The Shadow Order - Books 1 - 8 + 120 Seconds (The complete series): A Space Opera

by Michael Robertson

Now we need to work out how to get there, SA said.

  A look into the calm gaze of his love, Seb nodded and voiced it for her. “Now we just need to know how to get there. Very few ships in the spaceport will go to Earth.”

  “I can get us there,” Reyes said.

  Clearly not the only one who didn’t trust her, Seb watched Sparks look Reyes up and down as she spat one word. It sounded more like an accusation than a question. “How?”

  “I can get a ship from the Shadow Order’s base.”

  “Won’t Moses know you’ve helped us?” Sparks said.

  “Only if I bump into him, which won’t happen. I have clearance to fly anything I want off that base. I can get in and out before he has any idea I’ve been there.”

  At only three feet and six inches tall, Sparks still looked like she could—and would—tear Reyes’ head off. Were Seb a betting man, he would have gone all in on the small Thrystian. “We’re trusting you,” Sparks said.

  Reyes nodded. “I know. And you can.”

  It didn’t seem enough for Sparks, who clenched her fists and pulled her shoulders back. Seb moved in between them and faced Sparks as he grabbed the tops of her arms. While holding her in a tight grip, he said, “We need to trust her. It’s going to be so much easier to take a Shadow Order ship than try to hitch a lift to Earth. Nothing flies there from here.”

  A sharp twist, Sparks freed herself from Seb’s grip and looked at Reyes again. “What about trackers on the ship?”

  “I’ll make sure I leave them behind. You can check the ship when I get back with it.”

  “Oh, I will. Don’t you worry.” Sparks then pulled out a small round disc much like the ones Seb had seen footage of his mum and dad on. He tried to ignore the rising sadness it triggered in him.

  Reyes stared at the device. “What’s that?”

  “A tracking device. You’ll want to find us when you come back, won’t you? Press the red button on this when you’re near and it’ll project a small local map so you can find us. It won’t work at the Shadow Order base, only when you’re close to us.”

  Reyes didn’t respond. Instead, she took the device, looked at Seb, dipped him a sharp nod, and then walked out of the office.

  After she’d left, Bruke said, “So what do we do now?”

  Although Seb saw Buster would have let them stay, they couldn’t bring that kind of trouble to his door. “We go and find somewhere to hide and wait for Reyes to come back.”

  “If she comes back,” Sparks said.

  As much as Seb wanted to say she would, he couldn’t be certain. He could only hope for the best.

  Chapter 40

  Because he wanted to distance their group from Buster so as not to bring any more trouble to the slaver’s flimsy door, Seb waited until they’d entered the spaceport proper before he pulled the other three close to him. “Reyes said she won’t be long,” he said. “So what do we do while we wait?”

  Other than a cynical glare from the cynical Sparks, Seb got no response. He watched the small Thrystian remove her mini-computer and plug some headphones into it. She then placed one of the ear buds into her right ear and let the other one hang down.

  When Sparks looked at Seb again, he said, “That thing you gave Reyes …”

  A blank expression, she fixed him with her purple gaze while waiting for him to finish.

  “… was so you can track her, right?”

  “Of course. But she’s not stupid; she’ll work that out. And you know what? If she has nothing to hide, then she won’t care either.”

  “Said every fascist state ever …”

  When Sparks glared at him, Seb shrugged. As much as he didn’t like the idea of total surveillance, it certainly served a purpose.

  While Seb had talked to Sparks, he’d noticed Bruke throwing glances at the crowd surrounding them. “They’re looking at us, Seb.”

  In a voice quiet enough for no one else to hear, Seb said, “Of course. When I was here last, I’m not sure every being knew Moses wanted me. They stared at me because I’m human, but now I can feel the tension has wound up another notch. I’d be more surprised to find a being that doesn’t know about the bounty on my head now. We need to find somewhere to hide while we wait for Reyes.”

  Bruke’s face became a wreck of worry lines, SA stood as her usual serene self, and Sparks had slipped her other ear bud in, her attention totally fixed on her screen as she continued to spy on Reyes.

  The lack of responses allowed the sound of the crowd around them to come through to Seb. The busy hum of chatter made it hard to pick out the details of the multiple conversations, but he did hear one word repeated several times. Moses.

  “So where shall we go?” Bruke said.

  SA stared at Seb. You’re going to say the sewers, aren’t you?

  She knew him too well. Where else can we go? It’s getting tense out here, and I can’t think of anywhere better.

  I’m not sure. I just hate it down there.

  When have you been down there?

  SA raised her eyebrows and tilted her head to one side.

  Of course. That was you following me. I still struggle to associate what I saw as a threat as being you.

  I just wanted to make sure you were okay.

  I nearly killed myself running away from you.

  I’m sorry. My intentions were only ever good.

  Seb never doubted that. Because they’d had a conversation the others couldn’t hear, Seb looked at Bruke to see confusion crushing his features, which he then vocalised. “Well? Are you going to answer me?”

  Hard not to smile. After all, he had a way to speak to his love that no one else shared. The secrecy of it made it somehow more special. Something they could partake of on their own. But if he wanted to keep it a secret, or if SA wanted him to keep it a secret, he needed to say something. “Sorry, Bruke.” No point in apologising to Sparks, she seemed too dialed in to her headphones to notice much else. “I think we should go to the sewers.”

  “Really?” Bruke said.

  A large creature bumped into Seb at that moment, nudging him in the back and sending him crashing into Sparks, who nearly dropped her device.

  Sparks looked up at Seb and tutted as she scowled at him. Then she saw the back of the beast as it walked off into the crowd. Taller than Seb and twice as wide as Bruke, if not more, it had skin like an elephant and a lazy gait.

  The creature had definitely meant to crash into Seb. He balled his fists to watch it walk away. The edges of his world blurred as his gift threatened to switch on.

  Leave it, Seb. SA laid a gentle hand on Seb’s back. You kick off here and Moses will find us in a heartbeat. For some reason, no being wants to claim the bounty yet. Don’t give them an excuse.

  When Seb turned back to Sparks and Bruke, he said, “The sewers are the only place we can go where there won’t be hundreds of beings deciding if they should claim the bounty on me. We won’t have to go down there for long, but I think it’s our best option. Sparks, how’s Reyes getting on?”

  The way Sparks shifted her body showed Seb she’d heard him. A slight lifting of her head, but not enough to take her focus away from her headphones. A few more seconds passed as she listened in. Then she looked up. “She’s just got into the Shadow Order’s base.”

  “That’s good. Hopefully she won’t have any problems while she’s there.” Now they’d been there for a few minutes, quite a crowd had gathered. As of yet, none of them seemed to want to follow the beast who’d just nudged him. But they had to get out of there before they grew braver. The courage of a mob went well beyond the sum of its parts. It didn’t matter how good the four of them were as a unit, they couldn’t fight everyone. One quick look at the other three, Seb said, “Does anyone have any objections to the sewers?”

  Just before Bruke could speak, Seb quickly added, “And a better idea if they do because we need to move now.”

  Bruke closed his mouth.

  When SA grabbed Seb’s arm, he
looked first at her and then in the direction she pointed. They didn’t have a uniform, but they didn’t need to. Seb recognised them from a mile away. Something about the way they held themselves. “Shadow Order guards. And the worst kind.”

  “Rookies,” Bruke said.

  “Jumped-up little pricks. So damn eager to please.” As Seb looked along the line of them, which stretched at least twenty wide, he said, “And far too many of the bastards for us to fight.”

  At that moment, one of them looked up and Seb’s entire body sank. Not hard to find the human when everything in the crowd focused on him. “Damn.”

  The guard pointed at Seb and yelled something he couldn’t quite make out. Not that he needed to hear the words to get his intention. “Come on!” he said, his voice raised as adrenaline lit the touch paper inside him. He ran at the nearby crowd, shoving several of them aside on his way through. The others followed him when he darted beneath a large ship to the shops and alleyways beyond it. From the sound of the footsteps behind them, the guards had given chase.

  Chapter 41

  Seb focused on an alley running between two shops in front of him. The same alley he’d ducked down when he’d had SA on his tail the last time he’d visited Aloo. If only he’d known then what he knew now. Everything would have been easier had he had her company from the beginning.

  When he got to the entrance, Seb stood aside and looked back at his friends. SA, as always, moved like a gazelle—graceful, fast, and utterly calm as if she could run forever. Sparks’ little legs pumped, and for someone of her size, she had no right moving as fast as she did. Bruke had a wide frame to shift, so he took up the rear.

  As SA got close, Seb called loud enough for her and Sparks to hear. “See you on the other side. I’m going to wait for Bruke.”

  Before Bruke could get to him, Seb saw the first few of the Shadow Order guards emerge from beneath the large ship they’d ducked under. A mismatch of creatures, some ran on all fours, but most were bipedal. Some were taller than Seb and wider than Bruke, others smaller than Sparks. He recognised many of the faces but knew none of them by name.

  By the time Bruke ran into the alley, Seb got a measure of exactly what chased them. Like he’d seen in the spaceport, there were about twenty in the pack. They all had blasters, but none of them had drawn them yet. Nobody needed to die today, but Seb needed to come up with a better plan than run. Especially as he’d told SA and Sparks to keep going. But climbing into the sewers might not work with so many guards on their tail. They wouldn’t have the time to get out of sight.

  The sound of his own exhausted breaths came back at Seb as he tore up the alley. They accompanied the slam of Bruke’s clumsy steps and, ahead of them, SA and Sparks’ escape.

  Although the twisting alleyway stood between them and their pursuers, Seb could hear the creatures behind them. And because he moved at Bruke’s pace, they were catching up. Taking a deep breath, he shouted ahead, his voice echoing through the alley. “Sparks, I need you to do something to slow them down.”

  She didn’t reply, but Seb heard the pip of what sounded like an explosive being armed. He didn’t need to know any more than that. “Pick up the pace, Bruke.”

  Everything still moved in real time for Seb. No advantage to slowing things down. It made it easier to communicate with his team at normal speed. Especially with them running like they were.

  Several more sharp turns through the alleyway, Seb watched Bruke take each one, pushing off the walls to cope with the sudden shifts in direction.

  They rounded another corner and Seb saw it. A small disc had been stuck against the brickwork. A red light pulsed in time with a pipping sound, the pips getting closer together.

  A second after Bruke and Seb had passed the device, the pips turned into a continuous beep.

  The thunder of footsteps following them through the alley stopped. A cry of “Explosive!” sounded out.

  The air dragged on Seb’s back, but not enough to slow his progress. It suddenly changed direction, shoving him forwards into Bruke, making him trip and take down his friend in the process. Both of them fell forward out of the alley on the other side as a blast of fire ran over their heads. It burned itself out as a churning mass above them, the heat lifting sweat on Seb’s skin.

  For the next few seconds, Seb remained on top of his friend, panting from the run and touching the back of his head to see if he still had all of his hair. He then turned to look at the alley to see the walls had collapsed, the bricks blocking the path of anything on their tail. Sparks and SA were getting to their feet about ten metres ahead of them.

  “It won’t take them long to get through that,” Seb said as he stood up and groaned, his body aching from the fall. He helped Bruke up. “Come on, let’s get the hell out of here.”

  Chapter 42

  A large expanse of open ground lay between the exit to the alley and Aloo’s fighting pit. SA and Sparks had opened up a good lead. Seb gave chase with Bruke close behind him.

  It looked like SA was headed for the arena. Before Seb could say anything to her, another explosion sounded out behind them. A look back and he saw the Shadow Order guards had blown their way through the blockage. They couldn’t go into the pit now. They’d trap them in there like they’d done to the guards on Carstic.

  With SA so close to the pit, Seb called through to her, Keep going. Don’t go in there.

  Why not?

  Look behind.

  To watch the bioluminescent stare of his love widen in horror showed Seb all he needed to see. She got exactly why not and ran past the pit’s entrance. Find a way into the sewers that’ll give us enough time to get down there without them seeing us.

  Quite a few seconds behind SA and Sparks, Seb and Bruke finally ran around the pit after them. The sight robbed Seb of his momentum and he ground to a halt. Nothing but choppy dark sea in front of them. “Damn!”

  As he stared at the large body of water, the salty wind stinging his skin and leaving the taste of it on his tongue, Seb shook his head. “We’re screwed. We should have found a manhole sooner than this.” Then he looked at the others. “You guys go. Swim out to sea and you’ll be fine.”

  None of them showed any sign of leaving Seb there. Before he could argue with them, the stampede of a small army rounded the corner.

  Seb faced the mismatch of Shadow Order guards and stepped back towards the water. The mist from where the sea broke got thrown against him, swirling around him on the breeze. A cold line of pinpricks, it helped cool him a little after his run.

  A deep breath to slow his world down, Seb pulled one of his weapons from his pocket. To see the sword’s handle made his frame sink. Wrong weapon. He reached for his blaster but couldn’t find it. He must have dropped it.

  Seb pressed the button on the handle of his laser sword and the purple blade sprang from the hilt.

  What appeared to be the leader of the group—a frant with long arms and a thick jaw—looked at Seb for a second before her top lip raised in mirth. “What’s that?”

  A couple of the others next to her snorted laughs at Seb and his weapon.

  Maybe Seb could take them down on his own with the sword, but he’d need to get closer. To do that, he’d have to avoid a barrage of laser fire. Not even he could dodge that many hostiles trying to shoot him.

  “Look,” the lead guard said to Bruke, SA, and Sparks. “We’ve been sent to retrieve Seb. We don’t want a fight and we don’t want to hurt anyone.” The smirk of a second ago returned and she looked at Seb’s sword. “Besides, it wouldn’t be fair for us to pick a fight against someone with a weapon like that.” The others chuckled again.

  A clenched jaw and tight grip on his sword, Seb nearly told them to screw themselves, but Sparks walked past him at that moment, crashing into him on her way through.

  The small Thrystian removed her earpiece and put her mini-computer in her back pocket. “You don’t need to worry about fighting us,” she said. “We’re going to hand him over.�
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  A twist of nervous adrenaline ran through Seb’s stomach and Bruke said, “Whaaa … ?”

  When Sparks turned back and looked at Seb, disgust twisted her small features. “I mean, look at him. He’s supposed to be our leader and he pulls out a weapon like that. Does he think he’s some kind of pirate or something?”

  Seb’s head spun to be on the receiving end of Sparks’ vitriol. More of the Shadow Order guards laughed.

  “I dunno about you two,” Sparks said to SA and Bruke, “but this clown hardly fills me with the confidence a leader should instill.”

  As she turned back to the Shadow Order soldiers, Sparks pointed one of her long fingers at them. “I mean, you lot need to watch out. I’ve heard he has a pack of cocktail sticks in his other pocket, he might throw a few of them your way if his sword doesn’t work out.”

  Over half of the guards were now laughing at Seb. Heat spread through his cheeks. Such a tight clench to his teeth they hurt, he opened his mouth to reply, but SA cut him off.

  Don’t.

  But she’s making a fool of me.

  Go with it.

  What has she said to you?

  Go with it.

  It helped Seb calm down a little as he continued to watch Sparks. If SA said he could trust her, that was all he needed.

  “I don’t know if you’ve heard of the mighty Seb Zodo before.” She had the guards in the palm of her hand as she turned and stared straight at Seb. “I’m talking to you, by the way. Because if you have, you’re certainly not living up to his legacy.”

  Nearly every one of the guards had broken into hysterical laughter. They were so preoccupied they probably didn’t notice it. Seb did, though. The slightest glance from his small friend up to the sky behind him.

  At that moment, Sparks jumped out of the way and Seb threw his sword at the Shadow Order soldiers. They stopped laughing and parted as the blade spun through the middle of them, narrowly avoiding several of them on its twirling trajectory.