Hours passed. I figured it’d take about six to reach Titan with the way Hayes had the engines humming, and while I had no way of telling time in the cargo bay, I knew we had to be getting close. Accelerative forces towed at my body. I could’ve put on my powered suit to temper them, but I didn’t want the numbness that came with it. Instead, I remained in the cargo bay, holding on to the grated floor so I didn’t float away, staring at the orange circle on the center of the armor.
“Everything’s been prepared,” Rin said. She floated in the room’s entrance, body covered by armor. It suited her. Made her look like a fighter worthy of the scars on her face.
“Good,” I replied.
“That was an unexpected move, to say the least. You’ll be better at this leading thing than I ever was.”
“I still couldn’t save her.”
Rin didn’t respond at first. She drifted slowly into the room and pulled her weightless body to the floor beside me. “You know, the last thing Rylah told me is that your mother will be at the safe-house we’re going to once we reach Titan. Everyone below the Darien Q-Zone fled there before Pervenio’s army arrived.”
“I’m glad she’s okay,” I said.
“Kale,” Rin sighed.
“I’m going to kill him, Rin. I know I said I wouldn’t, but I lied.”
“They’ve lied plenty of times to us. Whatever you decide, I’m with you to the end. We’re family.”
“Trass’s.” I scoffed.
“You invaded Pervenio Station and took Director Sodervall hostage. Impressive for a boy who never thought he’d be more than a thief. If that doesn’t make you believe, I don’t know what can. Everyone else sure as hell will when word gets out.”
“Darien Trass saved people. He didn’t…” I exhaled through clenched teeth. “He didn’t kill them.”
“Tell that to Desmond.” She edged a bit closer to me. “All I know is that if your father could see you now, he’d be prouder than any man in Sol.”
I turned to her, lower lip quivering. “Like I should care? My father never saw anything.”
“That’s not true. Alann loved you from the moment you were born. I never saw him cry any other time but the day he let you go. We watched as your mother took you home after his fake ashes soared. You were so small back then. She gave you lettuce, do you remember?”
“I do.”
“I’d known him my whole life, and when I saw tears running down his cheeks, I couldn’t believe it. He was always so strong, so focused. He and Katrina cried together from afar while I stood next to him stifling a grin. We’d always looked out for each other, so like a fool, I resented how much he loved you both. I told him it was for the best, and when he saw how happy it made me, it broke his heart. We didn’t talk much after that. He sent me to work with Rylah, the illegitimate daughter planted in our mom by some putrid Earther.”
“You mean she’s like Cora is… was?”
“Yes. I rarely saw Alann again until he came up with the plan for the Sunfire, but I’d have given anything to have been able to go back and tell him I was sorry. I never got the chance. Katrina contracted a rare virus, and he traveled to Earth without as much as a goodbye to find the medicine she needed. By the time he located it, our former homeworld had riddled his body with diseases. His only choice was to bomb New London as a distraction so the followers who would’ve stood with him into the vacuum could steal the medicine. He gave his life to give her one back, Kale. That is who your father was. That is who you are.”
Hearing her story had me so choked up that I could hardly speak. It made me think of Cora. “I never even got to say goodbye,” I said softly. “I loved her.”
“I know. And I loved him. And if you embrace who you are and become what he and Katrina were so scared to let you, then nobody will ever have to die for the reasons they did again.” She pushed off the floor. “When you’re ready, we’re all by the airlock. Ship’s on autopilot.” She drew her body out of the cargo bay without another word.
I understood what she was trying to tell me. It didn’t make me feel any better, but I don’t think that was the point. I’d never get over what happened. None of us would. But that passion, that love, didn’t have to make us weaker. I didn’t have to forget Cora; I only had to fight the battle she never could. Destroy the thing that took her mother and almost mine as well. Free the Ring before they made bastards out of us all.
I grabbed hold of my armor and lifted it. My face was reflected in the helmet’s visor. I was gaunt, covered forehead to chin in blood and tears, sanitary mask and all. I raised it farther so that the orange circle was directly in front of me, like the ring of flame wreathing my head in the image Director Sodervall had distributed throughout Sol.
I remembered that day in the Uppers when Cora had pulled me out of a riot while I cowered. I was wondering how I’d act in that situation now, after all I’d been through, when suddenly, it hit me.
A ring of flame.
I knew what I had to do. I threw on my armor—no small task while tumbling around in zero-g—and headed for the airlock.
TWENTY-FIVE
“There he is!” Hayes exclaimed as I flew down the ceiling of the stern airlock’s corridor in my powered suit. “Our fearless leader.”
Dried blood was crusted to the floor and walls, most of it belonging to Captain Saunders and the Earthers I’d watched die in the very same airlock. Flashes of that moment assailed my mind as I approached, but they didn’t hinder me. Not with the plan I had bouncing around inside my skull.
Hayes was strapped into a seat on one of the side aisles. Desmond sat next to him. A bulky exo-suit used for emergency EVAC repairs on the exterior of the Piccolo covered the majority of his wounds, but he appeared less on the brink of death than earlier. Rin was across from them, deconstructing a pulse-rifle just to pass the time, the loose pieces floating before her.
“How far are we?” I asked.
“Two hours or so, last I checked,” Hayes answered. “Kind of an issue getting into a command deck that doesn’t have a top.”
“Do we have any tails?”
“Only about a dozen, all armed with enough ordnance to blow us to bits if they feel like it. Gareth’s keeping them in line, though.” Hayes gestured toward our mute companion, who held on to a wall inside the open airlock to stay grounded. He aimed his pistol at Director Sodervall with one hand and held Rin’s hand-terminal with the other. The director himself was cuffed to a pipe, the same way Captain Saunders had been on the Sunfire. A gag kept the director quiet. He was only half-conscious regardless, and a spattering of fresh bruises on his face didn’t make it difficult to imagine why.
“We told them that we’ll be landing the ship by a methane lake about fifty kilometers west of Darien and leaving the director behind,” Rin said. “There’s a storm in the area, so scanners should lose us after we take to the sky.”
“What about Darien?” I asked. “Has Rylah provided an update on the situation there?”
“Last I heard, the main tram station in the colony block had been converted into makeshift quarantines while Pervenio forces continue sweeping the Q-Zone. It isn’t pretty in the Lowers. Titanborn everywhere are trying to break into the Uppers and riot.”
“Good.” I drew myself into the seat next to Rin. “How do you guys feel about helping them?”
“Once we’re down there, we’ll find a way.”
“No, now.”
Rin’s and Hayes’s brows simultaneously furrowed. I was too keen on the plan I’d thought of to wait for their response. “Hayes, I need you to go back to the command deck one more time and alter our course.”
“What?” he questioned. “Why?”
“I want the Piccolo diving directly for the Darien Q-Zone at full burn,” I said.
Rin appeared shocked by the idea, and she wasn’t alone.
“We’ll never get close,” Hayes said. “They’re monitoring our vector. As soon as I change it, they’ll take us down. No way woul
d Mr. Pervenio sacrifice that many men for the director. It’s suicide.”
“That’s why we’re going to have to turn at the last possible second once we’re in atmosphere.”
“Autopilot can’t handle a maneuver like that. We could miss by kilometers.”
“We won’t if you’re at the helm.”
“The command deck’s barely covered. Diving down bow-first through Titan’s atmosphere at that velocity…the friction alone will burn the repair canvas up in seconds. I’d never make it.”
“That’s what our armor is for. We flew through Saturn. It can take it, can’t it, Rin?”
“For a short time, yeah,” she said.
“We’ll wait as long as we can for you. If we hit the Q-Zone now, while our people are in Darien, Pervenio Corp will never be able to recover.”
“We don’t know if all the sick are gone,” Rin said, though her tone didn’t indicate she was opposed to my idea. “It looks like they are, but there could be stragglers. We just don’t know, since any feeds inside have been deactivated.”
“We’ll never have this chance again, Rin,” I said. “If Hayes pushes the engines as fast as they can go, then nothing will be able to stop the ship.”
“Why don’t you go out there, then,” Hayes countered. “I’ll happily walk you through it.”
“I’ll do it,” Rin volunteered.
“No,” I said. “He’s the only experienced pilot here, and if we miss, we’ll never have another shot.”
“Nah, screw this!” Hayes blurted. “I’ve done everything that was asked of me, but not this. I don’t care who you are, son of Trass. We’ve got the director now; that’s enough. Right, Rin?”
She stared forward, her eyes bursting with wonder as she likely imagined the same possibilities I had when the idea had popped into my head.
“Rini?” Hayes repeated.
“He’s right,” she said. “We’ve been waiting for a revolution, and now we have a chance to gain the upper hand before it even starts.”
He shook his head. “No. I won’t do it.” He snapped off his restraints and drew himself down the corridor away from us. “You’re on your own.”
I chased after him. He turned the corner, but before I could follow, Rin blocked me with her arm.
“Are you sure about this?” she asked. “A lot of men will die down there. Men with families, kids.”
I bit my lip. I knew she was right, but as I prepared to answer, all I could see was Cora’s face before she was sucked out to die. If I’d learned a single thing about Earthers since Rin abducted me, it was that it was either them or us.
“I’m sure,” I said. “We’ll never get another chance like this.”
“No, we won’t.” She gave my shoulder an approving shake. “I’ll talk to him, then. He’ll listen to me.”
She followed him, and I’d started to pull myself back toward the airlock, when suddenly, I heard them arguing. I stopped.
“I know it seems insane, but you know he’s right,” Rin said fervently.
“It is insane,” Hayes replied. “With everything that’s just happened, he isn’t thinking straight.”
“But I am. Trust me. You think flying to the Ring Skipper was any crazier? You can do this, and our people will never forget. Half of Pervenio Corp’s armed forces, gone in a flash. Imagine what we could do.”
“Rin. We don’t know if it’s only them.”
“No, but it’s what we wasted three years for. A small sacrifice to pay for freedom, if any.”
I decided I’d snooped enough and headed back to the airlock. My plan hinged on Hayes’s willingness to risk his life. If Rin couldn’t do it, I’d have to find a way to convince him.
I returned to my seat and leaned back. After a few minutes, Gareth caught my attention and lowered his pistol for a moment to sign me something. It took me two attempts to understand that he was saying. “Now you lead.”
“You think so?” I said.
He shrugged his shoulders. “Trass gave his life to give us the Ring.”
“This is nothing like that. He was a hero.”
“You will be too.”
I swallowed a dry throat, then nodded. I knew he was right. For killing so many, I’d be a hero. I’d give my people a real chance at changing things for our home. “I wish that weren’t true.”
“Kale…” a hoarse voice mumbled. “It really is you.” I turned to see Desmond awake. Painkillers from the med-bay had calmed his nerves, and for the first time since we’d saved him, it didn’t seem like he was staring through me at some unspeakable horror.
“It’s me,” I said.
“What’s going on?” He lifted his arm and realized that he was in an exo-suit.
“We stole the Piccolo to get you out.”
His helmet rotated so that he could get a glimpse of his surroundings. His gaze froze on the director, jaw dropping. “By Trass, I thought I was dreaming.”
“So did I at first.”
He looked back at me, and his features darkened. “Cora, I—”
I hushed him and patted his leg. “It’s not your fault. Now rest. You’ll need it.”
He nodded and stopped fighting the urge to close his eyes and catch up on the rest he so desperately needed. I considered joining him, when Rin reappeared around the corner, Hayes trailing close behind.
“He’ll do it,” she said.
“You’re lucky I can’t turn down the chance to watch that place burn,” he said. “But there’s one condition. When they name you king, or whatever, I get to be your jester.” His solemn façade broke into a halfhearted smirk.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” I replied. “You’re sure?”
“We flew across Saturn, remember? With this suit, and if I’m fast, I should be able to slip out after I make the turn.”
“I know you will.”
After a long, uncomfortable silence, he said, “I’m going to go check on the numbers.” I noticed his lips droop out of the corner of my eye as he turned to pull himself back out of the airlock corridor.
“If you’re worried he’s going to go hide, don’t be,” Rin said to me. “He’ll do it.”
“How did you convince him?” I asked.
“I told him that if he doesn’t make it, we’ll name a colony block after him,” she answered. “And that if he does, I’ll personally introduce him to Rylah as the brilliant pilot we couldn’t have survived on the Sunfire without.”
“You’d lie to her like that?” I joked.
“No, probably not, but I wasn’t going to crush his heart.” She snickered, then turned serious. “He didn’t need the inspiration, though. Hayes has as much reason to hate the Q-Zones as any of us. The one in Ziona left him orphaned before he could talk. Plus, it’s a brilliant plan. He knows it’s what any of us would do if we could. He just needed to hear it from me. Beneath all the bluster, Hayes is a good man. Titanborn, through and through.”
“You should tell him that, Rin,” I said. “Before he goes out there.”
She grimaced. “He’ll make it. We all will.”
The rest of the trip passed in a hurry. I could tell by the silence that the gravity of what we were about to attempt weighed heavily on us all. Especially Hayes. Once he returned from the command deck, he sat alone on the other end of the airlock corridor, staring at the wall. He looked like he wanted to do what I was asking of him about as much as I had wanted to smuggle my corrupted hand-terminal onto the Piccolo.
Rin watched him the entire time. She’d sacrificed Joran, one of their own, back on the Piccolo, but after all we’d been through, I imagined it must’ve been even harder for her now. For three years, she’d led them through the bowels of Saturn, and it was clear she cared for them more than she would ever let on. The tears welling in the corners of her eyes were proof enough of that—of the heart she thought she didn’t have.
But it wasn’t her who’d come up with the idea to murder thousands. It was me.
Gareth ban
ged his pistol on the wall of the airlock, instantly rousing the director and Desmond. He was monitoring our progress on Rin’s hand-terminal, and his signal meant that we were five minutes from hitting Titan’s atmosphere.
“Here we go!” Rin shouted, mustering her most commanding tone. “Everyone in the airlock.”
I’d been shaking in anticipation and immediately pushed off my seat. I took Desmond by the hand and helped him into the airlock. “Hold on to something,” I said to him.
Gareth didn’t move. He remained filming the director from the floor so that there was no way for anyone on the other side to see what was happening.
Rin drifted into the airlock and regarded the director. “Should we let him go up in flames with his men?” she asked as she handed me a pistol. “Or make a show of it?”
“Neither,” I replied. “Get him in a suit. He’s coming with us, for now.”
She didn’t question me. She grabbed an exo-suit off the corridor walls and carried it into the airlock with us. The director said something and kicked his legs, but through his gag, all I could hear were moans.
Hayes leveled his weightless body outside of the airlock and visibly swallowed the lump in his throat. “All right, I’m going to seal you in and head up,” he said. “Pretty soon, it’s going to get real bumpy. When we’re low enough, I’ll release the outer seal. Take it slow out there. I know I’m the best flier here, but I’ll be catching up to you from the command deck.”
“As slow as we can,” Rin promised. She threw him a nod, and he returned one.
“Let’s show those Pervenio mud stompers who the Ring really belongs to,” Hayes said, pouring as much heart into the words as he could muster.
He raised his hand to close the outer airlock seal, but before he could, Rin shouted, “Hey, Hayes! From ice to ashes!”
He flashed a smug grin. “From ice to ashes, beautiful.”
Titan's Son: (Children of Titan Book 2) Page 27
