She didn’t have the luxury of silence as she scrutinized their surroundings. Marya gasped, wheezed, and coughed nearly constantly, and had been for two days. Gabi had to admire her rival’s fortitude and drive; despite the illness, Marya had kept pace for the most part. But this morning was different. Gabi felt as if they were crawling along. They should have been another half mile or so along, but Marya kept falling behind. Even Diego could outpace her at this point.
I’m going to have to leave her behind, she thought. Aidan will stay with her, of course.
Gabi grimaced. The Brennans had both proven their worth repeatedly since their group had parted ways with Will’s. Their loss might speed Gabi’s journey, but it would leave her with just Diego, who was of little use other than picking berries.
Aidan returned after tending to his sister for a bit, though this time without a snack. Diego groaned when Aidan showed his empty hands.
“Why don’t you go take a rest with Marya for a bit, Diego,” he smirked. Diego nodded, grinned, and bounded off. As soon as he was out of sight, Aidan leaned in to Gabi’s ear and whispered, “Marya can’t take any more of this. We need to stop.”
She spoke softly, only barely above his whisper. “How much water do you have left?”
“About half. Mar’s totally out.”
“Already?” Gabi hissed. She looked over her shoulder, afraid that those below might have heard her. “How much does Diego have?”
“I don’t know. He was drinking a lot. Every time Mar would take a sip, so would he.”
“You know we’re supposed to take it easy when we’re not right next to the water.”
Aiden bobbed his head in agreement. “Right. But she’s sick. I can’t tell her not to drink.”
“But we won’t have enough to stay up here. We can’t rest now. We have to get back to fill up our canteens.”
“I don’t know if she’ll make it if we keep pressing on like this, Gabi. We’ve been keeping the same pace forever, and she’s been killing herself trying to keep up. She won’t let me tell you to slow down, either.”
Gabi’s eyebrows arched in suspicion. “Oh? Why?”
Aidan shook his head and scowled. “It doesn’t matter. Please, we need to rest.”
She sighed and looked out over the far valley. The tiny lake a few miles away was enticing. It would provide all the water they needed, and it would attract game for Gabi to hunt. Diego could pick the berries that would almost certainly grow next to the feeder and outlet. But it came with risks as well. Predators would likely be lurking, possibly even the horrific bear that killed Gina and Caleb.
Well, what’s it matter if Marya dies of a cold or as bear bait?
“Think she can make it there?” she pointed to the target.
Aidan peered into the valley and nodded slowly. “I think so, but we can’t go any further. Not today.”
Gabi nodded in agreement and stretched. Her eyes wandered to the ridge beyond the tarn. Something just above the horizon caught her attention. It looked at first to be a thin cloud extending upward, but after rubbing her eyes and looking again she realized it was smoke slowly wafting into the air. She slapped Aidan on the arm and pointed to it.
“Do you see that?”
He narrowed his eyes, trying to pinpoint what she was looking at. “What?”
“Over there. There’s smoke.”
“Smoke?” He jumped to his feet.
Gabi joined him a moment later. “She can have the rest of the day once we get to the lake. Tomorrow we move out again.”
“Gabi, if she’s still sick…”
“Then we carry her. That’s a settlement. That’s what we’ve come all this way for, and there will be someone there to help her.”
Gabi slid down the face of the rock, almost tripping over her own feet at the bottom in her haste to get ready. She called to Diego as she threw he pack over her shoulders.
“What the hell, Gabi?” Marya sputtered.
“Will was right. There are other survivors.”
Calvin McLaughlin
21 July, 6 yal, 11:25
Mercy
The absolute darkness was difficult enough for Cal to handle without losing his wits. Jerk’s continuous mental berating tore at the threads of his sanity, placing the experience thoroughly in the realm of the insufferable. Cal’s hands were bound behind his back, ensuring his physical safety; without them he would have clawed into his scalp until he had torn the voice from his head. In his bondage, the only defense that Cal had was to hum to himself. He tried not to think about how insane this made him look.
Jerk was his only companion, and the last one on Demeter that he would prefer to have. Since being marched onboard Mercy in the early morning hours, he had been locked in an empty cargo pod. Despite the appearance of poor engineering from the outside, the pod had proven to be reasonably soundproof. But from the inside, every shift of his leg or knock on the metal echoed agonizingly inside the acoustic cocoon.
When the door to the room cracked open, flooding the space with light, Cal flinched and turned his head to the side. The fixtures on Michael never seemed that bright, though the pain and blindness was probably the product of isolation in the void of the hold. Two shadowy figures eclipsed the opening as they walked in. One wore boots, the heavy treads clanking on the deck plating. The other person made little noise. Cal figured that they wore soft shoes.
Just as he had become used to the light from outside, one of his captors flipped on the lights inside the pod. Cal winced again, closing his eyelids instinctively. He heard the door close with a heavy clank.
“Morning, sunshine.” The voice was Alan’s, thin and tinny. Though it was refreshing to hear a voice other than Jerk’s, his was not one that he yearned to hear.
Cal’s eyes fluttered open, taking a moment to focus on the two men looming over him. Alan smirked, revealing his stained teeth. The other man was a little older, though far less repulsive than Alan. His face was clean shaven, and his brown hair was slicked back, marred by three distinct stripes of gray. Cal estimated that the man was a few inches shorter than him, but his vantage point from the floor could have skewed that perception. He was better dressed than Alan as well, sporting clean jeans and a blue button-down shirt with a matching tie.
Alan retrieved a pair of crates, setting them on the floor in front of Cal. Alan put one foot on his crate and leaned on his knee, while the older man took a seat.
“You’re looking a little pale there, Cal,” Alan smirked. “You don’t mind if I call you that, right?”
“I’d like to call you all kinds of things, but you probably wouldn’t like it,” Cal retorted.
“Now that’s not very friendly. I was told that you’re one of the most likable people in town. But I guess that’s what happens when you listen to rumors.”
Cal glanced up, quirking his eyebrow.
What the hell is this idiot talking about? Jerk pondered.
I was going to ask the same thing.
Alan’s grin faded after a moment’s silence. His eyes narrowed slightly, as if he had been expecting Cal to react to his comment. “That’s why you’re here, you know. Rumors. I’m really interested in them, particularly the ones about your governor’s disappearance.”
Cal’s lip turned up in a sneer. “Why would you need rumors about that? You’re obviously the one who made him disappear.”
The pock-faced captor nodded subtly. “True, but that’s not what I’m after.”
“Then quit playing games and get to the point,” Cal snapped.
“So testy.” Alan turned to the older man and shook his head. “Can you believe this?” His companion folded his arms, his body language a near mirror of Cal’s. Alan sighed. “Alright, kid, I want to know about the leads in the investigation.”
“If you wanted that, why didn’t you take Vaughn instead of me? He knows more about those…”
“Not the ones I’m looking for,” Alan cut him off. “You’re the one that’s been p
oking your nose inside of our ship, here, through that girlfriend of yours.”
She’s not my girlfriend, Cal protested silently.
You still wanted her.
“I was trying to help. Darius is my friend, and I needed to find out anything I could about his kidnapping.”
Alan paused for a moment, giving Cal an inquisitive look. “And what made you think he was kidnapped? I mean, besides our obvious situation here, of course.”
“He wouldn’t disappear like that. Not on his own. Besides, Vaughn found drag marks.”
Upon hearing this, the older man shot a disapproving glare at Alan, who was taken aback for a moment. A slow, methodical shake of the head hammered home the man’s feelings about the revelation. Cal knew at that moment that Alan was not the one in charge, even though he ran the interrogation.
“Good find,” Alan continued quietly. “So you figured out that someone took him. Then you started sniffing around on Mercy. Why?”
Cal sniffed. His hands began to tingle as anger began to build inside. “Why not? Seemed like a good place to start once we figured that out.”
Alan took his foot off of the crate and slowly walked to Cal, kneeling close enough that he could smell the stale coffee on his breath. “You think you’re a big man, don’t you?” he grinned, his voice barely more than a whisper. “Even though you can’t do a thing to me, you’re going to play the hero. It suits you, if the rumors I’ve heard about you are true. But the funny thing about rumors is that there’s only a grain of truth to them. Do you know how many men I’ve broken, Cal?”
“Should I care?” he shot back. There was something unnerving about the man’s unwavering stare, but his hatred for his captor overruled the fear that the man was trying to stir up.
Jerk, however, was completely rattled. Shut up, you idiot, he kept screaming over and over in Cal’s mind.
“I don’t think it will matter in the end,” Alan replied. “At least, it doesn’t matter to me.” He stood up and circled behind his supervisor, where he delivered the next question. “Let’s just pretend that your hunch was right, and we took your governor. What’s our motive for doing so?”
Cal grinned impishly, knowing that his captor had left himself open for another answer he likely didn’t want his boss to hear. “Because you wanted something from the ships. Something that no one knew about. Something that Darius accidentally stumbled on.”
He watched the color drain from Alan’s face. His boss turned to face him; Cal wished he could see the expression that Alan had to endure.
“Who else knows about this?”
“Enough people to screw with your plans,” Cal laughed.
Alan was on him in an instant. The man was freakishly strong, yanking Cal to his feet as his hand clenched Cal’s shirt. Cal gasped in pain, as the iron grip also took hold of his chest hair.
“You think this is funny, kid?” he snarled.
Oh shit, stop pissing him off. He’s going to kill us, Jerk whined in panic.
“Should I ask him if it is?” Cal winced, pointing at Alan’s boss.
Please? Please, I’ll do anything. I’ll stop calling you names. Cal. Your name is Cal. Not numbnuts, idiot, or stupid. Cal. Please? Please, Cal, stop it!
“That’s enough, Alan.” The older man stared the two of them down. His brown eyes seemed to reflect the artificial glow of the overhead lights. His calm tone made Cal’s skin crawl as much as anything Alan had said. There was power behind his smooth voice, and Cal found himself on the floor again after only a moment’s hesitation by Alan.
“Whatever you say, Mr. Young,” Alan grumbled as he took a seat on one of the crates.
Cal’s eyes shot wide open, and an almost breathless gasp escaped his lips. “You’re Harcourt Young?”
“I am.”
Cal’s jaw went slack. A twisted jumble of emotions slammed into him at once. Hatred, astonishment, and shock intertwined with Jerk’s panic and hopelessness. He wanted to ask the man how he managed to build a sleeper ship, while at the same time berating him for using Brittany. The desire to ask him why he would have Darius kidnapped clashed with the urge to promise silence in exchange for his release. In the end his tongue was tied and lame.
“Tell us who else knows, Cal,” Young insisted. “That’s all we need to know.”
“No,” he replied weakly.
Yung’s nose wrinkled and his mouth twisted. “There’s no point in being stubborn. Give me the names, or I’ll have Alan pry them out of you. Trust me. You don’t want that to happen, not after you embarrassed him like that.”
Cal took a quick glance at Alan, who was visibly shaken and fuming. His eyes were wild, and he kept popping the same joint on his right thumb over and over.
Oh please don’t add to the list of men he’s broken, Jerk howled.
“Deputy Governor Dayton,” Cal sighed in shame. “Detective Vaughn. That’s all I know for sure, but…” Cal bit his lip after the last word.
“But what?”
“There were others working the case. I don’t know how much they were told.”
“Who?”
“Hunter Ceretti. I think Traci Josephson, too.”
The investor nodded once to Alan, who quickly vacated the room. Cal was hit with the sudden realization listing these names could get more people abducted. The pit of his stomach dropped, and he found himself gasping for air.
Hunter! No!
The door didn’t fully close after Alan left before swinging open again. Brittany entered the cargo pod, wearing the same dress as the night of their dinner. She smiled, though forced and hollow, as she walked past Young and knelt next to Cal. She looked over her shoulder at Mercy’s leader, who nodded once.
Her lips pressed against Cal’s, and she forced her tongue into his mouth. Cal’s heart pounded in his chest with both exhilaration and shame. Desire, anguish, and hatred roared through his veins. And yet through it all, the sensation that lingered was the faint taste of mint from the forced kiss.
She leaned in to his ear and whispered, “I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”
What the fuck? The thought was echoed both by Cal and Jerk.
Brittany rose up and strutted to Young, exaggerating her stride slightly so that Cal got a good look at her backside. She grinned again, leaning over to give Young a tender kiss on the mouth.
“You shouldn’t have rejected me,” she chastised Cal, all the while smiling.
One more slow kiss was exchanged between Young and Brittany as the leader made a point of grabbing Brittany’s butt right in front of Cal. He turned away, disgusted at the sight. He did not watch Brittany leave, and only turned his head back after he heard the door close. Cal was sure he was alone at that point, but Young disappointed him, leaning up against a structural beam and gloating.
“Some friendly advice, though a bit too late,” he remarked.
“She was the one who rejected me, long before you met her.”
Young paused for a moment. “Well that explains a lot of things, then.”
“Yeah? Like what?”
“She bolted right after landing. Well, at least after your Militia let us go,” he replied. His words were no longer authoritative. For the first time in their brief acquaintance, Cal heard candidness in the man’s voice. “I wish I could say I saw it coming, but reading women was never one of my strengths.”
“Really?” Cal scoffed. “You hold a ticket to the stars over her head in exchange for sex, and you don’t expect her to run? How many other women did you do that to, huh?”
“So that’s what she told you, huh? I shouldn’t be surprised. That’s mostly my fault, really.”
“How many others, Harcourt? That is, if I can call you Harcourt?”
The older was seemingly at a loss for words for a moment. “None. Brittany was the only one, and I gave her my heart.”
“Liar.”
“Why would I lie to you, Cal?”
“I don’t know,” Cal replied sarcastically. “Maybe to
make yourself sleep better at night? So you won’t realize what a colossal prick you are?”
“Oh, I know I’m a prick,” Young replied without missing a beat. “But I’m not lying either.”
“Prove it.”
“Alright. Ask me a question you think I’d lie to.”
Cal searched for only a couple seconds. “Where’s Governor Owens?”
“Dead. Somewhere in the forest. On my orders if you must know. Next question.”
Cal was silenced for a moment. He had suspected for some time that they might not find Darius alive, but the callous confirmation was like a stunning blow to the head.
“Am I next?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
Tears streamed down Cal’s cheeks. He had to swallow back the hard lump in his throat, and to grit his teeth to ask the next question.
“And what about my daughter?”
“Remember, I’m a colossal prick. I don’t care.”
“Shut up, you sick fuck,” Cal choked.
Young shrugged and returned to his perch on top of one of the crates. He folded his hands in his lap and leaned forward slightly. “Look, I know this doesn’t mean anything to you, but this is all business. Things could have been very different. They should have been different. But Doctor Benedict and Doctor Fairweather didn’t make it here, and that changes the landscape quite a bit.”
“You’re talking about murdering a fucking baby’s parent, you shit. How do you justify that?”
“Because business is about opportunity. To say that the opportunity of a lifetime has dropped into my lap would be an understatement. This is the opportunity of the whole world. And I mean that literally. I’ve made an acquisition that will hand me control of the entire planet. How could I pass that up?”
Cal flailed and kicked uselessly at his captor. “You’re taking away my whole world. Her world. You’re going to destroy lives just so Concordia can be what, your toy? You couldn’t give your heart to Brittany, you ass. You don’t even fucking have one. You don’t think that could be why she bolted?”
Project Columbus: Omnibus Page 125