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

by Nicole Grotepas

  Holly hoped one of them might say something helpful. She stayed very still, listening intently.

  “I could get behind someone balancing out the powers that be. That’s all. The Shadow Coalition? Not sure. What was their point? Did they have a mission statement? At first I thought they could shake things up. But nothing ever came of it.”

  “Doesn’t matter what you think anyway,” the Constie said. “They’ll do whatever they want.”

  The bartender laughed. “Aren’t we having a philosophical discussion? I’m not calling any shots, here.” He glanced at Holly again. “Need anything? How’s that ale treating you?”

  “Very good, thanks,” Holly said.

  “You let me know if you need something. That’s what I’m here for.”

  She smiled and pulled out her communicator. Dave was late. Would he show up?

  “Oh, there is something,” she said, glancing back up at Ben. He smiled as he left the other customers to come stand in front of her. He leaned one hand against the bar, propping himself up.

  “Do tell,” he said. “Another drink? Ale is great, don’t get me wrong. But have you seen our drinks list? We have wines too. And Iced Moonlights. A favorite of mine. Those guys can’t get enough of them.”

  “I noticed. Keep milking that cash cow.”

  Ben laughed.

  “I’m still good with this red ale. Just wondering if I need to reserve one of those private booths. I’m meeting someone and I’m not sure if he reserved one.”

  “It’s not so busy that you need to have a reservation, but if it was a busy time of day, I’d say yes. This is our slow time. Except for the diehards.” He jerked his thumb toward the guys he’d been chatting with. “They come for the music. And the drinks.”

  “It’s a great combination.”

  “Isn’t it?” He laughed. “And me, probably. I keep them on their toes with my glittering conversation.”

  Holly smiled. “So, then. My question? How does a person go about getting one of the rooms? Are they open or do I need a key?”

  “Definitely need a key—the equipment in the rooms is pretty valuable. You have something you want to sample while you’re in there?”

  She hesitated, watching his face to see if there was a sign of what he meant. Food? Drinks?

  When she didn’t answer, he continued. “Music, I mean. They’re private listening booths. You can take in your own analogue version of music, or use something we have in our library. We also carry digital forms of music and complete crystal libraries from all the races. You want some Centau percussion and reeds? Got it. Oh, you mean you fancy Yasoan synths? Got that. If it’s Constie wailing, we have that too, though honestly I’m not sure what anyone sees in that.” He laughed.

  “Right. Music. Of course.” She smiled. It was becoming obvious that she wasn’t meeting someone to enjoy music. Would she need to conjure up a cover? Was she compromising Dave? Would he be recognized? She’d drawn attention to herself and now to Dave, if he ever showed up. “What’s your current favorite?” That was a recovery. Get him talking about his own opinions, maybe she could persuade him to be so absorbed in his own thoughts to the point that he completely forgot about her and what she might be doing in a bar whose gimmick she wasn’t interested in.

  “I really dig what’s playing over the main system.” Another worker brought a tray of glasses in and put it on the bartender’s side of the counter. The worker disappeared into the backroom again. Ben picked up a glass in a wild shape and began polishing it with a dishcloth. “What kind of music are you partial to?”

  Oh, he would ask that.

  “There you are,” a voice suddenly said beside her. Holly jumped. “Sorry I’m late. Red tape.”

  “You’re forgiven,” Holly said, turning to look at Dave. Idris Caron, Dave’s real name began swimming through her head. She’d resolved not to use it, even in her head, to prevent herself from accidentally blurting it out at an inopportune moment. “What are you having? I was just catching up with Ben, the bartender. He makes a fierce Iced Moonlight, I hear.”

  “Yes, I’ll take one of those,” Dave said, barely paying attention to the bartender. “And one of those.” He gestured at the perimeter of the club.

  Ben nodded, exchanged a quick look with Holly and set to making Dave’s drink. Holly avoided interpreting the look—though now she was suspicious of Ben and his allegiances. That’s just you being suspicious. Of everyone. He’s a mere bartender. But was anyone ever a mere anything?

  Soon Dave and Holly were in their own booth. A row of windows on the outside of the listening booth afforded a view to the city around them. At the height of the top of a black jade spire, there was little they could see beyond the snow flurries that beat against the glass.

  “Why here and not your office?” Holly asked. She relaxed into one of the sofas. Dave put on some background music after asking if Holly cared what he played. Her no would save them time, and she always had somewhere else to be these days. He explained that the music was called jazzoque, some kind of fusion from human history. It was better, at least, than Constie ancestral wailing, which really had no place in polite society as far as Holly was concerned.

  Dave cleared his throat. “That office has been potentially compromised. And I don’t want to risk it, nor have I had time to do a thorough check. So I opted for a locale that’s not too slummy but just outside my usual areas so that no one will recognize me.”

  “You think you’re not going to be recognized in the Black Jade district?”

  “Is that an implication that I will be?”

  Holly shrugged. “It’s probably true. I’m not familiar with all your areas of influence.”

  “I think we’re safe here.”

  Dave settled himself into the sofa opposite from her. “Right, then. I invited you here because I discovered something that you might be interested in. It’s concerning your father.”

  “So you were looking, then?”

  “Of course. Someone I care about is searching.” He gave her a meaningful look. “And I have resources that she doesn’t have.” A light tap came at the door. They both looked up at the clear glass and saw Ben. Dave rose and let him in, but the bartender simply handed the drink in through a crack in the door and hurried away. Now that she was paying attention to what was going on outside the door, Holly noticed that there were more customers milling about, having picked up about thirty more customers. Ben must be busy now.

  Dave returned to his seat and sipped the drink. “This drink is not great,” he said. “Unless you like sugary drinks.”

  “Not every drink can be bourbon,” Holly said.

  “I know what I like.”

  “So, er, why didn’t you order a bourbon?”

  “I didn’t have time to figure out what drinks they had. I didn’t think this could be so bad,” Dave said. “The bad drink is worth it, however. Because the music is also a protection. I heard about this place a while ago and thought that if I ever needed something other than my office, I could conduct some business here.”

  “Then it is perfect. But I can’t do the small talk right now. What news do you have? The suspense is eating a hole in my stomach,” Holly took a long drink of her red ale.

  “George Wolfe. That’s your father, right?”

  “Debatable,” she said.

  “That just sounds like a spoiled child whining about things they can’t change,” Dave said, a bemused tone in his voice.

  Holly felt herself flush. He wasn’t wrong. She’d seen the same behaviors in her students back when she’d been a teacher, and knew the reasons behind it. Feeling powerless against stronger forces. Feeling misunderstood and accused of things that maybe seemed to be deliberately mistaken. “That’s completely accurate. I do feel frustrated that I can’t change who my father is. I always believed that he was honorable. I admired him. Wanted to be like him, in my own way—not become a cop, but be honorable. Righting the wrongs in the world. Protecting the innocent a
gainst powerful, dangerous forces. And he turned it all upside down when he became the leader of the Shadow Coalition and exploited the most vulnerable segment of the 6 Moons.”

  Dave put his drink on the knee-high table between them and pretended to clap.

  Holly shook her head.

  Dave laughed. “Now, now. Maybe I’m not being fair. But I honestly feel like there are only two choices here. Indulge the part of you feeling like the victim. Tell you how sorry I am that he turned out to be such a monumental monster. Or help you turn off the part of you that feels like she’s a victim and find your strength. You’re strong.”

  She’d been avoiding his gaze, but now she met his eyes. “I know.”

  “Good. Great, then. Let’s get to it.” He sat back into the sofa.

  “Wonderful. That’s why I’m here.”

  “Now then. George Wolfe. This is what I’ve learned.” Dave sighed, leaned forward to grab the slender glass of glowing Iced Moonlight, took a drink, and then sat back again. He cracked his knuckles.

  “Out with it. I can tell you’re stalling.”

  “It’s not a long story. I’ve learned that back before he became the Heart, he worked on a case that exposed what the Centau were doing. I just think that when he uncovered whatever that was, he went rogue. Decided to do what he could to get his own empire and wealth and power.”

  Holly waited to hear more. He watched her, his eyes reflecting the track lighting above them. He’d thrown his suspenders off his shoulders and now he began to roll his sleeves up. She leaned forward, feeling her jaw clench in frustration. “That’s it?”

  “I said it’s not a long story. It’s not. It’s a very short story.”

  “You’re not telling me everything.”

  He cocked his head to one side as though considering what she’d said. “That’s true.”

  “Well? Tell me everything.”

  “I don’t think it’ll help. See, this is why I hesitated to tell you. Because it’s nothing concrete.”

  “You have something concrete. What is it?”

  “What I can’t tell you.”

  “Which is?”

  He laughed.

  She latched on to something he’d said. “What did my father learn about the Centau? What are they doing?”

  “I don’t think that’s much of a secret. You’re around too many people who know.”

  “About keeping the non-humanoids out? Killing them when they try to enter our solar system?”

  “There’s more than just that. But essentially, yes.”

  “You mistake me for a naive child. I can tell you’re still holding something else back. What did my father learn? What did he do? What turned him?”

  He ran his hands through his short hair. “I don’t think it was just one thing. He was a detective. He saw a lot of ugly things. Brutal violence. Corruption. And when he discovered that the supposed gods of humans—the Centau—were just as corrupt and wrong as the most evil among us, maybe he snapped.”

  “He was using children. Stealing them from their parents.” She stood up and paced to the windows. The storm outside was white and clean, but vicious. Unrelenting. So unlike the darkness she felt inside when she thought of her father. “As far as I know, that’s just unforgivable. I don’t care how much ugly he’d seen in the world. Or how betrayed he felt to discover that the Centau weren’t the gods that humans had believed them to be.”

  “There is more, Holly. But my sources are still looking into it. I’ll share it with you when I know for certain.”

  She let out a long, deep breath. Life would never be simple again, like it had been when she’d been a child. The complexity of it would kill her one day, either by wearing her down, or tricking her. “That’s a promise.” It wasn’t a question. She’d hold Dave to that.

  4

  “You made it, HD,” Xadrian said, looking across the table at her from beneath eyelids that were carefully positioned to look bored. A glass of his usual wine dangled from his heavily ringed fingers. His blond hair almost looked disheveled. For Xadrian Tyanne, that was still very done up. His lipstick red mouth spread into the faintest smile, but it broke when shadows flitted across his face. He tilted his head forward. “Unfortunately this is the bitterest of reasons to meet. And so, I’m not in my usual sparkling mood. Sit down, please, or get a drink first and then let’s get on with it.”

  “So, grumpy today?”

  He swirled a finger weighed down by a gold ring. “Don’t start with me, HD.”

  Holly grinned and went to the centrally situated bar. It glowed with orange and yellow lights. Wine glasses and bottles were fitted into the decor, suspended from the overhead wooden display. Glassini was owned by a family of Yasoan who took pride in offering the finest fare and wines for the four races. Holly had grown fond of the place due to its association with Odeon—this was where she’d originally met him. And Xadrian, it turned out.

  She waved to the bartender—a female Yasoan with dark silver hair that hung to her waist. “Whatever red you currently have open.”

  The bartender nodded, exchanged a few pleasantries with Holly, and then poured a three bulbed glass.

  “I’ll put it on Xadrian’s tab.” She gave Holly a knowing smile, as though they shared an affinity for the theatrically-prone human male.

  “You know just what to say around here. Thanks.” Holly gave the Yasoan a sincere smile, took the glass, and threaded around the tall tables to sit at the isolated high-top that Xadrian had claimed. A short, amber-colored candle flickered between them. “This is your treat?”

  “Funny, HD. I put mine on your tab. Seems only fair that you should pay after the botched job.”

  “That was hardly my doing.”

  “Well, you can rectify it now with the job I have for you.”

  “We’ll see. I’m not opposed to work, and now I have bills to pay for that failure. But, you know, I’m not a beggar. Not about to start.” She sipped her wine. She intended to take this drink slow—being too inebriated meant impaired judgment. This was not the time for a series of bad choices.

  “This one hardly requires much. It’s a hop, skip, and a jump across the aetherway to Shakti. Lovely, lovely Shakti.” He lifted his wine glass and took a long drink. Or so it appeared to be a long drink. Holly squinted and detected that he was simply letting the liquid splash against his lips. Possibly just enough—a droplet or four—to drown a fly passed his thick red lips.

  Holly almost burst into loud guffaws. “A quick jaunt to Shakti? What could be easier? Why not a simple leap to Souoin? I hear there’s an upscale resort there? Probably worth it.”

  “Oh HD, how you do tease. No, but I am sincere. It’s not much—just a simple task. Run a friend of mine out there to grab something of—” he cleared his throat, “I believe you call him Dave? Yes, that’s what it is. Something of Dave’s. It’s more of an errand for him.”

  She thought about that, and rubbed her brow, thinking quickly. “I recently saw him. Why didn’t he ask me about it then?”

  Xadrian’s shoulders rose in a shrug. The blue and green sequins on his dress coat glimmered like scales. “It came up only yesterday. When did you bump into our mutual friend?”

  Was it two days ago? She’d been circling in a holding pattern since then, working to figure out what she would do next. She leaned close and whispered, laying a dry tone over her voice. “What’s the object? Another jewel that’s really a kid?”

  Xadrian’s eyes widened, then he recovered. “Bad form, HD. Very terrible. Awful, really. I didn’t expect something quite so inappropriate from you.”

  “Thank you.” She smiled, enjoying his scolding. “That’s too far. Shakti? So, no. I’d never go to Shakti. You know I don’t love spaceflight. I barely endure it now. A journey to Shakti is absolutely too much.”

  Xadrian watched her. He pursed his lips. “I hear it’s lovely this time of year.”

  “There’s nothing out there. Why would I go to Shakti? And what coul
d anyone possibly need from that region?”

  Xadrian laughed. But it was too animated. Too forced. “There’s stuff out there. Bases, and such. Space ports.”

  “Yes, but no one lives out there. Except maybe the military personnel who are forced to. So what could Dave even need out that way?”

  “These are questions someone who’s taken the job gets to ask. Right, HD? It’s not a man on the street interview. I’m afraid I can’t answer anything else until you say you’re in.”

  She stared at him, silently. She picked up her glass and sipped the wine. She wanted the money. She wanted a job. She wanted a job that just fell into her lap. But she also didn’t want to waste her time on a pointless errand that could end in a breached hull and a dead crew.

  Xadrian returned her gaze. “If there’s one thing I am, HD, it’s circumspect.”

  “What’s the pay? Who’s paying for it? Give me the details. But you know, honestly, that I just don’t think I care to take this one. Let’s just say the disappointment on the mining base was much too much.”

  “The pay. Yes, hmm, can we just say good?” Xadrian asked. “Very good. You will very much be looked after.”

  “No, that’s not good enough. The recent job fell through, massively. Yes, like you said, we both had a stake in it. But that was all my legwork. My crew’s legwork. We put ourselves out there only to watch whatever we’d gone after walk away. Returning empty-handed isn’t so bad as long as it’s just me that’s getting burned. But the others? I take responsibility for them.”

  Xadrian inspected his brightly painted fingernails. He lifted his gaze to her. “Haven’t you always wanted to see the rest of the Yol system? You only live once. HD. The 6 Moons? Backwater. Boring. Shakti? That place is completely bonkers in how cool it is. It’s popping.”

  “With what? Monsters? Danger? The empty void of space?”

  “Could be. You’ll never know unless you go.”

  “I just don’t think this one is for me or my crew, XT.” She finished her wine. “And with that, I think I’ll take off. I need to be drumming up some real work. Work that doesn’t try to send me out to the furthest reaches of the solar system.”