Children of Titan Series: Books 1-4: (A Space Opera Thriller Box Set)

by Rhett C. Bruno

  “For what?” she droned.

  He took a deep breath. “Found illegal contraband in one of their bags.”

  Gareth removed the pistol, gave Vick the bag, careful to angle his weapon hand so that it remained aimed at the officer’s hip, unseen. Vick placed the bag on her desk. She peeked through the top, and no doubt saw a pile of bullets sitting on top of ration bars. Her jaded expression barely shifted.

  “Thought they could get this through security, eh?” she asked. She shook her head and sighed. “Damn, Ringers. You call it in yet?”

  Vick stammered and looked from side to side. Gareth nudged him.

  “Uh, yeah,” he answered.

  The woman typed into her computer and read something on the screen. “All right, I see the report right here,” she said. “Ring Skipper staff caught smuggling ammo.” It didn’t take me long to realize one had already somehow been forged by Rylah.

  “They’re unarmed, so they’re probably only trying to sell it,” Vick said. “No need for alarm, but the director wants them interrogated nonetheless. You know, considering what’s going on.”

  “I hear you. I’ll just need to register your officer ID, and then you can take the Ringers along through the scanner.”

  Vick dug his hand into a pouch along his belt. He stepped toward the desk, leaving Gareth a few feet behind him. One whisper to the woman and we’d all be compromised. I wasn’t sure what would happen then, but I could imagine. The mute Ringer’s finger threaded the trigger of his pistol, ready to fire.

  Vick wisely took Rin’s threats seriously. He handed over his ID chip and waited without a word for it to clear. The woman was too disinterested to question the sweat glistening on his forehead. She returned the ID and our supply bag to him before ushering him along.

  “All right,” Vick turned to us and said, swallowing. “Let’s go. In the car, Ringers.”

  Vick passed through the scanner first and strapped into one of the car’s horizontal seats. Gareth went next, pistol and all, and strolled through without setting off even a chirp of an alarm. More of Rylah’s handiwork, apparently. The rest of us followed, and before I knew it, we shot up through the core of Pervenio Station, toward the detention block of its security headquarters.

  The car was organized so that we all lay in a circle with our feet aimed toward the center. Rock-strewn walls raced by through vertical viewports behind us.

  “The detention block itself will be lightly defended, but it’s connected to the main security headquarters,” Rin said, still staring at her hand-terminal. “Even with what’s happening on Titan, there will be a ton of officers only a short run away.”

  “Can Rylah lock them out?” I asked.

  “Good question,” Hayes added. “I’d rather not wind up in a cell myself.”

  “You’re all insane,” Vick muttered. “You’ll be killed in seconds.”

  “Quiet,” Rin snapped. Gareth nudged his pistol against the officer’s temple to enforce the order.

  “As soon as we arrive, Rylah’s going to lock down the block, shut off the emergency alarms, and freeze surveillance feeds,” Rin explained. “Fooling scanners and a camera here and there is easy, but once she does that, the researchers analyzing Kale’s hand-terminal will become aware of her infiltration and cut her out.”

  “How long do we have, then?” Hayes asked.

  “They’ll be blind for about five minutes. Enough time to grab the prisoners and get into these tunnels. According to Rylah, they’re listed as being held in row C, but with all surveillance feeds down, we’ll have to find the exact cells ourselves.”

  Our car suddenly flipped 180 degrees to realign us with the station’s rotation. I withheld the contents of my stomach.

  “What about any guards?” I said, holding my gut.

  Rin grabbed the pulse-rifle from Vick and removed the empty clip. Our bag floated from the car’s spin, and she snatched it out of the air, then refilled the clip with the loose bullets.

  “We do what we have to,” she said. “They aren’t expecting us, so we’ll have the jump.”

  “What happened to sneaking in?” I said.

  “What do you think we’re doing?”

  “Yeah, but I didn’t think—”

  “Wake up, Kale,” she interrupted, using the same harsh tone she had with Vick. “You wanted into Pervenio Station, and you did your part. Now let us do ours. This isn’t like robbing some shop in the Darien Uppers.”

  My head sank, and I didn’t dare respond. Maybe I was going to be their leader one day—whatever that meant—but I wasn’t yet. She made sure everybody knew that, and I knew that I’d have to trust her if I had any hope of freeing Cora and the others. Whatever it took.

  “It’s either them or us,” Hayes said. “Get used to it.”

  “I’m trying,” I replied. I looked back up to see Vick staring at me, probably realizing that I was the weak link. All I could do was hope he didn’t try anything that would challenge Rin to keep her word.

  She sighed in frustration. “You escort us in and then hop back on here and get as far as you can,” she said to Vick. “Understand?”

  He nodded, eyes still fixed on me as if he could read the lines of concern riddling my face. I thought about thanking Rin for showing mercy, but the tram began to decelerate.

  “Good,” Rin said. “Everyone ready? Stick tight. We get out of this together, or not at all.”

  The tram screeched to a halt at a tubular platform, where Gareth left our supply bag. Vick led us into a long corridor, or at least it felt like one to me. The detention block reminded me of the Q-Zone waiting room. White and chrome everywhere, with bright lights that made me dizzy. I could hear our footsteps echoing as we approached the main lobby and the group of three officers operating the area. They matched the thumping of my heart.

  “Walk faster,” Rin told Vick. “Eyes forward.”

  Vick was unarmed except for the broken shock-baton at his hip. Gareth remained directly behind him with the pistol and Rin behind him, concealing the pulse-rifle. Hayes and I took up the rear, unarmed. Four Ringers in staff uniforms marching upon one of the most secure detention centers in the solar system.

  Nobody had ever gotten as far as we were, because nobody’d ever bothered trying. There was no reason to. Hundreds of meters of rock surrounded us on one side, and the great vacuum on the other. Only one way in or out without passing through the security headquarters itself, and usually, enough officers at any given time to fill a troop transport. Except for that very moment, when most of them had been dispatched to Titan to handle an unprecedented situation.

  Half-a-century since the Great Reunion, and there had never been a day before when the sum of Pervenio’s might was required. We were indebted to the Collectors who’d apparently stumbled upon the Children of Titan’s secret hideout and caused all of it.

  We stepped into the lobby after what seemed like forever. The three officers inside stood behind a desk, eyes glued to a small view-screen. It faced away from us, but I could hear that whoever was on the newsfeed was discussing the Q-Zone invasion. Word about violent protests in the Lowers were starting to trickle through.

  “What do you have here?” one of the officers asked as we approached the desk.

  “Four Ringers off the Ring Skipper,” Vick replied. “They were caught—”

  He was cut off when the lights suddenly dimmed, the result of Rylah initiating a power surge. Gareth jumped forward and shot one of the officers in the throat. Another reached for his pistol, but Rin unloaded into his chest before he could get to it. The third officer ducked down behind the desk and fired blindly. I dived to the floor.

  “Intruders in the detention block!” the officer shouted. “I repeat, intruders in the detention block! They’re armed!”

  I scrambled across the floor, spurred on by pure adrenaline. Gunshots resonated along the unadorned walls. It was deafening. I rolled over and saw Rin creeping around one side of the desk and Gareth the other. Th
e latter fired, earning the officer’s attention, and then Rin popped around the corner.

  “Nobody can hear you,” she said before putting a bullet between the officer’s eyes. I stared as the blood leaked out across the glossy floor.

  “Kale, watch out!” Hayes groaned.

  Sometime during the firefight, Vick made the mistake I’d hoped he wouldn’t. The pistol of the first officer Rin shot had skidded across the floor right into his hands. Hayes lay on the floor with a bloody lip after being punched by him. Before I could do anything about it, Vick grasped my slender Ringer body by the collar, heaved me to my feet, and held me at gunpoint.

  “Nobody move or I’ll blow his head off!” he shrieked. His strong arm wrapped my throat so tight, I gagged. I pawed at it, but the layer of sweat on both it and my hands made it too slippery.

  Rin and Gareth took aim at him. I’d seen her angry plenty, but her eyes had never smoldered with the intensity that they did then.

  “Drop him!” she snarled.

  “You Ringers think you can just do whatever you want,” Vick said. “You can’t!”

  “Gareth?”

  He couldn’t reply, but the muzzle of his pulse-pistol flashed. The bullet grazed my cheek before blasting through Vick’s skull. As he toppled backward, I slipped from his grasp, angling myself away from his weapon.

  Rin ran over, caught me, and helped me to my feet. “Are you all right?” she questioned.

  I reached for my face, not sure if it was still there until I felt only a shallow scratch along my cheek. “I’m fine…” I panted. “Did Gareth just…”

  Gareth’s firearm remained aimed, hands steady as a surgeon’s, one eye closed.

  “Best shot on the Ring,” Rin said.

  I released a mouthful of air and glanced down at Vick’s still-twitching arm. “Thanks,” I said.

  Gareth nodded and then retrieved two loose rifles. He kept one for himself and brought the other to Hayes, who was struggling to get to his feet.

  “Hayes, you okay?” Rin asked.

  “Wonderful,” he groused, rubbing his cut lip.

  Rin checked her hand-terminal. “Area is secure,” she said. “Just have to help open the cells.” She rushed behind the desk and stopped at the console there. Her fingers flew across the keys while her gaze darted between the screen and her hand-terminal. “There we go. Thank you, Rylah.”

  Three corridors branched off the lobby in addition to the one we’d arrived from. The doors into two of them slammed shut. Heavy footsteps echoed down the one remaining open hallway.

  “Everyone down!” Rin whispered. She vaulted over the desk and ducked behind it. I scampered over Vick’s body, struggling not to gasp as I caught a glimpse of the gruesome hole in the center of his face. Hayes and Gareth joined us.

  “Wait,” Rin said.

  The footsteps grew louder. I heard two officers conferring, obviously having heard our disturbance.

  “Wait,” she repeated.

  “By Earth…” one said as they entered the room. “What is this?” He raised his hand to his ear. “Coms are down.”

  My three partners sprang up and fired. By the time I joined them, the two officers’ innards were splattered all over the wall. The few shots they’d gotten off had sped harmlessly into the wrong side of the desk.

  “All right, let’s go!” Rin ordered. “It’s all on us now. Less than five minutes.”

  She and the others sprinted down the unblocked corridor. I stopped for a moment to choose between a fallen pulse-pistol and a rifle. I didn’t have any experience shooting firearms, so I settled on the pistol, figuring I’d be more useful with something small. Then I quickly caught up.

  The corridor led to a fanning passage with sealed doors running along one side at a tight interval. Each was labeled, and the numbers of those we passed were all preceded by an “A.”

  “Row C is two floors up,” Rin said.

  A curved staircase ran along the back wall in the center of the lengthy passage. She sent Gareth up first, and he crouched at the top, his footsteps light as a feather. Feet scuttled past row B’s railing, and he swept them with his arm. As a Ringer, he probably wasn’t strong enough to knock an Earther over straight on, but the officer was caught unawares and tripped. Gareth shoved his rifle against the man’s neck and fired, letting the man’s flesh muffle the shot. Three years on a gas harvester in the heart of Saturn, and now I knew what they’d been practicing the whole time.

  Gareth waved us up, and we followed. They may as well have been towing me on a leash, I was so flabbergasted by what was happening. We reached the top of the stairs, and Gareth shot another officer down the row. Footsteps loudly descended the stairs from the next level up. Hayes fired his rifle between the risers, and when two bodies tumbled down, Rin finished the job with two clean shots through their foreheads.

  We rushed up the next flight of stairs, when gunfire erupted from behind us. An officer had emerged from one of the row B cells at our backs. I almost tripped face-first in my attempt to duck. A bullet caught Gareth in the meat of his thigh, and he groaned in the only way his tongueless mouth could allow.

  Rin leaped over the side of the stairs and rushed the cell, firing to drive him back to cover. She stopped just outside and tossed a stray gun across the opening to draw his fire. She then poked around the corner, and I knew that the screams emanating from within the cell could mean only one thing.

  “Can you walk?” Hayes asked, wrapping his arm around Gareth’s back to help him stand. He grunted in response. When Rin caught up, we continued to row C, blood dripping from Gareth’s leg in our trail.

  “Wait,” I said. “They’ll be able to follow us later.” My uniform was well-made, so I pulled it loose and shot through the fabric with my pistol. It was technically the first time I’d ever fired a gun. The rip allowed me to tear off my sleeve completely, and I wound it around Gareth’s leg. He grimaced in pain as I pulled it tight, but didn’t fight me.

  “Ready,” I said.

  Hayes went to help him walk again, but Gareth shrugged him off and raised his rifle. “Let’s go,” he signed.

  “I opened every cell in row C,” Rin said as we reached the top of the stairs. “No time to check who was where, so find the ones you came here for, Kale, and then we leave. We don’t have the supplies for any more.”

  “If they’re open, then where is everyone?” I asked.

  The cells extended in both directions from where we stood, each of the thick steel doors raised. I’d expected to see my friends strolling through the halls, confused, wondering why they were free. I didn’t. No officers were left on the top level either.

  Gareth and Hayes stayed by the stairs to keep guard while I stowed my pistol in my belt and hurried ahead with Rin. I checked every cell we passed. They were clean metal boxes, four meters by four meters at the most with ceilings barely tall enough for a Ringer to stand at full height. The floors were entirely transparent, with a view of Saturn’s rings that would’ve been beautiful if I couldn’t see the thick, circular frame wrapping the glass, denoting them as airlocks.

  The first three cells were empty. In the fourth, I found a Ringer curled up in the far corner, facing out into the void. He shook uncontrollably. I edged into the room slowly, my pistol hand dropping to my hip.

  “Hurry, Kale,” Rin said, waiting by the entrance.

  I got close enough to reach out and touch the man, and then he turned to face me. Even through a thick coating of bloodstains, I recognized his face right away. Desmond’s eyes, usually brimming with fervor, regarded me, but it was as if I weren’t there. Like he could see right through me. For a moment, he stared blankly, then he cowered backward as far as he could go.

  “Don’t… Don’t touch me!” he moaned. “No more. P…p…please.” He extended a trembling hand, his fingers twisted and gnarled as if they’d each been broken in a different direction. Half were missing their fingernails, and as he spoke, I could see that most of his teeth had been knock
ed out.

  “Desmond,” I whispered. “Desmond, it’s me.” I went to grab his arm, but he recoiled and held his shaking hand against his chest. “It’s Kale.”

  Hearing my name seemed to awaken something in him. His gaze focused as much as possible, and when I reached for him again, he poked my arm as if to make sure I wasn’t a hallucination or some cruel trick being played on him by his captors.

  “Kale?” he muttered weakly.

  I’d considered him a pest for a long time, but he’d always been ready to pick a worthy fight or spit out some witty comeback. Now he could barely speak. I choked back tears. I couldn’t even imagine what Pervenio had done to break him so thoroughly and in so little time. It hadn’t been even three days since the last time I’d seen him.

  “Yeah, it’s me,” I said. “I’m here to get you out.”

  His eyes widened. “I can’t! They’ll—”

  “You’ll be fine, I promise. They can’t touch you anymore.” I leaned in and extended an arm beneath his shoulders. He didn’t fight it, but as I tried to lift him, I realized how little help he could offer me in return. One of his legs was bent awkwardly at the knee. We made it two steps before it gave out and his body folded. He would’ve collapsed to the floor if Rin hadn’t lunged forward to help me.

  “By Trass,” she whispered. “I hope the others aren’t this bad.”

  “Hold him,” I said.

  I ran to the next cell and found it empty. I kept going. By the end of that row, my heart pounded against my rib cage. The last compartment was as vacant as the others. I left it and sprinted back toward Rin and Desmond.

  “Anyone?” Hayes hollered.

  I ignored him. Every cell I passed in that direction was vacant as well. Empty. All empty and sparkling, as if they’d just been washed. My chest felt like it was going to explode. There was only one woman aboard the Piccolo, and I didn’t see her anywhere. I returned to Desmond without taking even a moment to catch my breath.

  “Cora!” I seized him by the shoulders and shouted, “Where is she?”

  He winced as if he thought I was going to strike him. Then he raised his hand and pointed with a crooked finger to the cell next to his: C-031. It too was hollow. I raced in and checked the flat, metallic walls for ways out. A vent, something. But the cells shared walls, and there were hardly even seams in the surfaces.