What Simiaar didn’t send, and what Gomez suddenly realized, was that some of the natural investigators from the Moon were probably dead. Or in mourning. Or injured.
Her plan had been flawed. She’d been reacting out of guilt, not because she was thinking clearly.
She needed to investigate, yes, and she had to do it outside of the aegis of the Alliance. But she couldn’t do it alone.
She needed Simiaar. Apaza would make things so much easier as well. With the right pilot (or pilots), and a few others, she would be able to travel much more safely.
And Simiaar was right: she needed a ship with good weaponry.
“Okay,” Gomez said out loud. “You’re right. I need help.”
Simiaar opened her hands and looked up, as if some higher power had assisted her in convincing Gomez.
“This could be dangerous,” Gomez said.
“And our day job isn’t?” Simiaar asked. “Please, don’t insult me.”
Gomez grinned.
Simiaar put an arm around her. “We are leaving this expensive piece of crap, and we’re heading to the bar for good beer and bad food. There we will research the type of vessel we actually need. Deal?”
Gomez’s stomach growled. She hadn’t realized she was hungry. Or maybe she hadn’t been hungry until she made this decision.
“Deal,” she said, and let Simiaar lead her out of the ship.
They would find out all the information the Alliance had missed. They would take whatever they learned to the Moon. By then, the security chief and the survivors would be ready to hear it.
By then, they would be looking for answers.
And Gomez might just be able to provide them.
The thrilling adventure continues with the fourth book in the Anniversary Day Saga, Search & Recovery.
Amid the ruin, heroes emerge from the unlikeliest places...
The Anniversary Day bombings devastated the Moon, killing thousands. While survivors search for missing loved ones and the rich and powerful set plans in motion to capitalize on the Moon’s misfortune, one ruthless man vows to uncover those responsible for the attacks on the Moon.
Luc Deshin, the most feared man in Armstrong, knows all too well the bombings could have killed the wife and son he loves more than life itself. To protect his family, Deshin immerses himself in a criminal network he fought long and hard to leave behind. Deshin doesn’t scare easy, but what he finds in the black market underbelly of the Moon will chill him to the bone.
Turn the page for the first chapter of Search & Recovery.
FOUR YEARS AGO
ONE
BERHANE MAGALHÃES’S MOTHER put her arm around Berhane’s shoulder, pulled her close, and kissed the top of her head. Berhane flushed, but refrained from looking around the Armstrong Express car at the other passengers to see if they noticed her mother’s inappropriate display of affection. Berhane used to glance at others guiltily when she was younger, and all it would do was make her mother’s trilling laugh echo through whatever compartment they were in.
This compartment was large and wide, with silver built-in seats that accommodated most two-legged species, and some sideways booths for wider aliens. There was even a flat tabletop area for the Disty. A Disty sat cross-legged on it now, its tiny childlike shape belying its ferocity.
Berhane had grown up fearing the Disty. Apparently, her father had lost business associates to them, and he loved to talk about how awful the Disty were and how they murdered indiscriminately. Earth Alliance law allowed for it, he would say, and then he would add, That’s such a travesty.
She tried not to look at the Disty—and found herself looking at a wide variety of humans instead. They were standing, sitting, watching vids on their links, swaying to the train’s movement. Scattered among them, a few Peyti—gray aliens so thin that they looked like they would shatter with a tap to their twig-like arms. They wore masks over much of their faces, which she had grown used to in her time at the university.
Berhane hadn’t had a lot of contact with aliens before she graduated from the Armstrong Wing of the Aristotle Academy two years ago. Now, aliens filled her classes, and the hallway, and the public transportation she took daily to get to Dome University’s Armstrong campus.
Apparently, Berhane’s mother noted her discomfort with the aliens and pulled Berhane even closer. Berhane didn’t move away, although she wanted to. Her mother—and probably most of the humans in the car—would have found the movement rude.
And whatever she thought of her mother, Berhane didn’t want to be rude to her. She knew they just misunderstood each other most of the time.
Madeline Magalhães believed in laughter and affection and warmth; for some reason, she had married a man who believed in none of those things, leaving her children confused about the very nature of love and proper behavior.
None more than Berhane, who adored her father. He seemed to approve of her, although he rarely said so. But of all the family members, the only one he talked to about business and the future was Berhane.
Her mother grinned at everyone else in the compartment. Most of them looked away. Her mother rarely rode public transportation, but this morning, she was accommodating Berhane—sort of.
Berhane had mentioned that they’d be taking the five a.m. inner dome train in an effort to dissuade her mother from accompanying her. Predictably, her mother had mentioned bringing their own car, but Berhane had vetoed that.
She hated parking in the university lots. Not only was it difficult to find a space, but she found that having a car—particularly one of the most expensive models on the Moon—made her feel less like a student and more like a wealthy dilettante.
“You really need to listen to me,” her mother said softly, after she had kissed Berhane’s head.
“I do listen,” Berhane said a little too loudly. The big man near her looked over. She glared at him, wondering if his size was a conscious choice. He looked wealthy enough to afford thinness enhancements.
“My darling,” her mother said, laughter in her voice, “you have never listened to me. But you need to, now.”
“Mom,” Berhane said. “I have finals this week. I don’t have time to think about any big life changes.”
Whenever her mother got this tone, she wanted Berhane to do something. Change her major, be nicer to her father, talk to her brother about something he was doing wrong.
Given the timing, her mother probably wanted her to break up with her boyfriend. Her mother had never liked Torkild Zhu, believing him to be a cold-hearted bastard like her father. At least, those were her mother’s words.
And maybe her mother was right on some level. Torkild wanted to be a lawyer, not because he cared about people, per se, but because he found the law intellectually challenging—and because he thought being a lawyer would be a great way to make money. Not Bernard Magalhães kind of money (one of the richest men on the Moon money), but out-earning your own parents kind of money.
Torkild had said that if he were a lawyer, he would have to answer to himself, the courts, and no one else.
He seemed to think that a good idea. Berhane had not found a way to argue with him.
And she hadn’t felt like it. He had his passions; she wished she had hers. She was still looking for her place in the universe. Right now, she was that Magalhães girl, or Torkild’s girlfriend, or a Dome University student.
No one knew who Berhane was because Berhane didn’t know who Berhane was either.
Her mother’s smile vanished. “You need to make time to talk with me. I don’t think this can wait any longer.”
Drama. Her mother was all about drama—happy drama, but drama nonetheless.
Her mother must have seen the reluctance on Berhane’s face. She patted Berhane on the leg.
“Tell you what,” her mother said. “I’ll stop at the Shenandoah Café and get that cinnamon coffee you like. I’ll bring it to your favorite table in the quad in, what? An hour?”
Berhane r
esisted the urge to roll her eyes. That was what she got for telling her mother her exam schedule. She could almost hear herself blithely nattering last night:
I’m not worried about the first exam, even if it is at 6:30 in the morning. It’s Poetry of the New Worlds, which is going to be an essay exam, graded on creativity, which just means repeating the lectures the professor gave that he obviously thought were brilliant…
“I thought you had a meeting,” Berhane said, trying not to sound desperate. She hated heart-to-hearts with her mother. “That was what you told me last night.”
Her mother’s smile was wide and warm, deepening the creases around her eyes and making her seem even more cheerful than usual.
“I do have a meeting,” her mother said. “It’s with you.”
Berhane felt a surge of irritation. Her mother always manipulated her like that. But before Berhane could say anything, her mother stood. The train was slowing. Her mother headed to the nearest exit, along with two Peyti, three Imme, and a short woman who didn’t quite block Berhane’s view of her mother’s face.
Her mother smiled at Berhane, then waggled her fingers. Berhane gave her a reluctant shake of the head. Her mother knew that Berhane was annoyed at her—and in typical fashion, her mother didn’t really care.
The train stopped, the door eased open, and the group of seven from this part of the car stepped onto the outdoor platform—although nowhere in Armstrong’s dome was really outside. Outside was the Moon itself, with its own gravity and lack of oxygen. Berhane had gone out there several times in an environmental suit, generally with her father on business, and it had always freaked her out.
The platform glowed golden in light from Dome Dawn. Her mother’s hair had reddish highlights from the fake sunlight, and her matching black pantsuit glowed reddish as well. She walked to the side of the platform, heading toward the stairs, as the train eased forward.
Berhane felt a longing for cinnamon coffee. The Shenandoah Café made the best in Armstrong. Her mother definitely knew how to bribe her. And after this stupid final, Berhane would want some kind of refreshment, even if it meant letting her mother harangue her.
The train sped up, heading across the famed University shopping district with its funky stores and fantastic restaurants (including the Shenandoah Café), before it reached the first of five University stops. Berhane didn’t settle in. She would get off on the second stop and walk less than a block to get to her exam.
Berhane felt annoyed. Instead of focusing on the exam (which was going to count for 75% of her grade), she was thinking about whatever it was that her mother wanted. And it had to be something important (life-changing, her mother had said) to merit cinnamon coffee and a forced meeting.
The train slid sideways.
Berhane’s heart rose and her breath caught.
Trains weren’t supposed to slide sideways. They couldn’t slide sideways.
Berhane felt a surge of alarm.
Then the train car toppled backwards, and the people near the door flew toward her.
A big man landed on her, knocking the wind from her. Screams echoed around her. Beside her, a Peyti—its face grotesque and strange—gasped. It had no mask. It was on its side, groping for its mask with its twig-like fingers. Somehow Berhane managed to grab the mask and give it to the Peyti, all without dislodging the big man on top of her.
More people had landed on him, and the screaming continued.
Then another thump occurred, making the car jolt upward as if nothing held it down, not even the weight of the people inside. The car had gone dark.
She managed to catch a thin breath, although it hurt. Then she realized that the air tasted of chemicals. Burned chemicals. She peered through the window, which was now above her, and saw a blackened dome.
The car hadn’t gone dark—or maybe it had—but the dome had gone dark too. Domes didn’t go dark. That meant the power was off, the environment was no longer being filtered, and everyone would die.
They would all die.
She gasped for air again, her chest aching. The air burned its way down her throat.
She willed herself to think—not about dying, but about surviving. She needed to survive. She needed to live. If she thought about dying, she would, underneath the big man who smelled of sweat, in a closed car filled with screamers, and near a Peyti clutching its mask to its bony little face. Its eyes met hers, and in their liquid depths, she thought she saw panic.
She wouldn’t panic. She couldn’t.
The car hadn’t shifted any more. Whatever had happened was over—at least for the moment.
She moved her arms under the big man, finding his back or his shoulders or some solid part of him, and she shoved.
“We have to move,” she said.
She could barely hear herself in all the screaming. The Peyti was still staring at her.
She shoved again.
“Move!” she shouted at the big man, and he did, somehow, sliding toward the seat behind her.
A tangle of people and a Disty tumbled on top of her and she kept shoving.
“Move!” she yelled again, and this time, her voice cut through the screams. The fact that someone (she) had taken charge seemed to galvanize everyone.
People started picking themselves up, rolling away from each other, asking questions instead of screaming.
“Anything broken?”
“You okay?”
“Can you slide this way?”
Berhane tuned out the words and managed to pull herself upright. She was now standing on the window of the car, her back against the ceiling. The train had derailed, something she hadn’t thought possible. Weren’t they built so that they couldn’t derail? She remembered hearing about that in one of her classes. Something about magnetized couplings and nanobots and—
She wiped a hand over her face, and took another deep breath of the chemical-laden air. She was in shock, or sliding into shock, and she didn’t dare, because they were trapped in this car. Judging from the smells around her—those chemicals, the stench of burning—something had gone very wrong somewhere, and she couldn’t know if it was the train itself or if it was the dome.
The Peyti grabbed her leg. She looked down at the thin gray fingers wrapped around her pants.
“Please,” it said.
She reached down, and helped it up. Its other arm dangled at its side, clearly broken. She’d always thought the twig-like Peyti looked fragile. Now she knew that they were.
“Thank you,” it said.
“There’s something in the air,” she said because she knew the Peyti, with its mask, couldn’t smell what had gone wrong. “Something bad.”
The Peyti nodded and surveyed the area around them. Other survivors were moving, shuffling toward the side of the car.
The Peyti said something in its native language and looked back at her.
“What?” she asked.
It shook its head, a movement that looked very unnatural. It clearly worked among humans and had learned their movements.
“The dome sectioned,” it said.
She frowned. “How do you know that?”
“Do not look north,” it said.
She didn’t even know where north was. She was completely disoriented.
“Oh, my God.” The big guy was standing on the seat back beside her. “We got cut in half.”
Berhane didn’t understand him at first. She was fine. Except for broken bones and bleeding, everyone else seemed fine too. She glanced at the big man, then started to turn toward the direction he was looking in, but the Peyti grabbed her arm.
“Do not look,” it said. “The dome bisected the train.”
Her breath caught. “It can’t do that.”
“Not under regular circumstances, no,” the Peyti said. “The trains must stop when the dome sections, but clearly this is not a regular circumstance.”
The dome only dropped its sections when the mayor ordered the dome to get segmented off. He had done
so during the crisis surrounding the Moon marathon. He had sectioned off one part of the dome, so the disease running through the marathon didn’t infect the rest of the city.
But that was the only time in her memory that the dome had sectioned.
And that sectioning had been ordered. Trains had stopped in time. Cars hadn’t been able to get through the area. People had been instructed to move away from the section before it came down.
Not this time.
“What happened?” she whispered.
“Something bad,” the Peyti said.
The something bad had happened in the forward compartments.
Then Berhane realized she was turned around. The sectioning had occurred behind her.
Where her mother had been.
“No,” Berhane said.
She scrambled past the people still picking themselves up, and climbed toward the door. It was half open, something that shouldn’t have happened either, or maybe that was a fail-safe when the train derailed (only it wasn’t supposed to derail).
Somehow she pried the doors open and squeezed through.
The air was thick with the smell of burnt rubber and fried circuits. Her eyes watered.
She could see the dome behind her, set against the famed university shopping district, but it looked wrong.
Black. Rubble. Smoke, billowing everywhere. Some of it near the sectioned dome, but most of it behind the protective barrier.
She climbed on top of the car. The train was twisted too. Cut in half. Sort of. Because in the back, past the section, she couldn’t see a train at all.
She couldn’t see anything she recognized.
“Mother,” she whispered. And then she shouted, “Mother!”
Her mother never shouted back.
The thrilling adventure continues with the fourth book in the Anniversary Day Saga, Search & Recovery, available now from your favorite bookseller.
A Murder of Clones: A Retrieval Artist Universe Novel Page 33
