"The mystery contact?" Rav asked. "No idea. Do you know?"
"Nope. Just be prepared. I don't like the idea of this."
"I thought you supported this."
"I don't know. The closer we get, the more I question this. Is this someone from Odyssia who knows you? What exactly has he said to you?"
Rav thought back to the electronically-altered voice. "Not much at all, but there was one thing. Green apples. Somehow, this mystery person knows about my past. I keep thinking about who it could be, but I'm getting nowhere. Camille wouldn't be attempting to contact me this way. Besides, she's supposed to be on Elysia. Why would it be her?"
"It's not Camille. She's busy and she's working for me. It's not her. Do you think this could be a trap? An ambush?"
"More than likely. I'm actually expecting it to be a trap. That's why I need you to be ready to fight. I'll go out first and leave Nemo on the ship. I need you to move around to my pilot's chair and sit here and watch everything closely. If things get heated, if you see any weapons being drawn, you are to come out there immediately and back me up with that boomerang of yours. While I'm thinking about it, give me my revolver back."
"Right here, mate." Vance took out the .44 magnum revolver with the under barrel knife and the orange fiber optic sights. "You know, this thing has been everywhere with us. I've been cleaning it and taking care of it for you."
"Thanks. I have a feeling it's about to be used a lot more." Rav took the revolver and slid it into the holster that was strapped around the right thigh of his blue pilot's jumpsuit he stole from the Flight Force. "Nemo, do you have your derringer?"
"Yes, Daddy."
"Good. Be prepared to use it if I need you to. We will all have to fight to get through this war, but I hope we can limit it to the guns of this Galaxy Glider. I don't want to put anyone in direct physical danger. I know we've had a bit of a rough time lately, Vance, but I need to ask you a favor."
"Anything for you, mate."
"If it comes down to it, I need you protect Nemo. If . . . if I go down, I need to know that my son, our son, is in good hands. You will defend him, won't you?"
Vance glanced over at Nemo then back at Rav. "You know I will. What's the matter, Rav? You still can't trust me completely?"
"You're damn right I can't. But I'm trying. It's gonna take time to get back to the way we were before all of this. We can do it, it's just a slow process."
"Yes, Rav. Nemo is safe with me. I'll admit that I've changed these past two years, but I haven't changed into a monster that would harm a child or put him in danger. That's not me, and that will never be me. Let's not talk until we reach Odyssia, okay? I need some quiet to think."
Rav finished off his lime soda then took the controls again. "Yeah, me too."
Chapter 3
After adjusting his earpiece and securing the oxygen mask over his head to test it for a few breaths, Rav slid down the side of the Galaxy Glider. He had given Nemo some construction paper and crayons to keep himself busy and asked Vance to watch him, so everything seemed fine. Rav's red sneakers slapped against the hard yellow-tinted clay surface of Odyssia's moon. As he walked towards the figure near the horizon that was covered with a white hazy glow from the nearest star, the soles of his sneakers slipped against the oily substance that oozed from between the cracks in the clay.
He took out his communicator from the pocket of his flightsuit and brought up the information for the moon atmosphere. It was extremely thin and lacking of oxygen. It was, however, warm enough for him to stay outside of a spacesuit. The thermal springs bubbling below the layer of oozing clay kept the moon's surface balmy and humid. Rav squinted in the angled light and set his sights on the figure in the burgundy smoking jacket with the grey hair whose back was turned to him.
After walking the short distance across the curved moon surface, the man held up one hand to stop him. He turned around with the help of a polished black diamond-encrusted cane, met eyes with Rav, and grinned slyly behind the sleek oxygen mask.
Every bit of air left Rav's lungs.
He knew the man, the mysterious contact. He knew him well. He knew him by the pain he had caused, by the fear he promoted throughout Odyssia, and by the obedience he beat into every citizen who dared to show any tiny amount of defiance. Odyssian President Alphonso Cyrino. Rav's father's second cousin.
Rav's hands tightened into fists at his sides. "You? It's you? The mystery contact is you?"
"Greetings, Rav Tillman."
"No. You don't get to smile at me. You don't get to greet me like this and pretend that everything is fine between us. Is this real? You actually have the audacity to confront me here? After all these years, you finally remember my name?"
Alphonso crossed his arms and tapped his polished loafer against the clay. "I summoned you here because I have information you may want. I know you're a member of the Red Sand Rebels. I know you're a pilot. I also know that the entire Elysian military is scrambling around and pointing fingers at anyone they can. They've already executed eighteen officers because President Brightman felt they could not be trusted. They didn't do a thing to earn that kind of punishment. On top of that, three thousand soldiers and gunners faced a firing squad this morning because they had come in contact with you or someone who was rumored to be involved with the Red Sand Rebels."
"How is that going to benefit me?"
"It's not. I will tell you what you want to know, but I need something in return."
"You need something from me?" Rav scoffed. "No. You lost all chances at that when you abandoned me. I was dying and scraping by, living as a child in that scrapyard in the Under City, eating garbage and being mugged nearly every day for what little I did have. And where were you, my own family? You were safe and cozy behind those presidential walls with security guards, a nice comfy bed, and all the food you could ever want."
"You were there as a direct result of your own poor decisions."
"My decisions? I was twelve!"
"Your lack of morality and irresponsible behavior led to you being exiled from the family. You brought all of that on yourself, Rav."
"Lack of morality?" Rav asked, growing angrier by the second. "What lack of morality?"
"Your relationship with that homosexual boy. What was his name?"
"Vance. His name is Vance."
Alphonso grinned, showing golden teeth in front. "Oh, so you're still involved with him."
"Involved? Oh, I see what you mean by that. I was never involved with him in the first place. He was my friend, nothing more. And even if we were lovers, who gives you the right to do what you've done? You were the one passing laws to keep everyone beaten down and terrified of you and the government. You criminalized regular people just because of the way they were born."
"Maggots like Vance Trainor were not born being twisted abominations. Anyone who goes against humanity with their crimes against nature must be punished and eliminated. From the very founding of Odyssia, we have passed laws to uphold family values over everything."
Rav's mouth fell open. "Family values? Are you insane? So hunting down men and women who want to love who they love and torturing them just because they don't conform to your ideas of perfection is a family value? Ripping teenagers from their homes and locking them away for years in the sludge pits because they kissed someone of the same sex is a family value? Trapping boys in their houses and burning them down with them inside because you saw them being too friendly with one of their male friends is supposed to be a family value? You're delusional. You've completely lost your mind. And you want to talk about family? Are you saying the family that Vance and his husband have with their fifteen adopted children isn't a family? You would rather have those boys starving on the streets than to let them be adopted by two men who love each other more than life itself? Families come in all shapes and sizes. You can't pick which ones you want everyone to adhere to. You're playing God with things that you will come to regret."
"Don't tel
l me what God would want. This is not a religious thing, Rav. This is Odyssia, not Elysia. We have no churches here. If you want to make an appeal to the clergy, then go a few million light-years in that direction and find one of those perverted priests to talk to. I'm sure they'd love to hear what you have to say on the matter. It is clear to me that inviting you here for a meeting was a grave mistake. Farewell, Tillman."
Rav rushed after him. "Don't you walk away from me. I'm not done with you!"
"We're finished here."
"No, we're not." He took Alphonso by his jacket and spun him around to face him. "You listen here and you listen well. Damn it all, you've treated me like shit from the day I was born, but now it's my turn to be heard. Do you know what my life has been like because of you? You disowned me, shunned me from the family, and left me to die down there in the Under City with the rats and the criminals. I was starving to death because I had no money. I had no future. I had nothing. If it wasn't for that kind woman who took me in and helped me go to school, I would have died down there. You ripped me, a boy, away from a life of luxury and having everything I needed, forced my father to lock me in that basement like an animal, then you left me in the Under City to die."
"You're delusional. I had nothing to do with any of that."
Rav shoved him away. "No? You had nothing to do with it? You're the president of Odyssia. If you wanted to change things, you could have. But I know something else. You are the one who told your son, Darren, to kidnap me from my father's house when I was twelve. You had your goons beat me up and hold me for ransom. When my father didn't pay it, you had Darren take me down to one of the nuclear reactor rooms. You left me there with an overloading reactor. I don't know how I lived, but I was near death when someone found me. I had to undergo skin grafts and an extremely painful recovery only to find out that I was infertile. Do you know what that did to me? I was twelve!"
"All actions have consequences, Rav. You were found in bed with another boy. The end. You should be happy we didn't kill you on sight."
"He was my friend, nothing more."
Alphonso chuckled. "That does not matter."
"I know it was you who made my father run those tests on me. You made him remove those parts of my brain and mess with me. You made him lock me in the basement for years where I was abused. You did this, not him. My father was sick and weak and old, so you took advantage of that. Then years later, you let my son be sold to your military and you sent him off across the galaxies."
"You mean your illegal little computer experiment? Anyone would have tried to take that bundle of scrap away from you. You were developing an unnatural attachment to it."
"You had Vance beaten nearly to death, but he hadn't done anything. You let your soldiers drag him away and torture him on camera."
President Cyrino's face hardened. "He was breaking the laws of morality that I had taken pride in. Vance Trainor blatantly remained a homosexual just to spite me and my city!"
"Were you dropped on your head as a baby? You think Vance wanted to live his life in secrecy, to live in fear every day of his life, and to risk being executed? You think he chose that? Why would anyone choose that?"
"Because he wanted to make a scene. That's all it ever is. One person decides to be different, to not conform to society, and then they stir the pot. They get others like you to help them get their way, to spread their agenda, and start a riot. I don't play that way."
Rav drew the .44 magnum from the holster on his thigh and aimed it at President Cyrino. "How dare you? I don't give a damn who anyone loves or wants to marry. What you're doing is heartless and cruel. You can't do this to people. We are not animals."
"Anyone like Vance Trainor is an animal."
Rav cocked the revolver. "You made my life a living hell because you never liked me. Why in space would you want to meet with me now? Tell me! So help me, you'd better get talking before I blow your brains out!"
"Put your gun away, boy. We're here as men, so we will talk as men."
Rav flinched when Ben's voice came over the tiny speaker in his ear.
"Rav, what are you doing? Put your gun away. I'm adding Vance to this conversation. Vance, stop Rav from shooting. Rav, you don't have to do this. I know you hate Alphonso, but killing him isn't the answer. If you kill the president of Odyssia right now, the entire planet will be placed on lockdown. No one will get in, including Squad Four."
Rav ignored him. He stormed towards Alphonso with rage drowning out any sense of caution. "What's wrong? You can't talk now? You're too scared? You should be scared. I'm going to make sure you never harm anyone ever again."
Vance jumped out of the Galaxy Glider with his boomerang already glowing with purple plasma along the edge. "Rav, step back. Listen to me. You can't do this now. Ben, I'm not getting through to him. He's got President Cyrino cornered."
As Rav grabbed onto the collar of Alphonso's velvet smoking jacket with one hand and forced the older man to his knees with the barrel of the pistol pressed against his head, Leah's voice came over the speaker.
"Rav, step back and take a deep breath. You-"
Cyrino's laughter brought him back into reality.
Rav glared down at him. "What are you chuckling about? Shut up!"
Alphonso nodded towards Vance who was standing feet behind Rav. "That's why I could never accept you being a part of my family. You have to have your little faggot boy come to control you."
"Don't you dare talk about Vance that way." Rav kneed the man in the stomach. "Do you hear me? No one says anything about him!"
Vance shouted at him. "Rav, no!"
Rav stumbled backwards as the shot rang out, not fully aware that he had squeezed the trigger.
"No!"
"What was that? Was that a gunshot?" Ben was panicked as he cried out over the earpiece. "Someone say something! Rav? Vance? Anyone?"
Vance slid his boomerang back onto his arm then came up to stand next to Rav over the bloody corpse at their feet. "What did you do? Do you know what's gonna happen when someone catches word of this? You just put the entire plan in jeopardy."
"I couldn't let him say those things about you. I just . . . I just lost it. Oh, space. What have I done?" He turned to Vance with wide eyes. "What have I done?"
Vance turned away from him as he started speaking over his earpiece. "Ben, come in, Ben. Rav shot and killed Alphonso Cyrino. He's-"
Red and blue lasers streaked across the moon's surface as hundreds of Odyssian soldiers in black riot gear stormed out of an opening in the ground. Before Rav could run or drop to the clay ground, the whistling of the beams of energy raced around him. One searing bolt ripped through the right arm of his pale blue flightsuit. He screamed out as he fell backwards and hit his head against the ground.
From where he was writhing on his back and becoming soaked in sticky blood from the back of his head, Rav watched through his blurry eyes as Vance took on the hoards of soldiers on his own. The plasma-edged boomerang spun through the air, slicing through twenty and thirty soldiers at one time. When they watched their allies being cut in half, the remaining men turned and ran, retreating back down into the hidden bunker.
Vance jumped up to catch his boomerang as it returned to him, slung the blood from its smooth surface, then secured it back onto his metal arm. In one quick movement, he slid his arms under Rav's armpits and began dragging him back to the Galaxy Glider as he spoke through the radio to Sandra's ship. "Ben, come in. Rav is wounded. Repeat, Rav is wounded! I'm dragging him back to the Galaxy Glider now."
"How bad are his injuries?" Ben asked, his voice turning stern as he slipped into nurse mode.
"I can't tell. He's bleeding pretty bad from hitting his head and he's cursing like an Elysian soldier."
"At least he's conscious. Get him somewhere stable and try to elevate the injury above his heart. When you do that, let me know more details on his injury so I can give further instruction. Do you have a first aid kit onboard the Galaxy Glider?"
"Yes. We have Rav's. Thank you, Flight Force, for making that mandatory."
"What happened?" Ben asked. "We heard all of that commotion. Were you attacked?"
"Odyssian soldiers with laser rifles."
"Are you serious? Where did they go?"
Vance glanced over at the pile of bloody corpses. "I killed some of them. The rest went back down into a bunker. We have to get moving before they come back."
"How are we going to get Squad Four into Odyssia now?" Ben asked.
"Get in touch with Camille. I left her number on a sticky note below the main console of that ship. Put your hand underneath. You'll find it. She will know what to do. Alphonso was her father, after all."
"Will do. Are you in the Galaxy Glider yet?"
Vance grunted as he helped Rav climb up the side of the ship. Once Rav dropped like a bag of rocks through the top hatch, Vance slid in after him, gasping with a sudden pain to his left hand as it scraped along the jagged metal of the outer hull.
Rav let out a long groan and rolled over on his back at his son's feet. He locked eyes with Nemo, who was standing over him with wide eyes. He could not watch his boy being so afraid, so he turned his attention to Vance's hand pressing against the wound on the back of his head.
Nemo removed Rav's oxygen mask with shaking hands. "Daddy? Daddy, you're hurt."
"Sit back down, Nemo."
Ben calmly spoke over the main speaker of the Gravity Glider. "How is he doing? Can you check his vital signs so I can compare them to the ones I have on the monitor here? How much blood has he lost?"
Vance wiped sweat from his brow with his arm. "One question at a time, mate. He's stable and talking. Say something for him, Rav. He won't leave us alone until he knows you're okay."
Rav croaked out a response. "Hey, Ben. I'm just hurting, but I can't feel my hand."
"All right. Is your heartbeat strong?" Ben asked. "Not racing or fluttering? I can see your pulse and it's rapid."
"I'm going to be all right. Just . . . ugh . . . it's painful."
The Genesis Sequence Books 6-10 Page 54