Psychogen (Galactic Syndicate Cycle Book 1)

by N. C. Madigan

  25

  The Cove was a colony built on a large asteroid that at one time had lazed along Earth’s orbit of the sun. It was originally built as a waystation for the construction of the Moon Colonies, but once it was abandoned, the charlatans of space took it over as a headquarters. The pirates put a lot of money into protecting the Cove, which meant that anyone without a clearance code would be destroyed on sight. It was rumored that the asteroid was equipped with engines to blast it into a different orbit, should the need arise to change locations, however, no one had ever confirmed or denied that rumor.

  The general mood on the Gypsy Star was excitement, but Liza couldn’t bring herself to participate in their enthusiasm. First, she was nervous about new places and new people. Second, she couldn’t stop worrying about Vely, and had been trying to figure out a way to contact her without bringing attention to either of them. She’d even brought the issue up to the twins, making them swear to never tell anyone, but without a way of knowing where Vely was or if she was traveling on a ship, it was nearly impossible. A public message could be made, but the chances of her seeing it were slim, and the chances of her not being caught because of it were even slimmer.

  And that was why Liza made the decision to try and hide out in her room while Captain and Dom were at this meeting. She did learn why Captain and the others referred to themselves as pirates, though rather tongue-in-cheek, and the meeting they were attending was composed of the Galactic Syndicate. There were more politics associated with the whole group, but Liza didn’t care to educate herself. She was content with brooding about her own problems. Besides, who knew how long she’d have to be in the company of these pirates, and maybe if she didn’t know anything, they wouldn’t kill her when she decided to part ways.

  Becce docked the ship onto the Cove, connecting to one of the many docking bays that stuck out from the largest visible dome on the asteroid. Dom and the Captain were busy dressing for the meeting, and the rest of the crew were digging up treasures that they could trade or gamble with, despite the Captain’s warnings. Liza suspected that the Captain’s warning was half-hearted or never enforced.

  On the other side of Liza’s door, she could hear the crew exiting the shuttle. She sat on her bed, her tablet propped up on her knees, still digging into the background of the boy who was apparently travelling with Vely. She’d become obsessed with searching for information about him, and every piece she found just made her more and more nervous.

  Someone knocked at the door, and without thinking, Liza called, “Come in.”

  The door slid open and Dom stepped inside the room. Liza snapped off the tablet and looked up.

  “You’re not ready?” he asked, crossing the room. He was wearing clean black pants, his high boots, and a plain black shirt, which was covered by his long coat. There was a pin on the lapel of his coat, which Liza assumed showed whose crew he was from. Liza struggled to hold back the blush she felt rising to her face. The stupid boy looked especially handsome.

  “I was thinking of staying on-board,” Liza said, trying not to make eye contact. Dom stopped beside her bed.

  “Captain said that there is someone in the Cove who can help you out,” he said. Liza responded with a shrug. “Come on. You’ll have fun,” he added, taking her hand in his and giving her a tug.

  Let me go, she thought, though without much power behind it. Of course, her command went unheeded.

  “Don’t make me beg,” he said, his eyes purposely widening to make them more endearing. Liza scowled at him.

  Shit. Liza sighed and pushed herself forward until her feet touched the floor. “Fine.” Dom flashed her a smile and helped pull her to her feet. She drew her coat over her shoulders and followed him to the door of her room.

  “I better not regret this,” she grumbled.

  “You won’t. The Cove is interesting. Besides, after the meeting is over, you and Becce and I can meet up for drinks,” he said, twitching one of her dreads for good measure. Liza shrugged, but he took that as a yes.

  She watched him go with a slight ache in her chest. But it wasn’t because he’d be busy, attending some meeting, but because she was having a very bad feeling about the entire situation. Reluctantly, Liza headed to the docking bay and exited the ship.

  The spaceport was busy with crews disembarking their ships; the well-dressed Captains, Quartermasters, and other members were walking in a thick line towards a door that led off to the right of the bay. Large, armed guards flanked the door, checking each person as they went through. The rest of the crew members headed off towards the left, into a crowded and dark hallway. Liza reluctantly joined up with the queue and let herself be swept along by the moving crowd.

  The tunnel was completely dark as they walked through, and Liza could hear shouts of people trying to scare each other. Their voices echoed in strange bounces around the tunnel, amplifying the shouting voices. The tunnel and the crowd shifted to the right as they rounded a corner, and beneath Liza’s feet, she could feel the floor sloping. They were going down, further into the asteroid. The tunnel continued to curve right into a spiral. The shouts and laughter lessened, as the pirates seemed anxious to reach the bottom.

  After what felt like several minutes, the floor leveled out, and up ahead, artificial light greeted them. The crowd whooped with excitement, and the press of bodies against Liza urged her forward faster, until most of the crowd was moving in an easy jog. They burst out of the tunnel into a huge room, the ceilings higher than Liza expected. Metal staircases and catwalks stretched from side to side above their heads, leading off to other doors and alcoves. The main floor was a wide-open space, mostly filled with tables, chairs, and benches. A long counter ran almost the entire length of one wall, behind which was a kitchen. One entire wall of the space was made up of windows, looking out over the docking bays and the rest of the asteroid. In one corner, several pirates were already smoking something that smelled very chemical.

  The entire space was packed with people. Young women and men ran from table to table, picking up cups and plates, and delivering food and fresh drinks to others. The amount of activity was almost dizzying, after being isolated on the spaceship for so long.

  Liza stepped to the side and allowed the crowd to move around her. She was in no hurry and chose to observe. Not far from where she stood, the rest of her crew sat at a table. A skinny woman wearing scant amounts of clothing wrote down their orders, then whisked away, with several of the crew members watching her leave. Becce smacked Dr. D on the shoulder. Liza couldn’t help the grin that crossed her face.

  A hand gripped her shoulder tightly, pointed nails digging into her skin through her coat. Liza bristled. “Liza.”

  The hissing voice came from behind her. Liza glanced over her shoulder, only to frown deeply when she saw Zimir standing behind her.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Captain wanted me to take you to his friend, the one who will be helpful for you,” he said. Liza pressed her lips together in a deep frown.

  “I hardly trust you to not kill me,” she said, wishing she’d grabbed her gamma pistol before leaving the ship. Of course, the back of her mind reminded her: You are a weapon. She shuddered involuntarily.

  “Nonsense. The Captain believes you to be a valuable addition to his crew. I would hardly wish to displease him,” Zimir said. His glinting eyes made Liza more and more uncomfortable. She threw a frantic distress call over to the table of her crewmates. She might not completely trust them all, but she trusted them more than Zimir. To Liza’s immense relief, Weed and Speed lifted their heads at the same time, their eyes finding Liza among the crowd. The two scrambled to their feet and jogged the distance between the table and where she stood, pinned in place. Zimir’s claw unclenched from Liza’s shoulder and dropped to his side.

  “There you are!” they said together, each taking one of Liza’s hands. They tugged her along, pulling her to the table. Liza threw Zimir a look over her shoulder, a sneer of her own touchin
g her lips.

  “Duty calls,” she said, and turned back towards the rest of the crew.

  “We heard you,” the twins whispered together, and Liza nodded.

  “Thank you.”

  26

  Vely’s legs bounced up and down as the Cove came into view. Ships flocked to the docking stations protruding into space. There were huge ships that looked like stolen merchant ships, and small ships that carried two or three people. As they neared, Vely leaned forward, her body straining against the straps that held her to the seat. Her eyes scanned the ships that were already docked, looking for any sign of this “Gypsy Star” ship that Liza had ended up on.

  She began to think that her chances were slim to none of finding it, until her eyes saw the slanting name on the back of a ship as they passed. The Gypsy Star. Vely released the buckles on her seat and flew forward, leaning over the console to look out the window. Denny glanced at her, a small smile on his face.

  “That’s the ship?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Vely breathed. She reached out and touched the window as they passed the ship, wishing she could already be down there, looking for her sister.

  A light flashed on the console, indicating incoming communications. Denny stuck his earpiece in his ear and hit the button. Because she was standing beside him, she could hear the voice on the other side.

  “Code?” It was a gruff female voice. Vely imagined a large, scary woman, with short hair and large muscles.

  “Sending,” Denny said, and he tapped a few keys on the console in front of him. Vely glanced back at Cedrick, who’d been silent for most of the trip, lost in his thoughts and visions. She had wondered if this was a normal thing for Augurs. The silence from the Cove stretched on for several moments, during which they waited with bated breath.

  “Confirmed. Welcome to the Cove, Neptune Cycle,” the voice said, and the communication dropped. Denny and Vely released a sigh of relief at the same time and laughed nervously. They’d fooled the pirates.

  “You’ll want to sit back down, Vely. Who knows how smooth their docking stations are,” Denny said. Vely obliged and sat back down in her chair, pulling the straps over her shoulders. Cedrick finally seemed to rouse himself.

  “We’re here,” he commented, looking out the window at the Cove as it grew ever closer. Vely looked at him, her excitement palpable. Cedrick gave her a smile, finally, the first in several hours. Vely turned her attention back to the world outside. Denny brought the ship in close and followed the blinking runway lights that guided him to the nearest docking bay. He navigated with precision, but the attachment was still bumpy and jerky, until a cheery alarm went off, announcing the successful docking.

  Vely was on her feet and racing towards the door in a second. Cedrick and Denny hurried behind her, catching up as she entered the code to open the door. Cedrick rested a hand on Vely’s shoulder, turning her to face him.

  “I know you’re excited, Vely, but you have to take control. You’re leaking Tranquility everywhere,” Cedrick said. Vely frowned and glanced at Denny, whose eyes were half-lidded with a pleasant smile on his face.

  “Sorry,” she muttered, and took a deep breath, reigning in her power, the cool sensation she’d grown used to fading into warmth. The number pad by the door beeped impatiently, waiting for the rest of the code. Cedrick shook Denny out of his stupor, and Vely punched in the rest of the code. The door whooshed open, and they were suddenly surrounded by crews of hundreds of Syndicate ships, some making their way to the right, while most of the pirates were on their way to the left, into a dark tunnel.

  “That way?” she asked, gesturing towards the larger crowd.

  “Most likely. Those going that way,” Denny pointed, “are captains and quartermasters.” He prodded Vely in the side. “Let’s go.”

  They joined the throng of people heading down the dark tunnel. They were quickly engulfed in darkness and strange echoes of voices. With Cedrick and Denny close beside her, Vely followed the crowd down and around, going deeper into the asteroid. After several moments, they saw the light at the end of the tunnel, and soon emerged into a large, cavernous room. Denny whistled in appreciation.

  “It’s a giant bar,” he commented, looking around appreciatively. “My kind of people. Maybe I should join them.”

  “I thought you said it was too much trouble,” Vely said, giving him a playful nudge. Denny shrugged.

  “I can change my mind,” he said.

  Vely was going to continue her banter with him when she felt a sharp tug. But it wasn’t a physical tug. She felt the tug in her mind.

  “What’s wrong?” Cedrick asked.

  “I think it’s Liza,” Vely said, feeling detached from herself. “She’s pulling me.” Vely set off, walking through the crowds, not looking with her eyes, but following the tugs in her mind. Against her own power within, she felt a creeping sensation of electricity, mingling with her own coolness. Another tug, and Vely changed her direction slightly. A group in front of her parted, and she was there.

  Liza.

  She sat at a table with a motley crew of people, two gargantuan men, a pair of twins, a woman, a strange creature that must be an alien, and off to the side, a creepy looking man who was scowling at the rest of the group. Liza looked more beautiful than she ever had. Her face was fuller, as was the rest of her body, which she kept hidden under a large, heavy coat. Vely felt another sharp pull, and she stepped forward, reaching out a hand.

  “Liza.”

  Liza listened to Becce tell a story about some trouble she and Dom had gotten into as teenagers, while the whole group laughed. Liza tried to keep the image of Dom from her mind, dressed for the meeting, smiling at her and asking her not to remain on the ship. More and more memories crawled through her mind of moments together with him. They made Liza uncomfortable, mostly because she didn’t want the feelings that welled up in her chest every time she saw him. They were distracting.

  The tension that had creeped into Liza’s shoulders began to ebb, slowly melting away until she felt calmer. She looked around, but the crew was still focused on Becce’s story. Some sort of presence was nudging at her mind, pushing in a feeling of calm. Curious, Liza let the feeling swell inside of her. It was like an anchor, rooting her to the ground. She hadn’t noticed before, how lost she’d felt, not just in her mind, but to her very core.

  Her chest suddenly thumped, hard, as if someone had punched her. But no one had touched her. Liza looked around, confused, and this time, Becce noticed.

  “Something wrong, Liza?” she asked, her hand resting on Liza’s shoulder.

  “I don’t know…” Liza said, her voice quiet. The crew stared at her, but she didn’t feel their eyes. Instead, she felt someone staring at her from behind. Slowly, she turned, looking over her shoulder as she changed her position on the bench.

  “Liza.”

  A familiar voice. Very familiar.

  A figure emerged from the crowd.

  “Vely?” Liza let the name fall from her lips. It was her sister, though her hair was black instead of blonde, and cropped in a short bob. Liza lept from the table, feeling her power burst out from her. But what could have been a disastrous explosion of power was only a strong, whipping wind that blew past her crew, pushing their mugs along the table for a moment. The pirates barely seemed to notice. Liza was running now, and Vely opened her arms to her sister.

  They collided, Liza towering over her shorter sister, and they pulled each other into a tight hug.

  “You’re alive,” they both sobbed, tears falling from their eyes to their cheeks, and landing on the other’s shoulder. Vely clutched at her older sister’s jacket, not wanting to let her go, ever.

  As the tears fell, both began to calm, to become balanced, their powers curling up to take a nap. Liza pulled away slightly to look her sister in the face.

  “I have been so worried about you,” Liza said, touching the black hair on Vely’s head. “What happened to your hair?” Vely smiled, wip
ing tears from her cheeks with the sleeve of her jacket.

  “I happen to be a wanted criminal,” Vely said. Liza laughed.

  “I saw news about that. You started a riot?” Liza asked, and Vely nodded, blushing slightly under the pride shining from her sister’s face. “We have too much to catch up on. Come on,” she said, and linked her arm through her sister’s and guided her towards the table of her crew members. “Look who I found,” Liza said, the tears threatening to spill once more. “This is my sister, Vely.”

  Becce jumped up from the table, a wide smile on her face, and crushed the two of them in a hug. Vely just smiled, not keeping up with the rapid congratulations of finally being united with her sister. But she remembered and turned around. Denny and Cedrick stood a few feet away, watching the reunion with smiles on their faces. Vely tugged on Liza’s arm.

  “Meet my crew,” she said, pointing to Cedrick and Denny. Liza recognized Cedrick from the news she’d read about him. She tried to hide her frown as she looked him over. “Cedrick, Denny, this is Liza,” she said. The two men bowed their heads in greeting, smiling all the while. Liza shook their hands.

  “We’ve been nearly all over the solar system looking for you,” Denny said, stepping forward to hug Liza.

  “Thank you,” Liza said, and she turned to Cedrick. She pushed her mind against his, trying to bypass her hands. But she was knocked back by a wall. Cedrick smirked.

  “I’m an Augur,” Cedrick said. “I know how to protect my mind from being read and controlled by Kathos.” Liza blinked.

  “An Augur?”

  Vely gripped her arm and hopped a few times. “You know what you are, right?” she asked, feeling and sounding like the little girl she once was, desperately trying to impress her older, stoic sister. Liza nodded.

  “Kathokenetic,” she said. “But what’s that-”