“For what good it did,” Seb said. “It’s not like it’s gone away.”
“He gave you a childhood, Seb. He gave you a normal life up until now. Don’t cheapen the value of that.”
“And now?”
“Now you have to choose—”
A man’s voice cut Moses off. “Do you run away and hide, or do you step into the unknown with courage in your heart and your friends by your side?”
Seb stared at the figure who’d just emerged from the shadows.
The man continued. “Your dad protected you for as long as he could. What you face now was always going to come to one of you.”
The light from the screen showed Seb a skinny man in a suit. Eight feet tall, if not more. He looked like he weighed what someone half his height should. He had green skin, pointy ears, long black hair that hung past his shoulders, and a gaunt face. He looked like a cross between a vampire and an orc.
“Who are you?” Seb said.
The creature offered Seb his long hand. He had pointed fingernails poking from his bony digits. They looked almost like claws. “I work for Pluto.”
“Pluto?”
“This is who I’ve been working with,” Moses said. “This is the we I’ve been talking about. We’ve been pooling our resources to try to bring down Enigma. Pluto is a secret agency that helps keep order in the galaxy. If something’s amiss, they hear about it first. I figured you’d need some persuading, so Mr. H here said he’d come and talk to you.”
“Seb,” Mr. H said, “I knew your dad personally. I spoke to him many times over the years, assuring him his secret was safe with us. We’ve watched you from afar. We all knew this day would come. He asked us to help you when you needed it. As much as we’ve tried on our own to tackle Enigma, we haven’t even got close. We need you. It’s not a coincidence you’re here.”
Seb’s head spun as he looked at the tall figure.
“When your dad died, we helped guide you to Moses.”
“You did what?” Seb said.
A spread of his long hands, Mr. H said, “You and Davey needed training up. We couldn’t get access to Davey, so we needed to see what you could do. We arranged the fight on the Bandolin so you’d be kicked off on Aloo. We knew Moses could take you in if that happened.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me?”
“Because Davey was still alive. We had to wait until there was only one of you left.”
“And you think I’m ready for this?”
Moses spoke this time. “Yes, I think so. I mean, even if you’re not, time’s run out, right? Besides, you escaped the Black Hole in record time; you’ve overcome the odds on Solsans and Carstic. You have a strong team around you—”
“That could all die on this stupid mission.”
“Enigma isn’t going to wait,” Moses said. “Better to meet them head on than let them take over the galaxy and then come and sniff you out like a fox being hunted for sport.”
Mr. H spoke again. “You’re a great warrior and leader, Seb. And even if you don’t feel ready, the time has come. We need you. We know what your dad has passed on to you, and we’ve studied the prophecy for a long time. You’re the one. Also, if you don’t do something about it now, you’ll have to face it sooner or later. This isn’t going away. Enigma will release chaos, and nowhere in the galaxy will be safe. I promise you, it will stretch to the farthest corners eventually. And there will be a lot of pain and suffering while it moves out. Maybe we can stop that before it happens.”
As he looked from Moses to Mr. H and back again, Seb shook his head. “I don’t know what to trust. I don’t know what’s true and what isn’t. You manipulated me to get me here. How do I know you’re not manipulating me now? You show me footage of my dad … you sell me a sob story about lost families …” His hands on the side of his head, Seb pressed his palms against his temples. “I don’t know what to believe.”
Neither Moses nor Mr. H replied. A few seconds of silence, Seb then said, “Take me back to the others.”
Chapter 7
Seb re-entered the conference room ahead of Moses and Mr. H. “Seriously,” he said over his shoulder, “can’t you do something about how damn cold this room is?” Despite making the joke, nothing felt funny at that moment.
Moses didn’t reply.
The attention of the room on him, Seb cleared his throat. “Okay,” he said to the others, “I feel like a bit of a fool.”
But when he looked at them again, he saw their attention fixed on the being behind him. With a look up at the tall Mr. H, Seb laughed. “Oh, yeah, I’d like you all to meet Mr. H. From what I can tell, he doesn’t want to suck your blood, although I’d keep a vial of holy water handy just in case.”
No one laughed; instead they continued to stare at the tall vampiric being. The light of the conference room made Mr. H look even paler than he had in the room with the monitor. The cold glare he levelled on Seb sent another chill twisting through him. Now he had a good view of him, he saw his eyes were dark red. They looked like two small pools of blood.
“Okay,” Seb said, “maybe he does.” Still no laugh in the room. “Geez, tough crowd.”
When he walked in front of the others, Seb waited for Moses and Mr. H to join him before he said, “Mr. H works for Pluto.”
Reyes shifted forward in her seat. “Who?”
Although Mr. H opened his mouth to reply, Sparks cut him off. “Pluto are the people the conspiracy theorists talk about. A conglomerate of powerful beings who pull the strings in the galaxy. They claim to be a force for good, and I’ve not seen evidence to contradict that.” After looking the tall man up and down, she added, “But that doesn’t mean I’m convinced about it either. They operate with such a high level of secrecy, it’s hard to be certain of anything when it comes to them.”
Only a few seconds, but it felt like longer as Mr. H appraised Sparks with his dead glare. Then the slightest twitch of a smile lifted one side of his thin lips. “It’s nice to meet someone who does her research.”
A stiffening in her seat, Sparks shot back, “Always.”
“As far as most beings are concerned,” Mr. H said, “we’re a fiction dreamed up by paranoid lunatics on the fringes of most societies. We only make ourselves known when we need to, and we need to now because we want to work with you.”
For the entire time, Bruke sat there with his jaw hanging open. It swung as he looked from Mr. H to Seb. He didn’t seem to have listened to much of what had been said. “You mean you’re coming with us?”
“Yeah,” Seb said, “I’m going on the mission. I’m sorry about the drama. If I’m being honest, I felt scared. I still do. Petrified, in fact.” He didn’t need to tell them he feared for their lives. They knew what they were getting into. Instead, he focused on the prophecy. “I don’t know what this prophecy is and what it means for me. For us. I’d much rather the fate of the galaxy didn’t rest on our shoulders, but wishing away reality is a fool’s errand. We need to accept whatever comes our way and meet it head-on. But I think you lot have already made that decision. Also, knowing I’ll have you all with me makes me feel much braver about facing it. Sparks, you’ve been with me since the start.”
“And I always will be.”
“Reyes, I’m sorry I ever underestimated you. You’re fierce and the best pilot I’ve ever met.”
Reyes nodded at Seb.
“Bruke, my goodness, I would not want to fight you.”
And, SA, my love.
Don’t call me that.
Huh?
I’m coming with you. Move on, yeah. She then looked down at the floor.
“Uh,” Seb said and looked at the others; a wash of heat lit up his cheeks. He found his stride again, still looking at SA as he said, “Moses, you need to give us whatever backing we want. Financial, weapons, armies … And if you can’t fulfil it, I need Mr. H to step up.”
Seb looked at both men until they agreed by nodding at him.
As much as he wan
ted to stay on track, Seb returned to SA. What’s going on?
Just focus on what you’re doing. We need to keep our eye on the ball.
“Moses, Mr. H, if we want your opinions, we’ll ask for them.”
“And even then it will be limited,” Sparks said.
The room turned their attention to the small Thrystian, who shrugged. “Anything we transmit can be picked up. You won’t hear from us for long spells. You’ll just have to deal with that.”
Moses frowned as he turned to Seb. “You think you can find where the Countess keeps her slaves?”
Seb shrugged. “I’m not sure, but I have an idea where to start.”
“And you think you can gather as much information as possible and then get out of there?” Mr. H said. “As hard as it might be, you can’t cause too many waves. You can’t overthrow a regime like you did on Solsans. You might have to witness horrible things and walk away from them for the greater good. This needs to be done on the down low. If Enigma doesn’t know that we’re on to them, we have a much better chance of finding them.”
As much as Seb didn’t like to be told what he did and didn’t need to do, he kept his mouth shut. In all honesty, he couldn’t say how he’d react. He didn’t know what they’d come across. “We need a ship to get out of here.”
“Where are you going?” Moses said.
“Aloo is our first port of call.”
“To do what?”
“You want us to find the Countess’ slave ring. I think I know how to do that. But this is about trust, remember?”
Moses sighed before conceding the point.
Unable to take his focus off SA for long, Seb glanced at her again. What’s going on?
SA kept her gaze on the floor.
A look at the rest of the room, Seb shook his head. “Fine. Does anyone have anything else to say, or are we all good to go?”
Silence swept around the place before Seb headed to the room’s exit first. Whatever SA had on her mind, there seemed little point in pushing the issue in front of the others.
Chapter 8
Once Seb had walked a few metres away from the conference room down the dreary corridor, he stopped and waited for the rest of them to catch up. Mr. H, Moses, Reyes, he then grabbed SA and pulled her to one side. A look at the others, he said, “We’ll meet you up top. I just need to talk to SA.”
No warmer than she’d been with him in the conference room, SA watched Seb, clearly waiting for him to speak.
Why are you being so off with me? I thought we’d worked everything out? I accepted I was being a dick on the Countess’ ship and I apologised. Why are you still punishing me?
After a few seconds of staring at him, SA’s eyes glazed with tears.
When Seb reached across to touch her arm, she pulled back. Come on, you need to tell me what’s going on. With what we’re about to face, I need you now more than ever.
And you’ll have me more than ever. Unflinching in how she held his stare, despite her clear sadness. That’s why I’m doing this.
WHAT are you doing? I genuinely don’t understand.
Rigid in her stance, SA eased a little, sighed, and dropped her head for a few seconds. When she looked back at him, she’d dropped her frosty outer shell and he saw the woman he loved. It’s nothing to do with your actions. Sure, I was annoyed with you for a hot minute, but I forgave you. Don’t you know me at all? I don’t hold grudges.
So what’s this?
A slight softening of her stance, SA leaned across and put a hand on Seb’s arm. It sent electricity away from her contact, gooseflesh running up his skin. She held him with her bioluminescent gaze. I spoke to Reyes about our fight against the Countess.
What’s Reyes got to do with it?
I’ve been really emotional, Seb. I mean, you … this … I’ve not felt these kinds of feelings for the longest time … if ever.
For a minute, Seb had forgotten about the pain in his face. His hard frown quickly reminded him of it. He pulled a sharp breath as needles ran through his cheeks. The acute ache still throbbing through him, he said, You’re not making any sense.
I nearly screwed up big time. I was so caught up in our argument about revealing my powers that I sent you out of the airlock too early. Reyes did what she needed to do to rescue you. She saved me and you. Had she not been on the ball, your lungs would have burst, and you’d now be one of the many frozen corpses floating in space.
The glaze of only a few seconds ago returned to SA’s blue eyes. Where she still had her hand on his arm, Seb felt the shake running through her. Her guard well and truly dropped, he saw the woman he loved. The woman who would love him back. Then it vanished as if she had to force it down again.
Okay, Seb said, so we make a deal; no arguments while in the field. That’s on me. I can stop that.
You don’t get it, do you? To be the best fighter I can be, I need to shut down. I need to make sure my emotions aren’t clouding my thoughts. I need to learn the lessons I should have learned in the monastery. I love you too much for this to work. As long as we have something to battle, I can’t do this.
So you’re scared about how much you love me?
That’s not what I said. I’m scared about screwing up and someone dying. Surely you can understand that.
He’d not told her his fears for what lay ahead. He clearly didn’t need to. She already knew him better than anyone.
I’m more likely to make mistakes because I love you, she said.
You know the way the monks raised you wasn’t right? It’s okay for people to have relationships with one another. It’s normal.
Maybe if we had a normal life.
We could walk away from the fight. I’ll give up everything to be with you.
I can’t walk away from it. And come on, be realistic, you can’t either. Even if you try, it’ll follow you.
As much as he wanted to reply, he didn’t have it in him. Drained from their conversation, pain running through both his swollen face and his heart, Seb watched SA set off in the direction of the lift. They needed to get up top so they could fly to Aloo. His heart heavy, his body leaden, he pulled in a deep breath of the bleach-scented air before setting off after her.
Chapter 9
“One good thing about working for Moses,” Seb said as he stepped out of the ship Reyes had just landed, “is we get designated Shadow Order landing bays in Aloo. That has to be a bonus, right? I wonder what the pension package is like.”
None of the others replied to Seb, the strong and salty Aloo wind crashing into him as he walked towards the spaceport. SA chose to take up the rear. In light of their recent conversation, it would do them good to have a bit of space from one another.
A huge black ship sat docked between them and the spaceport beyond. Pockmarked and dented, it looked like it had clocked up millions of light years. When they were closer to the vessel, Seb got a clearer view beneath it. The beings in the busy port were already watching them approach. If only he had some way of helping them all see he wasn’t entirely human. It would have made travelling the galaxy a hell of a lot easier. Although, he looked human enough that they’d probably hate him anyway. Not to mention, they had Reyes with them as well.
As they passed beneath the freighter, Seb saw a couple of beings call to one another, look back at them, and then run off into the crowd. Although he didn’t look at the others, he spoke to them over his shoulder. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this. Keep your wits.”
Despite Seb’s instinct, the spaceport—a hive of chaos—didn’t look any different than normal. The hustle and bustle of beings trying to make a living remained. Dirty stares came his way from at least one out of every two creatures. Not the first time he’d been looked at like that. So why did it feel so different today? Something had turned the air electric. It lifted the hairs on the back of his neck.
Once the rest of his crew had passed beneath the large ship and joined him, Seb turned to Reyes. “Is it me, or does it seem lik
e—?”
“They hate us a whole lot more today?”
“Yeah.”
With a sharp nod, Reyes frowned as she scanned the crowd.
Unable to explain it, Seb said, “Let’s just keep moving.” A second after the words left his mouth, he heard the call.
“Oi, human.”
Instead of looking in the direction of the sound, Seb turned back to Reyes. “Do you think they’re talking about me or you?”
Before Reyes could reply, the deep boom of the creature came again. “Stinking human scum.”
A slight smirk lifted on Reyes’ Hispanic face. They’d been here before. They had nothing to worry about. “They’re clearly talking about you,” she said.
Despite still carrying the sadness from his conversation with SA, Seb smiled. “Clearly.”
Another disgruntled creature; hopefully they could deal with it without fighting and move on. Then he saw the beast that had called at him. It might have been the only vocal one, but it had another ten or twelve thugs with it. They came forward in a line. They were the same species as the three he’d seen in the prison cell. The ones with the thick skulls, weak bellies, and foreheads that started at their deep scowl and ran all the way to the back of their necks.
The other Shadow Order members gathered around Seb, close enough for him to whisper to them. But he rejected that chance and spoke loud enough for their aggressors to hear him. “I had to fight three of these in Moses’ prison cell.”
A whine to his voice, Bruke said, “They look tough.”
Seb stared at the line of creatures again, addressing them directly. “Not really, just punch them in the stomach and they go down like wilting flowers. They’re quite sensitive little fellas.”
The rest of the creatures in the spaceport clearly picked up on the atmosphere. Many of them had already walked away, the last few clearing the immediate area.
Just the Shadow Order and the line of thick-skulled brutes remained on the wide walkway. About fifteen metres separating them, the creature who’d already spoken led the line by stepping closer. “You have no place here, human.”
The Shadow Order - Books 1 - 8 + 120 Seconds (The complete series): A Space Opera Page 101
