Titan's Fury: A Science Fiction Thriller (Children of Titan Book 4)

by Rhett C. Bruno

  “It takes two, Ringer,” I grated. “Cora was a good kid. Could you imagine if she could see what you’ve become? She’d probably want to run away from you as fast as she could, just like Aria.”

  “She can’t.” His armored hand squeezed into a fist. “She can’t because we lived in a world where every damn Ringer was guilty the moment they were born. Our word: worthless. And if she were still alive, she’d be at my side fighting the fight we’ve been fighting our whole lives. The only difference is that now we’re on top.”

  “Until the moment you fall. Don’t you see, kid? That’s the way things have always been. Earthers, Ringers, the old countries. It’s the people that own the shit worth fighting for that wind up sitting pretty. The only reason anyone gives a damn about what goes on here is because of that gas giant floating out there. Once that engine of yours goes public, you’ll be another failed protest. And trust me, you may have slowed Earth a hair, but they’ve got enough backups of Basaam’s research to build it. You’ll be just another blip on the radar while humanity chugs on.”

  I thought that would get to him, but all he did was force a grin. That was the best way to deal with rioting workers on offworld colonies. Show them how futile it all was. Crush them under the weight of the world and history so that they doubted their movement enough for it to come down.

  “Lucky for you then, you get to come along on the ride,” he said.

  I couldn’t back down. I was desperate. “One last chance, kid. Let me and Aria out of this, or it’s going to end the same way as all the other rebels I’ve dealt with.”

  “I look forward to it.” He looked back over his shoulder. “Let him out,” he said. “It’s time.”

  His scarred aunt strode forward, emotionless and leaning on a cane. Based on the times I’d seen her before, she seemed eternally dour but not anymore. Her gaze was distant, and even the skin-covered half of her face was bruised and scraped. She unlocked my cell without a word or even looking at me, and two Titanborn swept in to grab me. I gave one good tug to break free, but my body couldn’t manage much more

  “How’s your sister?” I asked Rin on my way by. “Is that where he’s taking me? To put a bullet in her like Fring, so you all don’t have to?” No answer. “It amazes me that she looks like she does and you look like, well…”

  Her fists squeezed as she continued to avoid looking directly at me. Kale stepped between us before I could get another word in. I never realized how tall he was before. Maybe he was just carrying himself differently now that he was a proper killer, but he towered over even the rest of his Ringer brethren.

  “You should see her,” Kale said.

  “What the hell did you do, Kale? If you killed her—”

  “She’s alive, for now.”

  “And my daughter?” I found the strength in my body to lunge forward and grab his arm. One of his guards nailed me in the back with the butt of his rifle almost immediately and knocked me to my knees. “Where is she?” I growled.

  “You’ll see soon enough.”

  “She had nothing to do with that,” I said. “Nothing. It was me and the Cogent. We didn’t give her or Rylah a choice.”

  “I didn’t see a gun to her head until we put one there,” Rin said, earning a glower from Kale that sent her shrinking back into the shadow. Something had happened between them beyond Zhaff putting a beating on her. Something that for the first time left no question over who was really in charge.

  “There’s a gun to her head every second she’s in this hell hole with your bastard son growing inside of her,” I said. “Zhaff found out, and Luxarn knows now, which means so does Venta. If your son is all you want, then just take him from her and let us leave.”

  Kale leaned forward, so close our noses nearly touched. He almost looked amused. “We are leaving, Collector. Aria, you, Zhaff, and me together... and your grandson.”

  “Zhaff is still alive?” I questioned.

  “If you could call whatever his father made him into living. He still has a part to play.”

  My synthetic foot found flat footing, and I begged my brain to move it. I sprang up, fist aiming straight for Kale’s pretty little head, but right before the blow struck, he clutched my forearm. The power provided to his fingers from his armor nearly broke my wrist as he wrenched it back. My feet lifted off the rocky floor.

  “An Earther will never strike me again,” he said callously, his composed demeanor coming unhinged. “You’ll come with me, and if you don’t do exactly as I say, Aria will die the moment she delivers my child into this world. But if you act as my loyal collector, she’ll be cared for the rest of her life. She will be permitted to watch her son grow and teach him the ways of your people so that we never wind up stuffed in quarantines again. Which is more than you ever did for her.”

  He released me. I blinked hard, seeing stars from the pain in my wrist. I pictured Aria, wherever she was, holding her pregnant belly and wishing she could be anywhere else in Sol. Leaving her with a nice, safe clan-family after she was born seemed like the better choice now. Everything seemed like the better choice.

  “I…” I coughed and gathered my breath. “I won’t kill Rylah for you. I can’t.”

  “You think that’s what this is about?” He laughed. No one joined him, not even Rin. “Rylah is no concern to us anymore. No, Malcolm Graves, you’re taking me to your master on Undina. His and Venta’s fleet is on our doorsteps, yet still, he hides from me.”

  “You really think you’re going to kill Luxarn Pervenio?”

  “Yes. And you and Luxarn’s son are going to help me.” He strode toward Basaam Venta’s creation and slapped the fusion core chamber. “We’re going to give Earth an M-Day they’ll never forget!”

  He was almost gleeful as the wheels of a terrible plot I couldn’t imagine churned in his head. I felt a chill run up my spine. I’d dealt with more monsters and miscreants than I cared to remember. I could usually guess their next move after a second in the same room as them. Not Kale.

  I think that was what scared me the most. Even more than the thought of losing Aria, Rylah, or Zhaff again, or an employer I’d dedicated my life’s work to. Luxarn had done enough to earn the hatred of Ringers. Some conspiracy theorists even thought he and his father purposely spread sickness to take control after the Great Reunion. I’d never cared enough to ask, but he’d made his bed.

  An M-Day to remember, though? A mysterious, life-changing engine invented by a genius and meant for a Departure Ark. Men were usually after the simple things. Credits. Power. Revenge. The stuff that drives a sane person. Kale was after more than any of that. He’d already executed Cora’s murderer, and it wasn’t enough. And killing Luxarn wouldn’t be enough. How did you right the wrongs of half a century worth of abuse from Earthers in the head of a madman?

  “What are you planning, Kale?” I asked, voice trembling.

  “To free my people,” he replied. “You and your daughter helped spark our revolution from this very cavern amongst our dead and dying. Now it’s time we finish it, once and for all.”

  Seventeen

  Kale

  Screens displaying the vicinity of Saturn filled the entire command deck of the Cora, now parked in a new Darien hangar. She’d sustained minor cosmetic damage during Aria and Rylah’s attempt at escaping, but nothing that couldn’t be fixed now that all of my people were dedicated to building our fleet. The screens were tuned in to feeds from Pervenio Station, Enceladus, and Pandora—to all the moons and stations in the cosmic archipelago of which Titan was the beating heart.

  The Earthers had arrived.

  Only a few months after Madame Venta and Luxarn Pervenio’s corporations merged and orchestrated the assassination of the majority of the Red Wing Company board, a fleet more massive than anyone could have imagined surrounded our ringed planet. They were prepared to end our insurrection forcefully, apparently even without the USF approving of it. Ships of every shape and size—transports and passenger liners convert
ed into warships, fighters, and defense frigates—they bore the logos of the three most powerful corporations in Sol, now as one. The combined might of Venta Co., Pervenio Corp, and Red Wing Company was arrayed before us.

  “We barely have half that amount,” Rin said, gawking at the feeds. We stood alone in the Cora, my aunt and me, the last living members of a bloodline I’d just learned died off more than three centuries ago. A part of me knew for sure that Rylah wasn’t lying when she told me.

  “All because your sister wasn’t able to handle a protest until we returned,” I replied. Our plan to use our captives to slow their invasion was prepared, but nobody could have predicted how much Earth would send.

  “A dozen more ships wouldn’t have helped.”

  “You’re afraid?” I asked.

  “You aren’t?”

  I turned to her. She’d been irritated after Rylah was punished. I was too. It was one thing she’d never taught me about leading: that you’d inevitably be betrayed by some of the people closest to you and have to manage to keep fighting.

  It didn’t matter. Rin could hate me for what I was forced to do, but now, Titan needed me. Her body had been too battered by Zhaff to be of use.

  “You’ve been preparing for this your entire life, Rin,” I said. “A chance to make them cower. These are the people who did that to your face. Who beat you. Raped you.”

  “I didn’t even know who Madame Venta was when that happened. I shouldn’t be here fighting her. I should be with you when you look Luxarn Pervenio in the eyes.”

  “Without Rylah, you know I need you here defending our homeworld.”

  “Well, if you hadn’t crippled her—”

  “I still wouldn’t trust her,” I interrupted, stopping her before she joined them on my bad side. Then I studied her from head to toe. She still needed a cane to walk, and her face remained covered in bruises. Every time she inhaled, I could tell she was trying to hide a wince of pain.

  “Besides, you’re in no condition to fight if it comes to that,” I said.

  “I’ve fought through worse,” she said, seething.

  “It’s done, Rin. You need to stay. You’re the only person they’ll believe is in charge.”

  “While you trust a Pervenio collector to deliver you to Luxarn unharmed? It’s too risky.”

  “You said it yourself. We can’t beat them in a straight-on battle.”

  “And we don’t need to use Undina to fill Earth with terror. Sol has plenty of small asteroids. With Basaam’s engine and the Cora’s weapons systems, they won’t be able to stop them in time no matter how far they are.”

  “This is our one chance to finally get him, and you want to spare him?”

  “I want you to live!” She clutched me by the arms, finally dropping the somber facade she’d been wearing since Rylah lost her hands. She regarded me with that same zeal she had when she recruited me. When she believed that I was the Trass who could lead us to freedom.

  “We took his power,” she said. “Took his gas trade and his cheap labor and his station. Why do you think he’s hiding while he sends Madame Venta to handle us? He’s already afraid, Kale. He’s already lost.”

  “You call PerVenta Corp a loss?”

  “I call it desperation,” she said. “If you won’t change your mind, at least leave Aria and your son behind here.”

  “You know I’ll need her to control the collector.”

  “And if they catch you?” she asked.

  “I have Luxarn’s son as leverage,” I said.

  “I still don’t like this.”

  “‘My father should’ve let these inbred Ringers die off when we had the chance.’”

  “What?”

  “Those were Luxarn’s words before he gave Sodervall the order to kill Cora and the others. Don’t you see, we’ll never be free until he’s gone. Until I can look into the eyes of my people and tell them that the man responsible for decades of pain is gone, there will always be a part of us that still fears them.”

  Rin reached up slowly and ran her fingers through my hair, like my mother used to when I was young. In some ways, she’d become more like my mom than my real one. In every way, really.

  “Killing him won’t bring Cora back,” she said. “It won’t stop Aria from making her choice to run. It won’t change anything. Trust me. I’ve killed enough men for all of Titan.”

  “I never thought I’d see this day. We have them right where we want them, and you want to show mercy?”

  “It’s not about mercy. Kale, listen to me.”

  “I’m done listening!” I shoved her away. “This is what you wanted when you pulled me off the Piccolo and left the others to die. No matter what the cost, that was what you taught me.” I paused when I noticed the young guard who’d saved me from Zhaff in the hospital standing in the entrance of the cockpit. “What!” I yelled at him.

  “There is a transmission from Madame Venta’s flagship, the Aphrodite,” he said.

  “It’s about time.” I turned back to Rin. “Patch her through, and make it seem like I’m gone. This is it, Rin. You always begged me to stay strong, but now it’s my turn. Mourn your sister’s failure later and focus. They’ll finally get what they deserve. If you fail here, it will all be for nothing. So don’t.”

  I left while her tongue fidgeted behind the hole in her cheek, searching for a response. I hated seeing Rin appear anxious like my mother always did. Rylah’s fate and Zhaff’s beating had her flustered, but I needed my fearless aunt.

  The moment I was around the corner, and she opened coms, however, she started to snap back into form like I knew she would. Even if she was drawing on me for her unquenchable fury, it worked. Nobody had endured Earther cruelty more than she had.

  I stopped so I could overhear their conversation. This was all part of our plan. Madame Venta would be made to think I was missing; then Malcolm would contact Luxarn saying he and Zhaff had captured me. He’d deliver me right to Luxarn’s doorstep, and once I was there, I’d give Earth and their corporations no choice but to give us everything I demanded back on Mars. Aria would see how foolish it was to think they’d chat around a table with my kind like they thought we were equals.

  “Madame Venta, I wasn’t expecting to see you so soon,” Rin said. I could hear her trademark poise returning with every word, even if injuries left it difficult for her to speak.

  “You?” Madame Venta questioned.

  “Rin Trass.”

  “Yes, his aunt, I remember. Where is your king?”

  “Busy.”

  Madame Venta guffawed. “We arrive, and he runs and hides. I must say I’m disappointed. I knew his confidence on Mars was all an act, but this?”

  “You can deal with me.”

  “Oh, I plan to. I assume you’ve seen the blockade being established around the Ring? I’m here in the name of Earth to end this insurrection. You will lay down your arms, return your captives alive, including Basaam Venta, and relinquish control of the Ring. You tell your king that if you don’t, we will have no choice but to take it by force.”

  “Is that all?” Rin said.

  “You murdered two of my sons! You’re lucky the USF wants the Ring intact or that frozen husk of a moon you call your world would already be dust.”

  “You know they had it coming. Just like you do.”

  There was my venomous aunt again. I never thought I’d want to thank Madame Venta for helping pull her out of her grief. We needed Rin today.

  “You damn Ringers think this is a game, don’t you?” Madame Venta snarled. “Release your captives and stand down, or you’ll be begging to be ashes.”

  “You want them back that bad, do you? We didn’t realize. Prepare your ships; we’ll send them right over.” Rin cut coms and left the cockpit. She stopped and glared at me on her way by, fuming. “I don’t have to agree with you, but never doubt me,” she said. “If you want to go chasing Luxarn across Sol, I’ll make sure Titan stands, but you and your son damn well bet
ter come back.”

  She continued by. I turned my head to conceal a smile.

  “Are you coming?” she asked. “It’s time for one last speech.”

  I took a moment to fill my lungs and focus my thoughts, then followed her out of the Cora. Hundreds of Titanborn filled the hangar outside, crammed into the space between ships in our own fleet. They were jury-rigged warships, slapped together from gas harvesters and ice haulers, all except for the peerless Cora. Basaam’s Fusion Pulse Engine was strapped onto its bottom and being prepped for installation on Undina.

  Viewscreens posted everywhere showed a portion of Pervenio Station where our captive Earthers were being packed into airlock cells, faces marked by dread. Only the emptied cells were loaded with explosives, something the Children of Titan had been quite adept at crafting out of spare parts.

  Our thousands of hostages would be returned to Madame Venta in waves, enough to fill every single warship they’d brought to destroy us with. I never imagined sparing them would be what saved us, but I never expected to be betrayed either.

  I stood at the top of the Cora’s ramp and gazed down upon my people. So many of them, warriors who rose to take back the Ring from our oppressors. No camera or audio receivers were aimed at me. After Rylah and Aria’s betrayal, we couldn’t risk anyone dispersing footage of me. This time, I got to speak directly to my people. No posturing. No lies.

  “Titanborn!” I bellowed. They erupted into cheers, hoisting pulse-rifle into the air.

  “Earth has come to wipe us out,” I continued. “They’ve brought more ships than any of you have seen in a lifetime. But do you know who works those ships? Wage-slaves and mudstomper cowards. They fight for nothing. Dream of nothing. Not like us.”

  I surveyed the eager Titanborn faces in the crowd. They believed in what we were doing with every ounce of their souls. My people who had been tortured and beaten for half a century. Who’d had their families shoved into quarantines after Earthers spread their sicknesses and charged impossible fees for treatment. Only one among them looked solemn. At the far side of the hangar, my mother watched in silence.