The Kepos Problem (Kepos Chronicles Book 1)

by Erica Rue

  24. LITHIA

  Lithia started awake in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room. Her confusion at finding Dione sleeping next to her subsided as she realized where they were. She glanced down at the pile of blankets where Evy had been curled up, only to find them empty. She was probably just in the bathroom or something. Lithia checked the chair in the corner for Evy’s bag, knowing she would never leave her bugs behind.

  The bag was missing.

  Lithia was suddenly wide awake. Was Evy going to betray them? What if she led the Aratian trackers straight toward them? They could find a way in or starve them out. She swung both legs out of the bed, grabbed the stun rifle, and crept down the hallway. Her ankle throbbed under the pressure.

  Brian was asleep on the couch. She tiptoed past, imagining he was a lighter sleeper than Dione, and left through the door. She was the only one who could get back in, after all, and that fact made her uneasy. What if they forced her to open the door?

  About half-way up the staircase was Evy, moving slowly and quietly. On the floor above where they had entered just hours earlier, she could hear the low voices of men and the hypnotic rhythm of snoring. The trackers were still here. What was Evy doing?

  When Evy turned the corner of the staircase, Lithia waved her hands wildly to get her attention. It worked. Evy stopped and squeaked in surprise. The little girl held up a finger to her mouth and dismissed her with an open hand.

  Be quiet. Stop. These didn’t seem like the commands of a traitor, but everything seemed quiet. Then she realized that the men’s whispers had stopped. Boot falls echoed above in the empty chamber.

  “Someone’s here,” said a young male voice. “There she is. Sir, it’s Evelyn.”

  Lithia tried to sink into the wall, but there were no corners to hide her. She had no choice but to put her hope in the darkness.

  “How did you miss her? I told you to search every inch of this place,” said a gruff voice. The snoring had also stopped. It seemed the two watchmen had woken the rest.

  Lithia’s heart was pounding in her throat. She couldn’t possibly make it back to the apartment now, especially with her ankle, and any attempt would give Dione and Brian away.

  “I was hiding from the storm,” Evy said. “I’m just really good at hiding.”

  Was Evy trying to protect them? It just might work. If she could distract them long enough, Lithia had a chance to retreat. If Evy had wanted to harm them, she would have given away Lithia’s position by now. For a few moments, she felt hopeful. Then the gruff voice spoke.

  “Search again. If you missed the First Geneticist’s own goddamn daughter, who knows what else is down there.”

  The young tracker looked down the stairs, his face dark and unreadable with the light of his partner’s glowglobe at his back.

  His response was immediate. “Alpha, someone’s down there!”

  “Don’t move,” the gruff voice commanded. Both trackers pulled their weapons. The older man carried a gun while the younger held a baton in his left hand.

  “Don’t hurt her!” cried Evy. Lithia couldn’t run. There was no chance to raise her rifle. She knew that if she moved, they would shoot, and she doubted their weapons were non-lethal, like hers. There was no place to hide. She couldn’t hope to win in a fight. Already three more trackers were on the stairs. Luckily, she didn’t see the man she stunned in the clearing. He would have kept looking for Dione.

  “I’m raising my hands above my head. I intend you no harm.” Lithia put her arms up. The young tracker and one of the newly awoken came and bound her hands. Another took her rifle and her manumed, and for the first time since the crash, she was glad it didn’t work. Unfortunately, it looked more like tech than jewelry.

  “Are you alone?” the gruff guard asked.

  Lithia remained silent. As much as she’d love to offer up a witty retort, she thought that nothing would piss this man off more than getting no response. She was right. He slapped her across the face.

  “You answer when spoken to.”

  “Stop it,” cried Evy. “She helped me. Leave her alone!”

  Her words had some effect, though she had a feeling that once Evy’s eyes were closed or looking in another direction, he would have a few more questions.

  “Pack up, but stay vigilant. There may be others out there.”

  “Shouldn’t we look for them?”

  “No, now that we’ve found Bram’s girl and the storm’s over, we need to get her home. That was our primary mission. We leave in ten minutes.”

  “Yes, Alpha.”

  “I’m sure Bram will want to deal with the kidnapper himself.”

  Kidnapper? Lithia thought about setting the record straight, but she knew it would do no good. Better to hope Evy’s own father would believe her.

  ***

  They were out the door in eight. She shivered in the chill left by the rain. It was still rather dark in the forest, but Lithia could see faint light peeking through the trees. Her ankle ached in protest, and the young tracker held her up. She slipped a few times on the wet leaves, but she didn’t fall. She was even in enough pain to be a little grateful as she leaned on him.

  After a while, even his support wasn’t enough to keep her upright. She shivered in the cold, wishing she had put on her jacket before chasing after Evy. At least the leggings she’d found in the apartment were warm, if a bit short. When her ankle finally gave out beneath her, the tracker tried to hold her up, but she fell too fast. She banged her shoulder on the sharp rocks of the forest floor and her ankle throbbed.

  “Hold up, she’s down,” he called to the front. He looked at her for the first time in the light, good light, and his eyes went wide. “Alpha, you need to see this.”

  The Alpha came over, carrying Evy in his arms, asleep, and for a moment, it was hard to hate him. He handed the girl off to a subordinate, then got down on a knee to really examine her.

  “Who are you?” he asked emphatically.

  Lithia remained silent. Instead of anger this time, she saw uncertainty.

  “Blindfold her and gag her. She’ll go straight to First Geneticist Bram. No one is to breathe a word of this to anyone. That’s an order.”

  Why were they taking her to the First Geneticist? What had that tracker seen when he looked at her? A ghost? There had been a DNA lock on the door she’d opened. Evy had set her heart pounding when she said that Lithia looked like her cousin. Were there others running around with her eyes and nose on the planet? The Min genes were strong. She looked just like her father. Just like her grandma, Miranda Min, from the pictures. Now that she was older, she saw it in her grandpa’s eyes every time he looked at her. Her resemblance to Miranda had opened old wounds for her grandpa. Her grandfather felt pain when he looked at Lithia, and that was something that tore her heart to pieces. Grandpa Min had lived with them for as long as she could remember. His pain was her pain. He was the reason she was trying to find her grandmother. Miranda Min had been the love of his life, and she hadn’t died young, like Lithia had always believed. Miranda abandoned her grandpa and her father, and Lithia wanted to give Miranda a piece of her mind.

  Lithia was afraid of that. Ever since they had discovered people on this planet, she’d had her suspicions. According to her research, it was never colonized, and no colonizer had ever come close to this place. It was outside the Bubble. Hell, she hadn’t even found anything about the space station, and that’s something that should have been in the archives. The restricted ones that Zane had helped her access.

  Someone had erased everything about this planet except its existence, and that puzzled her. Had the corporation that did all the terraforming erased it to hide this place, full of their intellectual property? Why hadn’t they destroyed it? Maybe back then there had been hope of returning here. Either way, these people got here somehow, and Lithia had already convinced herself that this was the planet where her grandmother had come to start a new life.

  Lithia spent the rest of the trip
in darkness, thanks to the blindfold. She now had a tracker on each side, helping her stay upright. Finally, they stopped. This must have been where they left their mounts, because she could hear panting and smell manure. The group paused for what she assumed was a short meal before she was loaded onto some sort of animal, and she thought it might be one of those giant dogs that Brian had put her on, though she couldn’t be sure. It felt leaner and not as fuzzy. Maybe it was one of those machi things Evy had mentioned.

  Lithia hated admitting it to herself, but she was afraid. What was the penalty for kidnapping? Would she get a chance to explain herself? What would these people do with her if they found out that she wasn’t Aratian or Ficaran? Her southern island story would only work for so long.

  Dione and Brian were probably awake by now, looking for her. Dione. She would never get to tell Dione the truth. If Lithia had been a crier, she would have lost her composure at this point. Fortunately, she discovered at a young age that she was far too stubborn to give in to tears.

  She was going to get out of this. Really, it was the best thing that could have happened, because now she was going to steal Bel’s medicine herself.

  25. DIONE

  Dione woke up slowly, unalarmed that the room, full the night before, was now empty. She was usually the late sleeper of the bunch. Her clothes were wrinkled, but still clean. She grabbed another outfit, just in case there were any more tracking squirrels out there, and put it in her pack. She was running low on food, too, and would need to take a couple of meal bars from the apartment’s stock. She was no longer optimistic about the length of her stay on this planet. She just hoped Bel would hold out long enough, and that Zane was keeping his cool. Bel had to be okay. She was the most tenacious person Dione had ever met, and considering Lithia was her best friend, that was saying something.

  She left her room to find Brian awake and eating. His hair was down, but he pushed it back when he saw her coming. Before she could ask about Lithia and Evy, Brian offered her a small packet.

  “Breakfast?” he said.

  “What is it?”

  “Delicious. I think it’s nutritionally balanced, too.”

  Dione took the package from his outstretched hand and puzzled over that for a moment. It was a long-term ration. Of course it had all of the nutrients and calories she would need, but even after a few bites, she still didn’t see how Brian could find them delicious. Edible, sure, but why the focus on nutrition?

  “So, that’s unusual?” she said.

  “Yeah, I may just eat the rest. I found a literal closet full. There won’t be any left for Lithia and Evy.”

  “Where are they, by the way?” Dione asked, looking around. She saw no sign of their presence, but when she glanced back to Brian, she saw a sudden darkness there.

  “They’re not still asleep in the bedroom?” he said.

  “No, Lithia’s always the first up.”

  Both of them were already out of their seats. Brian opened every closed door in the small apartment, and Dione returned to the bedroom to look for anything that might provide a clue.

  Evy’s bag was gone. The rifle was missing. How had she missed such obvious signs?

  “Evy took her bag and Lithia took the rifle. Her pack is still here,” Dione said, holding it up. Brian took it and frowned. Dione looked down at the thick silver band around her wrist and the sleeping display. She couldn’t call Lithia. Their manumeds were useless without the Calypso, except to view already downloaded material.

  “Pack up. I may be able to track them,” Brian said.

  Dione gathered her things and came out to see Brian stuffing Lithia’s bag with meal bars.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I may never get another chance to come in here. When I said my people are starving, I meant it. Every ration counts, and these are even better than the ones the Aratians produce.”

  Dione took another look around. He was right. Without Lithia, they weren’t going to make it back in here, and that thought scared her. What if the Aratians had taken her? Had Evy sold them out? If so, why hadn’t the trackers taken all of them?

  This planet had too many questions and not enough time for answers. The journal itself raised more questions, but she had tucked it safely in her pack. She would have to keep reading later.

  Dione desperately wanted someone to talk to, but Brian was not in the loop. He thought they needed a Flyer to go to the southern island to save their sick friend. He knew nothing about the space station or Zane. Nothing about the Alliance. Nothing about the home she feared she would never see again.

  After just a few steps outside, Brian turned to her and she could tell. Bad news was in his face and posture.

  “The trackers took her, I’m sure of it.”

  “Which way?”

  Brian took a deep breath and held up a hand to stop her. “We can’t follow. We’re outmanned and outgunned. It will only get us killed.”

  “So we let them kill her? Is that your plan?”

  “If they had wanted to kill her, she’d be dead and they would have left her body behind.”

  “Then what do they want with her?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Dione wasn’t buying it, and sprinted off into the trees. After a minute, the sprint faded into a jog, and finally a walk. She had no idea which direction was the right one. She sat down at the foot of a tree and pulled her knees up to her chest. She felt utterly lost.

  What was she doing? Brian was right. Even if they did find her, they couldn’t take her from a bunch of Aratians. Dione had run off without a plan, but that’s something Lithia would have done. In fact, that’s probably what happened. Lithia must have left the apartment for some reason and gotten caught, because the trackers never found them.

  A few tears were rolling down her cheeks, and when Brian walked up, she wiped them away. He sat down next to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

  “I don’t think they will kill her,” he said.

  “Really?” Dione was hopeful.

  “No, not for a while. I think they’re interested in what she knows. That will buy her some time.”

  “They’re not going to torture her, are they?” Dione brushed a hot tear from her cheek.

  Brian didn’t answer her question. “For some reason, they want her alive. They might spare you, too, but me? I’d be a dead man.”

  “Why? Why do they want to kill you so badly? Do they really kill every Ficaran on sight?”

  Brian hesitated. “No, I have goods that they will consider stolen.”

  Dione dropped her hands to her lap. “So you’re a thief. Great. We probably should have just taken our chances with the Aratians then. It sounds like you’re the one they want.”

  “Make no mistake, even if they don’t want you dead, they are not your friends. I haven’t lied to you, but I suspect you can’t say the same,” he said. He stared straight at her, daring her to break eye contact. Dione’s face went red.

  “And as for the goods I took, it’s food, and it was supposed to be payment for some work I did under the table for an Aratian farmer. When the time came to pay me, he changed his mind, forcing my hand. My family needs to eat.”

  His voice was firm but quiet. He was in control, and Dione was the one losing her grip, fighting against the tears burning in her eyes. Come back. Settle down. Three point one four one five nine…

  After ten more digits, she was back. Ready to listen.

  “So you have a plan? Any Aratian contacts that won’t betray you?”

  “None that could help with this. But if we go see Victoria, my leader, she will help.” Brian put a comforting hand on her shoulder, and it was all she could do not to melt into his body. She so desperately wanted comfort, for someone to tell her it would all be okay, but even he couldn’t do that.

  He continued, “I think I can finally convince her, especially if you can start one of the Flyers. You could save more than just Lithia that way.”

  Br
ian sounded so hopeful. He had saved the two of them more than once, and now he had a plan to do it again. She looked into those bright brown eyes and knew she could trust him. She knew he just wanted the Flyer, but she thought there had to be some other reason he was being so helpful. He had to care about her and Lithia, at least a little bit. Because she cared about him.

  26. ZANE

  Bel was sitting up, but she might as well have been lying down. Zane had been begging her to eat, but she insisted she wasn’t hungry. In reality, he knew she just felt too nauseous to eat anything, but she didn’t want to say it.

  “I want the med scanner to check you out again. You must be starving. You’ve barely eaten anything in the past twenty-four hours. And don’t think I didn’t see you throw away most of your lunch.” Zane would not have pegged himself as the grandma of the group, but the role seemed to come naturally to him.

  “Fine. But it’s not gonna change anything,” Bel said.

  Zane saw her brace herself on the chair when she got up, even though she tried to pretend that she was fine. She climbed back into the med scanner and waited. The machine didn’t take long to give its professional opinion.

  “You’re dehydrated. The supplies are still here to give you fluids intravenously. The process is automated. What do you think?” If he tried to order her, he didn’t think she would appreciate it.

  “I guess it can’t hurt,” she said. She nodded to him, and he initiated the automation. Bel didn’t flinch. “So I guess I’m stuck on this bed now. How long do I have to lie here?”

  “I don’t know. It doesn’t say. But we will find a way to get Dione and Lithia back, along with the anti-parasitics. In fact, while you rest, I’m going to try something I’ve been thinking about.”