But…
He couldn’t kill her. She had three or four guards around her, and more importantly, Martian politics wasn’t his concern anymore. He wanted out, and as Ty had said, if he killed again, someone else would want vengeance. Gwen would quadruple the bounty on him. He wouldn’t last long then. He loosened his grip on the trigger.
Samantha spoke. "I need reassurance that my officers are prepared to act immediately. Did you compile the supply information for the Solarspot?"
"I was administrating before you were a glimmer in your mother’s eye, Samantha," Ty said. "Don’t test my preparation skills."
"That’s Vice Chancellor Burns," she said. "Take note of the respect. I’m not as heartful as the supreme chancellor. I can end this for you."
"Threats will get you nowhere," Ty replied. "Your MSA’s obsession with the metalor ensures my survival."
"Don’t be so sure of your value. Do you have the report?"
"Right here." Ty reached into his pocket and pulled out a datapad. "Read it carefully. The meteor cluster is slowing. Don’t expect it to last forever."
"The cluster has always had its slow periods. Don’t overstate the trivial."
"Yes, Vice Chancellor."
Samantha didn’t say a word.
Eamonn heard footsteps heading toward the main door. And then they paused.
"One more thing, have you spoken with Eamonn Dalton?"
Reflexively, and controlled in his motion, Eamonn drew his pistol. As he felt Shannon’s eyes on him, he tilted his head toward her. Her eyes widened, begging him to follow her through the escape hatch. He shook his head. He wanted to hear Ty’s reply. It was the signal.
Ty defended him right from the start. "He is a fugitive. Why would he come to Lunara? An MSA-controlled colony."
Denial was Ty’s tactic.
Eamonn listened carefully, waiting for a subtle hint.
Samantha replied with pride in her tone. "Everything is MSA-controlled in this solar system."
"Eamonn Dalton apparently isn’t."
Eamonn couldn’t see her, but he was certain Samantha was beside herself with aggravation. "There was a report he is in the colony. The logical choice would be for him to contact you."
"Lunara is too small for him to hide in. I’m sure your reports indicated other possible destinations. Phobos, perhaps."
"Perhaps," she replied. She paused.
Eamonn’s heart thumped.
"You’ll contact me if you hear from him. Harboring him is punishable by death."
Ty laughed. A forced one, but it was passable nonetheless. "More threats. My time is too valuable for that. Are you done? I need to review efficiency reports before our meeting."
"Maybe we will look around here," Samantha said. "I’ve a feeling we’ll find something that will link you to the Alliance."
"Come now," Ty said, challenging her idle threat. "You don’t want rumors about mistrust in your officers to start. It would lead you down an awkward path."
Samantha pursed her lips. "I’m watching you," she said. "Don’t push me."
"Are you reverting to threats again?"
She didn’t reply.
Eamonn heard the swish of the door as it opened and the sound of boots stepping out of the apartment.
Moments later, Ty opened the door to the bedroom. "Everything is safe. She won’t be back."
"Are you sure?" Shannon said. "What about her promise to keep an eye on you?"
"She has told me that one hundred times over the last two years. They are threats. Nothing more," Ty said. "You can stay in my room tonight."
"We can’t impose," Eamonn said.
"Nonsense," Ty said, moving past them and adjusting the mattress over the escape hatch again. "Have you thought about my proposal?"
Immediately, Eamonn wanted to say no. Involving himself against the MSA was his worst scenario. It would dig him deeper into it and further from his life of solitude. He didn’t want anyone to rely on him. He was scared and frightened.
Yet, Ty had asked him for a favor. The old Eamonn would have jumped to help him. But now, he had to think about his choice. He was going to Mars anyway, and he wanted to see Parker again—
"I’ll take it to her," Shannon said. "I can find my son."
"No," he said, firmly. "You agreed to give up Adol and let him go. If Samantha ever tracks him down, they’ll use him against you. Would you risk his life for a fleeting glimpse of him?"
"He is my son," she said. "I want to be with him when he grows up."
"The agreement. If you cross Samantha, she’ll kill him."
"Shut up, I know," she said, pushing past him. She ran down the stairs and into the extra bedroom, slamming the door behind her.
"She has sacrificed a lot to help you," Ty said.
Eamonn’s face soured. "She is only helping herself. I let her come because my situation works better in pairs. We can blend in better."
"She looks at you—"
"Don’t say it. I hate her. Almost as much as Samantha Burns."
"Do you hate Samantha enough to do the job? I need you. You are the absolute only person I can trust."
"I don’t want to be involved." He turned away from Ty but then shot a glare back at him. "Don’t get Shannon involved either, because that makes me involved."
"What about Madelyn and everyone who has died on Mars? You can’t give up when it gets tough."
"Listen," Eamonn said. He pointed his finger toward Ty. The agitation from Ty’s comments made his hands tremble. "I’m out. One hundred percent out. I want to find peace."
"You sound like the old Seth. The scared one."
Eamonn groaned. He didn’t want to hear that from Ty. He didn’t want to feel any guilt. He stepped for the door, but before he could leave, Ty grabbed his arm, firmer than he cared to be touched. He thrashed his arm to lessen the grip. "I only want peace for myself."
"You sound just like Seth."
He tried to step out of the doorway. Ty’s grasp strengthened, preventing him from moving. He couldn’t control his annoyance any longer. He drew his fist back and punched Ty in the jaw. Ty staggered backward, releasing his grip.
"Don’t ever say that. Seth is an ignorant fool who has been terrified his entire life of shadows and of demons. My terror is real."
"So was his." Ty had recovered from the blow but showed no desire to retaliate. "His fear was warranted. Mars did end up betraying us."
Eamonn breathed heavily. "A madwoman is hunting me. Don’t lecture me about fear. You don’t even know one millionth of a percent of what I have experienced."
"End it then," Ty said. "Help the Alliance fight again. You are going to Mars anyway. If not for the others, bring freedom to yourself."
"I don’t want to be…" Through the window, the Earth rotated, spinning to free itself from its gray-clouded shackles. To avoid the meteor cluster that threatened to make it unhealthy for centuries, the Earth needed Lunara to survive, and it needed his ship.
Mars, his home, needed him to avoid the MSA’s deadly grip. He let out of a long drawn-out breath. "I need your help to get to Mars anyway. Don’t volunteer me for anything else."
Chapter 3
Her dinner had been prepared and eaten, her face was clean, and her nightgown was hanging loosely from her body. At this moment, like every day, Chloe Jones could finally think about Seth. They had been separated for almost two years now. She wondered if when they had last spoken to each other, her venomous words had cut him too deeply. At that time, his shackles frustrated her.
Yet she loved him still, perhaps even more than ever. She breathed gently on the candle in front of her. Seth’s candle. It flittered but held its glow. She smiled.
She told everyone she hated him now, that she thought he was a traitor to the Alliance and she never wanted to see him again. But if she only had one request, he would come back and be with her in the final months of her life.
She closed her eyes and thought about his face. She grimaced.
For the last few weeks, the dull pain of her illness had worn her down. Before, the headaches were minor, dissipating by the afternoon. Now, the headache lasted well into the night, and soon it would be a constant, stabbing pain.
She took a short breath, resembling an involuntarily gasp.
"Is this a good time?" a familiar voice said from behind her.
She whirled around.
"Minus two years ago…maybe. Since then, it hasn’t been a good time for you."
She thought she would be happy and have this uncontrollable urge to hug him, but instead, a surge of wrath and betrayal coursed through her mind. Her fists balled, and her body straightened. Perhaps her anger with him was real and not just what she told her friends. "Why are you here?"
"I came—"
"On second thought," she said fiercely, "get out of my sight. Don’t ever come back." She wanted Seth to pay for his betrayal of her and for abandoning her in her hour of greatest need.
Seth stepped toward her but stopped short. "We are several steps closer to finding a cure. I won’t let you die without a fight."
"You can’t find one."
"Don’t say that. I know I will."
"I am dying. You have to accept it."
"Stop," he said, his hand pushing toward her. "You’ll not…"
"I am," she said. "My brain is already shutting down. You can’t help me from Zephyria."
"Mommy," a voice cried from the hallway.
He flinched.
Chloe moved toward the doorway and opened the cracked door fully.
A small girl ran into the room. She stopped short when she saw Seth in the room. "Mommy, who is that?"
"Alexandria, this is your father," Chloe said.
Seth stared in amazement. He couldn’t speak.
"You said he was lost," the girl said. "Never coming back."
"For this one night, he is here to meet you," Chloe said. "Can you say hello?"
"Hello, Father," Alexandria said, creeping slowly behind Chloe’s leg. Chloe urged her to move forward.
He was down on one knee. He blinked several times, making sure he was seeing her clearly. His little girl was as beautiful as her mother. Her hair, brown and short, bobbed toward her cheeks. Her face was pudgy, like Seth’s mother, but her eyes were unmistakably Chloe’s.
"Hello, Alexandria," he said over the lump in his throat. "Can I get a hug?"
The girl edged carefully toward him. She looked back at Chloe, who nodded her approval. Then she bolted and wrapped her arms around him.
He savored the moment. He wished his own mother were there. The Smith cheekbones were prominent in Alexandria. "Thank you."
"You’re welcome," Alexandria whispered.
"Time for bed now," Chloe said. "I thought I already tucked you in."
"I thought you might need company," the girl said. She looked toward her mother, searching for reassurance.
"I’ll be fine," she said, ushering her to the doorway. "Get into your bed. You don’t want to get in trouble. We have a fun day planned tomorrow."
"I’m going," she said grumpily, then turned to Seth. "Nice to meet you."
"Have a good sleep," he replied.
Alexandria left the room. Standing at the doorway, Chloe watched her scamper down the hall and into her bedroom. She closed the door.
"She speaks well for her age," Seth said.
"There are benefits to my empathic abilities. She started learning from the womb."
"Does she show any signs of being like us?"
"Not a trace, aside from her growth spurt in the first six months. But it has slowed. The doctors think it is my fault. In my womb, she was a part of me. Thankfully, she is normal."
His face stretched with surprise. "Of all the people in the universe, I thought you wanted our child to share the abilities we have."
"Why did you come? It wasn’t because of her. You haven’t been here in two years."
"Alexandria and you are coming to Zephyria with me."
She squared herself to him. Her fists tensed. "Absolutely not."
"It is the only way—"
"First, your MSA friends aren’t the moral influence I want Alexandria exposed to—"
He stepped toward her. "The MSA morals aren’t any worse than Aethpis colony or your Alliance. Neither is my concern. I care about saving your life, and to accomplish that, we need to run tests on you."
"You ask me to come with you so you can run hideous experiments on me. How stupid do you think I am?"
"It is the only way."
"I can’t be saved. You know it in your heart."
"My heart will do whatever it takes until it can’t anymore."
"I’m staying here," she said, pointing to the door. "Get out of here before you wake Alexandria again."
He grabbed her by the wrist. She twisted her arm, but it was useless. He was too strong.
As he dragged her toward the doorway, she resisted, driving her feet into the floor in an attempt to hook to something.
"Stop it," she said, and then drew back her fist, thrust it toward him, and slammed it between his legs. He released his grasp. Thrown backward, she stumbled along the floor, tripped over the area rug, and landed on all fours. She was seething now. Sweat glowed on her brow; the room grew hot. "Get…out…of…here."
His face was red, and he glared at her. She had hurt him, but not enough. The green in his eyes flared like an emerald star. His determination to get her and the purpose in his step suggested he was serious. She had to keep him away.
She crawled back beside the bed. "Stay away. I’ll scream. I have a security transmitter linked to my room."
"You can’t call security on me. I have too much power within the MSA."
"You’re a pet. The MSA feeds you and keeps you on its leash," she said. "Your daughter is what matters. Don’t waste your time with the MSA or you will regret it."
He took a threatening step forward. His fists balled, and his shoulders tightened.
She reached into her pocket, fiddled with her CommUn, and inputted the security alert code. The CommUn chirped a repeating warning tone.
He laughed. "I control the security on Mars. I’m MSA."
"These are personal security. Your MSA people call them terrorists. It would be a pleasure for them to kill an Alliance traitor."
"You are bluffing."
"I don’t bluff when it comes to Alexandria. I love her more than you."
"I can save you."
"Go save yourself. When you’re done, I’ll be here."
"I can’t lose you."
"Go now, or they’ll kill you. They prepared for you. I have shown them how."
His fingers curled into a fist, his jaw set, and the vein in his neck pulsed.
She didn’t care that he was angry and frustrated. He had caused it.
"I’ll be back. I promise," he said.
"Just promise you will come back with the Seth I love."
"That coward is dead." He glared at her, his eyes confident. "I’m no longer scared of Mars. I control it."
She didn’t reply. Maybe he was right. Her Seth might be gone, forever, taken by the malevolence of Mars. As he moved toward the doorway, she closed her eyes.
When she opened them, he was gone, and so was the flame atop the candle.
Chapter 4
The lights shining out from Zephyria colony cast an eerie shadow along the east landing pad. They were so deceptive that Seth begrudgingly switched on the altitude computer to mark his descent. He tried never to use the computer for landings. He preferred the feel, and the thrill, of touching down using his senses.
As expected, the autopilot made a perfect landing. A hiss sounded as the cooling fluids dumped into the engine mount. Following protocol, he checked his postflight diagnostics and was satisfied with the lights flickering green in confirmation. He unbuckled his harnesses.
In front of him, coming from the other side of the landing pad, the gradually intensifying light from the rising hanga
r bay door beamed along his hull.
He tilted his head up as Gwen Arwell moved out toward him. He released the canopy. His foot touched the surface when Gwen arrived beside him.
Her eyes sharpened. "Where were you?"
"Out," he said defiantly, knowing she had ordered him never to leave Zephyria colony. He hadn’t until this morning because up until last night, he didn’t have a reason. His work with Hans demanded he be here, and he endured every painful session. Sadly, little progress had been made in finding a cure for Chloe. He wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but such a cure would probably elude Hans Bauer.
Hans, with numerous ploys and gambits, insisted he needed Chloe. But he forbade her involvement in the process, aside from administering the cure. Gwen obliged. Seth could control her easily enough with promises of love and affection, and she backed any request he made. She was his only fail-safe. Often, it bothered him. His relationship with her had grown complex. He was using her weakness for him whenever he could; she forced him to sleep with her to retain Chloe’s safety within Aethpis colony. Yet, their friendship, beyond the manipulation of each other, remained. It was more like a business deal.
But Seth began to see Hans’s point as his fear of Chloe’s death overshadowed any fear of Chloe being in discomfort. His journey tonight was an effort to bring her to Zephyria, and he had been surprised to find her so resistant.
Gwen’s big green eyes hardened. "You aren’t supposed to leave Zephyria."
"I did, and now I’m back." He brushed by her, purposely hitting her shoulder. He hurried to the doorway.
She followed. "Where were you? Were you with her?"
"If you are referring to Chloe, I saw her." Though he wanted to snatch Chloe from Aethpis and bring her to Zephyria, he wasn’t going to tell Gwen. He had planned on sneaking Chloe into Hans’s lair and getting him to cooperate with the secret.
"Part of our arrangement was for you never to speak with her. Only the cure."
"The key to finding the cure is within her, which is also part of the arrangement." He lied. He wanted Chloe close again…to feel her touch.
"Then where is she?"
"She called security on me."
"Security? They wouldn’t have done anything to you. I’ll have that security force executed."
Lunara: The Original Trilogy Page 68