The Colossus Collection : A Space Opera Adventure (Books 1-7 + Bonus Material)

by Nicole Grotepas

  These thoughts were as far away from her conscience mind as they could be as Holly and Odeon waltzed past the front desk, nodded at the attractive human male working there, and overall kept to the fringe of the club floor to get to the doors that led to the secret underground tunnels.

  “My, my,” Odeon said softly, noticing the female dancers on stage. In addition to the female human dancers, there were Yasoan females on the multiple elevated dais stages today, something Holly never thought she’d see—Yasoans. Dancing . . . like that.

  “Le Tissier seems to be branching out,” Holly noted. As Odeon’s reaction to the strippers registered, she almost stopped and looked back at him. Instead she glanced over her shoulder, but kept walking, careful to note that their pathway was clear of bystanders. “I thought you preferred males.”

  “Holly Drake, I’m fluid. Sexuality is a spectrum,” he said. “And these females look very, very nice.”

  Holly resisted the urge to smirk. Of course it was a damn spectrum. But, hearing that from Odeon stirred up a jumble of confused emotions. But this was no time to address them or dwell on them, so she shoved them aside and focused. Sex. Love. They were as boundless as spirit. She had no arguments for that. The love that someone nurtured was the love they reaped.

  She shrugged as though using her body to tell her mind to move on and drop it. There were bigger fish to fry at the moment. Working out her emotions could come later, during downtime.

  They descended a stairway concealed behind a tapestry. Both of them were quiet as they followed a familiar path toward the shop they’d patronized many times. Narrow corridors were lit with sconce-lamps that punched shadows off their bodies into black misshapen oblongs dancing up the scuffed and pockmarked walls and across the floors. Their footfalls clattered off stone floors. Humid, musty odors hung in eddies of air that dispersed when they passed through them and swirled into the far corners of the long hallway and the various rooms that branched off it.

  “I prefer her wares to those of some of the others,” Holly said. The silence had finally gotten to her, and the hollow sounds of their feet.

  “Yes, the Madame carries a certain air of respectability,” Odeon agreed. “What amazing new devices has she added to her inventory?”

  “She’s a strange mix of the low arts and high class.” Holly put her hand on the door latch. Beyond it lay the shop itself. Nothing but a sign declaring “private” in the universal language indicated that anything of value was on the other side of the door. Holly bit her tongue, glanced once over her shoulder at Odeon, nodded, and then opened the door.

  Le Tissier was expecting them. She sat on a sofa in the arrangement at the center of the room. A white plush rug connected the elements that turned the sales floor into something more elegant than a mere shop. A sleek coffee table held a few prestigious items that she’d chosen to display as prizes on black stone pedestals. Around the rectangular perimeter of the shop, glass shelving was stacked high with a large assortment of devices. Holly recognized some of them from previous purchases. Others were strange and new, unfamiliar metallic objects that sent a subtle shiver up her spine. Her instincts told her they weren’t meant for a child’s birthday party.

  “Holly Drake and Odeon Starlight, my dears, such a pleasure to see you again!” Le Tissier said, clapping her hands together and rising. She swept from her seat and walked toward them. She embraced Holly, giving her three besos, before giving the same to Odeon. An elegant fragrance of wood and expensive, spiced oil accompanied the madame, flowing from her motions like a breeze sweeping down from a forest-covered mountain. Her presence was larger than her frame though she was taller than Holly, her size always played tricks on Holly. Le Tissier was strong, a shrewd person to do business with, who resisted tricks and haggling tactics. She was innocuous to Odeon’s Yasoan bred abilities to persuade and she enjoyed the chance to remind them with a well-placed “prices are not negotiable” whenever they came to her for supplies. Often she wasn’t discreet about it, saying in a saccharine voice “your tricks are useless on me, Odeon,” when he began to test the waters.

  Holly returned her effusive greeting, waited while she embraced Odeon, and then settled into an armchair around the elegant stained-glass coffee table.

  “What brings the two of you to my lair?” Le Tissier asked as she returned to her prior spot on the sofa.

  Holly explained their journey and what they expected to encounter and then asked if Le Tissier could recommend anything to assist them with the job. Holly had an idea of what they would need, but she also knew that this was something she’d never really thought about doing. Would they sneak into the Centau’s outpost at the edge of the volcano? Would they confront her and hope that they didn’t need to hurt her? Would she attempt to hurt them? Already Holly expected to take her throwing knives as well as the aether whip she’d begun to use in order to inflict less collateral damage. But beyond that?

  “You’ll want heat-repelling suits. I suspect you don’t know how far you’ll get into the hot area?”

  “No, we do not. I’m hoping to see the main volcano up close,” Odeon said, smiling. “There aren’t many reasons to go this far into the badlands. That’s why I hope I can use the opportunity to see these things.”

  “He thinks he’ll be able to take a bath in the lava,” Holly said, smiling at the Yasoan.

  “Oh, I think not, I think not,” Le Tissier said with a laugh. “It would cook you. Boil you like meat in a stew.”

  “Yasoan stew is delicious. Have you had it?” Odeon joked.

  The three of them laughed awkwardly. Odeon’s jokes sometimes went in directions that baffled others, but it was something he was working on—bridging the gap between cultures with humor and Holly found it refreshing that Odeon enjoyed the anthropology of their relationships.

  “What about the thief? Do they have weapons?” Le Tissier asked.

  “We think that she is likely to, however, we don’t know what they’d be,” Holly answered.

  “You must go to her prepared, then.”

  “Agreed. Holly will take her whip and knives. The rest of us will likewise be armed with our standard weapons—I will have my Ousaba club. Shiro, his cane-sword. Charly, her fists. Iain . . . What does Iain use, Holly?” Odeon cocked his head at Holly.

  “Usually he’s carried nothing. I don’t think he wants to engage in violence,” she said with a shrug.

  “I’d get him something he can use in case it comes to that,” Le Tissier counseled, her expression grave, her eyes suddenly thoughtful and introspective.

  It wasn’t the first time Holly wondered what Le Tissier had done before she became the proprietor of a strip club and the purveyor of such specialized gear. What had she been before? Had she fallen into the work? Had she chosen it as a means to undo the Syndicate government that kept the races in their places while pretending that there was some sort of equality? Even the most basic, mildly educated person could see that there was a clear stratification of classes among the 6 Moons races, with humans and Constellations taking up the bottom rungs, the upper echelons of Centaus and Yasoan built upon their backs and crushing them into an effective stand still.

  Was Le Tissier meaning to undo this hierarchy? As Holly studied the older woman—her dark eyes glittering with a measured fire, her lips pressed together in serious reflection, a shadow clinging to her brow and the hollows beneath her cheekbones—Holly saw something much larger than simply the figure of a female human. The other woman had always been a force to be reckoned with, but now Holly suddenly realized that Le Tissier wasn’t simply a woman running a side-business for extra cash. She had a mission. She knew that she was operating a business that was inch by inch taking apart the superstructure of the civilization that crushed them with its weight.

  “Yes, yes. What do you suggest? Iain is a former military man. He’s not afraid of weapons. I just think he never expected to get back into a situation where he was expected to behave like one,” Holly explained, won
dering what Iain could do to bring more to the team than just his previous experience as a commander. That was an enormous help. But he couldn’t go into situations unprepared, that wasn’t fair to the rest of them. “If nothing else, he can use my aether gun.”

  “Yes, at the very least. You might ask him what he’s most familiar with and comfortable using.”

  “I doubt that we’ll need very much anyway, to get back the angel. This Centau sounds unstable and unlike so many of our other jobs, I think we’ll just go in and take it. She’s not a name that we have to worry about mucking up with a scandal.”

  “So you think the best idea will be to broach it head on, Holly?” Le Tissier asked.

  “Darius is looking into what’s known about her operation near the volcano. We weren’t given very much. From what I’ve gathered, it came as a shock to those in power.” She shrugged, wondering if it was a mistake to do the job. Thoughts of Lucy popped into her head and she remembered the reason she’d resolved to do it. She glanced at Odeon, and saw her Yasoan friend watching her. He leaned forward onto his Ousaba club, then ran one hand through his silver hair.

  “We always pull through. Even if the job changes without warning. Iain Grant can pick his own weapons. That’s what I think, Holly.”

  “I doubt we’ll need them this time anyway. This Centau sounds like she’ll cave the minute we approach and go for the angel.” Holly knew she sounded confident, but there were misgivings swirling in her head. She’d learned enough to not underestimate her opponents, and was aware of the sorts of wrenches that could get lodged in the machinery without warning.

  Le Tissier pursed her lips, and began fluffing her long curly locks that draped down over her shoulders. “You’ve come this far, Holly Drake. Keep your wits about you. I’ll send you with heat resistant gear and anything else you may need. Let Iain pick his weapon. Stop here if he wants something other than your aether gun.”

  They wrapped up business, and Le Tissier held to her prices. But Holly knew better than to even try to get the madame to lower them.

  5

  “Ask me how a train ride is different from a space zeppelin ride,” Shiro said, grinning once he’d taken a seat across from Holly at the small table in the dining car. They’d just returned from taking a quick break to stretch their legs. They’d stopped in one of the small villages that sat at the center of the many vast swaths of farmland. Similar small villages dotted the expanses of tracts of land, supporting those whose farming livelihoods supported the rest of the 6 Moons.

  The train began to rock and sway as it picked up speed, rushing north through the falling snow and impending darkness. Shiro balanced his lionhead cane against his knees and took off his lavender bowler and placed it on the table. He always dressed for travel. It was one of the things Holly loved about Shiro. She counted on it as much as she counted on Darius to be slightly surly, or Odeon to be ferociously loyal, or Charly to always keep Holly rooted in reality with her verbal jabs.

  Charly had hung back in their train car to keep an eye on their berths until the train left the station and they’d put some distance between themselves and the City of Jade Spires. The team had all popped in their ear pieces to stay apprised of what was happening with each other during the journey.

  In her ear Holly heard Charly sigh and then laugh in response to Shiro’s question. “Shir, come on. A joke? Obviously trains are terrestrial. Lame question, bro.”

  “Oh I fear that it’s not a joke or lame, Charly. The difference is that one is fun. And I will give you a hint, chaps. It’s not the train ride.” Shiro leaned back in his seat and flashed a smug grin. His dark brown eyes found Holly’s gaze, and he blinked as though realizing something. “Ah, apologies, Ms. Drake. I know space travel is rough on you. But, it’s much more relaxing. At least, before your accident. Wasn’t it?”

  Holly laughed. “I’m not that sensitive about it, Shiro. Besides, I’m getting better at managing the terror. Haven’t you noticed? I spend less time passed out drunk or in a state of bliss from Odeon’s calm-song. But I do prefer train rides. There’s something infinitely more comforting about a train ride—if we have to make an emergency exit, we can. And it’s not quite so deadly.”

  Iain returned to the table carrying two drinks and placed one in front of Holly. A tall glass of an dark amber ale. “Thanks Iain.” She caught his gaze with her own and smiled.

  Shiro picked up the cocktail he’d brought to the table when he’d sat down, and held it out for a toast. “To a new adventure,” Shiro said.

  “And saving Christmas.” Holly picked up her ale and clinked the drink against Shiro’s, then Iain’s. “And the holidays.”

  “Toasting without me?” Charly asked. Her voice dripped with the disapproval singular to Charly. “And Odeon? Thanks guys.”

  “Oh yeah? Forgetting someone else, Charly? Thanks,” Darius said, dryly.

  “Ah D, you’re never around for toasts anyway. At least I’m on the gig this time.” She let out a long sigh that her comm mic picked up. “Look, I think the berths are safe, guys. I’m heading to the dining car to join you.”

  “Speaking of our Yasoan teammate, where’s Odeon?” Holly asked. She hadn’t thought much about it, but since he’d said nothing so far, she’d noticed. She took a quick sip, glancing around the dining car to see if the tall, violet-skinned Yasoan was hiding somewhere. “You guys see him anywhere?”

  “I thought he boarded with us, but maybe not,” Iain said, joining Holly in scanning the crowded car. Passengers—mainly human and Constellation—dressed in common city attire or the clothes more appropriate to the farm and pasturelands in the far north milled about laughing and drinking. There was another dining car past the one Holly and her crew were occupying.

  Holly put her drink down and stood. “I’m going back to the berths to see if I can find him. Wait here. Charly’s coming this way. Iain, would you mind checking out the dining car one down?”

  “Not at all. Shiro, watch my drink?” Iain stood up and moved around the table.

  “Yes, chaps, I’ll man the table. Count on me. I’ll just wait here, watching your drinks. Not drinking them.”

  Holly glanced back at Shiro. “Hands off.”

  “Holly, you want me to check around here?” Charly asked over the comm.

  Holly threaded through the passengers, heading for the gangway between the coaches. She touched her ear to adjust the earpiece. “Did you see him anywhere?”

  “No, but I wasn’t looking for him.”

  “He boarded with us. I know he did. Darius, can you run a quick check of the train database? See if his ticket was activated.” Holly continued weaving through the crowd in the dining coach, keeping her eyes open for a familiar Yasoan, carefully checking to be sure she didn’t miss him.

  She got to the doors and pushed through and crossed the gangway, then opened the door into the next coach. It was a gambling car—which was legal outside the city proper—and full of a few casino tables. Holly scanned the tables as she hurried through, heading for the next coach. That was where the passenger coaches began. No sign of him. Cold air bit into her exposed skin as she crossed the next gangway. Soon she was on the sleeper coach having not seen Odeon anywhere.

  “Holly,” Charly said, almost physically running into Holly.

  “Any sign of Odeon?” Holly asked.

  “His cabin is locked. He might be in there,” Charly said.

  “Why isn’t he responding?”

  “No idea. I’ll head back with you.”

  Holly jogged through the corridor, taking deep breaths to calm herself, reassuring herself mentally that Odeon was fine. He’s just asleep in his cabin. She felt Charly behind her as they dodged other passengers. Soon they were in the area where their cabins were.

  “This one was Odeon’s, right?” She gestured to the sliding door of a cabin. “Darius, any word on whether or not Odeon’s ticket was activated?”

  “Just getting that now, Drake. Took me a minute to get i
nto their system.” He paused. “Yes, looks like it was.”

  “He’s probably inside. Asleep or something.” She knocked on his door, then stopped to listen. She waited a few minutes. Charly stood close to her, breathing quietly. Neither of them said anything. Holly pounded on the curtained window of the sliding door harder, then stopped. She exchanged a look with Charly, noting the worry in her friend’s eyes.

  “Anything, chaps?” Shiro asked over the comms. “Sadly, there’s still no sign of Sir Starlight here.”

  “Nothing,” Charly said.

  “Iain?” Holly asked, hoping that Grant had found him in the other dining coach.

  “Sorry Holly, not here, either.”

  “How can we get inside? He’s the one with the lock-picking skills,” Charly said in a hushed voice.

  Holly caught a sidelong, suspicious glance from a female human passenger approaching them. Behind the woman a short, black-haired Constellation followed. They both looked Holly and Charly up and down as they squeezed past them in the corridor.

  “Our friend fell asleep inside. Trying to wake him up,” Charly said casually, with a laugh.

  Once the other passengers were gone, Holly looked at Charly. “I don’t know. But we have to get inside. Shiro. Iain. Either of you have experience getting past a door? It’s just an old-fashioned lock. Takes a key it looks like. Not the highest tech.”

  “Wait,” Holly said, pressing her ear up against the door. “I can hear something.” There it was again. A pounding noise.

  “Think it’s Odeon?” Charly asked.

  “I hope so.”

  “We could break the glass?” Charly offered.

  “And have Dave pay for it. Put the expense on him—the job’s being funded by him anyway.”

  “But if we do that, Odeon won’t be able to sleep in a berth with no window. Especially if he’s inside and hurt.”