Halcyon (The Complex series Book 0)

by Demelza Carlton

  When the waiter delivered dessert, Galen clasped his hands together on the table and said, "Allie, I need to ask you something important."

  She already knew what it would be, but silently she begged the universe for one more night.

  Allie set down her spoon, then held up both hands to stop him. "What with everything that happened last night and today, I'm not sure I can take any more. The only thing I want to do tonight is to climb into bed with you and spend the whole night believing there's no one else in the universe but us, and the most important thing in life is for us to see as many stars as possible."

  Galen's jaw dropped. "And by stars you mean…?"

  Allie blushed and stared down at her plate. "All the times I screamed your name last night, it was because you made me see stars."

  "I'd like to give you every star in the sky, Allie," he said, his eyes starting to smoulder.

  They paid the bill and called for a glyder. Galen's arms wrapped around Allie as he stepped up behind her, and she pushed back against him, grinding her bottom against his crotch until he was so hard that his pants were probably feeling uncomfortably tight.

  "Stars, Allie. If you keep doing that, I might have to lay you down right here on this glyder," Galen groaned in her ear.

  Allie laughed softly as she pressed against him again. "I'm pretty sure there's a law against that."

  "I don't care."

  Yes, this was the right thing to do, she thought as the glyder pulled up outside her apartment. They made it inside, but that's all the decorum they had time for. Before the hatch had completely slid shut behind them, Galen pinned her to the wall. A quick struggle loosened their pants enough to give him access and he plunged deep inside her to the tune of matching moans from both their throats.

  Allie wrapped her legs around his hips, drawing him deeper still. Yes, this was exactly what she wanted. Galen's powerful lovemaking with all the wild abandon she'd never known from anyone else. Her first orgasm took her by surprise, though not Galen, judging by the way he chuckled when she cried out.

  "Enough stars for you, sweetheart?" he asked, slowing his pace but not stopping.

  "So many," she sighed blissfully. "But I want more."

  "Then I'm taking you to bed." Strong hands cupped her bottom, holding him inside her as he carried her to the bed. Galen sat down, so that Allie sat in his lap.

  She unfastened her legs from around him and tugged her pants all the way off. He'd lost his pants somewhere along the way, so now it was skin on skin as she knelt astride him, clenching hard at the burning heat he still held between her thighs.

  "I need to taste your breasts," he said, peeling off her shirt. "I saw all those mergirls with their tits out and the only thing I could think of was how much I wanted yours."

  Allie laughed. "If I'd been sitting naked in that pool, I'm sure you wouldn't have looked twice at me, not with all those women to choose from."

  "If I saw you naked in that pool, I'd have stripped off and joined you. No matter how many Mer were watching." Galen seized her hips, and spoke slowly so that each word matched his thrusts, "I love you, Allie. I only want you. Forever."

  Tears sprang to her eyes. Not since Ceyx had anyone ever…

  Allie screamed as her second orgasm engulfed her. She couldn't stop the tears now. But she could give him stars. A whole galaxy to match the pleasure he gave her. She grasped his shoulders, rocking her hips as she rode him hard, letting her core clamp down on him as she felt her third climax building, bigger than the first two. As big as the man inside her, giving her so much more than she'd ever hoped for.

  "Oh, fuck. Stars, Allie!" he shouted as he reached his peak, barely a moment before she hit hers.

  "I love you, too, Galen," she murmured, kissing his neck.

  And that was why tomorrow would be terrible but tonight…tonight the universe existed for them alone, so they could share all the stars.

  Galen didn't want to get out of bed. Allie had woken him twice in the middle of the night to make love, and the way she was stirring now, she might be about to ask again. She didn't need to ask. Galen let his fingers trail across her breast, down her side and across her belly to her thigh. "Good morning, sweetheart," he whispered as he slid the tip of his finger inside her, stroking gently.

  "Mm." She snuggled closer to him. "I hope you're planning on using more than just one finger to wake me up."

  "Two?" He demonstrated.

  "Think harder, Galen. And bigger. Oh, yes!"

  One very enjoyable hour later, Galen had to admit they needed to get up or they'd be late for work. If this was life with Allie, it was better than anything he could have imagined. He'd do anything to keep it that way.

  Allie's comm beeped just as he was getting into the shower, so she reluctantly left him to shower alone to take the call. She still wasn't back when Galen was clean, so he turned off the water and headed out to the living area in a towel to see what had kept her.

  "Check again, Beems," she said, her eyes darting from her tablet to the wall screen, which both showed schematics of the Complex.

  "What are you looking for?" Galen asked.

  "Something that's not there, Beems says, which is not possible, seeing as it was before. I have time to sort this before my first fitout this morning, but I might head out to the spots where it's found an anomaly, just to make sure." Allie frowned at the screen.

  "Want me to bring you breakfast?" he asked.

  She waved him away. "I'll be fine. I'll pick up something on the way. Today's not going to be as nice as yesterday. Meet you for dinner, maybe?"

  "It's a date," Galen replied, kissing her cheek. He wanted more – so much more – but he was already late, so he hurried into his clothes and headed out. He could ask her tonight.

  When he reached his office, a box half hidden under his desk caught his eye. It was a pump box – the one that still held the other half of the plutonium. He couldn't believe he'd just left it lying here like this, but he'd thought it was uranium, and not enough to cause trouble. Now he knew better, he just wanted it gone.

  Galen heaved the box onto the desk and opened it. He took a deep breath before he lifted the lid of the lead-lined box inside. Sure enough, two rods remained, and they were hot to the touch. It was enough to blow up the entire Complex, Allie had said, so that meant these leftovers were just as dangerous. It needed to be locked away where no one would find it and use it.

  The Intra had presumably done that with the first two rods, so they must have a suitable storage facility. He'd tell them one of the staff had found it in one of the other main pumping stations. Forest Dome, maybe. Let the Intra draw whatever conclusions they liked from that.

  Then he was done. Done building bombs; done trying to track down terrorists; done with the hunt and everything to do with that bloody siren Halcyon.

  Because he didn't want to draw her attention to himself, as that would only put Allie at risk. He'd give up anything to protect Allie, because she was his future. His parents would understand, he was sure. They'd want him to be happy. And if killing Halcyon risked letting something bad happen to Allie…he'd never forgive himself.

  His parents were gone, and nothing could bring them back. But Allie was living, breathing hope, and all he had left.

  Galen dropped onto his chair, borne down by the sheer enormity of his decision. No more revenge. No more hunting for Halcyon. He'd have to find a hobby.

  Feeling lighter, he pulled his music player out of his desk drawer and slipped the headphones over his ears. He turned up the volume and found himself singing along as he read through his morning messages. Nothing could budge his good mood today.

  Allie's communications chip told her she had an incoming message from Beems about the AI's radiation scan. Not wanting to bother Galen with it, she headed for the living room so she could put the map up on the wall screen.

  "How many locations?" Allie asked, pulling on some pants.

  "Four point sources, plus three travel pat
hs," the AI replied.

  "Where is it now?" She clipped her bra.

  "Unknown. No current radiation signatures match the profile."

  Allie swore. That didn't make sense. Unless the plutonium was well shielded. Maybe their amateur was only pretending not to know what he or she was doing.

  "Show me all the locations," she commanded, reaching for her shirt.

  Half the Complex lit up. Three spots in the Main City, plus one in the Aquatic Dome, and a blue beam connecting them all and the route to Lennox' office.

  "Remove the travel routes," she said, savagely twisting the buttons as she fastened her shirt.

  The beams vanished, leaving four blue blotches. "Zoom in to the site in the Main City."

  Allie blinked as the overlapping blotches separated into three different sites within the Maintenance building. A storage room, the workshop, and…no, that couldn't be right.

  "Check again, Beems," she ordered.

  Her heart beat faster at the sight of Galen wearing nothing but a low-slung towel, but she fought to ignore it. She'd love to take him back to bed and not have to go to work, but this was too important. She'd planned on telling him the truth this morning anyway, so it was time to steel her heart against the inevitable rejection she'd suffer when he found out about her past. First, she had to find the remaining plutonium and ensure the safety of the Complex. Then she could hand him her heart so he could blow it to bits.

  She almost broke her resolve when he kissed her cheek. It would have been so easy to turn her head and offer him her lips instead. She forced herself to focus on the screen, though it showed nothing of interest right now.

  Allie didn't allow herself to relax until the hatch had slid shut behind Galen, sealing him out of her life. While the AI completed its scan, she reached into the refrigerator for a snack. Sven had given her enough fish for a week, and her mouth watered at the thought. It had taken almost all of her self control last night not to strip off and join the other Mer as they caught their dinner fresh, but Galen would never have understood. And she'd wanted one more night with him…so the small sacrifice had been worth it.

  The scan still wasn't finished, so Allie reached for another fillet. It sure beat ration bars.

  "Scan complete. Additional source identified," the AI said.

  "Where? Show me."

  Allie's heart contracted in her chest as the map showed her the Maintenance building again. "Show me the building in 3D, as it is now."

  "Additional source has disappeared."

  Allie swore. "Show me where it was."

  A blinking blue light appeared, almost directly on top of another spot dated several weeks previously. Allie was afraid to ask, so she looked for the other sites next. One was in a supply room, and the other was in the workshop. The radiation source in the supply room had sat there for weeks, since before the Complex was inhabited. Whoever had planted it had to have been on the construction crew, or it had arrived with the supplies. The workshop had seen a radiation source several times over the weeks they'd lived in the Complex. Whoever had carried it there was definitely a resident.

  "Show me radioactivity in brightness levels," she said.

  The spot in the Aquatic Dome dimmed to about half what the others were. All except the additional source Beems had found today.

  She couldn't avoid it any longer. Weeks ago, before the source had moved to the workshop, it had sat in one spot, almost exactly where it had briefly sat today. It shouldn't be possible, but Allie had to believe it was. Whoever had built the original bomb had only taken half of their plutonium to the Aquatic Dome. And they still had the remainder, ready to blow this place sky high on a whim. She wouldn't let that happen.

  Allie summoned a glyder and climbed numbly onto the footboard. She missed the warm, solid feel of Galen standing behind her, but she needed to forget all that now. Forget her feelings, forget everything she loved about him, and focus on what was important.

  It was far too short a trip to the Maintenance building in the bowels of the Main City, but Allie told herself it was for the best. Logic told her she should call the Intra for backup, but she dismissed that idea. She could handle one man on her own. Once she'd found out what she needed to know, THEN the Intra could have him.

  She strode into the building with a confidence she didn't feel, not today. She didn't slow until she reached the entrance to the office she was after. Then, she paused in the open doorway, wishing she was wrong, but knowing she wasn't.

  "Why did you do it?" she asked.

  No answer. Galen kept his eyes on the screen in front of him, ignoring her.

  "I asked you why you did it. I saved your life. I have a right to know."

  His lips moved, and he started singing faintly. Still he ignored her.

  Allie noticed his peculiar ear coverings, with which he somehow blocked out all sound, including her voice. That's how he'd survived the Poseidon. He'd never heard her song, never fallen asleep like the other passengers, which is why he'd made it to the lifeboat when the alarms sounded, because he had heard those. She should have sunk the lifeboat while she had the chance, all those years ago.

  "Allie!" With a practised motion, Galen pulled his headphones down so they circled his neck. His smile died as he took in the tears streaming down her face. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

  She was not sweet. Allie surveyed the desk. Where the blue spots had glowed, now she saw only a box for a residential pump. The same sort of pump she'd found hollowed out and full of explosives in the Aquatic Dome main pumping station. "It's in here, isn't it?" She reached for the box.

  So did Galen, but she was faster.

  "Don't, sweetheart. It's dangerous. One of the other guys found it in the Forest Dome main pumping station, where – "

  "Don't lie to me." She lifted the box lid, and felt a surge of triumph as she saw another box, and not a pump, inside. She opened the box, peering in just long enough to confirm that she was right, before she threw the whole thing back on Galen's desk. "I had to see it for myself, or I wouldn't have believed it. I saved your life. I helped you. I stood up for you against the Intra, when they would have…not that it matters now. I can admit when I'm wrong. When I've been so stupid, so blinded, by the man I thought was my friend."

  Galen stared at her. "I am your friend. More than that, if you'll let me. Allie, I – "

  "I don't want to hear it," she snapped. "All I want to know is why. Why you did it."

  Still he stared, as if he didn't understand.

  "You planted that bomb in the pumping station. You built it. You nearly nuked the whole complex with all of us in it. I want to know why."

  "I…" Galen swallowed. "It was an accident."

  Allie snorted. "Stardust."

  "It was!" he insisted. "I built the bomb, sure, and I planted it. I only took half the plutonium because I thought it was uranium, and I wouldn't have enough for it to reach critical mass. I calculated the explosive charge perfectly. It would have damaged the pumping station, but left the dome structurally sound, and contaminated it with enough radiation to make it look like she did it."

  "Like who did it?" Allie demanded.

  "Halcyon. The siren who killed my parents, sank the Poseidon and murdered thousands of other people."

  Allie bit her lip. "Fifteen hundred and sixty-two. Not thousands. And every single one of those was killed in an act of war. They were not civilians."

  "She murdered more than a thousand people. Including my parents. They deserve justice."

  Allie shook her head. "It's not murder when military personnel are killed in battle. Even if it was, the peace treaty signed by both Humans and Metas declared a general amnesty so no one on either side could be accused of war crimes once the treaty was signed. Anyone who killed or tortured was absolved of their guilt, so that all the atrocities would stop. It was the price we had to pay for peace."

  "Not me. I didn't choose it. I wasn't the only one, either. The Humans First organisation offered to help me
find her."

  "They're nothing but a bunch of suicide bombers, and the racist bigots who recruit and arm them. They wanted you to blow yourself up with thousands of innocent civilians, and you nearly did." Tears formed in Allie's eyes again. "You almost destroyed all chance of peace between our peoples, and for what? One woman?"

  Galen wet his lips. "Allie, I – "

  "Then take your shot, Human." Allie threw her arms wide. "Your search is over and no one else needs to die. Enough people have been hurt. I lost the man I loved and gained a psychotic stalker. Where's the justice in that?"

  She took pity on Galen's confusion. "I'm Halcyon. I killed all those people, including your father, Doctor Claudius Tasker, the man who lured my husband into a trap by promising to share his scientific findings, then tortured him to death before my eyes. He deserved to die, so I made sure he did. And crazed with grief, a siren's grief, which you can't even begin to understand, I sang his funeral dirge. A song that drove whoever heard it to die. Your music machine saved you, so you never knew what killed them. Every Meta knows what a siren is capable of, which is why they don't harm us. That's why the Mer are all pacifists, serving as mediators in a conflict because if Mer fight, only they will win. We know that, so we abstain. We tried – the Mer Council decreed that we'd take no part in the war you call P-Extinction – but Humans didn't listen. They captured my husband and tortured him for information. When they attacked him, they attacked all the Mer. So they gave me permission to retrieve him, or seek justice as I saw fit."

  Allie sucked in a deep breath, swiping at her tears. Now was not the time.

  "I saw the torture chambers. Ceyx was killed in one, but there were many others, and they all showed signs of use. Prisoners were kept on Human ships and interrogated under torture before they were killed. I saw the mutilated bodies, and made sure their tormentors suffered. So I knew, when we declared that amnesty, that I had at least brought some to justice. I came to realise that the only way to stop Humans from torturing Metas was to either kill them all or end the war, and to that end, I agreed to mediate the treaty. I am the only living Mer to have gone to war, and Metas remember the stories. They know who and what I am, and they fear me because of it. It's only Humans like you who think I need something as crude as a weapon to destroy this place. I am a living weapon, but I will not be used against my people.