ANDROMA
AVERIA WAS EXACTLY as she remembered.
Andi would never forget the first time she’d come here, following Kalee into the entry hall as she gave Andi a tour of her home.
It’s a bit much, Kalee had said. But it’s home. And someday, I’ll be the one running this place.
You? Andi had asked. Not your brother?
Oh, Androma. Kalee had laughed then, tossing her head back in that glorious, carefree way that made everyone around her want to come closer. You and I both know that a woman can rule better than any man ever could. And I’ll look twice as good doing it, too.
Those memories tugged at Andi’s heart, colliding with the present as Alfie guided her and Dex through the winding halls toward the general’s private office.
Andi knew the route as well as she knew the halls of the Marauder. So many times, she’d walked this very path, always ensuring she’d arrive right on time for her debriefings with the head Spectre of Averia. Sometimes, even, with the general himself.
He hadn’t even come to greet Valen as they’d landed. A sign that, no matter the circumstances, he would always put his position ahead of his family. That, Andi had always known, was something Kalee would never have done.
If only she’d grown up here the way she should have.
If only she’d become the general’s successor, carrying the Phelexos System to heights that her father would never be able to attain, despite all his scheming.
Arcardius was built upon honor and glory. Andi had often wondered if General Cortas had discarded honor entirely. And yet he’d been determined to destroy Andi for the same mistake.
“Damn,” Dex said with a whistle as they walked past family portraits and extravagant Arcardian landscapes rich with color, some of which Andi recognized as Valen’s work. “Valen grew up in style.” He glanced at Andi. “I can see why you befriended his sister in the first place.”
“No one befriended Kalee Cortas,” Andi said as they passed by a painted portrait of the entire Cortas family. Andi dropped her gaze as they walked on, not wanting to see her old friend’s smile. Not wanting to look into Kalee’s eyes and remember the last moment she’d seen them alight with life. “Kalee chose the people she wished to let into her life. I was honored that she allowed me to be assigned to her.”
“Honored?” Dex asked, raising a bruised brow. “Or damned?”
“I’ll let you know after we talk to the general,” Andi said.
Light streamed in through windows that stretched from floor to ceiling and were draped with elegant satin the color of honey. Even though she knew this place, had spent countless nights wandering these halls, Andi felt wrong here, as out of place as her work boots, coated in the evidence of the past as she tracked invisible stains across the ornate rugs that lined the hallway.
They passed several servants at work, dusting and shining the bright orb-lights on the walls and washing the windows.
The servants openly stared at Andi as they passed, not bothering to be discreet. If Andi was in their position, she would probably be doing the same thing. Who wouldn’t, when the traitorous Spectre they’d thought long gone had returned, still alive and well.
Let them stare, Andi thought. Let them look.
She glared at them, pleased to find their attention suddenly move elsewhere as Alfie rounded a corner and they left the workers behind.
They passed many closed doors and vacant hallways, Dex whistling, Alfie’s gears whirring with each step.
“You remember it all, don’t you?” Dex asked.
“Every little bit,” Andi said. “Even the hidden escape tunnels that the general installed. He loved to put them in closets, bathrooms, under the bars...”
She trailed off as they stopped before the sweeping grand staircase in the center of the estate.
This was where she’d last seen Valen. Before everything changed. Where he’d tried to stop her and Kalee, knowing how foolish their plans were.
They’d gone on anyway, leaving him behind.
“Andi,” Dex said. She glanced back up to where he and Alfie stood waiting a few steps ahead.
“I’m coming,” she replied, feeling like a ghost of her old self as she followed them upward, thinking of another time, a different person heading up the stairs in Dex’s place.
The stairway stopped on the next landing, where they took a left, walked down a red-carpeted hallway and finally stopped before a locked oak door.
“General Cortas is just inside,” Alfie said, waving his hand at the door. “His head Spectre will be out in just a moment to retrieve you. When you finish the job, General Cortas will send over your Krevs.”
“We already finished the job,” Dex said.
“General Cortas will decide that upon his inspection of Valen,” Alfie answered.
There was something strange in his normally overpleasant voice that Andi couldn’t quite place.
She nearly asked him if he was alright, knowing Alfie was capable of far more complex thinking than she’d originally guessed. He’d saved the crew’s life, after all, with his launcher. And he’d even remembered to bring Gilly’s hellish creature, a sign that Alfie had some understanding of feelings and attachments.
“Alfie, are you sure everything’s—”
The click of the door opening behind her made her stop.
“I’m sorry for the delay,” a man’s voice said. It was kind, but in more of a diplomatic way than truly sincere.
It was also disconcertingly familiar.
She turned slowly, as if in a dream.
Andi knew the man standing before her—better than most. She remembered the pale white-blond of his hair, the moon-gray of his eyes and the way he stood tall and strong—the very same habit he’d imprinted upon his daughter from a young age.
For a moment, her heart leaped with joy.
Then it seized when she saw the deep blue uniform he was wearing. The gloves with the Arcardius symbol that Andi had once worn, too, and then Alfie’s words came back to her. His head Spectre will be out in just a moment.
It took everything in her to speak as the truth struck her.
“Dad?”