The Gray Market: A Space Opera Adventure Series (The New Dawn Book 5)

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The Gray Market: A Space Opera Adventure Series (The New Dawn Book 5) Page 31

by Valerie J Mikles


  “We are not a part of this,” Tray said, his breathing heavy. “But we will end it. Somehow, this has to end.”

  “Danny, slow down,” Tray gasped, the pain radiating from his heart and echoing through his body. He hobbled to the dock, his elbow giving out whenever he tried to put pressure on his crutch. “I can’t walk that fast. Danny!”

  “We have to get Hawk. We have to get Hero. We have to get out of this city!” Danny cried, hustling for the ‘sled.

  “What about Amanda and Saskia?” Tray argued, grabbing the back of his shirt.

  “Can’t help them if we can’t find them,” Danny said. “Maybe we can come back some day.”

  “Alex, Dem, Morrigan, Mikayla?” Tray said, stopping for breath. He could see in his brother’s eyes the desperation to flee, but he knew he could turn that to positive action if he found the right trigger. He’d done it a dozen times after they’d buried Corey.

  “Mikayla’s not here,” Danny said, scratching his beard. “Tray, she could be dead, too! She could… oh, no. Faster. Faster!”

  “No! Slow down,” Tray said, his heart racing.

  “You got a call saying you had to come,” Danny panted, pushing Tray toward the ‘sled. “Had to come here! Had to leave the house. Had to… Ketlin is hunting hybrids and we left two of them alone. Sitting ducks!”

  “They are not alone,” Tray said, dizzy from the implication.

  Danny climbed half way up, then hopped down again, swearing and drawing his pulse rifle. The vehicle took up a good chunk of the dock’s width, and Danny nearly fell into the water.

  A young girl peeked out of the Bobsled, resting her nose and tiny fingers on the lip of the cockpit. Danny aimed his weapon.

  “No! Danny, she’s just a kid!” Tray cried, grabbing Danny’s elbow.

  “Get out! Get out, now,” Danny ordered.

  The girl peered out again, her head and shoulder rising slowly into view. She had thick braids that went half way down her back, and when Danny’s nostrils flared, her eyes watered.

  “Danny, you’re scaring her,” Tray said, pulling his brother back to give the girl a place to stand if she decided to climb down. “She’s what? Nine?”

  “Twelve!” the girl pouted, insulted.

  “And trespassing,” Danny glowered.

  The girl postured petulantly. She had bruises on her face and arms, some days or weeks old. The old band logo on her worn-out t-shirt screamed ‘hand-me-down.’

  “I have a message for the doctor, and she ain’t coming to her usual spots. You’re gonna take me to her,” she said.

  “What message could a twelve-year-old Zen rat have for Dr. Zenzele?” Danny fumed, motioning with his pulse rifle for her to come down.

  “Just ‘cause you smoke at Sanshin don’t make you any less a Zen rat, Matthews. You’re no better than a Ketlin,” she spat, hopping onto the dock. She gave them a smug look and tapped a blocky, metal device on her wrist. The Bobsled hatch closed in response and Tray’s stomach sank.

  “She’s a Ketlin,” Danny seethed, his face getting red when he realized she could control his precious Bobsled.

  “Uncle Roland says you’re weak and Granny Lois will trample you like a cockroach. You can’t help us,” she taunted, backing away from them. Unless she was planning to steal a boat or jump in the water, there was nowhere for her to escape. “Maybe he’s right. You sure were easy to get here.”

  Tray had underestimated this child. She was only a few inches taller and a few shades darker than Hero, but she wasn’t ignorant about the world. “Where is my wife?” Tray asked.

  She definitely had a twelve-year-old’s eye roll. “Sikorsky does this shuffle. Everyone thinks she’s someplace else. That’s how he breaks her out.”

  “She didn’t need a jailbreak!” Tray cried, directing his frustrated question at Danny. “Sikorsky knew that. Why would he interfere?”

  “Probably because she’s his daughter,” the girl said, picking a scab on her arm.

  “What?!” Tray cried. The girl delivered one shock after another, but Mikayla being Sikorsky’s daughter… it didn’t even feel true. The man’s interest in having Tray as a business partner preceded his courtship with Mikayla.

  “So annoying. They think they can run your life,” the girl muttered.

  “What?” Tray asked again.

  “She’s not talking about Mikayla anymore,” Danny said, putting a hand on Tray’s arm, but keeping his eyes and weapon trained on the girl. “You have a problem at home, talk to the Enn. That’s what they’re for.”

  “You’re one to talk,” she huffed, plopping down on the dock, pointing her toes down until they brushed the surface of the water. “You stayed with your stepdad. At least I’m trying to leave mine.”

  “What do you know about that?” Danny asked, clenching his teeth.

  Tray tapped his Virp, but the Bobsled didn’t open. He started working on a hack to regain control, but until he did, they were hostages to the conversation.

  “Why’d you hijack our ‘sled?” Tray asked.

  “Cause I ain’t week like you. I’ll do one right thing before Tobias beats me to death or Granny Lois poisons me. I’ll save her life, even if she is a Vimbai,” Kit declared, her nostrils flaring.

  “Save Morrigan how?” Tray asked.

  “Granny Lois tried to kill Dr. Zenzele with poison meds,” she said. “She thinks I didn’t deliver the package, because the doc ain’t keeled yet.”

  “Morrigan’s medicine cabinet,” Tray said, shooting a look at Danny. They needed to warn her. “Why would Lois kill Morrigan?”

  “Before you strutted into town, it seemed the best way to stick it to Vimbai,” the girl said. “Now you’re flying everywhere in your fancy machine and she’s moving faster than ever to knock you down a peg.”

  “Did Ketlin kill Jennifer to send a message?” Tray asked.

  The girl crossed her arms.

  “She’s not trying to sell me endemics, is she?” Tray asked, his stomach dropping.

  “I ain’t dying to give you information. What’s in it for me?” she challenged.

  “The warm fuzzy feeling of knowing you did the right thing,” Danny said snidely.

  “And money,” Tray said, exchanging a nod with his brother.

  “Money ain’t no use if I’m dead,” she muttered. “Uncle Roland was right about you. You’re weak. You can’t protect me.”

  “Do you need protecting?” Danny asked.

  “Are you deaf? Yes!” she cried. “I’m trying to run away! Zive, grown-ups are so clueless!”

  “Deal. Protection it is,” Tray said, hobbling to the ‘sled. “Hand over control of the ‘sled and you can fly out of here with us.”

  She tapped a few commands onto her wrist device and gave Tray a look. Tray tried the hatch release command on his Virp, and let out a breath of relief.

  “She’s a Ketlin, Tray,” Danny warned. “She could have booby-trapped the cockpit while she was up there.”

  “I don’t work for Granny Lois,” the girl said, climbing into the cockpit. “I’m saving myself. I’m saving my Uncle. And if you ask real nice, I’ll tell you where Granny Lois is keeping your friends.”

  38

  Hawk’s body buzzed with nervousness, not related to the movement of machine parts. He was sad he hadn’t been able to use his ability to find Saskia, but glad for the chance to help rescue her now. Danny had given him a shock-dart, which was a small, scary looking weapon that Danny assured him wasn’t deadly. The sun had set while Demissie, Danny, Morrigan, and Tray argued about a course of action. They argued in Lanvarian, but once the girl gave everyone a map of the location, Hawk had all the information he needed, and he set out alone. He made it about two steps down the lawn before Danny and Jamese joined him. They were aiming for a stealthy rescue, and since Tray was on crutches, he’d been left behind.

  “The slums have grown,” Danny commented. They were only a few blocks from the estate and Hawk could smell the differe
nce. The air reeked of concentrated urine mixed with heavy smoke and tar.

  “Ketlin is a drug family first. They only recently got into endemic market,” Jamese replied. She was a friendly soldier. Hawk had seen her tending Hero when the boy had gotten bitten by some insect in the yard. He wondered if the insects could get hybrid power from drinking hybrid blood.

  “Humans,” Danny corrected, looking at Hawk. “And they’re using humans as raw materials for their drug industry.”

  “You’d have to bulldoze this half of the city to get the stench out,” Jamese commented. “The girl said the Zen house where they’ve stashed the prisoners would be obvious by the peeling paint.”

  “That one,” Danny said, pointing to a grayish house that seemed clouded in a yellow-haze. They’d taken a precautionary dose of Detox to fight second-hand effects of the mood-altering chemicals and masks to protect their faces. Hawk put on his mask first and trotted up to the porch. The door had a thumb-print lock, but Hawk put his hand on the knob and turned.

  “Hawk, gloves!” Danny hissed, pulling Hawk’s hand off the handle and checking the palm for signs of burns. “You were lucky.”

  “You didn’t say to bring gloves,” Hawk retorted, pulling his sleeve over his palm. Turning the knob, he used the sense of resistance to find and release three different physical locks. When he pushed open the door, Danny pulled him clear again. The cloud of smoke thickened as a whirring fan circulated air in the front room.

  “Should’ve brought hazmat suits,” Jamese commented, hiking up her collar

  “We’re here to find Amanda and Saskia and get out,” Danny reminded them. “We’ll send the Enn for the rest. If we find any.”

  Hawk could almost hear Danny’s heart rising into his throat as he thought of the innocents Ketlin had abducted.

  Hawk adjusted his mask to make sure the neck was sealed, but it still felt like he was breathing in acid. His skin itched, absorbing the chemicals in the room, and his stomach churned as the Detox worked its magic. The front room was empty save for discarded needles and vials. There were a few lumps of desiccated clothing and not a single piece of furniture.

  “She said they were in the basement,” Jamese said, checking the doorways until she found a set of stairs going down. The basement light was already on, and Hawk heard the moans of drugged bodies. It brought back a memory of Geneculture, of a time when he was drugged and forced to breed. The moans felt like tortured souls oozing out of a body.

  The basement was hot despite the fans blowing. The air was relatively clean, but the spirit of the place was depressed. Hawk could hear Danny murmuring prayers under his breath. Hawk counted a dozen bodies, but only three were obviously living, lying on beds, attached to life support machines. Jamese checked pulses on each of the ones on the floor, eliciting a weak response from some.

  “I don’t see Amanda,” Hawk said, rounding a partition and surveying the back half of the basement. This part looked like a science lab with ventilation hoods, centrifuges, and three shelves of blood-filled vials. This was what Wanda Genova had warned him about.

  “Captain!”

  “Shh,” Danny said, pushing Hawk behind the partition and drawing his weapon. “Someone’s coming.”

  “Lois, I’m telling you. Amanda Gray a dullard,” a woman said, her voice muffled by a mask. “You can keep pulling blood, but I’m telling you, there’s nothing I can do with it.”

  Recognizing Thea’s voice, Hawk peeked out from behind the partition. “Thea?”

  Thea slowed to a stop, then took the Feather from her ear and tucked it in her pocket, ending her call with Lois.

  “Cyn,” Jamese growled, coming from behind one of the patient beds, her stunner raised. “That’s what they call you in Clover.”

  “Cynthea, actually,” Thea said, coming far enough down the stairs so that her head was in the clean air and she could remove her mask. “Hello, Hawk. It’s good to see you. I was worried when you skipped quarantine that you’d die of some plague or another.”

  “She works for Sikorsky. She’s his medic,” Hawk explained to the others, coming out to give her a hug. Danny held him back and Hawk slouched in frustration.

  “Then Sikorsky’s a fool; she’s a double agent,” Jamese accused. She and Danny formed right angles with their weapons, and if Thea tried to run up the stairs, she’d be shot before reaching the landing.

  “I don’t agree with this… operation. It just pays the bills,” Thea shrugged, giving Hawk a winning smile. “I know that’s not something ‘crats like you worry about.”

  “I just came for Amanda. I heard you tell Lois you had her,” Danny said.

  “I told Lois she wasn’t a hybrid,” Thea said. “But she’s not here.”

  “Show me where she is and you can walk away,” Danny said, his fingers twitching on the trigger of his pulse rifle.

  “Captain, she’s a friend!” Hawk protested, pushing Danny’s arm down.

  “Hawk, she’s draining the blood of endemics,” Danny retorted.

  “No, she’s not. She can’t be…” Hawk froze and rubbed his thumb, remembering the prick that had awoken him from his drunken stupor after Sky left. “Is that why you wanted my blood?”

  “Want. I still want it,” Thea said, rising to her feet, her smile widening. “Sikorsky hunted Amanda Gray for her power, but he was foolish to lose sight of you. And here you are… in my lab.”

  Jamese fired her weapon and Thea tumbled down the stairs. Then a plume of green smoke rose around her. The fans died and a pop sounded overhead, starting a chain reaction. The life support machines blared warnings. Hawk held his breath and ran for the stairs.

  Tray didn’t like seeing his son running around the backyard playing tag with the Ketlin girl, but it did remind him that no one could help the family they were born into. Hero was Sikorsky’s grandson. Tray’s mother had made her fortune off the cruel trade of endemics. And now here they were in the Zenzele house—children who inherited a legacy lacking the greed to keep it alive.

  “You’re sure the Detox you gave them wasn’t part of the poisoned package,” Tray asked, pacing back to the front of the house. Morrigan slouched on the floor, her medicines lined around her, her eyes a million miles away.

  “Kit said it was just one package,” Demissie answered quietly, touching his sister’s head. Bodyguards and death threats had become a fact of life for them since their parents were killed. Apparently, so had self-medication. Tray thought back to all the rapid mood changes he’d seen in Morrigan back when he was in the hospital and when he’d first come to the estate.

  “For all the time we’ve dipped into this cabinet the past few weeks, it’s a miracle we never touched those,” Demissie said.

  Morrigan’s head lolled to one side, and a tear rolled down her cheek. “These were never meant for anyone but me,” she said. “I couldn’t handle it when Mom and Dad died. I couldn’t handle it. I came up with this cocktail, and then I’d take Detox so no one would find out.”

  “You were grief-stricken,” Demissie said, squatting opposite her, brushing the tears from her cheeks. “Do you have any idea how many liquor bottles I’ve seen the bottom of?”

  “If you hadn’t called me about Tray, I would have taken these weeks ago,” she said. “You’d be all alone.”

  “I’m sorry to interrupt this therapy session, but this is something we should report to the Enn. This is proof of attempted murder!” Tray said.

  “What help would it be to report Lois Ketlin?” Demissie asked. “She may be the mastermind, but she did not have to be on the boat to kill our parent. She did not have to be at the pharmacy to poison these. And she has probably never set foot in that house Danny went to, and will claim ignorance. The Enn haven’t gone in because even though they know a Ketlin is responsible, they can’t pinpoint which, and they can’t arrest a whole family for sharing a name. We’d all be in prison for our names if that were the case.”

  “She tried to kill your sister, Dem,” Tray s
aid forcefully. “That’s pretty personal. I don’t think pacifism will work. Hiding in this fortress won’t work. I feel like I’m being picked apart piece by piece by this vulture whose face I’ve never even seen.”

  “Are you on something now?” Demissie asked, cradling his sister’s chin, searching her eyes. “Morrigan, if Danny is successful and the Enn break up this slave trade, there’s a chance things can get back to normal. You can get back to your life and be a doctor again.”

  “It’ll never be normal again,” she said. Putting her hands over his. “After Mom and Dad died, I started making mistakes. I lost my license.”

  “Forgivable,” he insisted. “You should have taken more time to mourn. The board would understand.”

  “The only reason they let me treat Tray is because the hospital director was afraid. They were afraid that Sikorsky would come after him, and they thought we were the only ones who could protect him,” she sniffled. “We—Vimbai.”

  Tray’s Virp vibrated against his wrist. He jumped to his feet, fearing the worst, but there was no message. Demissie and Morrigan also gave their Virps confused glances. Then the projection screen activated and a yellow dot blinked across the screen.

  “Danny, can you hear me?” Tray tried, pressing his Feather to his ear.

  “Every device in the house is acting up,” Demissie said. “Ayize! Get the kids inside!”

  Demissie herded them toward his father’s den, presumably to hunker down and hide until the world went back to normal.

  “It’s Hawk,” Tray realized, twisting from Demissie’s grip and grabbing his crutch. “He’s telling me where he is. He needs help.”

  “Let’s go, then,” Morrigan decided, brushing her brother off. She pulled her braids into a ponytail and shook off the tears, her face hardening with resolution. “We can’t hide forever. Let’s be the name everyone fears we can be. Let’s see if Lois Ketlin has the guts to kill me to my face.”

 

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