Old Secrets (The Survivors Book Thirteen) Page 5

  His half-brow furrowed, the other side metal and unmoving. “At what?”

  I sneered. “At the guy who’s going to kick your ass when we meet again.”

  He laughed, the sound slight, growing in volume with each passing heartbeat in my chest. “You are something, Parker. This version of you thought he was funny too, but his fingers broke just the same. His eyes burned precisely like yours will.”

  The darkness around him began to fade, and his form slowly floated away from me. His time was up. I needed more information, something to go by.

  “They betrayed you, you know. Did you really think we couldn’t find out how you were communicating with them through time?” I asked, trying to sound casual.

  He shook his head, and I heard him muttering something. “…trusted a Padlog…”

  I tried not to look shocked at the revelation and instantly thought about Sergo. I’d left my bridge crew nearly empty-handed, and two of them were Padlog.

  Lom continued moving, the white void brightening until I could no longer see him. When the light dissipated, I saw my friends huddled over me. I was on the ground, hard-packed dirt breaking my fall.

  “What happened, boss?” Slate asked, concern etched on his face.

  I sat up, feeling totally fine other than a trace headache creeping through my brain. “It was him.”

  “The Not-Dean?” Suma asked, stepping back to give me some room.

  “No. Lom of Pleva.”

  ____________

  Jules and Artimi were in the storage room behind the vendor’s storefront, and Nuul arrived, wiping her hands over a blue smock. Flakes fell off her fingertips onto the floor, and Jules watched them drift upwards as a vent blew air.

  “I’m Maulo. I take it you haven’t seen one of us before?” she asked Jules in Artimi’s language.

  Jules shook her head.

  “We molt every seven years. Basically, we rejuvenate each organ, starting fresh. I’m about a third of the way through, so you’ll have to excuse the mess,” she said, smiling. Jules noticed she was missing all her teeth.

  “I didn’t mean to stare,” Jules said truthfully.

  “It’s okay. So you’re searching for the human?” Her gaze lingered on Jules, who nodded.

  “He was here two days ago. Was asking if someone could bring him to the station. I think Loplin helped him out.”

  Artimi smiled. “Loplin? Knowing that guy, they’re still on their way. His ship is a piece of junk.”

  Jules didn’t remind Artimi that his ship wasn’t all that great either. “Did you hear his name? See what he looked like?” It had to be Dean, but she wasn’t taking any chances.

  “Young. Light brown hair, a smile that’s sure to attract a few human girls,” Nuul said lightly.

  “That’s him,” Jules confirmed. “Come on. Time to go.” She stood, but Artimi remained seated.

  “Not so soon. We haven’t finished our drinks yet.” He sipped from a brown bottle, and Jules smelled a fragrant beverage.

  She stayed standing but decided to ask another question. “Nuul, if you hear everything, has anyone mentioned someone out there with glowing eyes?”

  Nuul brushed at her arm where a piece of her skin faded to gray, sending it to the floor. “I’ve heard a few things. Apparently, there’s a daughter of some Alliance leader with green eyes. I can’t believe the rumors around that one, though.”

  Without moving her head, Jules glanced at Artimi, curious if he’d break their confidence. When he took another drink instead, she spoke. “Why? What makes you question it?”

  “The fact that she can fly, and she fought off Earth’s invaders when the Kraski attacked. That she’s destroyed an entire Arnap fleet. Two hundred thousand of their people.” Nuul snapped her fingers loudly. “Gone. Poof.”

  Jules wanted to tell her it was only twenty thousand, and that she’d been born years after the Event, but kept her mouth shut. “Anything else? Anyone with other colored eyes?” she asked tentatively.

  “You are an inquisitive one, aren’t you?” Nuul rose, smiling at Artimi. “I think it’s time to go.”

  He shook his head. “We paid you well. Better than well. Answer the girl’s questions.”

  She sighed. “Sure. Guy came here last month, said he was heading through the Golnex system. Apparently, the locals saw a pair of them searching in the mountains. Didn’t talk to anyone, and when they were approached, the two attacked, injuring five or so.”

  Jules’ chest tightened. That was them. “Where was this?”

  Nuul shrugged. “Golnex system, like I said. Not sure about the planet.”

  “Did they find what they were after?” Jules asked. If they were searching for something, she had a feeling what it was. The Deities.

  “No way to tell. Is that about it?” Nuul was called from the front, and a man poked his head in the back, asking for her help. “Take care of yourself, Artimi. Thanks for the business. Bring another of those around, and we’ll be even closer friends.”

  She left them alone, and Artimi placed his hat over his slicked hair and set the bottle on a wooden table beside his chair. “Are we good?”

  Jules nodded. Without this man’s help, she wouldn’t have heard this tidbit. “Can we get out of here?”

  “I’m on it.”

  Ten minutes later, she and Artimi were at the ship, and with Betheal’s help, they loaded the ten crates of supplies up the ramp and into the cargo hold. Jules wiped her brow as they finished, and removed the tinted goggles as the ship sealed closed.

  “What are you?” he asked.

  “You don’t want to know,” she told him.

  “Fine, but I’ll figure it out somehow.”

  “What are you doing with all this stuff?” she asked, thinking about his nest near the portal.

  “It’s time to move on. There’s more for me than waiting on someone who’s not coming back.” He left her there; Betheal walked past her as they moved for the bridge.

  A few moments later, Jules felt the rumble of the ship’s engines in the pads of her feet, and she finally wound her way to her seat, hoping like hell Dean was still on Elion Station.

  The trip should have taken an hour, but there was debris from an errant asteroid that the locals had decided to break apart rather than redirect. Artimi guided his ship slowly, claiming he didn’t want any damage to his shields, especially to the hull.

  Jules thought some dents might be an improvement but kept her musings to herself. Artimi probably wouldn’t appreciate the joke.

  She felt different now, lighter than she had since discovering Uncle Magnus was dead. She was close to Dean, she knew it.

  Finally, it came into their viewscreen, and she hopped up from her seat when she spotted the docked ship along its outer edges. The station itself was completely dark, making it difficult to see the outline against the black space beyond.

  As they neared it, she understood the shape better. It was comprised of four towers, each connected by large passageways along the top and bottom. In the center of the station, there was a giant sphere. The entire thing was unique, unlike anything she’d ever viewed.

  “Welcome to Elion Station,” Artimi said with a flourish.

  He neared the docking bay where the compact vessel of Dean’s hired guide sat, lights dimly glowing from the small thrusters behind it. As they moved to the edge, Artimi’s ship almost bumping into the station, Jules found her happiness converting to something else: anger. She was mad at Dean for leaving her. He’d abandoned his own mother in her time of need, and he had to see how foolish and selfish that was.

  She choked back her emotions, clenching a fist as she watched Artimi attach the ship to the old dock system.

  “You’re going to need to wear a suit,” he told her. “There’s been no gravity, no air recyclers on this thing for the last fifty years or so.”

  “I won’t be needing the suit,” Jules said, not wanting to wait the additional five minutes it would take to strap into an EVA.


  Artimi lifted from the pilot’s seat, and turned to face her. “Okay, I don’t understand how you’re going to…”

  She sent her sphere out, green light crackling in a perfect circle around her.

  “I keep forgetting you’re not…”

  She waited for him to say “normal” or “human”, but he stopped short.

  Something chimed from the dash, and Betheal used her clunky fingers to tap at the screen. “Sir, there’s incoming.”

  Artimi bent over the console, muttering under his breath. “Damn it. Three incoming vessels.”

  Jules saw the dots blinking across the screen slowly, in their direction. “What kind of ships?”

  “Does it matter? No one should be out here… not this far out, and not to Elion Station. No one gives two credits about this place; they haven’t for years. Why, all of a sudden, is it so important?” he asked.

  Jules noticed his hand wasn’t far from his gun. “I have no idea who that is,” she told him.

  “Sir, I have identified them as Padlog,” Betheal said.

  “Padlog?” Jules recalled seeing one of their ships at the last station, but she hadn’t spotted any of them in the market. “We’re in an alliance with the Padlog. They wouldn’t want to harm us.” Would they? Papa would tell her to be cautious, that anyone could be turned under the right circumstances, and that any faction of a race could go rogue. Jules was confident the Supreme wouldn’t turn against them, but that didn’t mean all of his people thought the same.

  “Either way, they’ll be here in...” Artimi’s fingers keyed the dashboard, “…forty minutes.”

  “Then we’d better hurry,” she said, running down the corridor toward the ship’s exit. She used the ramp, sealing the airlock off first. Artimi arrived, banging on the round window.

  She read his lips and briefly heard his words. “Get back in thirty minutes or I’m leaving without you!”

  Jules stepped onto Elion Station, wondering where Dean was.

  Five

  Ephor wasn’t what I’d expected. The place had long ago been invaded. Hanrion had been around tens of thousands of years ago, so I didn’t expect to find much, but if there was a clue about how his time travel testing case worked, it was here.

  The portal was hidden, concealed in a remote valley ten kilometers from the nearest city. We’d considered bringing the hoverbikes, but without knowing the terrain, we’d elected to use the hoverpacks instead. I had never been overly comfortable with them, but Slate was an old pro.

  I still remembered using them for the first time on the ice world where we’d found the clue to the Iskios’ location as we searched for the Theos. That hadn’t ended well, so I hoped this journey would be a lot smoother sailing.

  The valley was cold. Snow drifted from the thick cloud cover, blocking any signs of the system’s star. Bare trees enveloped us, their leaves rotting on the forest floor. I listened for signs of wildlife, but heard none.

  “When did the Arnap invade?” I asked Fontem.

  “We aren’t sure. It’s been thousands of years, Dean,” he told me. “There shouldn’t be anyone living here now.”

  “This place gives me the creeps,” Slate said.

  Karo had remained silent, and he stood ahead of us, staring towards the valley.

  “Suma, what do you think? Head for the peaks in that direction?” I pointed to where Karo was looking.

  She nodded. “Use the packs, scope our destination. There should be a city about twenty kilometers ahead.” She showed me her tablet, and I saw the rough map with the handful of landmarks etched on it.

  “And Hanrion?” Slate asked.

  She touched the screen farther out, a distance I judged to be at least three hundred kilometers. “That’s going to take a while.”

  Slate patted the discreet hoverpack strapped to my shoulders. “Not as long as you think. How come we can never find a world to visit that has warm weather and sandy beaches? It’s always snow, or prison worlds, or ghost wraiths… remember the size of those mosquitoes when we tracked down Polvertan?”

  I laughed. “You’re right, Slate. Next time we have to send the team out, you get to pick the location, okay? I think it’s called a vacation.”

  “Dean Parker at a swimming pool, reading a book. That’s not something I can picture,” Fontem said.

  “You’re probably right. I’d be at the beach instead. Enough kidding around. We have a job to do here. Once we locate Hanrion’s city, we need this information. It may be the only way we can fight what’s coming.” Lom of Pleva had been too real. Seeing him after all this time had solidified my fears. He still wanted to kill my family, not to mention every last human. This information might prevent that from happening.

  Slate was the first one to power up his pack, the thrusters glowing as he used the hand-held controls, launching himself twenty meters into the air. I went next, and heard Fontem shouting in his native tongue as he fumbled with the controls.

  Suma was proficient with it, and Karo was the last to rise from the ground, remaining behind us. He was oddly quiet today, but I knew it had been a while since he’d left his wife and children like this, so he was adapting to the moment.

  Part of me longed to feel the wind against my face as we flew through the valley, but not wearing a helmet would have been foolish. The air was breathable, according to Suma’s tests, but we kept the helmets on, hoping we didn’t need their protection.

  We flew in a line now, all five of us, staying a few meters from the ground in case one of the units malfunctioned. We wouldn’t have far to fall. The valley turned, and the majestic mountain ridges beside us grew in height, the tops of these peaks snow-capped. There were a few red trees here, something similar to Earth’s conifers. They stood like tall auburn Christmas trees along the mountainsides.

  Eventually, we had to rise with the inclining slope, and after a few minutes, we stopped at the top of the ridge. The first city was in the distance. One by one, we landed, our boots puffing up snow as we hit ground.

  Slate was the first to pull binoculars, and he spoke clearly through my earpiece. “The Arnap were definitely here.” He passed them over, and I gawked at the sights.

  Half of the city was a crater the size of a canyon. Around it were a couple of giant vessels, the same kind we’d seen through the wormhole a few months ago: the Arnap warships Jules had torn apart with nothing but her mind. “Think there’s anyone around?” I asked.

  Suma held another pair of binocs up, seeing what I saw. “I doubt it. They probably settled their ships nearby, and maybe those ones were damaged in the initial invasion. Happens all the time. Someone attacks and suborbital defenses kick in, taking some of them down. The Arnap likely used residual pieces and components to repair other vessels, leaving these behind.”

  Slate nodded along and turned to us. “Keep going?”

  I considered checking this city out, but our destination lay a couple hundred kilometers away, and I’d promised Mary I’d be as fast as I could. “Let’s move.” I hit the sky first, the pack becoming more comfortable the longer I used it.

  We traveled around the city on the off chance anything was there, watching and waiting.

  It went fast, and in another hour, we’d passed by two huge lakes and found our destination along the second body of water’s shoreline. This was no city, not like the first one we’d seen, and there was no evidence of an attack. The buildings were in ruins, disintegrated by thousands of years of weather. Most of the structures seemed metallic in nature, but even they had turned rust-brown, sun-paled, and unkempt.

  I couldn’t picture the locals since I had no viable description of them. The streets were overgrown with vegetation, trees jutting from the fronts of buildings, leaning toward the water. I tried to guess the population and deemed it had been a village of maybe five hundred at its peak.

  This was where Hanrion had worked, doing high-level time-travel experiments long before humans were banging clubs against woolly mam
moths.

  The buildings were without windows, making them akin to old dystopian complexes. Not very inviting.

  We landed along the water’s edge, and the eerie feeling continued to course through me. Judging from how silent everyone was, I wasn’t the only one experiencing this.

  “What is it?” Karo asked, staring at the nearest six-story structure. The wind had stopped, and everything around us was totally calm. I peered at the lake and noticed it was as still as a sheet of glass.

  Fontem stepped toward the building and paused, speaking into his mic. “It’s time. There’s something disrupting it.” He stepped closer to the building, and it happened.

  Suddenly, Fontem was behind us.

  “What the hell was that?” I spun around, searching for him ahead, but he was gone.

  Fontem lifted his hand, wiggling his gloved fingers. “It… I was in there. How long was I gone?”

  My words caught in my throat, and Suma answered for us. “Fontem, you weren’t gone. You were there, warning us that something was disrupting time, then you were behind us.”

  Fontem fell to his seat, sitting in the pebble-covered beach. “I was in the village for at least an hour. Alone. You weren’t there. I couldn’t find any of you.”

  I peered toward the building and started forward. Slate grabbed my arm. “Boss, you don’t want to do that.”

  I shrugged him off. “We need to see what’s inside. Fontem, what can you tell me?”

  He stared at the complex a hundred meters ahead.

  I crouched near him, grabbing his EVA by the collar. “What did you see?”

  “I don’t know. I went inside, but… I think someone was in the time bubble,” he absently answered. It was like he wasn’t fully present.

  “Who?”

  “Hanrion, maybe?”

  I hiked over to the last line Fontem stood at before disappearing. “Suma, what do you think could be causing this?”

  She wiggled her snout. “I have no idea. If Hanrion created a time distortion, it might have settled here after he died.”

  I glanced at Fontem, who was still seated, mumbling to himself. “Was it dangerous?” I asked him. He blinked and finally looked up, and I wondered if he’d even heard me. “Fontem. Was it dangerous?”