Novels by Zaya Nebula

POV: LenaI was pretending to be asleep.The doctors were murmuring about crystallization percentages and unrealistic deadlines. Words like "emergency extraction" and "terminal procedure" floated in the sterilized air. I kept my eyes shut, but each syllable carved a deeper hole in my chest.When they discharged me, my first destination wasn’t my room. I went straight to the Recovery Archive, the storage room where they kept the belongings of the base’s "guests."The soldier at the door hesitated. "Level 9 clearance or higher to—"I shoved my badge into his face."You really want to wake him up to confirm?""I’m sorry, ma’am, but you were demoted, so—""I’m carrying Kovac’s heir. You still dare question me? I’ll ask one more time. Do you want me to bring him here, soldier?"He seemed to swallow hard before deciding he didn’t want to see his own head roll, so he let me in. Smart kid.Three minutes later, I was holding Danny’s personal inventory:Item 047-B: 1 metal locket (photo of fema

POV: LenaHe hated me.Sitting in the sterile, antiseptic-smelling office, trying in vain to forget what had happened just an hour ago, images of Danny’s attack still haunted me.He was strong. Too strong. He was becoming a super soldier, which meant Kovac would be pleased. In addition to the weapons we were ready to build, there would be a chance to create even more, to truly turn this country into a supreme empire.But at what cost?Kovac stood with his back to me, staring at the only photograph on his polished steel desk. I didn’t need to look to know what it was: Piotr, in cadet uniform, smiling with that innocence only the doomed still carry.“He had your eyes,” I said, the first words spoken after several seconds of silence since I had taken the seat across from the metal and mahogany desk.Kovac didn’t turn.“And his mother’s hair. That burnt-sand color.” His voice was rough, as if it hurt his throat to speak. “He was clever. Agile. Extremely smart… but not enough.”The air con

POV: DannyFlashing lights. Strange sounds in my ears.I was conscious again.Air. I needed air.I gasped, bolting upright, my hands clutching the soft mattress beneath me. Mattress?My eyes adjusted to the gentle light—not the cruel glare of the exam room anymore, but an amber glow, almost cozy.I was in a cell.But what kind of cell had carpet?I looked around, my senses still muddled. The walls were made of matte white metal, no sharp corners, as if molded to keep me from hurting myself. A wide bed, a small bathroom behind a frosted glass panel, even a flat-screen TV built into the wall.And a camera. In the upper corner, a black lens watched me, unblinking.“Good morning, Daniel.”The voice came from a hidden speaker, neutral, professional.“Where the fuck am I?” I growled, rubbing my wrists. The marks from the restraints were still there—purple lines on my skin.The door on the opposite wall slid open with a soft click. A man walked in, wearing a gray NCEA uniform, no insignias.

POV: DannyI knew I was dreaming.My mother, already worn out by age and the endless years working nonstop at the factory in our town, looked at me with a conspiratorial smile.“I have a surprise for you.”“What is it, Mom?”As if I were still a child, she shrugged and replied:“If I tell you, it won’t be a surprise.”She took my hand, her rough, warm fingers wrapping around mine. The house I grew up in smelled like burnt bread and machine oil, as always. The kitchen window was broken, covered with a plastic bag that crackled in the wind.“Close your eyes,” she ordered.I obeyed.I heard the creak of the basement door opening—that sound that always gave me chills when I was little. The air grew colder, damp, filled with the mold that clung to the concrete walls.“You can open them.”When I looked, she was holding a small metal box, rusted around the edges. Inside, a piece of blue glass, almost translucent, faintly glowing in the dark.“I found it at the factory,” she whispered, as if

POV: DannyThe sound of footsteps behind me was metallic, rhythmic, as if whoever was back there wasn’t human, but a machine programmed to hunt.I ran.My lungs burned, my injured leg throbbed with every step, but I couldn’t stop. The complex’s walls narrowed ahead of me, blue roots pulsing like veins beneath a corpse’s skin."You sing like us."The boy's voice from the tank still echoed in my head, mixed with the deafening hum of synesthesia. My watch kept flashing: 4:23, 4:23, 4:23.Shit. Shit. Shit.I turned left into a narrower corridor lined with rusty doors. Some hung open, revealing rooms overtaken by blue crystals. Others were locked shut with rust.Where the hell was I? Somewhere near Droven? A hidden territory no one had access to, except for the madmen behind this project?The footsteps drew closer.I slipped into a lab and shut the door behind me. There was no lock, so I pushed a steel table in front of it, the legs screeching across the floor.My breathing was ragged. My

POV: DannyThat damn traitor.I couldn’t do anything—absolutely nothing—as I watched Raj get cowardly attacked by Lena. The capsule shot through space, and the farther I got from the lunar base, the deeper the despair that gripped my heart.Everyone was dead. My crew, the ones who trusted me and put their hopes in my leadership, were gone.I had a mission: to bring peace to Earth. But instead, I carried with me a terrible truth... that we had been used. We were part of something so vast and evil that there wasn’t even a chance of escape.No. There *was* a chance. The disc Lena had given me. Was it a trap too? Or did it really contain useful information I could use?The capsule slammed into Earth’s atmosphere like a cannonball. Alarms screamed in my ears as I fought the controls.Outside the tiny window, the sky burned in shades of orange and red. Not the polluted gray of Droven I was expecting, but wild, unfamiliar colors.“Shit, Raj,” I grunted, feeling the heat pierce the hull. “Whe