Before I could analyze any more, I was thrown against a wall. The hood came off me, and all my questions were answered. Another one of my sloppy mistakes had come back to bite me in the ass.
“Yep. That’s definitely the one,” the same tattooed foundry salt dealer I’d harassed in the alley earlier yapped. His eyes twitched like he’d just taken a huge hit. He kicked me twice hard in the gut until my other captor pulled him off.
He removed Haglin Amissum’s hand-terminal from my pocket and smashed it under his boot. “In case he’s being followed,” the man said.
“Smart. Let’s off ’em, boss,” crowed the dealer, though he wasn’t looking at his friend.
We were in an empty stairwell leading down to one of the less-used Redline stations in New Beijing. Both of them held me at gunpoint. The last kind of scum you want aiming a gun at you, so hopped up that their quaking fingers could accidentally squeeze the trigger at any time.
“Now, now, boys. No need to be hasty.” Those words came from a third, more restrained voice. It was cool and confident, but there was no denying the subtle tinge of madness clinging to the end of each word. He knelt in front of me.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I groaned. This was the sorry lot that was going to keep me from my daughter? He looked like a clown. His frilly shirt was drawn open, with the mark of the Ringer Bones gang displayed prominently on the upper portion of his exposed chest. Bar piercings made his ears droop like wax from a hot candle. He even had white makeup smeared sloppily across his face to appear as pale as a Ringer, along with black eyeshadow.
“Thought you could hide from us, did you?” he said. He slapped me playfully across the face. That was when I recognized the lunacy he struggled to cage. His dark eyes stared right through me, like there was nothing there.
“You shoulda seen the way he came at me, boss,” the dealer said.
“I hope you guys know who you’re dealing with,” I muttered.
The leader sprang to his feet and started pacing. He had my pistol in his hands and caressed the barrel. “A retired collector who couldn’t stay clean.” He cackled like a maniac. “I found out! I always find out. You’re nothing anymore, Malcolm Graves.” Of course he had connections. That was what allowed gangs like theirs to rise to the top.
“What’re we gonna do with him?” the dealer asked.
“I haven’t decided yet, but it sure will be fun.”
“Well, you better think carefully,” I said. “I wouldn’t want the last thing you ever do to lack the flair of that outfit.”
“Oh yes,” he tittered. “So fun.”
“You’re the Ringer Boner crew, right?” I asked while I searched for a way out of this. I was unarmed, but I had my leg. When he got close enough, I could kick him into one of his cronies and hope the other missed me before I was able to disarm him. It was a long shot, but these weren’t trained collectors, just street bangers.
“Ringer Bones,” the dealer spat.
“The more you talk, the more fun we’re gonna have.” The leader holstered my gun in his belt and drew an unnecessarily long dagger from the back of his belt. He grinned from ear to ear.
“Ah, right,” I said. “And what’re you calling yourself? The Prince of Bones or something? The older I get, the more idiotic the little play gangs like yours get.”
My words didn’t faze him. He spread his arms wide, as if he were performing for a crowd from a stage. What the hell had I gotten myself into?
“You can call me—”
His head popped like a water balloon filled with fruit juice. The dealer’s buddy held his gun aimed at me while he searched from side to side to see where it came from. Then his body danced as it was riddled with holes. Terror gripped the drug-addled eyes of the dealer. His gun wavered in my direction, then he decided to drop it and run. He didn’t get far. From the shadows, someone grabbed him, wrapped hands around his neck, and snapped it.
I froze as I saw who emerged from behind his crumpled body. It was a Cogent, yellow eye lens shimmering as it reflected the ads through the open door into the upper city. I poked the Ringer Bones leader’s corpse to make sure this wasn’t a figment of my imagination.
“Zhaff?” I said softly. I knew it was crazy; he’d never get out of that tube. It took me a few seconds to recognize Varus, the Earther Cogent who I’d challenged to shoot me back on Undina. Their field suits had seen an improvement since Zhaff. The shadows clung to it to help conceal him, as if the fibers were fashioned to absorb their surroundings and reflect them.
He rushed over and heaved me to my feet with ease. Being a stout Earther made him considerably stronger than Zhaff was.
“Are you injured, Malcolm Graves?” he asked. His voice was as stale as my pastry in the café upstairs. It was like hearing an audio recording of my old partner. One day not drinking and, apparently, I’d fallen helplessly into a time trap.
“I’m fine,” I said after a few seconds of gawking at him. I patted the dust off my clothing, then knelt to reclaim my pulse pistol. As soon as I grabbed it, Varus took my arm and pulled me toward the exit.
“We must leave immediately,” he said.
I didn’t fight him. A retired collector, an agent from a “nonexistent” initiative, if we were caught with three bodies, it would get ugly. Varus led me away from the Venta Tower and around a corner to an empty hovercar transit stop. I sat on the bench and stretched out my human leg.
“I had that completely under control, you know,” I said.
He sat beside me. “From my vantage, it appeared these felons had you in a compromised position.”
“No jokes with your kind. Now I remember.”
“What did they desire from you?”
“My gun, I guess.” I rolled my shoulders. “Anyway, thanks for the assist, Varus, but I have to ask, what the hell are you doing here? Luxarn keeping tabs on me?”
“It appears that you and I have come to the same conclusion,” he replied. “Mr. Pervenio explained how proficient you are, so it is not a surprise. Did you forget to inform him that you reconsidered his proposition?”
“What proposition?”
“The elimination of Kale Trass.”
“Elimination? What…” I paused. Had a plan for breaking into the Venta headquarters come right to me? “Yeah. I decided to look into it. How’d you find me?”
“We have been watching you ever since the bombing subverted our best opportunity at Kale Trass.”
“You were involved in that?”
“Another agent had him in his sights before an unanticipated explosion knocked him off balance and allowed Kale Trass to eliminate him.”
“So why follow me?”
“Mr. Pervenio felt that with Kale Trass in New Beijing, you would be inclined to take him up on his offer. It appears, as usual, he was correct. After you discovered who was responsible for the bombing, I spotted you conversing with Titan’s ambassador.”
“I don’t care for being tailed, Varus.”
“Mr. Pervenio said you might say that. However, your deduction that using the ambassador would be the quickest way to expose Kale Trass was a brilliant tactic, Malcolm Graves. Based on recent intelligence, their relationship seems closer than expected, considering her origin.”
I breathed a sigh of relief, which Varus either didn’t notice or didn’t care about. I always harbored a sneaking suspicion that Luxarn had always known about Aria and who she belonged to. Now that she was in the spotlight, it seemed only more likely that he’d find out. But if his Cogents thought I was using her to get to Kale, it meant he truly had no clue.
“Brilliant,” I blustered. “At least until Venta took her first and those bangers got in my way.” I nodded toward Venta Tower, slicing up high above the New Beijing skyline toward the dome. “The ambassador is up there now. If we want her, we’re going to have to figure out a way to break in and fast.” If anyone could get it done, it was a Cogent. I could use him to get her, then we’d disappear. Easy.
“Mr. Pervenio,” I replied after finally gathering the nerve to lift the device. He appeared as haggard as when I’d left him, sitting before the stark backdrop of rock and metal within his Undina office. “I apologize. I had no idea you were listening.”
“Can’t be too cautious these days,” he said. The corners of his lips lifted into a meager smile. “I knew you couldn’t stay away, Graves. It’s not in your nature.”
“The Tongueway doesn’t thrill like it used to,” I joked.
“It’s the job. The thrill of a challenge. Men like us, we can’t keep away from it. The moment I found out Kale was traveling to Mars, I knew you’d wind up leading us to him. We’re like addicts. Desperate for a fix.”
I stretched my dry eyelids open as far as they could go. “It even comes with the hangover.”
Mr. Pervenio chuckled. “I was worried all that wasted time would dull your wit.”
“Only dying could do that, sir. So what’s the move? Are your Cogents preparing to take the ambassador?”
“For the time being, we wait.”
I bit my lip. “We can’t use her if they have her.”
“Thanks to your intuition, we knew to risk hacking Madame Venta’s communications. She contacted Kale Trass, and they’re in the process of planning a hostage exchange.”
“Exchange?”
“Forgive me, I forgot that you have been operating out of the loop. It appears Venta Co. seized the ambassador in response to Kale Trass abducting Chief Engineer Basaam Venta.”
“Why in the name of Earth would he do that?”
“His exact motives remain unclear, but if I had to guess, he’s lashing out after what happened at the USF summit. As of this moment, none of this has been made public. Nobody saw Basaam get taken. Venta Co. has predictably refused Kale Trass’ every demand, and you know how children get when they’re told no.”
“Fucking Ringers!” I slammed my fist on the bench.
I was right. Everything that was happening was Kale’s fault. Aria could take care of herself, but last time I helped her, she made the mistake of sticking with the Ringers. She didn’t like giving up—she got that from me—but I had to get her out for good this time. For her own sake. Even if she hated me for it, I could live with that. I’d done it for long enough.
“Where’s the exchange going down?” I asked.
“She is sending her sons with the ambassador to Kale’s private Red Wing Company hangar in the New Beijing Spaceport,” Luxarn said. “I have permitted Varus and his unit to ambush them there, with no prejudice.”
“You’re sending them in weapons free with Venta Co. and Red Wing employees present?”
“Taking the life of Kale Trass here is the primary objective. We can cover it up until we’re able to send a relief team to Pervenio Station, catch the Ringers off guard, and free his captives.”
“When are you thinking of making your move?”
“We are preparing to infiltrate the spaceport presently,” Varus said. “It is heavily defended.”
“I advised Varus to contact you so that I may ask you personally to join them,” Mr. Pervenio said. “Your presence will provide an experienced combatant who is familiar with Children of Titan tactics. The offer I made back on Undina remains unchanged. This is your chance to finish what you and Zhaff started, Graves.”
I glanced back up at Venta Tower. Somewhere in its illuminated cap sat my daughter, probably thinking that Kale was making the trade because he viewed her as one of their own. Whatever the reason for his wanting Basaam Venta, I was sure about one thing: he wasn’t saving Aria for her. Something she knew must have made her valuable, and now Kale was either flexing his muscles to see what he could get away with… or up to something worse. That was how the Children of Titan operated. A bombing to get you looking one way while their hands slipped into your pocket from the other.
What they didn’t know was that they were strolling into a Cogent-led ambush. That only I could get Aria out alive.
“Keep your credits and your titles, sir,” I said. Luxarn’s jaw dropped. “A friend is dead because of the trail of suffering Kale Trass leaves in his wake. I’ll help you take down Kale, and I’ll do it this time for free.”
Seventeen
Kale
I sat alone in the Cora’s cargo hold, pulse rifle lying across my lap. I removed the clip, checked it was full, then that all the weapon’s pieces were in their proper places. Not that I knew how any of it really functioned, but it was comforting to know that it would shoot straight if I needed to use it.
Fingers snapped beside my ear, and my head whipped around to face the disturbance as if a bomb had gone off. I was relieved to find it was only Gareth trying to gain my attention. His eyes were uncharacteristically red, and I could hear his runny nose sniveling through his mask. It was from all the direct exposure to the inhabitants of Mars without any precautions. He’d loaded up on every bit of medication we had the moment we returned to the Cora, just in case.
“You look like someone I know,” he signed to me, throwing a nod Rin’s way. She was across the room giving orders to a handful of my guards, a perpetual scowl fixed to her marred face. I smirked and returned to attending to my rifle.
Gareth sat beside me and leaned forward so I could see his hands out of the corner of my eye. After months with him, I didn’t need to focus all my attention anymore to read what he was saying.
“I understand,” he signed.
“Trust me, you don’t,” I said.
“Caring about her does not make you weak. Love is pain.”
I glanced back at his face. Concern softened his usually staid façade. “Rin told you everything, didn’t she?”
He shook his head emphatically. “Didn’t need to.”
“It’s not…” I sighed. “What would you do, Gareth? Let her and my unborn child die because they aren’t full Titanborn?”
“I already have.”
“What in Trass’s name are you talking about?”
“We can’t ever give up on them, Kale. Even if we’re unsure. Even if we don’t understand.”
My brow furrowed. I gestured toward Rin, but again, Gareth shook his head.
“My late wife. She was so afraid of getting sick, she stopped leaving our hollow. I don’t know how to sign the word for that. We fought so much over it, I never liked coming home. I called her crazy and irrational, she called me naive, and it went on. When we had a son, she never let him leave either.”
“I didn’t know you have a child.”
“Had.” His hands began to quake gently. “I was away, working security for a fence trying to broaden his reach to another block. I don’t know how my boy got sick, but he did. When I returned, I found his limp body in our shower. She’d drowned him in the water, the only luxury we Titanborn could afford.”
“Gareth, I—” He didn’t allow me to finish.
“I was so angry when I found our son, a child I barely ever saw, that I strangled her.” His hands now shook so intensely he could barely use them to form words. “She was sick. She needed help. And instead of finding it, I stayed away. I failed her. I failed my son.”
My hand hovered over his leg. I wasn’t sure whether to try and comfort him or give him space. Emotion wasn’t something I’d known he could express, and the heartbreak in my fearless guardian’s expression was almost too much to stomach.
“I had no idea,” was what I managed to utter.
Gareth pointed at Rin. “Neither does she,” he signed. “Don’t ever give up on the people you care about, or you’ll have nothing.”
“It was the Earthers, Gareth, not you. They put us in an impossible situation, and there’s not one
of us who turned out right. We had to survive.”
“Maybe that’s true, but they didn’t wrap my hands around her neck. I can still feel her throat crunch. I tried to turn myself in for what I did, only Pervenio was too busy to care. One more pair of dead Ringers was just good business. So I ran as far as I could afford to and took the lowest post the Sunfire gas harvester had to offer. I met Rin and got caught up in a rebellion I couldn’t care less about. If a Ringer like me could strangle his own helpless wife in cold blood, why should I care about the rest of us?
“I only followed Rin because if I hadn’t done something to stay distracted, I would’ve spaced myself just to be free of the guilt. Until we found you. In the face of everything we put you through, all you wanted to do was try to save the people you cared about. Cora. The woman you loved. That was why I decided to follow you.”
He patted me on the shoulder, and I swallowed the lump forming in my throat as I bobbed my head in approval. Then he rose to his feet and gazed down upon me from his towering vantage.
“We all have done terrible things,” he signed. “We don’t need forgiveness. We don’t need pity. All we can do is try to be better. You gave me a cause worth fighting for, Kale Trass. You helped me put the past behind me so I could try to do just that. I will follow you until the very end, and I will always understand.”
There was no question he’d signed more to me at that moment than in all our prior conversations combined. I wasn’t sure how his hands weren’t exhausted and was equally unsure how to respond. Throughout all the chaos since I found myself at Rin’s mercy on the Piccolo, I’d never had the time to think about why he, of all people, had been the first to truly throw his support behind me. He backed my move to rescue Cora from Director Sodervall’s clutches when all the others thought it pointless.
Gareth turned to go help with preparations. I clicked my rifle’s magazine into position and stood, but before I had the chance to say anything, Rin was in front of me. “They’re here,” she said, watching Gareth all the way out onto the Cora’s exit ramp. “What was that about?”
Titan's Rise: (Children of Titan Book 3) Page 23
