Enigma: A Space Opera: Book Six of The Shadow Order

by Michael Robertson

  When the footage had played out, Seb returned the frame to Moses and looked into his eyes. Glazed onyx, pregnant with repressed grief.

  “That was the last time we were happy,” Moses said. “After that, things went downhill fast. My wife got post-natal depression, and when she really needed me, I went missing. I got scared. I felt a pressure to make her feel better and didn’t know how, so I threw myself into work. I didn’t have the emotional resources to handle it. When my family looked for someone to lean on, I wasn’t there.”

  It took the air from Seb’s lungs to hear Moses open his heart to him. “Why are you telling me all of this?”

  “I want to be honest with you. I’ve had to keep things from you until now. I don’t want to do that anymore. Also, I want you to know what kind of decisions I made when I got scared. How I dealt with the fear of an unknown future. Maybe you can learn from that.”

  “What’s your fear got to do with me?”

  “You’re scared of the prophecy.”

  Although Seb opened his mouth to speak, Moses cut him off again. “And why wouldn’t you be? I mean, the weight of the galaxy on your shoulders … that’s a lot to live up to.”

  No point in denying it, Seb looked at his feet. “I couldn’t even live up to the expectations of my father, let alone those of an entire galaxy. Although, it’s much more than the prophecy. I’m scared of losing another friend. I’m not sure I’d come back from that.”

  “But they’re going whether you do or not. They’ve made their own decisions. You’re not responsible for them.”

  Seb didn’t respond.

  After a few seconds, Moses led the way and they set off again back towards the conference room. Upon rounding the next bend, they met two Shadow Order rookies. They looked to be loitering in the corridor. The fierce Moses returned, booming at them, “What are you both up to?”

  “Um,” one of them said as they snapped straight and faced him. A look from side to side, it then added, “Nothing.”

  “Well, go and do something!”

  The two of them vanished through the door closest to them, and Seb smiled to listen to the hammer of their footsteps running away. “You like doing that, don’t you?”

  A tilt of his head and a raised eyebrow, Moses said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Anyway, you mentioned your father … you and I both know you more than lived up to his expectations. He kept you at arm’s length because he thought he was protecting you.”

  A quickening of his pulse, Seb said, “You’re talking like you know something about it.”

  “It’s my job to know things, Seb. I know who your dad was and what he was hiding. I’ve known for a long time.”

  “But it was a secret that very few knew about.”

  “I have connections.”

  Seb stared at the shark for a few seconds before he said, “What else do you know?”

  They were close to the conference room when Moses stopped again. “Do you want to know? I mean, do you really want to know?”

  Seb shrugged.

  Instead of continuing towards the conference room, Moses walked over to a door on their right, pressed his thumb against the scanner, and stepped through the now open entrance. A dingy cupboard of a space, it had just one weak bulb in the ceiling that seemed to create more shadow than light. Moses pointed at a screen that must have been connected to a computer somewhere in the darkness. “This is the archive room. All of the information I’ve gathered over the years is stored here. Only I and a select few have access to it. There are secrets here that could topple governments and destroy the lives of individuals.”

  “But nothing on Enigma?” Seb said.

  “Not enough, no.” Moses then pressed a couple of buttons to bring the screen to life.

  Seb gasped to see the still image. “But how?” he said, his eyes stinging from the glare of the monitor. “How do you have this?”

  Moses pressed play on the screen.

  The video showed Seb’s dad and Logan running into a burning building. They were young in the footage. It must have been shot at least thirty years ago. A few minutes later, they returned carrying some of the residents from inside. As Seb’s dad turned to go back in again, a wall fell down and a doorway collapsed. Regardless of the clear danger, Seb’s dad ran back into the blaze, ducking through a now much smaller entryway.

  “Your dad was a hero, Seb. I knew about him from when he was in the police force on Danu. We watched him. As a cop, he did things that normal cops couldn’t. Logan lucked out getting him as a partner. And sure, he could have died at your dad’s side, but at least your dad was there to help him rather than sitting at home doing nothing. Logan would have been a cop whether your dad stood beside him or not.”

  “I see what you’re trying to do,” Seb said, but he let it go. At that moment, his dad came back out of the building with another being from the fire. Just as another wall started to collapse, his dad ran over to it and propped it up. It burned brightly, but he still managed to hold it with no gloves to protect his hands. Several more residents escaped through the space he held open.

  “Your dad was fearless and would put himself in danger to save others. In his younger days, he let his guard down and did things he shouldn’t be able to do. He held fire like it meant nothing. He jumped from heights he shouldn’t be able to jump from without shattering every bone in his body. However, this is the only time we managed to catch it on camera. After he had you boys, he became a normal cop.”

  “Because of the prophecy?”

  “Yeah. Before he had you two, it didn’t matter so much; but when you were born, he had to make sure you both remained alive. So he pulled his neck in. He lived a normal and reclusive existence to try to save you. A coward would have told you boys about it. Instead, he bore the burden of it and let you and Davey hate him so you could live normal lives without the prophecy hanging around your necks.”

  “For what good it did,” Seb said. “It’s not like it’s gone away.”

  “He gave you a childhood, Seb. He gave you a normal life up until now. Don’t cheapen the value of that.”

  “And now?”

  “Now you have to choose—”

  A man’s voice cut Moses off. “Do you run away and hide, or do you step into the unknown with courage in your heart and your friends by your side?”

  Seb stared at the figure who’d just emerged from the shadows.

  The man continued. “Your dad protected you for as long as he could. What you face now was always going to come to one of you.”

  The light from the screen showed Seb a skinny man in a suit. Eight feet tall, if not more. He looked like he weighed what someone half his height should. He had green skin, pointy ears, long black hair that hung past his shoulders, and a gaunt face. He looked like a cross between a vampire and an orc.

  “Who are you?” Seb said.

  The creature offered Seb his long hand. He had pointed fingernails poking from his bony digits. They looked almost like claws. “I work for Pluto.”

  “Pluto?”

  “This is who I’ve been working with,” Moses said. “This is the we I’ve been talking about. We’ve been pooling our resources to try to bring down Enigma. Pluto is a secret agency that helps keep order in the galaxy. If something’s amiss, they hear about it first. I figured you’d need some persuading, so Mr. H here said he’d come and talk to you.”

  “Seb,” Mr. H said, “I knew your dad personally. I spoke to him many times over the years, assuring him his secret was safe with us. We’ve watched you from afar. We all knew this day would come. He asked us to help you when you needed it. As much as we’ve tried on our own to tackle Enigma, we haven’t even got close. We need you. It’s not a coincidence you’re here.”

  Seb’s head spun as he looked at the tall figure.

  “When your dad died, we helped guide you to Moses.”

  “You did what?” Seb said.

  A spread of his long hands, Mr. H said, “Y
ou and Davey needed training up. We couldn’t get access to Davey, so we needed to see what you could do. We arranged the fight on the Bandolin so you’d be kicked off on Aloo. We knew Moses could take you in if that happened.”

  “Why didn’t you just tell me?”

  “Because Davey was still alive. We had to wait until there was only one of you left.”

  “And you think I’m ready for this?”

  Moses spoke this time. “Yes, I think so. I mean, even if you’re not, time’s run out, right? Besides, you escaped the Black Hole in record time; you’ve overcome the odds on Solsans and Carstic. You have a strong team around you—”

  “That could all die on this stupid mission.”

  “Enigma isn’t going to wait,” Moses said. “Better to meet them head on than let them take over the galaxy and then come and sniff you out like a fox being hunted for sport.”

  Mr. H spoke again. “You’re a great warrior and leader, Seb. And even if you don’t feel ready, the time has come. We need you. We know what your dad has passed on to you, and we’ve studied the prophecy for a long time. You’re the one. Also, if you don’t do something about it now, you’ll have to face it sooner or later. This isn’t going away. Enigma will release chaos, and nowhere in the galaxy will be safe. I promise you, it will stretch to the farthest corners eventually. And there will be a lot of pain and suffering while it moves out. Maybe we can stop that before it happens.”

  As he looked from Moses to Mr. H and back again, Seb shook his head. “I don’t know what to trust. I don’t know what’s true and what isn’t. You manipulated me to get me here. How do I know you’re not manipulating me now? You show me footage of my dad … you sell me a sob story about lost families …” His hands on the side of his head, Seb pressed his palms against his temples. “I don’t know what to believe.”

  Neither Moses nor Mr. H replied. A few seconds of silence, Seb then said, “Take me back to the others.”

  CHAPTER 7

  Seb re-entered the conference room ahead of Moses and Mr. H. “Seriously,” he said over his shoulder, “can’t you do something about how damn cold this room is?” Despite making the joke, nothing felt funny at that moment.

  Moses didn’t reply.

  The attention of the room on him, Seb cleared his throat. “Okay,” he said to the others, “I feel like a bit of a fool.”

  But when he looked at them again, he saw their attention fixed on the being behind him. With a look up at the tall Mr. H, Seb laughed. “Oh, yeah, I’d like you all to meet Mr. H. From what I can tell, he doesn’t want to suck your blood, although I’d keep a vial of holy water handy just in case.”

  No one laughed; instead they continued to stare at the tall vampiric being. The light of the conference room made Mr. H look even paler than he had in the room with the monitor. The cold glare he levelled on Seb sent another chill twisting through him. Now he had a good view of him, he saw his eyes were dark red. They looked like two small pools of blood.

  “Okay,” Seb said, “maybe he does.” Still no laugh in the room. “Geez, tough crowd.”

  When he walked in front of the others, Seb waited for Moses and Mr. H to join him before he said, “Mr. H works for Pluto.”

  Reyes shifted forward in her seat. “Who?”

  Although Mr. H opened his mouth to reply, Sparks cut him off. “Pluto are the people the conspiracy theorists talk about. A conglomerate of powerful beings who pull the strings in the galaxy. They claim to be a force for good, and I’ve not seen evidence to contradict that.” After looking the tall man up and down, she added, “But that doesn’t mean I’m convinced about it either. They operate with such a high level of secrecy, it’s hard to be certain of anything when it comes to them.”

  Only a few seconds, but it felt like longer as Mr. H appraised Sparks with his dead glare. Then the slightest twitch of a smile lifted one side of his thin lips. “It’s nice to meet someone who does her research.”

  A stiffening in her seat, Sparks shot back, “Always.”

  “As far as most beings are concerned,” Mr. H said, “we’re a fiction dreamed up by paranoid lunatics on the fringes of most societies. We only make ourselves known when we need to, and we need to now because we want to work with you.”

  For the entire time, Bruke sat there with his jaw hanging open. It swung as he looked from Mr. H to Seb. He didn’t seem to have listened to much of what had been said. “You mean you’re coming with us?”

  “Yeah,” Seb said, “I’m going on the mission. I’m sorry about the drama. If I’m being honest, I felt scared. I still do. Petrified, in fact.” He didn’t need to tell them he feared for their lives. They knew what they were getting into. Instead, he focused on the prophecy. “I don’t know what this prophecy is and what it means for me. For us. I’d much rather the fate of the galaxy didn’t rest on our shoulders, but wishing away reality is a fool’s errand. We need to accept whatever comes our way and meet it head-on. But I think you lot have already made that decision. Also, knowing I’ll have you all with me makes me feel much braver about facing it. Sparks, you’ve been with me since the start.”

  “And I always will be.”

  “Reyes, I’m sorry I ever underestimated you. You’re fierce and the best pilot I’ve ever met.”

  Reyes nodded at Seb.

  “Bruke, my goodness, I would not want to fight you.”

  And, SA, my love.

  Don’t call me that.

  Huh?

  I’m coming with you. Move on, yeah. She then looked down at the floor.

  “Uh,” Seb said and looked at the others; a wash of heat lit up his cheeks. He found his stride again, still looking at SA as he said, “Moses, you need to give us whatever backing we want. Financial, weapons, armies … And if you can’t fulfil it, I need Mr. H to step up.”

  Seb looked at both men until they agreed by nodding at him.

  As much as he wanted to stay on track, Seb returned to SA. What’s going on?

  Just focus on what you’re doing. We need to keep our eye on the ball.

  “Moses, Mr. H, if we want your opinions, we’ll ask for them.”

  “And even then it will be limited,” Sparks said.

  The room turned their attention to the small Thrystian, who shrugged. “Anything we transmit can be picked up. You won’t hear from us for long spells. You’ll just have to deal with that.”

  Moses frowned as he turned to Seb. “You think you can find where the Countess keeps her slaves?”

  Seb shrugged. “I’m not sure, but I have an idea where to start.”

  “And you think you can gather as much information as possible and then get out of there?” Mr. H said. “As hard as it might be, you can’t cause too many waves. You can’t overthrow a regime like you did on Solsans. You might have to witness horrible things and walk away from them for the greater good. This needs to be done on the down low. If Enigma doesn’t know that we’re on to them, we have a much better chance of finding them.”

  As much as Seb didn’t like to be told what he did and didn’t need to do, he kept his mouth shut. In all honesty, he couldn’t say how he’d react. He didn’t know what they’d come across. “We need a ship to get out of here.”

  “Where are you going?” Moses said.

  “Aloo is our first port of call.”

  “To do what?”

  “You want us to find the Countess’ slave ring. I think I know how to do that. But this is about trust, remember?”

  Moses sighed before conceding the point.

  Unable to take his focus off SA for long, Seb glanced at her again. What’s going on?

  SA kept her gaze on the floor.

  A look at the rest of the room, Seb shook his head. “Fine. Does anyone have anything else to say, or are we all good to go?”

  Silence swept around the place before Seb headed to the room’s exit first. Whatever SA had on her mind, there seemed little point in pushing the issue in front of the others.

  CHAPTER
8

  Once Seb had walked a few metres away from the conference room down the dreary corridor, he stopped and waited for the rest of them to catch up. Mr. H, Moses, Reyes, he then grabbed SA and pulled her to one side. A look at the others, he said, “We’ll meet you up top. I just need to talk to SA.”

  No warmer than she’d been with him in the conference room, SA watched Seb, clearly waiting for him to speak.

  Why are you being so off with me? I thought we’d worked everything out? I accepted I was being a dick on the Countess’ ship and I apologised. Why are you still punishing me?

  After a few seconds of staring at him, SA’s eyes glazed with tears.

  When Seb reached across to touch her arm, she pulled back. Come on, you need to tell me what’s going on. With what we’re about to face, I need you now more than ever.

  And you’ll have me more than ever. Unflinching in how she held his stare, despite her clear sadness. That’s why I’m doing this.

  WHAT are you doing? I genuinely don’t understand.

  Rigid in her stance, SA eased a little, sighed, and dropped her head for a few seconds. When she looked back at him, she’d dropped her frosty outer shell and he saw the woman he loved. It’s nothing to do with your actions. Sure, I was annoyed with you for a hot minute, but I forgave you. Don’t you know me at all? I don’t hold grudges.

  So what’s this?

  A slight softening of her stance, SA leaned across and put a hand on Seb’s arm. It sent electricity away from her contact, gooseflesh running up his skin. She held him with her bioluminescent gaze. I spoke to Reyes about our fight against the Countess.

  What’s Reyes got to do with it?

  I’ve been really emotional, Seb. I mean, you … this … I’ve not felt these kinds of feelings for the longest time … if ever.