Delta Fringe Series Boxset: Books 1-3

by Heather Lee Dyer

  I grind my teeth together. "Yes, I should've remembered that, Z." I look around Zion at Derek. "Mom was sure that the Earth council monitored all of our computers. She built a separate system at home.

  My heart feels like it stops in my chest and I look quickly at Zion. "Z. That's it, isn't it? You're trying to say she has her research on our personal home setup."

  Zion smiles hugely, showing all of his very white teeth. "Yes."

  And then my stomach drops. "But our place has been cleaned out. I left without our computers." Hot tears threaten to the surface.

  I wanted to get away from Mars so fast that I left everything behind.

  Zion's smile fades. "Do you have a concussion too, B?"

  "What? Why do you ask that?"

  "You've already forgotten that I was the one who cleaned out your apartment?"

  I feel like I've been hit by a rock hauler. "I'm so sorry, Z. I did forget for a second."

  "So does that mean you have the computers?" Derek asks Zion.

  Zion rotates his head toward Derek. "Yep." His goofy grin is back.

  If I weren’t holding Zion up I would do a happy dance. "Let's go, then."

  Zion just keeps nodding his head as we lead him down the tunnel. It's slow going as Derek and I are still carrying most of Zion's weight. But it's better than carrying him completely. And I have a feeling we'll be needing Zion for the residential doors. If they still have the same security we'll need his retina scan as well as his hand to bio scan.

  We pass several doors that I know are just maintenance storage. All are marked with "research" or "power controls" but don't have security seals. Not sure how that's supposed to deter anyone, but the miners leave nothing to chance. These tunnels are less damaged by the attack above, and soon we're walking on clean tile floors. The temperature here is regulated and the lighting strips glow red, meaning that it's nighttime in the domes. During the day they glow bright green and the overhead lighting turns on to simulate daylight.

  Zion points us down a short corridor. There are three doors, all unmarked. He points to the closest one.

  "Are you sure, Z?" I look nervously around the door. No bio security or keypads or retina scanners.

  Zion shakes out of our grasps and leans against the door. "Yes, I'm sure. Don't you think I know where I live?" He narrows his eyes at me.

  I give out an exaggerated sigh. "Of course I do, Z. But I'm just not sure with that nasty concussion if you're remembering things accurately. This doesn't look like the residential wing."

  Zion leans forward, inches from my face and rolls his eyes at me. I laugh. "Fine. Lead on."

  He grins and turns the handle on the door.

  And we step into a gray corridor with grating in the floor. I look down to see we're standing a few feet above a fine layer of red dust that is slowing sifting down through filters. Derek looks unnerved as he stands on the open metal.

  "It's the first of several purifiers. We can't have the red dust get into the domes." I assure him.

  We help Zion down the corridor to another door. Again, no security. This room has a red tinge to it and as soon as we close the door we're engulfed in wind as hidden fans suck dust off our clothes, skin, and shoes. I hold tight to my backpack and Zion sways against me.

  When the wind dies down we enter another room. This time there is no wind, just a humming sound and a layer of dust lies at our feet. The humming stops and the red dust seemingly is absorbed through the floor.

  "What in Titan's moons?" Derek lifts his feet off the floor, hopping from one to another. "This wasn't in the other section we went through."

  Zion lets out a high-pitched laugh as he watches Derek back away.

  I frown. We really need to get Zion lying down.

  As I check Zion's bandage, I explain to Derek what he's seeing. "The floor is actually like the metal grates we were first in, but the holes here can be controlled to suck smaller molecules of dust down and away from us.

  "Any other surprises?"

  "Well, not exactly a surprise, but we have the sanitizer room still." I grin and steer Zion toward the opposite door. The small square light beside it has turned green so I push it open.

  This room is pure white. The three of us stand as we're subjected to a sanitizing shower. I keep my mouth closed and hold my breath. I hate sani-showers.

  "Squeaky clean," says Zion. He's leaning against the wall looking up at the ceiling. Now that the red dust and blood soaked grime is gone, I can see the lump on the back of his head sticking out. I wince.

  "Does all this mean the pirates haven't made it over to the domes? I mean, would they actually have the patience to go through all these procedures or would they have just blasted their way through?" Derek points at the door whose light has just turned green.

  I look between the two doors. We didn't need any bio scans yet, but Derek is right. I doubt the pirates would've put up with all that. My pulse quickens as I realize we might be in time to keep them away from the council and the main dome. "Good question, Derek." I smile and grab Zion's arm and open the next door.

  18

  Research

  Miners love tunnels. They build them to lead to their work areas, and to meet up with other digs. But they also use them to confuse strangers and unwanted guests. Over the years they've built the inside of the domes in the same manner as the mines. Although not as complicated as the mine patterns, the corridors inside each dome are setup to frustrate newcomers.

  So when we step out of the sanitizer room into a corridor stretching left and right and forward, I have to stop and get my bearings. I look at Zion whose eyes are wandering all around the corridor. I let out a gruff breath. No help from him yet.

  I hope they haven't done much inner dome construction since I've been gone. I take the left tunnel and the three of us hurry as fast as we can, Derek and I on either side of Zion. We don't run into anyone as we approach the first seal.

  I stop and listen, fidgeting from one foot to another. I don't hear anyone or feel any vibrations of boots running. I pull Zion alongside me and gently press his face toward the middle of the door. Although invisible, a scanner is built into the solid white door. When I hear the faint metallic buzz I let go of his head and grab his hand. To the right of the door is a bio scanner, so I press his hand into the gel.

  "Cold," Zion says as he looks at me angrily.

  I roll my eyes again at him. "We need to get that swelling down."

  I hear a soft snick and the door opens inward. The three of us stiffen as we wait to see what's on the either side.

  Another corridor, empty of anyone. I let out a breath and step inside with Zion and Derek. The door softly closes behind us.

  "Where is everyone?" Zion whispers loudly.

  I fight the urge to roll my eyes at him again.

  "Probably in the shelters. Look." I point up toward the ceiling where a strip of light, is pulsing red. "Someone sounded the alarm. Probably after the pirates fired their weapons at the mine." I pull Zion along. "Do you still live in the same apartment?"

  Zion's head rolls over to look at me. "Of course. Where else would I go?"

  I hear Derek snicker on the other side of Zion. I lean forward to see him grinning at me.

  "What?"

  "He's kind of entertaining with a head wound."

  "Hey!" Zion stops suddenly jerking Derek and I to a stop. He turns as much as he can still in my grasp toward Derek. "I'm always entertaining. You just don't know me yet."

  Derek does his best to smooth out his grin, but has to turn away. His shoulders are shaking with silent laughter.

  I grin and pull Zion on down the corridor. "I just meant that maybe you had received chits for a larger apartment when you became a supervisor."

  Zion looks thoughtful as he watches his shoes as we walk. "Yes, I did."

  "Why didn't you use them, then?"

  He looks up at me with tears in his eyes. "I wanted you to be able to find me when you came back."

&nbs
p; I stumble to a halt. Zion almost topples over, and Derek is quick to grab his other arm and lean him against the wall.

  "Zion. This place isn't so big that I wouldn't be able to find you." My chest constricts as I watch the emotions play over his face. I know that he wouldn't be this upset if he didn't have a concussion, but I sense a small bit of truth in what he's saying.

  He truly held out that I would come back.

  I look up at Derek who seems unsure whether or not to laugh or worry. He's still got one of Zion's arms.

  "It's all right, Zion. You knew I would come back sometime. And it's good you didn't move because now I know where to go." I tug on his arm and he allows me to lead him forward.

  "I'm sorry for being so sad, B." Zion hangs his head as Derek and I help him down the corridor.

  "It's all right. You know when Derek was hurt, he was quite loopy as well." I wink at Zion and grin wickedly at Derek.

  "Now that's not fair. I was on strong drugs and I don't remember everything I said." He peers around Zion to make eye contact with me.

  I have to look forward as we come to an intersection. I choose the right corridor and we walk awkwardly along with Zion between us for several more corridor turns.

  "We haven't seen anyone yet. Is that normal, Bren?" Derek whispers.

  I shake my head, my curls flying loose around my face. "No. There are usually lots of miners heading to the lockers or storage areas behind us. Everyone must still be in lockdown."

  "When can we try to see if the comm works?"

  "I think we just need to get one more corridor away from the mine. The jammers get weaker the farther out from the mine."

  "Jammers?"

  "Due to the valuable content of the mine, we jam normal comm signals. It's not just the thick rock and machinery that blocks it. They have jammers all around the top floor of the mine. Security and medical are the only floors that are exempt. They need the signals to do their jobs."

  Zion pulls out of my grasp and leans up against the wall. "Try it now, B." He slides down the wall and pulls his knees up to rest his head.

  I frown and kneel down next to him. "Is your pain getting worse?"

  He moves his shoulders a fraction but doesn't look up. I take my pack off and get my med kit out. I carefully touch my fingers around the wound on his head as he groans.

  "Here, Z." I lift his chin up and place a pain tab on his tongue. His eyes are bloodshot and I can see he's struggling to stay awake. "Where's the nearest med bay?"

  "No, we need to get to my quarters so you can get the research." He holds his head still, keeping eye contact with me.

  I have an urge to give him a sleeping tab. I grind my teeth together.

  If he didn't have a concussion. And wasn't so heavy to carry.

  We hear noise down the corridor and immediately move into action. Derek pulls Zion up to his feet in one sweep and I shove my pack over my shoulders. We hurry in the opposite direction.

  "Here." Zion points to a blank wall.

  We try to keep going, but he insists. He reaches out and plants his hand on the wall. I don't see any sort of bio scanner, but he splays his hand out as if there is one.

  Derek and I trade uneasy glances. We can still hear boot steps down the corridor.

  I'm about to pull Zion away when I hear the familiar soft snick of an electronic maintenance door. I look at Zion who is grinning at me.

  We don't have time to celebrate. We all pile into the hidden recess and close the door back up. There's barely room for two of us to walk side by side, so I lead and Derek holds firm to one of Zion's arms.

  Soon we hear the boot steps on the other side of the thin metal wall. We freeze in place. It sounds like a dozen or so galactic soldiers, all moving as one. There's no talking between them and I try to picture in my head where they would be going.

  I turn toward Zion. "So where will this tunnel take us?"

  "My quarters." He grins weakly. A sheen of sweat covers his head; despite the meds I've given him.

  I just nod and continue. When we no longer hear anyone in the corridor, Zion shows us another maintenance door to use. We step out to a six-way intersection. Each corridor here is color-coded. I sigh in relief as I recognize the start of the residential pods. We call them apartments, but physically they are preformed pods stuck together decades ago and then covered with the domes.

  The green corridor has scuffmarks on the floor from the boots we just heard. I look at Derek who I can tell noticed the same thing. I take us down the yellow corridor.

  We find Zion's apartment and he scans us in. I breathe out a huge sigh of relief as we prop Zion up on his couch. He sinks back into the cushions, but continues to give us orders where to find the research.

  I find being here in his apartment even more unsettling than when I was in my Mom's office. Maybe it's the mementos propped up on shelves he still has from our school projects, or maybe it's because he has my furniture here. Before, his apartment was sparse since he was only granted an apartment of his own while underage because Mom sponsored him. So I don't blame him for taking our furniture when I had abandoned it. It just gives me the shivers.

  "Sorry, B." Zion's voice across the room startles me and I almost drop the box of flash drives he has me looking through.

  I turn around. "For what?"

  He pats the cushion he's sitting on. "For taking your furniture. This must be strange for you."

  "No, I'm glad you took it, Z. You needed it and I left it. I'd rather you have it than some unknown newbie coming from the outer planets trying to make their mark on Mars." I try to give him a smile, but it doesn't quite work.

  Zion struggles to get up off the couch, but I don't stir to help him. I can't move. My body is strung so tight I think if I moved even a finger the tears would start falling.

  I watch as he crosses the room like a toddler just beginning to walk. Instead of being frustrated with himself, he's got a goofy grin on his face as he makes his way toward me.

  "I feel like that time I took too many pain pills after I broke my arm," he says as he staggers the last few steps. He grasps on to a bookshelf and I'm relieved he doesn't touch me. I think he knows I'm close to losing control of my emotions. And he knows I don't like it when that happens.

  I look sideways at Derek who is just watching us with amusement. Not sure what else to say I hold up the box of flash drives. "Is this what we're looking for? Is Mom's research on any of these?"

  Zion leans his back against the shelf next to me. "Yes. All of them. I have copies hidden elsewhere. But those are all her files. It took me all night to download her data from her computers. The council admin personnel came in that next morning and cleaned out all of her files and took the computers."

  I push back a few stray curls off my face. "That was close. How did you know to download them that night?" The night he's talking about is the same night they publicly announced her death. I left the next day for Delta station.

  He rubs his hand down his face and takes a deep breath. "It's one of the things she made me promise to do. Save all her work immediately if something happened do her, and to make sure you were safe."

  "So now what do we do with these now that we have them? I doubt whoever is attacking Mars will just let us transmit something like this to the council." Derek comes to stand next to me. He has a piece of metal in his hand.

  "What is that?" I ask.

  He holds up the cylinder, which is about twenty centimeters long and makes me shiver.

  "It looks like one of those AIs only smaller," I say, my voice cracking.

  "I found it in the lock box Zion gave me the combination for. There are drawings similar to what you found on the flash drive inside the captain of the Tempest as well."

  I look at Zion. "You knew what those machines were down there, didn't you?"

  Zion's expression drops. "Only the shape is similar. I had a suspicion when we saw the one in the ceiling, but as you can see from these drawings, your mom's was meant
for something different."

  I take the paper drawings from Derek. Mom only used actual paper for important research or official documents. The drawings are similar, as Derek said. But the purpose is clearly different.

  Her machine is an improvement in rescue technology. This snake-like AI was supposed to sense out trapped miners no matter how far down and is able to dig a rescue hole to them. The ear comms that connected the operator to the machine were non-invasive and acted more as a communication system.

  I look between Derek and Zion. "She was trying to save lives with this design, and the EPL turned it into a killing machine," I say as anger slowly creeps into my voice.

  19

  False Hope

  Zion points to the drawings in my hands. "We need to stop them, B." Below the surface of his dark skin I can see a tinge of pink spreading.

  I sit him down on the couch and sit next to him. The anger is good because it means the swelling is going down in his head. He allows me to settle him back into the cushions, but he's rigid and his expression is hard.

  "First of all, you need to calm yourself. Getting upset will only make the damage from your concussion worse."

  He looks away, clearly unhappy with me.

  I hand the papers back to Derek. "We need to take all of these copies with us. Red will know who to give this to." I look back at Zion to see that he's taking deep breaths and is starting to fidget again. Which is also a good sign for him. I reach into my pocket and pull out a med pill I was saving for him. He takes it and pops it onto his tongue. While he's looking at me I check his eyes, and the pupils are looking even now. I sigh in relief.

  "I'll live, then?" Zion asks, his body relaxing.

  "For now." I grin at him. "But we do need to get out of here before we're discovered."

  I tap my ear comm. "Red? Captain Fukuda?"

  Only static echoes in my comm.

  My hands sweat as I try again. "Captain? Red? We could really use some help here."

  I jump as Red's voice comes across loud in my ear. "Well, we're not exactly on vacation up here, you know." His tone is snarky but not angry.