The explosion dwarfed the one that had just killed Logan. The blast hit Seb’s back, throwing him face first onto the sandy ground.
A ball of fire swallowed the mech as Seb got to his feet and then dragged a gasping Reyes to hers. He held the front of her shirt in a clenched left fist and pulled back his right. “What the hell were you doing?”
Wide brown eyes stared at Seb. Reyes sweated and sand clung to her damp skin. “I didn’t mean to hurt anybody.”
“Why the hell were you trying to kill me, then?”
A shake of her head, she looked genuine when she said, “I wasn’t. I knew I’d have to fight you just to get you to listen to me. You were hardly going to welcome me with open arms. I mean, look at it.”
The flames had eased a little, revealing part of the large mech, which had already blackened from the explosion. Pain streaked through Seb’s jaw as he stared at it and gritted his teeth. He then turned back on Reyes. “And what have you achieved? I’m still not going to come with you. Hell, I should cave your damn skull in and leave you for dead. I should send you back to Moses in a coffin.”
“Please, Seb, trust me when I say I didn’t mean to harm anyone. I couldn’t think of any other way to get you to come back with me.”
The more she spoke, the tighter it wound Seb. His fist ached from where he continued to clench it while holding it in front of her. “Mistake or not, I can’t let it slide.” But before he could swing for her, a voice stopped him.
“Now come on, Seb, is violence really necessary?”
Seb let go of the front of Reyes’ shirt and turned to the burning car. Or rather, the man in front of the burning car. “Logan?”
The old man—his long frame now carrying the slight stoop of his years—beamed a wizened grin. “Of course.”
“But I thought you were in the car.”
A look at the burning mech, Logan said, “When I saw the size of that thing, I knew I should wait elsewhere. Good job I didn’t listen to you, eh?”
“Where did you wait?”
“I hid behind a large rock, far enough away from the car that I didn’t get pulverised and then barbecued.”
The sound of sirens ran across the Danu plains. Seb turned to look and saw a line of emergency vehicles heading their way. He looked back at Logan. “You think we should get out of here?”
A shake of his head, Logan said, “No, I’ll get one of them to give us a lift back. We can say the mech was a test flight that went wrong, and that we’ve found the pilot. I’ll back you up. It’ll be a lot of paperwork, but seeing as no one’s dead, we’ll get away with it.” The old man’s brown eyes glowed when he looked at Reyes. “Hi, I’m Logan.”
Reyes stared back at the old frant, her mouth wide with shock.
“She’s called Reyes. You do realise she just tried to kill us, right?” Seb said.
A scowl at Seb, Reyes shook her head. “I didn’t.” She looked back to Logan, “I’m so sorry you nearly got hurt.”
Logan shrugged. “Being in the police force, I’ve had a lot worse happen to me. At least it was an accident. I suppose you’d best come with us.”
“Where?” Reyes said.
“Back to Seb’s house.”
“My dad’s,” Seb cut in. “And I didn’t invite her.”
“It’s yours now, boy, and don’t be a dick.”
The sideways look from Reyes showed she hadn’t missed Logan calling Seb boy. Dick he could cope with, but boy? … and in front of her? Good job for her she decided to keep that observation to herself.
Chapter 34
As he stood in the front room of his dad’s house—the smell of smoke still in the air from the fire he’d left burning when they went to visit Davey—Seb stared out of the window and watched the final police vehicle pull away. Logan stood on the porch and waved his colleague off as he disappeared into the swirling dust.
Silence hung between Seb and Reyes, the tension so thick it damn near choked him. The only sounds were the fierce winds outside and the stomp of Logan’s heavy gait up the corridor towards them.
The second Logan entered the room, Seb said, “You should take Dad’s old car.”
A deep frown pressed down on Logan’s soft brown eyes. He stared at Seb but didn’t respond.
“You’ve lost your car because of me.” A sharp glare at Reyes, Seb said, “Because of her.”
Reyes looked like she wanted to speak. At least she had the good sense to keep her mouth shut. Seb continued. “Dad’s has been outside doing nothing, and I have no intention of staying here. Especially now Davey’s gone.” Before Logan could reply, Seb added, “Besides, Dad would want you to have it more than any other being in this universe. More than he’d want me to take it. He knows you’d look after it better than anyone else.”
Logan accepted the gift with a nod and didn’t try to deny Seb’s assessment. “Thank you. I’ll make sure I take good care of it.”
“Anything’s got to be better than what I’d do with it.”
Just to look at Reyes’ face wound Seb’s back tight and he went for her again. “Not that I’d need to replace your car if she hadn’t showed up with that ridiculous mech.”
“Moses sent me,” Reyes said. “I had to do what he asked of me.”
“You chose to do what he asked of you.”
Although Reyes looked like she wanted to reply, she held her tongue again.
“And you know what?” Seb said. “I’m not even sure I want you in my dad’s house. You still need to complete your mission, right?”
A slight pause where Reyes’ eyes shifted from Seb to Logan and back again, she said, “Why don’t you just go and see him?”
“Do you know what I did?”
“You forced a prison break so you could get away from the Shadow Order’s base.”
Seb nodded. “You know about our last mission?”
“Carstic?”
“Right. You heard about the parasites?”
“Yep.”
“Well, they were created in a gene farm.”
Reyes’ eyes widened slightly. “You think someone planted them there?”
“They didn’t get there on their own. I think Moses planted them there.”
All the while, Logan watched the pair as if ready to intervene.
Reyes might have shaken her head, but she sounded far from certain when she said, “Moses wouldn’t do something like that.” It sounded like a question.
“Someone did. If it wasn’t Moses, then I’ll find out who. If it wasn’t Moses, I’m sure the Shadow Order will want to do something about it too. With their fight for justice and all that. Although, I don’t have the same faith as you do in the big man. I’m struggling to see it as just a coincidence that the Shadow Order profited from the tragedy.” Before Reyes could speak, he said, “I’m also going to find out who blew up the shuttle that left Carstic with the mine’s only survivors on it.”
“Wait, what?”
“There were three survivors. I bet you didn’t hear about them, did you?”
The lack of response from Reyes said all it needed to.
“No, I didn’t think so. It’s not Moses’ way to give more information than he needs to. You have to find out for yourself. The survivors were a family. The dad of that family had a theory that the parasites were planted on Carstic as a way to extort credits from the owners. Or to steal the production of ruthane for themselves. The attack happened shortly after the galaxy found out about ruthane and its worth. Now maybe Moses didn’t have anything to do with it, but there are too many warning lights flashing when I’m looking at this. If I’m to go back to the Shadow Order’s base, I need to know Moses isn’t a murderer. I can’t work for him otherwise.”
“And how will you do that?”
At that moment, the large phone Buster had given Seb rang. Logan had left it on the coffee table. Seb looked at it for a second, his pulse quickening. He then picked it up. “Hello?”
Buster’s reptilian voice hissed th
rough the device. The tinny sound tickled Seb’s ear. “We’ve found out who the supplier of the parasites was. These airwaves aren’t safe, so come back to Aloo and I’ll give you all the information.”
It made sense that he didn’t want to reveal himself over the phone. Seb nodded. “Thanks.”
The click of Buster hanging up popped through the receiver.
Both Logan and Reyes were staring at Seb when he put the phone down on the sofa again. “I need to go back to Aloo. Buster has the details of where the parasite was created.”
Anxiety played out across Reyes’ features. Seb sighed. “You can come with me. Once I confirm where the parasites came from, I’ll go back to the Shadow Order on my own.”
Still frowning, Reyes drew a breath as if she had an objection, but Seb cut her off. “I’m not offering you a choice. You’ve been following me for this long, you can do it for a few more days.”
“I’ve been what?”
“I’ve felt you following me since I was on Aloo.”
“I’ve not been following you.”
“Then how did you know where I was?”
“We heard of your brother’s suicide. I’m sorry, by the way.”
Seb balled his fists and Reyes looked down at them, adding, “When we heard about that, we thought you might have heard too. We thought maybe we could find you here.”
The grief of watching Davey’s execution wound so tightly within Seb he felt sick. Before he could respond to Reyes, the voice of his mum came through.
Pick your battles, Seb. She’s not trying to antagonise you. Try to see that.
A long inhale, Seb then released a hard breath, his cheeks puffing out with the force of it.
Reyes pulled back as if repelled by the strength of his exhalation.
It helped Seb let go of his rage. He turned to Logan. “Thank you for all your help.”
“You’re welcome, son.”
“Do you have everything you need? Do you have somewhere to stay? I’m not coming back to this house, so it’s yours if you want it.”
Clearly stunned by Seb’s statement, Logan’s eyes widened and he looked Seb up and down. “Really?”
“It’s a shame for it to go to waste. Like Dad’s car, you’ll take better care of it than I will. And like his car, he’ll be happy to know he’s helped you out.”
“Thank you.” Logan said. “I’ve always hated my apartment, and I want to retire soon.” Before Seb could reply, he added, “There’s something I need to tell you. It’s about the prophecy.”
Something in the old man’s kind eyes gave him away and Seb pointed at him. “I thought you knew about it.”
Logan walked out of the front room and called back to Seb, “Come with me, son.”
Chapter 35
Logan led the way to the kitchen, talking over his shoulder as he went. “I promised your dad I’d do this when the time was right.”
The anticipation of whatever Logan had to tell him balled nausea in Seb’s stomach. His palms turned clammy and his breathing sped up. “What are you talking about? What have you been hiding from me?”
“Well.” Clearly nervous, Logan pushed the door to the kitchen open, the hinges creaking in response. “I didn’t know if I’d be talking to you or your brother.”
Seb deflated at the words. “Oh. So you had to wait for one of us to die?”
“I might have lied to you before.”
A deep inhale to calm his reply, the dusty room tickled Seb’s throat, forcing him to swallow several times. His eyes watered as he gulped against his need to cough. He finally said, “Clearly.”
“I mean about checking on your dad’s house. I didn’t come by to see if it had been broken into.” He laughed. “I’m not sure many people would choose to live this far out of the way, even squatters.”
Where he’d fixed his gaze on the dried mowgrove fruit in the bowl, Seb then looked out of one of the windows at the expanse of desert. Evening had well and truly settled in, the sky red where the last remnants of Danu’s sun disappeared behind the horizon.
“I kept coming back because I knew this day would come. Your dad hoped it wouldn’t, but if it did, I promised I’d be ready for it.”
“You’re talking in riddles, Logan.”
Logan walked towards the safe Seb had been aware of for so many years but never questioned what it contained. Several quick taps against the keypad and the small metal door swung open.
Seb gasped to watch Logan gain access to it.
When Logan turned around, he had a small disc in each hand. One had Mum written on it, the other one Dad. He handed them both to Seb.
Both of the discs had small red buttons in the centre of them. Seb had seen similar devices before. He only had to press the buttons to get them to work, but his thumbs froze as if disobeying his desires. His hands shook and his words caught in his throat. What would the discs show him? Did he even want to know?
At some point, sooner or later, he would press the buttons. Even if he mulled it over for a day or two, he would press them. So why wait? Seb pressed the Mum one first.
A three-dimensional recorded image of his mum stood up from the disc. About six inches tall, she wore a long red dress and had her hair tied up in a bun. She looked like she’d gone to a lot of effort to make the recording, and she looked younger than he remembered her, like the recording had been done some time ago. A look up at Logan, Seb saw the man’s kind gaze focused on the image, so he looked back down.
“Dear Davey or Seb,” his mum said, “I don’t know who has this disc, but it breaks my heart to know it’s being played. It means only one of you are left. I pray both of you have had long and fulfilling lives.”
Tears itched Seb’s eyes and threatened to blur his view of his mum. He rubbed them hard so he could see every second of the recording.
“I love both of you boys with everything I have in me. Whatever life choices you’ve made, know that I’m proud of you and I will always love you. Whatever’s happened.”
Seb’s grief grew claws and raked at his throat. A shake ran through him and he had to set the disc down so he didn’t drop it.
The image of Seb’s mum sat down on a seat and folded her hands across her lap. “Whichever one of you is watching this, know you have a long and hard journey ahead of you. Your father and I tried to protect you from your fate, but we knew it would be almost impossible, which is why we made these recordings. At some point, everything will catch up with you. I hope you get these messages in time for them to help.”
The door creaked and Seb looked across to see Reyes standing there. She wore a sadness all of her own. The footage of his mum must have triggered her own grief. Moses had said she’d lost her dad.
“The main thing I wanted to say is how much I love you. How much your dad and I love you. How we’re with you every step of the way as you journey through this life. I hope you feel me watching over you.”
“I do,” Seb whispered, his voice breaking.
“But what you need to hear now is much better coming from your father than from me. I love you.”
As Seb watched the image of his mum fade away, his heart broke for her death all over again. Tears gushed from his stinging eyes and the lump in his throat damn near choked him. Aware of the other two in the room, he remained fixed on the small disc, pressing the button repeatedly to try to play it again.
When Logan wrapped a long arm around Seb, he fell against the old frant’s chest as another wave of grief poured out of him. “They can only play once,” Logan said. “What you’re about to learn has been set to erase. Your mum and dad figured that if someone finds out your mum has spoken to you, then they’ll know your dad has spoken to you too. If they’re both gone, there’s no evidence. It might protect you for a little longer.”
“Protect me from what?” Seb said.
Logan moved the disc marked Mum to the side. No more than an empty storage device now. Seb drew a deep and stuttered breath that lifted his chest. He then
stared down at the one marked Dad still in his hand. After he’d placed it down, he looked first at Logan and then Reyes. They both cried with him.
“I’m sorry,” Reyes said. “Do you need me to leave?”
A moment’s silence as he thought on it, Seb looked first at Logan and then shook his head. “No. You lost your dad too, right?”
Reyes dropped her gaze.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Logan said to her.
Not aggressive, but clear in her assertion, Reyes stepped away from Logan and shook her head. “Never!”
When both Reyes and Logan looked at him, Seb returned his focus to the disc marked Dad, drew yet another deep breath, and pressed the red button.
Chapter 36
As much as Seb felt bad for watching his dad’s image pop up while he still thought about his mum, it didn’t change the fact that unless something else turned up that he knew nothing about, it would be the last time he’d see any new footage of her. At least he had her in his head. Then his dad spoke.
“Son,” Seb’s dad said, already sounding more human than he had in a long time, “only one of you is left, which is why you’re seeing this message. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to support you.”
A glance at Logan, Seb then shrugged. “Who is this man?”
“Just listen,” Logan said.
Seb looked back at the dad he’d never met before. A seemingly kind and compassionate man. “You’re the last remaining superhuman in the galaxy. We’re actually called Trowks, but we resemble the human race so closely, the term superhuman has stuck.”
When his dad paused again, Seb looked back at Logan, who knew more than he did at that moment. “Dad?”
Logan nodded.
“He was the special one?”
“He did his best to hide it,” Logan said. “He didn’t want to tell you because—”
“He thought he knew best?” Seb finished for him.
“Sound familiar?”
Before Seb could continue his conversation with Logan, his dad spoke again. “We’ve lived side by side with humans for centuries. We’ve hidden our skills because we have such a great power. That kind of power sends people crazy in their desire to acquire or destroy it. I didn’t want to give this burden to my boys. But we have one advantage; people might sense we have something about us, but Trowks have been considered extinct for centuries. It’s why this message has to vanish after you’ve watched it.”
The Shadow Order - Books 1 - 8 + 120 Seconds (The complete series): A Space Opera Page 89
