25
The Zachary ships blasted out of hyperspace in front of Defestus.
The sight of the planet made Florian want to look away.
The prison planet, brown and blue, looked like it was diseased. Sickly gray clouds surged across the surface, and the continents, brown and pockmarked, looked as if they’d suffered some kind of plague. And the planet was a dwarf, too, compared to others in the galaxy, as if its growth had been stunted.
“A sickly sight for rabid eyes,” the emperor said. “Suppose we dropped you off there, Mr. Macalestern.”
“Tell your guards to shoot me instead,” Florian said.
If this plan didn’t work, they would be shooting him. He was drenched in sweat, and aside from being handcuffed to the wall and left alone, the emperor had left him alone, staring quietly out the window as t
