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

by Michael Robertson

  The others waited, giving them their moment.

  When they broke apart, Moses walked over to Seb and hugged him. Although he brought his usual smell of fish, and his rough leathery skin scraped against Seb’s face, the large shark emitted an uncharacteristic warmth. Strangely paternal, Seb squirmed because of its tenderness.

  Moses pulled away, and Seb’s attention went to the glazing of his onyx eyes. The deep bass boom of his voice took on the slightest distortion as if his words caught in his throat. “I’m so glad …” He stopped to cough. “I’m so glad you’re okay, son.”

  While this happened, Seb couldn’t help noticing Sparks tapping away on her computer—the consummate professional. Always working, she waited for Moses to finish before she projected an image onto the conference room’s wall where Enigma had just been. “Seb might be okay—and that matters—but look at everywhere else.”

  The footage showed several major spaceports, including Aloo. Chaos already ran through them. Blasters were being fired, swords wielded, and blood spilled.

  Seb shook to watch it, his energy at rock bottom. “This is all our fault. The second we kidnapped that slaver, we sent a flare up for Enigma to see. If we’d have gotten out quietly, we would have had time to track them down without them knowing.”

  While holding his hands in front of his chest, the tips of his long fingers pressed together, Mr. H shook his head. “Not necessarily. We were expecting something to happen soon. The slaver going missing might have forced their hand, but we believe an attack was imminent anyway. We’ve been trying to find Enigma for years and haven’t managed it. Maybe this is the way we need to do it. And you know what? If we have forced them to play their cards earlier than they would have liked, that might give us an advantage too. They might not be fully prepared. Besides, I’m sure your hostage will be able to help us in some way, and the information we have on the slaves gives us a good starting point. We know what’s happening out there isn’t to do with the beings committing crimes; it’s much more about the programming they’ve gone through. We know we need to go after the puppet master rather than getting dragged into a battle on the ground. They’re victims in this like anyone else. They’re the noise to distract us. The intelligence you’ve gathered might just be the thing that saves the galaxy.”

  “Whatever happens,” Seb said as he continued to watch the chaos, “we need to act now.” As he looked at the rest of his crew, he saw determination in all of their faces. “You all with me?”

  “What about your rest?” Buster said.

  “I’ll rest when I’m dead.”

  A lifted eyebrow, the reptile’s voice dropped. “That might come sooner than you plan.”

  Buster’s stark honesty forced Seb to face what he’d been trying to avoid. A buzz of exhaustion shuddered through him. So he could remain upright, he rested both hands on the back of a nearby chair and pulled deep breaths into his tightening lungs. Could he really do this? He almost laughed at himself. Like he had a choice! After a glance at SA, he straightened his posture. If he had her beside him, he could do anything.

  With an impatient flick of his tail, Buster looked around the room before his dead gaze returned to Seb. “So, what’s the call?”

  The footage didn’t play out as a projected image on the wall anymore, but Seb could still see Sparks staring down at her tablet. She swiped two fingers against the screen to flick through different scenes on different planets as she watched chaos erupt around the galaxy. Not close enough for him to get a clear sight of what she watched, it still gave him enough of a feel for what was happening out there. They were lucky to be in the Shadow Order’s base, protected by the water surrounding it. He looked at the others for ideas. Then he saw SA and pointed at her. “Your nose.”

  SA pushed the back of her hand to her top lip. When she pulled it away, some of the blood that ran from it had been stamped on her skin. She looked up at Seb, a paler yellow than before. Always hard to tell because she never moved her mouth, but it looked like she wanted to say something. Then the calm bioluminescence of her gaze snapped back, showing just the whites of her eyes. A moment later her legs folded beneath her and she went down.

  Even with his world in slow motion, Seb didn’t react quickly enough. He lunged for her as she fell and smashed her head against the back of one of the chairs in the room with a loud whack!

  Chapter 2

  The spray from the water lit up cold pinpricks against Seb’s face, his eyes stinging from the salty onslaught as he scowled in the direction they were heading. Aloo’s spaceport lay on the horizon. Still unable to see much of the chaos, the large clouds of smoke rising up in several spots told him enough. Within minutes of Enigma’s transmission, the comms between the Shadow Order’s base and the spaceport had been cut off. The fires must have had something to do with it.

  Owsk acted as skipper, with Buster beside him. Old friends, the two of them had been inseparable since they’d rescued Buster from his underwater captors. Sparks and Bruke had also boarded the vessel with Seb and SA. Bruke looked around at the other boats in their fleet, and Seb recognised his own anxiety in his friend’s crushed features. Sparks glanced from her computer to the spaceport and back to her computer. They were travelling fast enough for the wind to send her black bob of fine hair streaming out behind her. None of them spoke.

  Despite the saline onslaught both burning Seb’s eyes and leaving the taste of salt on his tongue, he continued to face it as he watched the horizon, their boat rising and falling with the undulating sea. He had wanted to travel to the spaceport from the Shadow Order’s base by air, but he’d been outvoted. He understood why.

  As if to highlight their correct decision, Seb watched a small freighter take off in an attempt to leave Aloo. The sky had seemed relatively quiet until the vessel rose up into it. Suddenly a multicoloured show of pyrotechnics exploded from the ground. A fireball engulfed the freighter, smoke lifting into the air while the husk of the vessel fell. A large splash punctuated the failure of the ship’s bid for freedom, Seb’s stomach sinking almost as fast as the wrecked shell had.

  SA must have sensed his anxiety because she squeezed his hand harder than before. When he looked at her, she smiled. The colour had returned to her skin since she’d fainted, and she insisted she felt fine. Although he had to take what she said at face value, he still kept an eye on her.

  If they’d heard Enigma’s broadcast in the Shadow Order’s base, they had to assume every device that could receive the message on Aloo had also heard, and the trigger had found the ears of all the slaves who needed to hear it. And if the footage on Sparks’ computer gave them anything to go by, it looked like the same thing had happened on many other planets.

  At least eighty percent of the personnel in the Shadow Order’s base had taken to boats like the one Seb currently rode in. As he looked to both sides, he saw many tight jaws and many pale faces. Nearly every one of them stared ahead at the burning mess on the horizon. Occasionally, one of the Shadow Order soldiers would look across at him as if for guidance. They were the lead ship. The chosen one had to be the first into battle and had to show them what needed to be done.

  The boats moved over the sea, rising and falling with the waves, unrelenting in their forward progress. When they hit the next wave, their ship took off. Seb’s stomach lurched with the vessel, and he squeezed SA’s hand maybe a little too hard.

  Although she winced, she looked at him and smiled. She understood. After all, she’d seen him trying to swim.

  Another wipe of his face to clear the saline mist, Seb said to her, “Are you sure you’re up for this?”

  Both Sparks and Bruke looked over at them. It took their attention to make Seb realise just how condescending he’d sounded. Before he had a chance to reword it, SA called him out. And from the way Buster and Owsk flinched, she’d obviously said it so the others heard too. I’m fine. Like I’ve already told you. It was a funny turn, nothing more. I think you should focus on how you’re feeli
ng at the moment rather than put your anxiety on me. She let go of his hand and turned away from him.

  “I’m sorry.” Seb reached out to hold her hand again, but she ignored his gesture. “You’re right, I hate being above so much water. But I do care how you’re feeling. I want to make sure you’re okay. I didn’t mean to patronise you.”

  The usual warmth had left her brilliant glare when she turned it back on him. What we’ve been through so far has been tiring for all of us. I passed out; I’m fine now. End of story.

  After nodding at her, Seb looked at the others. They all regarded him through narrowed eyes. Before he could defend himself, a dark silhouette rose from the ground in his peripheral vision. He looked at the spaceport in time to see the thing burst free from the low-lying smoke. A teardrop-shaped missile, it lifted in the sky, its wide arc heading their way.

  Chapter 3

  Although he kept his attention on the large projectile, Seb could sense the others in the boat looking at the missile too.

  “What is it?” Bruke said.

  Sparks pressed her computer to her ear while staring at Seb. When she pulled it away, she said, “I’ve just spoken to Moses, and he said he hasn’t got a clue. It’s nothing to do with Aloo’s defences. It must have been launched from one of the ships docked over there. With so many vessels we know nothing about, they could throw anything at us.”

  The roar of the boat’s engine shook through the flimsy vessel, and they got air off the next several waves. They had straight-line speed, but they weren’t nimble. The boat didn’t have it in it to dodge at the last minute to avoid being sunk. While pulling his sodden hair from his forehead, Seb continued to watch the missile. They were powerless to the attack heading their way.

  Seb looked left and right again. At least thirty boats had left the Shadow Order’s base. Many of those on board the ships watched the missile, their jaws hanging loose. It continued on its upwards trajectory as if it could block out the sun.

  The second Seb had boarded the boat, he’d worked out where the life jacket was. Were it not for the pressure he felt to lead, he would have had it on from the start. But it wouldn’t have filled the rookies with confidence to know the chosen one got palpitations when he went too close to a puddle. However, as the missile hit its apex, he reached for the bright orange safety vest. If they wanted something to lose their nerve over, it wouldn’t be him wearing a flotation device. Not anymore.

  Before Seb could grab the life jacket, something tugged on his fists, stopping him from reaching down. His world flipped into slow motion. As he looked up at the teardrop-shaped projectile and saw the red blinking light on the front of it, his stomach sank. The missile now flew at them with intent. He called to the others, “It’s a large magnet!”

  The missile travelled down at twice the speed it had gone up at. Its flashing red nose zeroed in on them, flying straight and true. His fists now dragged above his head, Seb looked at the orange vest by his feet. It taunted him, berating him for not being safety conscious from the start.

  The magnetic pull tugged harder on Seb’s fists. Just before he lifted from the ship, Bruke and SA both grabbed a hold of him, keeping him anchored.

  Within a few metres of hitting them, the red blinking light on the missile turned off. The pull on Seb’s hands desisted, and he fell backwards with SA and Bruke. All three of them landed in the metal base of the boat with a loud tonk. Cold water soaked through the back of his shirt while he lay on his back and watched the missile fall.

  Seb sat up in time to see the teardrop crash into the ship next to them. The contact triggered an explosion that sent out a loud thoom of a shockwave. It hit him in the face, throwing him to the other side of the boat and giving him tinnitus as his world spun.

  The large splash from the explosion rose at least ten metres into the air, creating a thick wall of water that obscured Seb’s sight of the boat it hit. His vision swam as if he’d been whacked with a sledgehammer. As he sat up for a second time, the water landed on them, knocking him back again.

  The splash cleared to show both ends of the struck ship lift into the air and meet in the middle as the vessel sank. The boat then vanished from Seb’s sight as the rising swell from the hungry sea consumed it.

  Owsk cut the motor, and Seb watched on as all the others in the boat leaned over the side to pull in the passengers from the wreck. As much as he wanted to help, he looked at how their ship tilted with the crew leaning out of it. His heart beat so fast his head spun. He moved as far over to the other side of the boat as he could to provide a counterweight to their activity. He pulled the life vest towards him and hugged it to his chest.

  Chapter 4

  A few long minutes passed before there were no more soldiers in the sea next to them. They’d taken on four new passengers, all of them delirious from the shockwave. Many of the other surrounding boats had done the same, and when he looked, Seb couldn’t see any more of the ship’s crew in the water.

  The first creature to come round had white skin and two holes where a nose would be on a human. It had tiny red eyes, blinking as it clearly tried to find its bearings. A rookie, Seb grabbed its shoulder and looked into its dazed stare. Unable to keep his panic from his voice, he said to it, “Are you okay?”

  The creature blinked repeatedly, its breaths running through it in short and sharp bursts. The first moment of clarity settled on its face when it looked from the chosen one to the flotation device he clung onto. It didn’t reply, instead offering Seb a confused frown. Why couldn’t the great Seb Zodo swim? At least, that’s what he read into the creature’s expression. Maybe he projected his own insecurities onto the being and created a narrative that didn’t exist. He looked back at its frown. Maybe not.

  Before Seb could defend his actions, one of the other creatures sat up, frantic in how she searched the other ships surrounding them. She took a few seconds before she leaned over the side of the boat to look at the water. “I think we’ve lost one.”

  One too many. Seb dropped his life vest and looked at the space where the ship had sunk. It offered no clue as to where the missing soldier had gone.

  The engines of all the boats then roared to life. If they had lost one, they couldn’t do anything about it; hopefully it had made its way to one of the other ships. Just then, another teardrop silhouette lifted into the sky. “Damn it,” Seb said before reaching for the life vest again and slipping it on. So what if the others judged him? He needed to do everything he could to survive. They all did.

  Chapter 5

  The next large metal teardrop seemed to take an age to rise as Seb watched it in slow motion. It lifted up as if surveying the battlefield, playing god in how it decided who to target next.

  A tightening in his chest, Seb tried to pull in a deep breath to unwind it. The ocean spray continued to pinprick his face while he adjusted his legs to accommodate the boat’s unpredictable movements. Although he watched the missile, he felt the white-skinned creature with the red eyes in his peripheral vision. It stared at him as if looking for some kind of guidance. But what could he do? He tugged on his life vest’s straps so it pulled tighter against his body. The creature whimpered.

  If he’d had more time, Seb might have tried to reason with the rookie. He didn’t choose any of this. He knew no more about what they faced than it did. His fists were a curse from Moses. That was why he couldn’t swim. The rookie shouldn’t be scared of that.

  For a second, the large missile appeared to hover in mid-air as it hit its apex. The sun as its backdrop, the bright glare added to the saltwater sting in Seb’s eyes.

  Then it fell, Seb’s heart dropping with it.

  It took a few seconds, but even with the distance currently between them and it, Seb saw the teardrop wasn’t heading for them this time. A space where the already sunken ship had been, he looked across at the next one along. The largest in their fleet, he focused on the captain. A red female from a species he’d never seen before, she had flaccid horns framing
her pretty face. He waved to get her attention and then called across to her, “The magnetic pull stops at the last minute.”

  Although the driver looked at him, she clearly didn’t hear anything he’d said.

  The splash of the water, the roar of engines, even the fighting in Aloo on the horizon … he had to compete with all of it as he shouted again, this time so loudly stars swam in his vision. “At the last minute, accelerate away from the missile. It’s the only way it will miss you.”

  The driver continued to stare a blank glaze at him. Then she flinched. Her eyes widened and she looked around. Suddenly the missile didn’t appear to be her main thought.

  Just metres before it landed, Seb got what had happened. SA next to him, she’d spoken to the ship’s driver, clearly adding to the chaos already running through her.

  The red flashing light on the missile went off. Seb closed his right hand as if gripping an imaginary throttle. He pulled it back to urge the red-skinned captain to get the hell out of there. He called across at her, “Go now!”

  No response. If anything, SA trying to help had only made it worse. The captain froze as she waited for …

  The same shockwave thoom clapped through the air. It hit Seb and drove the wind from his lungs as it knocked him backwards like the first one had. He stumbled into one of the benches and fell. A white flash ran through his vision when he hit his head on the side of the ship.

  Although not unconscious, a throbbing ran through Seb’s skull along with another harsh bout of tinnitus. He worked his jaw to get his hearing back. While poking his right index finger into his right ear, he wiggled it as if it would help. When he pulled it out, it had blood on the tip.

  Seb staggered to his feet to see those around him doing the same. His balance off from a combination of the rocking boat and the whack to his head, he moved to the side of the ship closest to the recent wreck. A series of waves from the explosion crashed into them, each one threatening to spill into their vessel.