The Kepos Problem (Kepos Chronicles Book 1)

by Erica Rue

  Evy looked worried. “Are they dead?”

  “No, they’re just sleeping,” Lithia replied.

  The male tech was on the ground with Nadia, pressing on her wound. His hands were covered in blood. It looked bad, but then again, it always did. That’s something she’d learned from shadowing her mother and father at the hospital. When it came to bleeding, it always looked worse.

  Cora approached, face pale. Evy looked just as frightened. They definitely weren’t used to this. Honestly, Lithia wasn’t used to this either. “There might be something on the Flyer that can help,” she said. A horn sounded in the distance. Shit. Not a lot of time. “Move her on board.”

  “What the hell is going on?” the tech asked.

  “Jeremy, settle down,” said the tall man who was still applying pressure to Nadia’s side. Nadia was conscious, but weak.

  “I’m going to take us all to the Ficaran settlement,” Lithia said.

  “We can’t escape by foot, and the Flyer isn’t fixed.”

  “We’ll see about that.” Lithia hoped they had made enough repairs. “Your friend is hurt and we need to move her onto the shuttle.”

  The tech looked at her for a minute, trying to decide if he should listen to this teenager, but Lithia exuded confidence like a tracking squirrel exuded its disgusting stench. Jeremy took the clean pila blade from the ground and cut their leg restraints. Nadia moaned when they moved her.

  Lithia pried open a floor compartment and pulled out a first aid kit. This stuff was old. It might not work, but it wouldn’t hurt to try. She tossed some clean bandages and a small brown tube at Jeremy. The other man’s hands were back on Nadia’s side.

  “It’s a coagulant. Topical, but it’s the best we’ve got. When you’re done, clean your hands. There are a few wipes still in the kit.”

  “Who are you?” Jeremy asked.

  “It’s a long story,” Lithia replied.

  She went straight to the navigation console. Time for a systems check. If this thing couldn’t actually fly, they were screwed. Lithia was alarmed to see that they had already done a systems check. Error messages littered the screen.

  “My god, this thing is red for days,” she said, swiping through the readout. After a few minutes, Lithia made her diagnosis: “Huh. Let’s try this anyway.”

  “So it’s fixed?” asked Cora.

  “Ish.”

  “Is it safe?”

  “The major systems are fine. External cameras are down, stabilizers are, well, not completely shot. Altitude would be a problem, but we’ll have to stay low to avoid the Icon anyway. If we get hit… your dad’s men wouldn’t shoot you out of the sky, right?”

  “Of course not!” Cora said. “Maybe we should just tell him that you are working for the Farmer. He believes. I’m sure I could convince him.”

  Mother of the void. This girl. “The Farmer doesn’t want us to tell anyone. I know it’s all a little strange, but trust him. He honored you by choosing you to help me. If you aren’t up to the task, I’ll find someone else.”

  “No, I’ll help. I’m sorry.” As she apologized, she seemed to be looking upward rather than at Lithia. “I just… the Matching is in a few days.”

  “You’ll be back by then.”

  At that moment, Cora remembered Evy, who had buckled herself into the copilot seat. She was so little that she was impossible to see from behind. The harness was too big, yet somehow Evy looked like a natural.

  “What are you doing here?” Cora said.

  “Evy, I can’t take you with me. It’s too dangerous,” Lithia said.

  Evy pretended like she couldn’t hear.

  “I don’t want you to get hurt,” Lithia said.

  Cora strapped herself into a passenger seat. “Evy, you can’t go. We can’t both go. Our parents will panic. The Farmer chose me for this mission. You have to stay.”

  The debate never got settled because Lithia heard another horn and distant shouting.

  “All right, time to go. Looks like your parents will freak out together.” The thought gave her some pleasure, tinged with guilt. Benjamin and Michael deserved to feel a little pain. The techs in the back looked concerned as the door closed.

  “This won’t work. It can’t fly. We just tried.” It was the tech who was trying to tend to Nadia’s wound.

  “You just didn’t ask it nicely enough,” Lithia said. She had sweet-talked a few systems into thinking they were in better shape than they really were. It wasn’t a long flight. And they weren’t leaving the atmosphere or anything. It would be fine. “Buckle in. Use the straps to secure Nadia. This is not going to be a smooth ride.”

  Lithia prepared for take off. Here goes nothing. Even inside the shuttle, the noise was extreme. The shuttle was rattling violently, but she continued their ascent. There was no way out but up. Once she hit the lowest possible cruising altitude, she urged them forward, slowly, afraid to go too fast or too slow. No one spoke, and Lithia was glad. If flying this rickety shuttle didn’t demand her full attention, she was sure she’d be losing it right now. Her hands were still shaking. Focus on the controls. Steady. All right. Need directions.

  ***

  Once they were under way, Lithia called Zane. After he got over his initial surprise and irritation that she had taken some initiative and done something about their predicament, Lithia was able to extract some useful information from him.

  “Zane, where am I headed?”

  “I sent you the coordinates.”

  “Didn’t get them.”

  “Now?”

  “Nope.”

  “Okay, can you input them manually?”

  “Yeah, it’s not like I’m busy flying a machine held together by metaphorical duct tape.”

  “Is that sarcasm?”

  “Zane, I need the coordinates. Where are we going?”

  “I can help,” Evy said. She was in the copilot chair.

  “Who was that?” Zane asked.

  “Evy. Cora’s cousin. Don’t ask.”

  “This looks like some of the stuff in the temple. I can use it.”

  Worth a try. “Zane, read out the coordinates. Evy will put them in.”

  He did, and Evy entered them. A destination popped up on her interface, even though the AutoNav wasn’t quite sure how to get there. It had been one of the damaged systems. One of her main reasons for choosing this particular Post-16 trip, aside from hanging out with Dione, was the chance to log some pilot hours, and this would certainly be a test of her skills.

  The AutoNav helped some, but the shuttle was still difficult to control. The techs had been trying to solve a different problem. They were trying to get the shuttle into good shape, probably taking their time. All she needed was a getaway vehicle. They had made enough repairs to get this thing in the air, but it was probably a one-way trip. There was no time to relax, think, plan. She hoped Zane knew what came next.

  Evy stared quietly out the front viewport. Cora was holding on so tight her knuckles were white. The ride was a bit bumpy, but at least it was brief.

  They were about twenty minutes out when Zane got on the comms.

  “Lithia, you need to hurry up.”

  “Why, is Bel okay? Are the Vens moving in?”

  “No change. The medical bed gave her something to make her rest. It’s Dione. I really should have heard from her by now.”

  “Do you think something happened?”

  “I don’t know, but I just got the most recent satellite images, and their hangar is open, if you can land there.”

  Lithia laughed. “Much like my cat, once this thing lands, it’s not getting up again. We’re gonna have to hover to pick her up. I guess we head to the hangar and hope she’s in there.”

  They needed a plan. She wanted to talk to the two conscious techs in the back, but they were having their own hushed conversation. They were also too far away to overhear.

  “Cora, Evy, what do you know about the Ficaran leader?”

  Cora replied
first. “Her name is Victoria. She’s not very nice and doesn’t want to trade with us. She wants all of our farming Artifacts to be destroyed just for spite.”

  “Yeah,” Evy said, having nothing to add, but still wanting to contribute.

  “What do you think she’ll do to us if we’re captured?”

  “Captured? I thought you were working for the Farmer and his harbinger! They would never allow us to be captured.”

  Lithia rolled her eyes. She really ought to reassure Cora, but she couldn’t help herself. “Don’t presume to know his plan. Adversity is often a tool that gods use to test their followers.” The lies only got easier. She glanced at Evy, who gave her a puzzled look.

  Lithia did feel a twinge of guilt when she heard a big sniff come from Cora behind her as if she were trying to contain her tears.

  “Cora, I will do everything I can to protect you. I am grateful to you for helping me.” It was a promise she couldn’t necessarily keep. “My friend is very sick, and she still may not make it.” Lithia paused here, taking a breath for composure. “Without your help, she would have no chance.”

  This seemed to calm Cora down. Evy continued to stare at her thoughtfully.

  Why was she so cruel to Cora? This girl had risked everything to help her, and she couldn’t even muster up a little compassion. It was bad enough she and Zane had manipulated Cora, using her faith. But every time she saw Cora, she saw her grandmother’s betrayal and remembered her grandfather’s pain. It’s not Cora’s fault.

  She couldn’t wait until they got off this planet and never looked back. Zane was figuring out how to lure the Vens away, or destroy them, or something. Getting up to Zane was still a problem, but once she got Dione, they’d be able to head off and make some repairs.

  Lithia had been stupid to even look for her grandmother. Miranda deserved to be forgotten. For a long time, Lithia hadn’t known the truth. Her grandpa always talked about Miranda as if she had died tragically young, but a few months ago, she had found the letter. From that point on, every time her grandpa talked about Miranda, Lithia hated her a little bit more.

  Grandpa had been reading and fell asleep in his tattered old chair, like always, but when Lithia removed his tablet from his lap and covered him with a blanket, she glanced at what he’d been reading. She should have stopped when she realized it was a personal letter, not one of his fantasy stories. Miranda wrote to him from the colonizer. It was the worst apology in history. Instead of taking responsibility for her actions, Miranda blamed everyone and everything else.

  She even blamed Grandpa Min, and after all these years, and he still felt the wound. He was still reading that letter.

  After that, Lithia had made up her mind to find Miranda, to ask her why she had done it. She would show Miranda that she had grown up to be an incredible person without her. That her father ran the biggest hospital on one of the core planets. That her grandfather still laughed and flipped pancakes way too high in the air and told her stories of the expansion. She wanted Miranda to know that they hadn’t needed her.

  And now she knew that all of that would have meant nothing. Miranda had a family here. She had loved them, nurtured them, and never abandoned them. She was dead, and all of the gloating in the world couldn’t make her realize what she had left behind. So Lithia was going to save Bel, blow up the Vens, leave this planet, and erase it from her memory, just like it was erased from the public archives.

  Some violent turbulence brought Lithia’s wandering mind back to the task at hand. She watched their approach on her Nav panel, but it was a little off. This was why, instead of approaching cautiously and getting an update from Zane, they arrived to the panic-inducing pings of gunfire.

  Super. She turned to the techs in the back. “Anything you can do to help out?”

  “Not until we land,” Jeremy said.

  “That might be a problem.” Lithia had no intention of landing.

  38. DIONE

  Dione knew it was bad because she couldn’t remember the digits of pi to recite to herself. She didn’t like time pressure assignments, especially ones that involved a gun in her face. What was worse, she could hear weapons firing outside. Where had the Aratians even gotten a shuttle? Brian said they didn’t have any.

  “I’m trying. I just need a few more minutes,” she said.

  “Time’s up,” Victoria snapped. “Either you have it or you don’t. Now give me the key.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Just give her a—” Brian began. Before he could finish, Victoria smacked him across his temple with the butt of her pistol. He hit the floor, out cold. Dione flinched.

  “The Aratians are attacking, in a Flyer of their own. You gave them the key, and now you’ll give it to me, or I kill him first, then you.” Dione could hear gunfire coming from outside.

  “He’s one of your own people!”

  “Hardly. I’ve seen the way you and this traitor look at each other. He only cares about his personal mission.” Dione’s face felt suddenly hot, and she didn’t look at Brian. “You two were planning to take this Flyer. That’s why he sent Melanie to make a fuss about her rations.” Dione cast a furtive glance at Brian, but he just lay there. “Oh, he didn’t tell you? Maybe I was wrong about the way he feels. Either way, the life of one foolish boy is insignificant in the larger picture. My men are poised to take these Flyers up and out. What’s the key?” Victoria’s finger curled around the trigger. “Now.”

  What’s the key? That phrase awakened a memory inside of her, but her mind was iced over with fear. She could feel the answer just out of reach.

  Suddenly, she had it.

  Dione opened her mouth, but before she could respond to Victoria, a smoking heap of metal skidded through the rows landing just thirty meters away. Smoke billowed up from underneath it, and bullets had dented the hull. The shuttle emitted a high-pitched whine and bang before suddenly powering down. It would not be getting back off the ground, but it might distract them all just long enough for her to escape.

  The shuttle door opened, and every Ficaran raised their weapon, uncertain about what they would find. From the wreckage, a Ficaran emerged, carrying an injured woman. She could tell by the clothes, even though they were both covered in blood. A few people rushed to help.

  One Ficaran stayed behind in the shuttle. Then Lithia appeared, holding the stun rifle. Dione could hardly believe it. Lithia was here! The soldiers who had accompanied Victoria to the hangar looked confused. Dione could read the questions on their faces. Should they kill her? She knew the secret of the Flyers, too.

  “What happened to Nadia?” one soldier asked.

  “An Aratian wounded her in our escape. This girl helped us escape the Aratians. Please, Victoria, do not hurt her. We owe her,” said the remaining tech.

  “She’s probably got a weapon aimed at you. We’ll detain her, then you will have the opportunity to speak freely. Unless she makes this too difficult.”

  Dione was impressed with how quickly Lithia reacted. She returned to cover, and by the time Victoria figured out what was going on, it was too late. She scrambled out of the way as the energy pulse from the stun rifle narrowly missed her. The guards returned fire, but their weapons were lethal. Lithia fired off a few shots, but she didn’t seem to hit anyone. She stayed close to the smoking craft. How did she look so comfortable in all this? Dione was impressed. Fortunately, with a Ficaran still on the shuttle, Victoria’s guards took time aiming each shot.

  Pretty soon, though, they would surround Lithia, and Victoria didn’t seem very concerned about keeping her alive. Dione refocused. She had to get this shuttle into the air. She fanned the journal pages once more, and directed her attention to the musical notes. She needed the key, and that meant she had to sing the song, but in the correct musical key. She’d had music lessons, and she could tell what note she needed to start on, a B, but she didn’t have perfect pitch. She didn’t know what a B sounded like, and there wasn’t enough time to guess. She needed her
manumed. It would have a tuner.

  Victoria wasn’t paying much attention to her, now that she was under fire. Somehow even a woman like her could underestimate a girl. There was no time to think her way around the problem. She would have to tackle it head on.

  Dione pounced. Victoria stumbled, but recovered her footing. She did, however, lose her grip on the gun. Dione scrambled for it, but she saw that she would not make it in time. Victoria was just about to grab it when she jumped back. An energy pulse from Lithia’s stun rifle had narrowly missed her shoulder. Dione lunged for the weapon and pointed it at Victoria.

  In her biggest voice, Dione shouted, “Everybody stop or she dies!”

  The already cocked gun trembled in her hands. Victoria nodded to her own soldiers, who lowered their weapons.

  Before Dione could speak, Lithia stood up.

  “Thanks all, but that’s our ride. Come on,” Lithia called into the shuttle.

  A young woman and a wide-eyed girl emerged from the wreck unscathed. Lithia could crash as well as she flew.

  The three girls headed to Dione’s shuttle. Who were they? And why had Lithia brought a child with her? Wait, was that Evy? The other girl looked a lot like Lithia.

  In Dione’s moment of distraction, Victoria twisted out of her sights and caught her by the wrist. The pistol fell to the floor and Victoria shoved her in the opposite direction. As Dione tried to right herself, Victoria grabbed the pistol and aimed it once again at her.

  She was going to die. After everything.

  In that same heartbeat, Lithia knocked Victoria out with one shot. The woman went limp, and shots began ringing against the hull of the shuttle. In another moment, all three girls were on board, and Dione closed the back of the shuttle. The weapons fire stopped.