Nobody had noticed my failed attempt at a punch, and after I steadied my synthetic leg, which had yet to endure such a sudden motion, thirty years of being a Collector took hold. I instinctually bolted out of the bar onto the Tongueway to see what was going on. People were in a panic, but other than loosened dust there was nothing different about Old Dome.
Sirens echoed and flashing red emergency lights filled the manmade crevices offering a peek at the shimmering world of towers above. I didn’t think. I made a break for the Redline station’s stairs leading up to the city’s upper level, fighting my way through a mob of frightened, wealthy Martians trying to force their way down.
At the surface, I saw the reflection of the New Beijing Spaceport in the glassy façade of a handful of towers. That was where everyone was running from. Smoke filled the air around one of its elevated landing platforms. Security hovercars and drones darted about as they tried to extinguish the spreading flames.
“This can’t be happening again,” I whispered to myself. A bombing of New London, Earth, carried out by Ringers was the first and only case Zhaff and I ever got to work on.
I weaved my way down the sidewalk, having to duck under a few hovercars whose drivers were in too much of a panic to obey traffic laws. The plaza at the foot of the spaceport dome was even crazier. All those thousands I’d seen on the viewscreens protesting Kale Trass were now fleeing like a stampede of frightened animals.
Venta Co. and Red Wing officers had quickly established a perimeter. That was one benefit of living in a city off Earth. Private security groups were far better trained and more experienced.
“Sir, please step back while we evacuate,” a Venta officer out front said to me.
I instinctually reached for my ID to show I was a Collector and therefore above a lowly officer like him, and then suddenly it all came back to me. I wasn’t. The ability to run headfirst into peril with the promise of credits died the moment I handed my gun over to Luxarn Pervenio. I was no longer any different than the rabble fleeing.
My head sank. I’d have to wait for the newsfeeds to find out what happened just like everybody else. Smoke, withering flames, rubble—it was clearly the result of an explosion. But by who? Was this New London all over again? Was Kale Trass still up there? Had someone been stupid enough to make a move on him?
In my Pervenio days, I never had to wait long to find out the why behind crimes. Not that I ever let that affect my work. I did what was asked of me, kept my mouth shut, and got paid. But now that I was on the outside, it didn’t mean I could turn off my inherent curiosity over what made criminals tick.
I ducked around the crowd, trying to see if there was an unpatrolled area where I could sneak into the spaceport. I reached a break and got ready to plot my course, but that was when I saw what had parted the people nearby. A smoking piece of the spaceport’s landing pad had blown free and crashed in the plaza. None of the medical teams had arrived yet, but a few officers were trying to clear the area of civilians.
I bounded toward one of the bodies crushed beneath the rubble. “Sir, you need to keep clear!” An officer shouted, giving chase. I ignored him.
A pair of skinny legs stuck out from a melted railing connected to a smoking chunk of plasticrete. I knew who they belonged to even before I rounded the corner to see her face.
“Sir!” The officer grabbed my shoulder. “I won’t ask again.”
“I know her!’ I snarled. The look I shot at him must have sent a shiver up his spine because he backed off and gave me space. Wai’s eyelids were stuck half open, and not the way someone’s might go if they’re caught dozing. Her torso was crushed like a bag of moldy fruits.
Dead.
A younger me wouldn’t have been so rattled by it, but ever since Luxarn had partnered me up with Zhaff, I’d gone softer. Try as I did to drive the sweet, young offworlder away from me and toward better things, she met the same fate as all the rest.
I glanced up at the smoldering portion of the platform from which bloodcurdling screams echoed across the stale, dome-enclosed air. It felt like my body had been dipped in molten rock, I was so angry.
Someone made their last mistake planting a bomb up there. I wasn’t a Collector anymore, but I still had a gun. And this time, it was personal.
CHAPTER NINE
KALE TRASS
“Everyone in!” I boomed. I grabbed Maya and rushed her toward one of the hovercars forced to land on top of debris. She was woozy, hardly able to walk a straight line, but she was going to live. I leaned her against the car so that I could catch my breath. Aria was already inside sorting the wounded, but she came out to help my aunt in. Maya grumbled something incoherent and swiped her away. Aria took the hint, instead running out to help another Titanborn on board.
The landing pad was chaos. Officers from Red Wing struggled to bring things to order. Shock batons crackled as they tried to scare people away from the scene. Rifles shot upward at the bulletproof dome toward the same goal. The area nearest to where the preacher had been was a bloodbath. Martian citizens were in too many pieces to count the dead. Among our escort, the Venta Co. officers had taken the biggest blow. Director Yashikura was pinned upright with a piece of railing sticking through the center of his chest. The only bodies I cared about, however, were the ones clad in white. Two of my guards lay dead, bodies broken and seared. They’d followed me to this foreign world, and now because of me they’d never return home.
“Mr. Trass!” Captain Barnes said as he clutched my arm. “That’s too much weight for a single vehicle.”
I seized him by the chest plate and pulled him close. “Is this what you wanted, Captain?” I growled, then coughed. Even with my mask on, the taste of ash and smoke filled my mouth.
“I swear we had nothing to do with this. Many of my men are dead over there! Please, let us help keep you safe like we were hired to.”
“I won’t give you the chance to divide us.”
“I will,” Maya interjected. She attempted to stand on her own weight, failed, then closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. “There are drones everywhere, but they won’t be able to see clearly enough to tell which one of us is you. We should scramble in plain sight and have every car take alternate routes in case of another attack.”
“My thoughts exactly,” the captain said.
“A lot of good Earther thoughts have done us!” She grimaced in pain from raising her voice. “It’s up to you, Lord Trass. Or we can head straight back to the Cora and get off this rock.”
“We aren’t going back,” I said. “Not yet. Captain, load each car and have your men transport our dead back to my ship. We came here together, and we’ll be leaving that way.”
“Absolutely, Mr. Trass.” He started off toward his men, but I stopped him.
“If you try anything, I’ll have every member of your clan family across Sol hunted down.”
“When Red Wing takes a contract, we do everything in our power to fulfill it. Now please, sir, let me do my job.”
A thousand different insults bounced around in my head, but I decided just to let him go. If he was planning a hit on me, there was no reason to rile him further, and if he wasn’t, no reason to give him cause to change his mind. A younger version of me wouldn’t have shown such restraint, but I was learning what it took to lead...slowly.
Maya moved to start giving orders, but it took only one step for her to grow faint and fall against the car again.
“Get inside and have Aria look at you,” I said. “And when you get a chance, make sure Gareth knows we’re all right. That’s an order.”
I could tell she wanted to protest, but for once she couldn’t muster the energy. After she was on board, I had my entire squadron of guards shuffle between cars. Fourteen of them were with us now, and since all of them wore sanitary masks, tricking any peeping Earthers would be easy. The most injured remained where they were in the car with Aria and Maya, and after I was sure every one of my people was safe, I prepared to join the
m.
Captain Barnes offered a resolute nod from across the pad, where medical personnel had now arrived. He specifically made sure my two fallen brethren were the first to be placed on gurneys. I swallowed my pride, returned the gesture, and right before I backed up onto the hovercar, noticed my would-be Cogent assassin on the ground. I hurried out and dragged the limp corpse onto the car. Everybody inside was too agitated to notice.
“I’m flying,” Maya demanded to the anxious Red Wing officer seated at the controls.
“Not until I take a look at you,” Aria replied.
“There’s nothing to look at. I’m fine.”
Just as she finished her sentence, her hand skated off the back of the pilot’s chair, and she nearly fell. Aria didn’t hesitate. She weaved her way across the cabin and shoved Maya into the nearest seat. Then she waved a light in front of her eyes.
“Definitely a concussion,” Aria said. “You’re not doing any piloting right now.”
“You don’t get to tell me what to do!” She went to stand, but Aria easily pushed her back down.
“I do right now. If you don’t trust him, I’ll fly.”
“No,” I interrupted. All eyes snapped toward me. “They need their doctor right now. Take off,” I addressed the Red Wing pilot. “Whatever route you had planned, take another.”
The pilot swallowed hard, then turned to the controls. The hovercar promptly lifted straight up before zooming forward toward New Beijing’s forest of glass towers.
“Keep us in one piece, or you won’t be,” Maya threatened. While Aria continued examining her head, Maya stuck her arm into the cockpit, pulse pistol in hand, and aimed it into the pilot’s side. I could see the sweat glistening on his cheek as he tried his best not to look.
I watched through the forward viewport as the other two hovercars in our escort diverged. I understood the strategy, though it pained me to know I might be sending more of my people to their slaughter. There could be more Cogents out there like the one who almost got me, prepared to take a chance on which car to hit. That was when I remembered I was holding a body.
I slid it into the center of the aisle. My people stared, their faces covered in ash and scrapes, eyes bright red from the smoke. Aria was about to pick shrapnel out of another injured Titanborn when she noticed the head by her boot and froze.
“Who is he?” Maya groaned. She looked like she was ready to throw up.
“He was about to shoot me before the explosion went off,” I said. “A Cogent, I think. One of Luxarn’s secret Collectors that Mazrah told us about.”
“It is,” Aria affirmed. “I saw one before the Darien Q-zone went up. One had tracked me to our hideout underneath and killed dozens of us alone before I escaped.”
“Before you ran,” Maya amended.
“Maya,” I said sternly.
“What?” she snapped. “Two people just tried to murder you, and you still think the outsider led us here to talk?”
“I would never!” Aria argued. Her hand slipped as she did, causing her patient to shriek in pain.
“You arranged this, didn’t you?”
“Enough!” I bellowed. “Don’t be blind, Maya. Luxarn might have sent the Cogent after me, but the bomber wasn’t only aiming for us. A Venta Director is probably dead. Red Wing men too. Who do you think Aria is working for if not one of them?”
“I don’t know,” Maya admitted. “Could be for her own pleasure. How much do we really know about the Doctor after all?”
“As much as I need to. She’s the only one not wearing armor. She could’ve been killed more easily than any of us.”
“Then tell me, Lord Trass. Who do you think did it?”
“Who cares. Luxarn would’ve had me dead without the bomber’s interference. Whoever it was not only saved my life but helped us in more ways than one.”
“I suppose one less Venta Director can’t hurt.”
“Violence on Mars is too close to home,” Aria said as she stretched a bandage tight around her patient’s shoulder. “It will have the USF more eager for a resolution.”
“Exactly,” I replied. Aria’s familiarity with Earther corporate politics was invaluable. Another reason to keep her around, which Maya just couldn’t bring herself to see.
“Well, they better ask nicely for my gun,” Maya muttered. She pressed her pistol harder against the pilot’s ribs. The hovercar swerved slightly, but he hastily regained control.
The rest of our ride went in silence, save for the occasional moan from one of Aria’s patients as she bound their injuries and prodded them with equipment. I stared out the viewport as the shimmering towers of New Beijing raced by, along with myriad advertisements for companies and products. Countless Earther silhouettes passed behind the windows, filling offices and luxury apartments. Every single one of them was out for his or her own wallet. And the higher up they were, the more they had, just like it had been on Titan for most of my life.
Most of the air traffic in New Beijing was grounded after the attack, so Aria barely had time to finish her examinations before we were touching down on the rooftop of the USF Assembly Building. It wasn’t the tallest structure under the dome, but it was the most solid. The stark exterior walls were made from smooth, reddish stone mined from Mars’s crust. A loose pattern of small, punched apertures gave it the appearance of an ancient fortress. The only thing that broke the solid wall was an amorphous glass volume protruding from the center like a womb, where the Assembly formally met. Where we would meet them.
I went to stand once the anti-grav engines shut off, but Maya barred me. She signaled to the guards, and they filed out of the craft first to ensure that this landing pad was safe. She swerved on her way to follow them, having to pause by the exit for a few seconds to gather herself.
“Is she always like this?” Aria whispered to me.
“Like what?” I said. Her lips twisted momentarily, until I forced a meager grin. “She only wants what’s best for us. If you knew everything she’s been through, you’d understand.”
“I know that.” She sighed. Her hand grazed mine softly. I flinched, but her fingers threaded through mine before I had the chance to fully recoil. “I hope you know I had nothing to do with that.”
“Trust me, if I thought otherwise, you wouldn’t be here right now.”
Her gaze drifted toward the floor. I guess it wasn’t the vote of confidence she wanted, but with the yellow eye lens of my would-be assassin glinting in the background, it was the best I could offer. She released my hand and started off toward the exit.
“Let’s get this over with then,” she said.
An apology found its way to the tip of my tongue as I stood to follow her, but it never went further.
“I know Madame Venta well,” Aria said, back to business. “She’s nothing like Luxarn Pervenio even if you think they’re all the same.”
“You’ve warned me plenty of times, Aria.”
“I just don’t want you to be caught off-guard. She seems kind, like a loving mother. Spend too long around her and you might even think she is. Don’t trust a word she says.”
“That won’t be a problem. I already have an overbearing mother.”
“I didn’t.”
We emerged onto the USF building roof, so there was no chance to respond. All three hovercars had made it safely. My people had formed a semicircle in front of us at Maya’s command. This time, their weapons were armed. They faced a wall of Venta Co. security officers. One wrong move, and I could tell by my aunt’s demeanor nobody was walking away, sanitary mask on or not. She was right in the heart of it, and either she was feeling better, or she was somehow managing to keep her stance firm despite her injuries. I wasn’t surprised. Maya was most at home in a guns-drawn standoff.
“Mr. Trass,” the middle-aged woman standing across from Maya announced. “I’m glad to see you’re safe.” I couldn’t get a good look at her, but I knew instantly she was Madame Venta. It was through her that this entire summit
had been arranged.
“I’m sure you are,” Maya snapped. Her gun went up higher as Madame Venta took a step closer. Every other weapon on the landing pad followed suit.
“Maya, everyone, lower your weapons,” I said.
“Trapped on another landing pad, Kale,” Maya said. “It doesn’t feel right. Did you plan this too, Ambassador?”
I raised my arm in front of Aria to keep her quiet. “That isn’t a request,” I said. “We’re guests here.”
My guards did as commanded. Maya lingered in her battle stance a few seconds longer before finally giving in. I shot her a glower so firm her head drooped in shame. Her insubordination in front of others was growing troublesome. My own people could handle it—they knew she was also a Trass—but while on Mars every Earther needed to know that we Titanborn stood united. That I was in complete control.
My people parted for me, and I wound up face to face with the founder of Venta Co. Immediately, I noticed what Aria had been talking about. Unlike Luxarn Pervenio with his finely tailored outfits and surgically maintained face, she had the appearance of any ordinary woman, just like on that newsfeed. Plain, wrinkly, garbed in a navy dress so conventional that Aria seemed like the unfathomably rich one.
“Excuse my aunt, Madame Venta,” I said. “She suffered head trauma during the attack and isn’t thinking straight.”
“There is nothing to forgive.” Her voice was sweet and gentle. Her eyes, though behind a thick pair of antique glasses, had a warmth to them that caught me so off guard I didn’t even realize I was staring. She extended her hand, and I shook it without thinking. I was wearing gloves, so I’d been planning to do so as a display of good faith, but it usually took more for me to purposefully touch a purebred Earther.
“What occurred at the spaceport is inexcusable,” she said, her gaze fixed upon the Red Wing officers by our transports. “And it is what happens when you leave Red Wing Company in charge of security. You have my word, we will discover who was behind it and bring them to justice.”
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