"I was working on more important work…researching your friends, for instance."
She straightened her body toward Hans. "Your health program. Has Seth provided you with enough data?"
"His abilities are limited when compared to the girl. What Seth Smith doesn’t understand…" Hans’s tone was becoming more urgent. "I need Chloe to cure her. For whatever reason, Seth shows none of the mutated markers that are present in her. Her mind is why she is dying. I can help her, but I need her here."
"There is nothing I can do about that," Gwen replied. "Seth controls everything that happens with Chloe."
"You are the supreme chancellor of the MSA—"
Gwen raised her hand. "I know my position," she said. "I made an agreement with him."
"Break the deal. He is worthless."
Gwen curled her left brow. "His healing ability was surely some help to your cause."
"As I said, I can’t find any mutation markers within his genetic code. I need her for cross-referencing."
"Chloe has these markers?"
"Yes…well, not exactly. I didn’t have her long enough to run a full test, so I can’t be scientifically sure."
To Gwen, something was amiss. She turned her back and stepped away from Hans and Dakota. Her mind churned, thinking about Chloe and Seth and their indivisible relationship. How could Hans not find anything in Seth, but Chloe has—
Of course, she thought. It had been in front of her face for years.
Leaving them behind, she hurried toward the exit.
Hans shouted toward her. "Where are you going?"
She stopped, turned to Hans, and said: "I am going to get your prized specimen."
She raced in the elevator and headed back to the surface. Two resounding questions rattled in her mind. What was the relationship with this facility and the cure? And what would be the repercussions from Seth once she brought Chloe back to Zephyria?
For now, Hans Bauer would have to wait until she found Chloe and brought her to him. Seth would be furious, for she was about to take the greatest risk of her life. But she had to know. She had to find out if her conclusions were right, because if they were, Seth would be with her forever.
Chapter 9
Mars. Aethpisian Fallout Base Delta.
Parker, with the heavy cruiser Iron Chunk, came to a stable hover as the three Asterfighters of Quartz, Red Dust, and Olympus circled above in a tight formation. Atalo set the Iron Chunk on the surface, and Parker breathed a long sigh of relief; the same sigh he had let out when they entered the atmosphere and when Mars came into visible sight.
Unceremoniously, the servomotors hissing with an ear-splitting pitch, the exit ramp to the cruiser lowered. Parker saw Sarah moving toward them.
When she finally reached him, she struggled to control her tears and could only embrace him.
He felt the warmth of his wife’s body and fought to keep control. He wanted to blurt out everything that had happened, but he needed to talk to Chloe first. "How have you been?" he asked.
"Worried," she said. Her eyes glossed over. "About you. Your hair, your face are so ragged."
"Now, I’m fine."
"Captain Terry—"
Parker put his hand to her mouth. "Inside, we can talk then."
"For two weeks, Chloe and I kept out of touch with everyone. No one in the Alliance knows we are here. They’re calling us traitors."
"Inside," he said. "I must insist we get to cover as quickly as possible."
To his left, Quartz and Olympus busied themselves covering their Asterfighters. He swiveled his head to the other side. Red Dust was running toward him, gritting his teeth. Parker stepped forward with balled fists pulled tight against his sides. "Cover your fighter," he yelled.
Red Dust ignored him, continuing his sprint toward him. "You bastard." Red Dust seethed. The narrowing of his eyes made them almost invisible. Red Dust threw his flight helmet to the ground and drew his fist back.
Their eyes locked.
Parker readied for him. He shuffled his feet to center his body and shifted his shoulders to the side as the punch sailed beside him. He grabbed Red Dust by the shoulders and flung him over his sliding leg. He slammed the young pilot hard against the ground, pinning him.
Sarah yelped but went silent as Parker gained the advantage.
"Get off!" Red Dust said, spittle flying from his mouth. "You betrayed us."
"I saved your life." Parker extended his arms to press the angry pilot’s shoulders into the ground, taming his squirming body. "Calm down. You’ve been stewing in your Asterfighter for two weeks. Come inside and listen to me."
Quartz came running up. Sarah stepped in front of her, pushing with her hand against the pilot’s shoulder. "Back off."
"I’m not here to harm anyone," said Quartz, shrugging her shoulders and pushing Sarah’s hand away. Quartz turned to Red Dust. "Get hold of yourself."
"We lost our place among the Alliance. They’ll never have us back now," Red Dust said.
"Captain Terry has gone insane," Quartz replied.
"They think we are traitors."
"Parker was right."
"Listen to her," Parker said. A part of him was confident it was Red Dust’s frustration that was driving his madness; he didn’t believe he had sacrificed their careers. Red Dust’s agitation disconcerted him, but he knew he had had to make the decision to disobey Terry and the security force on the base. The choice had saved the members of his squad. He knew that underneath the frustration and anger, Red Dust understood that. "By leaving with us, you survived. Trust me."
Red Dust cursed at him.
Bending her knees, Quartz stooped down and brushed the hair from Red Dust’s eyes. "I’ll help you cover your Asterfighter, and then we’ll listen to Parker. If you don’t agree with him then, you can continue to blame him." She grabbed Red Dust’s hand and squeezed.
The young woman caused Parker’s muscles to loosen. His trust in her was strong. Ever since Parker created the squadron, her leadership of the other pilots had always garnered his respect. He had read about her heroics during the Battle of Lunara. Instantly, Parker respected her fortitude and loyalty to the ends of the solar system and back. Everyone proved a hero that day, and she was no exception. She shone as the perfect example of what an Alliance member should be.
Red Dust rose to his knees, brushed himself off, and hopped to his feet. Without a word, he stalked away toward his Asterfighter.
"He’ll be okay," Quartz said. "Everything in his life has always turned out bad. He’ll see this was for the good."
Parker nodded. "Cover the ships, power down the electrical systems, and disable the secondary generators. I want them invisible."
Quartz saluted and scampered away.
The horizon mixed with pink and orange tones, and Parker wondered if Seth was out there, somewhere. He gritted his teeth, and then, abruptly, taking long strides, hurried from the landing area. He headed straight toward the doorway to the caves containing the small Alliance faction he had forced into hiding.
Sarah followed closely behind.
He entered the hidden facility, and immediately, he stopped at a conjunction of several tunnels, undecided on which way he should go.
"Hold up," Sarah said. He ignored her and started down the closest tunnel. "Chloe isn’t down there."
He stopped, keeping his back to her. "Where is she?"
"Tell me why we are here," she said. "I need answers from you."
He turned toward her. "Chloe, I need to speak with her first. She’ll sense I’m here. She will know I have terrible news for her."
"I didn’t tell her when you would arrive."
"Trust me. She is aware of my presence."
"If she knows you are here, then she’ll know what is so important that you must tell her."
He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "Protector’s crew. We have gone terribly wrong."
"How have you gone wrong? Was it when you fought for Mars’s
freedom from the evils of the MSA or your heroics to the people who still believe in the Principles of Man? Everyone in the Alliance admires you. You’re a hero."
"Not everyone," he shot back, thinking of his encounter with Nathan Terry.
Sarah placed her hands on her hips. "What does that mean?"
He waved his hand at her. "The crew is in trouble. I need to speak with Chloe."
She didn’t reply.
Her rigid face distressed him. "What do you want from me? Don’t be detrimental to me. I will explain everything, but now, I need to find Chloe."
"Your crew," Sarah replied. "Everyone who remains has gone insane, and you still hold loyalty to them. I don’t understand it."
"Chloe?"
"Shut up about her!" Sarah screamed. She stormed away from him, started down the tunnel farthest from him, and then stopped. She pivoted around. "Chloe is down tunnel four, fifth door on your left. It is labeled."
Parker didn’t reply. He dashed off, wondering if the crew was worth this trouble. He took two more steps and shook his head. Of course they were.
The air in tunnel four was thin, and his heaving chest hadn’t let up, leaving his mind fluttering. He slowed his pace. He needed a clear mind to think about how he should talk with Chloe. A mixture of frustration, anger, and grief roiled within him; he was frustrated by the crew’s apparent lack of loyalty to one another, angry with Seth—he hated him now for his words—and sad about Seth’s total betrayal of the Alliance and Chloe. But he couldn’t tell her of Seth’s unfaithfulness to their vows. Seth’s relationship with Gwen had gone further than he imagined. Seth was a part of the MSA…a total, full-fledged member.
For the longest time, up until the battle, Parker had justified Seth’s presence within the MSA. Chloe was sick, and he would help her. Hans Bauer, the most brilliant mind on Mars, had the ability to help Chloe. Seth left for the right reasons.
Sadly, Gwen and the MSA used Seth’s vulnerabilities for their own benefit. They twisted him into believing everything the MSA stood for, and Parker couldn’t imagine him ever turning back. He had to tell Chloe of Seth’s intimate involvement with the MSA and warn her of the threat Seth posed to her and her daughter. He activated the door, and it snapped open.
Immediately, Chloe turned around while grabbing Alexandria’s hand. "Go to bed. Uncle Parker and I need to talk."
"Yes," Alexandria said. Her feet pattered to the bedroom, and she didn’t look at him. However, he forced a smile as he saw the young girl dash away, her focus set. Alexandria was only two, but her mind was together, seemingly more than the adults’ minds were.
"She appears well," he said.
"She is terrified," Chloe replied, firmly, letting her narrowed eyes convey most of her fury.
He reached out with his arms, indicating everything in the room. "I have a reason…Seth is coming after you," he replied. "His ideals are jaded." He hesitated and looked toward Alexandria’s bedroom. "I didn’t want to frighten her."
"You whisk us away in the night, ordering Sarah’s guards to this secret location and disturbing everyone. I don’t like it." Her hardened eyes, born when the war started, blazed a hole into him. He tried to repel it with a sluggish smile. She didn’t waver.
"You knew I was coming here," he said.
"Sarah is here. I assumed you would come to visit her."
"I mean now. It is why I didn’t bother knocking. I knew you wanted me to enter."
"So what if I did? It isn’t a secret I can sense—"
"Exactly. You were disturbed two weeks ago because I was millions of kilometers away, and you didn’t sense why I did what I did."
"That is childish talk. I’m not like that."
"You are. You’re still angry with me now," he said. "You don’t know the reason why I called you here…but by coming here, you trust me."
"Absurd. I’m angry because you frightened Alexandria. Not because I couldn’t sense your reasons—"
"Why did you follow Sarah here then? You could have dug your heals in and retained your peace in Aethpis. I’ve spent enough time with you to have seen your stubbornness."
"You said I was in danger."
"I wasn’t lying, so don’t be angry about my decision," he said. "At the asteroid belt, I spoke with Seth. He is coming to get you."
She started. The muscles in her arms and face twitched, and then, after a long pause, her face softened and lengthened in dejection. "A lunar month ago, he visited me, trying to get me to come to Zephyria. I had to fight him."
"Then you know he is becoming a monster."
She paused. "Even with the evil I saw in his eyes, I didn’t feel he would hurt me. He was only frustrated that I was uncooperative."
"What about Alexandria? She is a pawn to get you to come to Zephyria. She, if in danger, would make you cooperate."
"He wouldn’t do that."
"Are you sure? Because the Seth I talked to in the asteroid belt would have killed me to get to you."
"Seth isn’t like that."
"He would do anything for you, including turning into a monster to rule Mars. Obsession has twisted his love and loyalty. He can’t save you with a flick of his finger anymore. So he plans to control anyone and everything that he can."
She didn’t reply. She turned her back to him. Hearing her gentle sobs, he moved toward her, placing his hand on her shoulder.
Softly, he spoke: "I didn’t want him to take Alexandria. This entire situation is a mess."
She turned toward him, her eyes puffy and her cheeks red. "Were you fighting Seth?"
With an effort, he hid his grimace. He had hoped to avoid telling her about the entire dogfight between the two of them, but somehow he couldn’t keep it from her. "There wasn’t any other choice. The MSA fighters were attacking the Alliance base. It was chaos."
"But Seth," she said, pushing his hand away from her shoulder. She stepped across the room, and then turned decisively to him, her anger getting the better of her. "He is your friend."
"I didn’t want it to come to that."
Her hands moved to her hips. "It did."
"Shut up!" he yelled.
"Alexandria is in—"
"I could have killed Seth, and I damn well wanted to. I didn’t though, because I knew how much he means to you and Alexandria. That is a burden I didn’t want." He paused before continuing. "What I heard from him…I can never let him near you. Not ever again."
She stepped toward him.
His hands were shaking. "He said he wanted to kill everyone in the Alliance. Anyone who didn’t believe what the MSA believed. No tolerance."
"He wouldn’t say that. You must have misunderstood."
"Do you think I would get this worked up over a misunderstanding?"
"You lost the Alliance base in the asteroid belt, and everyone is calling your squadron traitors. Maybe you aren’t seeing everything straight at the moment."
"I asked him if he would kill you if you didn’t believe in the MSA."
She nodded her head. "He said no."
"He didn’t answer in the least. He believes the MSA can give him the paradise he has always wanted, and you will be a part of it. By force, if necessary."
Chloe didn’t reply. She stared at him. No doubt she was trying to read his mind, and he allowed it. She had to believe him. Without a gesture or words, she walked into the bedroom and closed the door behind her.
He waited for a few minutes, trying to conjure up words to soothe her. Nothing came to him. Instead, he left to search for his wife. He didn’t want everyone angry with him. He was right, after all.
The unsettling truth had been delivered to Chloe, and for fifteen minutes, Parker stalked around the tunnels of the Alliance hideout on the far side of Olympus Mons, reworking everything his mind. Chloe was angry, but he didn’t get the feeling she was mad at him. She believed him. Maybe he was having a "Chloe moment," reading her mind, but the more he thought about it, the surer he was. Seth had betrayed her. Only now, she r
ealized that Seth had transferred his loyalty to the MSA in an attempt to end his long struggle to find happiness and security. Unfortunately for Chloe, he would do anything to make her a part of it, including using his own daughter to capture her and bring her to his will; just as Gwen had done to him, using his fears and forcing herself upon him in an attempt to find his love.
The wickedness in Gwen and Seth was born from childhood traumas: the loss of their mothers. All these years later, the grief still cut deep within them, like a scar across their hearts. Parker refused to allow the rest of the crew to fracture.
He stopped.
First, he had to find Sarah to tell her why he betrayed Terry’s orders and how Captain Terry was about to destroy the Alliance. He hastened down the tunnel.
Minutes later, frustration and urgency controlling his movements, Parker found himself in the living alcove assigned to his wife. Sarah was resting on the couch, and he walked directly to her. "We need to talk about Captain Terry. He is fanatical."
"Not now…I have company," she said, motioning to the wall closest to the door.
He turned his head. "Eamonn," he said, his voice rising. "Where…how have you been?"
"Everywhere, and as well as to be expected."
Parker opened his arms. "You’re alive. The wanted posters are all over Mars."
"Yes, Gwen is unrelenting."
"To be honest, a part of me was relieved to see the posters and the bounties," Parker replied. "It let me know you were alive and free."
Eamonn laughed. "I guess I never thought of it that way."
"There was nothing good about it," Shannon said. She was standing beside Eamonn.
"As feisty as ever, Shannon," Parker said. He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. She hugged him with surprising force. "I can’t tell you how glad I am to see you. I need help from the both of you."
Shannon pulled back.
"We can’t provide help," Eamonn said. Shannon nodded in agreement. "I’m only here to deliver a datapad and for repairs."
"You came in on your own ship? The MSA can track it."
"No doubt they have been. I stole the Protector back."
Parker’s eyes lit up. "Protector, it is here?"
Lunara: The Original Trilogy Page 73