Hero had inherited Sikorsky’s teleport ability, and at age six could already command the power. Sikorsky hadn’t discovered his talent until his twenties, and even now moved more by luck than will. He had never thought of himself as Panoptica, even when fighting against the Vimbai to stop the raids. If anyone back then had discovered his secret, he would have been a target and would have died with the other Panoptica victims. Mikayla saw the danger to her son the moment she discovered Hero’s ability. To protect his grandson, Sikorsky had to keep the true power of the Panoptica relegated to myth. He had to stop Parker from bringing Elysia into the light.
“I’ve heard things about you over the years,” Cheoff said. “That you worked with Vimbai to take people from Terrana. Orchestrated your own raids.”
“That’s not true,” Sikorsky said.
“So this water hauler isn’t owned by a Vimbai?” Cheoff asked, looking up from his work for only a split second.
“The children of one, but they’re nothing like their mother,” Sikorsky allowed. Clara Matthews had been ruthless in her hunt for Panoptica. She’d killed more in a decade than Sikorsky had over his entire career. She’d left the game early, wealthy enough to raise her boys in luxury, strong enough to keep most of her enemies at bay. The obituary said she died of incurable illness, but Sikorsky suspected that someone had gotten past her security. “Danny and Tray Matthews have never taken anyone off this moon that didn’t want to go. Even now, they’re fighting against a man who could ruin them.”
“You?” Cheoff scoffed.
“Damien Coro,” Sikorsky said. “He wants his wife back, but the Matthews brothers won’t let him take her if she does not want to go. Hasn’t he contacted you to negotiate?”
Cheoff stuttered and shut down his console. “I made a deal with Coro. Hanyu ore for water. He agreed.”
“He’s not interested in your moon rocks,” Sikorsky said. “He just needed to get through the gate.”
“I am not the one who started this embargo. I want it ended, but no one in Quin will talk to me!” Cheoff slammed the table in frustration. “We need the water. We are desperate.”
“Do you even understand why there’s an embargo?” Sikorsky asked. “This is all part of Parker’s plan to take control.”
“Parker? He’s not trying to take control,” Cheoff huffed. “This is Aquian paranoia plain and simple. They blame us for the disintegration of the ships. The fleet is four-hundred years old, Vlad.”
“It’s not wear-and-tear destroying the ships, Garrett,” Sikorsky said. “It’s Parker.”
“Do you hate him because he took your place at my side?” Cheoff sneered. “I should have trusted my instincts and run the day I met you.”
“Then you wouldn’t be Governor now, would you?” Sikorsky reasoned. “Independence wasn’t your idea, was it? It was his.”
“We shouldn’t have to follow the rules set by people who have no idea what it means to live here,” Cheoff said.
“Parker knew he couldn’t take control of Terrana as long as the Aquian influence remained. He banished all the Panoptica, he cut off trade, and now his plan—”
“Shut-up,” Cheoff interrupted.
“You should have trusted your instincts about Parker,” Sikorsky said. “I was wrong about him.”
“That’s better news for me than you,” Cheoff spat.
“He’ll betray you, Garrett,” Sikorsky warned. “He’ll use your own Guard to kill you.”
Cheoff’s nostrils flared. “However you got into this room, Vlad. You’d better find a way out before my Guard get here and arrest you.”
Cheoff lunged forward, and Sikorsky fell off his chair to avoid the grab. He lacked the strength to fight and teleported accidentally. His face hit the hard tile of a stairwell. Why couldn’t he get out of this building? An alarm sounded and he heard the click of mechanical locks in the doors around him.
Sikorsky curled on his side, cradling his bruised face, gingerly arranging his aching body. The marble floor sucked the heat from his body. He had to find a way to turn Cheoff against Parker. He needed to stay conscious.
9
Saskia slid onto the bench seat at the dining table, her hand gliding across Tray’s back, massaging away the aches of his attempted fight with Rhodes. Now that she’d seen him throw a punch in Aquian gravity, she at least had confidence that he knew how, but on Terrana, he was laughably clumsy. He shouldn’t have started a fistfight with a Guard.
The smell of fresh-chopped onions filled the small room, and Danny spoke quietly to Amanda as he cooked, stopping constantly to pump his fingers. Years ago, the Guard had broken his fingers as punishment for helping refugees escape during the Revolution, and Saskia knew it was the trauma, not the injury that flared now.
“Fresh carrots,” Amanda offered, setting a plate on the table next to Tray’s head. For all their cruelty, the Terranans did not withhold food. Heaving his head up, Tray braced it against his hand and poked at the fresh carrots, tapping one against his tongue before taking a bite. Because of the embargo, they’d only had preserved ones back on Quin.
“Did you even ask about Janiya?” Damien Coro ranted. He wore a brace on his neck and back, but made a valiant effort to pace.
“Colonel Rhodes implied they were sent to the 5,” Saskia relayed. She’d told him the same thing an hour ago, but he’d been so high-strung that the medic sedated him to keep him from hurting himself.
“That’s the prison? How hard is it to break into?” Coro asked, sliding the carrot plate away from Tray. Before Saskia could react, Amanda snatched the plate from Coro and smacked him. Then she set the plate on the other side of Tray and patted his head protectively. Coro’s nostrils flared, but he aimed his glower at Danny and didn’t retaliate against Amanda.
“You go out that airlock, across the crater ridge into the neighboring crater, through the 5’s airlock,” Saskia said, empathizing with his frustration. No one deserved the 5 and no one escaped.
“I don’t buy it,” Tray said, taking another carrot and gnawing thoughtfully. “Sky was Santos’ lover. He wouldn’t send her to the 5.”
“That’s the other wrinkle,” Saskia said. “Santos is retired. Solvere is in charge again.”
“I feel sick,” Danny whispered at the mention of Solvere’s name. Amanda hugged him and pulled him away from the cooking island. Tray’s feet tapped under the table. He wanted to get up and take over cooking, but the fight with Rhodes had taken too much out of him.
“That doesn’t mean Santos can’t help us,” Saskia said, rubbing Tray’s back a little more firmly.
“Sky used to flirt with Diana,” Amanda said. “They were friends. Do you remember?”
The question was directed to Saskia, but Saskia had no memory of Sky being on Terrana before the Revolution. “There is a good chance Sky is in the city,” Saskia allowed. “If Janiya isn’t with her, Sky might know who Janiya came to see.”
“Janiya doesn’t know anyone here,” Coro growled, trying to give the table a shove, not remembering that it was bolted to the floor. “She doesn’t speak Terranan. I doubt she remembers living here. She was not verbal for the first ten years I had her.”
“Maybe she remembers something,” Amanda suggested.
“I’m telling you, Sky abducted her to sell her power,” Coro ranted.
“I’m going to find Santos,” Saskia announced. “Hopefully Sky ran to him and not Solvere. Tray, you’re going to tap into the Guard reports. See if there’s any mention of new prisoners in the 5.”
“Can’t,” Tray said.
Saskia shot him a look, but he was too absorbed with his carrots to notice.
“That’s why you’re here, hacker,” Coro growled.
“I thought I was here because Sikorsky threatened my son,” Tray said, glaring pointedly at Coro. Then he caught Saskia’s side-eye and winced. “I can see if they were arrested, but I have never found a valid list of people taken to the 5. I don’t even know if they have one. Here.
I’ll show you.”
He slid his Virp out of the glove mount and set it on the table, using the projection feature so they could see what he was doing. His fingers navigated through a public Guard sight, and a few layers in, he called up a list of names. “There’s Amanda’s name on the list. According to them, she’s in the 5.”
“I was in the 5,” Amanda said, her eyes fixed on her highlighted name.
“How long ago? For how long? How did you get out?” Tray challenged.
“Ten years ago. Maybe a week or an hour. Galen,” Amanda said hauntedly.
“And they didn’t update the list,” Tray said. He scrolled again. “This name here: Bracher. We got them off world four years ago. The whole family’s safe in Quin. They never saw a day in the 5. And here, Kross. She died in the 1. She was reported dead for about four months, then appeared suddenly on this list when Santos found need for Danny’s cooperation.”
Danny covered his mouth and turned to the sink, fighting a heave. These were more than names to him. They were battles, torture sessions, and broken limbs. Tray grimaced at his brother’s pain and shut down the projection, but he continued to scroll.
“I don’t see Janiya’s name on the list, but that doesn’t mean she’s not there,” Tray said, his voice softening. “This list is about controlling the public perception. It’s not good for the public to think Amanda escaped.”
“I Disappeared,” Amanda said.
“The public is meant to believe that’s a myth,” Tray said. “Danny, go lie down.”
“Are you going to cook?” Danny asked, returning to the island, picking up a spoon. Solvere had hurt him worse than any other Guard, and he wasn’t going to be okay with her in charge again.
“Benedict said Solvere takes a rover to the 5 daily. She stopped going regularly two weeks ago, the same time Janiya and Sky arrived,” Tray read, scanning through more information.
“If new prisoners were in the 5, she’d be there,” Saskia said, feeling better about their prospects for finding the two women.
“She stopped going regularly,” Tray emphasized. “She was just there yesterday.”
“So what do we do?” Coro asked.
“I go find Santos,” Saskia said. “Can you get me to the 1, Tray?”
“No,” Tray scoffed.
“Didn’t you tell that medic you were a specimen for some gravity research facility?” Coro asked.
“That would get me through the gate,” Saskia added.
“It would get me through the gate! I’m not going through that gate,” Tray cried.
“It’s not your choice Matthews,” Coro said, smacking the table. “Get it arranged.”
“No!” Danny bellowed, throwing his spoon at Coro. “He’s not leaving the ship.”
Coro’s hand shot out, and he fired the camouflaged stunner on his wrist. Amanda ducked and the shot hit Danny square in the chest. Not missing a beat, Amanda snatched the knife from the counter and chucked it at Coro, catching him in the calf. Coro fired wildly at her, and dropped to the ground, holding the hilt of the knife so that it didn’t slice through more of his leg.
“Morrigan, we have a knife wound in the galley. Bring a knitter,” Saskia vrang, twisting Coro’s arm behind his back and ripping off the stunner. “Captain?”
“He’s unconscious,” Amanda said, ducking behind the island to tend to Danny. “Coro shot him.”
“With a non-lethal stunner blast. Look what you’ve done to me!” Coro rasped, bracing his leg.
“Why does she have a knife?” Morrigan carped, arriving with a medical kit.
“To defend myself,” Amanda retorted. “He’s lucky I’m still getting used to low gravity.”
“There’s a hospital in the 1, right?” Coro asked. “This wound will get me to the hospital?”
“This wound will get you to my infirmary or the 4’s clinic,” Morrigan said. “I could stab you harder if you really want to ride in a Terranan ambulance. I’ve heard they’re slow to help outsiders.”
Saskia wasn’t sure, but it looked like Morrigan jiggled the knife in the wound intentionally. She rubbed her face, knowing it would be better for Tray and the others to stay put and avoid letting this world traumatize them again. Tray sat hunched on the bench, watching Morrigan treat Coro, ready to dive for cover if a new weapon appeared. He acknowledged Saskia’s touch with a shudder.
“Tray, I have to see Santos,” Saskia whispered.
Parker felt a twinge of pain from his spirit-form hand, but at least Sky was handled and Diana obediently heading to the 5. Her paranoia about Galen was such that she might stay there until Oriana left again, but Parker wasn’t worried. He had Colonel Rhodes.
“Mr. Parker,” the faceless Guard behind the security desk called after Parker had scanned himself into the Marble. The young lieutenant’s demeanor was slightly stronger than Lt. Carr’s, and he sprang from his chair to follow Parker across the lobby.
“Not now,” Parker said with a wave. His spirit hand pulsed. It sensed something and Parker hoped that something was a Confluence.
“I was told to escort you home if you showed up again,” the lieutenant persisted. “The Governor said you were ill.”
“I won’t be long,” Parker promised, turning down the side hall that led to the basement. Fear flashed across the young man’s face and he backed away. Only those with clearance to go to the 5 were allowed in the Marble’s basement, and they learned that one was an extension of the other.
Parker pressed his hand to the scanner and the elevator opened. It only went down. His fingers throbbed, but in a different way than before.
Is that you Galen? Or did Oriana bring me another Panoptica to play with?
Parker was suddenly struck with the fear that Damien Coro was a hybrid. Maybe he and Janiya had achieved Confluence and were telepathically conspiring against him. If he was in the building, he hadn’t come past the front desk, but with hybrid powers, he wouldn’t have to. Parker tapped his Feather.
“Carr, I need you back at the Marble as soon as your prisoner is secure. We may have company with special abilities.” A part of him was glad that at least one of his Guard knew Galen was real, but every ounce of him wished it weren’t a weakling like David Carr.
The lower level seemed sterile compared to the surface. The blood and body fluids were flushed out through a drain in the center of each of the holding cells. Most rooms were equipped with shackles and an electrified wall, a metal table, and two chairs. Janiya’s room had a full-length medical chair with restraints to keep her immobilized. Her bawdy tunic had roses and hearts embroidered down the centerline. It showed sweat but no blood. Her broken leg trembled involuntarily, but had healed enough in a week to confirm that she had hybrid healing power.
“Your worst nightmare is here,” Parker crooned, touching her with his spirit hand, feeling shivers go through his body. He wished some of her healing would transfer to him.
“I know,” she croaked. Her eyes were closed and she kept her breathing steady. Since she couldn’t teleport away from him, she was trying to mentally be elsewhere. After two weeks in here, he was surprised she had any strength left.
“You know?” Parker asked. “So you are in Confluence with that slave-master husband of yours?”
“I meant you.” A superior smirk curled her lips. “Damien’s here? He’s going to kill you.”
“Let him try,” Parker scoffed. “He can’t seem to keep a hold of you. I’ve captured you twice. I sold you once to get you off my world. I can sell you again.”
“I don’t believe you’re motivated by money,” Janiya said, her arrogant brown eyes staring through him. In the past thirty years, she’d gone from slave to aristocrat, and he had yet to make her feel like a slave again.
“Not this time,” Parker allowed. “Do you want to be sold again, or do you want to help me?”
“If you need me so badly, why sell me? Why sell off every Panoptica you ever found?”
“For Galen,” Parker s
aid, massaging his hand. The longer he stayed around Janiya, the more the dying hand ached. “Your kind drove the Elysians into their own dimension. You drove them to separate themselves from us. There was no way I could convince Galen to come to the surface until I got rid of every last one of you.”
“But now you think you missed a few,” Janiya said.
“That’s why you’re here,” he asked. “To find them.”
“Not so you can sell them,” she huffed.
“I won’t kill them. Why won’t you help me?” he said, smacking her broken leg.
Janiya yelped in pain, her body bowing against the restraints, her eyes bulging. Between gasps, her pale pink lips settled into an arrogant smirk. “Diana asked me not to.”
“Diana?” Parker repeated, his face getting red. All those hours he’d left Janiya down here, thinking she was being worn down by the worst torture his beloved could muster… Diana had subverted him to keep him from Galen!
Suddenly, Janiya sat up, arm swinging as she lobbed something into the air. A small stone hit Parker’s chest with the force of a full-grown man. Parker flew back and tumbled over a table, his head smacking hard on one of the angular interrogation chairs. Janiya rolled off her chair, but her atrophied legs couldn’t hold her, even with the broken bones healed. She crawled on her elbows, pushing toward the door.
Parker’s spirit hand snaked out and he grabbed her ankle, pulling her off balance. His body reeled in pain and the hand felt like it would fall off. “Keep going!” he ordered. “Go to them. Take me with you.”
“I can’t,” she said, her kicks becoming more feeble. “You repel that realm. Every path to them is blocked. Because of you.”
“I’m sure they can hear you,” he persisted, not letting go of her. She’d made her first move, and he wanted to see where she could go. “Try, Janiya. Try.”
“I am,” she said, slumping on the floor.
Parker’s hand throbbed, the pain getting so bad he couldn’t see. He wished he understood this limb that Galen had given him. He wished he could control its power rather than be made sick by it. Rolling away from Janiya, he clasped his hands over his chest and waited for the nausea to pass. After a few minutes, the pain in his hand subsided and the ache in his ribs took the forefront. Glancing around, he found the thing Janiya had thrown at him. It was a small, therapeutic gravity device. Diana liked to use it in interrogations, dialing up the pressure to break the small bones. Janiya didn’t have a single broken finger. He should have know Diana wasn’t torturing the prisoner. At least now they were even on the betrayal scoreboard.
The Confluence: A Space Opera Adventure Series (The New Dawn Book 6) Page 6