The Colossus Collection

by Nicole Grotepas

  Together Holly and Darius studied the layout of the base and the possible locations that would hold Charm. They couldn’t focus on the why or the what of it. She was there. She was a child. Holly would destroy the entire base if she had to, to get back the little girl.

  As they discussed it, Holly realized that the tanker she’d seen at Joppa must have been about something other than water. Perhaps it was hydrantium. Why was the Shadow Coalition using tankers? They could get the hydrantium gas for much cheaper than they would from harvesting their own and then refining it.

  “We’ll need Trip, you know,” Darius said.

  Holly closed her eyes and inhaled. “Yes, I know.” She opened them. Trusting Trip on such a huge mission was going to be a trial for Holly. But she would do it.

  “And possibly Voss,” Darius said.

  “OK, and why do you propose we include her?”

  “You think the doors inside the ship will just open when you bat your eyelashes at them?”

  “Ouch Darius.”

  “Sorry. That’s the thing, Drake. These bases and tankers are full of an explosive material. They’re going to have doors that are locked. And we don’t have time to create false identities and go in all cute like a crew of thieves. We’re going to have to do this lean and mean, and fast. If Xadrian’s timetable is right—and I think it could very well be, we have less than twelve hours to get this shit done. There’s a chance we can procure SC outfits, and fool their ship’s scanners so that they read Trip’s ship like it’s one of theirs. But beyond that, we just don’t have time. This is out of the blue. We were heading into a leisurely listen-fest after we broke into the massive hub and tapped it. Now what? We’re off in a direction I didn’t plan. And I’m going at it barebones. “

  Holly gestured for him to stay calm. “Relax. We’re tired. This is a complete shock. So, we need Trip. We’ll have Voss. And we have to leave how soon?”

  “If our window is twelve hours, we need to leave in six. Trip’s ship will do a small portion of the work getting close to the base, but a lot of the speed will come from Ixion’s gravity.”

  “And where will you be? I need to visualize the teams. The operation from far away—I need the big picture.”

  “Ok, so I’ll stay here,” Darius said.

  She nodded, “Of course you will.”

  He laughed uncomfortably. “Look Drake, I’m not being a chicken. I wasn’t made to be in the field. I’ll be here, monitoring everything. I’ll be your second set of eyes.”

  “I get it, Darius. You’re good at your job.” She patted him on the back. “Shiro, Odeon, Charly, Voss, Trip. Me. We’ll be on Trip’s ship.”

  “And Trip’s ship will also be the getaway.”

  “For now, you’ll recruit Voss. I’ll get Trip.”

  “Yes. You’ll need to leave in eight hours. We get Shiro procuring the SC costumes.”

  They finished planning. Beneath the dialogue with Darius about the plans, Holly felt a sickness in her gut about the journey she was about to embark on. Even with all their plans and the fact that they were leaving in less than eight hours, she had a few things she needed to do. As soon as the plans were hammered out with Darius, she would have to take off to get it done. Meg and Gabe would need to be informed, and though she couldn’t just pop in to see Dave the official, there was one other person she needed to touch base with. Holly needed a reality check.

  32

  Holly knew the way to her next location without even pausing to think. And she knew that she had to go there, because she was about to crumble beneath the crushing weight of what she needed to do. Who could even understand what sort of mountain had settled upon her shoulders? It was surely infinitely more vast than even the Ridge of the World.

  She hadn’t ridden the Spireway since the Shadow Coalition nearly dumped her off that night with Odeon, vaporizing the gondola around her. But she found she didn’t care at the moment. Her nerves were so raw from nonstop pursuit of a way to save Charm, that she rode the elevator to the platform and boarded without even thinking about it. The people she passed were a blur. The sun between the tops of the towers, and the waxing outline of Ixion growing on the horizon—all of it was background noise beneath her concerns about what she was about to embark upon on her way to the edge of the Lavender Jade district.

  When Holly arrived in the corridor at the top of a Lavender Jade tower, and pushed the doors open to the Zulu lounge, she realized that she’d almost slept walked through the city. Her thoughts were in turmoil. Her heart had bruised the inside of her ribs with its thunderous pounding. Her breathing was rapid and labored. This wasn’t what a person should feel as they approached the precipice and gazed into the maw of danger. They just kept going. They were action and not thought.

  But Holly didn’t know how to be anything else. Her brain was cogs and gears, set in motion at the world outside her.

  She strode through the well-lit, posh bar, passing groups of humans and Consties laughing and drinking, seated on half-circle upholstered benches around knee-height tables. It was mid-afternoon, and the crowd was just getting going. Soon there would be tapas and other finger foods, and then a singer or band. But for now, Holly discovered Cosma on the outdoor terrace area, reclining by the pool. As Holly approached, Cosma rose and spotted her. There were other people in the pool splashing about and floating atop the water, as well sun-bathers reclining in chaises around the perimeter of the large pool.

  Cosma took off her white hat and stood to greet Holly, her face lighting up.

  “My dear, my dear. So lovely to see you!” Cosma gave Holly a hug and a beso. She pushed Holly away and held her at arm’s length to inspect her face. “But I must say, you look terrible. Are you not getting enough sleep? What’s been going on in your life?”

  That Cosma recognized the torment Holly was feeling, just about nearly forced the tears to fly. No one else . . . not Darius, nor Odeon, and not even Charly had seen how the work was getting to Holly. Maybe Meg would see it? Who knew. Perhaps today was different. Perhaps it was the nearness of success or failure.

  Holly bit her lip and forced herself to laugh. “I’m doing . . . I’m doing just . . . great.”

  Cosma gave Holly another full body squeeze and then pushed her gently by the shoulders down onto a nearby chair.

  She snapped her fingers at a passing server, “Get over here, Jeffrey. Here, bring this girl a drink immediately. A Frozen Pearl,” she said, glancing at Holly. “A Frozen Pearl, dear?”

  “Yes, that’s wonderful, thank you.”

  “Thank you, Jeffrey. Two Frozen Pearls,” Cosma said. When Jeffrey hustled off to the bar, Cosma sat back down and began reclining again. “I’ve had two already, but what the hell? I’m retired.”

  Holly laughed. The sun glinted off the nearby water. She blinked and watched Cosma. In a way, Holly already felt better from just being with the woman. She was strong and vivacious. Her voice and body radiated power. She was afraid of nothing. It seemed a certain fact that if Cosma had been staring down the same task that Holly currently faced, Cosma would not be frightened. She would barge into the base, gun down everyone who tried to stop her, grab Charm, and rush out, fearless.

  “Now then, drinks are on the way. We can both relax and soak up the sun. It’s good for your skin, you know? Well, at least some vitamin synthesis happens with exposure to the light. We’re a pair, our bodies and the sun. Everything about us is hard-wired into the sun, the day and the night cycles. Down to the most basic cellular processes. Something I read once while I was relaxing in the sun.” She waved her hand and laughed, taking a deep breath, closing her eyes and exhaling loudly. “Ah, that feels good doesn’t it?”

  Holly smiled. She knew what Cosma was doing. “It does feel good to be here with you.”

  “And what brings you here today, my dear? Besides the obvious reason: this beautiful, relaxing location and the Frozen Pearls,” she chuckled, “and me.”

  “I’m about to fail massively,”
Holly blurted the confession. She explained everything that was going on, and what lay ahead for Holly and the crew and the trip to Ixion. “And if I fail, the person it will hurt most is the little Yasoan girl.”

  Cosma rolled onto her side on her chaise lounger and stared at Holly. Her body was tall and lithe, her skin the color of milk chocolate, her hair wild and free. She was beauty and grace all in one, but untamed, and simply being near her made Holly feel more confident about everything. Even that she was going to fail.

  “Well, that doesn’t sound a bit melodramatic, does it now,” Cosma said. She looked unimpressed.

  “What?” Holly asked, blinking.

  Jeffrey appeared with their drinks and placed them on the table between their chairs. “Two Frozen Pearls. You wanted those virgin, right?”

  Cosma glanced up at him, then laughed.

  He pointed at her with his hand shaped like a gun and laughed. “Kidding, Cosma. I would never.” He spun on his heel and strode efficiently away.

  “Ah, that Jeffrey. He loves to joke.

  “Now Holly, I don’t want to dismiss what you said about the little girl,” Cosma said, sucking on the straw in her drink. “But, if a Yasoan child has you launching, what, a rescue mission? Then I daresay, whoever has her, has no chance of walking away from this a whole person. With their limbs working and everything. In fact, if they end up dead, I would venture to guess that they’re the lucky ones. Because whoever lives through this will be mangled. Broken.” Cosma glanced at Holly from the tops of her eyes, head tilted down like she just said something profound, her drink in one hand, the other holding her head up, her elbow bent and leaning against the upper part of the chaise.

  Holly sipped her drink. She wanted to believe Cosma. Her cheeks burned hot for being melodramatic. It was childish. But it was how she felt. “Maybe so.”

  “Is that it? Maybe so? Holly, dear, you need to be convinced. You don’t have time to think about failure. All that energy wasted on what you do not want to come to pass. That is energy.” Cosma put her drink down and made a fist. “That energy converts you into the person you have to be to not just survive but conquer.”

  “It was one thing to discover at the end of my first job, that the jewels were really a child. This time I know it’s a child. And I don’t know who is at the center of the organization. I don’t know what I’m up against. I’ve been stabbed. I was nearly shot out of the Spireway. Charly almost died on a small Minotaur moon. And I was almost trapped by the Shadow Coalition in a warehouse, where they were expecting us.”

  Cosma nodded as she listened. “And then what happened?”

  “What do you mean, and then what happened? All those things did happen and some were nearly worse than they needed to be.”

  “But . . . did you die? Did you actually fail? Or did you kick ass, beat the hell out of the bad guys, and win?”

  Holly hesitated. “Well, I won. In one way or another.”

  “So, what does that tell you?”

  “About what?”

  “Did you focus on how you were going to fail all those other times. Or did you just become action and survive and then conquer by being your bad-ass self?”

  “Er, well, uh. I didn’t fail.”

  “Then listen to me. Listen good. Because I’m going to give you pearls here, and not just the drink. Have your moment, you know? Feel the pressure mounting. Listen to the worries for a moment. Hear what it’s saying, and then shut the mother down. You cannot be paralyzed by the fear. You say to it, ‘I see you, you bastard. I see you. And you do not frighten me.’ And then you walk away. Leave it behind. And do what you have to do. Survive. Win. Conquer. You will not let the fear win. The goal of fear is to make you weak. And sometimes weakness is OK. But as you fly toward Ixion, I want you to leave the fear here.”

  Holly felt something resolve within her. It was like coal converting to diamond. Sand becoming stone. Hot, pliable metal becoming steel. Cosma was right. And Holly had merely needed to hear it. She couldn’t confide to her crew. She had to be strong for them. Cosma was the only one Holly trusted to know these things about her. Simply speaking about the fears, and letting them free, helped in a way. And now she knew that she could do what needed to be done. She was powerful. She was as bad-ass as Cosma believed.

  33

  Aimee Voss resembled a smug Centau in every way as Holly and the crew sat in Trip’s ship, the SC Olavia Apollo, heading toward Ixion. Holly glanced over her shoulder at Voss from her seat next to Trip. The insufferable woman sat with her arms hugging her chest and one leg crossed like she was simply relaxing on a leisure cruise. She was dressed in the guise of a Shadow Coalition thug, just like the reset of the crew. Even Trip was, though she would stay on the ship in the landing bay while the others went in search of Charm. Black trousers. A white shirt and a black jacket. Normally Shadow Coalition thugs were tattooed on their necks with a cephalopod of some kind, but that was taking a disguise a little too far. Who would even notice it? Holly hoped they wouldn’t wait anywhere long enough for someone to take stock of whether or not they were sporting the proper tattoos.

  In the midst of all the planning and the very short timeline, Holly still hadn’t had a chance to discuss what had happened on Joppa with Shiro. Words between them had been terse or non-existent. He sat beside Aimee Voss as the Olavia Apollo cruised toward Ixion. The flight so far had been longer than Holly wanted it to be. Because she didn’t want to go into a potential battle drunk, she’d refrained from a drink. Odeon sat behind her and kept a hand on her shoulder and a soft hum loud enough for just Holly to hear..

  Voss, of course, had asked about it in what Holly could only describe as a snide tone. Shiro had answered her, “Ms. Drake experiences physical illness when she’s flying inter-moon.”

  “Is it only inter-moon flight, or is it also between a moon and Ixion?” That had also sounded snide, but Holly ignored it.

  “Real funny, Voss, you going to take that act on the road? I know some clubs looking for stand up comedy,” Charly said. She stood behind Trip, watching the onscreen image of Ixion looming ever larger the closer they got.

  “Well, there’s a thought. Me, a stand-up comedienne. I would be excellent at it, no doubt. No doubt. But I hardly need the work. I prefer to stay in the shadows, out of the way, so that no one sees me coming who I don’t want to see me coming.”

  Holly glanced up at Charly, who raised an eyebrow and made a gagging gesture. Charly thought even less of Voss than Holly did. But what concerned Holly was Voss’s choice of words. What did she mean by it? Holly didn’t want to read into it too deeply—it was probably nothing. Just the woman being dramatic and stupid simply to impress Shiro. He was so easily fooled by her.

  Well, they could have each other. What difference would it make? As she watched lightning flash across the surface of Ixion, Holly sheepishly remembered Shiro’s watch and the foolish effort she’d put into it. The time had never been right to hand it over to him. And now, hearing him with Voss, she was glad she’d not given it to him. The ungrateful cretin.

  Voss and Shiro kept conversing casually, easily. Holly ignored them and concerned herself with what was to come.

  “Trip, you’ll wait in the landing bay with the ship. We can’t risk losing it,” Holly said, absently, her gaze fixed on the mesmerizing surface of the enormous planet. In a way, it felt like it was going to swallow them. It was so enormous. She’d never been near something so large, so all-consuming. The patterns and the colors upon the face of the planet revealed the tempests that swirled across the surface. The planet had always seemed so close, even on Kota. At night they were often able to see the ionically charged lightning making spider webs across certain stormy areas. Their current position put them so close it was the only thing Holly could see.

  “Now you tell me, Drake,” Trip said. “I was having exciting visions of running around and shooting at the bad guys.”

  “You have a gun?”

  Trip glanced at Holly, “W
hat do you take me for, Drake?”

  “A pilot. A great pilot, that’s for sure,” Holly said, taking a steadying breath.

  “I have a gun. Because I’m a pilot. Trapped with passengers that don’t always seem to be perfectly mentally stable.”

  “You’re not hinting at something, are you?”

  Odeon switched hands, and there was a moment where she almost ran out to the hatch and jumped ship. She took some calming breaths. It’s ok. It’ll be ok.

  Trip followed the coordinates that Darius gave them for the particular base they were headed for. The water tanker Holly had seen at Joppa had been so massive, its size had stunned her. She wondered now how the base would compare against the planet near it.

  The swirling storms across Ixion were no match for the anxiety swirling in Holly’s gut. Even with Odeon’s touch—she didn’t want to ask him to sing, not with Voss there—her belly was its own hurricane. She held onto the hope that once she was aboard the giant base, that anxiety would vanish.

  “Whoa, look at that,” Charly said, suddenly.

  Holly sat up, having drifted into her thoughts so deeply, she’d stopped paying attention to what was happening. The base had begun to materialize against the colors of the gas giant. At first it was just a shadow, but soon the shape of it emerged and grew into something similar to the type of tanker she’d seen orbiting Joppa. Soon they were close enough to see a tiny fog of smaller ships leaving the landing bay, and moving in a stream toward Ixion’s surface.

  “What are they doing?” Holly asked, in wonderment as they got closer and she could see the ships better. They weren’t so small after all.