On the Run (Verity Chronicles Book 3): A Cadicle Space Opera Adventure

by T. S. Valmond

  She grounded him in every way possible, and he couldn’t imagine a life without her anymore.

  “What are we going to do?” Cierra asked.

  “We wait, as instructed,” Trix said. “Iza will signal us when she can. For now, we are safe where we are.”

  “True, no one knows we’re here. But if they were to start looking nearby, we should have a plan.”

  “There are several possible coordinates where we can jump that will help us to avoid capture. I have a preset sequence charted in the case of an emergency.”

  Sometimes Trix amazed him, and he said so. “You’re amazing, Trix. I can’t get over how well you’re able to plan ahead. I know you’ve got the capability. When are you going to admit you’d rather sound like the rest of us?”

  Trix stared at him as if about to shrug.

  “It’s fine if she doesn’t want to blend in with the rest of us. It makes her unique,” Cierra said. “She’s still a machine.”

  “If I were to speak as you do, you’d hardly know the difference between me and a more organic species. Does that bother you?” Trix asked smoothing out her vocal processing to an eerily perfect Taran register.

  Cierra took a step back her eyes wide.

  “Why are you more afraid of me when I speak this way than when I speak in a more robotic way?” Trix asked, her voice still altered.

  “It’s confusing. You’re an android; I don’t want to think of you as anything else,” Cierra said.

  “That is intriguing,” Trix said, reverting to her regular tone. “To answer your question, Braedon, I once cared for someone so deeply that when they abandoned me, I needed to protect myself from ever having such a close bond again.”

  “That’s cool,” Braedon said.

  “No, it’s creepy.” Cierra turned up her nose in disgust. “We should go to the flight deck and await a signal from the captain,” she said as she climbed the stairs.

  —

  Three hours later they got the call from Iza.

  “Hey, Iz, glad to see you’re alive. Where are you?” Braedon asked.

  “It’s a long story, but I need you to come and get me. I’m at TSS Headquarters.”

  “TSS Headquarters?” Braedon looked at Cierra and then Trix. “Are you sure we should go there?”

  “Yes.”

  “Captain, would you like me to refuel the shuttle before we arrive?”

  Iza smiled as if Trix had told her a joke. “No, I refueled it before I left. I’ll see you soon.”

  The call ended and Braedon turned to Trix. “The PEMs don’t need fuel. Was that code?”

  “Yes.”

  “So are we getting her or not.”

  “Yes, she is fine. We can meet her at TSS Headquarters.”

  “That’s a good idea—to have a code. Why don’t we all know it?”

  “She has always trusted me with her life and her ships. You are all relatively new. Perhaps one day she will depend on you, too.”

  Braedon nodded but Cierra stood looking at Trix thoughtfully.

  — — —

  Though Iza had told them she didn’t know where Joe was, they’d tossed her ship anyway as soon as the Verity docked at the TSS spaceport. The crew had been questioned, but as promised, they were not detained. Once it was all done, Iza had been escorted back to her ship, where Agents Skyler Anderson and Ian Mandren were waiting in the cargo hold along with her crew.

  Braedon and Cierra dominated the steps to the flight deck level, sitting with their heads together while Trix stood on one side and Karter on the other. Atano raced to greet Iza; it was good to see him hopping up and down again, his leg completely healed. She’d have to thank Cierra for that, too, she supposed.

  “I trust everything is as you left it.” Mandren inclined his head in her direction.

  Iza scoffed. “I told you we didn’t have him,” she grumbled.

  “Yes, and I believed you,” Agent Mandren raised an eyebrow as if in challenge.

  “Then why did you have to have your people crawling all over my ship?”

  “Every ship that comes to Headquarters that doesn’t belong to us is searched. And you, in particular, have some experience with the Gate. We wanted to be sure there were no more spheres or alien technology hidden on the ship.”

  “We don’t. I would know,” Iza said, crossing her arms over her chest.

  “Yes, we know that now, too. Your genetic analysis yielded interesting results. You have the natural ability to resist telepathy and you seem to have a special connection to the Gates.”

  “I do.” She swallowed hard. She’d been sitting on the knowledge of the bizarre experience in the shuttle on Uephus, when Trix had been taken off. She hadn’t trusted the Guard, but maybe the TSS would go easier on her. “They keep finding me, it seems,” she began.

  The Agent gave her a questioning look. “Have you communicated with the creators of this technology?”

  “Maybe? I don’t know. My android friend was temporarily taken over by them. They spoke through her.” She paused under his intense gaze, waiting for her to continue. “They called themselves the ‘Gatekeepers’. They said our actions are an act of war, and our kind would be wiped out now, like we should have been before.”

  Mandren muttered under his breath, and Iza was pretty sure it was a creative string of profanities. “I’ll pass on that information to the High Commander, thank you. As troubling as that is, there are other urgent matters. We believe that, based on Joe’s abduction, you may be the next target.”

  Iza snapped to attention. “Wait, what are you saying? What abduction?”

  Agent Mandren shifted his weight before answering her question, his eyes wavering only a brief second between herself and Braedon. “We believe Joe’s been taken by Victor Arvonen.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Everyone started talking all at once. Braedon, Cierra, and Karter all began asking questions. Iza had only one, and her voice carried over all the others.

  “Why?” she asked.

  “We don’t know.” Agent Mandren’s eyes passed over Braedon briefly before returning to her. “We think it has something to do with the Gate technology he’s been so obsessed with obtaining. Joe was the one who handed the sphere over to the TSS, so maybe Arvonen thinks he still has access to it—which should be obvious he doesn’t, given the banishment.”

  “But, you think he’ll come after Iza again,” Karter said, understanding dawning on his features.

  Agent Mandren nodded. “She has the strongest connection to the sphere, regardless of whether it’s presently in her possession.”

  “What do we do?” Cierra asked. “Arvonen’s a madman; we’ve already seen that. He’ll kill Joe if he determines that he’s of no value.”

  “We’ve come to the same conclusion. However, we haven’t been able to find him for some time.” Agent Mandren’s amber eyes rested on Iza again and she understood.

  “You want to use me as bait,” Iza said.

  “No way, that’s craziness.” Karter stepped out in front of her. “Please tell me you have a better plan than dangling her in front of a psychopath.”

  “If I didn’t know any better, Karter, I’d think you really cared,” Iza said with a raised eyebrow.

  Karter huffed. “If he’s coming for you, then he’ll be coming for us all since we’re all on this boat with you. Personally, I have more to live for than Joe Anderson.”

  “There it is—that Karter self-preservation.” Iza rolled her eyes.

  Ian’s expression suggested that he was silently questioning what had possibly endeared Joe to the crew enough to give up his TSS commission. He shook his head slightly. “I’m here to level with you, because we’re, admittedly, in uncharted territory regarding this alien tech. You, Iza, have had more contact with it than us—and seem to have an ability to interface with it in a way no one else can. So, in the interest of expediency and the well-being of everyone on these planets that are finding their worlds being inexplicably transf
ormed, we need to trust each other and work together.”

  “Wait, planets? As in plural?” Iza’s heart dropped. What she’d witnessed on Uephus was horrific, but to think of it happening on other worlds, as well, was too awful to imagine.

  “Will you help us?” Agent Mandren asked without answering her question.

  She nodded.

  “And your crew?” He looked around at the concerned faces nearby.

  They gave grim nods of assent. There was no choice, really.

  The two Agents exchanged a glance, and Mandren continued, “The technology that Arvonen is using comes from a race we call the Gatekeepers. Before you ask, we hadn’t heard of them, either. It took a very deep dive into the information archives with the Aesir to get a handle on what’s going on. According to the Aesir’s records, the Gatekeepers and another unknown race had a run-in with Tarans sometime in ancient history. The information about the conflict itself are frustratingly vague, but we know that there was a treaty signed by all three sides, agreeing to avoid each other. Use of Gatekeeper tech seems to have violated that treaty.” Agent Mandren waited for the significance to sink in before he continued. “It’s imperative we keep Arvonen from any further use of this technology, as it may have already started something that we can’t fight.”

  “The planet transformations,” Iza murmured. “It could be retaliation by the Gatekeepers for using their tech?”

  Mandren smiled; he seemed pleased she’d made the connection. “It certainly fits with the information you just shared, about the message.”

  “Let me talk to him,” Braedon cut in. “He’s my father, I might be able to reach him.” His face was determined, though his shoulders slumped forward. He had the bad habit of taking responsibility for his father even though it wasn’t his fault.

  They all turned to regard him. Iza watched Agent Mandren’s eyes intensify the way Joe’s did when he was using his abilities.

  “It’s worth a shot,” Braedon insisted when no one replied right away.

  Cierra put a hand on his arm in quiet sympathy.

  “We’ve tried that before, if I recall,” Karter said.

  “Yes, but this time will be different. I know what my father wants and why. I can use that to try and reach out to him.” One side of his mouth lifted.

  “Is that all you plan to do?” Iza asked.

  Braedon winked as if she’d found him out. “I also thought it might be a good time to see if I can triangulate his position. With a little help from Trix, I think I might be able to do it.”

  Agent Mandren nodded. “You’ve got a good crew here, Captain. Not one of them has expressed interest in leaving despite the dangers.”

  Iza looked around at them and realized the truth of his words. Not even Karter had talked about leaving, though now, with the extra shuttle on board, he could.

  “That’s why I’m sending Agent Skyler Anderson with you.”

  “What?!” Iza and Anderson’s voices clashed in an eerie unison.

  Agent Mandren smiled at Iza, ignoring Agent Anderson’s incredulous expression.

  “Yes, exactly. Agent Anderson is a capable member of the TSS with a vested interest in helping track down her brother,” he continued over her squeak of protest. “You are potentially Arvonen’s next target. It is likely that you’ll find him long before a team of Agents randomly searching the Taran Empire will.”

  Everyone else remained silent.

  Iza squared her shoulders, preparing her counter argument when Agent Mandren raised a hand.

  “This isn’t a request. We are perfectly within Taran law to hold you and your ship here indefinitely.”

  Iza bit down her protest and swallowed her arguments. If she didn’t want to be stuck at TSS Headquarters in a cell, she had to comply.

  “Take care of our Agent, Captain.” Agent Mandren swiveled on his heel, turning to leave, then called out over his shoulder, “I expect regular reports on your progress, Agent Anderson.”

  Iza wanted to choke Agent Mandren with her bare hands. He’d taken Joe away from her and allowed him to be abducted by the crazed Victor Arvonen. To top it all off, he’d dumped Joe’s older sister on the ship, as if somehow that made it okay. They were using her to lure in Arvonen. With all their tech and abilities, they should have the old fool by now.

  Iza stomped up the stairs to the flight deck. As she passed Trix, she spoke to her. “Are you okay. Did you have any trouble back on Earth?”

  “None, as soon as you missed the rendezvous, I returned to the ship.”

  “How many times am I going to get arrested because of you?” Karter demanded, following close behind Iza.

  “Me? I haven’t done anything wrong.”

  “Not yet.”

  “I’d say of the two of us, you’re the one with the most dirt on your hands.”

  Karter glanced at his fingernails and shrugged his shoulders. “Perhaps.”

  “I never did hear how they caught you,” Iza said.

  Karter opened his mouth to speak when Cierra and Braedon joined them.

  “I knew nothing good would come from us going to Earth to get Joe. Didn’t I say it was too dangerous?” Cierra spoke to Brandon loud enough for the rest of them to hear.

  “It’s Joe. What were we supposed to do, just leave him here to rot? That’s not what fam—” He stopped short, remembering Joe’s sister following behind them.

  “There were Agents watching the apartment,” Karter continued speaking over their interruption. “They took me because I identified myself as Taran to give you a chance to find a place to hide or get out. I didn’t have time to come up with a more intelligent play.”

  “You sacrificed yourself to get me out?” Iza was trying to make sense of the gesture.

  “Not that it did any good, as you were caught anyway,” he said as they reached the corridor leading to the crew quarters.

  “But they kept you in a holding cell the entire time,” Braedon said, eyeing Karter with suspicion and dropping his voice to a loud whisper. “Were they able to get into your head? You must have given them something.”

  Karter was quiet for a moment. Agent Anderson was following them to the flight deck, and Iza saw him imitate Braedon’s gesture looking back at her trailing behind Trix.

  When he spoke, he lowered his voice, too, even though he knew the Agent could hear him if she wanted to. “What I gave them has nothing to do with any of you, since I hardly know you. It was my business alone. Nothing they can use, either; only I know the details of my mind in that way.”

  Iza noted the twitch in Karter’s cheek as he spoke. The sudden stillness of his body. They got something out of him, and she couldn’t help but wonder what it was that rattled him.

  She stopped in front of Joe’s cabin, letting the others file around her. Karter moved to his cabin and Cierra into hers. Braedon gave Cierra a peck on the lips before heading to the flight deck.

  Trix caught up with Iza and stopped with the Agent behind her.

  “Atano was quite distressed as the Agents searched the ship. I did my best to detain him.”

  “He was just doing his job. I’ll have to remember to reward him,” Iza said, keeping her voice dry and unbothered.

  Agent Anderson seemed to be measuring her again but then looked away.

  Iza continued addressing Trix, “Go on up to the flight deck with Braedon and prepare for our next jump.”

  “Do we have a destination?” The question had the hint of amusement, which was rare for Trix. Iza scanned her features to see if there was a smile to match, but the android’s face was passive as usual.

  “Not yet. Just get us out of this TSS dock and to somewhere we can regroup. See if you can help Braedon track down his father.”

  Iza waited while Trix passed her and Agent Anderson stepped forward. It was clear Joe’s sister didn’t like her, but it didn’t really matter.

  “You can stay in Joe’s old cabin for now.”

  Anderson nodded but didn’t move. Iz
a crossed her arms. If she thought she was going up to the flight deck, she had another thing to learn about being on her ship.

  “You said you were on Uephus when they experienced the transformation event,” Anderson said.

  Iza’s face relaxed but she kept her arms in place.

  “That’s right. We saw firsthand the devastation there, and then, of course, we were planetside during the second smaller event.”

  “Yes, I remember seeing the reports. However, they were unable to find the cause. Were you able to reach the source?”

  “Nope,” Iza said with a shrug.

  Agent Anderson squinted at her. An expression so like Joe’s that Iza had to force herself to exhale.

  “According to your crewman, you believe that there is a Gatekeeper sphere on the planet. Is that so?”

  “What if it is? We didn’t put it there and we couldn’t reach it.”

  “True. However, you could have informed us of this information earlier.”

  Iza’s arms dropped to her sides. “Why, so you can blame us for not doing more? We were there tending to their injured for half a day before even one Enforcer ship arrived. We took nothing from those people and protected them from those who had planned on looting the planet for their new natural resources. We were doing your job, so you’re welcome.”

  Iza tried to control her breathing even as the words she’d been holding back until now came tumbling out of her.

  “I don’t know what Joe told you about me, but I’m not the enemy. I’m here to render assistance should you and your crew need it, and to find my brother.”

  “What I’ve heard about you and Joe is next to nothing, which tells me all I need to know. You’re here so the TSS can claim to be helping me while using me to track down a lunatic. We don’t need you or your help. We’ve been doing just fine without you so far.”