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  The Chief of Force Ortiz looked complacent with his self-righteous smile, and the green digital barcode on his temple that all officials had to keep on during office hours. “People are always saying the most ridiculous things,” the officer said. “The truth is, I was there when Laison Volze was getting his confession recorded, and I can vouch for its legitimacy. That video is public record. If anyone has anything more to say on this matter, they should bring it to the authorities.”

  “The authorities are known for having their little treaties with the Zyre,” Chang said. “There’s talk that Commander Krole has paid you to be on his side, because they’re up to something they don’t want to break to the general public.”

  “Sydney,” Ortiz said. “Conspiracy theorists have been saying these things ever since the Khalthars came here a century ago. These stories don’t mean a thing.”

  Connor couldn’t take it anymore.

  He used the remote to switch off the broadcast, but he couldn’t get rid of the visuals. “This isn’t right,” he said. “Lane, you stupid bastard! Why the fuck did you do that?”

  “You think Dominic might be lying?” Kevin said.

  “Why would he do that?” Connor said. “He has nothing to gain from it. He could have just told me Lane did it, it would have made his life simpler. He knew what was going to happen, he’s not stupid. He sells drugs for a living!”

  “Then why would Lane confess?”

  “You know this is a joke, right?” Connor said, needing some confirmation that he wasn’t the only one thinking that his brother was innocent. “He’s not capable of this, you know that, don’t you? This is just a big fat joke! Lane didn’t kill anyone!”

  “Of course I know,” Kevin said. “They can’t just take him to some prison. They have to have a trial or something, show us proof. We’ll get him the best fucking lawyer there is!”

  “This isn’t shoplifting Kevin,” Connor said. “It’s murder! Of a Zyre nonetheless and Lane’s one of us. You know what that means don’t you? They’re going to take him off to prison and we’ll never see him again!!”

  “Right now, you need to work on your game face,” Kevin said. “We’re going to go see Lane and he’s all alone, and fucked up and he’s expecting us to be strong.” When Connor still just looked like he was about to hurl his fist at something, Kevin shook him again. “Con?”

  “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s go.”

  *

  The Administration Building Holding Cells,

  Zyron Region-One

  Lane looked sick. Dark circles around his eyes and face bruised. He had one arm in a sling and he was walking hunched over, like it was hurting him to stand straight. They did that to him, Connor kept thinking. Lane looked like he had been crying. As he came to sit across from him on the bench, Connor clenched his fists, nails digging into his palms as he tried to control his anger in front of the guards. “You okay?”

  Lane didn’t look up, his gaze stayed fixed at some point on the table that stood between them. “Fine,” he said. His voice was hoarse, like it was difficult for him to speak.

  “They wouldn’t let me see you,” Connor said, trying to start a conversation. “I’ve been trying ever since they took you to the Holding Cells. But they wouldn’t allow it. Kept saying it was a high-profile case and that you weren’t allowed any visitors. I tried to do everything in my power, but you know how these people are.”

  “It’s okay,” Lane said.

  So much for trying to have a conversation. “Why’d you do it Lane?” Connor said, unable to hold it in any longer. “Why’d you confess? Do you know what you’ve gotten yourself into?”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Connor placed a hand over Lane’s and Lane winced so Connor turned his palm over, and that’s when he saw the wounds. Not just bruises, wounds. Lane pulled his hand away and glanced at the guard.

  “Did they hurt you?” Connor said, trying his best to control his temper and not losing it for the sake of his brother. Connor was outside, Lane was inside, and whatever Connor ended up doing might have repercussions for Lane. “Is that why you did it? Did they make you confess?”

  Lane started to cry.

  All Connor wanted to do was to go up to him and give him some hope, but he wasn’t sure how. How did they get here? When did life become so cruel and when did he become so helpless?

  “Con, I need you to leave,” Lane said suddenly, wiping away the tears with his good hand.

  “Laney, don’t do this, don’t push me away. Please, you have to tell me why you did it. This is a murder charge Lane you know what that means, don’t you?”

  “You think I don’t know?” Lane snapped. “I’m not stupid!”

  Connor was about to say something when the guards started gathering around them.

  Lane got up quietly. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Please let this go. Don’t come for me, don’t do anything stupid. I don’t need your help.”

  “You can’t ask me to do that.”

  “Please, Con. Just do as I say. Don’t make it worse.”

  When the guards took Lane away, Connor realized there was nothing could do but stand there and watch.

  *

  Connor came outside to find Kevin waiting for him by the car.

  “Well?” Kevin asked when Connor said nothing.

  “He’s afraid of them,” Connor told him. “He kept saying he doesn’t need my help but you should’ve seen him. He was all messed up. They hurt him, I bet that’s how they got him to confess!”

  Kevin looked confused. “I don’t understand,” he said. “What’re they getting out of it? I mean I’d understand if they already had a dead person on their hands and they framed it on someone. But I don’t understand why someone would go through the trouble of killing someone and then doing all this?”

  “I’ve never felt so powerless before.”

  “What’s going to happen now?”

  “They’re going to extradite him,” Connor said. “To Black Walls.”

  There was a dead silence in the air.

  “Black Walls?” Kevin finally spoke up. “Who told you that?”

  “The warden,” Connor said. “He showed me a signed document. They’re transferring him at the end of next week.”

  “So we still have time.”

  “Dominic said the cop who framed Lane knew his name,” Connor said, and wasn’t sure why that bit of information came to him then. His brother was being sent to some faraway prison that was known for its brutality. There were cases going on in several courts by the Crimes Against Humanity commission that visited here from Earth a few years back and set up an office here because they thought they could help Zyronians. Apparently, Earth had no such problems and their people had been peaceful for aeons. But two years ago, the head of the commission had been mysteriously murdered in his home, and since then the Citizens were on their own. No one ever saw the commission again. That was around the time that a resistance group popped up.

  “And Dominic is sure of this?” Kevin asked.

  “Something’s not right Kevin,” Connor said. “And I know that sounds like a conspiracy, but there’s something’s going on here, something that goes beyond what they’re telling us, and I’m going to find out what it is.”

  CHAPTER 5

  THE NAME OF SCIENCE

  Zyron Region-One

  Mekha came to pick him up promptly at nine in the morning and they were off to meet their boss Easton, who also happened to be Mekha’s father. There was something about the way she was dressed, Connor felt like she was doing it to look good for him. Connor wished he could have told her there was no need for it, he was already heads over heels in love with her. But there was no place for a serious relationship in his life. Well, perhaps there might be a place if he was so inclined, but so far he had been giving the both of them excuses. All the time they spent together was mostly to discuss what the next score was, and even when they did find themselves in a place where they would end up s
leeping together, it would have to be cut short for one reason or another. Either Mekha had to go back home early, or Connor did. They had been together for over two years now and they hadn’t spent more than a few nights together.

  Sometimes Connor wanted more, but other times he wasn’t sure he could deal with the complication. Besides, everyone said dating the boss’s daughter was the biggest mistake he was going to make, but so far it hadn’t caused any trouble. Either Easton wasn’t concerned with what his daughter was doing, or he liked the idea of his daughter dating a man who worked under him, and by that definition, someone who was going to do as he was asked. Someone who was so burdened by Easton’s generosity that he wouldn’t complain about anything Mekha did. If Connor was being honest, it was perhaps the main reason he was hesitant to turn this thing into a full blown relationship. He was afraid Easton might use Mekha to get Connor to do worse things. Though knowing Easton, there was no way Connor would have reason to refuse him either way, but just the knowledge that Easton would have one more thing to control him with, kept him distant enough from Mekha. Of course Mekha wasn’t exactly making it easy for him. She strutted about wearing those provocative outfits, and there was no way Connor could ever resist them—or perhaps it wasn’t so much the outfits as the fact that everything Mekha wore seemed sexy to him.

  “Are you alright?” Mekha asked when they got off at Easton’s mansion.

  Connor had barely realized they were at their destination. All through the ride he had plenty of things to think about, most importantly things related to Lane and the fact that they were extraditing him in a manner of days. No matter how much he tried to distract himself, those thoughts were still the focus of everything he said or did.

  “I’m fine,” he said.

  “You’re sure you want to do this?” she asked. “Because all this time, you kept saying how much you didn’t want your brother involved.”

  “I don’t think I have a choice.”

  Mekha kissed him on the cheek and held his hand. “In that case you need to stop thinking about it.”

  “It feels wrong,” Connor said. “I know I’ve been against this thing forever and now I’m asking you to help. I don’t exactly feel great about that.”

  “There’s nothing humiliating about trying to survive,” she said. “I understand it, and so does my father, I assure you, even if he’s known to be a dick sometimes.”

  Connor grinned. “You’re calling your father a dick?”

  “That’s what he is, isn’t he?”

  “Well, he’s definitely a strong man,” Connor said. “Someone who knows what he’s doing and isn’t afraid to say that he’s smarter than the rest.”

  “That’s a nice way of saying he’s a sociopath with egomaniacal tendencies.”

  “That’s not what I said.”

  “No, but that’s what you meant,” she said. “Now come on, let’s go before he sends someone out to look for us.”

  *

  There was something rustic about Easton’s mansion, and unlike Easton’s personality the house had a homely feel to it. Connor felt out of place at first, but it wasn’t because of the place itself, probably what it represented—namely the man everyone loved to hate. Thankfully, having Mekha around controlled some of that unease and when she poured them drinks Connor finally eased up a little. He saw the massive portrait of a woman in her forties, dressed in formal clothing. The woman in the portrait had lines on her face and shadows that Connor had never seen before, but he couldn’t help noticing the resemblance. “Is that your mother?” he asked Mekha.

  Mekha didn’t have to look at the picture to reply. “Yes it is,” she said. “She died a few years back, if you remember.”

  “I do,” Connor said. “I was never close to Easton though. I went to her funeral but that’s about it. I didn’t know her well, but I’ve heard people say some very nice things about her.”

  “In her life she was a bitch, but the minute she died she became a fucking goddess,” Mekha said. “People are so insincere. I’ve known some who’ve plotted against her all her life and now all they do is sing her praises.”

  “Regret maybe?”

  “Maybe,” Mekha said. “But mostly I think its deluded to think that you should miss a person in death that you hated in life. I think they just want to feel better about themselves by not despising a dead person.”

  “So, I’m guessing your mother didn’t get along well with people?”

  “My father wasn’t exactly husband of the century you know?” Mekha said. “That and the fact that she basically had to leave her family when she agreed to marry my father, I think it was too much for her to bear. She started getting problems, she’d be sick the whole time even when I was really young, she just couldn’t stand to be around lengthy conversations and she couldn’t be sociable like people expected her to. She tried. I’ve seen her struggling with it all her life. In the end she just gave up trying and accepted who she was and wanted us to do the same.”

  “Did you?”

  “I did,” Mekha said. “But my father and the people who worked for us, that was a different story. Even his family never really accepted her.”

  “What happened to her?”

  “Cancer happened,” Mekha said. “It was a new aggressive kind of cancer, something no one over here has seen before. It was devastating to watch her be so ill, unable to do anything and wanting to live. Eventually though she gave up on being cured just as she had given up on her life, and one day I woke up and found she wasn’t breathing and that was it. She was dead and before I knew it, people were coming to her funeral and telling me how sorry they were.”

  “I’m sorry,” Connor said. “I’ve known you for two years, how is it that you’ve never told me this before?”

  “I guess it never came up.”

  The doors opened and a tall, strong man of about sixty came inside, followed by his bodyguard. “Mekha!” he said and Mekha stood, and the man kissed her forehead. Connor stood too and the man shook hands with him. “Connor,” Easton said. “Long time. How’ve you been?”

  “I’m okay,” Connor said.

  “He’s not okay,” Mekha intervened. “He’s anything but okay.”

  “Yes I know, I read the papers you sent me,” Easton said.

  Mekha looked a little amazed. “You read them?” she said. “You actually took the time to read them? Wow. I’m impressed, dad.”

  “My beautiful daughter asks me for a favor,” Easton said. “How could I not look into it?”

  Connor wondered if that was a hint at how much Connor could benefit by sticking to his daughter. Easton gestured for them to sit and took a place across from Connor. His bodyguard went to stand right behind him. Connor noticed the man was carrying a weapon and not even trying to hide it.

  “So,” Easton said, lounging far back on the sofa. “Mekha tells me your brother’s in jail for a crime he didn’t commit.”

  “Look I know how that sounds,” Connor said. “But I have reason to believe my brother’s being framed.”

  “Any idea why anyone might do that?” Easton asked. Connor wondered if he was mocking him, but the man’s interest looked genuine.

  “No clue,” Connor said. “I just know that it was a cop who instigated it.”

  “Yes Officer Kei,” Easton said. “I know him. He used to be on my payroll. He has to be one of the most corrupts cops in Zyron.”

  “So, do you think you can help?”

  “Well I hate to disappoint you,” Easton said. “But there’s nothing I can do.”

  Connor wasn’t expecting that. He had never known Easton to say that there was something he couldn’t do. He knew Easton to find ways to do things, so why was he saying this now? He was sick of hearing that there was no hope. “Mekha said you could help.”

  “I wanted to,” Easton said. “I even tried calling a few people, but trust me, no one has a high enough reach for this.”

  Connor said nothing, knowing that it was just a
nother part of this never-ending nightmare.

  Easton leaned in to speak. “When Mekha gave me those documents yesterday,” he said, gesturing to his bodyguard, who handed him a white electronic file. “I did some research.” He used his finger to navigate the screen of the e-file and handed it over to Connor. “See what this is?”

  Connor took the file and saw what Easton was trying to show him. It was a copy of an official list of names. “What’s this?”

  “Take a look at number five.”

  So Connor looked, and there it was, his brother’s name written in red. It had a number code and some more information on it, his phone number and their home address. It said what school he belonged to and the name of the college he was last enrolled in, and the courses he took. Even Connor’s own name, and the names of Arianna and Dominic and Mackenzie. “I don’t understand.”

  “This is a list generated by the Science Bureau,” Easton explained. “Look at the signature, this thing comes with direct orders from Commander Krole.”

  “Why would the Head of The Regime have my brother’s name on file?”

  “Now that’s the million dollar question,” Easton said. “That no one can answer. Trust me, I’ve tried.”

  Connor believed him.

  No matter how cruel Easton was known to be, he was reliable. That was the reason people worked for him and were willing to give their lives in order to keep him safe. He never went back on his word. If Easton promised you something and couldn’t do it, there was a fat chance that anyone on the planet would be able to. It was just unfortunate that Connor’s problems lied in the same category. Of all people, Easton would never refuse Mekha. He may not be father of the year, but everyone knew how much he loved her and how he was always doing things for her.

  “So you’re saying there’s nothing we can do,” Connor asked the question he was dreading to ask.

  “I’m afraid there isn’t,” Easton said. “This thing with your brother, it goes deep. They’re keeping it all top-secret, high-level security, no one is allowed to know much, so I just have one question, Connor. What the hell did your brother get himself into?”