Fugitive: A Space Opera: Book Five of The Shadow Order

by Michael Robertson

  FUGITIVE

  BOOK FIVE OF THE SHADOW ORDER

  MICHAEL ROBERTSON

  CONTENTS

  Edited and Cover by …

  Mailing List

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 64

  About the Author

  Also by Michael Robertson

  Other Authors Under the Shield of Phalanx Press

  Email: subscribers@michaelrobertson.co.uk

  Edited by:

  Terri King - http://terri-king.wix.com/editing

  And

  Pauline Nolet - http://www.paulinenolet.com

  Cover Design by Dusty Crosley

  Michael Robertson

  © 2017 Michael Robertson

  Fugitive - Book five of The Shadow Order is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, situations, and all dialogue are entirely a product of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously and are not in any way representative of real people, places or things.

  Any resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  MAILING LIST

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  CHAPTER 1

  Once Seb arrived at the end of the corridor, he leaned against the cold metal of the grey wall. Gunmetal grey, it showed a total lack of aesthetic ambition for the place. Not that it needed to have thick carpets and velvet walls, just something a little less depressing would have been nice. The wall didn’t feel unbearably cold to touch, but something about it penetrated his psyche with its stark chill. Bright strip lighting ran along the white ceiling, highlighting his barren surroundings. The fact that he currently had his attention on Moses did little to warm him up.

  In front of the simulation rooms, the faces of twenty or so rookies looking at him, Moses walked up and down the line. With wide, confident strides and dramatic arm gestures to show his enthusiasm, he filled their heads with the Shadow Order’s bullshit rhetoric.

  “The Shadow Order keeps the universe in check,” he said. “We save planets, sometimes from outside threats—sometimes from themselves. We’re the people others come to when no one else can get the job done.”

  As Seb watched the large shark-like creature, his stomach tensed and bile rose in his throat. He tightened his jaw and fought against his urge to go out there and call Moses out on his lies. The Shadow Order existed to line Moses’ pockets. To do that, he needed to inspire the next influx of grunts to put their necks on the line for him.

  Only small, but firm enough to be uncomfortable in his pocket, Seb absentmindedly fiddled with the dead grub from Carstic. The one Sparks had vomited up in the tank. The creatures had somehow gotten onto the planet. There had to be a way to find out exactly how. Although he couldn’t rule them out as indigenous to Carstic, something about their last mission hadn’t rung true. He owed it to Wilson and his family to find out for sure, and until he knew the answer, he couldn’t do another mission for the Shadow Order.

  Seb only heard the footsteps when they were directly behind him. His world slowed down as he spun around, but before he balled his steel fists, he saw her and relaxed. “Sparks?”

  “I’ve been looking for you.”

  “Well, here I am.”

  The small Sparks stood no more than three and a half feet tall. It must have been clear to her that Seb had been spying on something. She clung on to him and peered into the training room to see what he was watching.

  After a few seconds, Sparks stepped back a pace. Her purple eyes narrowed behind her glasses. She clearly trusted Moses as much as Seb did. “What’s he saying to them?”

  “The usual crap. It’s all about how great the Shadow Order are and how altruistic their intentions.”

  “He’s not mentioned the large amount of credits yet?”

  “What do you think?”

  When Sparks didn’t reply, Seb looked out again. Amongst the rookies he saw the Hispanic woman who’d piloted the mech he’d fought against before their last mission. Moses had called her Reyes. She sat on one of the wooden benches, shoulder to shoulder with what looked to be equally incompetent teenagers and early twenty-somethings. Despite only being a few years younger than him, they looked like kids. Fresh-faced and wet behind the ears. Would Moses have sent Bruke out on a mission with her? Surely he just did it to bait Seb so he would go to Carstic. It had worked too; he couldn’t have taken the gamble. What if he’d called his bluff and Bruke had gone out? No way would he have returned if she’d been leading the mission.

  “Do you think you’ll ever like him?” Sparks said.

  “Moses?”

  “Who else?”

  “No. Do you?”

  She shrugged. “We might have to work for him for a long time.”

  “I don’t have to do anything.”

  A twisting of Sparks’ features showed him she didn’t strictly agree with that.

  “I’m not anyone’s bitch, Sparks.”

  Sparks raised her hands, showing Seb her palms and long fingers in defence of his aggression. “I didn’t say that.”

  “What are you saying, then?”

  “Just that when he needed to get you going out on his behalf last time, he managed to find leverage. He’s as cunning as they come and doesn’t have a compassionate bone in his body. That will always out trump you because you’re better than he is.”

  “You mean weaker,” Seb said. “But not anymore.” He turned his back on her. Maybe he’d be able to find peace in the Shadow Order when he found out about the parasite. But he couldn’t tell Sparks that. He didn’t want her coming w
ith him. It hurt to even think about what he had to do, but he needed to get her away from him. “He might be able to outwit you,” Seb said, “but I won’t continue to let him keep the upper hand over me.”

  Sparks scowled and jutted her chin out at him.

  “Well?” Seb said. “Listen to yourself. You’re talking like I should get used to this life. Like I should cash in and forget about the bigger picture. Like I should sell out. That might come naturally to you, but it certainly doesn’t to me.” It was hard for him to keep up his mean streak, especially after nearly losing her a couple of days before. He held her glare and bit back his urge to apologise.

  Sparks threw her hands up in the air and shook her head at him. “What’s got into you today?”

  “You have. Why do you need to wind me up? I’m tired. I’m still recovering from having to save your life, remember?”

  “Is that how this works now?” Sparks said. “We’re keeping score?”

  “What do you expect? You’re trying to tell me a life in Moses’ service is the best I can hope for.”

  “You’re really not hearing that well today, are you?”

  “Actually, I think I am. You’re a button pusher, Sparks. You love a wind-up, but I don’t know why you’re doing it today. Maybe you feel vulnerable about me saving your arse again.”

  Instead of speaking, Sparks forced her hands against her hips and tilted her head to one side. When she finally opened her mouth to reply—the sound of her inhale running away from them up the hard-surfaced corridor—Seb cut her off. “Don’t even try to justify yourself.”

  Genuine confusion twisted Sparks’ face. Hardly surprising because of how unreasonable Seb was being. But he had to be. He had to push her away. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you today,” she finally said.

  Seb didn’t answer. Instead, he turned his back on his small friend, more to hide his shame about how he’d treated her than anything else. The cold press of the metal wall stretched into his upper arm again as he leaned against it. He listened to Moses’ voice echoing through the large space.

  “I’m not going to sugarcoat it; every mission will challenge you. Not everyone will come back. But if you’re successful—and let me tell you, those who make it back are always successful—you can come back here knowing you’ve made a difference.”

  Seb shook his head.

  “Look,” Sparks said.

  Seb turned to face her again.

  “I really don’t understand your mood today. Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”

  The bright glare of the corridor’s strip lighting forced Seb to squint as he stared at her.

  “Okay then, fine! I’m going to remove myself from this situation. You’re clearly pissed off about something and think it’s appropriate to take it out on me. All I can do is get out of the line of fire.”

  As Sparks walked away, Seb watched her small form and let go of a hard sigh. One of the best, if not the best, friends he had in the galaxy, and he’d just pushed her away like that. Not just her; he didn’t want Bruke or SA coming with him either. He needed to do this alone. He needed to follow his path without dragging them into it.

  To think about SA took him back to the desert on Carstic. He’d nearly told her he loved her. The perfect opportunity, maybe he should have. Now he’d have to wait. If he came back to the Shadow Order, he could tell her then. If he didn’t make it, it wouldn’t be fair to put that on her. She might not care about him at all, but if she did, he didn’t want to leave her with the feeling of what could have been. Even then, as he stood there, he felt the press of her lips against his cheek from when they were in the mine. He’d get back to her. He’d get back to all of them. Sparks would forgive him when she understood why he’d pushed her away. At least he hoped she would.

  Before Seb went on any more missions for the Shadow Order, he needed to know Wilson’s death had nothing to do with them. He needed to know the parasites hadn’t been planted on Carstic by his boss. But he needed to do this mission alone. He wouldn’t drag his mates into it like he’d dragged them into a war with the Crimson army. He couldn’t lose anyone else.

  As the bark of Moses’ authority rang out through the training area, Seb turned his back on what would soon become his enemy—if only temporarily. Now Sparks had gone from the corridor, he could set off too. Towards his next move. Towards the truth. And most importantly, without his teammates.

  CHAPTER 2

  Seb reached the other end of the grey corridor, his face hurting from squinting against the glare of the strip lighting. With the jail cell finally in his sights, he took a moment’s pause as he tried to centre himself for what he had to do next.

  Two guards stood at the door, both of them clearly from the same species as the minotaur Seb had fought beside on Solsans. Unlike the one he’d fought beside, they were both only about eight feet tall; yet they still had broad shoulders and thick arms. They each had two huge curved horns like a Viking’s helmet, and large wet black noses that glistened beneath the bright light.

  Both of the guards watched Seb as he walked up to them. As hard as he tried, he couldn’t prevent his throat from drying, and he had to fight to keep his tone even so he didn’t reveal his lie. “Moses sent me down here to get you two.”

  After a look at one another, one of the guards shrugged. “To do what?”

  “You think I’d ask him that? It’s none of my business, and I don’t care for it to be.”

  Separated by the width of the prison door as they stood on either side of it—the metal barrier covered in rust but no less resilient for it—the guards looked at one another again.

  “He wants both of us?” said the one who’d already spoken.

  Seb shrugged. Easier to be nonchalant when he didn’t speak.

  “Who will guard the prison?”

  “What do you think he’s sent me down here for?”

  Another shared look and the vocal guard shook his head. “No.”

  “It looks to me like you’re either calling me a liar, or you’re ignoring a direct order from the big man.”

  “It does seem that way, doesn’t it?” Both guards lifted their electric prods ever so slightly, tilting them in Seb’s direction, daring him to step closer.

  A deep breath pulled Seb’s world into slow motion and he saw both creatures’ weak spots. They were in the centre of their chests. “Don’t say I didn’t give you an out,” he said.

  Before the beasts could react, Seb darted forward and drove one of his metal fists into the centre of the vocal creature’s chest. It gasped, the air driven from its lungs in a deep bark.

  As the first creature fell, Seb saw the other one swing its electric prod at him and he jumped back. A split second for the creature served as several for him. Time to think. He stared into its dark brown eyes and saw two things: a commitment to its course of action, and fear. It knew it couldn’t win, but what would Moses do if it didn’t try? However, instead of attacking him again, it looked over his shoulder back down the corridor.

  Were it not for the warning, Seb wouldn’t have been aware of his third opponent. It moved quietly enough for him not to hear it over the noise of his current duel.

  As the footsteps drew closer, Seb spun around to be faced with a wall of a beast. Over twelve feet tall and covered in orange leathery skin, it looked like Godzilla’s little brother.

  Even with his world slowed down, Seb had to work on instinct and dropped to the ground to avoid the large leathery beast’s electric prod. It seemed odd for it to use that rather than its large fists.

  On his way down, Seb saw the minotaur behind him try to grab where he’d been a split second before. It got an electric prod in its chest for its troubles.

  A loud buzz, frothy and foaming spittle, and the smell of scorched hair, the brute convulsed with the electric shock before it crumpled to the ground like its pal had. Even with everything else going on, Seb laughed. “Dumb beast.”

  Seb remained low and saw the o
range brute walked on the tips of its toes. A hard swipe with his leg, he took the creature’s stability away from it, throwing its feet forwards and sending it falling backwards. The beast’s electric prod crashed down at the same time as the creature, adding a buzz to the thud of its large rear connecting with the ground.