The creature nodded.
“It helps that they attacked me.”
“Why?”
“It takes some of the guilt away. They’re all about to run into a room full of Shadow Order cadets. They may only be young, but all of them are trained and keen. The prisoners don’t stand a chance against them. It’ll buy us the time we need to get out of here.”
The shrill alarm bored into Seb and wound his shoulders tight. “Come on”—he pointed up as if to indicate the sound around them—“let’s get out of here before my brain melts.”
Seb set off in the opposite direction to all of the prisoners. The rock troll followed.
“Where are we going?” the grey creature asked.
After he’d crossed the corridor and opened a door, Seb revealed a metal staircase. “Where would you go if you wanted to get out of here?” He stepped through into the cold concrete maintenance area. It smelled of damp, salty damp, because of their position beneath the sea. Seb crinkled his nose at the stench.
“Most beings would go to the platform up top.”
“Exactly.” After the grey creature had stepped through, Seb closed the door and headed down the stairs. “That’s why we’re heading in the opposite direction.”
The red emergency lighting made it trickier to navigate their descent. For the first time, Seb missed the magnesium glare of the lights in the corridor. The crimson glow pulsed in time with the dizzying sound of the alarm. His stomach lurched with every step, his vision so poor he feared he might fall.
But Seb soon found his rhythm, gripping the cold and damp handrail as he ran down the stairs two at a time towards the basement. The thud of the troll’s steps followed behind him—it didn’t have a problem keeping up.
They only had to descend a couple of floors, but when the door to the basement came into sight, Seb halted and let out a heavy sigh. “Damn!”
“What?” the grey creature asked as it caught up to him, breathless from their run.
“I left the guard’s keys in the prison cell. We can’t get through that door.”
Before Seb could think on it, the grey creature grabbed him and pulled him into the shadows. The door in front of them clicked and flew open. Three guards burst through it.
“Moses wants everyone to go to the landing platform,” one of them said as they ran past Seb and the troll.
The others followed him up the stairs, and within seconds they were out of sight.
Before Seb could think, the grey creature darted forwards and caught the door, preventing it from clicking shut.
Seb laughed. “It’s not often I feel like I’m a step behind.”
A stoic nod, the rock troll pulled the door wide, the green glow of the basement spilling out into the red stairwell.
Seb stepped into the space and gasped. It looked like an aquarium. A large window ran the entire length of one wall. It revealed the weird and wonderful aquatic life of Aloo. Not that he had time to admire the view; the alarm still pulsed through the room, reminding him they needed to get out of there now.
“I’m glad we came down here,” the grey creature said.
Seb looked to where he looked. In one corner sat a bay filled with all different kinds of vessels. It suddenly dawned on him what the troll had said when they’d entered the stairwell. “You said most beings would go to the platform up top, but you didn’t say you would.”
The troll’s granite eyes glowed as if it had just seen an old friend. “That’s my submarine over there.”
“I was thinking I’d have to drive one of those things. Are you saying you can get us out of here?”
The rock troll broke into a jog towards his sub. “You betcha I can.”
Chapter 4
The whir of the submarine’s engines vibrated through the small vessel. For the first part of their journey, Seb twisted in his seat and looked over his shoulder behind him through the glass roof. He waited until darkness swallowed the Shadow Order’s base before he looked anywhere else.
Designed for beings smaller than him, Seb had to stoop because of the low ceiling. Although uncomfortable, he had enough movement to take in his surroundings. Above him, the water turned slightly lighter from the sun trying to penetrate the gloomy depths. To the sides and below, it plunged into inky blackness within a few short metres. The submarine’s beam did little to help.
A clear panel by his feet, Seb looked down again. Unable to ascertain just how far the depths plunged, his stomach flipped. He’d never liked the water, but now he had metal fists, he liked it even less.
If the deep frown on its face was anything to go by, the troll clearly needed to concentrate, but Seb still spoke, his anxiety driving his words. “I know I spend a lot of time in space, but there’s something about the sea. If the engines fail now, it looks like we’d drop forever.”
At that moment the rock troll threw the submarine to the left and Seb grabbed onto his seat, his heart jumping into his throat.
The rock troll didn’t look back when Seb stared at him, so he looked over his shoulder and saw what they’d avoided. The tentacle appeared to be like many he’d seen: covered in suckers, thick, and as black as the night. However, he’d never seen one so large. They’d only avoided the tip of it. A tip that would have wrecked them if it had made contact. Another look down into the darkness and he squirmed in his seat. “How long till we’re on shore?”
The troll said nothing as the sub wobbled from side to side, the water disturbed by the great tentacle’s movement. Seb watched it vanish back into the depths behind them. “What was that thing?”
No sign of nerves, the grey creature fought to keep the sub level and continued to stare out of the windscreen into the darkness in front of them. “I don’t know.”
“You’ve never seen one before?”
“I’ve seen plenty of those tentacles before.”
Another look down showed the darkness as black and impenetrable as it was moments before. Seb shook his head. “Better that than see what was on the end of it, I suppose.”
“Exactly.”
It took another few seconds for Seb to settle himself. His body remained tense and his pulse rapid. “I suppose the water stresses me out now because of how I swim with my new fists.”
No response. And what could his new friend say to that? He knew nothing of Seb’s fists and it would take too long to explain. “I’ve just realised,” Seb said, “I never asked your name.”
The creature smiled, its granite eyes focused in front of it still. “No, you didn’t.”
“Well? What is it?”
“Owsk.”
“Owsk?”
“Owsk.”
Seb shifted to try to find more comfort in his cramped seat. “Well, I’m pleased to meet you. I’m Seb.”
“I know that.”
“Of course you do. So, tell me, what do you know about the prophecy?”
Owsk continued to stare ahead of them, the sub’s single thick beam of light giving them just a few more metres visibility than no light at all would. “Not a lot really. Something came over me when I saw you and I knew I needed to say it. You have the blood in your veins of the chosen one. I can feel it. I can sense you have a greatness waiting to be unlocked. That you’ll take down the void threatening to consume the galaxy.”
“The void?”
Owsk shrugged.
“Well, that’s answered all of my questions. Thanks.”
After a few seconds of silence, Owsk finally said, “I didn’t say I could answer your questions.”
Owsk then dropped the sub by a few metres, leaving Seb’s stomach where it had been moments before. He looked up to watch them pass beneath a large brown fish easily three times the size of their vessel. It moved with lazy strokes of its huge fins. It seemed to be scanning its surroundings despite its milky white eyes on its ugly face.
To look at its size set Seb’s panic off again and he muttered to himself, “In the land of the blind, the photosensitive are king.”
“Huh?” Owsk said.
“Nothing.”
Owsk shrugged. “So what are you doing breaking out of the Shadow Order’s base?”
The cramped conditions forced Seb to straighten his right leg so he could access his pocket. He slipped two fingers into it and retrieved the hard little parasite Sparks had thrown up in the tank.
For the first time since they’d left the Shadow Order’s base, Owsk took his attention away from the darkness in front of them and looked at Seb, or rather, the grub in his pinch. He frowned. “What’s that?”
“A lot of people died on Carstic, which is where our last mission was. They died because of this parasite.”
When Owsk didn’t respond, Seb elaborated. “We only found three survivors in the entire mining complex. One of them theorised that these grubs were planted on their planet to clear the mines.”
“Why?”
“They mine for ruthane, and ruthane’s worth a lot of credits.”
A shrug, Owsk said, “There has to be more to it than that. There’s not always a conspiracy when there’s credits involved.”
“Before the survivors—who were quite vocal about their theory, I might add—could get off the planet, their ship blew up.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah,” Seb said. “Oh.”
“And you think Moses has something to do with it?”
“Well, Moses certainly got paid from the people who owned the mines. They had to bring in the Shadow Order to clear them out. They’d also just recently paid the Shadow Order to rescue their incompetent son from Solsans, so he knew their credits were good.”
A deep sigh and Owsk said, “You think Moses is exploiting them for their wealth?”
“I think so, but I don’t have the evidence to prove it.”
“So what will you do if you find out Moses is responsible for planting the parasites?”
For a second, Seb said nothing. Instead, he stared out into the darkness and chewed on his bottom lip. The whir of the submarine’s engine continued to shake through him as he drew a deep breath of the odourless air. “I don’t know,” he finally said. “He’s powerful and is going to be hard to get to if he knows I’m coming for him.”
“And you think he’ll know?”
“Well, I’m a fugitive now, so if I come back, it probably won’t be for a friendly reunion.”
“I suppose. Where are the others?” Owsk said. “Your friends?”
To think about how mean he had been to Sparks twisted through Seb. And he hadn’t said goodbye to Bruke. The kiss on the cheek from SA might be the only one he’d ever get from her. A feeling of bleakness settled over him and his breaths grew shallow. He’d be without them when he needed them most. It took him a second to compose himself. “I don’t want them with me.” Then Gurt came to mind and the tension in his chest eased a little. He’d made the correct choice. “They shouldn’t get themselves screwed over because I’m chasing a hunch. A friend of mine died following me into a war when I didn’t want him to.”
“And they’d do the same?” Owsk asked.
“They did, and they would again.”
“So you didn’t give them the choice?”
“No.”
“You think that’s your decision, do you?”
A snap of fury spiked through Seb and he looked across at Owsk. Who did he think he was? “Of course!” Then he thought about how cross the others had been with him in the mines. They hadn’t been happy with the decisions he’d made on their behalf, especially with how he’d completely disregarded SA and her abilities. Yet now he was doing it again.
A look at Owsk and the granite appraisal the creature levelled on him, Seb clenched his jaw, speaking through gritted teeth. “Anyway,” he said, trying to move the conversation away from Owsk’s opinions of his actions, “what’s your deal?”
The sharpness of his tone forced Owsk to pull his head back and he returned his attention to the thick wall of water in front of them. They passed through a school of bioluminescent fish, traces of glowing blue phosphoresce left behind when they scattered. In the extreme glow, he saw SA’s eyes. He felt the warm memory of her kiss.
Seb moved on and softened his tone. “Sorry, that came out wrong. It’s just … I didn’t know about the Shadow Order’s prison until I was in it. How did you end up in there?”
Owsk made another sharp turn to avoid another whale of a fish. Seb held on again, already getting used to the sudden changes in direction.
“Moses runs Aloo, right?” Owsk said.
A shrug, Seb nodded. “Yeah, it certainly seems that way.”
“Everyone knows that contraband passes through the spaceport on a daily basis.”
“Yeah, of course. Aloo’s renowned for giving smugglers an easy ride. So what did you do that would land you in jail on a planet that actively encourages criminal activity?”
This time Owsk pulled back on his controls and the ship rose. It went over the next creature, a green eel ten times the length of the sub. “I was only smuggling exotic fruit.”
“That doesn’t sound like a big deal.”
“The duty on it’s huge. They like to hammer you on anything with a short shelf life because you don’t have the time to negotiate. Also, they fetch big prices in the right places, so they know you’ll make the credits back. We were trying to avoid that, which is why we went through Aloo.”
“Okay.”
“But we couldn’t afford to pay Moses his fee either.”
“Ah! So you were looking for a free ride from the galaxy’s tightest being?”
“Not a free ride. We promised it to him on the way back, but it would seem the bank of Aloo aren’t into credit. He threw me in jail until one of my crew could pay.”
“And they haven’t?”
“Not yet. They’ve impounded our ship, so we can’t sell our stock. And we can’t make credits on Aloo to pay him back.”
“Tell me about it. Unless you know how to fight, Aloo’s got pretty slim pickings.”
“Exactly.” While holding out one of his thick arms, Owsk said, “We may look strong, but we’re pacifists. You wouldn’t ever catch a jelk in a fighting pit; we’ve not got it in us.”
“And when we get to Aloo’s spaceport, you can leave without any trouble?”
“As long as my ship flies, we’ll work out a way.” A slight pause, the hum of the engine filling the silence, Owsk then said, “Also, I might be able to help you with that grub.”
“Oh?”
“I know a creature that can trace anything to its origin. He makes a killing in finding slaves and charging their loved ones to get them back to them.”
“He sounds like a kidnapper.”
“No, he takes them back from the kidnappers. He lets the families pay in instalments for as long as they need to.”
“My bad.” Seb rolled his eyes and couldn’t keep the sarcasm from his voice. “He sounds like a saint.”
For the first time since they’d been together, Owsk laughed. A deep, stuttering sound, it bounced off the glass surfaces inside the ship. “Yeah, he’s definitely in it for himself, but at least he’s quite reasonable about collecting his credits. He’ll never hold out on reuniting someone with their loved ones. Anyway, he owes me a few favours from when I’ve helped move beings around for him. I can ask him to help you.”
Before Seb could respond, Owsk pulled back on the submarine’s controls, harder than before. It sent them shooting towards the surface.
With nothing to hold onto, Seb braced against the glass window next to him and watched the water get rapidly lighter.
The aggressive change from the dark sea to the bright Aloo sunshine stung Seb’s eyes as they burst through the surface of the water. He shielded them for a few seconds and waited for his sight to return while they floated with the undulations of the choppy sea.
A press of a button, Owsk then looked up as the glass top of the submarine pulled back. It let in the salty Aloo air, the wind throwin
g Seb’s hair into his eyes.
Owsk jumped out of the submarine first and held a hand out in Seb’s direction. Seb took it and stepped out onto land, trying not to look down. One slip and he’d sink faster than a rock. When he walked away, his first few steps were uneasy from still having his sea legs.
Once clear of the vessel, Seb and Owsk stepped back a few paces from it. Before either of them spoke, Seb pulled out his blaster and ripped off several shots, his gun kicking as the laser fire drilled holes through the sub’s open cockpit.
Horror turned Owsk’s face slack as he looked from his sub, to Seb, and back to his sub again. Water sprouted from the fresh holes, driven a few metres into the air from the force of his sinking ship.
“What was that for?” Owsk said.
“I guarantee it had a tracker in it.” Seb continued to watch the water as the vessel vanished from sight. “The second they realise the sub has gone missing, they’ll track it down. When they realise where it is, they’ll think we sank with it. We need as much time as possible.”
When Owsk didn’t respond, Seb turned to look at him, bracing against the strong Aloo winds as he did so. To see the end of a gun pointed in his direction sent panic spiking through him. “What are you doing?”
Tears sat in Owsk’s granite eyes and he spoke through gritted teeth. “What do you mean what am I doing? You just destroyed my ship.”
Chapter 5
“Now calm down,” Seb said, his voice raised over the strong wind crashing into them. He’d slipped his gun down the back of his trousers after he’d shot the submarine, and although he could have drawn it, he didn’t need to escalate the situation. Not yet.
The tears in Owsk’s eyes had thickened and looked like they’d spill over. Wrinkles ran across his granite brow like cracks in rock. “Calm down? You’ve just shot my submarine full of holes and sunk it. What do you mean calm down?”
Salt rode the strong breeze, making it burn against Seb’s face. “Would you rather I left it there so Moses could find us? I guarantee you there’s a tracking device in it.”
The Shadow Order - Books 1 - 8 + 120 Seconds (The complete series): A Space Opera Page 79
