"What happened to the rest of the Raiders?"
"Both the minister and the chancellor killed them. Yes, the minister knew about the genocide of the Raiders. The two governments never wanted the Raiders to create havoc on Mars again. They made sure of it," she said, pressing the base of her forefinger to her lip, suppressing whatever guilt she had.
Anger grew within Chloe. Fire flared in her eyes. The two governments were never trustworthy. Seth had been right again. "Is there proof? Can we show this to Mars?"
"No, not directly, and I don’t think anyone cares. The Raiders held Mars back. Their stigma retains no remorse or compassion from the people."
"Stigma. There are people!" she said. "You can’t hold back anything for fear the people might not care. It is their right to know what happened to their brethren."
"Raiders were never brethren to the colonists. Don’t overstate the love people have for one another."
"There are still decent people on Mars."
Dakota smiled. "You can disillusion yourself if you want. The Raiders were the scourge of Mars. My family, being from a nonaligned colony, was lumped in with those savages. It was only a miracle that I survived."
Chloe threw her hands up and said in a harsh, exasperated tone, "Where is Seth?"
"Last report was he was seen heading back toward Zephyria. Probably to report to Samantha Burns about her mission."
"Samantha Burns? He would never take orders from her."
"Gwen and Samantha have split allegiances. All indications point to Seth joining Samantha’s side of the fight."
"He would never join her."
"Gwen has gone quite mad. I don’t know where the paranoia has come from. Her father certainly didn’t display it."
"What has she done?"
"Nothing too drastic. Killed a bunch of officers under her command, banished Samantha from the Majestic Tower, and virtually locked herself in at the top of the tower. Even Hans couldn’t get to see her."
Chloe let out a long, humming breath. So, Gwen was truly at the top of the Tower. "She loves Seth. I don’t see how she allowed him to join Samantha without killing him."
"Perhaps that is to come. We should be arriving in Zephyria shortly to figure it out. Hannah Rohen is in the underground, and we are planning a strike against the government within the hour."
"So that is why you are so confident the MSA will fall tonight. I figured you were holding back on me."
"I know you are loyal to the Alliance, even with your bond to Seth clouding your judgment. And besides, we need you. So I have no choice but to trust you and coddle you."
Chloe started, her head tilting slightly to the side. "You need me?"
"You are the only person who can stop Seth. He killed the entire Alliance base within a matter of minutes. His powers have climaxed to a point where it is unsafe for even him to use them. He has tasted the powers from within him, and there will be no amount of resolve that can stop the urge to use them." Dakota stepped toward Chloe. "Can you stop him? You are our only hope. Feel within my mind for my sincerity."
Chloe stared at Dakota for a long moment. The delicate features of her face were so rigid, her stance was erect and noble, and her mind was only on her family and the longing she had to see them one more time. The MSA had scarred Dakota, the feeling was unmistakable within her. Chloe let out a long sigh. "I will find him, and I will destroy him if necessary."
Chapter 38
The tavern in Old Zephyria was an important meeting place. It was the haunt for the idle, lowly, and forgotten inhabitants of Mars; a resort for the land workers, smugglers, wanderers, and traveling merchants as they journeyed along the trade lanes from Saturn to Lunara. It was as Earthen Mars had been at its birth.
Parker hesitated outside in the bustling corridor. He could hear someone from inside shouting obscenities over the loud, hard music. The shriek of sliding chairs ground his nerves, and then another shout from a deeper voice focused his attention. A large man heaved a much smaller man out the tavern. He spilled along the floor, and Parker avoided him with a quick step to the side. The drunken castoff mumbled another slur to the bouncer before tripping over his feet on his way down the corridor toward another establishment.
Parker swallowed hard, pushing down his nervousness. If Chloe was in there, selling herself to the men of this establishment, he had to get her out. This place terrified him. What would it do to a weakened woman?
Shannon stepped toward the doorway, and he put his hand on her arm to stop her. He stepped in front of her, took one more nervous gulp, and led them into the tavern.
The tavern buzzed with activity. Taking a quick glance around, Parker didn’t see Chloe. She wasn’t beside the bar where several of the women paraded themselves around, nor was she accompanying any of the men at the tables.
Begrudgingly, he imagined she was in the back part of the tavern. The ominous door leading to the back of the tavern was decorated with beads. Hanging vertically, they seemed to taunt him, glimmering with their seductive allure in the spare light.
Scarlet women saturated the tavern. Their loose-fitting clothing, showing parts of their bodies his mother had warned him many times was a sacrilege to see, flowed seductively from shoulders and hips. He forced himself to see past this temptation and toward the faces in the crowd. Not one of them was Chloe, and as he looked toward Shannon, she indicated that she had not spotted Chloe either.
He moved to the bar and slid a credit chip toward the bartender. "Give me two ales."
The bartender drafted the drinks and thrust them toward Parker, sloshing the foam over the rim onto the bar top. The bartender went to take the credit chip but Parker grabbed his hand with force, making the bartender look up to meet his eyes.
The bartender’s eyes hardened.
Parker leaned toward the man, suppressing the nervousness he felt oozing from his pores. "There is another credit chip if you tell me if she is working here." He showed the bartender a picture of Chloe. The same picture he had taken of her when they were in Gwen’s apartment—the day this began.
"I see a lot of girls. She might have been working, and she might not have been." The bartender’s eyes shifted from Parker to the back of the room.
Parker followed his gaze and found it led to a pair of bouncers at the rear of the room. A silent signal passed between the two, but it told Parker two things: Chloe was there—or she had been—and trouble was headed his way.
Parker cursed under his breath. With any luck, this wouldn’t end in him having to draw his sonic pistol. He turned back toward the bartender, hoping to end it peaceably. "I’m not looking for trouble. I know she is here. Show me where."
"Ask them to guide you," the bartender said and laughed.
The two bouncers approached and stood beside him. One of the men grabbed his arm.
He thrashed it away, and wheeled around to face the two. Judging by the scowls across their faces, Parker knew they weren’t intimidated easily. But they did stop short.
Shannon, with a simple clearing of her throat, diverted their attention toward her sonic pistol bulging out of her tunic.
Parker looked over for a moment and then back toward the two bouncers. He spoke before they alerted anyone. "We don’t want trouble. If you know where this girl is, we will be appreciative. With credits."
The bouncers remained stolid…until Parker removed a handful of credits from his tunic pocket and rolled them around in the palm of his hand. The one to his left spoke. "Celeste already has a half-dozen bounty hunters looking for her. What makes you think you can find her?"
"Bounty hunters? So she has left?"
"Of course. She and Lola killed Mr. Peruzzi. It is clearly written on the bounty notice." The bouncer pointed toward a pillar closest to the doorway. "You aren’t much of a bounty hunter."
Parker stepped back to look a the notice. He saw Chloe’s picture with the name Celeste written under it, and beside her another girl named Lola. Parker had never seen her before
. "They killed the caretaker of this tavern, and the bounty is plenty high. What else did they take? The new owners wouldn’t want to avenge the death of a caretaker unless he was killed with something of value on him."
"I didn’t set the value," the bouncer replied.
And without warning, he lunged toward Shannon.
Shannon wasn’t prepared for the large man’s quickness, and for that matter, neither was Parker. He stood slack-jawed and weak-kneed, watching as Shannon spilled across the floor. Her sonic pistol rattled away from her under an unused table.
Parker reached into his pocket for his sonic pistol, but the other man jumped on him before he drew it. His back slammed with a thud against the concrete floor, sending the credit chips chattering around them.
The men wrestled. Parker’s right arm was pinned inside of his tunic, his hand against the handle of his gun. But he managed to free his left arm, drew it upward, and slammed it against the man’s temple. The crack echoed throughout the bar.
The blow hurt the large man, sending him into a wincing retreat. Parker loosened his body from the man’s grasp. He drew his body back, kicked his booted foot against the man’s chest, and sent him sprawling into the bar. The back of the bouncer’s head popped against the metal bar that ran around the top of the bar, sending him to the ground, dazed.
The ale mugs rattled along the top of the bar, sending a few to the floor, where they shattered.
Parker jumped on his feet instantly, but he resisted the urge to draw his sonic pistol. The bouncers weren’t carrying them, a result of the MSA ban on them in Zephyria, and he didn’t want to kill anyone he didn’t have to, especially people who could help him. Besides, Shannon had initiated the confrontation.
To his right, Shannon scrambled along the floor to her sonic pistol. The bouncer who had gone for her staggered, a nasty gash along his forehead. From what, only Shannon and the nearby crowd knew.
Parker went to call for a stop, but the cries from the crowd drowned out his voice.
She reached for her sonic pistol a moment later, grabbed it, and whirled to her feet. In two strides, Parker dashed over to her; he slashed her arm upward and knocked her sonic pistol so that it was facing the ceiling.
Bang!
The echo of the sonic pistol jarred his ears. The bullet ricocheted off the ceiling and hit the back wall.
Now, everyone in the tavern was focusing on them. The music stopped, and everyone was whispering the name Parker McCloud. To the crowd, that meant an opportunity to try to capture him. Shannon looked toward him with a venomous stare.
He returned the favor with his own rigid look. "Don’t shoot anyone. We didn’t come for that trouble."
He turned toward the quaking bouncer. "Where is Celeste?"
With a quivering voice, the wounded bouncer replied, "Last…last report, she was in the new sector. But I don’t know much."
"I understand," Parker replied. He looked down at the credit chips sprawled across the floor. "You can have those. We appreciate your help."
"But they haven’t told us a damned thing," Shannon said.
"They told us she is not here," Parker replied. "That is enough."
"Halt!" a firm basso voice called out from behind them. Parker whirled around, and before he had set his feet, he had whipped his sonic pistol out of his jacket.
"MSA!" Shannon’s voice rang out.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Parker squeezed the trigger a fourth time, but the gun jammed. He cursed.
Before the MSA reacted to the shots, the crowd, recognizing that the MSA soldiers were converging in greater numbers on the tavern, left their seats and pushed their way out of the front, sending the trio of MSA soldiers backpedaling.
Parker didn’t waste any time. He pivoted toward the back of the tavern, pushing Shannon and forcing himself through the opening where all the scarlet rooms lay.
Now, in the back, he raced behind Shannon, looking for any sign of an exit. The back part of the tavern was a labyrinth of rooms, set up like a grid, and each turn brought a matching hallway.
Shannon swore several choice words as they paused at a crossway. Parker didn’t blame her. He wanted to curse this entire colony into oblivion, and this maze wasn’t helping them escape.
Soon, the MSA would alert a platoon of soldiers to converge on the tavern. And if the soldiers noticed—as the crowd had—that Shannon Buckley and Parker McCloud of the dreaded Alliance were there, the MSA would send five platoons. He had to get to the back exit and out to the elevators as soon as possible.
Parker clenched his teeth and shook his head as he paused at the next turn. He felt the dread of realizing there would be a lynch mob after them as bounty hunters and MSA joined forces.
"Come on. Old Zephyria is unsafe for us!" Parker shouted as he slammed the butt of his gun against the wall, dislodging the warped bullet from its casing and onto the floor. Good as new. "This way."
He fled down the long hallway in front of them. Shannon followed.
After a few twists and turns, they came to a metal doorway. Parker tested the door, but it was fastened shut by a hasp and lock. He heaved his shoulder into it, driving his legs upward to pop the hasp across the metal loop of the lock. It budged but didn’t break away. He tried again, with the same result.
Shannon, seeing the slight progress, grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him back. She stepped beside him. "Now," she said, throwing her body into the doorway.
Parker followed with her.
They hit the door simultaneously. The shriek of the popping hasp echoed down the hallway. The door swung open, sending Shannon through the doorway and into the back alley of the tavern. Parker was able to stop as he dug his toes into the ground.
And it was lucky for him that he did.
Three things happened that sent a terrible chill down Parker’s spine and goose bumps rippling over his body: The echoing clap of a rifle resounded down the alley, Shannon shrieked a horrific scream, and thin warm blood strayed across his face.
Her body staggered backward, and she fell to her knees. Her shoulder oozed blood.
Parker didn’t hesitate. He grabbed her by the collar and dragged her back into the hallway. A hailstorm of bullets sprayed the alley. The cling-clang of metal on metal forced Parker’s hands to his ears.
The MSA soldiers ordered them to come out.
Now he had done it. He should never have come to Zephyria. He cursed himself for going on a hopeless trip to rescue someone who didn’t need rescuing. Chloe would be dead in a few months. Shannon could live for fifty more years. He looked down at the young pilot, for the first time seeing her as a true friend. She was what the Alliance was. Perhaps if they had not been so reckless, she wouldn’t be in this situation. But then, the recklessness had created the Alliance and pushed him through the battles against the MSA.
"Leave me!" she cried, tears rolling down her face.
"Never! You are of the Alliance, as am I." He squeezed the handle of his gun as he looked at her.
Blood seeped from her mouth. The overly optimistic pilot he had met on Lunara two years ago was gone. The MSA’s fearsome whip had hardened the woman before him. She writhed in pain, but it was more than a gunshot that had wounded her. It was the realization she had lost to the MSA. Their chess match of two years had come to a head, and with her imminent capture and death, it would end what Eamonn and she started.
Parker stooped on one knee, listening for the slightest of sounds coming from the chaotic alley, toward the doorway. He sat still for a moment, disregarding the groans from Shannon, the screams from the crowd in the distance, and the alert sirens roaring over his head.
Footsteps pattered on the floor. It was hardly noticeable, but the sound of terrain boots was unmistakable. He saw a shadow flash across the doorway. The light turned oddly as the figure tried to mask his appearance at the door.
Parker drew in his breath, stopping it completely. He waved his hand toward Shannon, telling her to quiet her groans, although she wa
s too delusional to care about anything, aside from medical help or death.
The shadow swung by the door again. Parker didn’t hesitate this time. He had a good idea where the MSA soldier was located. The light shone from the end of the alley, and the angle of the shadows was long enough—by his reasoning—to indicate the man was only about halfway toward him.
He put his head around the doorway, and wishing against all his bad luck that the pistol wouldn’t jam again, he took aim. He was wrong about where the soldier was. The man was much closer than he thought, and adding to Parker’s dismay, there were three of them. He sent a bullet into the closest man’s neck. Dead. He took a step to the side, aimed his pistol again, ignoring the pops and bangs of their rifles, and sent two perfect shots into both of the men. The MSA threat was dead.
Parker felt along his body for a bullet hole. There was nothing. The simple sidestep had been enough to make them miss. "Jinx," he muttered, shaking his head. "I will never try that again."
He had to leave. He grabbed Shannon by the underarms, pulled her to her feet, and hoisted her onto his shoulder as she protested with a groan.
Carrying Shannon over his left shoulder like a fireman and with a sonic pistol in his right hand, he was into the alley. He had no plan, no direction, and no hope.
"Stop," Chloe said as she walked down a back tunnel leading them under Old Zephyria. "We have to get to the tavern. Shannon Buckley has been injured."
"How do you know?" Dakota protested. "We have to get to the Majestic Tower to meet with Hannah Rohen."
"And I can’t go back to the tavern with Peruzzi’s men after us," Lola said.
"Peruzzi’s men are nothing," Chloe snapped. "I can handle them. The MSA is after Shannon as we speak. I can’t let her be captured. She is injured."
"We have to get to Hannah and Seth," Dakota said. "I thought we were going to help him."
Lunara: The Original Trilogy Page 99