“We have to get out of here,” I said to them. “Let’s—”
A single bullet to the chest sent one of the soldiers flying back. The others emptied their magazines toward the Cogent. As they did, my young guard grabbed me and me alone and bolted for the corner. I’m not sure what curses I screamed as he did; all I know was that I punched him in the face and lunged back toward the hall. Aria and my mother emerged right before I did something foolish like go back for them.
Aria hunched over once they reached safety and clutched her stomach. My mother was visibly in shock, yet couldn’t help but gawk at Aria’s belly. She looked back up at me, and no words were necessary.
“We need to get her to safety,” she said.
I nodded. We were in the hospital’s entry lobby, a three-story atrium with a viewport on one side that looked out over Titanian methane lake wrapped by cliffs. A plaque in the center of the floor dedicating the center to Hayes read: HE DIED SO WE MAY KEEP THE RING.
My guard was busy recovering from my punch to the face, but I grabbed him by the chest plate and said, “We need to—”
Another of the soldiers fending off the Cogent went down. More men hurried up the escalators on either side of the atrium to our level to reinforce them.
“We need to get her to my room,” I said.
The guard licked his bloody lip. “We should split you all up in case there are more of them, three transports.”
“I’m not leaving her.”
“If there’s another—”
“I’ll go on the transport Kale arrived in,” my mother said. “You two take the tram line; nobody will expect it.”
“She’s right,” the guard said. “I’ll stay with her and call for air support. We’ll cause a diversion, just in case.”
“Mom, I—” I said before she hushed me. She took both Aria’s and my hands in hers and smiled a terrified smile.
“I’m so happy for you both,” she said. “I’ll be fine, you know that.”
I threw my arms around her for the first time in longer than I could remember and kissed her cheek. Then I wound my arm around Aria and helped her down the atrium toward the tramline lobby.
“I’m fine,” Aria groaned.
I didn’t respond or release her. I snagged a scarf from the storage room beside the front desk and wrapped it around my neck and up over my head. Security in the tramline waiting area directed frightened citizens onto a parked tram in as orderly a fashion as possible. With my face obscured and grimy from running and fighting, it would be easier to stay inconspicuous. Aria in her medical gown and with her hair even messier than usual would be even harder to spot.
We fell into the mob and were squeezed into the back car of the departing tram. I took the first empty seat we could find and held Aria close, resting my forehead against hers so that our faces wouldn’t be seen.
“We’re okay,” I whispered then kissed her. “The Cogent will be hunted down.”
Aria breathed raggedly, in and out. The tram shot forward, and Titan raced by the windows. Two different storms dotted the horizon, one with red bolts of lightning flashing across the nearby methane lake used to power Hayes Memorial Hospital in the safest manner possible. It’d been a long time since I’d ridden public transit between Titan’s colony blocks like I used to when I visited my mother in quarantine. It was oddly comforting.
“He could have killed you,” Aria said softly. I could barely hear her over the nervous chatter of the other citizens.
“But he didn’t,” I said.
“He recognized me, that’s why he stopped. I could tell, even without eyes to look into.”
“Do you know who it was?” I asked.
“I… maybe. Only, it doesn’t seem possible.”
“What do you mean?”
“No more secrets, right?” she said.
I nodded and clutched her hands even tighter. “Right.”
She took a moment to gather herself, and then as she started speaking, I could hear the fear affecting her tone in a way it so rarely did. “I don’t know what Luxarn did to him after I watched Malcolm kill him to save me,” she said, “but I think that Cogent was my dad’s partner. I think he’s the reason all of this happened.”
Ten
Malcolm
The bag was yanked off my head, and I gasped for air. I found it hard to come by with a sanitary mask still on tight. I searched from side to side. I was back in the cargo hold of the Cora. My last memory was Rin entering my cell. I got a few good punches in after the surge of a shock baton, but they overwhelmed me and knocked me out.
Rin sat across from me, fully armored and looking as grotesque as ever. “I thought you’d sleep forever,” she said.
“And miss out on our conversations? Never,” I grumbled. I looked around the room and found it empty, just me and her. “Kale didn’t want to drop by?”
“He’s busy.”
“Heavy lies the crown.” I stretched and cracked my neck. “So you decided you wanted some alone time? I’ve never tried being tied up, but I’m always up for new things.”
“Don’t make me sick.”
“Oh, c’mon,” I said. “How’s about I give you the night of your life and in exchange you let me see my daughter?”
“If you keep helping, maybe I can make that happen. Until then, you won’t get anywhere near her.”
“Do you wanna bet on it?” I said.
“On her life?”
I bit back a response.
“I thought so,” she said. “We were so impressed by your work on Martelle Station that you’re going to help us with another issue.”
“Did you all finally realize it’s too cold on Titan?”
“We need you to remove someone from the equation.”
“You mean kill them,” I said. “Don’t mince words.”
“That’s what you collectors do, isn’t it? End conflicts before they begin, no matter what it takes.”
I chuckled. “Corporate espionage is one thing. But if you really think I’m going to be your assassin, you’re crazier than I thought.”
“You’re our collector. It’s not up to you.” She stood and paced the cabin. “A greedy shipyard foreman is slowing the production of ships. He’s putting everything we’re working toward in jeopardy over credits. Something you understand.”
“So hang him yourself. I’m sure you’ll enjoy doing it.”
She lunged forward and clasped my jaw so tightly I thought it was going to snap. “No. It has to be you.”
“There’s only one more life I’m willing to take unless you let Aria and me go far away from here, and he’s sitting right in front of you. Say goodbye to your collector.”
She released me. “You’re going to remove Orson, or your daughter will spend the rest of her life in a cage.”
“I still don’t believe you.” I snickered. “The fearsome puppet master of King Trass who can’t even say the word kill when she puts a hit out on a poor old man. Stop this charade. Kale’s probably lying in bed with my daughter right now, and if I know her, she’s got him right where she wants him.”
Rin pulled out a hand terminal and showed me a live feed. A woman lay quietly on her back on a medical bed, covered in a ratty blanket. She grimaced, then leaned over and vomited into a bucket at her bedside. An IV was hooked into her, as well as a heart monitor and who knows what else.
“What’s wrong with her!” I questioned, pulling on my restraints to get a closer look until my wrists stung.
“The radiation hit her hard. She’ll be fine as long as we keep treating her, but she’s locked in our quarantine this time.”
“You fucking Ringer animals!”
“It’s simple, Collector. Kill Orson Fring for us, or things get a little less comfortable for her. Do you know what it’s like to melt from the inside out? Neither do I.”
“Does Kale even know what you’re doing here?” I snapped.
“Kale was done with her the moment you entered the pict
ure. Now get up.”
She switched off my restraints and heaved me to my feet. I tried to whip around and grab her, but the electromag dampener was still around my artificial leg, and I tripped into an inactive sleep pod like it was my first time walking. She had her gun aimed at my head before I could make another move.
She led me to the exit ramp and held on to a bar. The Cora rumbled, then I felt her spin around before landing gear made the floor lurch.
“Where are we anyway?” I asked.
The ramp opened with a hiss, then fell. Rin grabbed me by the back of my neck and hurled me down into a dark, empty hangar. My shoulder slammed hard a few times as I rolled.
“You know what you have to do,” she said. She removed a hand terminal and keyed some commands. The electromag dampener immobilizing my artificial leg switched off.
I groaned and made my way to my knees. “If Kale really is in on this, and you keep letting him spiral, you’re going to wind up hating what you’ve created. Me and you, we’re set in our ways. Kids like him? They get creative when they go rotten.”
“You’ll find Orson Fring in the shipyard foreman’s office,” Rin said. “He’s the older man with a white beard. Try not to kill anyone else.”
“What stops me from running?”
“I’ll be right here, and there’s no way off this station without me seeing. A part of Kale may secretly care for Aria despite her lies, but I don’t.” She drew my pulse pistol from behind her back and tossed it at my feet. Then she glowered at me the entire time the Cora’s ramp rose to shut me out, tongue licking the gaps in her half-marred face.
“Damn you, Aria,” I cursed under my breath. Most rebellious daughters brought home a gangbanger, or another girl if you’re into the clan-family-breed-safely-and-efficiently-for-the-good-of-mankind mumbo jumbo the USF spouted. Not her. She decided to shack up with the leader of the worst riot Sol had ever known, with a murderous second in command. I could throw insults at them as much as I wanted, but there was no denying that they’d set a new standard. Rewritten the rules even.
I wrapped my fingers around the grip of my pistol, the only place they’d ever truly felt at home, and checked my clip. Then I stood and brushed off my clothing, only realizing then that they’d dressed me in a duster terribly similar to my old one. Everything to make me look the part of a Corporate Collector from Earth.
What choice did I have but to keep playing along? I knew who was really in charge on Titan. It was one old Ringer shipworker or my daughter. I’d made that choice with Zhaff, and I’d considered him a friend. Getting Aria out now that we were on Titan was going to be the hardest job I’d ever taken on, impossible even, but I liked my odds. I only hoped I still had it in me to pull a trigger.
I crossed the hangar exit and peeked around the corner. The Phoebe ship factory’s harbor was deathly quiet and dark, what passed for nighttime on a moon of Saturn. The Ringer day-night cycle fell in line with Earth’s. Fight it as they might, it was genetic. Earther days and years were an inter-solar standard, at least until Kale inevitably tried to change that too.
I crept along, checking my corners. I’d never been to Phoebe, but Pervenio Stations all stuck to a similarly efficient design standard. Every groan from life support sent me ducking into a niche, finger on my trigger. Occasionally, I heard a footstep from someone scurrying toward the station’s rec area, but I was a ghost. Infiltrating offworld workstations happened to be a collector specialty.
Except usually there was security.
I didn’t encounter any in the central passage, and when I reached the factory itself, it was more of the same. Dozens of Ringers slept between unfinished ship chassis, using insulation for blankets. Signs of protest littered the floor. A handful throughout the vast space continued working, but they wore welding masks and were distracted by sparks from fusion torches.
All I had to do was not sneeze, and my path to the glass-fronted foreman’s office overlooking everything was clear. I supposed it was precisely how Rin planned it.
I sidled along the outer walls like a shadow, using scraps for cover. The stairs to the office were only a step away, when one of Kale’s few loyal workers across the room dropped his fusion cutter. He cursed loudly then lower as he tried to get control of it. It spun along the floor, melting anything in its path. I got distracted, and my foot banged into a sleeping Ringer.
“What the—?” the man groaned awake.
I was on him in a heartbeat. My hand covered his mouth and nose, and my artificial knee pushed down on his chest. I could see his eyes bulge as he saw what I was. Even the sanitary mask I wore couldn’t hide my stout Earther frame and pink skin. He couldn’t do anything about it. I held him there on the precipice of death until his eyes rolled back. Then I let off. I didn’t kill for free unless there was no other choice.
I glanced up to see if anybody noticed. A few Ringers by the clumsy worker stirred, either telling him to shut up or trying to help. I used the commotion to climb the stairs to the office door. The lights were on inside, and even though the office’s privacy tints were active, it was the brightest area of the factory.
I crouched and tested the door—unlocked. I raised my pistol and pushed it open with my boot, then rushed in and locked it behind me. A man I assumed was Orson Fring sat at a desk, poring over some data on his computer terminal. He didn’t jump or hit the floor. Instead, he calmly glanced up from his work. His beard was as white as snow in Old Russia, somewhat hiding how intense low g had stretched his face. He was easily ten years my senior, maybe more since low g also caused Ringers not to show their wrinkles and sagging flesh as drastically as mine.
“I knew it wouldn’t be long before he sent someone,” Orson said, staring at my pulse pistol. “I didn’t realize it would be you.”
“Do I know you, old—” I didn’t finish. It didn’t seem right calling Orson “old man” after I’d gotten so used to hearing the phrase thrown my way. I edged closer, keeping my pistol aimed and watching his hands. One click and he could switch off the office’s privacy tint, and we’d be lit up for anyone in the hangar to see. He didn’t make a move, not even a twitch.
“I doubt you’d remember,” he said. “You saved my son Jimmy once when he got himself into trouble a long time ago.”
I scoured his face to imagine a younger version, and then it hit me. It was one of the tougher jobs to forget, what with a mad scientist trying to turn the poor boy into a cyborg servant. I wasn’t often hired to help offworlders, but Pervenio Corp had an interest in keeping the Fring family happy so they could keep its cheap Ringer laborers happy.
“Jimmy Fring,” I said. “I remember.”
“I never got a chance to properly thank you,” Orson said.
“Thanks aren’t part of the job. Hands,” I indicated as he went to stand. He presented his palms without protest, even going so far as to smile. I could see beneath the expression. Deep in his dark eyes rested an elderly soul resigned to his fate.
“What happened to Jimmy?” I asked, lowering my firearm. It didn’t seem right having a pleasant conversation with the man while aiming at him. Especially a man who had the decency to remember me.
“He died raiding an Earther luxury cruiser with Kale and his aunt,” Orson answered.
“Aunt?” I asked.
“They’re the last two with Trass’ blood. You didn’t know?”
“I should have.” That was why Rin’s leash was so long. My last words to Zhaff lamenting family came to me as I realized how accurate they were. No matter where anyone was born or what kind of family it was, all the connections seemed to lead to was trouble.
“Well, I’m sorry to hear that about Jimmy,” I said. “He was a good kid from what I recall.” I didn’t really remember anything about him specifically, but it seemed like the right thing to say. I was used to targets crying or begging on their knees.
“I tried to keep him out of all this,” Orson said, “but he had too much fight in him.”
�
�I know how that goes.”
Orson chuckled meekly. Then he closed his eyes and lifted his chin, as if imagining a cool, seaward breeze on Earth rustling his beard. “So what happens next?” he asked.
“Your king needs me to ‘eliminate’ you. His aunt’s words.”
“He’s hiring Earther collectors now?” Orson asked.
“I wouldn’t say I’m under contract. He and Rin are damn good at leaving people with impossible situations, though, I’ll give him that.”
“What do they have on you?”
“It’s a who…” I paused. I rarely told people about who Aria really was, but it seemed like the right time. He deserved to know why I had to do what I did, especially now that I knew Rin was a Trass as well. “An unregistered daughter.”
“Doesn’t make her any less yours,” Orson said.
“Tell my people that.”
“I understand. I’d do the same for Jimmy.”
“Family. What a burden,” I mused.
“And such a blessing. Seventy-three Earth years I’ve been alive,” Orson said. “I watched the first Pervenio ships sent from Earth sail over Titan. It was peaceful here before they made contact. So few remain alive who remember, but I do.”
“I can’t imagine.”
“Things were simpler,” he continued as if I’d said nothing. “We worked to survive in a place where humans shouldn’t and spent the rest of our days finding love and living life. Maybe it didn’t look like a paradise, but it felt like it. Then I watched thousands of my people perish from sickness. Lost control of my own docks from fear, and watched my employees and family become mask-wearing wage-slaves.”
“No paradise was made to last, I guess,” I said. “They say Earth was once lush and green, but I have a hard time imagining that too.” My fingers grew spry around my trigger just in case. This fearless acceptance of death reminded me far too much of the Ringer on Earth who got me caught up in all of this when he stole my gun and blew out his own brains.
“We’re so proficient at ruining beautiful things,” he said.
Titan's Fury: A Science Fiction Thriller (Children of Titan Book 4) Page 14
