The Cure or the Curse

Lucius wasn't dead. He was resurrected. A cyborg Lazarus rising from the steam of the airlock, his wheelchair now a mechanized exoskeleton of chrome and hydraulics.

"Miss me?" his voice grated, amplified by the respirator.

I raised my gun, aiming for the sliver of flesh visible above the mask. "You fell fifty stories."

"And hit the water," he said, his mechanical legs taking a step forward. "Broken spine. Crushed lungs. But the serum... it's quite remarkable what it can repair, given enough dosage."

He looked at Elena. "Hello, my dear. You look... wonderfully normal."

Elena shrank back, clutching my arm. "Stay away from me."

"Oh, I intend to," Lucius said. "You're a failed experiment. Unstable. Emotional." He turned his gaze to me. "But you, Aria. You're the masterpiece."

"I'm not your daughter," I spat. "I'm a Blackwood."

"Names," Lucius scoffed. "Labels for sheep. You carry the blood. You carry the code. And now..." He gestured to the open airlock behind him. "You're coming home."

"Over my dead body," Vesper said, raising her rifle.

Lucius didn't even look at her. He flicked his wrist.

A pulse of energy shot from a device on his arm. It hit Vesper in the chest, throwing her back against the bulkhead. She slumped to the floor, unconscious.

"Anyone else?" Lucius asked.

I looked at Felix, who was cowering behind a console. At Seraphina, who was staring at her brother with a mixture of horror and pity.

"Lucius," she said softly. "This has to stop."

"It stops when I say it stops," he snarled. He looked at me. "The key, Aria. The real one."

I touched my pocket. The drive Seraphina had given me. The one marked *1999*.

"If I give it to you," I said, "you let them go."

"Aria, no," Elena whispered.

"Deal," Lucius said. "The drive for their lives."

I pulled the drive out. I held it up.

"Catch," I said.

I threw it.

But not to him.

I threw it past him, through the open airlock, into the ocean.

Lucius screamed. A sound of pure, unadulterated rage. He lunged for the door, his mechanical legs whirring.

But he was too slow. The drive hit the water with a tiny splash and vanished.

Lucius turned back to me. His eyes were burning.

"You foolish girl," he hissed. "You think you destroyed it? That was just the backup. The primary is in your head."

He pointed a finger at me.

"Seize her."

Two massive figures stepped out of the airlock behind him. They weren't human. They were like him—cybernetic monstrosities, faces covered in steel masks.

"Run!" I shouted to Elena.

I shoved her toward the escape hatch at the back of the bridge.

"Go!"

The first cyborg charged. I fired, but the bullets sparked harmlessly off his armor. He backhanded me, sending me flying into the navigation console.

Pain exploded in my side. I tasted blood.

I looked up. The second cyborg had grabbed Elena. He was dragging her toward the airlock.

"No!" I screamed.

I tried to stand, but my legs wouldn't work.

Lucius rolled toward me. He leaned down, his metal fingers gripping my chin.

"You're going to fix this, Aria," he whispered. "You're going to rebuild my legacy. Or I'm going to take your sister apart piece by piece until you do."

He straightened up.

"Take them to the sub," he ordered.

I watched helplessly as they dragged Elena away. She was screaming my name.

Then darkness took me.