Out of Orbit- The Complete Series Boxset

by Chele Cooke

  Beck moved forwards to sit beside Lyle on the edge of the bed. He hacked out a cough that did little to clear the gravel in his voice, and then spoke. “The fact that none of us have an alternative idea is not a reason to continue with a reckless plan.”

  “I don’t—”

  He held up his hand, cutting her off. “Your family are understandably upset by the risk this puts on you. I would not be happy with Lacie putting herself in this position, no matter who it would help.”

  When Beck met her gaze, Georgianna remembered the man in the Belsa tunnels who had listened as she’d told him lies that were meant to free Keiran. She realised now that he’d never believed her, that he’d let her go along with it only because of who she was, or who she was related to. He thought it had been luck, that she had managed to create a plan out of it all. That was how he saw this plan; they all did. She was making it up as she went along in some desperate hope of keeping them alive.

  Were they all now so resigned to loss and death?

  “And if it were Lacie dying?” she said.

  “What?”

  “If Lacie were the one who’d been tested on, and was getting sicker by the day?” She wheeled around to Halden. “Or Braedon, Hal? You wouldn’t do this for him? You wouldn’t take any chance you had?”

  “Braedon isn’t sick. They never touched him.”

  “Yet.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “This isn’t going to stop,” Georgianna said. “The Cahlven only ended testing because of this deal. They gave me those medicines because of it. If I go back on it now, they will return to testing so that they can wipe us out. We’re the easier target. It will be Braedon. It’ll be all of us, gone.”

  Dhiren jumped up. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her against him. He held her steady as she trembled, in fear or anger.

  “I’ll take the Cahlven virus,” he said. “You take the Adveni.”

  She could see what he was doing, how he thought this was the most acceptable compromise. It felt like a light in the dark: that he would even offer after his original anger. But the light flickered and disappeared as quickly as it had come.

  “No. It wouldn’t work.”

  “Why not?” Alec said.

  Georgianna extracted herself from Dhiren’s grasp and took a seat beside her brother. She laid a hand on his knee. He was shaking, too. “We need to know that we can hold both viruses. That’s the whole point.” She kept her eye on Alec. “Maarqyn isn’t going to accept anyone else now. You know him. He won’t let anyone else walk in and do it. It has to be me. And if I take the Adveni virus, I have to take the Cahlven one, too.” She squeezed Halden’s knee, before leaning over and taking her father’s hand. “I know the risks. I know it’s dangerous and… and probably stupid. Better one person than all of us.”

  He shook off her hand and got to his feet. “It’s not better when the one person is my daughter.”

  Lyle walked past them without another word. He climbed down out of the tunnel car and disappeared into the darkness. Halden moved to go after him, but Beck waved him back. “Let me,” he said. “I doubt he can rage the way he wants to in front of either of his children right now.”

  Beck groaned as he stood up. He followed Lyle through the tunnel car, grabbing one of the bottles of liquor Georgianna had collected for them. Lacie jumped up and helped him down the steps Lyle had made since being in the tunnels.

  Beck patted her on the cheek before heading off. “Go help that boy.”

  The others dispersed quickly. Lacie and Jacob went to try and set Jacob’s nsiloq marks, and Dhiren was quick to follow, claiming he was going to check on Braedon, asleep in the other car. Alec hovered for a few moments, then left without a word on where he was going or what for.

  Georgianna leaned back against the car wall and sighed. “It has to be me.”

  Halden rubbed his hands over his face. He brought them down and stared at the rough and cracked skin on the sides of his fingers. “He kept talking about you, you know.”

  Her eyes narrowed.

  “Who? Da’?”

  “Braedon. While we were going south, and after the Cahlven picked us up. He’d always ask us what we thought you were doing.” He sighed. “What do I tell him when he starts asking me, after this? When you’re dead from one virus or another, and he’s asking me where you went.”

  Georgianna stared at the back of his head, tears welling into her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but found there were no words. She had no answer for him.

  But then, she’d had no answer for herself when she’d thought her family were dead. She’d handed herself over to Ehnisque because she thought she had nothing left.

  Halden got to his feet. “It’s noble, I get it. You risk your life for the rest of us, trying to find a way out of this mess. But if you’re wrong, Gianna. If this kills you, and the people under that shield are picked off one by one, then I don’t want to be one of those left behind.”

  Three weeks went by without word from the Adveni. Even the Cahlven were requesting her visits less and less. With nothing to do but wait, Georgianna made her daily trip to Crisco to check the tsentyl before turning around and going right back. Her family refused to discuss it with her, but she had heard their complaints made loudly and frequently to others. She had grown tired of their fake shock at her overhearing them, or the defiant stares that implied they wanted her to hear their feelings. Whenever she did speak up, she found that they didn’t want to talk about it, and would quickly excuse themselves.

  Her protests over other topics were also ignored. When she’d dared to object to Dhiren taking Halden out hunting with him, she’d been challenged on why it was okay for her to risk herself, but not Halden. Georgianna had tried to point out that Halden was still sick and was having trouble sleeping, but she was ignored. She did feel slightly better when Dhiren kissed her temple and whispered that he had already refused to let Braedon tag along; Halden was a compromise.

  Braedon had sulked the entire time they were gone and, when they returned, only briefly greeted his father before insisting on being lifted up by Dhiren. That night, Dhiren accepted their mockery with quiet calm, and Georgianna noticed how frequently he watched Halden.

  In the morning, she left for Crisco. She’d told Alec that there was no point in him coming with her; she would be back soon enough. But when she pulled the tsentyl from its hiding place behind the bar, it gave a message alert. She stared at Maarqyn’s message, telling her that they were ready for her to take the injection, trying to decide whether she wished Alec had come with her or not.

  She swiped open the tsentyl and read through the message twice. She closed the device and passed it back and forth between her hands, turning it over and over. She could go back to the tunnels and tell them what was happening. Maarqyn would just have to accept that she’d checked on the tsentyl later than normal. But, the more she thought about it, the less she wanted to go back and let them know what was going on. It would only cause another argument.

  Georgianna put the tsentyl back under the bar and left. Instead of heading to the tunnels, she continued through the Rion District to the building the Adveni had taken over for their lab.

  She paused outside the door, once again considering a return to the tunnels to tell them what was happening, but upon seeing movement on the other side of the door and the cameras on the walls, she realised she was too late. They knew she was here; there was no turning back now.

  A soldier opened the door and waved her inside.

  Georgianna made her way through the building, up the stairs to the upper floor. The sheeted outer chamber had been demolished, leaving behind a plain door. She knocked and, within moments, the door opened.

  She jumped back a foot, her eyes widening in shock and fear. Maarqyn gave a satisfied smirk and stood back from the door, raising an eyebrow as he waited for her to enter. She pushed her shoulders back, hoping that her fear looked more like surprise, an
d walked past him into the room.

  The sheeting had been removed from the walls and ceiling. The equipment the Adveni had been using had all been taken away, except for the examination bed and a metal box.

  Akhna had been perched on the bed, but she jumped up the moment she saw Georgianna. “Hello again. How have you been feeling? Any side effects from the tests?”

  She refused to look back at Maarqyn and see his reaction to Akhna’s kindness. Instead, she smiled and went to greet Akhna, placing her hand on the woman’s arm, giving a light squeeze. “I’ve been okay, thank you,” she said. “I had a few small burns, but nothing I can’t handle.”

  “And your mark?”

  This time, Georgianna did glance back at Maarqyn, smiling at his suspicious stare.

  “It hasn’t hurt once. I can’t thank you enough for your help in setting it for me.”

  “And your friend?”

  She turned away from Maarqyn and nodded to Akhna.

  “Good, yes. It all went perfectly.”

  Was Akhna merely being nice and caring, or was she in some way manipulating the conversation for Maarqyn’s benefit? But what benefit would there be in annoying the Volsonnar?

  Akhna dropped the conversation and waved Georgianna over to the bed. “We are going to give you the injection. It should only take a minute.”

  Maarqyn moved further into the room. He placed his hand on top of the metal box and drummed the lid with his fingers. “And we have provided the vials to be administered to the rest of… your people.”

  Her gaze swept between Akhna, Maarqyn, and the box.

  “It will take a while,” Georgianna said.

  His eyes narrowed and he drummed louder. “Why is that? We had a deal, little bird.”

  Georgianna shrugged off her coat and let it crumple behind her on the bed. “Yes. And I need to ensure you are holding up your end. Should anything go wrong, and I die, well… I wouldn’t be administering it to anyone else, would I?”

  “And how long will it take for your confidence in our medicine to be secured?”

  She grimaced and scratched her cheek. “Ten days. If I am alive after ten days of this test, I will start to administer the vials.”

  Maarqyn’s top lip twitched, and Georgianna knew he wanted to argue with her. But in the end, he just nodded. “Ten days, little bird. Then I expect the Cahlven to be packing up and leaving in fear for their lives.”

  Georgianna smiled and slid her shirt to the side and over the top of her shoulder, offering a place for Akhna to give the injection. “I’ll invite you to the meeting. We can tell them together. A display of our new cooperation.”

  Maarqyn turned to Akhna and said something in Adtvenis. His eyebrow rose and he gave a smug, cold grin.

  Akhna nodded. “Yes, Volsonne,” she said in Veuric, clearly for Georgianna’s benefit, as she tapped the side of a needle and approached the bed. She wiped down Georgianna’s skin with a foul smelling cloth, squeezed the flesh, and pushed the needle into her arm. “That’s why I like her.”

  The box was heavier than she’d first imagined it would be, and it only seemed to get heavier the further she walked. Down in the tunnels with no light, let alone with a heavy box cradled in her arms, Georgianna stopped frequently, adjusting the positioning of the box each time her upper arms became sore. The arm she’d taken the injection in was throbbing constantly, but the other arm soon tired if she moved the box over.

  When she finally reached the camp, she dumped the box outside one of the tunnel cars and stopped, taking deep breaths as she rubbed her sore arms and shoulders. She had considered hiding the box somewhere else, with the tsentyl perhaps, wondering whether Maarqyn had placed a method of tracking inside. Of course, there was also her family. If they knew what was inside the box, would they destroy it?

  It didn’t matter, anyway. If she did die, she doubted the others would stay here long. And if her father decided to smash all the vials in the box… well, Maarqyn wouldn’t be pleased, but she assumed he would have more in storage to be used in case of any future Cahlven wars.

  As she rubbed the back of her neck, a pair of feet appeared in the corner of her vision, standing in the car doorway.

  “You’re back, finally.”

  Georgianna looked up, giving Alec a tired smile. “Yeah. Everything alright?”

  He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. “You have a visitor.”

  She glanced down at the box. Alec didn’t look all that pleased about the visitor, and she had taken a while to walk here. Maybe Maarqyn had sent someone, since he knew the general location.

  No. She was being paranoid. She sighed and stepped away from the box.

  “Hey, what is that?” Alec said.

  Georgianna shook her head. “Later.” She climbed the steps into the tunnel car.

  Keiran sat on the end of her bed, a bottle of blackberry wine in his hand. He took a swig, almost spitting it out again when he noticed her standing there. Covering his mouth with his hand, he grinned behind his fingers, then swallowed, handing the bottle over to Beck. “George!” He shuffled forwards to get to his feet. “Where’ve you been?”

  She accepted his awkward kiss on the cheek and squeezed his shoulders. “What are you doing here?”

  He beamed and waved a hand towards Beck and her father. “Hearing stories about you when you were a kid.”

  Georgianna glared at the two of them as they sniggered like teenage girls. Beck took a swig of the wine and avoided her gaze.

  “What did you tell him?” she said.

  Her father tried, and failed, to feign innocence. “Nothing. Well, nothing too damning.” She glared at him. “Oh, come on, Gianna. The man has a right to know. You know, to be prepared.”

  Beck smacked Lyle on the arm and shushed him. Georgianna rounded on Keiran and Alec. Keiran was perhaps a little bit drunk, while Alec looked like the only member of the group who hadn’t partaken in an afternoon of drinking.

  “How long have they been like this?” she said.

  Alec chuckled. “A while. You missed the Kahle songs.”

  She groaned. “Thank suns for that.”

  Keiran took hold of Georgianna’s arms and turned her towards him. He noticed her wince, and the amusement drained from his face. “Can we talk?”

  “Yeah, let’s go.” She glanced at Alec and nodded for him to come with them.

  They didn’t walk a long way; just far enough into the tunnel that they hit the first curve, out of sight from the cars.

  Keiran stayed close. “I was ordered to come and get you. The Colvohan said the injections are ready.”

  She hung her head and sighed. “Good timing. Anyone would think they planned it.”

  “The Adveni?” Alec said.

  She nodded.

  Georgianna unfastened her coat and shifted it off her shoulder. She pulled down her shirt. The injection site was little more than a dot surrounded by a patch of red swelling.

  Keiran brushed his fingers around the edges before pulling her shirt back up. “I can tell them I couldn’t find you, say you moved camps and I need—”

  “No,” Georgianna said. “No. It’s better this way.”

  Alec stepped forwards. “George, are you sure about this?”

  She wasn’t sure. She didn’t trust Maarqyn or Naltahn. But she was sure of one thing: their hatred for each other. Surely, for both, destroying the other was far greater a prize than the death of one annoying Veniche.

  She gave Alex a small smile and touched his cheek with her fingertips. “I’ll be back soon.”

  He sighed and nodded, gathering her into a hug. “Be safe,” he whispered in her ear.

  Georgianna extracted herself from his grasp and nodded to Keiran. He took her hand, drawing her further down the tunnel. She stopped and turned back to Alec. “Lec. Please hide that box from my father.”

  “It’s the Adveni drug, isn’t it?” She nodded. He paused, frowning. “I’ll see you when you get back, Georgie.”

 
Alec turned away first, returning down the tunnel to their camp. Squeezing Keiran’s hand, she curled herself in against his side, and they set off out of the tunnels, pausing to collect the Cahlven jacket Keiran had left at the tunnel intersection.

  It was only as she saw the weak sunlight piercing through the clouds that she realised she hadn’t said goodbye.

  They walked side by side down the road to the Cahlven shield. Georgianna had pulled her hand from Keiran’s as they came close, and he didn’t fight her on it. The few times he had tried to make cheerful conversation, telling her the stories her father had shared with him, she had tried to show interest, but it was clear that her heart wasn’t in it, and he soon gave up.

  The silence was more comfortable, safer somehow. If she wasn’t talking, then she wouldn’t blurt out all the things she had vowed to keep to herself. She had made this decision. She had come up with this plan and not allowed anyone to dissuade her. It wouldn’t be right to dump all her misgivings on Keiran.

  And yet, she thought she saw him holding back as they approached the Cahlven guards. She caught a hint of regret as they handed over their passes for inspection and were given approval to enter. She felt the last of their hope stripped away as they passed through the shield.

  Once inside, Keiran’s expression changed, and still she couldn’t bring herself to ask him. He steeled himself, shoulders back and head held high. His jaw clenched and his fingers twitched.

  Georgianna wrapped her arms around her stomach and focussed on the swell of each breath entering her lungs. She watched her feet against snow so compacted that her steps barely left a mark.

  Had she left her mark? After everything they’d done, all they’d been through, had they even left anything to be remembered by? Would her life melt away from memory like the snow?

  Keiran grabbed her arm tight and, without warning, yanked her off the main road and into an alleyway between the houses. With one look at his hardened expression, she didn’t think to question him or argue. She was numb, following the lost trail of footprints.