Aurora Burning: The Aurora Cycle 2 Read online

  ALSO BY AMIE KAUFMAN AND JAY KRISTOFF

  The Aurora Cycle

  Aurora Rising

  Aurora Burning

  The Illuminae Files

  Illuminae

  Gemina

  Obsidio

  ALSO BY JAY KRISTOFF

  The LIFEL1K3 Trilogy

  LIFEL1K3

  DEV1AT3

  TRUEL1F3

  ALSO BY AMIE KAUFMAN AND MEAGAN SPOONER

  The Starbound Trilogy

  These Broken Stars

  This Shattered World

  Their Fractured Light

  The Unearthed Duology

  Unearthed

  Undying

  The Other Side of the Sky Duology

  The Other Side of the Sky

  First published by Allen & Unwin in 2020

  Copyright © LaRoux Industries Pty Ltd. and Neverafter Pty Ltd. 2020

  Cover illustration copyright © Charlie Bowater 2020

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or ten per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to the Copyright Agency (Australia) under the Act.

  Allen & Unwin

  83 Alexander Street

  Crows Nest NSW 2065

  Australia

  Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100

  Email: [email protected]

  Web: www.allenandunwin.com

  ISBN 978 1 76029 574 5

  eISBN 978 1 76087 372 5

  For teaching resources, explore

  www.allenandunwin.com/resources/for-teachers

  Cover design by Debra Billson

  Cover illustration by Charlie Bowater

  Text design by Heather Kelly

  Set in Fairfield LH

  www.amiekaufman.com

  www.jaykristoff.com

  This one is for Squad 312.

  Every single one of you.

  CONTENTS

  PART 1: DOWN AND OUT IN EMERALD CITY

  1 TYLER

  2 AURI

  3 SCARLETT

  4 ZILA

  5 KAL

  6 FINIAN

  PART 2: THE BLOOD BETWEEN US

  7 FINIAN

  8 AURI

  9 KAL

  10 FINIAN

  11 SCARLETT

  12 ZILA

  13 TYLER

  14 KAL

  15 TYLER

  16 SCARLETT

  PART 3: A TIME TO BURN

  17 FINIAN

  18 AURI

  19 TYLER

  20 KAL

  21 TYLER

  22 THE ECHO

  23 TYLER

  24 THE ECHO

  25 ZILA

  26 AURI

  27 TYLER

  28 SCARLETT

  PART 4: SHADOW ON THE SUN

  29 KAL

  30 FINIAN

  31 TYLER

  32 KAL

  33 TYLER

  34 ZILA

  35 AURI

  36 TYLER

  37 SCARLETT

  38 KAL

  39 TYLER

  40 SCARLETT

  41 THREE ONE TWO

  STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

  ► BOOK 1: AURORA RISING

  ▾ CAST

  AURORA JIE-LIN O’MALLEY—THE GIRL OUT OF TIME. AURORA SET OUT FROM TERRA WITH TEN THOUSAND OTHER COLONISTS OVER TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO, DESTINED FOR OCTAVIA III. HER VESSEL, THE HADFIELD, WAS LOST IN A STRETCH OF INTERDIMENSIONAL SPACE KNOWN AS THE FOLD, ONLY TO BE REDISCOVERED CENTURIES LATER BY AURORA LEGION CADET TYLER JONES.

  AURORA WAS THE SOLE SURVIVOR.

  AFTER HER RESCUE, AURI BEGAN HAVING PROPHETIC DREAMS AND EXHIBITING TELEKINETIC POWERS. ON THE RUN WITH THE MISFITS OF SQUAD 312, SHE WAS EVENTUALLY LED BACK TO OCTAVIA III. HERE SHE DISCOVERED THAT THE PLANET INTENDED TO BE HER HOME WAS ACTUALLY A NURSERY WORLD FOR THE RA’HAAM—AN ANCIENT GESTALT ENTITY COMPOSED OF MILLIONS OF ASSIMILATED LIFE-FORMS SLUMBERING BENEATH THE MANTLE.

  AURORA ALSO LEARNED THAT HER POWERS HAD BEEN GIFTED TO HER BY THE ESHVAREN, A MYSTERIOUS RACE THAT DEFEATED THE RA’HAAM EONS AGO. KNOWING THAT THEIR ANCIENT FOE WOULD ONE DAY TRY TO CONSUME THE GALAXY AGAIN, THE ESHVAREN HID A WEAPON IN THE FOLD TO FIGHT THE RA’HAAM AND SET EVENTS IN MOTION TO CREATE A “TRIGGER” TO FIRE THE WEAPON.

  AURORA HAS LEARNED THAT SHE IS THAT TRIGGER.

  AURI IS SMALL IN SIZE, BIG ON MOXIE. SHE’S STILL STRUGGLING TO COME TO GRIPS WITH HER PLACE IN THIS NEW TIME AND GALAXY, BUT SHE FEELS A FIERCE LOYALTY TO THE AURORA LEGIONNAIRES WHO’VE TAKEN HER IN.

  SHE HAS A BLACK PIXIE CUT WITH A WHITE STREAK THROUGH HER BANGS AND IS OF CHINESE-IRISH HERITAGE. HER RIGHT IRIS HAS TURNED WHITE, AND IT GLOWS WHEN SHE USES HER POWERS.

  TYLER JONES—THE GOLDENBOY. TYLER ENLISTED IN THE AURORA LEGION AT AGE THIRTEEN, AFTER THE DEATH OF HIS FATHER, JERICHO. HE ENTERED THE ACADEMY’S ALPHA STREAM, DEVOTING HIS LIFE TO THE PURSUIT OF GALACTIC PEACE AND ORDER. BUT AFTER RESCUING AURORA IN THE FOLD, TY FOUND HIMSELF IN CHARGE OF A GROUP OF MISFITS, LOSERS, AND DISCIPLINE CASES: AURORA LEGION SQUAD 312.

  AFTER BEING CAPTURED BY THE GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY ABOARD THE SAGAN MINING STATION, TYLER AND HIS SQUAD FOUND THEMSELVES ON THE RUN FROM THE TERRAN GOVERNMENT. VISITING THE INTERDICTED WORLD OF OCTAVIA III, TYLER AND COMPANY UNCOVERED AN ANCIENT CONSPIRACY THAT THREATENS EVERY SENTIENT RACE IN THE GALAXY. AND THE MISFITS OF SQUAD 312 SEEM TO BE THE ONLY ONES WHO CAN STOP IT.

  TY IS A NATURAL LEADER AND A BRILLIANT TACTICIAN, BUT ACCORDING TO HIS SISTER, HE “WOULDN’T KNOW FUN IF IT INVADED HIS PLANET.” HE’S SELF-CONFIDENT TO THE POINT OF ARROGANCE, BUT HE USUALLY HAS THE GOODS TO BACK IT UP.

  HE HAS BLUE EYES, BLOND SHAGGY HAIR, AND DIMPLES THAT CAN EXPLODE OVARIES AT THIRTY METERS.

  KALIIS IDRABAN GILWRAETH—THE OUTSIDER. KALIIS IS ONE OF THE FEW SYLDRATHI TO HAVE JOINED THE AURORA LEGION SINCE THE WAR BETWEEN EARTH AND SYLDRA ENDED. HE IS A MEMBER OF THE WARBREED CABAL—THE SYLDRATHI WARRIOR CASTE—AND HIS FEARSOME COMBAT PROWESS MADE HIM A NATURAL FOR THE TANK STREAM IN THE ACADEMY. HOWEVER, HE WAS SHUNNED AS AN OUTSIDER AND ENDED UP IN SQUAD 312.

  UPON MEETING AURORA, KAL FOUND HIMSELF IMMEDIATELY UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF “THE PULL”—AN IMPOSSIBLY INTENSE SYLDRATHI MATING INSTINCT. NOT WISHING TO FORCE AURORA INTO A SITUATION OR A RELATIONSHIP SHE COULDN’T UNDERSTAND, KAL DECIDED TO LEAVE THE SQUAD. BUT AFTER AURORA CONFESSED FEELINGS FOR HIM, HE RESOLVED TO STAY AND DEVOTED HIMSELF TO PROTECTING HIS BE’SHMAI (BELOVED).

  KAL STRUGGLES WITH HIS WARRIOR INSTINCT CONSTANTLY, AND HIS BATTLES WITH THIS SO-CALLED ENEMY WITHIN HINT AT A DARKNESS IN HIS PAST HE HAS YET TO SHARE.

  KAL IS AN EXCELLENT BROODER. HONESTLY, HE COULD BROOD AT A PROFESSIONAL LEVEL.

  HE HAS DREAMY VIOLET EYES, OLIVE SKIN, AND LONG SILVER HAIR. DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON HIS CHEEKBONES.

  SCARLETT JONES—THE HEARTBREAKER. TYLER’S TWIN SISTER (OLDER BY THREE MINUTES AND 37.4 SECONDS), SCARLETT ENLISTED IN THE AURORA LEGION ALONG WITH HER BROTHER—NOT OUT OF ANY SENSE OF DUTY TO LAW AND ORDER, BUT RATHER TO KEEP TYLER OUT OF TROUBLE. SHE JOINED THE DIPLOMACY STREAM AND APPLIED HERSELF LESS THAN ANY CADET IN ACADEMY HISTORY, BUT HER ALMOST SIXTH SENSE ABOUT WHAT OTHERS WERE THINKING HELPED HER BECOME A BRILLIANT FACE.

  SCAR HAS A BLACK BELT IN SARCASM. THOUGH SHE’S UNFOCUSED, SHE’S HIGHLY INTELLIGENT, AND SHE CAN QUIC KLY LEARN ENOUGH ABOUT ANY SITUATION/CULTURE/SETTING TO FIT INTO MOST SCENARIOS SEAMLESSLY. INCIDENTALLY, THIS MAKES HER A TRIVIA-NIGHT QUEEN.

  SCAR IS PALE, STATUESQUE, AND HAS FLAMING RED HAIR CUT IN AN ASYMMETRICAL BOB. SHE’S NEVER HAD A RELATIONSHIP THAT LASTED MORE THAN SEVEN WEEKS, AND THE TRAIL OF BROKEN HEARTS SHE’S LEFT IN HER WAKE WOULD BE AS LONG AS MY ARM.

  I MEAN, IF I HAD ARMS …

  FINIAN DE KARRAN DE SEEL—THE SMART-ASS. FINIAN IS A BETRASKAN AND A MECHANICAL GENIUS WHOSE ABRASIVE PERSONALITY AND LESS-THAN-STELLAR INTERPERSONAL SKILLS SAW HIM PICKED LAST OUT OF EVERY GEARHEAD IN HIS YEAR AT AURORA ACADEMY.

  FINIAN CAUGHT THE LYSERGIA PLAGUE AS A CHILD, AND THOUGH THE DISEASE FAILED TO KILL HIM, IT EXTENSIVELY DAMAGED HIS MOBILITY. SENT AWAY FROM TRASK TO LIVE ABOARD A ZERO-GEE SPACE STATION WITH HIS THIRD GRANDPARENTS, FINIAN USED HIS TECHNICAL SKILLS TO CONSTRUCT AN EXOSUIT, WHICH HE WEARS CONSTANTLY. THE SUIT ALLOWS HIM TO MOVE UNASSISTED AND CONTAINS AN ARRAY OF USEFUL TOOLS AND DEVICES.

  FINIAN HIDES HIS INSECURITIES BEHIND A WALL OF CYNICISM. LIKE ALL HIS PEOPLE, HE HAS PALE SKIN AND HAIR, AND HE WEARS BLACK CONTACT LENSES OVER HIS EYES TO PROTECT THEM FROM UV RADIATION.

  HE DOES NOT HAVE A HOPELESS CRUSH ON SCARLETT JONES, THANKS FOR ASKING. ANY RUMORS THAT HER BROTHER WOULD BE A SATISFACTORY CONSOLATION PRIZE ARE NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS EITHER.

  ZILA MADRAN—THE FRIGHTENINGLY INTELLIGENT ONE. OR JUST THE FRIGHTENING ONE. ZILA IS THE SCIENCE OFFICER IN SQUAD 312. THOUGH SHE SPEAKS RARELY, HER INSIGHTS ARE USUALLY FLAWLESS, AND SHE APPROACHES LIFE WITH A SENSE OF ICE-COLD RATIONALITY.

  ZILA HAS FEW TO NO SOCIAL SKILLS. SHE’S BLUNT AND DISTANT AND HAS TROUBLE SHOWING EMPATHY FOR OTHERS. SHE’S HINTED AT PAST TRAUMA AS THE REASON FOR THIS BEHAVIOR, BUT SHE HAS YET TO REVEAL WHAT THAT TRAUMA MIGHT HAVE BEEN. ZILA IS SHORT, WITH DARK BROWN SKIN AND LONG, CURLING HAIR THAT SEEMS TO HAVE A MIND OF ITS OWN (WHICH WOULD EXPLAIN A LOT, ACTUALLY). SHE WEARS A VARIETY OF GOLDEN EARRINGS, WHICH STRANGELY SEEM TO MATCH WHATEVER SHE’S DOING AT THE TIME. SOFT-SPOKEN, SHE’S SCARY SMART, AND WAAAAAY TOO FOND OF SHOOTING THINGS WITH HER DISRUPTOR PISTOL.

  CATHERINE BRANNOCK—THE HOTSHOT. CAT “ZERO” BRANNOCK WAS A BRILLIANT PILOT AND MEMBER OF THE AURORA LEGION. BEST FRIENDS WITH TY AND SCAR JONES SINCE CHILDHOOD, CAT WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SCAR ON TYLER’S RIGHT EYEBROW (SHE BROKE A CHAIR OVER HIS HEAD ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN).

  CAT AND TY SLEPT WITH EACH OTHER THE NIGHT THEY GRADUATED INTO THEIR FINAL YEAR AS CADETS. THOUGH TYLER CONVINCED CAT THAT A SERIOUS RELATIONSHIP WASN’T A GOOD IDEA, CAT CONTINUED TO CARRY A TORCH FOR TY AND STUCK WITH HIM WHEN HE WAS LUMPED WITH THE MISFITS OF SQUAD 312.

  CYNICAL AND COMBATIVE, SHE WAS OFTEN AT LOGGERHEADS WITH AURORA, AND SHE TRIED TO KEEP THE SQUAD ON THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW. TRAGICALLY, SHE WAS INFECTED BY THE RA’HAAM HIVE MIND WHEN THE SQUAD VISITED OCTAVIA III. THOUGH SHE FOUGHT AGAINST THE GESTALT BRAVELY, ALLOWING HER TEAMMATES TIME TO ESCAPE THE PLANET, SHE WAS EVENTUALLY ABSORBED INTO THE COLLECTIVE.

  I KNOW. I WAS SAD, TOO. ☹

  THE ESHVAREN—DEPENDING WHO YOU ASK, THE ESHVAREN ARE EITHER AN ANCIENT RACE OF MYSTERIOUS BEINGS WHO DIED OUT A MILLION YEARS AGO, OR A SCAM PERPETUATED BY TWO-CRED HUCKSTERS AND PURVEYORS OF BOGUS ARTIFACTS.

  IN FACT, NOT ONLY DID THE ESHVAREN EXIST, BUT THEY ACTUALLY FOUGHT A WAR AGAINST THE RA’HAAM FOR THE FATE OF THE ENTIRE GALAXY. THE ESHVAREN EVENTUALLY WON.

  KNOWING THAT THEIR ANCIENT FOES MIGHT ONE DAY RETURN, BUT THAT THEY’D LIKELY NOT BE ALIVE TO SEE IT, THE ESHVAREN HID DEVICES IN THE FOLD THAT WOULD LEAD TO THE CREATION OF THE TRIGGER—A BEING OF IMMENSE PSYCHIC POWER. THEY ALSO SUPPOSEDLY HID A WEAPON CAPABLE OF DEFEATING THE RA’HAAM OUT THERE TOO.

  IF YOU KNOW WHERE TO FIND IT, HONESTLY, THAT’D REALLY HELP US OUT… .

  THE RA’HAAM—A SINGLE BEING COMPRISING MILLIONS OF MINDS. WANTING TO INCORPORATE THE GALAXY INTO ITS “UNION,” THE RA’HAAM ONCE SOUGHT TO CONSUME EVERY SENTIENT MIND IN THE GALAXY.

  DEFEATED BY THE ESHVAREN, THE RA’HAAM SANK INTO HIBERNATION ON TWENTY-TWO HIDDEN NURSERY WORLDS, SCATTERED ACROSS THE MILKY WAY. NESTLED BENEATH THE SURFACE OF THESE PLANETS—ALL LOCATED NEAR NATURALLY OCCURRING GATES INTO THE FOLD—THE RA’HAAM HAS BEEN LICKING ITS WOUNDS FOR A MILLION YEARS.

  UNFORTUNATELY, ONE OF THESE WORLDS IS OCTAVIA III, A PLANET CHOSEN FOR TERRAN COLONIZATION. DISCOVERING THE NASCENT RA’HAAM BENEATH THE SURFACE, THE COLONISTS WERE CONSUMED AND ADDED TO ITS TOTALITY, INCLUDING AURORA’S FATHER, ZHANG JI.

  WHAT HAPPENED NEXT IS A LITTLE MURKY, BUT THE RA’HAAM APPARENTLY SENT THESE CORRUPTED COLONISTS BACK TO EARTH, INFILTRATING THE GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY TO FURTHER ITS AGENDA. IT NOW WAITS BENEATH ITS TWENTY-TWO WORLDS, GATHERING STRENGTH FOR THE MOMENT IT CAN SPAWN AGAIN, SPEWING THROUGH THE FOLD TO INFECT THE ENTIRE GALAXY.

  MAGELLAN—THAT’D BE ME! HELLO! I MISSED YOUR SQUISHY HUMAN FACES!

  OKAY, ALL CAUGHT UP? WELL, STRAP IN, FOLKS. WE AIN’T IN KANSAS ANYMORE… .

  1

  TYLER

  The disruptor blast hits the Betraskan right in her chest.

  She shrieks, and her armload of e-tech goes flying as she collapses in a drooling heap. I vault over her as she falls, ducking as another disruptor shot hisses past my ear. The bazaar around us is crowded, the mob parting before me in a panic as more blasts ring out behind us. Scarlett is running right on my heels, flame-red hair plastered to her cheeks with sweat. She leaps over the unconscious Betraskan woman and her scattered goods, offering an apologetic shout.

  “Sorryyyy!”

  Another blast rings out. The gangsters chasing us roar at the crowd to step aside. We leap over the counter of a semptar stall, past the gobsmacked owner, and out the back door into another packed, humid street. Hovercraft and rotor bots. Pale green walls around us, red skies above, yellow plascrete beneath our feet, a rainbow of outfits and skin tones ahead.

  “Left!” Finian shouts over comms. “Go left!”

  We left it, barreling into a grubby alleyway off the main drag. Hucksters and fienders stare at us as we sprint past, boots pounding, trash flying. The tiny gangsters chasing us reach the alley mouth, filling the air with the BAMF! BAMF! of their disruptor blasts. The whoosh of charged particles rushes past my ear. We skid behind a dumpster full of discarded machine parts, looking for some kind of cover.

  “I told you this was a bad idea!” Scarlett gasps.

  “And I told you I don’t have bad ideas!” I shout, kicking through a doorway.

  “Oh no?” she asks, cracking off a shot at our pursuers.

  “No!” I drag her inside. “Just less amazing ones!”

  · · · · ·

  Yeah, let’s back it up a little.

  About forty minutes, maybe, before things got quite so shooty. I know I’ve done this before, but it’s more exciting this way. Trust me. Dimples, remember?

  So, forty minutes ago, I’m sitting in a crowded booth in a crowded bar, music thumping in my ears. I’m outfitted in a tight black tunic and tighter pants, which I presume are stylish—Scarlett chose them for me, after all. My sister’s squeezed into the booth beside me, also in civilian wardrobe: blood-red and formfitting and cut as low as she likes it.

  Sitting opposite us are a dozen gremps.

  The place we’re in is a dive, all pulsing light and smoky air, stuffed to the rafters. There’s a broad pit in the center of the room where I guess they hold some kind of blood sport, but fortunately nobody’s killing anyone else in here right now. Drug and skin trades are going on all around us, the small-time hustlers of the station and their daily grind. And along with the smell of rocksmoke and the speakers’ thudding deepdub, a single question is buzzing in my head.

  How in the Maker’s name did I get here?

  The gremps sit across from us—a dozen small, furry figures crammed into the other side of the booth. Their slitted eyes are fixed on the uniglass Scarlett has placed on the table between us. The device is a flat pane of palm-sized transparent silicon, lit up with holo displays. Rotating a few inches above it is a gl owing image of our Longbow. The ship is arrowhead-shaped, gleaming titanium and carbite. The Aurora Legion sigil and our squad designation, 312, are emblazoned down its flanks.

  It’s state of the art. Beautiful. We’ve been through a lot together.

  And now we have to let her go.

  The gremps mutter among themselves in their own hissing, purring tongue, whiskers twitching. The leader is a little over a meter tall, which is big for her species. The tortoiseshell fur covering her body is perfectly coiffed, and her pearl-white suit screams “gangster chic.” Her pale green eyes are edged with dark powder and have the gleam of someone who feeds people to her pets for kicks.

  “Risky, Earthgirl.” The gremp’s voice is a smooth purr. “Rrrrisky.”

  “We were told Skeff Tannigut was a lady who could handle a little risk,” Scarlett smiles. “You’ve got quite the reputation around here.”

  The aforementioned Ms. Tannigut drums her claws on the tabletop, glances up from the hologram of our Longbow and into my sister’s eyes.

  “There’s regular risk, Earthgirl, and then there’s the risk of twenty years in Lunar Penal Colony. Trafficking in stolen Aurora Legion hardware is no joke.”

  “Neither is the hardware,” I say.

  Twelve sets of slitted eyes swivel toward me. Twelve fanged jaws drop open. Skeff Tannigut looks at my sister with astonishment, ears twitching atop her head.

  “You let your male speak in public?”

  “He’s … spirited,” Scarlett smiles, giving me a side-eye full of Shut uuup.

  “I could sell you a pain collar?” the gangster offers. “Break him in?”

  I raise my eyebrow. “Thanks, but—hrk!”

  I clutch my bruised shin under the table and glare as Scarlett leans forward to look the syndicate leader in the eye. “If you’re feeling so generous, let’s skip the foreplay, shall we?” She waves at the holo image of our Longbow. “A hundred thousand and she’s yours. Weapon passcodes included.”

  Tannigut confers briefly with her colleagues. Not fancying another boot to the shins, I keep my mouth on the right side of shut and study the club around us.

  The bar is lined with bottles full of rainbows, and the walls are lit with holographic displays—jetball games and the latest economy reports from Central and news feeds of Unbroken ships on the move in the Neutral Zones. This station is a long way from the Core, but I’m still surprised at the number of different species here. Since we docked two hours ago, I must’ve counted at least twenty—pale Betraskans, furry gremps, hulking blue Chellerians. This place is like a dirty slice of the whole Milky Way, dropped into one dodgy, suborbital melting pot.