Destiny Series Boxed Set

by Bronwyn Leroux

  Jaden hit the print command, then closed the browser and wiped the history. “Shall we?”

  They trailed the librarian downstairs finding the multiple printouts waiting for them. He snatched them up and stuffed them into his pack. “Would you like us to wait with you while you lock up?”

  The librarian’s smile covered her whole face. “What a nice young man you are! I don’t believe anyone’s offered to do that in at least a decade.”

  Jaden smiled. “More’s the pity, then. And it’s the least we can do after keeping you past closing time. Can we do anything to help you?”

  The librarian moved behind the counter, flipped a few switches, and then lifted her purse. “That’s all the ‘closing’ this place requires. It’s old, I know, but they have made some things easier. It’s just the main doors now.”

  Jaden and the others preceded her to the exit where Jaden held the door for her. Once she had locked the doors, he asked, “How are you getting home?”

  The librarian turned and pointed at a ‘pod just dropping into the square outside the library. “My ride just arrived. Thank you for waiting with me. I’ll be on my way now.”

  The four of them watched as she trotted over to her ‘pod and disappeared inside. The ‘pod lifted and vanished seconds later.

  As if their gliders had been waiting for just that, they appeared.

  “Ready to leave?” Han asked.

  “Yes. Time to head for Terratalunga,” Jaden replied.

  Their gliders disappeared as they circled around and then dropped back down one at a time to collect their voyagers.

  Once they were in the air but before he had connected his comm system, Jaden said to Han, “I think Rozie’s an excellent choice for Iri.” Han rocked under Jaden as his glider laughed. “What?”

  “You and your nicknames. Who came up with that one?”

  “Iri. And I think it’s a good sign that she’s already given Rozie a nickname.”

  Han sobered. “It is. It seems the feeling is mutual. Rozene seems to like Iri as much as Iri has apparently taken to her.” Han was quiet for a moment. “Where is Terratalunga?”

  Jaden sniggered. “And here I thought you gliders were all-knowing!” He flicked his comm system on. “I’m assuming we’re agreed on heading for Terratalunga with all haste?”

  The confirmations came back. Then Kayla asked, “Have you heard from Markov?”

  Jaden knew what she was really asking. Had Markov heard from her dad. “No, I haven’t spoken with him yet. But I’ll call him now.”

  “No, let’s wait until we find somewhere we can rest for the night.” When Jaden remained silent, Kayla sensed his question and answered it. “My dad’s next check-in is only due in another hour. We may as well wait until then.”

  Some tension left Jaden. Kayla had sounded like herself for the first time since leaving Sven’s. Happy, even. There was no worry marking her voice. Since they’d confirmed Terratalunga as their destination, the stars were lining up. Maybe her dad was only having communication issues rather than something more dire. Yet that small, quiet voice in the back of his mind nagged at Jaden.

  The sensation grew the longer they flew. Something was off. Jaden wasn’t sure what, just that something was. “Han, we need to land.”

  Han dove, twittering to Taz and the other gliders. Without argument, they followed. Shooting a glance over his shoulder, Han asked, “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”

  Jaden frowned. “I don’t know. There’s just something. And I have a feeling we need to be on the ground for this.”

  Han nodded, his focus on the terrain below. He drifted for a short while, then angled toward a dark spot. “There’s a safe place for us to spend the night.”

  Jaden engaged his night vision lenses, telling the others to do the same, so no one hurt themselves on the landing. It was just as well because short bushes, only ankle height, but with branches thick enough to hurt or cause injury if they landed on them by mistake. covered the place Han had picked.

  When they had all dismounted without injury, moving against the side of the small hill, they waited for their gliders to join them. Their gliders landed and hopped closer, Taz taking charge—as usual.

  “I thought we were in a hurry to get where we were going. Why did we stop?”

  “Jaden had one of those feelings of his,” Han replied.

  Weight crashed down on Jaden as everyone turned to look at him. “No, I don’t know why we had to land. Just that we needed to.”

  Banging drums and a screeching electric guitar pierced the air. They all jumped, the sound extraordinarily loud in the silence of the empty landscape. Jaden needed another second to get past the fright and recognize it as one of his PAL’s defining ringtones. He slid his gaze toward Kayla. “It’s Markov.”

  Her face immediately radiated strain. “Well, answer it!”

  Jaden tapped his CC. Markov’s face floated up on the holoscreen, bright in the darkness around them.

  Markov peered past Jaden. “Are you alone?”

  “No, the others are here,” Jaden said, turning so Markov could see them in the background.

  Jaden read the uncertainty on Markov’s face. “Does this have to do with Kayla’s dad?”

  “No.”

  Jaden’s impatience rose. “Spit it out.” Something in his tone had to have conveyed the seriousness of the conversation. As one, Kayla, Iri and Atu drifted closer.

  Noticing them converging on Jaden, Markov’s eyes darted toward Kayla. “Maybe we should open a private line?”

  “Too late,” Jaden replied as the others huddled around. “Not that it’s necessary. We don’t have time to keep secrets these days.”

  Kayla mouthed, “Dad?” as she glanced at Jaden while Iri and Atu exchanged greetings with Markov.

  Jaden shook his head. He had no clue what this was about.

  Kayla switched her attention to the holo and added her greetings. “So, what’s up?”

  Once again, Markov dared a quick glance toward Kayla. Jaden suddenly understood Kayla was why Markov had wanted the private line. Jaden eased his hand into Kayla’s, giving it a reassuring squeeze when she raised her eyebrows at him.

  Markov sighed. “Fine. I was hoping to not have to tell you like this, but since you and the others disappeared on us, I don’t really have a choice.”

  Hearing the unspoken accusation in Markov’s voice, Jaden said, “Sorry, dude. We didn’t think we’d be long. Just a short trip to Daxsos to confirm something. I guess we’re so used to flying off and doing things with no one knowing we’d taken off that we didn’t think to tell people. But since the time freeze broke when the Gaptors and gliders became visible to everyone, we need to adjust our thinking.”

  When Markov nodded without pressing the issue, the pit in Jaden’s stomach yawned wider. Whatever Markov had to say, it wasn’t good. The only thing that kept Jaden from snapping a second time was knowing this didn’t have to do with Kayla’s dad. “Why are you calling?”

  As if realizing he couldn’t put the answer off any longer, Markov looked directly at Jaden. “Tarise escaped.”

  Kayla stiffened beside Jaden. His hand tightened around hers. Of all the things Markov could’ve said! “What? How?”

  “See for yourself.” Markov swiped across his screen, and a video showing footage of Tarise’s cell replaced his face.

  Jaden and the others observed Tarise pacing in her cell. Then she halted, looking up as if there was a taller person blocking her path. She stared up, her lips moving. Her lips stopped for a short while before moving again. Then she turned so her back was to the camera.

  “What’s she saying?” Jaden asked.

  “That first sentence was, ‘What are you doing here?’ The second sentence begins with, ‘You know I can’t.’ Then it’s impossible to know what she says after that.”

  “Why not? Sven had the room wired for sound.”

  “He did, but it didn’t pick up anything, even that first part.
He had to lipread to tell us what she said. Tarise appeared to have a whole conversation.”

  “Conversation?”

  “Just watch,” Markov muttered. Something in his tone had Jaden thinking this wasn’t the worst of it.

  Indeed, it seemed Tarise was speaking to someone. Even though her back was to them, her gestures supported a conversation. When Tarise turned and began pacing again, her lips moved and stopped, then moved again.

  Horror crawled through Jaden. “Markov, what else did Sven lipread?”

  Markov’s face was grim. He knew Jaden understood. “Only bits and pieces, but from the little he could glean, Sven said she was arguing with someone.”

  There it was. Jaden felt Kayla’s eyes on him. Looking at her, he saw the question in her eyes. “Yes, I think she was talking to Slurpy. I don’t think she’s lost it enough yet to for us to call her crazy. But she wasn’t talking to herself.”

  “You think that’s why we can’t see who she’s talking to—or why there’s no audio?” Kayla croaked.

  “I do.”

  “But if the usurper is there, why didn’t he black out the screens like he usually does?” Atu asked.

  His normal quiet entry into the conversation with something none of the rest of them had considered made Jaden glad Atu was there. “Why do you think he did it?”

  Atu considered. “Maybe there was something he needed us to see—even though he didn’t want us hearing what they discussed?”

  “Huh. I suppose that could be true.” Speaking to Markov again, Jaden asked, “Did Sven notice anything unusual about this interaction?” Markov was silent for so long Jaden wondered whether he had heard. “Markov?”

  “Yeah, I’m here. Just watch to the end, and then I’ll answer your questions.”

  There it was again. That odd tone. Jaden’s earlier impatience returned, but he knew his friend well enough to know Markov meant it. Reining in his impatience, Jaden watched. No, he scrutinized. Every little gesture. Every facial expression. There had to be something.

  He almost reeled back when Tarise suddenly clutched at her hand, her face twisting into a silent scream.

  Despite his anger towards Tarise for betraying Kayla, Jaden couldn’t help feeling sorry for the anguish she was suffering. She clutched at her hand, tears streaming down her face. Then she collapsed in a heap on the floor, as though the pain was severe enough to rob her of the use of her legs.

  Jaden felt sick. He was about to order Markov to fast forward to the next part when Tarise slumped to the floor, unconscious. Watching unseen hands shake Tarise was almost surreal. Her eyes snapped open as she was pulled from unconsciousness. Jaden didn’t want to know how Slurpy had done that. He braced himself, waiting for the torture to begin anew, but he wasn’t the only one breathing a sigh of relief when Tarise only blinked at the unseen person standing over her. Her lips moved once. Then her head snapped sideways as the blow struck.

  Jaden cast a quick glance at the others, finding them equally appalled. When Tarise twisted back, a clear red imprint marked where the hand had hit. She snarled something, evidenced by the way her lips twisted. Jaden didn’t need Sven to lipread that one word. “Fine.”

  What had she agreed to? Jaden’s insides curled as Tarise continued glaring up for a few seconds. Then her gaze dropped to the floor, and her shoulders shook as she sobbed, her hands over her face.

  “Did he leave?” Atu asked, peering at the screen.

  “It’s hard to tell,” Jaden murmured.

  But as they continued watching, it became clear Tarise was on her own again. No words crossed her lips, just a forlorn expression when she stopped crying and rose to her feet. As she made her way to the desk provided for her use, she looked like she was in a trance. She began tapping on the desk’s integrated screen, her back to them, shoulders stiff.

  When she rose again, her face was impossible to read. Was it determination? Resignation? Despair? Or all of them rolled into one? Jaden couldn’t work it out as Tarise strode to the door of her room. As if by magic, the door popped open. She exited her cell and made for the passage that led to Sven’s workshop. Again, the door slid open at her approach, as though Sven himself had operated the controls.

  Jaden’s eyes never left the screen as Tarise traversed that danger-laden passageway. None of Sven’s traps activated. The door to the workshop opened, and Tarise disappeared beyond it.

  When Markov’s face suddenly reappeared on the holo, replacing the video, they jerked back.

  “I’m assuming Sven wasn’t opening all those doors and preventing the traps from stopping her?” Even to his own ears, Jaden’s voice sounded strained as he asked the question.

  “No.”

  The one syllable answer had Jaden wondering what Markov wasn’t saying. Then he knew, and his gut confirmed it. He didn’t want to ask. But he had to know. “What did Tarise type?”

  Markov’s mouth thinned. “None of this was your fault. She made her own decisions. And she didn’t think to discuss this with any of the rest of us, even though we’re her friends.”

  Jaden heard the disappointment in Markov’s voice, but he was weary beyond words. “Just tell me what she wrote.”

  Instead of answering, another image flashed onto the holo: the note Tarise had written. Jaden skimmed over it. Dread coalesced in a tight ball in his chest, making it difficult to breathe. Kayla’s hand tightened around his own.

  “Markov’s right. Tarise even said not to blame yourself.” When Jaden remained silent, Kayla pressed. “Say something.”

  “I have a terrible feeling about this.”

  Markov’s eyes were instantly alert as he snapped back onto the screen. “What do you mean? You think she’ll betray us again?”

  “I don’t know. But whatever she plans to do isn’t something we’ll like.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Minutes later, Markov signed off. They were all too shattered by the news to do anything except stand there. After what felt like an eternity, Jaden sighed. “Shall we spend the night here?”

  Surprisingly, Atu answered. “I’m too hyped after that to sleep.”

  “I agree,” Iri muttered.

  “Me too,” Kayla added, her voice bleak. “I say we press on. We can always rest if we get tired later.”

  Their gliders took to the air, returning for the pick-up and then speeding onward. News of Tarise’s escape had smothered them with desolation again, like they were all waiting for the next blow.

  Jaden’s mind kept returning to the words Tarise had written. More than that, he wished he could shake the feeling she would do something stupid. Genius that she was with some things, she was clueless in others, as though whatever had added to her intellect had taken from her common sense. Why wouldn’t she come to them with her troubles?

  “Do you think she knows we have Slurpy’s comm device?”

  Kayla’s question cut into his musings. It confirmed she was also still thinking about Tarise. “I can’t see how with Sven isolating her. Then again, who knows what else she might’ve been doing in her cell? She’s smart enough to take that sound system Sven installed and reverse it so she could listen in on what was going on around her.”

  “You think she’s capable of that?”

  Jaden heard the shock in Kayla’s voice. He wished he could see her face, but they were hundreds of feet in the air, their masks and goggles covering their faces as they sped toward Terratalunga and whatever fate awaited them there. Jaden sighed loudly, since she couldn’t see his face any more than he could see hers.

  “Yes, she’s capable of that. Whether or not she did it, only Sven can tell. I’ll ping him as soon as we finish talking.” Kayla’s silence wasn’t reassuring. Jaden pulled himself from thoughts of Tarise. “How are you holding up?”

  It was the most generic way he could think to ask with all the others able to hear their conversation. Is it even worth asking Sven to add a channel switch so people can have private conversations? No, we’re almost don
e with this. Or at least, he hoped so.

  “Hanging in there,” Kayla replied. “I’ll know better after the next check-in.”

  When she would find out if her dad had in fact checked in. Jaden wanted to ask if her dad would contact them outside a check-in time if he’d missed his previous connections but decided against it. It would only have Kayla hoping for something that might not materialize. There was nothing he could say to make things more tolerable for her. The best he could do was get them to Terratalunga as quickly as possible.

  A short while later, Jaden pinged Sven as promised. When Sven’s face paled at the possibility that Tarise hadn’t somehow manipulated the intercom, it didn’t reassure Jaden. Signing off, he decided worrying about it was pointless. Tarise either knew they had one of Slurpy’s comm devices or she didn’t. She would either betray them or she wouldn’t.

  As the time and miles stretched on, Jaden’s concern shifted when he sensed Kayla’s rising stress. Like an elastic thread stretching so thin it could only snap violently. Jaden was sure they would all be casualties when it did.

  Vicken missed that check-in. And the next one. But still the thread held. Jaden was in awe of Kayla’s ability to keep it together. It only highlighted his own heightening apprehension. Was Vicken okay? Was Terratalunga a trap, regardless of it being their true destination?

  Jaden glanced at Kayla, wishing he could see her face. Even her posture was stiff and unyielding, as though she were bracing herself for the worst. What was the longest time Vicken hadn’t checked in for and still been okay?

  Jittery, Jaden leaned forward so Han could hear him over the roaring wind. “How long until we get there?”

  “We’re close.”

  It was all Han said, his energy focused on getting them to their destination with all due haste. Jaden didn’t ask more questions. He glanced at Kayla again. Just the way she held herself made him tired. It was a wonder none of them had wanted to stop for rest.

  With his own brain slowing a little, something nagged at the back of his mind. Jaden tried to latch onto it. Kayla? No. Our group? No. Something Markov said . . . Yes. Closing his eyes, Jaden mentally replayed the conversation. This time, he focused on Markov and not Tarise. He had been . . . Jaden’s eyes flew open. Sitting up straighter, he scanned the surrounding skies.