The Colossus Collection

by Nicole Grotepas

  Odeon nodded and walked over to the various groups, gesturing to Trip’s ship, and saying something out of earshot in the loud tarmac area.

  Holly exchanged a look with Elan and then went to his side. “I’ve been neglecting you to manage this stuff, but that isn’t what I wanted. I thought you would meet the crew and then in a few days we’d leave.”

  “I am at peace, Holly. I don’t mind seeing you lead your crew in this way.”

  She flashed him a grateful smile, then turned to Val and Estie. “You guys ready for this adventure?”

  “I’ve never been more excited in my life. For anything. Ever. I think, ok, no, I think my heart might explode, Holly,” Val said, patting herself on the chest above her heart.

  Holly grinned at Val, appreciating the teacher’s excitement. “OK, look, this whole thing is more rushed than I want it to be because plans had to change last minute. Once everyone is on the ship, I’ll come see you in the quarters where you’ll be staying, and introduce you to my crew. For now, let’s go aboard and I’ll show you where you’ll be staying.”

  They followed her up the gangplank and into the ship. The hatches were open in the corridors that led into the quarters and small mess area with three tables built into the wall. There were four different areas with bunks. Holly led the teachers into the one furthest from the bridge. Inside the sleeping area, there were six bunks built into the walls with privacy curtains, and one small water closet area, plus drawers for personal belongings beneath the beds.

  “Here it is. Nothing special. No frills. Trip uses her ship for small transport stuff, just like what we’re doing. It used to be a military ship,” Holly told them. Over her comm she could hear her crew talking about how everyone was on board. Trip mentioned that she was powering up the ship. If anyone was going to back out, they were about to lose their chance to disembark.

  “What’s happening?” Val asked as a tremor went through the ship.

  “It’s just the gangplank retracting. We’re about to take off. You guys good? You’re not going to back out yet?” She almost added that the children needed them, but changed her mind.

  “No way am I leaving. No, not even a chance. I’m in it. One hundred percent. Those kids need me,” Val said.

  Elan shook his head and lowered his chin, looking up at her through his eyelashes. “Sorry Holly. You won’t get rid of me that easily.”

  “Same here,” Estie said, giving Holly a wink, as though she understood what Elan was implying.

  “Thank Ixion. I need you guys. Without you the children would quickly become a mess.” She told them to settle in and make themselves comfortable. They’d be taking off soon. “Oh, and don’t forget, you need to strap into the launch seats.” She patted one of them where it was folded up into the wall. Then she left.

  Odeon and Shiro had helped the other passengers aboard, so Holly didn’t need to check on them just yet. She went to her own quarters and stowed her bag in a drawer, also leaving the Equalizer in the drawer. There would be no reason to have it on her person aboard the ship. Then she went to the bridge.

  “Everyone ready?” She asked her crew. Odeon nodded as he soon joined her on the bridge. Shiro and Charly were already strapped in. Iain was also there, buckling in for take off. He glanced up at her and nodded. There was an expression of indulgence on his face. She suspected that despite his big talk about not wanting to leave Kota, he’d missed something about the exhilaration of space flight. It wasn’t exhilarating to her. It was her albatross, the bane of her existence. But Odeon would be sitting beside her, humming softly. “Whenever you’re ready, Trip.”

  Trip began her countdown.

  “Adieu, my crew, adieu,” Darius said over the comms from Kota-side.

  “And we have go,” Trip said. “Hang tight!”

  The ship trembled and rocked as it lifted into a hover. The nose angled up, and then with a roar, the lights dimmed, and they parted the atmosphere in a curved line out into the darkness.

  27

  It took them eight hours aboard Trip’s Olavia Apollo to get close enough to see the base. During that time, Holly slept in her bunk in agreed upon shifts so that the crew would be rested for the mission. Odeon joined her, using his calming song to help her battle her space flight anxiety. Then he slept as she slept.

  When she woke again, Shiro and Charly took a break. Holly spent time checking on the different groups and met the explosives expert, Petra. The human was a lot younger than Holly, and behaved that way. Surly and arrogant, the girl discussed the plans that Odeon and Shiro had assigned to her during the infiltration to set the stage for the extraction of the children. Shiro would accompany Petra during her stage in the maneuver, to give her cover as well as (according to Odeon, who spoke in hushed tones later) make sure the girl didn’t go traitor on them like Voss had.

  During the rest of the journey to the base, Holly sat beside Trip, whose constant attention wasn’t necessary in terms of flying the ship. In moments like that where the ship’s AI did most of the work, the Centau snoozed with her head leaned back against the headrest of her seat.

  Holly nudged Trip awake when the base began to materialize out of the massive surface and colors of Ixion. Up close the planet was a behemoth that could make even the most narcissistic person doubt their importance in the universe.

  “You might want to be awake for this part, Trip,” Holly said.

  “Thanks,” Trip said, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

  “I’m going to run and make sure all the different parties know what their roles are when we get to the base.” Holly unstrapped and motioned for Odeon to go with her.

  As they got closer, the cloud of ships constantly leaving and arriving became clearer. “You going to come?” She asked her friend.

  He unclipped his harness and followed her to the hatch and then through the corridors to the mess area, keeping his humming low and audible for her. In her own quarters, Holly grabbed the extra headsets to give to the teachers.

  They went to Elan’s area first. He was in the teacher’s quarters meditating. Val laid on her bunk reading on her v-screen. Estie wasn’t around. “Where’s Estie?” Holly asked.

  “She’s in the mess area.”

  “I didn’t see her there.”

  “There’s a secluded little table that she likes. So she doesn’t have to talk to the other passengers.”

  “Ah, it’s been that bad for her?”

  “She might have made some friends. I don’t know? She hasn’t come back though.” Val stood up because sitting on the edge of the bed didn’t work with the bunk arrangements. She noticed that Odeon was humming and raised an eyebrow at him.

  “So, this is Odeon Starlight. He hums to calm me,” Holly felt her cheeks heating up as Elan and Val watched her. She cleared her throat. “I have an aversion to inter-moon flight. I have panic attacks. Odeon helps. Or drinking. But I can’t drink when I’m about do something important like this mission is.”

  Val nodded. “Ah ha. So, is it like that on the base? Does he have to hum to you there?”

  “Thankfully, no. I’ve been to this base. We did a rescue a few weeks ago. But could only take one. We’re taking them all this time.”

  “Who has them, Holly?” Elan asked, his gaze flicking between her and Odeon.

  “Have you heard of the Shadow Coalition?”

  Val nodded, Elan’s expression was blank.

  “You have, Val?” That was unexpected. “Odeon, will you hand them their ear-pieces, please?” She handed off the box to him that contained the gear.

  Val looked uncomfortable. “I might have known someone who joined them.”

  Holly saw the pained look in her eyes and simply nodded to spare her old colleague. “Odeon will give you both communicators with earpieces. That way we’re all connected. You won’t miss anything. You can mute the mic on your communicator if you don’t want what you’re saying to be heard by the entire team.”

  Odeon lay his Ousaba staff on an
empty bunk and took the box from Holly, continuing to hum a simple melody. He handed one of the ear-pieces to Elan and tapped his ear where the unit went. Then he gave him the comm controller and flipped it on. Odeon did the same thing for Valentine.

  “So, look, the Shadow Coalition have been using child labor to harvest the hydrantium from Ixion’s surface. It lowers their cost and then they can undercut the Centau Syndicate on price. Basically the children don’t have to do much. The mining pods do most of the work, but the kids are really good at picking up on the controls that they do have to use. It’s like a game for them. The Centau don’t really seem to care about the kids, because while they’ve been told them that maturity comes later for humans, the Centau use their own people at very young ages to fly ships.

  “So, the children have been taken from their families. We’re taking them back. This part could be dangerous. Are you still in?”

  Val nodded eagerly.

  “Of course,” Elan said. “We owe it to the children.”

  “Good. OK. So when we get into the launch bay, you guys will stay aboard as my crew, and I’ll head in. We’ll scout the area and head up to the floor that the Coalition is based on. When either myself, Odeon, or Charly give you the go ahead, you guys leave the ship and head in. Darius will be in contact with you through your headset and he’ll guide you through the base to where the children are. We’ll be communicating with Darius as well, so his updates will be in real time.

  “Once you have the children—there will be a lot of them—you’ll have to take them back through the base to the location within the exterior launch bay. There are sealed entrances to board the tankers, you’ll have to use one of them to board. There will be a distraction occurring as you lead the children onto the tanker. Ignore it. Get them aboard the tanker. This is the one thing we came for. The other stuff doesn’t matter.”

  “How will we know which tanker to board?” Elan asked.

  “Darius will tell you. In a worst case scenario—like say our communications goes out—go to where the distraction is. You’ll figure it out from there.”

  “My earpiece is on,” Elan said. “I can hear your crew conversing.” He blinked and looked around.

  Val put hers on and flipped it on. “Oh, wow, yeah. I can hear them too! This is so high tech. I can’t believe it.”

  “Let me know if you guys have any questions. We’re going to go find Estie.” Holly and Odeon found her in the mess area, sitting in a secluded spot as Val had indicated, talking animatedly with one of the crew members from Iain’s group.

  Holly pulled Estie aside and hooked her up with an ear-piece.

  “Holly Drake?” Trip said over the comms. “To the bridge please. We’re beginning the landing sequence.”

  “Right, Estie, I have to run. Get to your bunk area and have Elan and Val update you.”

  Holly and Odeon left the mess area and went to the bridge, where Trip was working with the ship’s AI to navigate into the landing bay for small ships.

  Holly’s heart thudded with the sounds of the ship. It was about to begin.

  28

  Before they left the ship, Petra gave Odeon a small bomb. She told him where to place it, demonstrated how it worked, and filled him in on when to detonate it. Holly eyed the bomb in her Druiviin friend’s hand and felt a stab of concern—could it go off accidentally? The thought of Odeon being hurt made her feel physically ill. She voiced the concern to Petra, who gave Holly a bored look.

  “Well, yeah, it could. That’s why the work is so exciting. But that won’t happen, because I’m really good at what I do. It has two fail-safes. Odeon has to make sure he activates the switch on the bomb and then trigger it using the detonator, which he’ll have with him. He won’t accidentally do that because he’s smart.”

  “Petra is right, Holly. I am smart.” He grinned at Holly.

  Shiro stood beside them, watching the demonstration as well, since he would be accompanying Petra through the base to the area where the tankers were. Getting Iain and his crew aboard would be the easier part. Petra’s explosion would be the distraction that let them smuggle a massive number of children on board without being stopped. At least, that was the hope.

  “I could have made one of those myself, Petra. Is that what you call a bomb?” Shiro teased.

  Petra turned her bored gaze on Shiro. “I call this a way to not blast a hole in a base full of volatile gases. Which is what you’d do because you have nil experience in explosives, Oahu.”

  “Let’s go. We need to finish this. The longer we’re here, the more nervous I get.” Holly had retrieved the Equalizer from the bunk. She carried a pack on her back that had other items she might need. “Roll call. Teams check in,” she said, touching her ear.

  Iain answered first. “In position.” He’d already taken his crew onto the base. They were stationed at a cafe where they could blend in with the other base regulars, waiting for word to get to the tanker.

  “On ship,” Trip answered.

  “Bird’s Nest, checking in.” Darius was monitoring everything from the Surge Club.

  “Teachers ready, on Olavia Apollo, waiting for further instruction,” Elan said. Holly heard Val in the background giggling.

  “Ready,” Shiro said, making eye contact with Holly. He grinned at her and touched her arm softly.

  “And us?” Holly asked, looking at Odeon and Charly.

  “Let’s do this, Holly Drake,” Odeon agreed.

  “Charly?” Holly asked.

  “I’m ready, sister.”

  Holly started down the gangplank. The teams followed her and Shiro took that moment to catch up with her.

  “Ms. Drake,” he said, dropping back into his formal address. “Watch yourself. I won’t be there to have your back, which bothers me.”

  “Oh, don’t worry, Shiro, I’ve got my girl’s back.” Charly overheard what he’d said and took the opportunity to tease him.

  She smiled at him. Her stomach fluttered in either nervousness or over the way he touched her arm to get her attention. She strode out onto the steel floor of the hangar. “Thanks. Odeon and Charly will have it. This is going to be dangerous, I can feel it. We’re rescuing kids, but the Shadow Coalition doesn’t care who they hurt.”

  His grin faltered. “Point taken. I’ve been thinking, as well, that I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Voss. She may still be here.”

  Holly turned her mic back on. “See you at the end,” Holly said, leading Charly and Odeon away. She glanced back and saw Shiro and Petra walking toward the area that led to the tanker ship hangar. Ixion speed, she thought, wishing for the safety of her crew.

  Soon Holly, Odeon, and Charly were making their way through the bazaar-like madness of the main level of the base. There were tents and shops built into the corridor that curved around the station. There were sounds of sizzling food, hawkers, and the raucous noise of hundreds of conversations. The three of them were familiar with the way to the elevator that would take them up to the Shadow Coalition level, and soon they were riding it up. Charly said something sarcastic and Odeon and Holly both laughed self-consciously, aware of the tension between them.

  “There’s a back way.” Darius said suddenly over the comms. Holly flinched, startled. She’d forgotten he was hitching a ride in her ear.

  “Back way for what?”

  “To get the children down to the tanker,” he answered.

  “Perfect. Keep this line private, Darius. When it’s time for you to guide the teachers, I want you to run two lines—keep us separate from them. I don’t want anyone else hearing what’s happening with the three of us. You’ll need to give them the information we feed you, edited, of course.”

  “Can do, Drake.”

  “That back way will come in handy. The three of us will keep the SC busy on this end. Guide the teachers in to snag the children.”

  “Got it.”

  It was really just a review, and Darius knew it. She was sure he could hear the tensi
on in her voice.

  When they reached the SC floor, the 17th, Odeon left his Ousaba with Holly and Charly and sneaked away through the corridors and into one of the inner warehouses. Meanwhile, Charly and Holly hid in an alcove behind a stack of metal cube containers. Odeon would plant the bomb in an unpopulated area, then join them and detonate it from the safety of their alcove. They would then be able to sneak into the bunker area and carry out the rescue operation while the Shadow Coalition worried about what was happening with the explosion.

  Holly and Charly waited, breathing quietly, listening to the chatter over the comms between Darius and Odeon. Soon Holly heard a sound nearby and held her breath, worried it was someone finding them. It was. Odeon’s pale violet face appeared around the cubes. She sighed in relief.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  “Go for it.”

  He flipped the switch that Petra had given to him.

  The station rumbled slightly. People rushed by outside the alcove. Voices were raised in alarm. The three of them waited for the immediate vicinity to clear, then they sneaked out and headed to the bunker area that held the children. They’d been there before, when they’d rescued Charm. They reached the door on the outer edge of the corridor that had previously led to sleeping quarters. Odeon used his lock picking skills to break them in. Beyond the door was another corridor that led them past several bunk-blocks. The first two belonged to the SC members. The last ones held the children.

  Charly kept a running dialogue with Darius, letting him know what was going on as they worked their way through the corridor. Iain and Trip had assured Holly that the SC would have grounded the children pilots already in preparation for the coming break. They opened the first door that should have children, which was where Jasper had been. The desperation in his face was seared in Holly’s memory.

  Inside the lights were on. A giant v-screen on the far end of the wall played a video of a Druiviin singing calm. Odeon gasped when he saw it. The children lay on their bunk beds staring into space. A few children rose when they saw Holly and her crew. The three of them were unexpected. Holly’s eyes went to Jasper. He saw her and waved. She went to him, her heart pounding.