I’d been to the mining facility portion of Undina before, and it was nothing to brag about. The entry lobby was clean and white, with the red helix logo of Pervenio Corp plastered everywhere. Beyond that, it was all rock and stark, metallic panels. The galley was in disrepair. Lights flickered, wall panels were dented or worse, and a thick coat of dirt covered everything. A sad sign of the current state of Pervenio Corporation. The Luxarn I once knew barely tolerated a mote of dust floating within one of his properties.
Noisy mining crawlers rumbled over rough terrain deeper in, through gaping tunnels, while workers stripped the asteroid of every ounce of worth it had. Only last time, there were enough workers to make a dent. Now it was a skeleton crew. Most of them had their feet up and were drinking whatever piss passed for synthahol among miners. If that’s what they even were. For all I knew, the mine really was entirely a front, and Kale was walking us into the middle of a small army.
After all, not one of the employees batted an eye at the strange Cogents strolling by. Or the rugged collector dragging along a prize worth more than any of them would ever see in their lifetimes.
We reached an unassuming maintenance lift in the dark depths of the mines. A Pervenio security officer napped out front. I recognized him. He was the instructor who’d been working the target practice alley back when Varus shot me in the shoulder with a riot round, proving to me that I no longer had what it took to be a collector.
“Graves?” he said, startling himself back to attention. “You’re back?”
“From the dead,” I said.
“Step aside,” one of the Cogents ordered.
He signaled the lift to come and did as asked without a fuss. “Is that—?” His eyes went wide upon seeing through the viewport of Kale’s pod. Months confined on Undina without a nightclub to blow off steam and nobody to talk to but Cogents… I was surprised he didn’t have a heart attack.
“It is. You didn’t hear I was the best collector Sol’s ever known?”
He stuttered over a response. Considering I was likely strolling toward my end, there was no reason I couldn’t augment my legend.
The lift carried us through a hundred meters of solid rock, deep into the heart of the asteroid, where the gravity generated by its spin was minimal. Enough to make an Earther woozy the first time, but I’d been to my share of asteroid colonies. Most of them made the Lowers of Titan seem like paradise, and most of their riots against corporate overseers ended with ample blood spilled. At least they did end.
“Mr. Pervenio is waiting in his office,” one Cogent, or maybe both of them at once, said as we stopped. It was like listening to an automated recording of a man.
The lift doors opened, and I returned to the same shiny, spotless facility where I’d woken after nearly freezing to death on Titan. Even fewer employees were present now, and as eerily dirty as the mines above were, this was the opposite. It was like nothing had been touched in weeks. Sterile.
We passed a familiar medical room. Doctor Aurora sat inside, pretending to be busy with a sample, it looked like.
“Hey, Doc,” I said, offering a lazy salute. She nearly dropped her vials when she heard my voice. I’m not sure why I felt so cheerful. I didn’t even have to feign my smile. I was about to betray the man to whom I’d dedicated my life’s work, yet I didn’t feel guilty.
Maybe it was because I saw what he’d turned Zhaff into. Perhaps I knew this was finally the end. That I wouldn’t have to keep watching my wrinkles deepen, my hair grow white, and my trigger finger go arthritic. Maybe it was because, after thirty years of loyal service, Luxarn hadn’t even known my name until it suited his interests, then stole all my limited savings for a leg I didn’t want. Or maybe it was because, over all those years, I’d seen the worst parts of what Pervenio Corp did to assets that didn’t keep in line. I’d seen the rows of sick on Titan, denied medicine because shipping it from Earth was too expensive and developing it on Titan wasn’t profitable. I’d seen what Luxarn was willing to do to any dissatisfied worker who spoke out against him—I’d been on the other end of the gun keeping them quiet too many times to count.
Choosing Aria over Zhaff all those months ago had eaten me up inside because Zhaff didn’t deserve to die. He was a misunderstood kid, turned into a robotic killing machine by a father who kept him secret rather than face the shame of reproducing outside legal USF terms.
Choosing Aria over Luxarn Pervenio? I’d been doing that since the day she was born in a sewer so that they wouldn’t take her away from me and shove her into a communal home where illegitimates wasted their lives. It merely took me a while to realize it. A better man might have tried harder to find a way out of this, but I wasn’t one. Unlike the murderous king I dragged in front of Luxarn’s unspectacular office door, I never pretended to be. I was a collector pulling off one last job, with payment in my daughter’s life and mercy for a friend. I was a father doing his best, which is all one can hope to do, and more than I spent Aria’s whole life being.
“Wel… come, Malcolm Gra… Gra… Graves,” the mechanical voice of Luxarn’s service bot addressed me. I expected to see the odd, spherical bot floating, but it lay on the floor in a heap of tangled parts and wires. A victim of Luxarn’s temper, apparently. “Mr. Per… venio is expect...” It trailed off at the end, the light draining from its single glowing oculus.
“Enter,” a Cogent addressed me.
The two of them remained standing guard outside, and the door slid open to reveal Luxarn at the mahogany desk in his unadorned office. The lonely painting of ancient Earth behind him was faded at the edges. A month ago, I’d seen him over video, and he’d looked like a mess, but in person, it was worse. Gray stubble coated his chin, betraying his true age. I didn’t even know he could grow a beard. The bags under his eyes were so pronounced and dark, I was half convinced he was sleeping until he glanced up at me. His thin lips creased into a smile surrounded by crinkles I didn’t know the man’s perfect face had.
“Malcolm Graves,” he said, voice raspy from yelling at someone or something. “You have no idea how good it is to see your face.”
“Likewise, sir,” I replied.
“For a moment there, I was worried this was all another Children of Titan trick. I haven’t been able to rest since you made contact.”
Upon hearing that, I finally had to force my trademark grin. I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. “You don’t look it, sir.”
He laughed and stood. “Please, Graves. You don’t have to be gentle with me. I expect only honesty from my newest director.”
He stuck out his hand as he approached me. I hesitated in taking it for a moment, but only because I realized that he meant what he said. He, like all owners of large, Sol-wide corporations, surrounded himself with sycophants and loyalists. Like Sodervall. Like I had been for so long, happy to keep my head down and keep earning without spouting back.
Honesty? That only went as far as the credits.
“Newest director,” I said. “I hadn’t even thought about it.”
“Like I told you: I won’t accept no this time. You’ll have to shoot me to get out of here poor.”
“Don’t tempt me.” I released a nervous chuckle but was quickly silenced when Luxarn slapped the top of Kale’s pod.
“So this is the boy who caused so much trouble?” He circled the pod. Only Kale’s upper body was visible through the viewport on the lid, and for the moment, he appeared completely harmless, like a tranquil wax doll wearing a sanitary mask. We were in Earther territory now, where his people were so susceptible to illness. He truly looked frail.
“He’s as skinny as the rest of them,” Luxarn said. “And you kept his mask on? You haven’t gone soft on me, have you, Graves?”
“I didn’t want to spoil him for you,” I said.
“Of course.” He lay his hand upon my shoulder as he turned to face me. We were close in age, but the way he regarded me made my heart sink. Like a proud father watching his son go off to
medical university.
“I can never repay you for this,” he said. “I will bring this monster to Earth and show our people there is no need to be afraid. We will break the Ringers’ spirits when they see what’s become of their king. And with you taking charge of my and Madame Venta’s fleet, we will defeat his aunt and quell this riot once and for all. We’re one more step toward peace today thanks to you, my friend. For all of humanity.”
Luxarn turned his attention back to the pod and prepared to crack it open to face the only rival who’d ever stood against him without being squashed like a cockroach straightaway. I finally considered stopping him and ending this charade. Then I heard the voice of one of the Ringers holding Aria hostage in my ear.
“Is… he… out… yet?” The reception was poor, considering we were surrounded by rock but clear enough to discern the words through the static. Either Kale was walking off Undina after claiming his prize, or we were all going to die together.
“You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to look into this bastard’s eyes and tell him he’s lost,” Luxarn said.
“He’s put me through a hell of a ride,” I said. “You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to watch.”
Luxarn reached out to open the pod but stopped just before. “Zhaff should be here,” he said.
“He needs medical attention right away, sir,” I replied, speaking way too fast. He didn’t seem to notice my sudden onslaught of nerves. Zhaff knew what I had done now, and if he woke up before Kale, this entire plan would go up in flames.
“Then perhaps we should wait.”
“I’d rather not,” I said.
“Oh, Malcolm. There is no reason to rush. It’s moments like these you must learn to savor. You wouldn’t eat a steak cut fresh from one of our few cows in a single bite, now would you?”
“A steak doesn’t keep me in a cell for months and nearly get me spaced outside Jupiter.”
Luxarn chuckled. “Good point.” He regarded me again, earnestly contorting his features in a way I’d never seen before. “I know it was hard for you after what happened, but thank you for never giving up on him or this company. When the Ringers ruined our plans on Europa, I worried you died and would never get a chance to know that he pulled through.”
“Zhaff saved me,” I said. I knew Luxarn thought I meant that he’d rescued me from Kale’s prison, but I meant it in my own way. Somehow, the kid had taught me again what it meant to care about somebody other than myself. If it weren’t for him, I realized I wasn’t sure if I would have saved Aria over completing my job. I might have remained too bitter over her leaving me like Kale now was.
For months, I’d imagined how my life might have turned out if Sodervall never sent me to Earth for vacation and I never got caught up hunting the Children of Titan. Now I knew I didn’t want that. Trass gave his life to give Kale’s people the Ring, and Zhaff had given his to save mine. I didn’t deserve it, but Aria did, and Zhaff… he deserved to be free of what his father had turned him into, even before he was brought back to life.
“Then let’s end this for him,” Luxarn said.
He signaled the pod to unfasten. Steam coiled around the opening as the cool, gelatinous liquid hugging Kale’s body drained away. Luxarn leaned over the edge, steepling his fingers as he eagerly awaited Kale’s awakening. The intravenous tubes stopped feeding Kale’s body the pharma that kept it dormant, and then his eyelids snapped open.
Kale reached underneath his back, grabbed the pulse pistol hidden there, and pressed it against Luxarn’s temple. He screamed as he vaulted out of the pod and wrapped his arm around Luxarn’s throat. His Ringer muscles may have been naturally weak, but he’d picked the one Earther to attack who probably hadn’t done a second of manual labor in his entire life.
The two Cogents swept into the room in an instant, guns raised, but Kale made himself small behind their leader. The shot was too risky, even for them. I recalled the lesson I tried to teach Varus at their shooting range about being able to pull the trigger when it really counted. Only now he was dead. So many were dead.
“Graves, stop him!” Luxarn shrieked.
I fumbled for a response, but Kale beat me to it. “Your collector can’t help you now,” he snarled. “None of your pets can. Tell them to drop their weapons!”
“There is a fifty-seven percent chance of lethal injury to your person if we fire at this range, Mr. Pervenio,” one of the Cogents stated.
“I concur,” said the other.
“Graves,” Luxarn said, fuming. “Put this animal down.”
I drew my pulse pistol just to keep up appearances, but I didn’t even bother aiming. There was no reason to twist the knife in him, no reason to provide false hope. His end had arrived the moment he placed more importance on vengeance than rebuilding his brand. This was a mercy killing.
“Tell them to lower their weapons, or you lose your head,” Kale said.
“Judging by his expression and acute facial cues, it is likely that he will kill you regardless,” one of the Cogents said. “Would you prefer us to take the risk?”
“Kill this madman!” Luxarn roared.
They didn’t get the chance. I finally raised my pistol and fired two shots. My fingers didn’t cramp on the trigger this time. No hesitation. From so close a range, even an old man like me couldn’t miss. The two Cogents’ chests exploded as they collapsed.
One got off a shot while he was falling back, but the bullet burrowed harmlessly into the wall above Kale’s shoulder. Another grasped for his gun as he clung to life, but I rushed over, kicked it out of the way, and put another bullet in his head. Then I sealed and locked the office before any more Cogents arrived.
Luxarn stumbled out of Kale’s arms and fell to his knees, his face so white with horror, he looked like the very Ringers he hated. Even Kale was speechless.
“Nobody on this rock is getting out alive anyway, right?” I said. “If you die, she dies. Get this the fuck over with, kid.”
“Graves,” Luxarn stammered. “What is the meaning of this?”
“Sorry, sir... I got a better offer.”
Life takes a strange twist on you when mowing down two young men is easier than looking one old one in the eye. I had to turn away from Luxarn just to keep my head straight. Feeling betrayal brings about a special kind of expression in a person. Equal parts revulsion and shock, with a dash of heartbreak for good measure.
“I was going to name you a director,” Luxarn said weakly. “I was going to give you the Ring!”
“I told you I didn’t want it,” I replied.
“This is too good,” Kale said, finally snapping out of it enough to breathe in the fact that he’d won. He circled around Luxarn, smiling, then grabbed him by the jaw. “Now you get to see what it’s like to have everything you believed in get stripped away. You get to see what it’s like to have your whole world crushed.”
“You drag this out, you’ll get us all killed,” I said to Kale. “You think that’s all of them? Just finish what you came for.”
“He’s not dying yet. Not until he admits what he did to us.”
“Admit what?” Luxarn asked.
“That every awful thing that’s happened to my people since our reunion with yours was by design.”
“You want a confession, you skelly piece of trash? How’s this. I should have killed you all. And you, Graves. All those years you fooled us all?” He spat at my feet. “Sodervall said you were a tired old wretch before I paired you with my son. He was right.”
Luxarn slowly got to his feet and faced Kale. He stepped forward until the barrel of the boy king’s gun pressed against his forehead. “So do it,” he said. “Put me down, and I swear you will feel the wrath of Earther vengeance. Our fleet will rain nuclear fire down on Titan until it’s a smoldering husk.”
Kale shot him in the shoulder. Luxarn flew back into the wall, blood spattering across the metal panels. Kale strode by and knelt in front of him, lifting the man’s head.
Luxarn grasped at the wound, eyes wide and whole body shaking. It was a surface shot, just clipping the top of his skin, but Luxarn appeared ready to go into shock, like he’d never felt any pain whatsoever before in his whole pampered life.
Kale reached up to his ear as he scooted toward him. “We have Luxarn,” he said to his men over the coms. “Send the package, then prepare the engine and have it ready for my return.” He kneeled in front of Luxarn. “Your fleet will run, or the rest of them will die too. Earth will pay.”
“Damn it, Kale,” I said. “End this.” I heard footsteps outside the door. Soon, Luxarn’s guards would bring out the fusion cutters or worse and bust their way in.
“Don’t do this, Graves,” Luxarn sniveled. “Whatever he offered, I’ll double it. Shoot him now.”
“I wish I could, sir. I really do.”
“You can!”
“He can’t,” Kale interrupted. “You see, you’re not the only one who has a bastard child. Tell him, Malcolm. Tell him whose daughter my ambassador, Aria, really is.”
My gaze turned toward the floor, and in my peripherals, I saw all the hope drain from Luxarn’s eyes. Any smidge of faith that he could turn me, considering I was behind Kale with an open shot, died as soon as he saw my face and realized Kale was telling the truth. We collectors had a particular lifestyle, and siring kids outside the letter of the USF wasn’t abnormal, but most got caught. They took their slap on the wrist and let their child go away. I never had.
“You really didn’t know?” Kale laughed. “Isn’t it wonderful to learn the secrets of the people we thought we could trust most? I wonder how many others he has.”
“What do you want, Trass?” Luxarn growled.
“I want you to admit it.”
“Admit what!”
“Everything. Admit the Great Plague that killed so many of my people was not an accident. That you planned the whole Great Reunion to take the Ring for yourself.” Kale pushed the end of the gun into his fresh wound. Luxarn squirmed and kicked, but Kale managed to find the strength in his Ringer muscles to hold firm. “Admit you locked us up and watched us die just for the joy of it!”
Children of Titan Series: Books 1-4: (A Space Opera Thriller Box Set) Page 105
