by Josi Russell
“Both problems?”
“She wants the company and she wants to get back at Dimitri.” The soft clunk of Theo’s empty glass echoed through the office.
Ethan’s head was spinning. Maybe Veronika had hired Brynn. But Veronika knew her way around the system legally. Would she really kill to get her way? And Ethan was inclined to believe that Maggie was right. Brynn hadn’t meant to kill him, she’d been aiming for Maggie when he stepped in her way. Would Veronika know about the leaked reports?
His missive went off. Pulling it from his pocket, he saw a message from Brynn, full of errors. All it said was help. Warehouse 78, Refinery st.
Theo raised his eyebrows. “Aria need you to pick up some sweetbean milk on the way home?”
“No, it’s a friend of mine. A surveyor. Brynn. She says she needs help.” He wondered if he should have said that.
He was relieved that Theo seemed uninterested. “You should go then, and don’t worry about Veronika. I told her that you weren’t a threat, and she’s found another Governor to bribe. I think you’ll be fine.”
Ethan considered for a moment. “Theo,” he said, “I might need your help.”
Theo nodded. “Sure. What can I do?”
“You’ve got a car, right?”
“Right. A nice one.”
“Well, if you’re up for it, the girl who messaged me is on Refinery Street, and the train doesn’t run down there, so it would help me out if you’d give me a ride.” Ethan considered, and then told Theo the truth. “Also, she may have been hired by Veronika. This could be a trap, and I’m not sure I should go alone.”
Theo raised his eyebrows. “You live an exciting life, Ethan.” The tall man walked to his desk and extracted, from the top drawer, a shining silver handgun. “Maybe we’d better take this along.”
***
They arrived in the industrial district in record time. Ethan had a fleeting flash of envy for Theo’s hovercar, but it was forgotten when he saw the abandoned warehouse that bore the address Brynn had given them. It had obviously been overtaken by Taim at some point, though the plants were gone now. The door was gone, too. Ethan entered as fast as he could and inside he could see that the equipment had been dismantled and scrubbed, but not reassembled. It lay in piles with cleaning rags and empty bottles of Zam.
The infestation must have been particularly bad. The building was a loss, and crews had started, at some point, to tear it down. Sunlight streamed in through a gaping hole in the roof.
Ethan heard a small sound and turned to see Brynn in a shadowy corner, her brown hair hanging in front of her face, bound at the ankles and wrists. She had been crying.
“It’s all right, Brynn. It’s all right,” Ethan said. “We’re going to get you out of here.” When she looked up, there was remorse in her eyes.
“Gaynes grabbed me when I left the office. He dumped me here. I didn’t know who to call. You’re the only person on the whole planet I really trust. I’m sorry, Ethan. I’m sorry,” she said.
“I know.” He reached for her wrists. “Brynn, I think Veronika Eppes is behind all this. Did she—” Ethan stopped as Brynn’s eyes filled with terror. He turned and braced himself, expecting to see Veronika.
Only Theo stood behind him, but when Theo turned, the flash of the gun in his hand showed Ethan his mistake. He stood and placed himself squarely in front of Brynn.
“It was you then,” Ethan said with resignation in his voice. “You were trying to get rid of Maggie.”
Theo smiled, and Ethan, even now, couldn’t see a trace of insincerity in it. “This seems to be what happens when you delegate an important job to someone incompetent. Everything ends up a mess.” He tilted his head to look around Ethan at the girl in the corner. “You’re useless, Brynn. I really should have done it myself.”
“So now it’s me you want rid of?” Ethan took a careful step toward the door, but Theo waved him away with the gun.
“You and anyone else who might insinuate that I’m not acting in the best interest of the Saras Company,” Theo said smoothly, tilting his head to indicate Brynn behind Ethan. Theo looked at Ethan, his eyebrows drawing together in concern. “Or that might value the Vala over a lucrative shipping contract with the Asgre.”
“You’re working for the Asgre?” Ethan spat their name out.
“Not for the Asgre. With the Asgre,” Theo said, trying to steady the gun in his shaking hand. “They aren’t as bad as people make them out to be, although the gas that they use on their ship causes some serious side effects.” He laughed, gesturing at his own shaking hand. “Galo, their leader, just wants to be able to run the business that he has spent so long building.”
Ethan nodded. “Like you do. I see.”
Theo’s jaw set and his next sentence was a snarl. “You don’t see. Nobody sees. I left everything to come out here. I built this city, this company, and then the boss’s brat shows up and takes over. You don’t know how that feels.”
Ethan tried to think of something to say, but Theo didn’t pause long enough to let him speak.
“It must be tough living with all your hallucinations, Ethan. You have had a rough time of it since you left Earth. I can see why you wouldn’t want to go on.”
So that’s how he would play it. A staged suicide. Ethan scoffed. “You think anyone will fall for that?”
“You’ve been through a lot, and we have the psychiatric evaluations to prove it. Not even the Colony Offices will question it. Especially if you’re having a fling with the girl from the cave. In fact, maybe she shot you.”
“Theo!” Brynn called from the corner. “Theo, leave him alone. He’s a good person.”
“I know,” Theo said, again with genuine sincerity. “I know he’s a good person. That’s why he wanted to stop the mining to cure the sickness and why he wants to save the Vala at the expense of the company. He is a good person. That’s what makes him a threat to everything I’ve worked for.”
Ethan watched as the man walked calmly to the center of the rubbish-filled room. “This used to be a lab. Now look at it, broken and twisted and useless.”
There was that word again. Theo’s pride had him convinced that he knew what was worthwhile and what was not. And also who was worthwhile and who was not. Another idea occurred to Ethan.
“You’re the final signature on the hiring line, too, aren’t you, Theo?”
Theo nodded, closing his eyes in false humility. “I am.”
“You kept my passengers from getting work. Why?”
Theo’s eyes flashed, and he enunciated every word clearly. “They are unnecessary. Do you know how many years I spent creating the perfect city on this planet? The perfect business plan? The perfect personnel plan with no redundancies? I was president of this company for five years. I made sure that all the parts of my company fit together into a precisely functioning machine. And then the UEG dumps a whole shipload of passengers here that clog up that machine. Passengers that have no useful skills. You know that. That’s why they were chosen for Ship 12-22. They were expendable, just like their Caretaker.”
Ethan nodded slowly, feeling the sting of Theo’s words. A rumble caught his attention and he glanced up. The Asgre ship had descended into the atmosphere again. Its shadow fell across the building and the blaring communications channel filled the air around them with the scraping of Galo’s voice.
“My understanding of languages is useless,” Ethan said, “because you have no need of someone who can decipher what it is that the Asgre ship up there is broadcasting right now.”
In reality, Ethan had heard it before, through the translator. It was actually broadcasting a message to the Vala, that Galo was coming for them, and that they should give themselves up now if they wanted mercy, but Ethan played the bluff. “That was your name, just now, in the Asgre language, wasn’t it Theo?”
Theo tipped his head up, taking in the bulk of the armored ship as it lowered itself slowly toward the city. Though it was still high above the
m, its thrusters made the windows vibrate as it eased out of the sky.
In that moment, when Theo was looking up, Ethan launched himself toward the gun, knocking it aside and driving his shoulder hard into Theo’s stomach. Together, they fell backwards, writhing for control of the weapon, rolling through the jagged heap of trash on the floor.
Ethan felt the sharp press of rubble in his back as Theo, lighter than him by about thirty pounds, but tenacious, flipped him over and grappled for the gun. Ethan wrenched it from Theo’s hand and tossed it as high and as wide as he could.
A blow to the temple sent Ethan’s vision spinning. If he didn’t stop this soon, the Asgre would be in the streets before he could help the ground crews intercept them.
“Quit, Theo! It’s too late! They’re here, and they’re going to take this city apart if we don’t get out there!”
“Not my city,” Theo growled through clenched teeth. “I’ll give them the Vala and they’ll be on their way.”
An image of the pale Vala child, chained in the cage on the bottom of the Asgre ship flooded Ethan’s memory. Entangled with it was an image of the Vala in his cottage and an image of his own children—an image of all children, whose safety was the responsibility of all adults. A fury built within him, and he didn’t stop it. A heartbeat before the energy beam shot out of his palms, he placed them on Theo’s chest.
The acrid smell of burnt flesh arced into the air as Theo shot backwards, landing with a sickening thud on the rubble a few feet away. Ethan’s energy ebbed and he slumped against the uneven floor himself, sucking in air and feeling relief wash over him.
He would never have believed that he could use his energy against another human without remorse. It scared him that it was so, but his desire to keep safe the innocent was all-consuming.
And Theo was particularly distasteful. He had pretended to be Ethan’s friend. Ethan knew from his conversations with Chip the salesman that everyone persuaded and controlled others in some way. In the end, he much preferred Veronika’s straightforward, if harsh, honesty to Theo’s manipulations.
He heard a scuffling from the corner and struggled to his feet, feeling the slick trickle of blood slide down his temple and cheek. Brynn had managed to untie her ankles, and she was working on her wrists. He didn’t know what to say to her, didn’t want to look at her. Those days of dark anguish after the caves, when he couldn’t move or speak, were her fault. It was made worse by his knowledge that she had intended to kill Maggie.
He reached for a shard of shattered glass, wrapping the ties from her ankles around it to avoid slicing his hands, and sawed through the tie on her wrists.
“Ethan—” she began, but he silenced her with a raised hand and walked out into the night, climbing into Theo’s car and leaving her to find her own way.
***
Daniel heard the rumble of the ship descending. A heavy hand pounded on the apartment door. “Volunteer troops! Get to the base! The Asgre are coming!”
Nallie, clutching her doll, threw herself into her brother’s arms. “Don’t leave, Daniel! Don’t leave us here!”
They had been on their own in the apartment so much since his mother died. And since Gaynes’ threats, he had left them under strict instructions not to open the door if he wasn’t home. The fear in his voice had finally seeped into theirs, and it pierced him to hear it.
“It’s okay, baby, I won’t. I won’t. We’re going to see Reverend Hardy. Remember?”
Merelda spoke up. “Remember Nallie? With the bells?”
The safety plan for the children was to take them to the church, where Reverend Hardy and others would watch over them. Daniel put on his uniform and slipped his weapon into its holster. He didn’t want to leave them, but he knew that he was fighting for the glistening creatures he’d seen in the mine. They had saved him, and he hoped he could repay them. He carried Nallie and held Merelda’s hand as they made their way through the streets.
The church glowed bright in the afternoon light, and he saw a flash of pale hair as he entered. Zella was in her uniform, and she’d just seated her younger brother and sister in the rows.
Daniel knelt by his sisters. “Now you girls go over there with the Panderlins. I’m gonna be gone a minute, but I’ll be back.” He hugged them and pointed them to their friends. Nallie clung to him, wailing. Daniel clenched his teeth and disentangled himself, handing the little girl off to Merelda. Merelda took her little sister’s hand and pulled her to the bench beside Zella’s siblings. Nallie’s weeping followed Daniel as he walked to the heavy doors of the church.
When he stepped out of the church into the blinding afternoon light, he heard someone else sniffle. Zella was leaning against the wall. Instinctively, Daniel took her in his arms. She held him tightly, sobbing for a moment. He laid a hand over her braided hair.
“It’s okay. They’ll be okay.”
“I’ve never seen them so scared,” she said, pulling back and wiping her face. She searched his eyes. “And I’m scared, too, Daniel.”
When he heard her admit it, Daniel’s own fear washed over him. He nodded, unable to say it out loud. Suddenly, something was clear to him.
“Zella,” he asked, taking her hands in his, “will you stay with them?”
Her eyes widened. “What? I—I’m supposed to report to the base with the volunteers.”
Daniel felt his desperation deep in his soul. “Please, Zella. Please. I can’t go knowing that there’s nobody to look after them. Especially if . . . you know, I don’t come back. Please stay with my sisters. Take them and your brother and sister back to the apartment. Take your weapon. Lock yourselves inside and I’ll come back as soon as I can. You’ll have food there. And you’ll be together.”
The memory of the Asgre in the mine flashed in his mind. He didn’t want Zella near them, found in himself that there was room to take care of her, too. He tried to tell her.
“I don’t want them—or you—out in these streets.” Involuntarily, they both glanced up, to the slowly descending Asgre ship kilometers above the city.
She looked as if she would protest again, but Daniel took her hands in his. His voice sounded small as he said it again, “Please?”
He saw that it was what she wanted, saw that he’d given her the option she needed. She threw her arms around him and he drew enough strength from her embrace to let her go back in the church as he descended the stairs and made his way to the base.
***
Looking down at Coriol, its windows glinting in the afternoon sun, Reagan closed his eyes. He would have preferred to do this in the West Desert, or, even better, in space, where the debris from their battle would be propelled into the vast blackness instead of raining on the citizens below. He hoped they were taking seriously the warnings to get to shelter.
He checked his readouts. All was fine with his six battleships: Champion, Unity, Tenacious, Wisdom, Advocate, and Vigilant. Maybe five and a half, depending on how well the repairs on Vigilant held up.
He also checked the dozen company defense ships sent by the seven companies. They were small and light, incredibly maneuverable and well-enough armed, but they didn’t have RST and they couldn’t match the Asgre ships for speed if something went wrong.
He needed them for their small size and their ability to get under the Asgre ships unnoticed. Each had been equipped with plasma torches that should be able to crack the cages open without hurting the Vala if they were in their sleeping state. Aemon had been sure that the Asgre would keep the Vala in an induced sleep state in order to manipulate the ships quickly in battle.
Reagan shuddered as he thought of the children in the cages. Whether this worked or not, they had to try.
The company ships also had powerful missiles which Reagan was counting on to deflect Asgre torpedoes from the battleships.
Each battleship moved into position flanked by two smaller company ships darting about under it like fish under a great shark.
Captain Daring maneuvered Cham
pion forward, toward Galo’s ship. He saw two ships drop and move toward the Karst Mountains. That would be their ground troops. But Reagan had Sergeant Nile standing ready, and the man was capable and adaptable.
Reagan felt the old rush of impending battle. This one felt right. They weren’t fighting for territory or minerals. They were fighting for living beings. And whatever the outcome, it had to be attempted.
He tried to hang onto that conviction as ship after Asgre ship dropped out of orbit and into the atmosphere.
“Company ships standby,” he said.
“Company ships standing by, Admiral,” came the reply.
“Battleships standby,” he said.
“Battleships standing by.”
“Remember to lead them out of the atmosphere if you can.”
“Aye, Aye,” he heard on the comms.
Galo’s ship hung in the sky, nearly filling the viewing window in front of Reagan. He could see, through one of the vertical slits in the plating on the other ship, Galo standing on his bridge, at the ready.
There was a long, breathless moment as the big Asgre cruiser faced Champion in the clear Minean air.
And then Galo’s ship was falling, and three ships behind it began strafing Champion with intense fire.
Reagan barked orders, cursing himself for not seeing that Galo would go after the Vala children in the city while the fleet was distracted in battle. Not only did that place the Vala children in danger, it also endangered all of Coriol.
“Engage Asgre One!” he barked into his comms, busy himself with the three ships that circled him, firing.
A glance at his screen showed all of his battleships in the same position.
“Company ships Tenacious I and Wisdom I, peel off and go after that ship. Do not let it reach Coriol. Repeat: Take it down if you can!”
“Daring, get us out of here!” he barked, and felt the ship angle and accelerate over the Asgre ships, out of the atmosphere and into open space.
He checked on the company ships. They were firing their missiles, and one was a solid hit. Galo’s big ship rocked sideways under it, but Reagan didn’t see any sign of serious damage, just a hull hit.