“Wouldn’t the SSA just be able to follow The Cove, and know where the new location is?” asked Doctor D. This time, Captain smiled.
“Now that is the legend that you all should have wondered about,” he said. “But I’ll keep it a secret until the time comes. I think you’ll find it interesting.”
Vely frowned. Worry gnawed at her. She didn’t want to waste time that they could be spending searching for Liza. Being that Vely was an unintended guest on this ship, she kept her mouth shut.
Conversation at the table fell into hushed whispers after Captain sat back down to finish his meal. Vely tried to listen to everyone at once but ended up making herself dizzy. Instead, she rose from the table and began to collect dishes to take back to the galley.
Captain rose once more. “Dom, Becce, let’s go.” Vely watched her two friends follow the Captain from the mess deck. Vely sighed and turned back into the galley.
It wasn’t long before she felt the ship’s engines rumble to life. Corbin had joined her in the galley and was helping her scrape food from the dishes.
“What was Liza like on the Moon?” Corbin asked, glancing at Vely. She shrugged her shoulders but smiled a moment later.
“Hard-headed, stubborn, and kind of a brat,” Vely said with a laugh. “Though I wasn’t much better.” Corbin chuckled.
“She has some fire in her, but she kept it hidden most of the time,” he said.
“She’s not great in new and different situations, that’s for sure. Once, a few years ago, there was a virus outbreak on in our sector of the colonies, so we were all cooped up in our apartment for about two weeks. Liza nearly paced a hole in the floor; normally she would be out gathering things to sell in the market, so all her extra energy was stuck inside with us. She drove the rest of us crazy,” Vely said, the memories floating back into her mind. Corbin laughed.
“I do hope we cross paths with her again soon,” Corbin said. Vely smiled sadly.
Vely was on her way to talk to Becce and Dom when she heard Captain Warwick shouting from the bridge.
“What the hell is this?”
Vely entered the bridge from the lift. Dom and Becce stood with the Captain, looking up at the holoscreen.
“Unfortunately, I think some of the others are dumb enough to take them up on the offer,” Dom said. Captain growled low and paced back and forth across the room. “We’ll have to figure out a way to differentiate who is friend and who is foe.”
Becce was the first one to notice Vely’s presence. She smiled.
“Hey, Vely.”
“What’s going on?” Vely asked, tentatively moving towards an open chair. Captain looked less than willing to reply, so Dom answered instead.
“The SSA has put out an offer to any pirates willing to join their side in order to bring the rest of us down,” Dom said. “They’re calling it the Corsair Collaboration.” Vely frowned.
“Would pirates really betray each other like that?” she asked. A harsh laugh escaped the Captain.
“Pirates only answer to themselves and their captain. The Galactic Syndicate is a very loose association,” he said, then resumed his pacing.
“What’s the SSA offering anyone who helps them?” Vely asked.
“Money and immunity, I’d assume,” Dom answered.
“Seems like the SSA would just dispose of anyone who joined them once their job was done,” Vely said. The others glanced at her. “On the Moon, sometimes the Enforcers would offer money or food for help capturing a criminal. But then whoever helped them would just disappear.”
“Sounds about right,” Becce said. “We’ll just have to be careful. Especially on the Cove when we get there.” Captain grunted, but he nodded in agreement.
34
The following morning, Liza was in the middle of dressing when someone pounded on the door. Still half asleep, she dragged herself to the door and punched the button to release the lock.
“What?!” she barked. Instead of a verbal response, Liza was knocked backwards into the room, landing on her tail bone and sliding back a few feet. She shook herself and looked up. A Synthgen with gray stripes stood in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest.
“The hell was that for?” Liza asked, picking herself up. By now, Gwen was awake and looking curiously over the edge of the bunk bed.
“You need to get your identification picture taken,” the Synth said, a smug grin on his face. Liza looked up at Gwen, who was climbing from the bed.
“I wouldn’t be strutting around here if I were you, Fake,” Gwen growled. The Synth pretended to ignore her, but Liza caught a slight twitch of his eye.
“Get dressed, Strange, and come with me,” he said. Liza scowled, but she pulled on the gray top and secured the buttons. Gwen rested a hand on Liza’s shoulder before she left, releasing a long sigh.
“Don’t get in trouble this morning,” she said. Liza rolled her eyes.
“I’ll try.”
Liza followed the Synth from the room and into the hallway. He led her through a doorway and into a small office. An officer in an orange Enforcer uniform sat behind a desk.
“Here she is,” the Synth said, and backed out of the room, leaving Liza there alone with the Enforcer. To her surprise, when the Enforcer looked up from his console, a bored expression was plastered on his face.
“Stand there,” he said, pointing to a box marked off on the floor. Liza followed his order and stood inside the box. “Look here.” He pointed to the camera. Liza looked into the camera with a skeptical look on her face, and without warning, the camera flashed, and it was over. “Come here.” Liza, blinking spots from her eyes, stepped up to the counter.
“If you’re an Enforcer, why are you here working at a desk?” Liza asked. The man glanced up at her.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he answered. “Give me your arm.”
“Why?”
“Don’t ask questions.” He rose from his chair and yanked her arm onto the desk. With a small device in hand, he pressed a button and pushed the device against her arm. Liza yelped in pain when a stinging buzz shuddered through her arm. When he removed the device, Liza yanked her arm back and looked at it. A marking had been tattooed onto her arm. Tt looked like a barcode in shining black ink. Below was an eight-digit number.
“What is this?” Liza asked angrily, thrusting her arm at the Enforcer.
“That’s how we’ll identify you when you die,” he answered, not meeting her eyes. Liza frowned. He turned in his chair, picked up a card, attached it to a clip and handed it over. Liza took it, seeing the picture of her face on it, with the SSA label, her name, the same eight-digit number that was now on her arm, and a gray bar with the word “Kathokinetic” at the bottom. “Wear that everywhere. You can go.”
Liza stood for a moment, wanting to ask more questions, or at least yell at him some more. But Gwen’s words echoed in her mind. With a sigh, she turned and left the small office, pinning the badge to the pocket of her pants as she went.
Liza didn’t have to figure out her way back. The hallway was already filled with trainees moving to their first task of the day. Over many heads, Gwen saw her and waved. Liza pushed her way through the crowd until she was at Gwen’s side.
“We have Research this morning,” Gwen said. Liza noticed that Gwen’s gaze was lingering on Liza’s arm. She lifted it, turning until the black mark was exposed. “I thought so.”
“What’s this mean?” Liza asked. She could still feel a dull buzzing pain in her arm.
“If you die, they can scan it. It contains your identification details. They just use it to mark you as deceased in their database,” Gwen explained, pulling back her sleeve to reveal her own black marking. Liza wrinkled her nose.
“I don’t want this on my arm forever,” she complained, rubbing absently at it with her finger. Gwen smiled.
“I don’t know what to tell you.”
Liza followed Gwen to a room that was filled with equipment, chairs,
and men and women in white coats with the SSA logo on the breast. The other Kathos were there as well, looking dull eyed and sluggish. A white-coated woman approached Liza.
“Please come with me, Liza Strange,” she said. Liza glanced at Gwen, who nodded. Liza followed the woman to a chair. “Sit.”
“Who are you?” Liza asked. The woman smiled indulgently.
“I am a scientist. My name is Doctor Odette,” she said. Liza glared at her, but the scientist ignored her. “I’ll be running some basic tests, to gather more information for our research.”
“What research?”
The doctor chuckled.
“So curious.” Odette was not forthcoming with more information. Instead, she picked up a needle and poked Liza in the arm and drew several small vials of blood. After drawing blood, Odette went through several tests in quick succession, taking Liza’s blood pressure, pulse, checking her reflexes, her eyes, her ears, her throat, and her breathing.
Odette finished those tests and hustled Liza over to a measurement on the wall and marked off where Liza’s head reached. Next was the scale. Liza stood on it and waited. “Oh dear. How old are you?” Odette asked.
“Twenty-one.”
“You are severely underweight for your age and height,” she tittered, noting something down on her tablet.
“That’s what happens when you’re starved on the Moon for your entire life,” Liza grumbled. Odette froze for a moment and stared at Liza with an unreadable expression.
“I see.” She typed something on her tablet while Liza crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re from the Moon, then? That’s interesting.”
“Not really,” Liza said. Odette looked up from her tablet and guided Liza over to a different machine. It looked like a large clear tube set in a metal frame. Liza touched the side, wondering if it was made of the same stuff that made up the domes of the Moon colonies. Odette opened a door.
“Step inside,” she said. Liza glanced around and saw that there were other Kathos inside the tubes. Taking a deep breath, Liza stepped inside. Odette closed the door and walked around to a small console. She tapped a button, and Liza could see her mouth moving as she spoke, but her voice was coming from a speaker inside the tube. “All you need to do is unleash as much power as you can.”
“What do you mean?” Liza asked, frowning.
“Do whatever it is you do when you use your power,” she replied. Liza snorted to herself. She herself barely understood her power, much less enough to demonstrate it for someone else. Liza looked around the tube. There were little sensors attached to the inside of the tube, very small and almost clear, which is why she didn’t notice them at first. Evidently, the SSA had a way of measuring her power.
Shrugging her shoulders, she spread out her arms and closed her eyes. Almost immediately, she could feel the crackling power on her hands. Frowning, Liza withdrew into herself, feeling the power. A strange sensation caught Liza’s attention. She opened her eyes, expecting to see Gwen, as she thought she could smell the other woman. But Gwen was nowhere near her. Liza closed her eyes once more and allowed the power to grow larger until she could feel it consume her. After a moment, Liza thought she could smell Odette, but of course, the scientist was on the other side of the tube wall from her. She gathered more and more of the crackling energy until she couldn’t hold on any longer. Opening her eyes, she let go.
Swirling energy filled the tube, whipping her clothes and her hair around her face. She could hear the frame of the tube straining against the power. A crack in the tube appeared, spreading and growing larger and larger until a whole section of it broke free. Her power escaped out into the room and tossed furniture around, some flying across the room while others hit the ceiling. Odette ducked behind the small console that she’d been standing behind. Liza grabbed back onto her power, pulling it back. The power clung to her arms and hands in rippling currents.
The room was silent. Everyone stared at her, including Gwen, who moved closer to watch. Liza stepped out of the tube, keeping her hands to her sides while the power continued to crawl up and down her limbs and into her hair. A wave of exhaustion swept over her, and she fell to a knee, breathing hard with the effort of remaining upright.
“It’s not fair to steal our power, too,” Gwen said, stepping closer to her, but she didn’t look mad, merely amused.
“I didn’t try to,” Liza said. Gwen held her hand out and looked at her expectantly.
“At least give some back,” she said. Liza gripped her hand and let go of the power she was holding onto. As soon as the little arcs touched the other woman’s hand, Liza could no longer see them. The strain of holding back the power died away as she let go. “Thanks.” Gwen tightened her grip on Liza and pulled her up, offering a steady arm. Liza’s knees began to shake; she could barely hold herself upright.
Odette appeared from behind the console. She looked frightened and annoyed. “It’s no good if you’re going to blow apart our equipment, Miss Strange,” she said.
“She has a lot to learn about Katho etiquette,” Gwen said, winking at Liza. Two other scientists ran to Odette’s side and spoke to her in quick, hushed tones. A fourth scientist gathered the Kathos.
“You’re dismissed for today,” he said, and shooed them all from the room.
“Please explain,” Liza said after they picked up breakfast and were sitting in the mess hall, surrounded by other trainees. Gwen smiled.
“Couldn’t you tell that you were sapping other people’s energy?” Gwen asked, picking at the synthetic eggs on her plate.
“No.” Liza stabbed at a green vegetable with her fork and brought it to her mouth. “I thought I could smell you though. And Odette,” Liza said.
“Because you took our energy. Well,” she paused and took a bite, a thoughtful look on her face. “Energy is a bad way to explain it, but it’s easier. As a Katho, we bend another’s will to do what we want.”
“Like controlling their minds?”
“It’s deeper than that. If you’re not careful, you can cause a person to Snap,” Gwen said. “Anyway, you were bending the will of everyone in the room to do what you wanted, which was to give up our energy. As a Katho, you can use power from within, but you can draw willpower from other people to increase your own power. But you exhaust yourself more quickly doing that, as you may have noticed. You thought you could smell me and that scientist because our wills have a distinct smell, if you will. Our life force.”
Liza lifted an eyebrow. “This all sounds like metaphysical nonsense,” she said. Gwen shrugged.
“I’m just telling you what I know,” she said. “Anyway, you’re a dangerous girl, Liza. You are powerful and untrained. And you lack manners.” She grinned.
“What manners?”
“Not bending other Kathos’ wills, not budging into other’s minds…” Gwen said. “You don’t control your powers well either, but that will improve with training.” Liza crossed her arms over her chest.
“You sound like Morre,” Liza grumbled. Gwen smiled.
“Sorry.” Liza pushed her tray away from her and rested her elbows on the table. The more she learned about Kathokinesis, the less she wanted anything to do with it.
35
The Gypsy Star docked on the Cove only about an hour before, but Vely was still on the ship. Becce and Dom advised her to stay on the ship until they were sure that none of the Corsair traitors were on the Cove. Vely sat on the bed in her room, using a tablet she’d found in one of the drawers. Curious, Vely turned on the tablet and began to look through the information that Liza had searched for on the Sol Network.
Vely spent an hour looking through all the news articles that Liza had saved. With each article, Vely understood why Liza didn’t trust Cedrick, and that Liza had at least a rudimentary knowledge that Vely had been alive and on the move from the Moon. More disconcerting were the articles about Cedrick from several years ago. The gambling rings, his run-ins with the SSA. She remembered him saying that he
’d been sent to the Moon because he was an orphan, but perhaps that was only partially true. Perhaps he’d been sent to the Moon as punishment for his crimes. Or maybe he’d never even been “sent” to the Moon at all.
A knot formed in Vely’s stomach. What else had Cedrick lied to her about?
Vely was still musing when Becce appeared at her door a little while later. “Captain Lezal is fairly certain that there are no Corsair Collaboration traitors on the Cove,” Becce said, leaning against the door frame. “You can come down now, if you want.” Vely pressed her lips into a line and nodded.
“It’s better than sitting here,” she mumbled.
“What’s wrong?” Becce asked. Vely pointed at the tablet.
“Well, I learned why Liza didn’t trust Cedrick,” Vely said. Becce tilted her head and gave her a sad smile.
“Ah.” Vely shook her head and pulled out one of the over-sized shirts that Liza had stored in the closet. She tugged it over her head and settled the hood over her face.
“Let’s go,” Vely said, marching past Becce, who turned to follow her.
The Cove was much emptier than it was the last time Vely had been there. There were only a few ships docked, and once they reached the lower level, only a few tables were occupied. Vely followed Becce towards the table where the rest of the crew had already sat down. Captain Warwick and Dom were missing, presumably meeting with the head of the Syndicate.
Weed and Speed greeted Vely fondly once she’d sat down, and both leaned over the table towards her.
“Are you ready to see something amazing?” they asked together. Vely lifted an eyebrow.
“What do you mean?”
“The Cove is a spectacular-”
“Piece of craftsmanship.”
“Are you going to tell me, or just tease me?” Vely asked, smirking at the twins. They returned the grin, shaking their heads.
Psychogen (Galactic Syndicate Cycle Book 1) Page 20
