Delta Fringe Series Boxset: Books 1-3

by Heather Lee Dyer

  I look next to me. But Zion did go with Mom on a few of her trips. Maybe one of their trips was here.

  "So is it?" I whisper to him.

  He nods his head, his expression grim. I wonder if he's nervous about the council, or the fact that we just made it halfway around Mars underground inside a thin metal train car in less than five minutes?

  "Here," a gruff voice orders us to stop at a set of doors.

  We stop and wait. The tall guard uses his ear comm to talk to someone on the other side of the door. Apparently, it can't be opened from this side.

  As the door finally slides open I can see why they picked this hiding place. Or designed it this way. The door is at least three meters thick. It slides into the wall with a deep groan.

  "Nice," I say to the grumpy guards.

  They just look at each other.

  I shrug and walk past them into a waiting room of sorts. I get as far away from the thick door as I can as does Derek and Zion. There's no way we want to be in the way of that thing when it closes.

  "This is quite the fortress. So I'm guessing we're getting close to meeting the council?" I direct this to the tall guard. The other two are busy making snide comments back and forth. If tall guy isn't in charge, at least his IQ is a bit higher than the others.

  He surprises me by pulling his hood down, revealing a mine-weathered face. I'm so shocked I don't know what to say.

  Zion steps next to me and fills the awkward silence. "Councilman Jeffs. I'm surprised to see you here with us, instead of hiding with the other council members."

  I can't tell by Zion's tone if he's being irreverent on purpose or if his filter is just missing because of the concussion. I look sideways at him and bump him with my shoulder. "Zion," I exclaim under my breath.

  "It's all right, Brenna. Young Zion has every right to be angry with me."

  I look at the councilman and see that he's cautiously smiling. I glance beside me at Zion and he still looks angry.

  "Why? Why is Zion angry with you, sir?"

  Jeffs turns away from Zion's dark gaze. "It's a long story that I'll tell you soon. Right now we don't have any time to spare, so we need to get going." Jeffs turns his bright blue eyes on me.

  "Yes, of course." I hold up a hand. "But how did you know we were looking for the council?"

  He shrugs. "We have eyes everywhere. You should know that since you grew up on Mars."

  I want to smack myself for asking such a dumb question, but I hold still. "I need to finish stitching up Zion's head, and we need to talk to the council about the attack."

  Jeffs looks concerned as he studies Zion. "Then let's go. I have others I need you to attend to as well." He turns and quickly heads down the corridor leading out of the small room. His heels click loudly on the tile floor.

  Derek, Zion and I follow, with the other two guards behind us.

  I frown and hurry to walk next to Jeffs. "Wait, what did you mean when you said there are others for me to attend to as well?"

  "I did ask you if you were medically trained like your mother."

  "I just thought you were making sure it was really me."

  Jeffs laughs. I admire that he can keep his sense of humor even in such a devastating situation. It's not at all what I was expecting from a council member.

  "No, I know exactly who you are Miss Teves." He spreads his large, pale hands out in front of him. "There was a cave in at the first safe zone. We had to move the council here, even though this shelter is new and unfinished."

  I nod. So they were under the domes when the ship attacked. "How many are injured, and how many medical personnel do you have?"

  "Seven, and none." He looks back at Zion, who lowers his gaze to the floor. "As your friend probably has told you, the pirates first attacked the security and medical floors. Zion tried evacuating everyone, but some didn't make it."

  I look back at Zion whose fists are balled so tight his knuckles are almost white. "Yes, Zion told me about the attacks. Derek and I encountered pirates on those floors as well. That doesn't explain his anger toward you, sir."

  I turn back to Jeffs, who is studying me. Except it feels like he's looking through me. Those blue eyes are piercing and show a focused intelligence behind them. And something else I can't put into words. Some sort of darkness that makes me shiver.

  "Young Zion has every right to be upset at me. I had to give the order to close the emergency doors to protect the council."

  22

  The Council

  My blood runs cold as I picture what happened. The emergency doors would effectively seal off every entrance into the domes. Everyone in the mines, security or medical areas would be sealed into the mine. Along with the space pirates.

  "So the twelve council members were more important than the hundreds of miners, medical and security personnel on the other side of that shield," I ask as Zion's anger burns within me.

  "It's protocol, ma'am. Warnings were given and most of the crew made it to this side." He looks at Zion. "Your friend here chose to stay in the mine."

  "Because I still had staff in the upper levels, and there were still miners down below. I couldn't just abandon them." Zion steps toward Jeffs, his arms stiff and to his sides.

  I wedge myself between the two and place both palms on Zion's chest. "I understand what losses there were, Z. I was there, remember?" I wait until he tears his gaze away from Jeffs and onto me. "But we need to remember why we're here. We need the council to know this isn't over, and it's only going to get worse if they just hide here with their heads down."

  I hear Zion's jaw make a cracking sound as he grinds his teeth together.

  He gives me an almost imperceptible nod. I swivel in place, with Zion at my back to face Jeffs. "Now take us to the rest of the council members."

  Jeff's crystal eyes study me. "What do you mean this is only going to get worse? How can it get worse than Mars being attacked?"

  I hear Derek and Zion just about growling behind me. I hold up my hands. "We need to tell the full council all at the same time." I enunciate carefully so I get my words out without yelling. And I keep my dark thoughts to myself.

  Jeffs narrows his eyes at me and then turns to continue down the corridor.

  "Do you really think you and the rest of the council are safe here?" I taunt him behind his back.

  Jeffs just glances back at me, but keeps walking. At an intersection where there seems to be two dead ends, he takes the obvious corridor leading slightly downward. Like a mining tunnel there are striations along the walls where the digging machines bore through the rock. This reminds me of the true horror we must bring to the council's attention. With the council responsible for many of the miner's deaths, I'm going to need a miracle to stay calm and play the political game.

  Finally Jeffs stops at a normal looking bio scanner. He places his hand in the gel and the door immediately opens. He steps through and I notice as he does a red light scans his entire body.

  I narrow my eyes and frown. A full body scanner. I've heard of them, and I understand the need. But how did they have time to get one here at their so-called “emergency” safe location?

  "It seems you guys have been busy," I say as I step through the red light.

  "Security is important when it comes to world leaders." Jeffs' statement doesn't come out prideful, just matter of fact. He points to Derek's security uniform. "I'm sure Mr. Paz would agree."

  Derek steps quickly through the red scanner and comes to stand next to me. "Only when the security is for the whole of humanity. Your version of security is centered only on a few people who could easily be replaced. And besides," Derek gestures to Zion and me, "your security is obviously flawed to allow Mars and your precious leaders to be attacked."

  I grab Derek's hand and squeeze. He stays quiet. For the moment.

  "Let's go, Councilman Jeffs." He looks at me, his brows furrowed.

  "Listen, I know you don't like taking orders from teens but you can't even imagine how
important it is that we talk to the council immediately." My heart is racing as each minute ticks by. I can almost hear the time slipping away and feel the pirates getting closer.

  Jeffs turns on his heels and walks quickly down the short corridor to a plain metal door. He swings it open and steps in. I quickly catch the door and enter, holding it for Derek and Zion.

  It looks like we just walked into our Delta station high school cafeteria.

  Colorful round tables are scattered around the room. Men and women sit in different groups, and they all stop talking when we walk in. I notice there are a few people on cots along the wall, some roughly bandaged, some bleeding.

  My mouth gapes open as I hear Councilman Jeffs announce who we are to the council. He waves his hand at the room. "Miss Teves, here you have Sol's ruling council members and their assistants. I am the council chair."

  I close my mouth. Scarp it all, why didn't Zion tell me that part?

  Derek nudges me.

  Zion whispers in my ear. "B? Now is the time. You all right?"

  I shake myself mentally. This is it. I have to convince this scared, spoiled, selfish group of people that there is something far worse out there than space pirates.

  I take my pack off and pull out my tablet and the container of flash drives. I look around the room for a vid.

  "Over there, B." Zion points to the closest wall where a computer sits with a large vid screen overhead.

  I nod and hurry over. I connect my tablet to the computer and insert one of the flash drives.

  Then I turn toward the room. Everyone is staring at me. Even the injured are sitting up on their cots. Most of them.

  "First of all, know that Zion and I will help the injured, but you need to see something first." A murmur ripples through the room.

  I point Zion to a chair nearby. He grumbles, but sits down gratefully. I hand him my med bag to sort through.

  Then I face the council. "As some of you may know, Derek and I are fugitives from the Galactic command."

  A round of shouts all around the room. Apparently, they didn't know. I guess they haven't been paying enough attention to certain current events.

  Jeffs calls for quiet.

  "Thank you, Chairman Jeffs. Obviously, if you're surprised by that news, I now understand how we got in to see you so easily." I grin at Jeffs. "And secondly it shows me that you or your assistants haven't been informed of everything that's been going on with these attacks. Which makes what I have to show you even more important."

  More murmurs. As it quiets down again a crackle in my ear reminds me that I had forgotten all about our ships outside the main dome. I look at Derek. "Can our comms reach this far?" I point to my ear.

  Derek starts to answer, but Jeffs steps in front of him. "There will be no communications of any kind. We can't have our location compromised."

  I grin wickedly. "My communication is of your own technology, and is linked to one of your own galactic commanders." I stare right at him as I tap my ear comm.

  "Commander Guram?" My heart skips a beat. I have no idea where he is or if he's even all right.

  "For Draco's sake, Bren, it's about time you checked in with me. All Hades has broken out here. Are you kids all right?"

  Several council members raise their voices trying to ask questions. Jeffs hushes them again. I narrow my eyes at the group. It's strange he has so much control over them. The council chair is supposed to lead, not use his power over the others.

  "Yes we're all right. Just know you're on speaker with the council members."

  "What?"

  "Yes, we found them." I look at Jeffs. "Well, they kind of found us."

  "Again I repeat, are you all right, Bren?"

  I laugh. "Yes, Guram. And seriously, they can all hear you. I have the vids I sent you to show them, and more that we took from my mom's office that explain where all this started."

  "Excellent. Since they ignored all my calls and hails and galactic orders," Guram grumbles.

  I look around at the council members. Each one represents a planet or populated asteroid or space station. Twelve recognized inhabited locations. Most of them look scared, some confused, and a few angry.

  "Guram, how are you and your friends doing out there? I know that all the pirates are heading your way. They think the council is down there at the main mine. The domes are the next target."

  "Yes it's a bit crazy. We need more galactic support, which only the council can order. That's why you risked finding them, right?"

  "Yes, but I have evidence now that will not only stop what's going on today, but all research in the future."

  Jeffs and a few other council members fidget as they listen.

  "Can we start with what's going on right now first," Guram's gruff voice echoes across the room.

  I nod, not that he can see me. I pull up the live vids showing the sheer numbers of ships converging on the main domes. Exclamations come from every council member and assistant in the room. "This is what our friends above the domes are dealing with right now while you're here not doing anything to help." I show vids of the damage already done to the mines and to the medical and security areas. "This attack is not like the others. This time they've perfected their research and aren't going to go back to the shadows to set up on another asteroid. This time they will destroy all of Mars. And that's only the beginning." I look around the room, making eye contact with as many as I can. "If you don't do anything to stop them now."

  I look up at the attack happening above the domes. "Guram, the council isn't even there. I'm not down there."

  "What?" Guram spits out.

  "You can't say anything, Miss Teves," Jeffs warns me.

  "Then order the rest of the galactic forces to help my friends. They're just trying to protect Mars and the people here. The council needs to be part of the solution, not the problem. Those people are defending the mine, their livelihoods, their homes and businesses. And they think they're defending their galactic leaders." I put my hands on my hips and stare down Jeffs.

  One by one around the room each council member raises a hand. They all look at Jeffs.

  I try not to get my hope up. "Does this mean you'll authorize help?"

  Jeffs turns in a circle scrutinizing every hand. "Majority votes yes."

  "And you?" I stop toward him.

  He gives me a tired grimace. "Mars is my home after all."

  Zion scoffs from his chair.

  He tilts his head as he turns those electric blue eyes on Zion. I shiver.

  "Just remember that the council chair is always kept secret." He turns his head toward Derek. "For security purposes." He then walks over to the computer next to me and types in commands. I watch on the vid as galactic security ships seem to come from thin air to converge over the Martian domes.

  I smile in relief as the pirates are soon out-numbered.

  I turn to Jeffs, putting myself between him and the computer. "I understand that who the chairman is needs to be kept secret. And that a new chair is elected every year. Yet you risked yourself to come get us and bring us back here."

  Jeffs glances over at Zion and then back at me. "I hear you have more to show us?" He leans against the wall next to the computer, his arms relaxed in front of him.

  Why is he avoiding my question?

  I lift my tablet and type in a command to retrieve the protected file. "This will be very disturbing. We found out not only who is behind these attacks, but what they're doing and why."

  Jeffs lifts a hand. "Pause, please. First of all tell us who you think is responsible?"

  I pause the vid right before it shows the main cavern.

  "You already know that Ash Corp has claimed some responsibility. And it's obvious several families of space pirates are involved." I watch the crowd of council members out of the corner of my eyes.

  Jeffs nods. "Yes, your investigation on the last few asteroids proved that. Then what happened when you decided to, shall we say go rogue?"

  "
Rogue? You mean because I was forced to become the most wanted person in the galaxy? That's because they tried killing me. And almost killed my friend Red — you know him as Anton Sky." I pause to appreciate the exclamations of surprise all around the room. "And they almost killed one of your own — Commander Guram."

  "And who is they, Miss Teves? The pirates? Ash Corp? Certain other galactic commanders?"

  I raise an eyebrow at him.

  He waves a hand in the air. "Yes, we are perfectly aware that there is corruption in our midst. We've launched a very quiet investigation to figure out how far the corruption goes."

  I smile. "Good."

  He shakes his head. "But that's not the answer to my question, is it?"

  A chill goes up my spine and I clench my hands around my tablet. "No." I look at Derek who gives me an encouraging nod.

  I pull up a different file on my tablet, my fingers shaking as I study Jeffs. "The real monsters behind these attacks and the horrifying video I'm going to show you are the EPL. The Earth Purist League is using all of you, the space pirates, the dirty galactic commanders, and anyone that gets in their way, for their own end purpose."

  Shouts and chaos all around the room drown out my voice. I put a still shot of the back of the EPL leader exiting the Martian mine. He's walking tall and confident, even as a slaughter is going on behind him. It took me a few minutes to find him in the vids we went through, but here he is, although he's still unidentifiable in this picture.

  Every single person in the room goes silent as they stare at an enemy they thought long forgotten.

  "This is why we need to stop what's going on right now. These people are far more dangerous than any of the space pirates or galactic security forces the EPL have bought over the years. This leader is more powerful than Ash Corp and all of their tentacle holdings across the galaxy." I'm barely talking above a whisper but I know everyone is hanging on each word I say.

  I switch to the vid of the cave and push play. Derek, Zion and I relive the horror as the people in this room see it for the first time. My chest squeezes painfully and I see Zion look away. Derek leans in shoulder to shoulder with me.