Every story she’d heard about the ex-convicts sentenced to Jupiter’s surface came rushing back to Grey. That’s what he had to be, right?
“Let her go,” Rin said, stepping closer.
“Don’t move, girl,” the man snapped, in one smooth motion unholstering a coilgun and pointing it at Rin while still holding the rifle on Grey with one hand. “Or you’ll both meet your Maker. Now drop your weapons.”
Grey wiped her bloody nose with the back of her hand. “We don’t want any trouble.”
“Too late for that.” The old-timer pointed at the deactivated drone with his chin. “I said drop the laser.”
She slowly set it on the ground at her feet. “We’re just trying to find our way out of here. We’ll leave you alone if you just let us go.”
“Why shouldn’t I blow a hole through your head?”
“Because that’s what Mazdaar would do.”
“And how do you know I’m not aligned with them?”
“They wouldn’t be caught dead wearing a Yien jumpsuit.”
The man glanced down at his clothes. She thought about grabbing her violetflare again. But even though this guy looked old he seemed spry, and she wouldn’t survive a rifle shot at this range.
“Turn around and start walking,” he said to Grey, waving for Rin to follow.
But her sister just stood there, and Grey knew exactly what she was thinking. She wouldn’t leave the zorses, even if her life depended on it.
“Can I tie them to a tree first?”
The old man gave her an incredulous look. “What?”
“Our zorses. Please.”
“Make it quick.”
Rin secured them and joined Grey. The man didn’t seem to notice her knife. That might come in handy.
“Move,” he said, marching them toward the tree house.
As they got closer, Grey saw what a work of architecture it was. Multiple rooms on multiple levels. Had this man built it himself? How long could it have taken?
At its base a ladder that seemed to be made of vines hung against the trunk. Grey looked up, shaking her head. He’d be able to pull it up once inside, which was a good safety precaution. The drones were obviously another. Where had they come from?
“Start climbing,” he told Grey.
She didn’t have much of a choice and reached for the first rung. She’d done far more dangerous things in the Preserve, and once inside they might be able to overpower him if things got ugly. If they ran now they risked being shot.
So Grey climbed, Rin right behind her. And then the old man came up after them, his rifle slung across his back. He still held the coilgun.
Grey and Rin clambered up into a small room with rough-hewn boards for a floor. It seemed to double as the man’s closet. Clothes of all sorts were scattered about in piles, and multiple pairs of boots in various stages of wear were collected in the corner. Grey contemplated trying to push the man down the ladder, but what then? They’d be stuck up here with him down there.
He was inside with them before she could act.
“What are you going to do with us?”
“Depends.” The man kept the coilgun dangerously close. “But first, up another level.” He pointed at a set of short wooden stairs without a railing.
The second-level room was larger than the first with several open windows giving a view of the trees outside. A basin and a counter took up one wall. Shelves lined another, stuffed with everything from fist-sized rocks to electronic parts and piles of wire. The man guided them over to two low stools.
“Sit.”
They obeyed, and he towered over them. Grey resisted the urge to recoil, but a visceral fear filled her veins, and all she could see was General Evangeline Yurkutz ready to cause her physical pain. Grey could barely breathe. People were capable of an evil no snarling animal or heartless drone could ever be.
“What are you doing in my forest?” The old-timer grabbed a cloth from a burgeoning pile and tossed it to Grey.
“Yours?” Rin said.
“You see anyone else around? It’s mine.”
Grey and Rin glanced at each other.
“We don’t talk to people who threaten us,” Grey said, wiping the blood off her face and infusing her voice with confidence she didn’t feel.
The man stepped forward, close enough for her to see curly white hair on the back of his hands and age spots most people on Earth would’ve lasered away.
“I’m going about my day and all the sudden see a kid wailing on my drone, and you talk about threatening?”
“It pointed a weapon at me!”
“You were trespassing.”
“How could we have known that?”
He finally lowered the coilgun and pointed a gnarled finger at Grey’s face. “Took me two years to salvage that thing. You’ll pay for it somehow.”
“Look, we don’t mean you any harm, but we almost got killed by a Mazdaar ambush, and all our people are either captured or dead.”
Grey watched the old man’s face for any reaction. Something darkened in his eyes and then quickly disappeared.
“Names,” he said.
“Rin and Grey Alexander.”
He paused ever so slightly. “Never heard of you.”
Rin actually giggled, and Grey pushed against her sister’s knee with her own. Now was not the time to relax.
But Rin didn’t seem to get it. “We’re trying to find a man named Benton March.”
Grey glared at her. They didn’t know if they could trust this guy, and she was spilling their secrets?
“Why?” the man asked.
“I can’t tell you,” Rin said.
“I’ve heard of him.”
Grey tried to stand, but the man stopped her with an upraised hand. “Who are your people and how did you get to Jupiter?”
“Yien,” Rin said before Grey could stop her.
“They’re sending children now?”
“Not exactly,” Rin said.
“Then what exactly, girl?”
Rin turned toward Grey. “What do we have to lose?”
Grey remembered their conversation earlier. Her kid sister was smart. Maybe it was time Grey trusted her.
She gave Rin a slight nod, and her sister launched into a quick rundown of their whole story, leaving out the part about Mrs. March’s message. When she finished, the man stuffed the coilgun in his waistband, and Grey hoped they’d made the right decision.
“That’s a grand story,” he finally said.
“It’s the truth.”
“Don’t doubt it.”
But Grey suddenly felt lightheaded. She tried to focus on the old man, but the edges of her vision were turning black. Grey reached for her sister’s arm even as she felt herself falling.
Chapter 34
Marie Johansson barged into Dana’s stark quarters. “What were you thinking?”
Dana sat up on her mattress. Her legs had partially held her earlier, and she’d even been able to take one step, but she didn’t trust them now. “It was worth a shot.”
Crossing the floor, Marie stuck her face in front of Dana’s, the wine from dinner still lingering on her breath. “I went to bat for you, and you play these games?”
“I tried. What more do you want?”
“You completely let her get under your skin.”
“You wouldn’t stop talking in my ear!”
Marie stared at her with an intensity that made Dana feel like a mouse in a cat’s lair. “I know you still care about her, but you made a huge mistake letting anyone else see that.”
“I don’t—”
“It’s as plain as the skin on your face,” Marie said.
“She . . . can be convincing.”
“Master manipulators usually are.” Marie’s expression softened, and she sat on the edge of the bed, flipping her cape to the side. “Dana, your only chance to redeem yourself is to testify against her. Please don’t blow it.”
“I don’t understand why
you even care.”
Marie breathed out a sigh. “I have my reasons.”
Dana gave the woman her full attention, the niggling suspicion she’d had ever since she met Nathaniel Hutchison growing roots as Marie dodged the truth. “It wasn’t a coincidence you picked me to convert, was it?”
“I saw your potential.”
“Because you were already watching me.”
Marie didn’t meet Dana’s eyes.
“Nathaniel Hutchison is my father, isn’t he?”
Marie glanced at the floor. “He cheated on my mother with yours.”
Dana pushed her hand underneath her leg to keep it from trembling. She hadn’t expected Marie to confirm her hunch so easily.
“And you don’t think this little fact would have made a difference?”
“My father and I both agreed to wait until you’d made your choice to tell you.”
Dana thought back to her childhood, trying to sort fact from fiction. She’d asked about her father’s identity many times, but Evangeline Yurkutz had told her she didn’t need to know. Now it made sense why. It wouldn’t do for word to leak out that a Mazdaar general was sleeping with her subordinate or that he’d fathered her child. Not that Mazdaar cared much for morals, but it would make Evangeline look weak, human.
If Nathaniel was her father, then Marie was her half-sister. For some reason that fact was harder to swallow.
“How long have you known?” Dana asked.
“A few years.”
“Am I the reason you embedded with Yien?”
“No, my orders were to get to March, but every day I looked for an opportunity to reach you.” Marie stood up. “It took me a year just to find you.”
“What would you have done if I hadn’t listened and stayed with Yien?”
“I never wanted to hurt you, Dana. But you have to understand what you’re facing here. When you saved Grey Alexander they put out a kill order for you. It wasn’t easy to convince them to give you another chance, and now you’re showing your softness again with March. I’m trying to help you.”
“I told you I would testify.”
Marie waved her hand toward the ceiling. “Look around you. Who holds the keys? Who is the one helming this ship back to Earth? It’s not Yien, Dana. Mazdaar is going to win this war with or without you, but I suggest you think long and hard about throwing everything away. About throwing your family away.”
Hadn’t she thought about all of this before she defected? Hadn’t she weighed the consequences and sacrificed everything for the freedom Yien offered her? But she hadn’t known she had any family besides Evangeline Yurkutz at the time. Would she have defected if she knew she had a sister and father in Mazdaar?
“I’ve been hard on you, I know,” Marie said. “But don’t you see? You’re being given a chance no one gets.”
Dana could only picture Commander March writhing in pain when those shock cuffs activated.
“Perhaps you need to understand our father.”
“Has he always known who I am?”
“He didn’t find out until after you defected. When he did, he was furious with your mother.”
“Understandable.”
“He believes that if he’d been given the chance, he could’ve talked you out of leaving.”
And it might’ve worked too. Evangeline Yurkutz was the perfect mother in public. In private, she was happiest if Dana was out of her hair. If someone, anyone, within Mazdaar had treated Dana like they cared, she had a feeling things would’ve been a lot different.
Commander March cared about you.
Dana closed her eyes. This was a lot to take in.
“Was he right?” Marie asked.
“What difference does it make?”
“He wants you in his life now.”
“And you?”
Marie smiled. “I’m always looking for someone to boss around.”
“You could’ve told me from the beginning instead of posing as RedStar.”
Marie stood and crossed her arms. “Like I said, your decision had to be based on more than blood ties. We needed to know if you were fully committed.”
“But you still don’t trust me.”
“Do you understand why Fleur March must be brought to justice?”
Dana rolled her eyes. “How many times do I have to tell you I’ll do it?”
“And to what will you testify?”
“What you want me to.”
Marie paced across the room, her cape billowing behind her. “March has been lying to you. Please remember she’ll say anything to manipulate you.”
And what about you, Marie Johansson?
Chapter 35
Grey opened her eyes to see Rin’s face hovering above her. She tried to sit up, but Rin pushed her back down.
“You passed out,” Rin said.
Grey groaned. “Ya think?”
As things came fully into focus again she realized they were in a different room, and she was lying on a cot up against the wall.
“Where is . . . he?”
“Outside. He’s trying to find something for Tram and Trif to eat.”
Grey pushed away Rin’s attempt to keep her lying down. She sat up and everything spun. After cradling her head in her hands, she was able to take in her surroundings and make out more radios and screens, dials and knobs than she’d ever seen in one place. They were scattered on tables and counters built into the wall. She’d seen some of Mrs. March’s radios, but these looked higher tech than that. A holographic computer screen hung above the desk.
Grey held her hand to her head, hoping she wasn’t ill from the water. Rin didn’t seem to be feeling any effects, so it was probably lack of food or the blow from the drone. “We’ve gotta get out of here.”
“I don’t think he’s going to hurt us.”
“I’m not sticking around to find out.”
But before she could even think of an escape plan, footsteps pounded beneath them, and then the old man popped up from the hole in the floor. He held a slab of wood with something that looked like a loaf of bread.
“You’re probably hungry too,” he said.
Grey’s mouth instantly watered. She’d eat bark about now.
He pulled a knife from his belt and sliced the loaf into three equal parts. He handed one to Rin, another to Grey.
She sniffed it and glanced at Rin. It smelled like potatoes, but what was to keep him from poisoning them?
“Oh, relax.” He shook his head and bit into his piece. “You’ve lived under Mazdaar’s rule too long. Not everyone wants to kill you.”
“You’d be surprised,” Rin said.
Grey couldn’t stand it any longer. She broke off a huge chunk and stuffed it in her mouth, barely chewing before swallowing. She didn’t care what it was. It tasted divine. If this was her last meal, then so be it.
“What should we call you?” Rin asked.
Towering over them, the old man took another bite of the strange bread. “You don’t seem like spies,” he finally said. “And believe me, I’ve seen enough of those.”
“We’re not spies,” Grey said.
“Why are you looking for Benton March?”
“We . . . think he can help us.”
The old man grunted. “Maybe he already has.”
Grey stopped mid-chew. Rin’s eyebrows shot up.
“You’re Benton March?”
“In the flesh, kids.”
“But you acted like you’d barely heard of him.”
“Had to find out who you were.” He waved at the radios. “I suppose you’re wondering where all this stuff came from. More ships have gone down on this planet than anyone has reported. Get to the wreckage first, and you never know what you’ll find.”
The missile that hit the cargo vessel had come from the surface. Had some of the ex-cons taken to shooting down ships just to salvage them? It would make sense, and she couldn’t really blame them. They’d been brought here against their will. Survival wo
uld require desperate measures.
Benton let them finish their bread, and then the questions started again.
“Why is Yien sending children to find me?”
The gnawing in her stomach had subsided, and Grey felt better. But she still hadn’t decided if she trusted this man. How did they know he was really Benton March?
Rin beat her to the punch.
“Actually, Fleur March is the one who sent us.”
“How nice. After all this time.” His tone was sarcastic.
That’s when Grey knew she’d have to play him the message. It was their only chance. She dug in her pocket for the disc. It would make or break them, but she’d given Mrs. March her word. What Benton March did with it wasn’t up to them.
She stretched out her palm.
“What is that?” Benton asked.
“A message from her.”
“As far as I’m concerned, my wife died forty years ago when she flew me to this god-forsaken planet.”
Rin, ever the peacemaker, leaned forward. “You need to hear it.”
Grey didn’t wait for him to agree. She flicked the hologram on, and Mrs. March appeared in front of the three of them. A rush of grief swept over Grey when she saw her face.
“Hello, Benton,” Mrs. March said. “It’s been a long time. If you’re watching this, then know I did everything in my power to deliver these words in person, but I could not risk them going unsaid, so I have entrusted this message to someone I greatly trust.”
Grey watched Benton March’s face as he viewed the image of his wife, but it was like looking at a stone wall.
When the message ended, the holographic Mrs. March flickered then faded out. It reminded Grey of her own life. She sat slumped on the cot, staring at the disc. Even if this man chose to help them, her family was gone.
Suddenly Benton rushed over and snatched the disc from her palm.
“Hey!” Grey jumped up, fearing he’d destroy her last token of Fleur March.
Rin tried to grab it too, but Benton swung out of their reach. He picked up a micro-tool that looked like an old-fashioned screw driver, only half as thin. He poked at the disc in several different places.
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