“Few are loyal to Parker,” she said. “Few know he exists. He is the puppet master and you are the puppet. Every bad thing that’s happened in this world, people blame on you. They will follow him when he deposes you.”
Cheoff felt sick. “Is that his end game? Deposing me?”
“Worse than that. It’s been under you this whole time,” she replied. “In the basement. Gravity.”
26
Tray rubbed his stomach and fidgeted in the back of the ‘sled, keeping as much distance from Morrigan as possible. He was convinced he could still feel pain from the nanobot injection, even though the puncture had been healed in the post-op knitter along with everything else. Dr. Eislen said he’d have to learn some new hunger triggers, and things were about to change for the better. Tray didn’t know if that meant his appetite would change, or his taste in food. It had taken so long to learn how to feed himself without getting sick.
“Chase, we’ve entered the 4. We’re coming home,” Danny vrang. “Make sure you have your pants on.”
Tray licked his lips, wondering whether the twinge in his belly was hunger or anxiety. He liked that Danny and Chase teased each other, and he was surprised their friendship reignited faster than their passion. Three years ago, Tray had deliberately stalled Oriana’s repairs so that Danny could stay longer with Chase. They’d desperately needed the respite from their search for Amanda. Maybe they’d capped their lust because Chase was still recovering from his latest break-up. Or maybe too much had happened, and there was no flame to rekindle. Regardless, Tray was glad they made each other smile.
“Oriana, come in. Anyone?” Danny said a little more urgently.
“When did you hear from them last?” Tray asked, putting a hand on Danny’s shoulders. Tray was paranoid enough, and seeing a hint of distress made him ache.
“Less than half an hour ago,” Morrigan said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Didn’t you say Saskia was coming to us?”
“Saskia, can you talk?” Danny asked, using his Feather so only he could hear the reply.
The grav-drive activated and the Bobsled rose into the air. Tray’s stomach did somersaults, and Morrigan swore under her breath at the motion. The little vessel might have blended with the other grav-powered port vehicles on a normal day, but with no cargo moving in or out, it was the only thing moving.
“Are you okay?” Morrigan asked.
Tray pressed his lips together and shook his head, squeezing Danny’s shoulder harder. “Neither is he.”
He wanted to run back to Quin, but if he abandoned Sikorsky, the man would retaliate against his family. Mikayla would go into hiding, and even if he lived, Tray would never find her or his son again. Tray would be erased from his boy’s life, just like Tray’s mother had been erased from his.
“They’re going to kill us. They won’t stop until they kill us,” he said, his voice trembling. The tears trickled down his cheeks, and Tray broke down. The combination of post traumatic stress and post-op drugs made him feel so weak, and on top of the panicked thoughts, he could hear his father berating him for letting it show.
The ‘sled rose to the top of the spaceport, and then descended steadily until it landed on Oriana’s hull. Shutting down the ‘sled, Danny leaned over his seat and gingerly pulled Tray close.
“I can’t do this,” Tray panted, alternately pulling him closer and pushing away. It was only a matter of time before the Guard finished what they’d started at the clinic.
“Every day is a new dawn,” Danny said, reciting their mantra. They couldn’t both panic. One of them had to stay calm. Danny was winning.
“I can’t.”
“Don’t worry about anything but getting better, Tray,” Morrigan said, sandwiching him against Danny. “The three of us will get through this. We took down Ketlin. We can do this.”
“Oriana, Tray. New dawn,” Danny said, letting out a heavy breath. Morrigan’s assurance seemed to have worked on him. “I’m going to check out the ship. I’ll bring you in if it’s safe.”
“It could be crawling with Guard,” Tray cried, pounding the sides of the ‘sled. They were beaten, again. “I can’t! Not again!”
“Calm down,” Morrigan coached, pulling a box from her pocket and shaking out a medicine tab. “I’ll take you wherever you want, so long as you calm down.”
She offered the medicine to Tray, but he didn’t want to be sedated during an emergency.
“If the Guard wanted us, they could have taken us at the hospital,” Danny reasoned. “The two of you stay here.”
“What if we need to flee?” Morrigan asked. “Neither of us knows how to fly this. Tray can barely walk.”
“Tray can figure it out,” Danny said. “He hacked a system to fly this remotely once when I needed him. He’s always there for me.”
Tray closed his eyes. Why did his brother only ever look at him when he was a miserable, wretched mess?
The Bobsled balanced easily on Oriana’s wide hull. Danny had been topside for minor repairs before, but the ‘sled was taking up all the flat space and today, he had no safety rope. It was only slightly safer up here than on the ground, but he was relying on the hope that if the Guard wanted to ambush them, they’d had far too many opportunities prior to this to do so.
“Chase, this is Danny. Please tell me you’re dressed,” Danny tried again as he knelt over the top hatch of the ship. He pressed his Virp to the electronic lock and entered the key. Four clicks later, the pressure released and he was able to crank it open. Not stealthy at all.
“Honey, I’m home!” he vrang. Opening the top hatch, he slid into the access that dropped him into the stairwell just rear of the Observation Deck. The moment his feet hit the deck, his pulse rifle was in his hand. He peered back into the engine room, then moved forward to the ward room and the bridge.
“There’s no one on the upper deck,” Danny reported to Tray and Morrigan. “Nolwazi, are you detecting heat signatures anywhere on the ship?”
“Specify temperature,” Nolwazi said.
“Consistent with the presence of a live human,” Danny said.
“Two candidate sources detected,” Nolwazi said.
“Location,” Danny prompted.
“One in the bridge, one in the bay,” Nolwazi replied.
“The bay,” Danny repeated. He hoped it was Chase and not some other guest. When Saskia described Sikorsky’s arrival, she’d said it looked like a grenade went off in the galley and he imagined his crew dead with a mutilated Coro lying in the debris. Locking the console, Danny moved on. The walls of the stairwell were scorched black and reeked of stunner-fire. The Guard had come. Continuing to the galley, he saw fewer marks. The hatches to the Captain’s quarters and the crew hall were open. The lift that went down to food stores was kicked in. The place had been ransacked, but still there was no noise. Everything pointed to the enemy having passed.
Danny crept to the middeck hatch and listened in the bay, startled when the exhaust fans came on. He heard no talking or footsteps. Tentatively, he peered in, glancing then retreating. The railing at the top of the stairs had blood. He had no doubt the Guard would have left Chase to die. It wasn’t that bad a fall in lunar gravity, but combined with a stunner hit, it could still be fatal. Bracing himself, he stepped onto the catwalk and scanned for the body. His blood ran cold.
“Chase is down,” he whispered into his Feather. There were no scorch marks around the bay. Once they’d drawn blood, they were done.
“Down as in dead?” Morrigan asked.
“Not if he’s still reading warm,” Danny said, holding out hope. “Middeck is clear. I’m heading into the bay.”
Danny took a bracing breath and peered into the bay again. He didn’t trust the silence. Using the forward ladder, he quickly descended to the lower deck. The search on this level had been less thorough than mid-deck. The doors had been opened, but nothing looked disheveled. Danny moved quickly, closing doors as he passed the rooms. The hatch leading to the car
go bay was already open, giving him a clear sight across the floor.
Chase lay crumpled at the base of the stairs, his clothing scorched from direct shock-dart blasts. The bay smelled of burnt flesh and Danny murmured a prayer as he rushed to his friend. He did visual sweeps of the bay as he approached, but the bay was quiet and empty.
“I think we’re clear. Bring the ‘sled in,” Danny relayed as he bent over Chase. There was a bloody gash on his forehead and shock-dart burns on the backs of his legs. The Guard hit Alex with the same blast to the legs, leaving him paralyzed for weeks.
“Chase,” Danny whispered, pressing his ear to Chase’s chest. Alex’s heart had stopped, but Chase’s was still beating. His right hand was purple, the wrist pinned to the ground by an inch wide cylindrical gravity device. There was another device just under his elbow pressing into his ribs. Danny lifted the device, surprised at the weight it produced. It dropped to the floor with a loud clang.
Chase woke and screamed. His body convulsed and he tried to pull his arm out from under the second device, but he was pinned.
“Chase, it’s me,” Danny said, holding him down. “I’ve got you. You’re going to be okay.”
He tried to slide the device off of Chase’s wrist, but it pressed against Chase’s hand so hard that Danny heard bones breaking. Chase’s screams choked and he gasped.
“I told him everything,” Chase rasped, his eyes bugging out. “I told him about Sikorsky. And Amanda. Hawk. He wanted the hybrids.”
“It’s okay,” Danny soothed, his heart racing. “It’s okay, Chase. You had to.”
The bay doors opened and the ‘sled landed haphazardly on the ramp.
“Tray, stay back. There’s a grav-source in play. Morrigan, I think I pierced his hand,” Danny said.
“Danny, if I can’t get to the ward room, I need a Virclutch,” Tray said, leaning over the lip of the cockpit. “I need to find out why Saskia’s not answering.”
Saskia sat cross-legged in the back of the truck, surrounded by a cache of Patriot weapons, trying to meditate enough calmness into her body to fix her Virp.
“Still can’t reach Oriana?” Amanda asked, her teeth chattering loudly enough, Saskia knew she was hallucinating something. She shouldn’t have let Amanda drive.
“I can’t reach anyone. Not even Sky,” Saskia said, climbing into the front. “Where are you going? The 3 is that way.”
“We can’t tell Hawk we’re coming for him if the Virps don’t work,” Amanda replied. “He has a better chance than any of us of getting back to the ship on his own. We need to focus on rescuing Janiya.”
“Then you’re still going the wrong way,” Saskia pointed out. “Sky said the truck would be expected at the mansion, and she’ll know to meet us there.”
“It’s a bad plan,” Amanda said. “Not safe there. I’m going to the power plant. There’s a service passage directly to the interrogation hall. It’s how they electrify the walls without blowing a fuse or killing the prisoners.”
Saskia heard the syncopation in her breath and she wondered how many hours Amanda had spent in those interrogation rooms, overheated, under-hydrated, and facing constant threat of electrocution. Amanda slowed the truck, then stopped. There were no pedestrians.
“I’ll drive,” Saskia said, tugging Amanda across the bench seat.
Amanda sniffled and wiped the tears from her cheek, her body trembling so hard that her seat rattled. She pointed over her shoulder and out the window, then laid her head on Saskia’s chest.
“You should have stayed on the ship,” Saskia murmured. This wasn’t a random episode; it was legitimate trauma.
The driver’s side door popped open and Saskia pointed her stunner. “Sky!”
“Thanks for stopping,” Sky smiled, climbing into the driver’s seat. She seemed frazzled.
“Where’s Sikorsky?” Saskia asked, listening for the rear door.
“Schmoozing Cheoff on the off chance we can put legitimacy to this political takedown,” she said, tapping the steering controls. “Are you sick, Pip?”
“Flashback,” Saskia said, shifting Amanda to the window side and taking the middle. “Amanda thought we could get in through the power plant.”
“Oh. Good idea,” Sky said, starting the truck and resuming the path. “Diana showed me that place once. Dangerous entry, and they’ll probably figure out we’re coming.”
Diana. Saskia hated the fond familiarity with which she said that name.
“Have you heard from Oriana?” Saskia asked. “Our Virps aren’t working. We couldn’t even reach you.”
“I… don’t know. Haven’t tried since I left Tamrin,” she said distractedly. “My ears are ringing so much, I can barely understand you.”
“Did Santos meet you there?” Saskia asked.
“No, he won’t reply to my messages,” she said. “Although, if the Virps are broken, maybe that’s why.”
“We could go to his house,” Saskia suggested.
Sky shook her head. “I saw Rhodes take Hawk to the Marble. He shot Benedict. Coro didn’t know Hawk was a hybrid did he?”
“Rhodes probably started actively jamming when he decided to take Hawk,” Saskia said. “We crossed into his jurisdiction.”
“Try tuning the truck’s Vring to the Guard scanner frequency,” Sky said, pointing to the panel on her side of the truck. “Pull the cover off. Use your knife to connect the metal element to the sound input on your Virp.”
Saskia pursed her lips, cursing herself for not thinking of that sooner. She was ex-Guard. She was supposed to know these tricks. Borrowing Amanda’s knife, Saskia liberated the panel cover, then made the connection. There was a digital moderator that let her search frequencies until she found a public channel. From there, she could use a twelve-digit code to direct her signal.
“Oriana, are you there?” she whispered, as if keeping her voice low would keep them from being overheard.
“Saskia? What are you doing on a Guard channel?” Tray asked. His voice sounded deeper than normal.
“Checking in. Does this mean you’re home?” Saskia asked.
“I am. Where are you?” he asked. “Don’t answer. The Guard got to Chase and now they’re looking for the truck. You need to ditch it.”
“Chase is hurt?” Saskia exchanged a look with Sky. “How’s the Captain handling it?”
“Prayer and wrathful vengeance,” Tray said. “I’m securing this frequency and looping the ‘sled in. I think I can maintain it long enough for Danny to meet up with you. He’s ready to blow some things up.”
Saskia was ready, too. “Rhodes has Hawk and Benedict, too. We need to get inside the Marble.”
27
Hawk shook his arm, letting Benedict know he was holding on too tightly. Benedict’s knees were scraped, and his legs tremored, but he was determined to stand. Hawk couldn’t believe Rhodes had attacked him in public and no one came to his defense.
The Marble had impressive and visible security features at the entrance. Rhodes had bypassed the security station, taking them into a hallway, and then into a tiny, stone room. There were no windows, and only the single door. He leaned against the wall of their cell, holding Benedict in his arms. It was too cold sitting down, and standing together was more comforting than standing apart.
Hawk stared at the door, forcing his spirit eyes to find a solution to their escape. The room was void of any smaller devices for him to test his power on, and his Virp had fried back in the 3 when he jammed Rhodes’ stunner. When he tried to encourage an electrical current with his power, he wound up shocking himself. Hawk didn’t know how long it had been, but his beer buzz had faded and he wished he’d brought his gin flask. Benedict sighed heavily, and dropped his head onto Hawk’s shoulder.
“Would you be incredibly grossed out if I relieved myself in the corner?” Benedict asked.
“No, I was just thinking the same thing,” Hawk said, releasing Benedict and pushing off the wall.
“Really?”
<
br /> Hawk scratched his back, and shook out his legs. “Actually, I was thinking I really want some gin, but now I’m thinking the other thing.”
“Now I’m thinking the other thing, too,” Benedict chuckled.
He turned to the corner, and Hawk wondered if they should go in the same corner one after the other, or in different corners at the same time. They heard the lock turn on the door, and the question was moot. Benedict ran for the door, but as soon as it cracked, a pulse rifle blast shot through, filling the room with a thunderous sound.
Hawk dove for the floor, and scrambled toward Benedict, curling his body protectively around the other man. There was no dust or exploding rock, but it felt like there should have been. Colonel Rhodes strode in, leading a shorter man in a pristine suit who fit Santos’ description of Deivon Parker. They spoke sinisterly in Terranan, then Rhodes held up a pair of cuffs like the ones Hawk had taken off Sky. Parker asked a question and Benedict whimpered in fear.
“Trade, please,” Hawk said. “My Virp is broken and I don’t speak Terranan.”
“Travelers are so arrogant,” Parker sneered. He fanned his fingers and Hawk saw the echoes of a spirit limb that did not fit anyone’s description. It took him a moment to understand what his eyes were showing him because he hadn’t seen anything like it since Kerris reached out to him in Boone. The hand was the only part that had a spirit echo. Hawk looked down at his hands to see if he could see his own hybrid form. He knew he had wings and talons, but they didn’t appear as solid as Parker’s spirit hand. He wondered if Parker could see his form. Parker’s eyes were human eyes, but Amanda had human eyes and she saw spirit things.
“How did you break these?” Rhodes asked.
“They don’t appear to be broken.” Hawk scooted forward, putting Benedict behind him. He reached for the cuffs, but Rhodes grabbed his wrists and twisted his arms behind his back, snapping the cuffs onto him.
The Confluence: A Space Opera Adventure Series (The New Dawn Book 6) Page 20