, but things will go faster when reason is allowed to speak.

Taylor began pacing again. "Maia didn't have anything on her when I brought her here. She would probably need access to an interstellar network in order to get a copy...and my superiors would never sign off on that."

"You remember what I said the last time we talked, Taylor? If you’re going to break the rules, you might as well break them all the way."

"The politicians aren’t interested." Her fingers clenched into fists as she remembered Bouchard's face. "I tried to explain about Maia’s research, but they didn’t understand. I’ll need to sneak it to you somehow. Hopefully you can get it to go public, and then the brass will have to revise their strategy for dealing with the ikthians."

"And what about Maia? What happens to her?"

Taylor felt like she was being torn in two. She didn’t know what to do. She wanted a magical solution that would allow Maia to go free without betraying the orders of her superiors.

"Taylor." Akton took a step closer. "I can get her to safety. Just…consider that if you do decide to hand over the research."

Taylor ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "I won’t let her get hurt, Akton. Not anymore." That was one promise she felt comfortable making.