Out of Orbit- The Complete Series Boxset

by Chele Cooke

  Her hands were trembling, her knees threatening to buckle underneath her. Exhaustion was taking its toll, but fear and anger were proving to be rather an impressive stimulant. She’d always known that people could do incredible things when pushed to the limit, but they always crashed afterwards. She feared that if she stopped for a moment, she would too. She needed to keep going. She needed to stop Keiran's killers.

  The lamp was lit inside and, as Georgianna approached, she could hear the chatter of people. Usually, upon hearing that Beck had company, she would have turned away or at least waited for a lull in the conversation before making her presence known. Not this time. She launched herself up into the car, much to the surprise of Beck and the pair sitting opposite him.

  “We need to talk.”

  “Georgianna, this isn’t a good time,” Beck answered calmly.

  “This is the only time.”

  His eyes narrowed. He tapped his toe five times before he took a deep breath.

  “Wait outside,” he ordered.

  “No.”

  “George!”

  “No!” she snapped. “You can’t order me around like a child, Beck.”

  He growled under his breath, glaring at her.

  “Tarin, Rouel, can you leave us please?”

  Rouel and Tarin got to their feet with solemn nods. Rouel collected a rifle from the ground as he passed her. Tarin patted her shoulder. When she met his gaze, she could see pity in his eyes. They knew exactly why she was here. She wondered if all the Belsa knew what had happened in that shack.

  Once the last boot had left the car, Beck turned his attention on her again.

  “Well, get it over with,” he huffed.

  He leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. It was clear that he was angry, but he looked calm and collected. Georgianna wanted to scream at him for taking this so lightly.

  “Did you give the order?” she demanded through gritted teeth.

  “I give many orders.”

  “Keiran!” she snapped. “They’re going to kill him.”

  Beck watched her for a long moment. She couldn’t stand it, the accusatory glare in his eyes. She began pacing. He looked like he was watching an animal, trying to predict its actions before he moved.

  “I gave the order, yes,” he said. “He is a traitor, Georgianna.”

  “He’s not!”

  “We have proof.”

  “Even if you did…”

  “We do.”

  “ If you did,” she shouted over him, “that doesn’t deserve death.”

  “What would you recommend we do?” Beck asked, waving his hand towards the seat opposite him. “Keiran Zanetti knows how we work, he knows our location. Would you suggest that I leave him to sell that information to the Adveni as well?”

  “If he were truly a traitor, he would have sold that information already,” she said, ignoring his offer to sit down.

  “Who is to say he hasn’t?” he asked. “Anyway, the Adveni would do far worse to him if he kept that information from them after finding out about his banishment.”

  “You hate the Adveni so much, yet you’re killing a man simply on an accusation, just like they do.”

  “Careful, girl,” Beck growled. “Your part in this is still in question. It is your father’s connection that has kept you from being questioned.”

  “What?”

  Beck pointed to the seat again more forcefully. It was no longer a request, it was an order.

  “You lied about Zanetti’s absence. You told Cartwright and Talassi that he was out on a hunting trip. When he returned, he knew nothing of this trip you spoke of. His story was quite different, in fact. So the question now is whether you lied on a whim to protect your boyfriend, or whether you were involved in his betrayal.”

  She slid into the chair obediently. The idea that they thought she was betraying them chilled her to the bone, yet she couldn’t deny it. She had lied to them. She had kept information on Keiran’s dealings a secret.

  She had known that they might suspect her, but she had never imagined what would actually happen if they did. The Belsa handled things quietly; they didn’t make a show of punishments. Maybe Keiran wasn’t the first they’d dealt with in this manner. She’d just never known about it.

  They already suspected her. Beck and Alec were questioning her loyalty over her lie. There were only two options. She could tell them the truth, the most sensible option, though she had no idea how Beck would react. Or, she could…

  “He was helping me,” she said suddenly. “Keiran, he… he was helping me with Edtroka. I had some information and I asked him to verify it.”

  Beck’s lips tightened into a thin line and he shifted in his seat.

  “What information would that be?”

  Fear pulsed like electricity through her body, making it hard to think. After seeing what Alec and those other men had done to Keiran, knowing that Beck had ordered it, she couldn’t trust him with the truth. She had so far been protected by her father’s connection with Beck, but she doubted that would be the case if she admitted to betraying the Belsa on the whim of an Adveni, a story for which she realised she had absolutely no proof.

  She had no idea what to say. Edtroka had been waiting for Keiran’s return before telling her anything. She had no idea what they had planned in an effort to break the control of the Adveni.

  “Lyndbury,” she blurted.

  “Excuse me?”

  “We can destroy Lyndbury. Think about it, the Adveni control us through fear, and Lyndbury is a big part of that. If we can destroy it, maybe more people will start fighting back.”

  “George, what would make you think that we hadn’t considered this before?”

  “But you didn’t have what I do,” she argued. “Edtroka, my owner, he’s a guard. I have information from him.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me about this? We had an arrangement.”

  Georgianna glared back at him. Anger pulsed through her. It was easy to remember the things he had done: he’d lied about Alec; he’d refused them help; he’d given the order to kill Keiran.

  “I didn’t know who I could trust.”

  “Says the one who lied to us?”

  “I had to!” Georgianna snapped, back on her feet again. “Keiran was verifying some information for me and I didn’t trust the Belsa, not after you let me rot in that prison!”

  “George…”

  His expression softened and Georgianna knew that he had realised she had never forgiven him. Pain lingered in his expression and he didn’t look at her again.

  “Can you do it?” he asked quietly. “Bring down Lyndbury?”

  She steeled herself.

  “I don’t know. Keiran was finding out if some of my information from Edtroka was valid.”

  “I can’t…”

  “If you want anything from me, you will overturn that order.”

  “Georgianna, I can’t, not without proof.”

  “Then give me the time to get it for you,” she answered with far more confidence than she felt. She got up, strode around the table and knelt down next to him, grasping his arm. “Tell them to hold off, no one is to touch him again. I will prove that he is not a traitor.”

  Beck hesitated then nodded.

  “And one more thing,” she added. “I need to talk to Keiran right away. Alone.”

  “I won’t give you…”

  “You don’t and I won’t do a thing for you,” Georgianna hissed. “I don’t trust a single one of you right now. You can have a guard outside but I need absolute privacy.”

  Beck didn’t look happy about it, but after a moment, he nodded.

  “I’ll hold his order for three days, Georgianna. If you don’t bring us a solid plan, his execution will go ahead, but until then he will be kept here.”

  “And no one will touch him.”

  “No one will touch him.”

  Georgianna got to her feet.

  “Take me to him.”r />
  A number of large crates and bags had been stacked up outside the tunnel car. Even as they approached, two guards stood laughing and talking about how much damage they’d gotten in. It took Beck coughing loudly to distract them. They both fell silent at the sight of the marshall approaching with the woman who had fought so hard to get to the traitor. Despite the deal he had just struck, Beck did not admonish them for their amusement.

  Beck went to the door first, sliding it open. He took in the sight before him for a moment before waving to someone further in. Georgianna stood impatiently behind him, shifting her weight back and forth and fiddling with the strap of her bag. She’d made Beck walk with her to the shack to collect it. She knew that she would need the supplies inside when she saw Keiran.

  When a man stepped towards them, she froze. Alec looked down at them, his gaze flickering between them. He ruffled his fingers through his hair and leaned against the door frame as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

  “Marshall,” he greeted.

  “Cartwright, I need you to clear out for a while.”

  Under Alec’s gaze, Georgianna felt hatred bubble up from her stomach. She clenched her fists. After everything Alec had been through, after all Maarqyn had done to him, she wouldn’t have thought that he could do that to another person. Condemning a man to death was bad enough, but they’d humiliated and hurt him for their own amusement first. He claimed that all Adveni were the same. She wondered whether he’d been around them too long and if cruelty was all he knew now.

  “Marshall, with all respect, that isn’t a good idea.”

  “Good idea or not, I’m allowing it. You’ll stay…”

  “No!” she said quickly. “Not him. Keep one of the others. I don’t want him here.”

  Rounding on her, Beck gave her a belittling look.

  “Georgianna, I have accepted your story for now and I have allowed you this visit, but do not think that you have the right to tell me how to organise my men.”

  “Your murderers,” Georgianna hissed as she stepped past him and climbed up into the car.

  She turned and watched Alec climb down from the car. If Beck thought that Alec could stand by the door and listen in, they were wrong. They’d made their deal and she was going to make sure they stuck to it. Maybe Edtroka had taught her something after all. Any deviation from a deal makes it a different agreement. She didn’t want to give anyone an excuse to renegotiate this one.

  Alec and Beck exchanged brief, quiet words. Even though they kept their voices down, it was clear that Alec didn’t like what he was being told. But Beck was firm and Alec gave her a look of confusion and fury before pulling the door closed behind them.

  She could barely look. Even as she moved further into the car, she couldn’t bring herself to look at what they had done to him, what she had helped to do. If it wasn’t for her, Edtroka would never have sent Keiran out of the city. Keiran wouldn’t have owed Edtroka a dangerous favour. The Belsa would never have known that she’d lied for him. He had saved her and she had made everything worse.

  He was curled up in the corner, knees up to his chest, his cheek resting on his arms. He looked small, far smaller than she knew him to be. She stepped forwards.

  “What we on, round five?” Keiran chuckled darkly, followed by a series of coughs. “Anyone would think you hated me for some other reason, Cartwright. Did I take something of yours while you were busy playing the Adveni pet?”

  She wasn’t sure whether she was happy that he’d not lost his cockiness. Taunting Alec about his imprisonment could not have done him any favours, but she found herself swelling with pride that he had not given in.

  “It’s not Alec.”

  Keiran whipped around to look at her, though from the way he cringed in pain, he regretted it instantly. His breath rattled through his teeth and he turned away from her.

  “What are you doing here, George?”

  “Not happy to see me?”

  She crouched next to him, sliding her bag from her shoulder.

  “You shouldn’t be involved in this.”

  “I’m already involved. It was my fault.”

  He shook his head gently and gave another coughing laugh.

  “No, no, I’m not letting you take my glory. You had no part in this.”

  “Well, I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Better you than that lot.”

  “I could get one of your other girls if you’d prefer?”

  Her fingers traced carefully down the side of his face. He tried to grin, but the pain quickly turned it into a deep grimace.

  “No, you’ll do fine,” he sighed.

  Georgianna slid down to sit in front of him, slipping her fingers amongst his.

  “Are you alright?”

  “You mean, apart from the fact they’re going to kill me?”

  She winced.

  “Beck has agreed to hold off for a few days.”

  Keiran coughed, blood splattering his palm. He spat out one of his back teeth onto the floor.

  “How did you manage that?”

  Georgianna pulled her bag towards her, opening it up. She was here, she might as well make him more comfortable. He was going to be down here for a while. A small cantina sat at the bottom of the bag and she pulled it out, setting it into her lap with a thick cloth.

  “Move forwards,” she murmured. “I’ll clear the salt out of that mark. Maybe it will be able to heal.”

  He shuffled forwards, allowing her to kneel behind him.

  “Edtroka told me what was going on.”

  “He did?”

  Keiran howled the first time the cloth touched his skin. He gritted his teeth, loud breaths hissing through the gaps.

  “I’m so sorry, Keiran,” she whispered. “This never would have happened if you hadn’t had to get me out.”

  “Don’t be stupid,” he moaned. “I was working with Edtroka before I met you. It was only a matter of time.”

  “Don’t say that.”

  “George…” he breathed. “I’m sorry. I never wanted you caught up in this. I was never supposed to…”

  “Shh, we can still get you out of this.”

  Keiran shook his head, another pained moan slipping past his lips. Had he given up already? The fight seemed to have gone from his voice again. He seemed resigned, as if he’d been thinking about this for a long time.

  “Did you do it?” she asked. “What Edtroka wanted?”

  “I contacted them. They’re coming,” he whispered.

  “That was what he sent you for, to contact someone?”

  “People,” he corrected. “They were here be… before.”

  “Like the Adveni?”

  “Yes. Exactly.”

  “But why?” she asked. “Why did you need to go out of the city for that?”

  “The Adveni broke a pact,” Keiran explained. “They were never supposed to come here.”

  “What’s that got to do with anything?”

  Keiran shook his head.

  “Just tell Edtroka. He’ll know what it means. He can explain. Tell him I made contact and all the details are in place. I left the orb where he told me.”

  Georgianna stared at the back of his head. None of it made sense, but she couldn’t demand more of him, not when he was in trouble. She needed to focus on a way of helping him, not worry about Edtroka’s deal. She checked that the door was still closed.

  “I told Beck that you were helping me with a plan to destroy the compound.”

  She poured some more of the sweet solution onto the cloth and placed it against the wound, carefully sliding it across his skin, wiping away the salt in the wound. Keiran gasped.

  “We don’t have a way to do that,” he muttered. “George, you need to tell Beck that you were lying. Say I forced you, or threatened you. He’ll let you off. He likes you.”

  “No!”

  He reached back and grasped her wrist, pulling her closer.

  “George, please!” />
  She moved around him, touching his chin and forcing him to look at her. There was no way she was going to leave him here to die. He was trying to help all of them.

  “Keiran, no, I’m not letting you die for this.”

  He was scared, she could see it. The things he wasn’t saying were etched into his face. In that moment Georgianna realised she had never seen him truly scared before. He had been angry and determined when he’d watched her taken away, but not scared.

  “We have nothing on the compound. It can’t be done.”

  She wished that Edtroka and Keiran had told her more and given her something she could use. It was too late now. She’d already lied to Alec and Wrench, now to Beck. If she admitted she was lying about the compound, they would never trust her again. Keiran’s sentence would be carried out. She would be banished – if they didn’t kill her as well.

  “Maybe if Edtroka…”

  Keiran clung to her wrist, bowing his head to look at her, a stern warning in his eyes.

  “No, he won’t help you.”

  “He helped you. You must trust him if you were willing to risk everything to make that deal.”

  “That deal was one thing, just a contact, but destroying the compound? It’s too dangerous for him to do alone.”

  “He won’t be alone.”

  “But he will. He’ll be the only one to stand against his race,” he said. “Edtroka is walking a very thin line. There are people who already suspect him.”

  “Maarqyn, I know.”

  “Exactly,” Keiran said slowly. “Maarqyn is sure that Edtroka is a traitor. Why do you think Edtroka asked me to leave the city instead of him? He didn’t want to leave it to me, but he couldn’t risk it.”

  Georgianna took a small tin from her bag and opened it to reveal a yellow balm. She’d scooped some out of the box Edtroka had used for her bruises, figuring that it would come in useful. She dipped her fingers into the balm and brought them to Keiran’s face. His eye twitched, but he didn’t comment or pull away.

  “This is what I don’t understand,” she murmured as she soothed the paste across his skin. “Edtroka said that Maarqyn is suspicious of him, and Maarqyn has made multiple comments about taking me away from him, but if he’s so certain that Edtroka is a traitor, why hasn’t he done anything?”