One of the three creatures that had picked up the electric pole the last time he’d been in the cell—the ones with the thick skulls and weak bellies—stepped closer to Seb. It balled a fist, raised it, clenched its jaw, and then brought it crashing down.
A world still in slow motion, Seb winced away from the blow. But before it could connect, a buzz of electricity sounded out and the beast yelped.
When Seb opened his eyes, he saw the odd brute slumped against the far wall two metres away. It sat with a dazed stare and didn’t look like it would get up any time soon.
“What the …?” Seb said, looking up at the others. They’d already started backing away from him. When he saw where they were looking, he suddenly felt it. They had their attention on his neck rather than him. Still recovering his senses, he hadn’t noticed it. Although, now he realised he had a collar on, the weight of the cold metal seemed impossible to ignore.
A crackling noise came into the cell through a speaker, the small space amplifying the sound. A guard then spoke to them. “We get that you needed to hit him, but if anyone else attacks the prisoner, they’ll get the same electric shock. The voltage next time will be more powerful than a warning.”
The beasts in the cell all stepped back another pace.
“Moses needs him,” the guard continued. “We’ve healed all his broken bones from the kicking the boss gave him. We don’t need to be doing it again.”
The sound of the guard on the speaker rang through Seb’s ears. It joined the tinnitus tone that had been driven into him with the force of the mandulu’s boot. Maybe he’d burst an eardrum, although he still heard the mandulu when he spoke.
“Looks like you’ve been saved again. Are you Moses’ golden boy or something? How nice it must be to be one of the privileged in the galaxy.”
Seb would have rather taken another beating than look at the scorn staring back at him at that moment. But he bit back his response. No matter what he said, they’d think he was privileged, that the normal rules didn’t apply to him on account of who he knew. And maybe they were right.
“So,” the mandulu continued, “what did you do to earn a free pass? Daddy connected to Moses in some way, is he? Thought they’d throw you down here so you could rough it for a couple of days. When you’ve learned your lesson, they can take you back to the real world. Is that it?”
As much as he tried to hold it back, Seb glared at the brute. “Why don’t you do one, yeah? The only way you can win a fight against me is if I’m stuck to this floor. You’d do well to remember that. Maybe instead of blaming me for whatever’s going on with you, you need to ask yourself why you’re here.”
When the mandulu didn’t reply, Seb said, “Why are you here anyway?”
The response came back so quickly it sounded rehearsed. “Multiple murders.”
For a few seconds, Seb stared at the mandulu in an unspoken calling out of what he’d just said. Whatever he’d been put in the cell for, it had nothing to do with murder.
Before Seb could push it, he noticed the buzz of his electric collar. Or rather, he became aware of it because of its absence. The mandulu clearly noticed it too. Its eyes narrowed with a predator’s intent.
The mandulu stepped forward, and Seb watched his boot come towards him in slow motion before it connected with the side of his face again. The deep and stretched-out pain of a slowed-down kick clattered into the side of his head. Blood flew away from him and splattered against the wall. Another whiplash shock as his hands remained pinned to the floor.
As Seb fought to remain conscious, he heard the buzz of his collar. Whoever watched them at that moment had just warned him to let the mandulu be. After spitting on the floor again, he looked back at the stunted-horned brute, blood flowing like a waterfall over his bottom lip as he spoke. “Not just me that’s protected, then.”
Seb watched the mandulu back away, comforted by the buzzing around his neck. Although vulnerable on the floor in the middle of the cell, none of the others looked like they wanted a go at him. After a few seconds, he pulled into his mind and said, SA.
Seb, where are you?
Moses has thrown me in the prison cell again. What’s going on?
I’m not sure. I think they want to talk to us all. Explain a few things.
What? Like how he values profit over lives?
I think it’s more complicated than that.
When do they want to talk to us?
Soon. I think someone’s coming for you now.
Good. I hate this place.
Oh, and, Seb? Keep a lid on it, yeah? I think there’s much more to this than we know. We need to give them a chance to speak.
Seb spat another mouthful of blood and stared at the prisoners around him. I hope you’re right, because if I fight Moses again, it won’t end until one of us is dead.
CHAPTER 3
Hard to tell how much time had passed since Seb had spoken to SA. Maybe ten minutes, maybe a little more. From what she’d said, he’d expected someone to come for him sooner than they had.
For the entire time he’d been pinned to the prison’s floor, his collar buzzed. It warned his would-be attackers to stay back. The mandulu hadn’t taken his eyes from him. It looked like he hoped they’d cut the electricity again. Other than the occasional cough, sneeze, and passing of gas, the cell remained silent.
Because of the position he’d been sat in, the muscles in Seb’s back ached. Another half-roll of his shoulders did little to relieve the pain. Just as he drew a breath to call out for someone to let him move, the lock on the cell door clicked open. Bright light spilled into the dingy space.
With his back to the door, Seb couldn’t see who’d appeared, and he didn’t give them the satisfaction of turning around to look. Not that he needed to; the smell of fish and the wide mouths and eyes of the prisoners staring past him told him everything he needed to know. To smile raked pain across his swollen face, yet he still did it. “About bloody time,” he said. “I was starting to get cramps sitting like this.”
The slightest click pierced the silence, and the magnetic pull dragging Seb to the floor released.
As Seb got to his feet, he rolled his shoulders in wider circles than before, snapped his head from side to side, and turned to face Moses. “You’d best keep a close eye on that button. The second I get a chance to destroy it, it’s gone. Also, I owe you a kick in the head. I plan to pay that debt.”
A raised eyebrow, nothing more. Moses then turned his back and walked off down the corridor.
The prisoners in Seb’s path quickly moved out of his way. Just before he left the cell, he said to one of the three with the thick skulls and weak bellies, “You want to make sure you keep an eye on that mandulu back there. He’s in here for murder.” With a faux wince, which hurt like hell because of his bruising, he pushed through the burning pain and said with mock fear, “Multiple murders.”
One of the guards then blocked Seb’s way before he stepped out into the corridor. Balled fists, a clenched jaw, and another frown despite his pain, he stared up at the creature. “You ain’t leaving me here again.”
“Relax,” the guard said as he leaned forward and unclipped Seb’s collar. Seb strode off up the gunmetal grey corridor without looking back.
The large shark walked at a fast pace, which Seb caught up to and then matched. “SA said you have something you need to tell us. That there’s more to this than we know. Personally, I still think you’re an arsehole, but let’s see, shall we?”
Although he didn’t look at him, his slightly swollen snout raised, Moses dipped a curt nod. “Look, I understand you’re suspicious of me. I’d be suspicious of me, but you need to hear me out. There is much more to this than you know. Also, I understand you’re scared about the prophecy—”
“I’m not scared!” When Seb saw Moses had no intention of riling him up, he let his defence go with a long sigh and allowed Moses to continue.
“It’s a big burden for you to shoulder. You’re th
e one who can bring the darkness in the galaxy under control.”
“But it’s you who needs to be taken down. You’re the darkness with your profiteering and murder.”
“First of all, you’ve got me wrong. Second, save your energy. What you’re about to find out makes me look like a pup. There’s something much larger at play here, and you’re essential to helping get it under control.” Moses stopped and turned to Seb. “You have a lot of weight on your shoulders, and emotions are running high, but don’t let it cloud your judgement any further. Know that I’m here to help. I want us to work together.”
The desire to argue wound tight in Seb, but he kept his mouth shut as he remembered SA’s words not to lose his head.
“I used to be a lot like you when I was younger,” Moses said as he set off again.
Seb moved off with him. “How old are you now?”
“Fifty-two.”
“Wow. I’d have never guessed. You don’t fight like you’re fifty-two.”
“Maybe I do.”
“Huh?”
“It always pays to fight smart rather than hard. Sometimes you can avoid using your fists when you use your head.”
The thought of being pinned to the ground returned. “I would have kicked your arse had you not pulled that cheap trick.”
“That’s my point. Honour in fighting was created by those with weaknesses. You fight to win however you need to. When it comes to staying alive, rules go out of the window. Why give yourself unnecessary restrictions so you can abide by some bullshit warrior code? Life and death ain’t a sport.”
To avoid any more of a lecture, Seb changed the subject. “I need to ask you something.”
While maintaining his brisk march, Moses turned to Seb again.
“That mandulu in the prison cell told me he was in there for multiple murders … but I didn’t see it in his eyes.”
Every time Moses smiled, it looked menacing, even when Seb knew it not to be. It stretched from one side of his face to the other. “He’s not paid some fines he owes me. If he’d been caught for multiple murders, I’d have given him some concrete boots and sent him out for a swim. I only keep him here because he’s worth something to me. At least, he has the potential to be worth something to me.”
“And there’s me starting to think I might have got you wrong. That it isn’t always about profit for you.”
They arrived at the conference room. When Moses opened the door, he said, “I think by the end of this you’ll see where I’m coming from.”
Seb peered into the room to see SA and the others already sat there waiting for them. He relaxed. Maybe he should trust him … for now at least.
CHAPTER 4
The bite of the air conditioning in the conference room hit Seb the second he entered it. His conversation with Moses had relaxed him ever so slightly, but the nip in the air snapped him defensively rigid again. Maybe a good reminder to keep his guard raised. No matter how convincing the monster sounded, he couldn’t forget what he knew about him.
When Seb sat down next to SA and smiled at her, she didn’t smile back. It made the already chilly air feel colder. Are you okay?
Yep. She continued to stare straight ahead.
What’s going on?
But before she had a chance to reply, Moses clapped his large hands together with a loud crack. After waiting for everyone to look at him, he said, “The Countess was working for Enigma.”
“Huh?” Seb said. “Who’s Enigma?”
Sparks leaned forward in her seat so she could look down the line at him. Her purple eyes widened with what looked like frustration at his stupidity. “Do you know what the word enigma means?”
A look from his little friend then back to Moses, Seb saw the large shark raise his eyebrows and shoulders in unison. Not condescending, but what more could he say?
“It could be a code name,” Seb said.
“It is,” Moses said.
“And you might know their identity.”
“We don’t.” After a pause to see if anyone else needed to speak, Moses continued. “We know very little about this organisation, but we know they have dark designs. We also know they’re big into slavery. We know they’re planning to unleash chaos, but we don’t know how. The Countess was one of the most productive slavers in the galaxy, and we know she was involved. What you’ve seen of her up until this point is about a sixth of her operation at most. She had many planets under her control. She pumped slaves into the galaxy on a mass scale.”
“Good job I shot her in the face, then,” Seb said.
“Normally I’d agree,” Moses said as he sat down on a seat beside him. “But she was our link to Enigma. The longer we worked with her, the closer we were getting to the organisation.” While pressing the tips of his thick fingers together, he looked to be thinking about his words. “Her death was problematic, to say the least. She was as high up the chain as we’d managed to get. I’m not sure how we’ll take the next step now.”
Seb thought about everything he’d seen the Countess do to the beings on Solsans and beyond. “So that’s your excuse for letting the Countess behave like she did?”
“What’s coming is larger than anything you’ve seen so far. There’s a darkness threatening to consume the galaxy. The Countess was our way of finding out where that darkness emanated from.”
The phrase robbed Seb of any response. He thought he’d gotten rid of the prophecy, and now here it was again. He’d done nothing but fight since he’d been in the Shadow Order, and it looked like it would get worse—much worse—before it got better. He didn’t have it in him. When he looked along his line of friends and the seats beyond, he imagined Gurt sitting there too. Remorse twisted through him. He couldn’t lose anyone else.
“Also, you need to see this.” Moses waved his hand to bring up footage on the screen behind him. It showed the slums of Solsans. They looked better than when Seb and the others had been there last. “When we’ve been able to go in without blowing our cover, we’ve gone back and helped the planets affected by her brutality. We fund charities to do the clean-ups. We don’t do it ourselves because we don’t want Enigma to know where our sympathies lie.”
Seb shook his head. “And you think that’s enough? Donate a few credits to send a company in with mops so they can wipe the spilled blood from the streets? Have you seen what she did to teenage males when she wanted to take them in? Do you know how many have died because of her?”
A heavy sigh, Moses sagged in his seat. “We’re all too aware of how many deaths there have been.”
“So why let it happen?”
Moses fixed Seb with his dark eyes. “We don’t know much, Seb, but we do know we’ve not seen the worst of what’s to come. I can see why you helped the people of Solsans, but it nearly blew the trust we’d earned with the Countess. We had to pay her a lot of credits to make up for the loss of slaves. As far as she knew, I was working with her, getting rich with her, and I didn’t want anyone else to know about it. I needed to keep up that pretence for as long as she lived.”
Sparks leaned from her seat again. “But you still earned credits from working with her, right?”
“Nothing compared to what we’re spending on relief work throughout the galaxy.”
“So you’re a saint now?” Seb said.
“Not at all. I simply want you to understand we’re not in it for profit. We knew what she had planned for Carstic with the parasite, and we didn’t put a stop to it because of what it was about to lead to. We needed to earn her trust again so we could get into her inner circle. We were one step away from getting involved in her slavery business.” Moses held up a small gap between his thumb and index finger. “We were this close to making contact with Enigma. But then you killed her.”
After he’d let go of a long sigh, Bruke spoke, a warble in his voice as if he might cry. “So all of that suffering for nothing.”
Since he’d sat down, Seb had sunk lower in his seat. The thought of Wilso
n and his family weighed heavy. Unable to clearly form his words, he spoke in half sentences, “But what about …? But when …? How …? Why didn’t—?”
“We tell you?” Moses finished for him.
“Yeah.”
“We didn’t know if you’d have been on board or not. We’ve let a lot of beings die. But we did it so we can save so many more. I’m being straight with you now because I want to move forward with no more lies.”
“You keep saying we,” Reyes said.
“We hope that you might be the team to help bring Enigma down. You’re the best we’ve got.” Moses fixed his gaze on Seb. “We need you more than anyone. There’s something about you in particular.”
It felt like everything hit Seb in a wave. Fatigue, grief, sadness, trauma … He shook when he said, “The damn prophecy! Maybe I’m not the one. Have you thought about that? Maybe it’s not all to do with me. Maybe I need to walk away from this. Too many people have died already.” Again he looked at the empty seat next to Sparks, the seat Gurt should be sitting in.
In a soft tone, Moses said, “And many, many more will continue to die. We don’t know much about what’s coming, but we know that for sure. This will affect your life whether you’re with us or not. When this is over, if Enigma wins, none of our lives will be the same again, no matter where you’ve decided to go.”
When Seb looked down the line of his friends again, he saw they were all looking back at him. He felt the loss of Gurt as he thought about seeing another one of them dying. When he got to SA, it nearly broke him. He couldn’t watch her in danger again. “You know what? I think I’ll take my chances when the chaos comes. I’m tired. Every time I think I’m making a difference, I learn about even more shit in the galaxy. No matter what I try to do, things just get worse. Maybe I need to lead a life of ignorance for a while.”
Enigma: A Space Opera: Book Six of The Shadow Order Page 2