The explosion of interest and potential wealth in the Ring slowed their development of Europa, where potable water beneath the smooth surface was their most significant export. Valuable gases, however, were discovered to be of far less volume in Jupiter, along with storms exponentially stronger and more unpredictable. The gas harvesting trade never took off—but now I could see that with the chaos on the Ring, Jupiter’s archipelago of moons was of burgeoning interest.
Impulse Drive trails stood out against the ruddy atmosphere of the gas giant, flying this way and that between moons and stations. Red Wing Company had some industrial plants on Ios and owned an impressive conservatory on Ganymede, housing all sorts of ancient earth flora and animals—I wasn’t one for vacations, but the newsfeeds claimed it to be a must-see. However, Europa was the crown jewel of the Jovian orbit.
A tremendous cylindrical station hovered over it, surrounded by smaller ship-building factories locked in orbit. Martelle Station was named after the founder of Venta Co., who was long since passed. It floated just over Europa but within the moon’s gravity well. The upper half was transparent and the bottom more densely plated down to a domed underside, and a ring around it festooned with Coms Relays and other nameless tech.
Vast swathes of the station were covered in rippling insulation sheets, dividing up portions still under construction. I could see the flashes from fusion torches of thousands of workers at the fringes even from as far away as I was. I’d never seen such a tremendous undertaking in person. Pervenio Station had been completed long before I was ever sent out to Saturn.
But that floating station was only the surface. A space elevator sank through its center, dropping down and plunging through Europa’s striated crust where it was anchored. At its base, the lights of industry flickered. Then, further out, dotting the surface at equal intervals, were the tops of towering water pumps and storage towers.
This far out into the system, water was a major export. From the other colonies around Jupiter, to the entire asteroid belt, to Mars, where water at the polar caps could be siphoned but not nearly in such a quantity, there were dozens more pumps than my last visit to Europa Station. Hundreds more ships transporting and importing supplies as well.
“Basaam Venta is in the process of being woken,” Rin said. “He will instruct you.”
I’d forgotten what I wanted to ask her. I even nodded in response before giving the affirmative out loud. Luxarn’s hold on the Ring had been severed only for a few months, and both Venta Co. and Red Wing Company were clearly hard at work trying to drive the metaphorical gold rush of human expansion to the moons of Jupiter. No rest for capitalism.
“Unidentified vessel, this is the Venta Co. security frigate Polaris 5. We have been dispatched to your coordinates in response to a broad-range distress signal,” a voice filled the escape pod. “Please respond.”
I nodded awake. My head was against the viewport, a bit of drool floating around between me and the glass. My head rang from the beating Rin and her men had put on me. Pain always did take a few hours to settle.
“We repeat, unidentified vessel, please respond.”
I sighed and stretched my back. It took a few bends to get my artificial leg back in sync so I could use it to help cross the pod. The human one felt like its usual shitty self. My ribs were sore, my stomach churning.
I stretched out for the pod’s com controls and switched them on. My lips were so chapped, and my throat was so dry from breathing the stale, recycled air, I had to clear it a few times before I could get any words out.
“This is Malcolm Graves,” I said. “I’m a Pervenio Corp collector. I was taken prisoner by Kale Trass on Mars but managed to reach this escape pod. Where am I?”
A few minutes of silence answered me. No doubt whoever it was searched records and reached out to anybody they could to find something on my name.
“Our records state that your Collector ID has been retired,” Polaris 5 said, as I expected.
“Why would Kale Trass kidnap a retired collector?” I replied. “Recheck your records or find a way to contact Luxarn Pervenio. I’ve been undercover.”
“I’m sorry. We do not have that level of clearance.”
“Then pick me up, for Earth’s sake,” I said.
“Are you in need of medical assistance?”
“They put a solid beating on me.” I stretched out so that the pain pulling at my side elicited a genuine groan. “Probably a few broken ribs.”
“Standby for retrieval. You will be transported to the Martelle Venta Memorial Hospital on Martelle Station for inspection and processing. Please, keep a safe distance from the hatch as we breach. Polaris 5 out.”
“Be gentle.”
I switched off the coms, then pulled myself up onto one of the seats to wait. I had to admit, this plan Rin came up with wasn’t the worst I’d ever been a part of. With all the activity around Jupiter, breaking in looking like they did on a rogue ship wouldn’t be possible. They’d get what they wanted and get me out of the picture. Except, once I retrieved what they wanted and gained the upper hand, I had no plans to transmit it to them unless they found a way to get me back onto the Cora with Aria.
That was the best plan I could come up with on such short notice, because one thing was for certain—whatever they wanted Basaam’s invention for, it meant enough to them to put Kale in harm’s way. Enough for them to make a deal with an Earther like me.
“Well done,” Rin said over our private com-link.
“This must kill you,” I said.
“What?”
“Putting so much faith in an Earther like me.”
“You may think you can get under Kale’s skin, but you won’t get under mine, Collector. I trust you’ll do what it takes to keep Aria safe.”
“And you’re probably right. So I guess threatening and blackmailing your way to freedom is what you people want? I guess it’s better than bombing innocent people who just want to have a good time.”
“I’ll fight this war however I have to,” she said. “The Titan we build isn’t for me.”
“And what about Kale? Me and you, our leases on life are ticking away, but he’ll be king for a long, long time if you win.”
“Kale is stronger than you’ll ever know,” she said.
“I don’t doubt it,” I said. “He must be to get Aria to care about him. But a man can only lose so much before he shatters. That’s why I did my damnedest not to love anything for so long.”
“You Earthers aren’t capable of love.”
“If love means dropping a nuke on men whose only crime was doing their jobs, then I guess that’s a good thing. Does your king ever think about those people in the Q-Zone he murdered? About their clan-families or their loved ones? I’ve met a few of them. One tried to blow you all to pieces back in New Beijing.”
“Then it’s a good thing you people can’t aim either. Now quiet. Your ride is approaching.”
“But our conversations get me going,” I said as the com-link cut off.
I grinned. I’d never met a suit of flesh I couldn’t get under—it was part of my charm. Maybe I wouldn’t be able to kill Kale Trass for Luxarn, but I could widen the rift between him and the woman who was undoubtedly his most trusted adviser. Maybe they didn’t even realize it was there yet, but I could sense the tension in the air between them back on the Cora. Whatever wicked thing life had made her that allowed her to torture a sleeping woman, Kale wasn’t the same, yet.
Darkness closed in around the escape pod as the hull of the Polaris 5 filled the viewport. I couldn’t miss the missile tubes tucked on its flanks or the 360-degree PDCs on its bow. It was a relative warship—the kind the United Sol Federation—or the USF—made plenty of legislature about avoiding. Corporations securing their holdings was one thing, but they didn’t want privately owned fleets when they didn’t even have one for themselves.
The rise of Titan was truly changing everything.
My escape pod rumbled as the P
olaris 5 bridged to it. I heard footsteps clanking, then the hatch hissed and fell open. Venta Co. security officers rushed in, pulse rifles raised with barrel-mounted lights scouring every corner of the tiny compartment.
“Took you all long enough,” I said. I barely got the words out before one of the officers grabbed me and wrenched my arms behind my back.
“What the hell is this?” I demanded.
“Sorry, corporate’s orders,” an officer replied. “We must verify your story and identity.”
“Get me to a damn terminal, and I’ll contact Mr. Pervenio myself, then.”
“Corporate has reached out to his office and is awaiting a reply.”
The officer pulled me around a corner into their ship’s cargo hold. He shoved me into a reserve seat and cuffed me to the armrest. From being treated like a prisoner on a Ringer ship to the same on an Earthers.
“Mr. Pervenio won’t be happy when he hears about this,” I said.
“You’ve missed a ton of news, haven’t you?” He chuckled. “Soon enough, that won’t matter.”
I wasn’t sure what he meant, and he didn’t give me time to ask. The men left me alone in the hold, shackled up like I was a criminal. Granted, I didn’t have the best intentions for Martelle Station, but it was about respect. Being a collector from any corporation used to be enough to be put up in a nice room and be treated with respect. Nobody wanted to upset the wrong person. Now everybody was on edge.
“Why couldn’t I have a daughter into drugs like everyone else?” I groaned as I let my head fall back. The Polaris had left the escape pod behind and now zoomed toward the whitish-brown orb of Europa. For my entire life, Luna had been the ship-building capital of Sol. We didn’t have to get too near for me to see the wheels of industry turning around Martelle Station like I’d never seen before.
One huge factory stuck in Europa’s orbit surrounded the skeleton of an Ark ship bigger than any I’d ever seen. Clearly, Venta had no doubt their design would be selected at the upcoming M-Day celebrations—that holiday during which we Earthers celebrated three centuries ago when a meteorite the size of a small moon slammed into the planet, but we survived the threat of extinction. More factories like it floated near Martelle Station and dotted the moon’s surface, where dozens of ships, like the warship I was currently on, were being constructed.
Maybe the USF didn’t want it, but apparently, Earth’s true powers were done sitting around while Titan made a mess of things.
Three
Kale
“Kale,” Rin said.
I ignored her as I stared down at Aria’s placid face. Her vitals read normally despite Rin’s show of torture to bend Malcolm to our will. The same went for the other life she carried. Still, I hadn’t been able to leave the side of her sleep pod since the operation started.
Threatening to hurt Aria or anybody else I could handle, but torturing her? I felt sick all over, like I was back in a Pervenio-run Q-zone feeling like germs were crawling all over me. I even had on my sanitary mask, as if that would help with the feeling.
“It was just for show,” Rin said, placing her hand upon my shoulder.
“We didn’t discuss it going that far,” I said. “What if something happened?”
“It was barely a spike in intake. He needed to know we’re serious.”
“Are we?” I asked.
“That’s why I told you to stay out of the room.”
“This is my ship, and she’s holding my baby.” I punched the wall as hard as I could. Without my armor on, my knuckles split, and tiny globs of blood floated across the cabin. “Threaten the collector all you want, but you won’t touch Aria again without my permission.”
Rin swallowed back a response, then bowed her head. “I’m sorry, Kale. There isn’t a lot of room for error out here, I acted on instinct.”
“I know…” I ran my fingers along the glass over Aria’s face. “It’s just… what if we really need to do it?”
“You don’t have to do anything.”
“A long time ago, Gareth told me that ‘I lead.’ So it doesn’t matter who flips the switch, does it? It’s all me now, just like Luxarn. Aria isn’t a group of Earther kids who probably wouldn’t have made it, Rin.”
“What?”
“She isn’t Director Sodervall. She’s…”
“Kale.” Rin took my bloody hand. “Look at me, Kale. I need you to answer me as best as you can. Ignore everything else.”
I exhaled through my teeth then nodded and made eye-contact with her.
“Ignore who she’s carrying and where she’s from,” Rin said. “Do you love her?”
My throat dried up, goosebumps covered every inch of me, and my heart constricted. “I… I don’t know.”
“That isn’t a no.” Rin’s features darkened. Her burns sometimes made it difficult to read her face, so I couldn’t tell if it was out of disappointment or concern.
“It isn’t a yes either,” I said.
“It may as well be.”
“So what?” I said. “Cora wasn’t exactly one of us either.”
“And we nearly sacrificed everything trying to get her out.”
“We?” I scoffed.
“All I’m saying is that your feelings are clouding your judgment. The tides of this war can change at the drop of a hat. If you want to lead, you can’t be compromised by someone we aren’t sure we can trust.”
“I didn’t want to lead!” I screamed. “If you and the others hadn’t attacked the Piccolo to get to me, Cora would have never been in that cell. She would still be alive.”
I was so overwhelmed, I didn’t even realize I’d pushed Rin until she slammed against the wall. She stared at me, aghast, while I fumed like a raging animal.
“That collector really got into your head, didn’t he?” Rin asked softly.
“Is he wrong? We’ve been rushing from one fight to another for so long, I never had the chance to think about it.”
“We took a calculated risk so we could reveal who you really are at the right time. I had you followed for years, Kale, and contacted them as much as I could. Your father too, before we came up with our plan. We had no idea you cared for a soul on that ship, or anyone else except your mother. If I had known, I would have taken Cora with us, I swear on my life.”
I looked down. Both my hands squeezed the lid of Aria’s sleep pod so tight bubbles of blood again swelled outside of the cuts on my knuckles.
“Kale, I only wanted to show you the truth,” Rin said. “The future of Titan is your right, by blood. I’d lead if I could, but what I did to Aria, without feeling a thing, is why it must be you. Don’t lose focus now. Not a single Titanborn was safe back then. Cora could have been killed by an angry security officer. She could have been thrown in a cell or Q-Zone for no good reason. I wish we could go back and change what happened, but we can’t. All we can do is make sure it doesn’t again.”
I spun back toward Rin and clutched her shoulders. “Then promise me we won’t let her die too.”
“The collector—”
“I don’t care about him!” I shouted. “No matter what she did or if she lied, promise me you’ll give her a chance to explain herself. That you won’t go behind my back.”
“I know you trust me more than that. You aren’t thinki—”
We can’t become the monsters they are,” I said, voice shaking. “Otherwise, what’s the point?”
“The point is to do what we must to leave your son a brighter Ring.”
“No,” I said. “We have to be better, Rin.”
“You are better. Just stay strong. I can’t promise Aria won’t do something to get herself killed, but I won’t let anyone besides you touch her until you give the order. I would never go behind your back like that. But for now, we have to make sure her father succeeds, and you can’t let him fill your head with doubts.”
“Right.” I took a few short, measured breaths to center myself. Aria was safe for now as long as her father kept go
ing. In fact, there was no way for him to get off Martelle Station, so even if he failed, what happened to Aria no longer mattered from our position. We could tell him anything.
“Did he make it?” I asked.
“He did. Shortwave directional communications are now on,” Rin said. “We switched off all the Cora’s power to any system that isn’t crucial to survival. We won’t go unnoticed forever.”
“What if someone spots us?” I asked.
“We hold off as long as we can for the collector to get this done.”
“We’ll need a pilot, then.” I glanced down at Aria.
“We have me.”
“A real pilot,” I said.
“If we wake her, it won’t be so easy to leave Malcolm behind to face punishment,” Rin said.
I sighed. Rin was right, as much as my stomach abhorred me saying it. The Cora could outrace any ship Venta could throw at us and had enough defensive ordnance left after Mars to shield us from long-range missiles for a while.
“So we just wait?” I said.
“I don’t like being beholden to an Earther, but it’s our only move,” Rin said. “Come on; Basaam is awake. We can proceed.”
I nodded and followed her into the command deck. Two of our men stood behind Basaam, who was strapped to a chair. One more guarded the door. The fat Earther wore a dazed look, same as anyone would who was preemptively woken from stasis without the full series of chemical balancing. Rin stopped in front of him, removed a g-stim from her pocket, and jabbed it into his neck.
Basaam’s eyes opened wide, bloodshot. His breathing hastened. G-stims weren’t only proficient at helping people handle high-g situations. He searched the room, growing more and more frantic with each passing second.
“Settle down, Basaam,” Rin said as she sat across from him. “We’re not here to hurt you.”
Titan's Fury: A Science Fiction Thriller (Children of Titan Book 4) Page 4