Out of Orbit- The Complete Series Boxset

by Chele Cooke

  “Well, it’s not like he can’t take care of himself,” she said after a brief silence. “You should have seen him, Keiran. Getting out of that compound, fighting those guards, he was… flawless.”

  She wanted to say that his skill had been beautiful. Watching him and Dhiren fight had been beautiful and terrifying. Their bodies were made for fighting in the same way her fingers were made for medicine. However, after Alec’s warning, Georgianna didn’t want to say anything that Edtroka did was beautiful. She wanted things to be normal again, not more confusing.

  “Which is why he wanted protection,” Keiran explained.

  “I’m not following.”

  “Edtroka’s on shaky ground right now. If he puts one foot out of place, there’s nothing to stop Beck from turning this entire camp against him. He could have five guys jump him, but the moment he throws a punch, he’s just another Adveni.”

  Georgianna wished she could believe that the Veniche staying with them would be more sensible than that, but she couldn’t. Alec had seen how much Edtroka had done for them, yet she knew the moment her owner put a foot wrong, he would go back to being a monster in her friend’s eyes. In all honesty, she didn’t think Alec had actually stopped viewing him as a monster. Instead, he seemed to be waiting for Edtroka to decide that this rebellion had been a mistake and return to his friends, handing them all over when he did.

  “What about the Cahlven?” she asked. “Do people believe they’ll help us?”

  “I don’t think most of them know what to think right now. In ten years, we’ve heard nothing about these people. Suddenly they’re going to rescue us? Even I’m not completely convinced.”

  “You’re not?”

  “No, of course I’m not.” Keiran shook his head and stared past her across the lake. “Why didn’t they come before? The Adveni broke this pact just by arriving here, let alone all the things they’ve done since.”

  Georgianna nodded and stared at a stain on his shirt. Letting out a heavy sigh, she chewed on her lip and tried to put her thoughts into words. She wanted to believe that Edtroka was right, that the Cahlven would be able to beat the Adveni back, but she couldn’t make herself. The alien race would give them an advantage, a stronger force to fight with, but deep down she knew that this war would be much bigger—and much more complicated—than Edtroka had led them to think.

  “We could still run,” Keiran suggested, laying his head on his arm and grinning at her. “Find a spot out of the way and wait it all out?”

  She laughed, even though she knew there wasn’t a chance of them ever doing that.

  “We could find your family,” he added.

  All the humour was gone from his voice. His smile faded as if it had never been there. His blue eyes searched her face and Georgianna found she couldn’t laugh anymore. She couldn’t pretend, or daydream about leaving all the fighting behind.

  “Would you really do that if I asked?”

  His gaze flickered away from her and he shrugged.

  “Maybe, yeah,” he said. “It would be a hell of a lot easier than this.”

  “Than what?”

  “Everything, I guess. I wouldn’t have to worry whether I’m going to be strung up as a traitor because Beck changed his mind. Or wonder if Edtroka will stick to our deal. Or feel guilty that I pulled you into all of this.”

  “You didn’t pull me into this, Keiran.”

  “I didn’t?” he scoffed.

  “No,” she insisted. “It was my choice to help Nyah.”

  “Yeah, you are a bit of an idiot, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah, like you’re the mind of the century.”

  He grinned and pushed himself forwards. His lips found hers and he pushed her back against the grass. His fingertips danced up her side and buried into her hair. An appreciative moan vibrated against her lips as her hands found his waist, holding him against her.

  Georgianna didn’t care that anyone could have looked across the lake and seen them. All her worries about Alec’s warning melted in the heat of Keiran’s skin and their flurry of kisses. His tongue trailed across her bottom lip and she could forget that he had lied to her. Forget that he had kept secrets.

  A warm wash of breath sailed over her skin as he pulled back a fraction of an inch. He rested his forehead against hers and she nudged him so that she could kiss the tip of his nose.

  “Edtroka said that Cartwright’s been keeping a close watch on you,” he said.

  She slumped her head back against the grass and groaned.

  “Alec still doesn’t trust him, which I shouldn’t be surprised about, but I wish he’d stop acting like Edtroka is going to drag me off.”

  Keiran chuckled. His lips brushed against her cheekbone, trailing towards her ear.

  “Think I can take his spot in that tent? I’ll protect you from the bad Adveni.”

  She hit his shoulder even though she was laughing.

  “He’s used to sharing with Wrench,” Keiran continued. “He won’t be lonely.”

  “I don’t want you two fighting. You know he was only being cruel because he thought you were betraying them.”

  A frown pulled at his lips faster than he could sweep it away and pretend it hadn’t existed. Moving away from her, he reached over his shoulder and Georgianna could imagine that his fingers found the mark carved into his flesh.

  “He stays away from me and I’ll not start anything.”

  “You need to work together.”

  “ That,” he said carefully, “will not happen.”

  “Please?”

  “No, George. I understand he’s your friend, and you want to forgive him for what he did, but I can’t.”

  “I never said I wanted you to forgive him now.”

  “Good, because it’s not happening.”

  “Keiran…”

  He got to his feet, shoving his hands into his pockets. Georgianna sat up and brushed her hair away from her face, looking up at him. He stared across the lake and scuffed his foot against the grass.

  “Things might change.”

  “No, they won’t,” Keiran said briskly. He crouched next to her, resting his arms on his knees. “That mark’s gonna be with me the rest of my life. I won’t forgive him for that. Not now, not ever.”

  “Keiran, you said it yourself. He blames you for being taken by Maarqyn. You think that’s any easier to forgive?”

  The annoyance in Keiran’s expression faded into grim understanding. He nodded slowly to himself and pushed himself up again.

  “I don’t know.” He refused to look at her. Kicking a stone into the water, he shook his head. “Why don’t you tell me when you manage it? Then I’ll I know how difficult it is.”

  “I never said I blamed you.”

  “No, you didn’t. But you never said you understood either.”

  “I stopped them from killing you.”

  Keiran finally looked down at her. He snorted dismissively.

  “Coming from you, George, that’s not the same thing and you know it.”

  He walked away before she could call him back. Even when she tried, he just kept walking, kicking through the water that rippled against the lake shore.

  She knew that she should probably chase after him and apologise, perhaps reassure him that she did forgive him for the choices he had made. Instead, she sat and watched as he passed the tent he’d suggested sharing with her. He disappeared into the tree line and didn’t come out again.

  It started as a rumble beneath her feet as she walked around the lake towards the tents an hour later. Stumbling slightly, Georgianna straightened up and looked around. Another grumble came from the earth and the lake rippled in anticipation. She hurried back towards the tents, but hadn’t even reached the first before the front was torn open and Edtroka emerged. He stared up at the sky.

  The air vibrated and hummed. Georgianna followed Edtroka’s gaze and saw, in amongst the gathering clouds, a blot that became progressively larger, swallowing the stars and
spreading across the sky.

  People appeared from the tree line. They came out of the shelters they’d managed to create. By the light of flame torches, they watched as the night was eaten by a silver and black machine bigger than any they had ever seen.

  A large, bulbous hull curved back into five spikes that looked big enough to pierce the moon to its centre. It was different to the Adveni designs. Where the Adveni Tzelik ships resembled large, sleek clouds, this looked sharp and dangerous. The vibrations grew into a heavy wind the closer it came, pushing them down to the ground with such force that Georgianna didn’t think she could lift her foot, even if she wanted to run.

  “It’s them,” Edtroka shouted over the roaring wind. “It’s the Cahlven.”

  Trying to resist being flattened to the soggy ground, Georgianna stared up at the ship, wondering what in the world they had done by bringing this monstrous beast down upon them.

  The ship shimmered and melted continuously against the sky above them. Edtroka had said something about cloaking devices before he’d clapped her on the shoulder and run off through the people staring up at it. They were so preoccupied with the approaching ship that they didn’t even shuffle away in fear of the Adveni in their midst. She didn’t have the faintest idea what he was talking about, but she didn’t try to follow him. The Cahlven would want to speak to Edtroka, perhaps to Beck as well. They would want the important people. It was best not to get in the way.

  She took a seat in the mouth of Edtroka’s tent, watching from afar as a smaller ship descended from the monster above them. She couldn’t see what was happening down on the ground but, soon enough, the small ship returned to the breast of its mother.

  Veniche fluttered back and forth beneath the large ship, not entirely sure what to do with themselves. Some retreated to their shelters as if they would be protected, while others gathered in small groups and stared at it in wonder and fear.

  Along the shore, Dhiren continued to fish, occasionally throwing cautious glances above him. Alec, Taye, Wrench and Nyah sat huddled in a small group, talking in low voices while Jacob and Lacie played a tile game called Erpal among the trees.

  Keiran had not returned.

  Gathering one of the jackets Edtroka had left in the tent, Georgianna wrapped it around herself, protecting her body from the constant cool wind coming off the ship. She brought her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on one knee.

  There was nothing to do but wait.

  “What do you think it’s like inside that thing?”

  Georgianna lifted her head to find Taye standing beside her. He didn’t look at her. He stared at the ship with a curious smile.

  “Shiny,” she answered. “Shiny with lots of grey, if they’re anything like the Adveni.”

  “Do you think they are?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Taye nodded as if he were slowly working through her answer in his head. He rubbed his hands together as a chill hummed through the air. Down by the lake, Nyah had taken a seat next to Dhiren, though it didn’t look like they were talking. Taye’s gaze fixed on his girlfriend and he gave a final, resolute nod.

  “Well, I hope you find out pretty fast, Gianna. Seeing as you helped bring them down upon us. Suns, you barely gave us a choice.”

  Georgianna stared up at him, her mouth open and eyes wide. He glanced at her, accusation in his eyes.

  A fire of anger burned in her lungs as he walked away, returning to Nyah. She opened her mouth, about to call after him and tell him that he wouldn’t have a girlfriend to return to if it wasn’t for her, but she stopped. Taye leaned over Nyah and placed a kiss on top of her head as if nothing had happened. Nyah smiled up at him with such love and devotion that Georgianna retreated further into the tent and flung the front closed to seethe alone.

  She tapped the tsentyl against her knee, rolling it up and down her leg when the rhythmic beating of the sharp corners against her skin became painful. Edtroka had been clear that the tsentyl was only to be used to contact the Cahlven, and that too much use would alert the Adveni to their location. Personally, Georgianna was sure that a ship the size of a city coming down on them would alert the Adveni far quicker than the use of a small and unimportant device.

  Edtroka would be angry. He would probably yell. However, she couldn’t help the thought that if she could just get into the records, she’d be able to find what she needed. Edtroka was a Tsevstakre, not to mention the son of the Volsonnar, the things he would be allowed access to had to give her the information she was looking for. If her family had passed an Adveni check point, if they had been stopped for any reason, it would have been logged. She could find their most recent location and track them down. There was no point in staying here.

  She swiped the tsentyl open, letting it set before blue writing began shimmering across the screen. The messages were all in Veuric, which surprised her until she realised that the Adveni and Cahlven would share it as a common language. They were short burst messages, nothing that interested her, culminating in a confirmation from the Cahlven that they were entering the atmosphere.

  Georgianna clicked out of the messages, letting the writing light the inside of the tent. The reports had to be there somewhere. Even if Edtroka hadn’t planned on using them, he wouldn’t have cut off his access in case of an emergency. She’d never even seen most of the vast number of programs that had been installed. Most of them had Adtvenis names and, even when she opened them up, they didn’t show anything that let her know if she’d found the right one.

  Nyah knew Adtvenis, she would be able to help. Taye no longer seemed to trust Georgianna if their recent conversation was anything to go by, but Nyah still might. Pulling back the flap at the front of the tent, Georgianna almost crawled straight into the pair of legs blocking the way.

  “What you doing, Med?” Dhiren asked with a cheeky grin.

  Georgianna slid the tsentyl behind her back and smiled up at him.

  “Just going to find Nyah,” she said. She slotted the tsentyl under her shirt and tucked it into her trousers, hoping that he couldn’t see further into the tent.

  Dhiren reached down and held his hand out for her. Taking it, she allowed him to help her to her feet.

  “They’ve been gone a long time,” he muttered, glancing up at the ship.

  “No doubt deciding all our fates.”

  She slipped past him, but the moment she did, his hand went under her shirt and pulled the tsentyl free. Leaping forwards to grab for it, Dhiren held it out of her reach and waved it teasingly.

  “You’re not meant to be using this.”

  “How do you know what I’m supposed to do?”

  “Oh, Med, I know a lot more than you think,” he grinned.

  He lowered his hand a little, but as she made another snatch for the tsentyl, he lifted it again and clucked his tongue against his teeth.

  “You know how difficult it was to keep you safe in that prison?” he asked. “Didn’t sleep properly for two months, and now you risk bringing the rest of the Adveni down on our asses.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Using this, E'Troke said it was bad.”

  His pronunciation of Edtroka’s name surprised her. She’d only ever heard the Adveni say it that way. She frowned, wondering how he’d perfected it so well.

  “No, I mean about keeping me safe.”

  “Oh, that. E’Troke’s orders as well.”

  “Why?”

  Georgianna had all but forgotten about the tsentyl, even as Dhiren swiped it back into a cube and slotted it into his pocket.

  “Who knows why the crazy vtensu does anything,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “But, he gave the orders, and they were to keep you out of trouble.”

  “And you just listened?”

  “Yeah. Why not? Wasn’t like I was doing anything else,” he chuckled.

  “So… so that note?”

  “E'Troke passed it in and was pretty specific that you couldn’t know
who got it in. I had to threaten to kill a new kid if he didn’t do exactly as he was told, then sliced my leg and got you to come help.”

  He looked pleased with himself. Georgianna didn’t know what to say, even though she’d had her suspicions about Dhiren’s wound at the time, seeing as it had sliced through skin, but not his trousers.

  “So, who’re you contacting?”

  She shook her head, pushing back the thoughts of her time within the compound.

  “How do you even know I was using it?”

  Dhiren chuckled. Taking the tsentyl from his pocket, he stepped past her to the mouth of the tent and held the device inside. She grimaced as she realised that the light from the screen glowed through the material.

  “I wasn’t,” she muttered.

  He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, tapping the tsentyl against his bicep. No matter how she stared at him, he just grinned back at her, waiting.

  “I was hoping I could find word of my family,” she admitted in a flurry of words.

  Leaping forwards, she wrenched the tsentyl from his hand and closed it into a cube, holding it tight in her fist. His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t try to take it back.

  “Running out on us?”

  She gritted her teeth until the pressure was painful. Looking away, she found her gaze drawn to Taye and Nyah sitting by the water’s edge. She’d still not seen Keiran since he’d assumed she didn’t forgive him for his actions.

  “The Cahlven are here,” she murmured. “I won’t be missed.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Nothing,” she said quickly. “I just…”

  She trailed off, scuffing her foot against the ground. Dhiren propped his hands on his hips and watched the ship above them, running his tongue back and forth over his teeth.

  “How far do you think you’d get?” he asked, his tone suspiciously casual.

  “What?”

  “Honestly. Taking your skills into account, how far do you think you’d get travelling alone?”

  “I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself, Dhiren.”