The Ascension Myth Box Set

by Ell Leigh Clark

  “Everything okay?” she asked.

  Brock jumped, letting out a small falsetto whoop of surprise. Laughing from his belly, he turned to her. “My ancestors, guuuuurl! Don’t go sneaking up on people like that!”

  He had his hand on his chest as if trying to calm his heart down. Crash turned to see what all the fuss was about, and a tiny smile appeared on his lips when he saw Brock’s expression.

  “So?” Molly pressed, ignoring the dramedy. “Where are we?”

  Crash eyed her playfully. “What you mean to ask is: why is this taking so damn long, don’t you?”

  Molly nodded sheepishly. “Well… yeah. But I didn’t want you to think I was on your case. You my boyzzzz.” She punched Brock’s arm gently, winning him over in a heartbeat.

  “Yeah, yeah,” he continued. “It’s a fair question.” He jerked his thumb over in Crash’s direction. “Mister Grumpy over there has been asking me the same question… over and over.”

  Crash shrugged and turned back to his controls. Molly found it hard to imagine Crash saying more than he physically needed to.

  Brock pulled up a screen to show Molly what was going on. “You see, we need to retrace Scamp’s steps, but because we’ve jumped, we have no universal coordinates we can retrace. We’re having to track it in loci.”

  Molly nodded. “Oh, I see. So, it’s like we do two steps this way and five steps that way… rather than go straight to point X.”

  “You got it,” Brock confirmed. “So… here we are in the middle of fricking nowhere, where Sean stayed for five minutes at a standstill.”

  Molly frowned. “Do we know why?”

  Brock shook his head.

  “Can we get eyes on outside?” she asked.

  Crash hit a button and obligingly brought the front screen up to show them what was outside.

  Everything was dark and blank.

  Molly shuddered.

  “You okay, hon?” Brock asked.

  She wrapped her arms around herself. “Yeah. I just got a chill.”

  Brock narrowed his eyes. “Like a cold chill? Or a realm-jumping chill?”

  Molly dropped her eyes again and shuffled her feet. “I dunno. I just thought of Sean being here and wondered where he could be now… and I just got this wash of dread through me. Like he’s in a really bad place.” She shook her head. “Ignore me. Wild imagination.”

  Brock watched her carefully. “No, no. I think there is something to this. I haven’t forgotten the stories of those other missions where Sean was on that planet, and you were running from the guards and could feel them coming.” He paused, his face deadly serious now. “Your realm stuff saved their lives.”

  Molly continued to study the toes of her boots. “Well… anyway. We just need to get to Sean and get him home.”

  Brock nodded. “Agreed.” He poked the screen he was working on. “Anyway, it looks like he moved on from here pretty quickly. Ancestors know what he was doing out here. There’s a slight ion trail, like there was a small explosion, but Scamp was undamaged, so it probably wasn’t anything significant. We’ve got one more jump to do.”

  Molly bobbed her head, placing a hand on Brock’s shoulder. “Okay. I’ll leave you to get us there and get the others ready to move.” She started heading out of the cockpit.

  Brock smiled. “Okay. And Molly?”

  She turned back. “Yeah?”

  “It’s going to be okay. Sean is a tough cookie, and we’re going to find him.”

  She grinned, snapping into her best impression of how she imagined Bethany Anne might have been when she was on missions. “Yeah… and I’ll kick his ass myself when I get my hands on him!”

  Brock was oblivious to the influence but laughed at her sudden display of chutzpah. “I’m sure he’ll be looking forward to that, too,” he muttered humorously as he plotted the coordinates for Emma and Crash to implement.

  Bronislovas Trading Outpost, Kirox Quadrant

  Sean woke up shivering. He opened his eyes and blearily looked around the cold cell.

  No change there then, he figured.

  Immediately, the first thoughts in his mind were of Karina.

  “Karina?” he hissed urgently. “Karina?”

  “What?” Her voice was laced with irritation.

  “Are you there?”

  As soon as the words had left his mouth, he could almost feel her eyes rolling in her head through the stone wall that separated them.

  “No numb nuts, I’m upstairs eating fucking caviar.”

  He sat up. “Are we alone?”

  “I dunno,” she responded, her voice softening. “I guess.”

  He got up and shuffled to the bars, listening carefully for any other signs of life. He glanced down at his handcuffs. He twisted his hands over and found a catch to release them.

  They dropped and clanked noisily against the stone floor.

  “What was that?” Karina hissed, agitated they were going to draw attention.

  Sean glanced down at the cuffs on the floor and his now naked wrists. “I’ve managed to get out of my handcuffs.”

  “How the hell did you manage that?”

  “I don’t know. It just occurred to me I knew how to hack them. There’s a switch on the underneath side.”

  He heard Karina jingling hers. “Shit, I can’t reach it,” she grunted.

  He noticed a small rod of metal and immediately thought to use it as a lock pick. He picked it up and poked it around inside the lock.

  “It’s okay,” Sean whispered back. “Hang tight. I’m just picking this door lock.”

  Karina huffed, and the sound of movement from her side of the wall stopped. “How on Earth can you pick the lock?”

  Sean shrugged, even though she couldn’t see him. “I’m not sure,” he confessed. “But… it’s totally pick-able.”

  A moment later, it clicked, and the lock snapped open. He pushed against the cage door, and it swung open on its hinges.

  “Holy shit, Batman! You’ve managed it!” Karina sounded impressed.

  “Yeah, shh. We don’t want to draw any attention.” He slipped quietly out of the cage and replaced the door so that it didn’t bang. Skillfully and quickly, he started working on the lock on Karina’s cage. The lock yielded in seconds, and Sean pulled at the door, opening it with a slight bow and flourish of his hand.

  “M’lady,” he teased, inviting her out.

  Karina’s eyes lit up in delight. For a moment, Sean thought she might wrap her arms around his neck. “We need to get to the docking bay and steal a ship.”

  Or maybe not…

  “Let me get your cuffs first,” he said, grabbing at her wrists. He turned them over and then fiddled for a few moments. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, waiting.

  He frowned. “Hang on. These aren’t the same as mine.”

  Her face fell. “What? Can you still open them?”

  “Yeah.” He fiddled some more. “I… no.”

  Right in front of their eyes, the cuffs seemed to morph as if they had some kind of organic-technology component to them. Two metallic-looking, leaf-like pieces of material grew from the underside of her wrists and wrapped themselves around and over the original metal bracelets.

  Sean’s eyes boggled as he watched this strange tech. “That’s some weird tamper-proofing going on.”

  “What are we going to do?” Karina asked, her voice an octave higher as she stepped back, trying to get away from the bracelets that bound her.

  His eyes still fixated on the cuffs, Sean shook his head. “We need to get you out of here. Let’s move.”

  They turned to head down the passageway to the exit when the sound of footsteps started reverberating through the holding area.

  “Shit!” He pushed her back against the wall and out of sight of the corridor. “Someone’s coming!”

  He looked around for something to improvise with, carefully getting out of t
he line of sight, too. “I need a gun!” he hissed as loudly as he dared.

  Karina casually produced one from her pants pocket.

  Sean looked at her in disbelief as he grabbed the weapon from her restrained hands. “You’re kidding me?”

  She shrugged. “I like to keep one close… for comfort.”

  Sean, confused, took the gun and wiped his face quickly. “Back,” he mouthed, pushing her back farther away from the corner of the wall and then pressing himself against it out of sight, too.

  The guard’s pace quickened as he approached, presumably realizing that something was wrong. Sean bided his time until the guard appeared, gun and outstretched arms first, around the corner. Without missing a beat, Sean grabbed them and turfed the cyborg over and onto his back.

  The guard screamed in a slightly falsetto fashion, amusing the pair of escapees.

  “Wow,” Sean commented, taking his gun off him and shoving it into his waistband. “Did you get your voice enhanced at the same time as your reaction times?”

  Provoked and still shocked, the guard struggled and started shouting out. Sean stomped on his throat, silencing him and preoccupying his hands as he gasped for breath. Sean felt a slight crunch under his boot.

  “There goes his trachea,” he mused grimly.

  A second later, another guard appeared at the end of the passageway, this time shooting as he approached. Sean didn’t hesitate. He returned fire, distracted for a moment. When he looked back at the guard under his foot, he realized that Karina had shot the guard through the chest. “Was that really necessary?” he scolded her.

  Karina shrugged, dangling yet another pistol she’d managed to keep hidden from their captors. “How else are we going to get out of here?” she shot back. “You wanna tie them all up as we go?”

  Sean sighed, laser fire still coming down the corridor from at least two more guards. He pressed himself against the wall. “Honestly, women!” he chuffed casually, despite them still being under fire. “Hang on…”

  Karina stepped back, watching Sean as he cockily fired his own weapon back down the corridor, allowing his cyborg reflexes and spatial memory to pick their attackers off one by one, with surgical precision.

  “Ugh.”

  “Ugh.”

  “Ugh.” Slump.

  He looked around the wall to check he’d got them all and then came out of hiding, helping Karina step over the dead body. “Okay, let’s move.”

  “How did you—”

  “I’m a very good shot,” he said flatly, moving quickly ahead, gun up again, sweeping their path.

  Karina followed. They headed out to the elevator. Sean did a quick check around and, deciding it was their best option, hit the call button.

  Karina eyed him critically. “You realize there are going to be a bunch of guards in this elevator?”

  Sean nodded sharply and stood to the side. He gestured for her to do the same. The elevator doors slid open, and guards armed to the hilt started piling out. Sean effortlessly picked them off one by one.

  Karina almost looked impressed, he noticed.

  He stepped inside, seeing one guy already collapsed against the back of the tin can.

  Karina frowned, hands on hips. “What happened to him?”

  “Bonehead must have forgotten this is bulletproof,” he said, tapping the wall of the anti-grav elevator cart. “He must have tried to fire at us through the walls! Like I said: bonehead.”

  The pair stepped inside.

  Karina hit the buttons to get them to the lower docking level while Sean pushed the bodies out of the car and then out of the way of the doors.

  The doors slid closed, trapping them for the duration of their journey.

  Sean watched in mounting anticipation as the lights lit up, one floor number after another, taking them lower and lower in the space station. He checked his pulse discreetly so that Karina wouldn’t notice. It was steady.

  His shoulders relaxed.

  I’m right at home, under fire, escaping with a damsel in distress, he thought to himself.

  The elevator stopped, and the pair readied themselves, pointing their weapons at the opening doors.

  The doors opened, revealing a surprised family of Skaine: two grown-ups and two kids. Sean frowned, cocked his head, then lowered his weapon. “Sorry,” he grunted, stepping past them and into the spartan corridor. Karina followed, smiling and bobbing her head politely.

  “Mommy, why are they carrying guns, and why is that girl in handcuffs?” a little voice asked as they passed the family by.

  Karina could hear one of the grown-ups explaining to the innocent: “You’ll know when you’re older.”

  As soon as they were both clear of the family, they started jogging, heading down the corridor, looking for any signs that would point them toward the docking bay.

  “You know how to hot-jack a ride?” Karina called in a loud whisper through the concrete corridors.

  Sean turned back to her. “Yeah, I can.” His tone was just as cocky as ever.

  I’m on a damn roll!

  Karina was panting now, as she had to run twice as hard to keep up. “How do you know how to do that?”

  Sean hesitated. “I… I don’t remember,” he faltered. “But I know I can!” he added confidently.

  As long as my amazing luck doesn’t run out.

  “Ok, hot shot,” she called. “This way. I think this is the docking bay that family came from. We could do with something without military grade encryption.”

  Sean had been a couple of paces ahead. He had to stop suddenly and turn back to make the turn she had just taken. He heard a door slam somewhere in the corridors. Seconds later, there were footsteps behind them. “Shit, I think we’ve been found!” he announced.

  “Fuck!” Karina hissed. “Maybe we can lose them in the docking bay.”

  Just then, a team of armed guards appeared from an adjoining corridor ahead of them.

  Karina slowed her pace to a walk. Sean did the same, then turned to see another pack of cyborgs with guns catching up to them.

  “Any ideas?” Karina asked, her attitude suddenly nonexistent.

  Sean shook his head. He could feel tension rising in his chest. Suddenly, without any other warning cues, he felt his arms and legs go dead. He was paralyzed to the spot. The teams were closing in on them, in front and behind.

  And they looked angry.

  As in, murderously angry.

  Karina put her hands up as best she could, still being cuffed. “Sean? What do we do? Sean?”

  Sean couldn’t move. He tried to speak and found it hard to even move his jaw.

  This was it. This was how the life of Sean Royale ends…

  “Sean.”

  “Sean?”

  “Sean!”

  “Are you asleep? I’m talking to you.”

  Sean felt himself waking up, adrenaline shooting through his system. He tried to move and found himself uncomfortably slouched on a hard floor with his back against something hard. His hands were cuffed again.

  He opened his eyes to find himself back in Don Calzone’s study. He was sitting on the floor across from Karina, who was still leafing through catalogs.

  “I need an answer, Sean. Should we go with the petrilia pink or the skylight blue napkins?”

  It all came rushing back to him. This was their escape plan. And it was almost too much to bear.

  So much for waking up from a nightmare, he thought to himself.

  Chapter 9

  Calzone Offices, Bronislovas Trading Outpost, Kirox Quadrant

  “Ohhhhhhh,” Karina cooed as if she were in seventh heaven. “This. Is. Incredible!”

  Sean called over to her from the corner. “It’s cake, Karina. How good can it be?”

  Karina put another piece into her mouth, savoring the sensations. She picked up the card that lay next to it. “Says here, it’s specifically designed as an aphrodisiac for mo
st mammalian species.”

  Without even looking up from his console, Vito gruffed from across the room. “What does it do to the reptilians? I don’t want them keeling over at the reception. Bad for business.”

  Karina kept reading. “Doesn’t say. Though, I don’t suppose they’d be allowed to sell it if it were toxic to them.”

  Vito grunted something under his breath and carried on with what he was doing.

  “I’ll make a note to find out, though,” she muttered, glancing over anxiously, trying to appease him. She tapped a note on her holo.

  She looked over the table, piled high with cake samples and catalogs, and then at Sean. He was slouched on the floor, back against the sofa, his hands in cuffs, and looking more tormented than if her father had actually ordered up someone to torture him with tools. Or waterboarding.

  She smiled. “Looks like they can make this one look like a spaceship. I think that would be quite romantic, don’t you?”

  Sean sighed. “How is a spaceship wedding cake romantic?”

  “You know, because that’s how you rescued me.”

  Sean huffed. “Why don’t we just go the whole hog and have some little sugared figurines made up of you and me? You can be all bound, and I can be carrying you off into the spaceship cake.” He brightened as he talked. Making digs at her seemed to perk him up.

  The Don reeled around from his console. “We’ll have none of that!” he ordered sternly. “Need I remind you that this is my daughter you’re talking about? Have you already forgotten your place?”

  Sean’s boredom got the better of his patience. “How could I forget?” he growled back. “These handcuffs are a constant reminder!”

  Karina glanced from one to the other, like a spectator at a tennis match. Quickly, she intervened. “Here Sean, try this one,” she told him, walking over to him with a plate with some cake samples on it.

  “I’d rather try the champagne,” he grumbled.

  She shook her head, pushing a forkful of cake at him. “That won’t be here until later. They’re importing samples from the Furuga District.”

  “Well, I could drink anything. Anything that will help me deal with this!” He gestured at his bound wrists and then to the room in general.