Of Starlight and Bone by Emily Layne

Author:Emily Layne [Layne, Emily]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781958109137
Publisher: Owl Hollow Press, LLC

Twenty-One

17 Aug 3319, 07:52:23

Ancora Galaxy, Planet 07: Medea, Free Airspace

“I did not agree to this,” Auri said, dropping her chopsticks. They clinked against her plate. “Breaking into Attica is idiocy. And breaking out? It’s impossible.” The planet was called the Heat for both the temperature and the massive weapon cache. Not only that, but she knew a few guards stationed on the planet. Running into them… The thought made her tense as unpleasant memories crowded the back of her mind.

Malachi cleared his throat and folded his hands on the table. “Actually, someone has escaped Attica from maximum security holdings.”

“Death row,” she breathed. “Who? Who escaped?”

He hesitated.

“I did,” Marin said beside her. “Well, Akki-tan and I did.”

“I don’t believe it.” She forced a laugh to bat away the unease fluttering in her chest. “I toured the prison in basic. Maximum security is underground. There is no way out.”

The suspect from Uma District’s case flashed in her mind. 20 Jan 2316. The execution date felt like it was burned onto her forehead.

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Malachi shifted in his seat. “There’s a flaw in the design. Marin discovered it after talking to the walls. She got us out.”

In any other circumstance, a girl talking to the walls of a prison would’ve made Auri laugh. But not here. Not now.

Malachi looked to Marin. “When you’re finished here, I want you to set a course for Delfan.”

Marin nodded.

Questions dangled from the tip of Auri’s tongue, but one was foremost: Why were you and Marin on death row?

She doubted Malachi would give a truthful answer. Could she still work with the crew knowing Malachi and Marin were escaped fugitives?

To her surprise, her resolve didn’t buckle. The existence of the Bleeders altered everything she thought true, changed what might have seem like clear-cut decisions just a few days ago. The Fed wasn’t the perfect government she once believed it to be. Those in the cannibalism cases had been wrongly sent to Attica and sentenced to death. Perhaps other innocents met the same fate. She’d become a DISC agent to help people. Not assist in their murders.

“Getting into Attica,” Katara muttered, “is the easy part. Getting out is the challenge, even if we have two cocky fugitives sitting at our table. We’ll be leaving with an extra body.”

“What did she do?” Auri asked before someone else spoke. “Why is this hacker in Attica?” Accepting Malachi and Marin was one thing. If Auri broke a hacker out of the Heat, she wanted to ensure she wasn’t setting a crazed criminal loose.

Castor was the one to answer. “Tsuna is a Mercy Hacker. She takes up the causes of the innocent and the poor. She’s usually careful, but she has weaknesses for abused women. Rumors claim they sent a turncoat in to trick her, and that now she’s being held on level zero, maximum security, like Malachi and Marin were.”

“I want that confirmed,” Malachi said. Castor nodded.

Auri absorbed Castor’s statement. If Tsuna helped Marin and Malachi years ago, she must’ve deemed them innocent as well.

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