The Colossus Collection : A Space Opera Adventure (Books 1-7 + Bonus Material)

by Nicole Grotepas

“Oh no. You’ve used them before, haven’t you,” Holly said.

  “Never,” Shiro said, swinging his cane as they took the stairs down into the basement.

  “But they’re for sale, right? If I mean, someone wanted to buy one?”

  “Maybe they are, maybe they aren’t.”

  “Did it work, Shiro?” Odeon asked.

  He’d been so silent since the team had gotten together, Holly flashed a look at him when he spoke.

  “Oh, I’ll never tell,” Shiro said with a mischievous look flashing across his face.

  They took another corridor to another room like the one with the potions, and moved another shelf full of potions, and then took another flight of stairs down to another floor. They dragged this shelf back in front of the door as much as possible, and then shut it before descending the stairs beneath a single naked light bulb.

  “If, after this song and dance, I find out there’s an elevator, I’m going to punch you in the crotch,” Holly said.

  Odeon laughed.

  “Whoa, wait a minute. Wait a minute.” Shiro opened another door at the bottom of the stairs with his cane. “Groin taps are completely one hundred percent off limits. I should have put that in my contract before signing up for this.”

  “You didn’t sign a contract,” Holly said, drily.

  “I should have.”

  “Too late. You’re in my power now. And I’ll use crotch punches liberally to enforce all my decrees.”

  “Now you sound like an evil dictator.”

  “Who says I’m not?” Holly asked, raising an eyebrow at him when he glanced over his shoulder at her. He laughed as they came to a large room. An elegant rug covered the floor. Two sofas faced each other, and there were two arm chairs on either side. A coffee table in the middle held a small shelf with a few devices on display. The walls of the rest of the room were lined with glass shelving, which was filled with more devices. Beatrice stood as they entered, and welcomed Shiro with a quick embrace and three kisses.

  “Shiro,” she said in a deep voice.

  “Beatrice,” he said.

  “You like your cane?”

  “It hasn’t left my hands since I got it.” He spun it around and with a flourish, caught it and dropped the tip to the ground with a sharp crack. “It’s perfect.”

  Beatrice clapped her hands in delight. “Introduce me to your friends.”

  “This is Holly Drake,” he said, gesturing at Holly with his cane. “And Odeon Starlight. We’re working together. Guys, this is Madame Beatrice Le Tissier, a legend.”

  Beatrice opened her arms and gave them both a soft hug and two kisses. Only two, interesting.

  “It’s so good to see you. Now then, I understand you’re on a time crunch. So we’ll skip the chit chat today, as well as any product demonstrations. Just tell me what you need, now, and I’ll give you the quickest run down and you can decide. Should new needs come up, we’ll handle them later. How does that sound?” she asked.

  “It’s perfect, Bea, just like you,” Shiro said, laughing. “Always the best service.” He glanced at Holly and Odeon.

  “Now then, if you’ll all have a seat. Let’s begin.” She gestured to the seating options.

  Holly took a seat and Odeon sat next to her, while Shiro lowered himself into the armchair he’d been standing in front of.

  “First?” Beatrice asked.

  Shiro glanced at Holly, waiting for her.

  “We need a way to communicate for a five person team,” Holly ventured. She wanted to pretend that she was an expert at this shit, but her greenness spilled all over the place. She was oozing her rookie status and she knew it and there was not one goddamn thing should could do about it except delegate. And that also looked weak. No one said anything about it, though. The three people staring at her were kind enough to act like they hadn’t noticed. Beatrice simply nodded and fluffed her long curly hair that spilled down her shoulders with one hand.

  Holly added, “Phones or something.”

  “Communication. Excellent.” Beatrice tapped her chin with a red lacquered fingernail.

  Shiro leaned back in his cushy chair and crossed his ankle over his knee. “Not traceable, something we can discard at the end, secure, and with a huge range. Between moons if we need it.”

  Holly furrowed her brow. “Between moons? Really?”

  “You never know,” Shiro said. “It’s happened to me before. And if it comes up, we don’t want to have to replace everything. Because if it happens, we’ll need to go, immediately. There won’t be time for shopping again. Trust me on this.”

  She nodded. “What he said.”

  Wordlessly, Beatrice went to a shelf and pulled off three different boxes.

  She placed them on top of the container on the center table. “This one. The first. It uses a series of satellites positioned around four of the uninhabited moons. Bounces signal between these satellites for uninterrupted inter-moon communication. Encrypted. Used by inter-moon police. There are ten phones and earpieces. It’s very good. Top of the line.”

  Her hand gestured to the middle box. “This one. Uses signal towers at the space elevator platforms, less secure, but works well. Still communicates between the six moons, however, at certain times, the signal loses strength due to the positioning of Ixion. So there will occasionally be spotty reception. Should still work well, especially if you never actually end up on an unplanned trip to another moon. Which, it sounds like that isn’t part of your job. So. It costs about twenty-five hundred less than the other system. Good choice.”

  “And this one. I’m only showing it because it’s the cheapest option and it does not have any range outside Kota. But, Holly, you may want to think about it. Jobs notoriously end up costing more than one plans. So. It could still be a good option for you. It has eight phones and earpieces. Plus a computer interface. Think about it.”

  Holly looked at Shiro, then Odeon. “Do the others have computer interfaces for home-base coordination?” she asked Beatrice.

  Shiro cleared his throat and leaned forward while moving his cane back and forth between his hands. “Holly, I always say, plan for every contingency. If we end up not needing the inter-moon comms, great. But we don’t want to lose that option. We may need it.” He sat back and took off his bowler hat. He tapped his cheek with the lion-head of his cane. “It is your call.”

  Holly adjusted her bag of money. It was heavy and uncomfortable. “How much is the first?”

  “Four thousand.”

  Holly whistled and glanced at Odeon.

  “Shiro has experience,” Odeon said. “Neither of us do, with this sort of thing.”

  “But four thousand.” She gave Beatrice a meaningful look, but the madame said nothing. Simply smiled. Damn. Holly hoped Beatrice would see the pitiful look in Holly’s eyes. Seemed to be no budging on the price. But . . . maybe the cheaper one would work. “What about the second?”

  “Fifteen hundred.”

  “And the prices?” Holly drew herself up, finding courage to just say what she wanted.

  “Non-negotiable.”

  Holly smiled. “Everything is negotiable.”

  Shiro made a gesture. Holly glanced at him. His eyes warned her away from haggling.

  “Fair prices, Bea. We don’t need to negotiate.”

  Holly couldn’t tell if Odeon was doing his trick. She wouldn’t be able to though. So she forged ahead.

  “Then the second. We’ll take that one.”

  “Excellent choice. Middle of the road. If you need the inter-moon comms option, you have it.”

  22

  Odeon opened the box back at the Surge Club upper room and carefully removed the components. The ear-pieces were tiny and stuck on the inside of the ear section, which the manual called the tragus.

  Shiro took one of the earpieces and held it up. “You know, gents, these things get smaller every job I do. Someday I’ll need a microscope and tweezers to do anything with it at all.” He attached it to his
ear and switched on a communicator.

  Darius grabbed an earpiece and inserted it into his ear as well, and paired it with a communicator. Then he found another component shaped like a narrow black cylinder and connected it to his computer system to have them all filtering through a secure hub.

  Holly watched what Shiro did and then imitated him. Odeon took one as well and seemed familiar with how they worked. Hmm. Interesting.

  “Odeon?” Holly turned on her communicator and the screen flashed.

  “Yes?”

  “Were you doing your magic or whatever the hell it is, on Beatrice?”

  “I was, but I don’t think it affected her,” he admitted, switching on a communicator and pairing it with the earpiece. “Couldn’t you hear it?”

  “Not at all. I wasn’t sure you were doing it. I kept waiting for you, or for her to offer a lower price, but she didn’t.” Holly went to Darius’s side and glanced at one of the screens. The tech wizard’s fingers punched the screen as communicator names popped up and connected with the central hub. He assigned names to the different model numbers. Everyone except Charly had one now.

  “Ah,” Shiro laughed. He turned from Darius’s v-screens, and walked to the table where he’d left his cane. “Beatrice knows that Druiviins can get her to lower her prices. I think she has something that immunizes her to their tricks. Once upon a time, the woman actually just didn’t let Druiviins into the basement shop. The rumors are sort of legendary about how rude she was about it. The madame got accused of racism more than once.”

  “Damn,” Holly said.

  “Sorry lads. And ladies. Should have told you before we went in.”

  “That would have been nice. Well we can kiss that financial advantage goodbye, right?” Holly glanced at Darius’s work. It looked like he’d gotten the hub set up.

  “Usually when it’s not working,” Odeon said. “I just use a human trick.”

  Shiro chuckled. “Which is?”

  “Relax, goddammit,” Odeon said, in his best impression of a human.

  “Works on me,” Holly said. “I feel as calm as hell.”

  Shiro chuckled, then peered over at Darius. “Darius, is everyone set up?”

  “Everyone but Charly,” Holly said.

  “Holly’s right. And Charly’s still doing that thing. Conference, whatever the hell it was,” Darius said from his chair in front of his bay of screens at the desk. “I’ve got everyone patched in through here. Let’s run a test.”

  “Testing 1, 2, 3,” Holly said.

  “I heard that,” Shiro said.

  “I did as well,” Odeon said.

  “And I heard all of you,” Holly said.

  “And I hear all of you,” Darius said. “But, perhaps let’s run a better test. Holly, please go out to Charly and take her a communicator and earpiece. Shiro, down in the basement. Odeon . . . Just somewhere else.”

  “Great,” Holly said. She scooped up a communicator and earpiece and headed out of the room to find Charly. She flipped on Charly’s communicator at the same time.

  Out in the main area of the club, jazzy music played softly over the sound of conversation while people dressed in posh, expensive attire mingled beneath swathes of glowing blue icicle lights. They were brighter than a typical night at the Surge, and there were servers bouncing from group to group, offering hor d’oevres from silver platters. Holly felt painfully aware that her blazer, though with ruffles along the front opening, was ill-suited for the event. Centau, with their always stately robes in the colors of green jade to set them apart, glanced down at her, giving off the distinct impression that Holly wasn’t fit for the crowd. There were a few Consties and humans, but for the most part, the party consisted of Druiviins and Centau. Holly finally bumped into Charly as she stood amidst a group of conversing Centau. She laughed and excused herself as Holly pulled her away.

  “Be right back, excuse me,” Charly said, bowing. She walked with Holly to the bar, where Torden watched them as he poured glasses of Anhasis Granva wine, from Centauria.

  “Hey lady. Just bringing your communicator. Here’s the earpiece,” Holly said, handing Charly the tiny chunk of metal. “Put it in before it blows away on a gust of hot air from one of these posturing idiots.”

  Charly knew right where to put the earpiece. So, apparently it was only Holly who was new. Charly took the communicator and handed it to Torden. “Can you throw that behind the bar? I don’t have a pocket on this stupid dress.” Charly gestured at her throwback, Victorian style dress.

  Charly scoffed. “Don’t get me going. This is the worst. It’s a club, not a damn ballroom.”

  “Then why are you doing it?” Holly caught Torden nodding as he listened and put the glasses of wine onto a platter.

  Charly threw up her hands in resignation. “The partners.”

  “Testing, testing,” Shiro said in her ear.

  “I hear you,” Charly responded.

  “Same here,” Holly said. Darius and Odeon both chimed in and the test was complete.

  Charly grabbed one of the glasses of wine off of Torden’s platter and took a sip. “I hate this sort of shit. It’s so, so fake. I’d rather be in the basement punching someone in the face.”

  “That does fit you,” Holly agreed. “But it’s cool to fit in both settings.”

  Shiro approached them and leaned casually against the bar. He’d put his bowler back on and his cane was in his hand. “Hey Charly,” he said smiling at his friend.

  “Hey Sheer,” she answered, using a nickname.

  “Ms. Drake, I’m heading out to scope out the target. Get a read on it. Now that we’ve got comms running, we can all hear each other. And Darius, I think the hub let’s you patch in for a visual, right?”

  “Checking now,” Darius said in Holly’s ear. “That is an affirmative.”

  “What the shit?” Holly said, breathless.

  “Centau tech,” Darius responded. “It has to do with the projection of an—well, never mind.”

  “How? Tell me.” Holly glanced out at the room of upper crust Spirans. Could the elite of the City of Jade Spires hear her conversation?

  “Magic,” Shiro laughed. “No, I have no idea. They’re masters of engineering. I’m sure it makes sense to bigger brains than mine. Holly, I think you should come with me. Since you’re the mastermind behind the gig. While I sit and watch the changing of the guard and whatnot, you can place a tap that will give Darius a security feed.”

  “With what? Shouldn’t you have mentioned this before we left Beatrice’s?”

  “I brought something for that, Holly,” Darius said over the comms. “Shiro’s got it.”

  Holly breathed a sigh. “Oh, thank god.” Money was already tight and they hadn’t even started on the goddamn job.

  “It’s helpful to have these things for . . . My other work.” Darius’ voice sounded self-satisfied.

  “Ah, the cheating, my first impression of Darius Jackson back at Carbon Lounge. Right, right.” Holly stood and pushed away from the bar. Torden had a new bottle of wine and was pouring it into a fresh batch of wine glasses. The other had disappeared in the hands of two or three well-dressed servers.

  “I’d never cheat,” Darius defended. “I would, however, take every advantage afforded me.”

  “However you justify it,” Holly said.

  “Let’s go,” Shiro said. “Enough of the lover’s spat, lads. Time’s ticking.”

  “Um, I’m a lady. So is Charly. So.”

  “Of course you are Holly, and the best sort. But ‘lads and ladies’ every time gets tiresome. ‘Ladies’ was implied.”

  “And would you do the same with ‘ladies’? For a mixed group of women and men?”

  Shiro grinned his best charming smile. “Of course I would.”

  “And not mean it as an insult?”

  “Not at all. I would mean it as the highest compliment.”

  Holly somehow doubted it. But then, maybe she was just being a cynic. “Odeon a
nd Darius, you’re both on ops. We may need your eyes once we’re in position. Charly—er—keep doing whatever this,” Holly made a circle with her hand at the room, “is. And have fun. Could be worse. We could be back in the women’s prison!”

  * * *

  A short ride on the Spireway later and they found themselves staring up at three bright green jade buildings from the triangle shaped plaza in the midst of them. Shiro had acquired a street taco somewhere along the way and snacked on it as they observed the target.

  “Which one is it?” Shiro asked. He held the taco in his free hand and the cane in other hand. The pinky of his hand holding the taco was extended like the damn thing was a cup of tea.

  “Not sure. The folder with that info is back at the Surge bird’s nest.”

  “You didn’t . . . bring it?” Shiro looked at her.

  “It’s got sensitive information in it. The Shadow Coalition has already tried to steal it from me. The safest place is back at the club.”

  “I can look through it for you, Holly,” Odeon said, in her ear.

  “Thanks Odeon.”

  “The Shadow Coalition is involved?” Shiro repeated. “Why didn’t you tell me this?”

  Holly looked at him, her brow furrowed. “I didn’t know it was important.”

  “It is. It is important. The Shadow Coalition?” He finished the taco and dabbed at his lips with a handkerchief he pulled from his vest pocket. “They’re the one organization in all the 6-moons I don’t want to get involved with. Hmmm. This poses a problem.” He put the handkerchief away and rubbed his chin.

  “What, so you’re going to back out now?” Holly asked in disbelief.

  “Well, they’re powerful and they don’t care about Centau laws. So they don’t really frown on things like murder, kidnapping, and well, those are the two that bother me the most. I’m not morally affronted by the other stuff, you understand, theft, blackmail, smuggling. Unless, it’s smuggling people.”

  “And the money? You don’t care about that?”

  “Money,” he shrugged. “There are other ways to get it, other jobs.”

  “Well,” Holly said, feeling cold inside. This was turning into a real bitch. All the uncertainty and fickleness of people was eroding her confidence that she might ever finish the job. What could she even say? She glanced at Shiro. His face was partially shaded by his bowler hat as he stared up at the spire-tops of the three buildings. She considered taking a gamble that Shiro was putting her on. It seemed like he enjoyed the resistance, the melodramatic sense that everything was always about to fall apart. “Fine, then leave.”