The Brilliant Dark by S.M. Beiko

Author:S.M. Beiko
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ECW Press
Published: 2019-09-23T16:00:00+00:00

* * *

Solomon stood at the back of his testing facility, the white room where he had spent many years screening for potential traitors.

The door was to his back. He had to be ready to do this, but, most of all, he had to prepare to face his son, if he was still alive. Or face the reality that he wasn’t. He hoped at least Eli had managed to wake Ancient, wherever he was now. All Solomon had to do was hold the door open for Ancient, and their hopes, to rise.

Solomon brought a hand around and opened his fingers, looking down at a pocket watch whose opposing face held a faded photograph of Demelza. Bright, lovely, unforgettable. She had done everything to push Solomon and his ambitions away. She’d been correct. If he’d never gone after the Moonstone, or thought that imbalance could be corrected by the forces that had caused it in the first place, they would have been a family, the three of them. That should have been enough. Eli would have known how much he was loved, and it would have kept him safe. And Solomon could have destroyed the stone and protected Demelza from the madness it caused in her. All the choices he’d made had been the wrong ones. He would pay for them forever.

Solomon slid the watch into his pocket. This time, things could be different. The choice was his.

He sent his mind out across the roving labyrinth that was the Old Leg. He found her quickly; Saskia’s presence vibrated with a monochrome melody, edged in scarlet, but much more balanced than the last time he’d been in her head. He didn’t question this change.

Are you ready? he asked her, but he knew that she would be.

She seemed to flinch, but he felt her nod. I’m just going to my lab. I need to run a few diagnostics against the Quartz. Meet me there in an hour, and we’ll use your clearance to get to the Apex.

Solomon chuckled. The girl had seemed so fragile at first, but she had put herself right in the thick of things. He knew why she was risking so much. Love was a powerful motivator. Solomon knew that without having to read anything in her head.

“Sergeant Rathgar.” The voice was coming from the communication panel in front of him, the image of Mi-ja blooming there abruptly.

His heart skipped. “Yes, Lieutenant?”

“You’re requested upstairs immediately,” she said. “We’d like to run the Apex this morning. Please bring your reactor key, and we will all go down together.”

Upstairs? To the parliamentary offices? Solomon wanted to reach out through that communication, but if Mi-ja was already in those offices, they would pick up his prodding frequency. He’d need to go and to see what this was about.

“Yes, all right.” The comm went dark, and he snatched up his cane, moving as quickly as he could.

Saskia, he sent out quickly as he went up the corridor, something has changed. I will still see you in an hour.

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