Trip followed the coordinates that Darius gave them for the particular base they were headed for. The water tanker Holly had seen at Joppa had been so massive, its size had stunned her. She wondered now how the base would compare against the planet near it.
The swirling storms across Ixion were no match for the anxiety swirling in Holly’s gut. Even with Odeon’s touch—she didn’t want to ask him to sing, not with Voss there—her belly was its own hurricane. She held onto the hope that once she was aboard the giant base, that anxiety would vanish.
“Whoa, look at that,” Charly said, suddenly.
Holly sat up, having drifted into her thoughts so deeply, she’d stopped paying attention to what was happening. The base had begun to materialize against the colors of the gas giant. At first it was just a shadow, but soon the shape of it emerged and grew into something similar to the type of tanker she’d seen orbiting Joppa. Soon they were close enough to see a tiny fog of smaller ships leaving the landing bay, and moving in a stream toward Ixion’s surface.
“What are they doing?” Holly asked, in wonderment as they got closer and she could see the ships better. They weren’t so small after all.
“They fly to the surface, suck up the gas, and then return to the tanker and off-load it,” Trip said.
“Does that take forever?”
Trip shrugged. “It’s a job. They’re miners. Paid well. Their families are compensated. There are hazards, like any job.”
33
The landing bay was busy as hell. But not only busy: the confusion was madness like a beehive and didn’t seem to be organized in its furor, with thousands of ships landing and a thousand more taking off. Inside the bay itself, there were enormous tankers, lined up to receive the smaller exploratory vessels that went out to the surface and returned swollen with the hydrantium gas.
Holly had heard stories as a kid about how hydrantium was gathered and then refined to power the 6-moons. But as an adult, she’d quickly forgotten the facts about it. What was to remember about the affair? She had never had to teach it to her own students, and her life didn’t depend on the information in any longterm way.
The size of the operation was mind-blowing. Thirty or more tankers were lined up inside the bay to be filled. The small mining vessels weren’t so small after all, a fact obvious now that their ship was closer. Holly gasped, stunned by the sheer magnitude of the whole thing. It didn’t seem possible. How had men—Centau—conceived of something on that scale? And then after imagining it, how had they built it?
“What the—? Guys. You guys. How is this even possible?” Charly wondered.
Holly felt the weight of the crew behind her as they approached the landing bay and Trip’s ship steered through the madness to find its designated landing site. It was a good sensation—to know that in this venture she wasn’t alone. Trained thieves, fighters, friends. Well, most of them were friends.
“Indeed, Charly, I’ve never seen anything this grand. It borders on sublime, does it not?” Shiro said quietly.
Charly continued. “It’s like its own world. You know? That’s what it is, right? An entire planet parked here, built by hand.” She laughed. “Someone should sell it that way. Hand-built worlds. Cost: Priceless.”
“And why haven’t we ever heard about it?” Odeon asked.
“Why should you?” Trip asked. “You’re not of mining stock.”
“Mining stock?” Odeon repeated.
Trip leaned forward and tapped some buttons that lit up on the control panel. “There are some who like the mining life. It’s life on the edge of danger. Living out here on the base, filling the tankers, zooming toward the planet and then, just when your ship is about to succumb to the gravity well, you pull out and power your thrusters back toward the base. It’s exhilarating and dangerous. Not made for everyone.”
“Were you made for it?” Holly asked.
“I did it for a time. When I was young and crazy,” Trip responded as she punched buttons and leaned back to watch as the ship’s AI steered onto a landing pad. “Once we land, you will be able to disembark. It should not be an issue. I don’t think you will have any of those until you get into the interior halls. The disguises will help, however.”
“Hear that Darius?” Holly asked. There was lag as the communications bounced around the satellites and landed back in the Bird’s Nest on Kota.
“I’m here, Drake.”
“You gonna guide us through the base?” Holly asked.
“Got it, yes,” Darius said. “I’ve got your feeds all here on my screen and I’ve got a schematic of the base’s layout.”
Because Trip’s ship was of Centau colors, they landed without interference inside the pressurized part of the landing bay, which was sealed off from the giant tankers. The crew followed the corridor of the Olavia Apollo to the hatch and exited to the base.
“Alright,” Darius said, “Once you guys get off the ship, go toward the inside of the base, in the direction opposite of where you just came. Because that would obviously take you out into the dangerous area.” He laughed.
“Come on, Darius, this isn’t a laughing matter,” Charly said. She was amped up, nervous, ready to bust heads without killing them. “Stay on topic.”
“Calm down pussycat,” Darius said.
“Never ever call me that,” Charly said. “Unless you want to lose your welcome in the club.”
“Hey. Everyone is nervous. We all need to relax and stay focused. Same team, right guys? No threats. No ultimatums. No name-calling.” Holly led them toward a corridor in the direction Darius had explained. There were other ships parked around them. They followed a designated walkway that avoided any collisions with parked ships. The delineated path met up with other pathways and soon they were walking behind other people, some dressed in Shadow Coalition attire, some of them in pilot jumpsuits that didn’t seem to have any affiliation to the Centau or the SC. The majority were human and Constie, though Holly did see a few Centau, most of them were in pilot jumpsuits.
The rest of their time walking through the vast interior landing bay was done in silence as a crew, absorbing the environment. Holly snuck her hand around her back under the SC jacket and felt the Equalizer there. She’d also put some extra projectile cartridges on her belt for back up. Her hope was there’d be no shooting. No gun fights. Shiro walked behind her, using his lionhead cane as a walking stick. He was the most-non-threatening SC thug she’d ever seen. She wanted to laugh as she thought of it, but that might draw attention and so far they were successfully slipping under the radar. Voss had also brought an aether gun, and Charly carried two long daggers in sheaths under her arms, plus two other small ones up her sleeves, but she preferred to use her fists and feet. Meanwhile, Odeon had refused to leave his Ousaba club behind. It was strapped to his back. Holly caught the eyes of strangers in the landing bay studying the staff, curiously, then glancing at the Druiviin as well. The question in their faces was obvious: why is a Druiviin carrying a weapon. Weird.
Soon they reached a set of doors that led deeper into the base and they passed into it.
“OK,” Darius’s voice said in Holly’s earpiece. “When the corridor opens up, turn right.”
No one said anything. As a group they followed his directions and moved further into the base. Soon the corridor opened up into a vast, cavernous space with windows high above them. The claustrophobic sense of the tunnels was replaced with an airy feeling that belied the truth that they were on a giant floating island. The causeway they entered was like a street in the City of Jade Spires. There were shops and tents set up in front of them with shelves full of wares. Fruits, vegetables, clothing, bags, trinkets, candies, and children’s toys were on display to tempt passerbys. And there were a lot of them.
Holly tried to not gape. The others seemed to feel the same way—that staring in awe might give them away.
So they merged into the crowd and headed in the direction given to them by Darius.
“Now,
according to the intel we gathered, there is an area of the base that the Shadow Coalition claimed. Before them, it had been empty. And someone bought it from the Centau. The purpose on the deed says for a capitalistic venture. Sounds like they could put in a pool and make it a resort. Or, I don’t know an arcade.”
“Or a place to hide children,” Holly muttered.
“Yes but for what reason?” Shiro answered quietly.
Holly glanced at him and their gazes connected. It had been days since they’d had eye contact. Has it really been that long? she wondered. Suddenly the discomfort she’d been experiencing about him faded and in its place came the comforting sense that they were working as a team again. And they were good at it.
“We intend to found out, don’t we,” Voss said, cutting through the moment.
“More than find out,” Odeon said.
“Bust some heads at the same time.” Charly cracked her knuckles.
“You guys,” Darius said. “That was a beautiful team moment. Someone take a picture and then we can hang it up here at the Bird’s Nest. Enshrine it. Maybe decorate it with a plaque and some floral arrangements.”
Despite herself, Holly chuckled. The spell was broken, the others laughed, and the fears and doubts about the nature of the job fled. It helped that the base was no longer a looming mystery. It was a base—with homes, stores, and families. Kids ran between the adults who were strolling through the market, shopping. They could do this. Trip waited for them in the landing bay. All they had to do was grab Charm and get the hell out.
“Where to next, Darius?” Holly asked.
“Soon you’ll come to an elevator. Get in, and go up to the Level 017. That’s the level the SC has blocked out.”
“Any idea what they’ve got up there?”
They passed a busker singing and playing a violin. A crowd was gathered around him. The crew kept moving, only pausing for a moment to take in the sight.
Soon they were at the elevator Darius had indicated. Charly hit the call button and the team waited.
“No. I mean, I think it’s going to be rooms. Maybe some warehouse space? It’s hard to tell. The plans indicated that it’s warehouse, but the Centau have never seemed serious about enforcing zoning regulations.” He laughed at that.
Trip’s voice came in. “They are equal parts both strictly organized and free market.”
Darius laughed louder. “Trip, you always make me laugh.” Over the comms the two of them began to bicker about the way the Centau ran the central government. The rest of the team exchanged long-suffering looks, then boarded the elevator when it opened up.
They rode in silence. The air was heavy with their anticipation, and soon the doors slid open and the team exited into a corridor strangely barren compared to what they had just left.
34
Holly sighed, the nervousness returning. Level 017 wasn’t quite so friendly. “What next Darius?”
They stood there in a little knot of bodies in a long corridor that stretched out in either direction, unsure about where to go.
“OK,” Darius said. “Now, go look around. The plans give me no more information. Just that this is the floor the SC has taken.”
“Should we split up?” Voss suggested.
Normally Holly would have said yes, but the fact that the suggestion came from Voss made her want to automatically reject the idea. Plus Holly really didn’t want to end up with their team split up between two locations. That could prove disastrous. If one team found Charm, then they would still have to wait to meet back up at the ship before leaving.
“We’re not splitting up,” Holly said. The corridor was as wide as the one they’d entered when first boarding the base, but instead of shops and tents, there were doors. “We’ll go down the corridor opening doors. Check them, see if they lead anywhere.”
Voss spoke up. “Excuse me a minute, Holly, what is it we’re looking for precisely?”
“Charm, the little girl who was taken. She’s Dru—er, Yasoan. Sorry Odeon. Nasty habit,” Holly admitted.
“And we think she’ll just be behind say, door number one? Possibly two? Or how about door ninety-nine?”
“What are you saying, Voss, that you you don’t like the idea of just opening doors at random to find what we’re looking for?”
“That’s right. I think we’ll just wander about till we bump into someone who knows that we shouldn’t be here, and then we’ll never find her.”
“Hang on,” Darius said. “I found another file. Rather, my filter did. It’s old though. It shows the floor as being divided between warehouse space for the hydrantium and the rest of it being Shadow Coalition quarters. It looks like the inner ring of the corridor is storage. And the outer doors lead to the quarters.”
“So we’ll try the doors on the outer ring,” Shiro said, sounding pleased with having narrowed it down.
“Right. Let’s start then.” They moved down the empty corridor and started to check the first door. Now that they were on the private floors of the base, every door had a lock. Voss did her part and pulled the Skelty Key out of the pack she wore on her waist.
“Oh wait, hang on, guys,” Darius said over the comms.
Voss paused in placing the key on scanner lock. “What?”
“What?” Holly asked at the same time as Voss. She ignored it.
“Sorry, but I just found something else in the file indicating that blocks A and B of the living quarters area is reserved for the foot soldiers of the SC. Block D is for the big wigs. And Block C is for the miners.”
“They’re employing their own miners?” Holly repeated. “Trip, you know anything about that?”
Trip’s voice came in on the comm. “I know nothing about the Shadow Coalition. They’re scum. I know that. And I know that miners tend to be small. For Centau, the miners are young pilots because it saves fuel and the ships are easier to pilot than other ships. So it doesn’t require a lot of skill, basically hitting some buttons.”
“Trip, are you saying that the pilots could be children?” Holly asked, unable to keep the shock out of her voice.
“In your years, no. The equivalent age of the Centau pilots would be in their twenties or thirties.”
“So they could be like nine-year-olds, possible a year or two younger, and certainly older?”
“It’s possible, yes,” Trip said.
“Thanks Trip. Darius, you said Block C is for the miners?”
“That’s right, Block C.”
“Steer us to Block C,” Holly ordered him.
He complied and soon they found the door that, when opened, would lead to the quarters for the miners.
“Voss,” Holly said, and indicated the scanner lock that she wanted Voss to open.
Voss pulled the Skelty Key out again, and began to work on the lock.
“Oh, and guys?” Darius said.
“What?” Odeon, Charly, and Holly all said it at the same time, exasperated with Darius’s constant interruptions. At this rate they’d never find anyone. They’d die of old age, meandering through the halls of the base.
“Be careful,” Darius said, then chuckled.
Charly cussed him out, and Odeon laughed. Voss kept working and soon the door was opened using the lock-breaking Skelty Key. The team stepped to the side of the door as it opened and then Holly peered around the corner. The narrow hallway was empty, and she led the way into it, with the crew following close behind her. She still hadn’t drawn the Equalizer, and hoped that she wouldn’t need to.
“So what, we’re just going to open a door and hope it’s not a bunch of adult Shadow Coalition members that we’ll have to fight?” Voss whispered.
Holly nodded, “Yes, that’s what we’ll do.” It wasn’t what she’d been intending, in fact, she was winging it. The lack of information going into the job had been disheartening, and she and Darius had only laid out a rough idea of how they were going to do it. With the sparse details it was the best they could do. “Get that one, please,
Voss.” Holly indicated a lock on a door.
As Voss set the key up to break the lock, Holly waited beside her, thinking how great it would be if Charm were behind the first door they tried. She knew the odds were slim. But still, she hoped.
The lock clicked and the door slid open. Voss moved to the side, bumping into Charly and Odeon as she did. Shiro stood behind Holly as she peered around the corner.
The room was long and dark. With the light from the hall spilling across the floor, Holly saw rows of bunk beds, and beneath the beds, the small bodies of what appeared to be children, sleeping.
Holly held back a gasp, and the sudden rush of blood, hot like lava, looking for an outlet. So it was true—her hunch after hearing from Trip about the benefits of using children on the ships. Her hunch was right. The Shadow Coalition was using them for labor. She wanted to find whoever was responsible and make them pay.
She began to move into the room, to look for Charm, to save the kids, there were a lot of reasons to go dashing in. But Shiro pulled her back.
“Ms. Drake, where are you going?” he asked. “Let’s figure this out first, perhaps, lass?”
“Shiro, what else should I do? I need to find Charm.” She turned and looked at him.
“I agree. But yet, I think subtly is key, here. We can’t haul all those kids back. We can’t stroll through the base with all the children the Shadow Coalition has taken, secretly, and get away. Or,” he paused, his dark eyes intense as he stared down at her, “Do you think we can do that?”
She realized she was hanging tightly to one of her fingers and massaging it. Holding herself in, holding back the frustration. Years of letting someone else tell her what to do, what to think, what to be. Right then, she wanted to tell Shiro that he wasn’t her boss or her husband. She didn’t have to listen to him.
But she hesitated and considered what he was saying. And the bastard was right. Goddamn him. “We’ll get Charm first. And then we’ll get the kids.”
The Colossus Collection : A Space Opera Adventure (Books 1-7 + Bonus Material) Page 48
