The Colossus Collection

by Nicole Grotepas

  “I could see a water tanker orbiting Po. They need more water. But this?” Holly said, a strange foreboding lodging in her.

  * * *

  Soon they were in their rooms on the zeppelin and settling in for the journey across the moon system. Being able to move freely at the windows gave Holly a better view of the giant tanker. It dwarfed the zeppelins. Small ships zipped out and entered the Joppa atmosphere. Meanwhile other ships returned to the tanker, disappearing into the vast landing bay.

  “What’s going on?” Holly asked aloud, mostly to herself. She was in Odeon’s room and together they stared out at it, while Odeon did his song softly. Holly had plans for a drink soon, but for now, she was acclimating with her friend, watching the tanker, feeling disturbed by its presence.

  Why would a water tanker do anything for Joppa? The moon didn’t need more water. In fact, Holly would have preferred Joppa much more if it’d had less water, less humidity. That would never happen. Centau liked the humidity, and when they got homesick, plenty of them visited and spent weeks there absorbing the ambiance like they were back on Centaurus. Kota was an odd location for Centau in the first place. It was a bit drier for their evolution. However, they’d made it as a place of unity for the four races and it did have the most diverse population of all the moons.

  “I wish I knew,” Odeon said in his song-voice. “It seems that something is going on.”

  “It can’t be water, right? Is it smuggling?”

  “That is something I can’t guess without getting aboard it myself.”

  Holly flipped on her earpiece and the mic that went with it. “Darius, you hearing this? A water tanker hanging out in orbit around Joppa.”

  “Hey Drake,” Darius said. “I heard Shiro talking about it earlier. It is strange. And I think it has something to do with the SC. I’ve got some information here. New stuff. But not enough to do anything yet. Bits and pieces. Though I still don’t know where the little girl is, I’ve almost got enough to put it together.”

  “Well, we’ve got both parts now—the one from Macav Onini and some other one we got from a drug mistress czar on Joppa. So we can get that new part of the plan together.”

  “Great, nice work, crew. And that might just do it.”

  “Oh and one other thing, Darius, Xadrian’s got something for us. Something he said we’ve only got three days to do.”

  “We’ll have to hurry then. Any idea what it might be?”

  “Unfortunately, no. None at all. He wouldn’t tell me. Said I have to be on Kota. I hope it’s about Charm.”

  “Shit,” Darius said forcefully. Holly jerked, startled by the sudden change in tone. “Gah, sorry, Drake. Got to run. I just screwed something up.”

  “Can’t you just . . .” she began, but he was gone. She finished weakly. “Work on it while we talk.”

  “Darius is like that,” Odeon said. “When he needs to focus, he focuses hard.”

  “I’ve noticed. But he does good work, and I’m glad he’s on the crew. Thanks to you.”

  “And what about Shiro?”

  Holly laughed. “What do you mean?”

  Outside, the tanker had been making a slow trek around the moon. The light from Yol changed as the ship moved. Shadows appeared and vanished in a strange dance. The tanker was vast and full of oddities. A thing from nightmares. If Holly hadn’t known its origins, she might have been frightened.

  “You are upset with him. Any plans to repair what happened on Joppa?”

  “Odeon, I’m not sure what you’re talking about.” She hoped to pass it off as completely nothing. He was right, however. Since that moment, things had been strained between Holly and Shiro. What could she say? Odeon was her friend, of course, and she wanted to discuss it with someone, the only problem was she didn’t know herself what was bothering her about it. She just needed some time to think about it, to sort through the reason why what he’d done bothered her so much. It was still confusing her.

  “Interesting answer. Shiro is good at his job. Sometimes I find that I don’t like him very much. There is a piece of his personality that bothers me. It doesn’t fit with me. But I know enough to see that he is an important part of the crew. I think that I wouldn’t like it if he left.”

  Holly leaned against the window with one hand around the lip of the window head where it was raised to accommodate the rivets and large screws that held it in place. She turned from the window to look at Odeon.

  “We’ll keep Shiro, Odeon. Unless he leaves because he’s unhappy. I wouldn’t let my feelings about whatever happened back on Joppa disrupt the dynamic of our crew.”

  There was a soft rapping at the door, where the curtains were drawn. Odeon moved from where he sat on the lower bed and peered out around the fabric. “Shiro,” Odeon said.

  “He’s welcome to come inside,” Holly said. “Besides, it’s your room.”

  “I wouldn’t invite him in if my first guest didn’t want him to come inside.” He slid the door open.

  “You two cats having a fun talk? Should I head to the dining room alone?” Shiro asked as he came in, swinging his cane. He’d changed into what he called the proper dining attire: a pin-stripe suit with a vest, tie, and blazer. His shoes were saddleback dark brown.

  “Yes, let’s go, Odeon,” Holly answered, avoiding eye contact with Shiro. Looking at him, she was certain his eyes would betray the disappointment he must certainly feel after her failure at the drug bar. It was, for all intents and purposes, totally absurd that she cared what Shiro thought. Of course there would be time during their work together that they would fail or let one another down. It had happened between Holly and Charly. It would happen with Darius. It was bound to happen with Shiro.

  Why would she care in the long run what Shiro thought of her? It was preposterous.

  As she strolled through the corridor across the soft red carpet out ahead of Shiro and Odeon, her hand running lightly along the wooden and brass banister, her thoughts seemed to be getting louder. They spun around the topic of Shiro and what he thought of her and her frustration at him, that had caused her to devolve into a spiral of thoughts occupied by the concern over what he thought of her.

  She almost laughed, as she realized that she was practically shouting at herself in her head.

  They entered the dining room and Holly went to a table. Odeon followed her. She sat down and began watching the musicians on the stage, ignoring her friends.

  “No drink then, Holly Drake?” Odeon sat down beside her and put his hand on her shoulder blade. She inhaled as the swirling storm of anxiety within subsided. The loud thoughts about Shiro scuttled away like shadows in the sunlight.

  “I’m tired of being reliant on drinking to get through these trips, honestly, Odeon.”

  “I can keep singing,” he said.

  “You know, I think I’ll just head back to my cabin and try to sleep. I think I can make it.” She suddenly realized she didn’t want to be in the dining room, listening to the singing like she had nothing else to worry about in the universe. She had so much to think about—forgetting it for a short time helped no one that currently mattered.

  “Are you certain? I do not mind,” Odeon said.

  “I don’t either. If you end up finding me crumpled on the floor of the corridor, then we’ll both know that I wasn’t up to the task.”

  She rose, gave her friend a quick squeeze on his upper arm, and then strolled around the tables and chairs and headed to the corridor past the bar. Shiro turned from the bar, carrying two drinks.

  “Ms. Drake, I took the liberty of getting you the kind of beer you like.” He lifted the drinks so she could see. His cane was tucked up under his arm, hugged against his side.

  He’d gotten her a pale golden beer, served in a double fluted beer glass. She noted it, and felt a pang for ignoring him so much since the issue at the drug den.

  “Thanks, Shiro,” she said, averting her gaze again. “I really appreciate the thought. But I’m heading back to
my room now. I’m skipping a drink this time.”

  “Ah. Is that wise?” He seemed genuinely curious.

  “I’ll find out. Thanks anyway.”

  She hurried past him, breathing out as she did to avoid catching his fragrance. She held it against him, in a way, that he smelled so . . . right.

  29

  Twenty-nine hours later, Holly found herself in the Bird’s Nest, poring over bits of information the mini dirigible had sucked in and sent back to Darius’s decryption programs. He put it up on the big v-screen and pointed to it as they spoke.

  “These here, these words—they’re proxies for children. It’s like an order form, like a request. ‘OK’ it says, ‘we need like three more kids.’” Darius frowned as he said it and his voice trailed off a bit. “It’s disgusting. And then these weird patterns mean money. Novas. How many novas, I can’t decipher, but I know it’s money from how it recurs.”

  “That’s so many drops and interchanges. All that’s happening, constantly, beneath our noses?” Holly gaped at it.

  “I know, I know. Trust me, I know, Drake.” He lifted his driving cap off his head and ran his free hand through his short hair.

  “We can’t do anything about this right now, though. If we do, it’ll tip them again that we’ve got a new way to know what their movements are.”

  Charly breezed in, dressed up in a white and black pants-suit. The day was rounding into evening and she would be entertaining a gala of some sort. “This again, Darius?” Charly sounded put out. She looked at Holly. “He told me about it while you were gone. I don’t want to think about it, right? It’s bad enough that Lucy’s friend went missing.”

  “Ignoring it isn’t an option,” Holly said, sitting down. Neither Odeon nor Shiro had been around that day. That was ok with Holly. Last she’d seen Shiro had been leaving from the capsule on the space elevator platform. Holly had felt haggard and exhausted after trying to sleep on the inter-moon zeppelin ride. It had worked, in short spurts. In general the trip had been a success crew wise, but a failure in her personal relationships.

  “Hey, who’s ignoring it? I’m not. No way. I would simply prefer to be doing something about it versus talking about it and twiddling my thumbs. It’s my way. I can’t stand inaction,” Charly said.

  “True. But we can’t go barging in. If we do, they’ll know we’ve been listening and they’ll change everything before we get any information about where they’ve taken Charm.”

  “And what about the big hub infiltration. The one you went to Po about?” Charly stood to the side of Darius’s large screen, staring at the disturbing information there.

  Darius spoke up. “We’ll move on that soon. The problem with that mission is, uh, er,” he said, hesitating as he glanced uncomfortably at Holly. “It will require help from Voss.”

  “We want to avoid that, if we can.” Holly said.

  “That’s right. I forgot about that.”

  “Because you never go on missions any more.”

  “Not true. I remember this one recent mission—on a moon. There were transponders. There was a near-death experience, if I remember correctly.”

  Holly bit her bottom lip. “But since then, no missions!”

  “Someone has to keep a roof over the heads of my guests. And Torden. And basically, the crew,” Charly said, beginning to sound defensive.

  “It’s completely ok, Char.”

  “Oh, I know it is.”

  “Drake, you’ve already said we can’t move on any of these decrypted drops. But what about tomorrow? What can we do then?”

  “Let’s plan for tomorrow, as much as I want to avoid Voss, we’ve got to push through this shit and get to the heart, so we can find Charm.” She glanced at her communicator. Xadrian was calling. “Excuse me a minute guys. Hello?”

  “Why hello, HD, you were supposed to phone me. Remember? That three days I gave you is now one.”

  Holly cussed. “Shit. I did forget. There’s been a lot going on, XT. The zeppelin ride. Well, four zeppelin rides? I’m sorry.”

  “Unfortunately, I wish you’d listened to me. I found out something you need to know.”

  “Ok. Tell me. Go.”

  “It’s not like that. Drake. Meet me at our locale. I’m not telling you anything over this line.”

  She growled and hung up, glancing at Charly and Darius. They were both staring at her with wide eyes.

  “What? You guys have never heard someone growl before?

  * * *

  The Glassini Bar was filled with patrons. Busier than normal. Odeon actually sat on the stage, playing his icreash. He acknowledged Holly with a look as she entered and found the table she often used to meet with Xadrian. He was there, and he proffered Holly a small glass of wine.

  “I heard you were developing quite the drinking problem. I took the liberty of getting you a smaller serving,” Xadrian said when she sat down.

  “That is taking a liberty. A huge liberty. Did Dave tell you that?” She sat down and took a sip of the wine. It bothered her, but she didn’t have the energy to argue. She was running out of time, she felt, on finding Charm. And these diversions weren’t helping. “What’s going on, XT, let’s get to business. I have things waiting for me.”

  “Patience, HD, patience.”

  “There’s no time for patience. Do you think the SC is going to be easy on the little girl? They have a nearly limitless supply of children. If they don’t like a Druiviin child, they’ll get rid of her. Replace her with a human or Constie.”

  “This is precisely why you’re here, HD. I found out, through mutual sources, what they’re referring to the Druiviin as. It should help you narrow however it is you’re searching.”

  Holly inhaled sharply. “What is it?”

  He leaned forward, and slid a small square of paper toward her.

  “How old-fashioned,” she said. Taking the paper into her hands and flipping it over to study it. The word read kotan raisin. “That’s it. Are you certain?”

  He nodded. “The team searched it in multiple ways. They found the references all matched the other data.”

  “Then I owe you my gratitude. Thank you, Xadrian. And what is the other thing. The one that has a time-table?”

  “That is part of the issue. If you go search through the information on that topic,” he said, indicating the paper she’d crumpled in her fingers. “You’ll find that it is scheduled to be moved again. If you search where it is now, if you are quick, you can get it before it’s moved.”

  “And where is it?” Her heart was thundering. She almost couldn’t hear Xadrian’s next words.

  “On an outpost located in Ixion’s orbit. Look for it. Look for that info. Once they move, you won’t know where to look and it would take weeks again to find it.”

  Holly leapt to her feet. “Is that it, XT? Any more facts that I wish I’d known yesterday?”

  “It wasn’t me who left the moon, HD,” he answered, shaking his head. Our source told you to stay here, to wait. He gave me the info, I contacted you as fast as I could. I wasn’t going to share this across comm units. You know why. I know you know why.”

  “If we’re listening, they’re listening,” she muttered to herself. He heard, however and nodded.

  “Precisely. You’re learning. You are learning. Soon we’ll have turned you into a master-thief.”

  She glared at him. “I don’t want to be a thief.”

  Xadrian shrugged and sipped his wine, the rings on his fingers glittering in the hanging lights. He smiled. “Can’t fight nature. Some of us are the way we were made. You, my dear, are a born-master criminal.”

  “And if you’re correct, I’ll use my powers to fight evil people like the SC.”

  “And I will honor that about you. Cheers,” he said, raising his glass to her.

  She hurried out, throwing a look Odeon’s way before she hit the doors and then the street.

  31

  Back at the Nest, Holly hurried to explain to Darius w
hat Xadrian had told her.

  “There’s no time to hit the massive hub. We have this. This, Darius. We know what they’re calling her, now. Can’t your little program look for the word, and then interpret it?”

  “Possibly, Drake. But what would be the point?”

  “To make sure Xadrian is right. That he’s not lying to us.”

  “I get it. That’s true. But say we sort through the millions of bytes of information, and we find out that he’s right. But it took my program ten hours to search? Then we get Trip and head out to Ixion. And we arrive, and the window has closed, and Charm is gone? Then what?”

  “What are you saying, Darius, that you want to just go in blindly, trusting Xadrian?”

  He pressed his lips together, and shook his head. “No. I don’t want to do that. At all. It’s the worst possible idea. The outcomes suck. There are more disastrous possible outcomes and just one potential good outcome.”

  “I know. I agree.”

  “So no, I don’t want to do that. But it’s the only option, Drake. Isn’t it?” He gave her a sideways glance, turning away from his large v-screen board and the things he’d written upon it. “What do you think? You’re the leader. You know I don’t like any of the options before us now, but what do we do?”

  She sighed heavily and sat down. The paper Xadrian had given her had turned into a sweaty ball of material. Crushed and unreadable.

  “I think you’re right,” she conceded. “The worst case scenario, we find out there’s something going on in the vicinity and we do more good than harm. And maybe, maybe we get Charm back.”

  “I think it’s the option that we’ll regret less than the others.”

  “We have to move. Soon.”

  “I know, Drake.”

  “Then,” she said, sighing. “Let’s get planning.”

  Darius pulled up all the information he had on the bases and tanker ships that orbited Ixion, harvesting the hydrantium gas from the upper atmospheres. This gas was then used to create aether, which powered much of the energy that was used in the 6-moons. It was clean and Ixion had a supply that wouldn’t run out for thousands of years. Tidal locking would occur sooner than Ixion ran out of hydrantium, and when that happened, the Centau had plans to move to a new system.