THE ORDER OF OMEGA
KRISTEN MARTIN
THE ORDER OF OMEGA
Copyright © 2016 by Kristen Martin
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations em-bodied in critical articles or reviews.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
For information contact :
Black Falcon Press, LLC
http://www.blackfalconpress.com
Library of Congress Control Number : 2016903007
ISBN: 978-0-9968605-3-6 (ebook)
Cover Illustration by Damonza © 2016
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To my mother, Barbara Marvel—
for loving me and supporting me no matter what.
You are truly the best mom out there. I love you.
1
The sound of crunching glass beneath her blood-stained combat boots reminded Emery of a much happier time. Stepping out into the first Christmas snow in Northern Arizona, her family curled up by an outdoor fire pit, watching as the blazing sun fell behind a wide canvas of mountains. It was one of her happiest memories, a time where she’d felt as though everything had finally come together. Every aspect of her life had been perfect. Nothing had been missing.
But she was far, far from that place. And she wasn’t sure she’d ever get to go back.
Emery broke her gaze from the shards of glass on the floor, focusing her attention on the blank faces staring back at her.
Torin. Mason. Warren.
They’d all survived the lethargum attack, thanks, in large part, to her. Orange dust speckled their uniforms from the sanaré bomb that had lit up downtown Chicago just two hours prior. From a physical standpoint, Mason’s headshot wound had healed quickly, but the mental damage had taken a turn for the worst.
Torin had rushed Emery, Mason, and Warren to his apartment, claiming that he had some sort of technology that would speed up the healing process. Emery had sat with Mason’s head on her lap as Torin fastened a strange looking device, almost like headgear but in holographic form, around his head. Orange currents buzzed at lightning speed as they scanned the top of Mason’s head down to his chin. Within minutes, Mason’s eyes had shot open, his face frozen in terror. It’d taken some coaxing, but eventually he’d calmed down.
Since then, the four of them had sat in Torin’s apartment, not moving or talking, stunned by the events that had just taken place. Emery decided it was time to break the silence. “Well, that was eventful.” She raised an eyebrow at Torin, mentally egging him on to respond, but he didn’t. Instead, he averted his eyes and bowed his head to the floor.
“Can someone fill me in on what just happened?” Mason interjected. “In case you failed to notice, I was shot. In the head. By Theo.” He twiddled his thumbs, his eyes flitting back and forth between Emery and Torin. “By my own team.”
Emery’s stomach turned. “I wanted to tell you when we were hiding behind the trashcan . . .”
“Tell me what?” Mason asked through clenched teeth.
“That we were fighting for the wrong side,” Emery blurted out. “Everything Theo told you about the Seventh Sanctum was a lie. The members of the Federal Commonwealth are the creators of Dormance. They’re the ones who want to control all of mankind.” She stole a glance at Torin before continuing. “And had it not been for Torin and his impeccable timing, they probably would have succeeded.”
Torin’s eyes grew wide as if he’d just heard the world’s biggest lie. “That’s not entirely true. It was all Emery’s idea. I just did what I was told.”
A burning sensation crept across her cheeks.
“Hold on,” Mason interrupted. “I still don’t understand what just happened.”
Emery eyed him warily. “It’s a lot more complicated than you realize. Trust me. I’ll find more time to explain later, but not right now.” She walked over to Torin and grabbed him by the arm, then led him toward the fire escape she’d used earlier that day.
“Wait, what are you doing?” Torin asked as she dragged him along behind her.
“There’s somewhere we need to go. You two stay here,” she demanded, pointing her index and middle fingers at Warren and Mason.
Mason opened his mouth to object, then closed it. “It’s not worth it,” he muttered as he fell onto the couch, the toe of his boot knocking against what remained of a coffee table.
Emery swung her legs over the windowsill, then slid down the fire escape, Torin’s feet dangling just a few inches above her head. When they’d both landed safely on the pavement, she turned to face him, lowering her voice to a whisper. “I left something behind in Dormance. Something important.”
Torin’s face fell. “What do you mean?”
As she opened her mouth to answer, a loud buzzing sound filled the space between them. Torin held up his hand as if to pause the conversation, and reached into his pocket for his phone. Disbelief crossed his face.
“This can’t be right.”
Emery moved closer to him, straining her eyes to see. “Who is it?”
“It’s a call,” he said quietly, “from Dormance.”
Their eyes met for a brief moment. But before he could answer it, the buzzing came to a stop.
Emery grabbed the phone from his grip, her eyes scanning the device. “What happened? Who was it?”
“I’m not sure. The call dropped.”
“Can you trace it back somehow?”
“Emery,” he said, as if he were trying to explain something to a small child, “the call was from Dormance. We deactivated Dormance. Meaning it shouldn’t exist. And we certainly shouldn’t be receiving calls from anyone there. Because they don’t exist either. It’s impossible.”
“Unless,” Emery started as she handed the phone back to him, “it didn’t work and we did something wrong.” She shook her head and kicked the pavement with the toe of her boot. The realization dawned on her. “We messed up. We didn’t deactivate Dormance.”
A wave of confusion washed over Torin’s face. “What are you talking about? Of course we did. I was there. I heard the confirmation.”
“No,” Emery argued, her heart picking up speed. “We must have missed something.”
Torin threw his head back, blinking a few times before returning upright. “You sound mental, you know that?”
Emery waved her hand absentmindedly in the air as if the insult had landed on deaf ears. She took a few steps forward in a zig-zag pattern, then back again in the opposite direction. Her eyes met his as a coy smirk crossed her face. “I know what we need to do. But you’re not gonna like it.”
Torin shook his head, as if he could read her mind. “No. Nope. Not happening.”
“Listen to me. You have to send me back.”
“I take back what I said. You don’t just sound mental, you are mental!” His boots clacked against the pavement as he paced back and forth. “How can I send you back to Dormance?”
“Don’t you see? There is no way you could have received a call if we’d fully deactivated Dormance. Which means it’s still active. You have to send me back.”
“But what if something happens? What if you get stuck there?” Torin asked, clearly searching for any reason that might change her mind. “What if there’s retaliation? What if it’
s a giant black hole?”
Emery rolled her eyes. “Everything will be okay,” she coaxed as she searched her pockets for the crystal dials. “I promise.”
Torin shook his head, eyes wide with fear. “It’s too dangerous. You know I can’t let you go.”
“Torin,” she reprimanded as she extended her right palm. “Give me the dials.”
He stood his ground, unflinching, but after a few seconds of her seemingly endless death stare, gave in. Emery watched as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the dials, smiling as they fell from his fingertips into her open palm. She closed her hand securely around them, then walked briskly across the street to find the nearest platform. Torin wasn’t far behind her.
“Can you still connect to the holodevice in the common room?” she asked through hurried breaths.
He drew his phone from his pocket and fumbled with it for a minute. “Working on it. You know, if you’d just slow down a little . . .”
“We don’t have time to slow down,” she called over her left shoulder. “Come on, Porter, keep up.”
After walking another block, they finally arrived at a T-Port on the corner of Fifth Street and Main. Emery hopped onto the platform and dropped the crystal dials onto her wrists, her foot tapping impatiently as she waited for him to catch up.
“Okay, I can’t be one hundred percent sure, but I think I’m connected now,” he panted as he approached the platform. “Wait, what are you doing?”
“Send me back,” she ordered. “I’m ready.” She closed her eyes before he could try to talk her out of it. She heard him sigh, then waited for the familiar gust of air, the tingling in her legs and feet.
But nothing happened.
She opened one eye with caution. Her surroundings hadn’t changed. Torin was still standing right in front of her, looking dumbfounded.
She curled her fists, her fingers sliding against her sweaty palms. “Try it again?” she asked, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves.
“I can’t,” he muttered as he gazed up from his phone. “There’s an error.”
“What kind of error?” she asked impatiently.
“One that says the portal is closed . . .”
As soon as the words left his mouth, Emery’s phone began to buzz uncontrollably. Although she didn’t recognize the number, history had proven more than once that ignoring it wouldn’t make it go away. She accepted the call, waiting as patiently as she could for the voice on the other end.
“Hello?”
Static.
“Hello? Is anyone there?”
“Emery? Is that you?”
Her breath caught. She immediately recognized the voice on the other end of the line.
It was Naia.
2
Emery had never been so happy to hear another person’s voice.
“I’m so happy you answered,” Naia gushed. “Is everything okay? I haven’t been able to get through to anyone, not even Theo. What’s going on?”
Emery’s face paled. She closed her eyes as scenes from earlier that day raced through her mind. Theo holding a gun to Mason’s head. The bullet tearing through Mason’s skull. His limp body crumpling to the ground. Raising her gun and pulling the trigger. Theo’s body collapsing next to Mason’s.
She’d shot Theo. And Naia didn’t know.
Emery swallowed, trying to keep her voice from shaking. “I’m sorry, Naia. It’s not a good time. I have to go.”
“Emery, wait—”
She disconnected the call before Naia could finish. Her body trembled as she sank to the ground. Guilt surrounded her like dark clouds on a stormy night. Naia doesn’t know. Which means she couldn’t have been helping me. The devices in my boots, the capsules in my training sessions. I’m a fool. As the realization hit her, Emery tried to hold back tears, but it was no use. She’d almost forgotten Torin was still there, about to witness her emotional breakdown.
Torin knelt down beside her and reached for her shoulder. Then, with a gentle squeeze, asked, “Are you okay?”
It hadn’t fully hit her until now. I’m a killer. I’m a murderer. With more than one victim. I’m all alone in this.
Emery wiped the tears from her eyes as she shook her head. “I’m a bad person.” An image of Rhea’s smiling face paraded around her thoughts. It was quickly replaced by her roommate’s lifeless body—first in the hospital room, and then later, in the underground hallway in Dormance. She didn’t deserve to die. Emery squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that the images would flee from her mind. But they stayed, tormenting her. Haunting her. The permanent ghost from her bleak past.
“You are not a bad person,” Torin reassured, bringing her back to reality. “You did what you had to do. And the world is a better place for it.”
She gazed up at him with wide eyes. “I killed people, Torin. I shot Rhea. I murdered Theo and a dozen others. That’s not an easy pill to swallow.”
“I know it’s not,” he agreed as he patted her on the shoulder, “but you’ll get past it. Everything is going to be okay.” He gently brushed his fingers across her cheek. “What did Naia have to say?”
“She asked if everything was okay. Obviously, she doesn’t know that the Federal Commonwealth’s strategy backfired. She probably thinks everyone is still alive and well. Including Theo.”
“Oh, I see.” Torin sighed as he sat down next to her, his hand covering hers. “You know, she’s going to find out eventually. Maybe we should call her back. I bet she can help us reopen the portal.”
Emery caught her reflection in a puddle on the ground. Bloodshot eyes stared back at her, cheeks puffy and flushed. She shook her head as she slowly lifted herself from the pavement. “Not yet. Now’s not the time.”
“Then when?”
Ignoring his question, Emery took a deep breath, hoping that a few minutes would be enough to help her get her thoughts in order. “We need to go to my house.” She made her way around Torin to the platform, his fingers grazing her arm as she passed. Without saying a word, he stepped onto the platform next to her. A wave of heat hit her cheeks as she recited her home address and, a brief whir later, they found themselves standing in the driveway of her home in Arizona.
Words caught in her throat as she gazed at her surroundings. Her house looked bigger—a lot bigger—than she remembered. Donning the exterior were some interesting gadgets that hadn’t existed in Dormance. Solar panels lined the roof in neat rectangles and just below that was the garage . . . at least, it should have been the garage. A sleek glass entrance now sat where the once drab paneled door used to be.
Emery inched closer to the garage and peered into the tinted glass. It wasn’t like she expected to see any cars since the 7S world used teleportation to get around. If she were being totally honest with herself, she didn’t know what she expected to see. It was surprising, to say the least.
On the other side of the glass was a greenhouse with foliage of all shapes and sizes planted in neat, orderly rows. She craned her neck, expecting to see the usual suspects—tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash—but to her surprise, there wasn’t anything of the sort. Instead, there were plants she’d never seen before. Tall orange stalks blossomed outward into multiple hexagons and within each hexagon were hundreds of microscopic ovals. Each one was filled with a clear liquid.
She observed these strange plants as best she could from a distance when Torin appeared beside her. “Cool plants,” he admired as he pressed his face against the window, his breath fogging up the glass.
Emery drew herself away from the sight and examined the remainder of the house. “It’s strange. We didn’t have a greenhouse in Dormance.” She meandered over to the entryway, scanning the overhang and windows for any other new features, but nothing caught her eye. She turned her attention to the front door. It opened with ease. Alexis must have left it unlocked . . . again. Emery entered the foyer with Torin close behind her, both of their shoes gliding along the marble su
rface.
“Hello?” she called out. Although a response wasn’t expected, it was worth a shot, but her greeting was met with silence.
The layout of the house was more or less the same—the kitchen, living room, and her mother’s bedroom downstairs, her room and Alexis’s room, plus the loft upstairs—but the décor was completely different. The style of her home in Dormance had been on the more rustic end of the spectrum. The décor here, in the 7S house, was the complete opposite of that. A metallic platform, undoubtedly used for teleporting to the first and second floors of the house, had taken the place of the once steep staircase. The walls joined at sharp angles, like something out of a modern art museum, and all of the doors were made of titanium. The walls were painted a stark grey, but the paint didn’t appear to be water-based or oil-based. Instead it had a pewter look to it, but not harsh enough to look like actual metal.
It feels more like a bomb shelter than a house, she thought sullenly.
She slid her hands along the smooth walls until she reached the archway that led to the kitchen. This setup was quite different, seeing as the refrigerator, oven, and microwave weren’t in their usual places. Emery narrowed her eyes and surveyed the kitchen. Actually, those items were gone and in their place were pod-like structures. A large holoscreen covered the wall where the oven used to be. Emery walked over to the pods, gingerly reaching out to touch the foreign objects. She turned to Torin with giant question marks in her eyes. “So, I take it people don’t cook anymore?”
Torin laughed. “They do, in a sense, but why would you when you have SmartMeal?” He walked over to one of the pods and swiped his hand in a clockwise motion across the screen. The device lit up as a shadow of a female figure appeared on the screen. “Welcome to SmartMeal. Would you like to order breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, desserts, or beverages?” a pleasant voice asked.
Torin tapped his finger against his chin as if he were weighing the most important decision of his life. “Let’s see. We’ll go with lunch.”
The Order of Omega (The Alpha Drive Book 2) Page 1
