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

by Nicole Grotepas

  “And you are a medic, Sir Iain Grant,” Holly said. It sounded right, at the moment. She wasn’t sure if she could trust her instincts. Everything seemed hazy and confusing, including the fact that Iain seemed all business and possibly upset. Initially she’d thought they were just bantering. But now she questioned herself. “Did you carry me? I’m sorry I passed out. Damn, that’s so weak.”

  He glanced at her, then back at the bandage. He gave her a grin that seemed forced and shook his head. “Ah, Holly. You’ll be the death of me, the sweetest death. But still.” He shook his head again and sighed. He was finished with preparing the bandage, and turned his focus to her shoulder. His brow was furrowed as he worked, but there was a light in his eyes and a suppressed smile on his lips.

  “You love it,” she whispered. “I think you love that I make you get out of your comfort zone, your safe little house in Analogue Alley.”

  He paused in dabbing at the wound with some kind of stinging solution—each touch made Holly gasp—and focused on her face. “You really will be the death of me, Ms. Drake.” He picked up the bandage by the edges and pressed it over her shoulder. He ran his thumbs expertly over the tape, sealing it against her skin, then straightened and studied his work. “I wish I could do more.”

  “You’ve done so much, so much, already.” She was feeling effusive, and that also felt right, at the moment.

  “If you’re not up for it, I would understand. And I don’t think it’s wise, however, you are your own woman, Holly. Odeon will be playing in the dining room tonight. Should we go down?”

  “I wondered why he wasn’t here helping you take care of me. Sometimes his singing helps me heal. A bit, or at least it helps me feel better.”

  “He was here doing that while you were asleep. I do think it may have helped some.”

  She grinned. “I want nothing more than to see Odeon play, but I feel really strange right now.”

  “Ah, the medicine. Good. We can stay here too, if you’d like. I can’t say I disagree with that.”

  She flexed her shoulder and flinched when a sharp pain flared up in response. It wasn’t as bad as when she’d first woken up. The medicine had set in more, dissolving her inhibitions as well. “Can you just lie beside me?”

  The corner of his mouth flickered up and his brow relaxed. “You don’t have to ask me twice to do that.”

  He snuggled up beside her and held her close. They’d done a fairly decent job that day. Nothing so great as she’d hoped for, but somewhat sufficient. And anyway, she was too exhausted and drugged to think too hard about it.

  30

  A fresh snow fell over the City of Jade Spires. It piled up in the corners of the windows and pummeled the panes of glass. Holly was truly sick of winter, but at least she was alive. She’d take winter if that meant she could be relatively healthy and whole at the moment. She stared out at the storm from the Bird’s Nest overlook and sighed. Thank Ixion she was back home.

  Her shoulder was still sore where the aether projectile from Aimee Voss’s gun had raged against her. It could have been worse, it definitely could have been worse.

  “The balance of power is working itself out. Aimee Voss. She’s at the center of it. She’s not good for it—the power can’t stay with her long. But she’s going to do it and try to concentrate it around her and keep it for herself,” Odeon said from where he sat on the sofa nearest the coffee table.

  Six neat stacks of violet colored novas sat on the table. There wasn’t a lot in the stacks, but Holly knew that it was better than nothing and her crew would be grateful that they had anything at all, considering.

  “Alright, thank you philosopher Odeon,” Shiro said, pacing around the room, twirling his cane.

  “That’s what’s happening, Shiro. Do you disagree?” Odeon asked, spinning his Ousaba over his head as he reclined, his body slouching into the cushions, the club over him like a baton.

  Shiro smirked. “Just take your money, chap, or I’ll take it for you.”

  “Do you need it, Shiro? If you need it, you can have some of it.”

  “Oh knock it off, you obnoxious, generous Yasoan,” Shiro said. He strolled over, took a stack of novas, and put them into a blue velvet bag.

  Holly moved away from the window and picked up a stack of money. She counted out a small portion of it, then took the rest over to where Charly sat at her desk and placed it in front of her.

  “Is this mine?” Charly asked, looking up from her vscreen.

  “Yes, it is. Now you don’t have to miss the gigs to throw the parties all the time for the Centaus money,” Holly said.

  “What? This isn’t mine. This is yours.”

  “You get mine too, Charly.”

  “No chance, Hols. I don’t want your handout.”

  “Please. Consider it an extra year of rent.”

  “Look, I’m not taking it.”

  “Alright Charly, listen. I’m sick of hearing you whine about missing the gigs for the parties. If helping you make ends meet means you can be there, then it’s worth it.”

  “Look Holly, thanks, doll. But I’m not going to stop having the parties. It’s not just the money. It’s also keeping my ear to the ground to know what’s happening politically. I like being the epicenter of high society, just a bit, you know? It’s one of the things I bring to the crew,” Charly said. “So take your money back.”

  Holly pursed her lips and shook her head. “Fine. But if you so much as whine again about the parties and the gigs, I’m making you take it.”

  Odeon had laid his Ousaba down to pile his money into his coat pocket. He finished and looked around. “I know exactly who needs this.” He patted his coat pocket.

  “Whose are these novas?” Darius asked as he gathered up his portion and stared at the remaining stack of novas.

  “Iain’s,” Holly said. “Don’t take it, that one’s not for you, Darius.”

  “Really? You don’t think Iain would want me to double his money for him?” He laughed. “Come on, Drake, you know he would.”

  Holly shared the laugh with him. “I know it’s not much, guys, especially not after how much work these jobs have turned out to be. You all deserve way more than that.” She sighed, and considered what she knew lay in store for them. Hopefully they’d be up for whatever storm was coming because even if she could do it alone, she wasn’t sure she wanted to. “You’re the best crew in the 6 moons, you know? Rogues, all of you, but rogues with hearts of gold.”

  * * *

  THE END

  * * *

  Reach of the Colossus continues the saga of Holly Drake against the Shadow Coalition.

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  1

  Holly held her breath and leapt for the next step. Her foot planted on the block, crunching into the dust. She let out a breath in relief, but it was cut short as she nearly lost her balance. Her arms circled and flailed as she maneuvered to avoid falling.

  A gasp sounded in her earpiece, followed by a louder sigh of relief as she regained control.

  “That was close, Holly Drake.” Odeon’s voice came through the comm.

  She stopped on the block, wiped the sweat from her temple, and glanced back at him. Strands of Odeon’s silver hair had blown loose from the bun and whipped around him in the wind that gave the desert landscape of Po one of its few characteristics. This region of the barren moon was empty of interest, an endless sea of pale desert floor. The block upon which Holly now stood was the same color, constructed, she imagined, from those very yellow sands being stirred by the wind and whisked across the expansive landscape beneath her and the two members of her crew.


  They still had a long climb ahead of them. Holly smiled at Odeon, her joints still weak from her near fall, while her voice was lost somewhere in her toes. She cautiously turned back to study the path ahead of them.

  Above her, more straw-colored blocks rose into the vibrant blue sky, hanging as if by invisible strings. The air was filled with hundreds—perhaps thousands—of the floating blocks, scattered around them in a patternless array. It was magnificent. An awe-inspiring sight that she could appreciate more if the structures weren’t standing between them and their destination. It was dangerous and their choices had been limited in how they could access what they’d come for. Still, she shook her head and took a breath—this was most certainly one of the more fantastic Centau creations she’d ever seen. Why had they done it? What was hidden here that couldn’t have been stored in a facility on the moon Kota or even Paradise? Why Po?

  She positioned herself to jump to the next block. They better get on with it—like all her goals, it was only a matter of time before something or someone showed up to stop her. Answers to the puzzles eluded her for now. What she knew was that the Centau were hiding something here, and it must be important to warrant such a strange and beautiful hiding place. The scattered positions of the many blocks surrounding the facility prevented just anyone flying a ship up to it—the largest block and their primary destination. The hundreds of smaller blocks formed a floating barricade, which extended far above the main block in all six directions—east, west, north, south, up, and down.

  “Did Ms. Drake nearly fall again? I’m glad to have missed it—it would have caused me to have an aneurysm. I daresay this job is above my pay-grade,” Shiro Oahu said in Holly’s ear. “But as always, I wasn’t sure what to expect and now I am rather afraid of the fall.”

  “You will always be afraid of the fall, Shiro, that’s why you’re still a bachelor,” Odeon said.

  “Is that so, chap? And what of you? If I am a bachelor, you are an ascetic.” Shiro made a sound of exertion, then let out a sound of surprise, a yipping sort of soulful cry.

  Holly resisted the urge to turn quickly and look below, instead moving slowly till she faced Odeon, catching his brilliant, rainbow hued eyes with her own. He turned to glance down at Shiro as well.

  “Shiro?” Holly called. “Are you OK?”

  “Yes, yes, just a near-fall. Nothing to be alarmed about. Why would any of us be alarmed? Just a small fall, really.” But he muttered curse words, betraying his fear.

  She saw him down below, balancing on the block. Something seemed off about him, but she couldn’t place it. He wore a white suit jacket and trousers with blue pinstripes and was using his lionhead cane like a balancing pole.

  “I lost my hat. The wind took it.” His voice was bitter.

  “There will be other hats,” Odeon stated. “Just as there will be other women and more chances to avoid eternal loneliness.”

  “Who says I’m lonely? That hat was all the company I needed. We’d been through many adventures together, Hat and I.”

  Holly felt herself smiling in response. “Sorry about your hat, Shiro. I’ll replace it. Or at least, Dave will. It’ll come out of his funds,” she said, then muttered, “Sending us on pointless quests like these—would serve him right if a replacement hat cost sixty thousand novas.”

  “You’re calling them quests now?” Charly’s voice asked in her ear.

  They’d left her back at the Bird’s Nest in the Surge Club on the moon Kota, despite Holly’s attempt to get the other woman to join them, Charly now professed to believe there were only certain jobs that she was required on, and this one hadn’t seemed to fit that profile. ‘Not enough jaw-cracking. I’ll stay here and keep hosting parties for the Centau. Save my fists for the jobs with confrontations.’

  “It fits, though,” she continued. “More and more of the jobs are like that and less like the traditional model—break in, steal an item, outwit the baddies, and get out.”

  “I’m afraid I agree with you there, Charly. What I wouldn’t give for a chance to relish in providing a distraction. Preferably with a beautiful woman.”

  “We have seen where your flirtations with beautiful women take us, Shiro Oahu,” Odeon said.

  They continued on up the scattered steps of floating blocks. Holly listened with half her attention, and couldn’t help the smile that hung on her lips. The crew wasn’t always in good spirits, but today they were. Their banter and good-natured teasing felt sort of homey.

  Someone whistled softly. “Odeon, just what the crap is going on? You’re fighting dirty.” It was Charly.

  “Yes, dear lad, you’re going for the jugular a bit more frequently. Don’t worry, Charly, I can take it,” Shiro said, a grunt cutting off his last word.

  Holly jumped for another block. This time, she landed true. If she could just keep her pace and balance like that last leap, the strange hike up the floating blocks wouldn’t take so long.

  She glanced ahead again, assessing how much longer the journey was going to take, and was struck once more by how surreal the floating blocks were. The sweat that dripped down her sides and her forehead was soon coated with a layer of the desert silt. The wind sweeping across her face smelled dry, like ancient dust, with a tang of salt as though an ocean had once covered the moon. Perhaps there had been one, eons ago, like Helo. Holly didn’t really know the history of all the moons that comprised the 6 Moons. Had Po always been there? Were the moons former planets or had they always been moons around the massive gas giant Ixion, known as Muibaus in the Centau tongue?

  They continued on. Holly’s thighs burned, and her knees ached by the time she took her final leap to the central unit of floating blocks. A large platform surrounded the largest of the stones, which was as big as two of their ship, the Olavia Apollo, put together.

  Holly and her crew gathered there, letting out a collective sigh of relief. Shiro and Odeon leaned against their weapons, which they used to balance themselves, while Holly placed her hands on her knees to rest.

  “I thought that would never end,” Shiro said, running his fingers through his black hair. The wind had tousled it so much that he’d lost his immaculate clean-cut look, and now resembled a roguish thief, toting a cane in a smudged white suit.

  “Right, now let’s find the front door so Odeon can get us inside,” Holly said, catching her breath and heading around the block in search of the entrance.

  “I hardly think a place like this has what one would call a door,” Shiro said, following Holly.

  “Shiro’s right,” Darius boomed over the comm. “Weird floating blocks such as you’ve found yourself on have something we might call a gateway into realms unknown.” Their comms and tech expert back at the Bird’s Nest laughed.

  “A gate, Darius? I would say a portal,” Odeon offered.

  “Precisely. A portal into strange realms,” Shiro added.

  “Yes, all of those fit,” Holly agreed as they came to a space in the block that led to the entrance.

  She walked into the inset area and touched the smooth steel door. The metal was cold.

  She withdrew her hand and looked back at Odeon. “Ready?”

  He’d already pulled out his lock-picking set and was sorting through his tools with one lavender-colored finger and inspecting the lock, which was set into the inside wall.

  “Shiro, would you mind keeping watch?” Holly asked.

  “Ah, I do agree, Ms. Drake. We should never think that we’re the only fools on these errands for your mysterious benefactor.” Shiro strolled back out to the edge of the platform, swinging his cane casually.

  She waited while her Yasoan friend worked on the lock. They’d come prepared, knowing the sorts of locks the Centau favored.

  “I am surprised, Holly Drake,” Odeon said in his clear, strong voice as he worked. “This lock isn’t as sophisticated as we expected.”

  “Maybe they think the entire location is lock enough. Secure. Who would find it except some intrepid explorer,
bored with their life? There’s nothing out here. We’d never have found it without the intel from Dave.”

  “That’s true,” Darius said. “None of us ever expected the sort of strange twists we’ve seen in how the Centau run things.”

  “The floating blocks are also a kind of deterrent. Only someone who knew what was within, and was sure that they could even get into it would want to go through the efforts to climb them, to reach this place,” Holly said.

  She looked out at Shiro, checking on him. His white suit almost blended in with the pale sky beyond the blocks. She followed his black hair as he marched back and forth along the precipice, gazing out at the horizon, then down at the ground below.

  Holly jumped at the sound of a mechanical hiss. She spun. The door was open, and Odeon was in the process of putting his velvet pouch of tools back into his satchel. He picked up his Ousaba club.

  “Ready when you are.”

  2

  “You got in, then?” Charly asked over the comm.

  “Excellent,” Darius said. “Can’t wait to see what this place is hiding.”

  The comm each crewmember wore also had the option to watch a visual-stream of what was happening via the clip that hooked to the helix and anti-helix.

  “Shiro, you coming?” Holly called.

  She moved inside and paused just beyond the doorway. The interior was lit up with dim, blue lights that outlined shelves reaching from the floor to ceiling. The inside seemed bigger than it should be. Shelves towered above them, holding an indescribable number of multicolored crystals. A glowing digit flickered beside each row of shelves. Smaller glowing numbers shone above each column, shimmering in the murky light of the windowless stone structure.

  Holly heard Odeon and Shiro stop behind her. She glanced back at them.