“I thought I was going to lose you,” I whispered as our lips parted for a moment to breathe.
“Never,” she said. “We’re going to figure this out. Our child deserves a real home. All offworlders do.”
“I love you.” I’m not sure what happened; I just blurted it out. As soon as I did, we both froze. I think I meant it. Without her to help me brave spurts when it seemed all there was in my life was darkness, I might have allowed myself to die already.
She didn’t say it back, and I didn’t blame her, considering the circumstances, but she didn’t push me away either. She squeezed my back and kissed me harder, until I could hardly breathe. Then she grabbed my shirt and started to pull it up over my head when the lights suddenly went off, replaced by emergency red track lights.
“What is that?” I asked, yanking my shirt back down.
“Probably just a surge. The hospital isn’t finished yet.” She tried to bring my head closer, but I thought I heard a thud outside.
“I don’t—”
The door opened with a whoosh and the doctor from earlier stood in the entry. I was about to ask him what was going on when he fell forward onto his knees.
A Cogent stood behind him, fully armored in black but with his yellow eye-lens glinting through the darkness. It was the same one who’d shot at me back at the Cora, I was sure of it. His every breath through a respirator rattled like a clogged air recycler. He had a pulse pistol aimed at me, and without my armor, he had me dead to rights.
Luxarn Pervenio had sent plenty of men to take shots at me, but never once did they have me so exposed, not even on Mars. Only this time, I didn’t close my eyes, embrace death, and imagine what could have been. I lunged for the counter to grab anything I might be able to use as a weapon.
“Kale!” Aria screamed.
The Cogent’s finger froze halfway toward squeezing the trigger upon hearing her. His eye-lens angled toward Aria, but he didn’t fire.
“You,” he whispered, a metallic quality to his voice. “You caused all of this!” His hand started shaking, then he fired at her instead of me. I’d raised a medical tray just in time, and the bullet glanced off it before it could cut her to shreds. The force blew me back over the bed and Aria then flipped it to provide us with cover.
Two more bullets tore through its metal frame, missing us by a hair. My eyes darted frantically around the room, but the only way out was the single door. Hayes had a thick, airtight enclosure just like Darien, which meant no viewports outside of common areas.
The Cogent grabbed the bed and hurled it against the wall like it weighed nothing. I charged at him, ramming my shoulder into his gut. Without my armor on, it did nothing. He grabbed the back of my shirt and flipped me over. Again, I expected a bullet to the head, but he turned his attention from me and seized Aria by the throat.
“You are in violation of fifteen Pervenio colonial regulations, Doctor,” he said, emotionless, crushing her.
I pawed along the floor until I found the tray and smashed him across the back of the head. Ringer or not, it was hard enough to bring any ordinary man down, but it barely made him stagger. He raised his gun toward me, and I caught his arm just before it fired, the bullet zipping over my shoulder. It took two of my arms to keep him from rotating his arm far enough to hit me, but I couldn’t last. He was the strongest man I’d ever encountered. His limb almost felt artificial, like Malcolm’s leg.
Aria kicked him in the groin, but he didn’t react to that either. He merely raised her higher and continued squeezing the life out of her, while simultaneously using a single arm to hold me at bay.
“Kale!” A gunshot rang out from another direction, slashing through the Cogent’s shoulder. Sparks and chunks of circuits spewed out, no blood.
I spotted my mother out of a corner of my eye, holding a pulse pistol and with her eyes wide in terror. Until then, I’d completely forgotten I’d invited her to meet me at Hayes, an excuse to keep her out of Rin’s hair while Rin handled Orson Fring.
The Cogent dropped Aria, and I ducked right before my muscles gave out, causing him to shoot over my head before he lost grip on the pistol.
“Run!” my mother screamed.
She fired again. The Cogent recovered quickly enough to raise a hand toward her, and it took a handful of bullets glancing off his open palm to knock him off balance. Her next shot struck his hip, and then one scraped across his jaw before her magazine clicked empty. He banged against the wall, leaning on a counter for balance, but he didn’t go down. And still, he didn’t bleed.
Aria gasped for air. I searched the floor for the Cogent’s firearm, only to find that it lay at his feet. I grabbed Aria’s hand, yanked her up, and ran for the door. I took my mother’s hand as well, and we sprinted down the hall.
“Who is that?” my mother panted.
“I don’t know!” I shouted. I glanced over my shoulder and saw the Cogent emerge from Aria’s room. He fired, but we turned left down a corridor just in time.
“Lord Trass, I heard shooting. Are you all right!” the young Titanborn I’d sent after the doctor said. He had his pulse rifle out and aimed behind us.
“A Cogent,” Aria rasped. “Right behind us.”
“Stay with me, sir.” He allowed us to go by, then fired warning shots at the corner. “Go!” He made sure we stayed in front and kept his eye on our backsides as we raced down the hall. I glanced back occasionally to see the shine of yellow while they exchanged fire, taking cover between gurneys and carts and anything else in the hallway. Nurses and doctors in exam rooms hid within, people’s screams echoed throughout the dark passages.
“In there!” the guard directed. We ducked into a room so that he could reload, allowing the Cogent to gain on us. “On my shot, run!” The guard edged around the corner, but as soon as the barrel of his rifle cleared the doorway, a perfectly aimed shot knocked it out of his grip.
He fell back behind cover and regarded us, fear twisting the brave young man’s features. I saw myself in him then, that day when Rin and the others raided the Piccolo like faceless angels of death. The day when I lost Cora for good.
I squeezed Aria’s and my mother’s hands, and they squeezed back.
“I’ll hold him off,” the young guard said, voice shaking. “Get out of here!” He jumped out into the hall before I could stop him and spread his arms. This time, Aria pulled my mother and me out into the hall to flee. I glanced back, waiting for our savior to be torn to shreds, only it didn’t happen.
A Titanborn nurse burst out of a room and rammed into the Cogent. Whoever it was had built up enough momentum to knock him into the wall. The short delay was enough for my guard and us to make it around the next corner. The last thing I saw was the nurse’s brains bespattered against the wall.
Power around the next bend seemed to still be active. I can’t recall ever running so fast in my life as we neared it. I didn’t look back anymore, I just squeezed the hands of two people I was desperate not to watch die.
“Lord Trass, get down!” someone shouted.
Titanborn soldiers emerged from the lit area with their weapons raised. The guard tackled all three of us before we could react, and they unleashed a hail of bullets over our heads. When they stopped, silence filled the hall. I heard my mother’s rapid breathing, and Aria still wheezed. The soldiers moved to help us up, never averting their aim from down the hall.
“We have to get out of here,” I said to them. “Let’s—”
A single bullet to the chest sent one of the soldiers flying back. The others emptied their magazines toward the Cogent. As they did, my young guard grabbed me and me alone and bolted for the corner. I’m not sure what curses I screamed as he did; all I know was that I punched him in the face and lunged back toward the hall. Aria and my mother emerged right before I did something foolish like go back for them.
Aria hunched over once they reached safety and clutched her stomach. My mother was visibly in shock, yet couldn’t help but gawk at Aria
’s belly. She looked back up at me, and no words were necessary.
“We need to get her to safety,” she said.
I nodded. We were in the hospital’s entry lobby, a three-story atrium with a viewport on one side that looked out over Titanian methane lake wrapped by cliffs. A plaque in the center of the floor dedicating the center to Hayes read: HE DIED SO WE MAY KEEP THE RING.
My guard was busy recovering from my punch to the face, but I grabbed him by the chest plate and said, “We need to—”
Another of the soldiers fending off the Cogent went down. More men hurried up the escalators on either side of the atrium to our level to reinforce them.
“We need to get her to my room,” I said.
The guard licked his bloody lip. “We should split you all up in case there are more of them, three transports.”
“I’m not leaving her.”
“If there’s another—”
“I’ll go on the transport Kale arrived in,” my mother said. “You two take the tram line; nobody will expect it.”
“She’s right,” the guard said. “I’ll stay with her and call for air support. We’ll cause a diversion, just in case.”
“Mom, I—” I said before she hushed me. She took both Aria’s and my hands in hers and smiled a terrified smile.
“I’m so happy for you both,” she said. “I’ll be fine, you know that.”
I threw my arms around her for the first time in longer than I could remember and kissed her cheek. Then I wound my arm around Aria and helped her down the atrium toward the tramline lobby.
“I’m fine,” Aria groaned.
I didn’t respond or release her. I snagged a scarf from the storage room beside the front desk and wrapped it around my neck and up over my head. Security in the tramline waiting area directed frightened citizens onto a parked tram in as orderly a fashion as possible. With my face obscured and grimy from running and fighting, it would be easier to stay inconspicuous. Aria in her medical gown and with her hair even messier than usual would be even harder to spot.
We fell into the mob and were squeezed into the back car of the departing tram. I took the first empty seat we could find and held Aria close, resting my forehead against hers so that our faces wouldn’t be seen.
“We’re okay,” I whispered then kissed her. “The Cogent will be hunted down.”
Aria breathed raggedly, in and out. The tram shot forward, and Titan raced by the windows. Two different storms dotted the horizon, one with red bolts of lightning flashing across the nearby methane lake used to power Hayes Memorial Hospital in the safest manner possible. It’d been a long time since I’d ridden public transit between Titan’s colony blocks like I used to when I visited my mother in quarantine. It was oddly comforting.
“He could have killed you,” Aria said softly. I could barely hear her over the nervous chatter of the other citizens.
“But he didn’t,” I said.
“He recognized me, that’s why he stopped. I could tell, even without eyes to look into.”
“Do you know who it was?” I asked.
“I… maybe. Only, it doesn’t seem possible.”
“What do you mean?”
“No more secrets, right?” she said.
I nodded and clutched her hands even tighter. “Right.”
She took a moment to gather herself, and then as she started speaking, I could hear the fear affecting her tone in a way it so rarely did. “I don’t know what Luxarn did to him after I watched Malcolm kill him to save me,” she said, “but I think that Cogent was my dad’s partner. I think he’s the reason all of this happened.”
Ten
Malcolm
The bag was yanked off my head, and I gasped for air. I found it hard to come by with a sanitary mask still on tight. I searched from side to side. I was back in the cargo hold of the Cora. My last memory was Rin entering my cell. I got a few good punches in after the surge of a shock baton, but they overwhelmed me and knocked me out.
Rin sat across from me, fully armored and looking as grotesque as ever. “I thought you’d sleep forever,” she said.
“And miss out on our conversations? Never,” I grumbled. I looked around the room and found it empty, just me and her. “Kale didn’t want to drop by?”
“He’s busy.”
“Heavy lies the crown.” I stretched and cracked my neck. “So you decided you wanted some alone time? I’ve never tried being tied up, but I’m always up for new things.”
“Don’t make me sick.”
“Oh, c’mon,” I said. “How’s about I give you the night of your life and in exchange you let me see my daughter?”
“If you keep helping, maybe I can make that happen. Until then, you won’t get anywhere near her.”
“Do you wanna bet on it?” I said.
“On her life?”
I bit back a response.
“I thought so,” she said. “We were so impressed by your work on Martelle Station that you’re going to help us with another issue.”
“Did you all finally realize it’s too cold on Titan?”
“We need you to remove someone from the equation.”
“You mean kill them,” I said. “Don’t mince words.”
“That’s what you collectors do, isn’t it? End conflicts before they begin, no matter what it takes.”
I chuckled. “Corporate espionage is one thing. But if you really think I’m going to be your assassin, you’re crazier than I thought.”
“You’re our collector. It’s not up to you.” She stood and paced the cabin. “A greedy shipyard foreman is slowing the production of ships. He’s putting everything we’re working toward in jeopardy over credits. Something you understand.”
“So hang him yourself. I’m sure you’ll enjoy doing it.”
She lunged forward and clasped my jaw so tightly I thought it was going to snap. “No. It has to be you.”
“There’s only one more life I’m willing to take unless you let Aria and me go far away from here, and he’s sitting right in front of you. Say goodbye to your collector.”
She released me. “You’re going to remove Orson, or your daughter will spend the rest of her life in a cage.”
“I still don’t believe you.” I snickered. “The fearsome puppet master of King Trass who can’t even say the word kill when she puts a hit out on a poor old man. Stop this charade. Kale’s probably lying in bed with my daughter right now, and if I know her, she’s got him right where she wants him.”
Rin pulled out a hand terminal and showed me a live feed. A woman lay quietly on her back on a medical bed, covered in a ratty blanket. She grimaced, then leaned over and vomited into a bucket at her bedside. An IV was hooked into her, as well as a heart monitor and who knows what else.
“What’s wrong with her!” I questioned, pulling on my restraints to get a closer look until my wrists stung.
“The radiation hit her hard. She’ll be fine as long as we keep treating her, but she’s locked in our quarantine this time.”
“You fucking Ringer animals!”
“It’s simple, Collector. Kill Orson Fring for us, or things get a little less comfortable for her. Do you know what it’s like to melt from the inside out? Neither do I.”
“Does Kale even know what you’re doing here?” I snapped.
“Kale was done with her the moment you entered the picture. Now get up.”
She switched off my restraints and heaved me to my feet. I tried to whip around and grab her, but the electromag dampener was still around my artificial leg, and I tripped into an inactive sleep pod like it was my first time walking. She had her gun aimed at my head before I could make another move.
She led me to the exit ramp and held on to a bar. The Cora rumbled, then I felt her spin around before landing gear made the floor lurch.
“Where are we anyway?” I asked.
The ramp opened with a hiss, then fell. Rin grabbed me by the back of my neck and hurled me down into a da
rk, empty hangar. My shoulder slammed hard a few times as I rolled.
“You know what you have to do,” she said. She removed a hand terminal and keyed some commands. The electromag dampener immobilizing my artificial leg switched off.
I groaned and made my way to my knees. “If Kale really is in on this, and you keep letting him spiral, you’re going to wind up hating what you’ve created. Me and you, we’re set in our ways. Kids like him? They get creative when they go rotten.”
“You’ll find Orson Fring in the shipyard foreman’s office,” Rin said. “He’s the older man with a white beard. Try not to kill anyone else.”
“What stops me from running?”
“I’ll be right here, and there’s no way off this station without me seeing. A part of Kale may secretly care for Aria despite her lies, but I don’t.” She drew my pulse pistol from behind her back and tossed it at my feet. Then she glowered at me the entire time the Cora’s ramp rose to shut me out, tongue licking the gaps in her half-marred face.
“Damn you, Aria,” I cursed under my breath. Most rebellious daughters brought home a gangbanger, or another girl if you’re into the clan-family-breed-safely-and-efficiently-for-the-good-of-mankind mumbo jumbo the USF spouted. Not her. She decided to shack up with the leader of the worst riot Sol had ever known, with a murderous second in command. I could throw insults at them as much as I wanted, but there was no denying that they’d set a new standard. Rewritten the rules even.
I wrapped my fingers around the grip of my pistol, the only place they’d ever truly felt at home, and checked my clip. Then I stood and brushed off my clothing, only realizing then that they’d dressed me in a duster terribly similar to my old one. Everything to make me look the part of a Corporate Collector from Earth.
What choice did I have but to keep playing along? I knew who was really in charge on Titan. It was one old Ringer shipworker or my daughter. I’d made that choice with Zhaff, and I’d considered him a friend. Getting Aria out now that we were on Titan was going to be the hardest job I’d ever taken on, impossible even, but I liked my odds. I only hoped I still had it in me to pull a trigger.
Children of Titan Series: Books 1-4: (A Space Opera Thriller Box Set) Page 93
