The Fringe Series Omnibus

by Rachel Aukes

  “I think we lost them,” she said.

  Just then, a larger ship popped out from a cavern within the rock directly in front of them and shot out an EMP net.

  “Shit!” Throttle yanked the ship at a hard angle to avoid hitting the net.

  “It’s a tag team,” Reyne started. “Sixx!”

  “Got ‘em.” Sixx fired off several bursts.

  The first ship somehow managed to catch up and was tailing them again. Without taking time for automated targeting, Reyne manually fired at it, narrowly missing.

  “I clipped mine,” Sixx exclaimed. “Big bird’s heading off. Doesn’t look like he wants to play with us.”

  Reyne watched his target slow and peel away. “Other bogey is bugging out.”

  He scanned the quadrants, finding nothing but the two departing ships. “Everything looks clear, but keep your eyes peeled.”

  After closing the gun bays, Reyne turned to Throttle. “Was that exciting enough for you?”

  She tried not to smile, but then broke into a wide grin. “That was crazy. But seriously, who would live out here if they had to fly past that every time?”

  Reyne looked at the Coast before them. “Pirates don’t attack their own. I’m guessing this pair was the welcome party, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they were out here waiting for us. My guess is they wanted to strip us of our ship and weapons before bringing us into Nova Colony. I should warn you. I’m not the most popular guy out here.”

  “They’re idiots then,” she said simply.

  His console chimed, and he let out a deep breath. He broadcast his words to the entire crew so that Doc and Boden would also hear. “We’re coming up on Nova Colony. Prepare for landing.”

  Throttle contacted the port control and initiated the approach and landing sequence, switching from the powerful Flux engine to the two small navigational engines. Reyne watched as they approached the asteroid known as Nova Colony. From space, it looked like any other gargantuan asteroid. No lights or manmade architecture dotted its surface, as asteroids tended to be pelted regularly by rock showers.

  Sometime in Nova Colony’s distant history the asteroid had an abundance of frozen water that hollowed out a maze of underground caverns. Those now-empty caverns made perfect shelters, making Nova Colony the only official settlement on the Space Coast—and the only colony outside Collective control.

  Life on Nova Colony wasn’t easy. Inhabited by pirates, convicts, and anyone else who desired to live outside the Collective’s reach, its residents weren’t exactly friendly to newcomers. Nova Colony had its own police force, but they were as likely to kill you as to help you.

  As Throttle lowered the Gryphon into the wide cavern leading to the landing docks, apprehension tightened Reyne’s already tense shoulders. There were ten thousand reasons why he avoided coming here, and he began to have more doubts about taking Vym’s deal.

  The ship settled into a landing slot. Magnetized mooring cables shot out and attached to the Gryphon to secure it in place. Throttle powered down the engines, and Reyne jumped from his seat, anxious to put the whole mess behind him.

  “That was an interesting ride,” Doc said as she and Boden hustled onto the bridge.

  “Listen up,” Reyne said. “No one leaves the ship. And that includes you, Sixx.”

  “Like hell. I’m not letting you go into that viper’s nest alone,” Sixx said. “Besides, they have the best beer in the system.”

  Reyne’s hard expression quelled any more dissent. “I need you all here to guard the ship. This asteroid is the worst place in the system for shipjackings. And we just gave away the Gryphon’s secret, which makes her a hot commodity. Trust no one, and don’t let anyone except me on board, especially anyone who looks official. If I’m not back in three hours, you leave. Got it?”

  Throttle let out a hmph. “We’re not leaving you.”

  “You won’t be. If I’m not back, I’m already dead.”

  She sobered.

  “That’s why I need to come with you,” Sixx said with no hint of humor this time.

  Reyne shook his head. “If they want to kill me, it’s not going to make a lick of difference if I’m alone or if I have an army with me. Anyone at my side will be just as dead.”

  “Maybe, but I’ll sure as hell take out a few before I go.”

  “I know you would, but I need you here, with Throttle and the rest of the crew.” Reyne attempted a smile. “Hey Throttle, it’s not so bad. If I don’t make it back, the Gryphon’s yours.”

  She sneered. “Oh. If that’s the case, enjoy yourself out there.”

  He gave a weak smile. “Okay then. See you by…” He checked the panel.

  “Thirteen-twenty,” she said before he could speak.

  “Thirteen-twenty,” he repeated, then rushed from the bridge so he didn’t have to see the worry in her eyes.

  He headed straight for the airlock and hustled into his suit. Just as he was about to open the outer door, he heard Throttle’s voice in his speakers.

  “Hey, Reyne.”

  “Yeah?”

  Throttle’s tone was dead serious. “Promise me you’re coming back.”

  He flipped off his speakers without responding.

  On her tenth birthday, he’d had no gift for her. Instead, he’d promised her that he would never, ever lie to her. He’d kept his word, which meant he couldn’t make her this new promise. He swallowed, opened the airlock, pushed himself out of the safety of the ship, and grabbed one of the many zip lines strung across the docks.

  He pulled himself down the line until he reached a motorized handle, which then zoomed him into the deepest interior of the dock, just outside Nova Colony’s airlock. He hit a switch on the wall. A second later, a light turned green and the door opened. He entered, immediately feeling the stronger gravity that was bolstered by EM fields, much like what the Gryphon used. A moment after the door behind him closed, a screen flashed the words Pressurization Complete. Welcome to Nova Colony. Obey all Coastal laws or forfeit your life.

  Reyne tugged off his helmet and crossed through the internal door. The caverns inside smelled of human sweat and sounded like bustling activity. There was no atmosphere on Nova Colony, requiring the caverns to be tightly sealed and the air constantly recycled. It didn’t smell pleasant, but there were far worse smells in the universe.

  Everyone stared at Reyne, and he fought the urge to reach for his photon gun. Taking a deep breath, he began walking. It took him several long steps before he found his stride in the stronger gravity. Several more steps and he reached his destination. A neon sign that read UNEVEN BAR flashed above its door. The sign was askew, fitting for its namesake. The bar was the first commercial establishment in Nova Colony, having been built even before the EM fields were in place. Everyone who’d ever passed through the Space Coast ended up at this bar at some point or another.

  Reyne entered the bar to find it hadn’t changed much. It was still dark and dirty, and reeked of alcohol and sex. The tables were filled, as they were every hour of every day. The only things that had changed were that the bar was completely silent and everyone was watching him.

  He could cut the tension with the blade he had strapped on his boot. He found it surprising he was still alive, considering how many faces he recognized—and knowing that every single one of them wanted him dead.

  Yet he was still alive. Hell, maybe his luck was changing.

  A man who’d been sitting at the bar turned and stood to face Reyne.

  Like the bar, the man had changed startlingly little. He still had scars covering his face, still had the same brown hair, though the streaks of gray were new.

  “Hello, Critch,” Reyne said.

  A smile tugged at the corners of Critch’s mouth.

  Reyne’s eyes widened. He spun around, but was too late. Blinding pain erupted in the back of his head. He fell as blackness claimed him.

  Eight

  A Hazardous Proposition

  Reyne came awa
ke with his head throbbing twice as hard as it had that morning. He gingerly touched the back of his head. “Son of a bitch.”

  “I’m surprised you showed up.”

  Reyne cracked open his eyes to find two Critches standing in front of him. As Reyne’s vision came into focus, the shape solidified into a single man. He hadn’t seen the pirate in twenty years, but he’d seen his picture on the news plenty—each time, the bounty higher than the time before.

  “And miss the chance to see your ugly mug again?” Reyne responded. “I never would’ve taken you for a nostalgic man, but the Uneven Bar? Choosing the place we first met makes me feel all warm and tingly inside.”

  Critch grunted. “I didn’t want to make it too hard for you to find me, especially considering you don’t come out this way often.”

  “Knowing that damn near everyone on the Coast wants me dead tends to put a damper on my travel plans.” Reyne looked the room over. They were alone, but he didn’t miss noticing that the familiar weight of his guns and knives was absent.

  “Not true,” Critch said. “Everyone on the Coast wants you dead.”

  “I see you still have that silver tongue of yours.”

  “And I see you’re still damn lucky to have that head of yours.”

  “’Luck’ is not the word that comes to mind with the pounding headache I have right now. Oh, and thanks for the welcome committee out on the Coast. That was real nice of you.”

  “You’re still alive, aren’t you?” Critch smirked, a crooked tug of his lips that in no way reflected humor. When he scowled, you didn’t have much to worry about. When he smiled, you were screwed.

  Reyne motioned to the pirate. “Tell me, buddy. You invite me all the way out here just to catch up on old times?”

  “You’re the last man I want to converse with.”

  “Setting the bar a little high considering your chosen profession, aren’t you?”

  “I may be a pirate, but I’ve never been a traitor.”

  “That makes two of us.” Reyne gritted his teeth. “I’d tell you I had nothing to do with what happened at Broken Mountain, but I’m guessing you wouldn’t care.”

  Critch leveled a hard gaze at Reyne. “Damn straight.”

  This Critch had colder eyes than the young man Reyne remembered, but his face had otherwise remained unchanged. He still had the familiar scars crisscrossing his cheeks. Reyne had been there when the pirate had gotten those scars. They’d been searching for survivors after a particularly bloody battle during the Uprising, and an unexploded grenade went off. Critch had still been a fresh recruit under Reyne’s command then, not yet twenty years old, headstrong, and full of passion.

  Reyne gingerly touched the bump on his head. “I think I liked you better back when you were Drake Fender.”

  “Well, not all of us marshals were able to have our torrent records cleared, like you. When there’s a death sentence tied to your name, you’re better off starting over.”

  “From what I hear, you’ve earned several more death sentences with the new name.”

  He shrugged.

  “Speaking of death sentences,” Reyne said, holding out his hands. “I’m still breathing, which means you need me alive, at least for now. Why don’t you tell me what the hell I’m doing here?”

  The pirate gave Reyne his back as he walked over to a table and poured himself a glass from a glass decanter that looked like it was worth more credits than what most colonists made in a year, including Reyne.

  “For the record, Vym wanted to bring you in,” Critch began. “Not me.”

  “I promised Vym I’d come out here and meet you. I did that. You don’t want me here, so how about I make it easy for you.” Reyne pushed to his feet and started heading toward the door. “See you around. Though, hopefully not in this lifetime.”

  He heard a glass set onto a table, and prepared for an attack.

  Instead of attacking Reyne from behind, Critch said simply, “The Uprising isn’t over.”

  Reyne turned slowly around to face the other man. “The Uprising ended twenty years ago.”

  Critch shook his head. “The battles that took place there may be over, but the spirit of the Uprising, the need for an Uprising, is stronger than ever.”

  Reyne’s brows rose. “You’re thinking about starting a full-out Uprising again? Then you’ll get yourself killed along with every fool who follows you. The CUF is stronger than they were when we ran the first Uprising. Myr and Alluvia will squash any rebellion—”

  “You’re wrong. Relations between Myr and Alluvia have fallen apart during Myr’s recession. Myrads are jealous of Alluvians because they’re thriving. The two are butting heads, and the fringe is stuck in the middle.”

  Reyne brushed the air. “Nothing’s changed. They’ve always used us—first, to satisfy their greed for our resources, then, for our labor. As every year passes, they take away more and more of our rights. There’s a reason the Uprising happened, but there’s also a reason no one’s instigated one since. We don’t have the resources to fight them.”

  “This time is different. We don’t have a choice. They’re moving from oversight to outright ownership. Vym believes Myr is making a move to seize control of all the fringe stations.”

  The runner chortled. “That’s impossible. The CUF would never let that happen.”

  “The CUF is splitting apart from the inside. Most warships and military units are now either all-Alluvian or all-Myrad. We’re on the road to another war between Alluvia and Myr. Only, this time around, there are colonies in the mix. Imagine what would happen if Myr managed to gain control of all the fringe stations.”

  “They’d have control over all space ports in the fringe,” Reyne said.

  “Meaning…”

  “Meaning they would own anything going to or coming from a fringe planet,” Reyne finished.

  Critch nodded. “If they take control of our space docks, the colonists are out of this fight before we even have a chance to throw a punch.”

  “Myr may be powerful, but you’re talking about fringe stations. These are large cities. Myr would have a rebellion on their hands at the first station they made a play for.”

  “Not if all the colonists there are already dead.”

  Reyne sobered. “They’d never go that far.”

  “You underestimate the situation. If Myr and Alluvia start a war, we all know where the battlefields will be.”

  After a pause, Reyne spoke. “On the colonies.”

  Critch nodded.

  Reyne eyed Critch a long moment before he frowned. “Why are you telling me this?”

  “Because Vym wants you to join the cause.”

  “What?” He almost choked on the word.

  “That was my first reaction, too,” Critch said drily. “Somehow, you’ve conned her into trusting you. That don’t mean shit to me, but she made a valid argument. Out of every runner in the fringe, you are the only captain who could go anywhere, anytime, without suspicion. You can run all four fringe stations and the Coast, and the CUF would never bat an eye. All my crews are on watch lists, but no one would ever suspect the traitor of Terra to have any involvement in a new Uprising.”

  “How reassuring,” Reyne said with a hefty hint of sarcasm in his voice.

  “It’s not my job to hand out hugs.”

  “Tell me, exactly what is your job? Because Vym could’ve told me everything you just did. What am I doing here?”

  Critch took a drink. “We’re laying the groundwork for the new Uprising right here, from Nova Colony. Right now, I need runners to transport recruiters from the Coast to the colonies.”

  “The Gryphon’s not designed to be a passenger ship. Besides, I have contracts on the books that I can’t just drop.”

  “Not anymore. Vym is having your handler reassign any contracts you have on the books and set up new contracts as we speak.”

  Reyne’s jaw loosened. “It’s taken me years to build those relationships.” The upgrades V
ym made to the Gryphon were beginning to make sense, and he wasn’t the least bit happy about her scheming. He shot Critch a hard look. “Without contracts, how am I going to feed my crew?”

  “Vym will cover your crew’s expenses under the guise of the new contracts. Everything will look legit in case the CUF gets curious.”

  Reyne paced the room as he thought through his options. “Vym sent me here to talk with you in case I said no, so she wouldn’t have to deal with me.”

  Critch shook his head. “Contrary to popular belief, pirates don’t kill everyone they meet, though I’d consider an exception in your case.”

  Reyne growled. “Watch yourself, pirate.”

  “I have crews and employees all over the fringe. If I wanted you dead, you don’t think I could’ve had your throat slit in your sleep any damn time I felt like it?”

  “You could try.”

  “You’re here because we need a fast runner, and we need a captain who can get into places without questions. We’ve got recruiters ready to ship out. I need to know if you and your crew are in or out. You just need to know that as soon as any of them choose to make the first run with you, they’re all torrents. There’s no going back.”

  Reyne clenched his fists. “You don’t even think about laying a finger on my crew.”

  “Then, make a choice. They’re safe right now. No harm will come to them. If you’d like to keep any of them out of this arrangement, now’s the time. Because once they’re in, they’re in.” Critch held up a finger. “All the colonies are at risk if this Uprising fails. I warn you, if I get even a hint of you doing anything stupid, like running out to tell the CUF about our plans, none of your crew is safe. Not even your adopted daughter.”

  Reyne breathed in and exhaled slowly. “I wonder what a direct phase cannon blast would do to Nova Colony.”

  Critch narrowed his eyes.

  “Because that’s exactly what will happen if you threaten me or my crew again.”