Orion Colony Complete Series Boxed Set J.N. Chaney (books for new readers .txt) 📖

The tall Russian looked Ricky up and down before accepting. He looked at me for a moment. “No hard feelings. I didn’t let go because you hit me. I let go because I slipped. Your hit felt like a slap from a small child.”

Ricky’s mouth fell open. He looked like he was about to lay into the guy.

“Easy,” I chided him. “We’ve been through enough drama for one day. Let it go.”

“Some people,” Ricky said, shaking his head.

All attention turned back to the podium as Arun rejoined Iris.

I followed Ricky to look out the two-story window as Elon’s voice sounded over the speakers. “We are cleared for departure. Here we go.”

“No getting off now,” Ricky said to me as we both stared outside.

That wasn’t true, of course. I could leave as soon as we reached the colony ship, but the farther we flew from the surface—from the city I’d called my home—the more I realized how little I cared. I had nothing in that place, no reason to get up in the morning, aside from going to work.

I thought about Stacy and what she’d told me before. She’d mentioned opportunity—getting the chance to expand our horizons and find something better in this life. She had told me, in kinder words than I could ever give, that my life was meaningless, and that if I didn’t leave, I’d spend the rest of it in the same job I had right now, doing the same task every day. At the time, I’d told myself that was good. It was the life I’d wanted, but standing here in this place, next to the friend I thought I’d lost, I wasn’t so sure anymore.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, I thought. Maybe leaving would be better than staying. Make things easier.

I couldn’t say for sure. I didn’t know the future or how I’d feel tomorrow. All I knew was where I’d been, and it wasn’t a place I wanted to return. Maybe if I moved on and left this planet, the dreams would finally stop.

Maybe it was time to find out.

The Orion trembled the slightest bit as the thrusters powered on. Like a colossal moon, the colony ship departed the space station near Mars, preparing for the journey ahead.

Ricky and I found a place where we could lean against the cold glass and watch the Martian world fade away. In under two minutes, the red orb drifted far into the darkness, becoming nothing more than another light among the stars.

I was leaving everything I knew behind, but I no longer cared. It had taken a last-minute rescue attempt to convince me of that, but standing here on the landing deck, it felt like the right thing.

Elon’s voice spoke through the speakers, giving us updates on our position. It was all white noise in light of the wonder I felt at traveling through the solar system.

“There are so many of them out there,” Ricky said in awe, speaking of the stars. “So much to explore. I bet we’ll never know exactly how many there are.”

“I’m not going to bet you anything,” I breathed, unwilling to take my eyes off the scene in front of us. “I’m not going to enable your gambling addiction.”

Elon continued, finally mentioning something I’d only heard about on the news. “In a few short moments, we will enter something known as slipspace. This will allow us to make the trip to Kronos Five in a fraction of the time it would have taken using relativistic speed. Rather than a generation, we will instead be able to make the journey in six weeks. Be aware that you will see a bright variety of colors upon entering the tunnel, but this is all very normal. Enjoy the ride.”

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” asked a woman from my left.

I turned to see Stacy smiling at Ricky and me.

“Yes, it is,” I agreed.

“I’m happy you decided to come,” she said, cheerily joining us. “This ship is destined for great things.”

I nodded, turning back to the forward window. I didn’t want to miss a second of the tunnel. I’d seen the green rifts in holos, but never in person. I wagered not many Transients had before now. They never let people like us pilot starships. We were nobodies, born to serve.

True to Elon’s words, a humming came from the thrusters along with another tremble. Slowly at first, then growing in intensity, a strange light formed in the darkness of space, sliding down like a splitting curtain, and then it came apart. We drew closer to it, and the rift widened and revealed a beautiful storm of emerald lightning.

The three of us stood there, speechless, not knowing how to process what we were seeing. How in the world did something like this exist? It was incredible.

“Welcome to slipspace,” Ricky breathed.

Stacy chuckled. “Welcome to the new world, gentlemen.”

“We’re in it now,” said Ricky.

9

Life on the Orion was strangely normal. I shared a small square room with Ricky that was barely large enough to hold our bunks and a bathroom. It wasn’t much different from my old apartment, honestly, although I did miss the solitude. Much as I liked Ricky, he did wear on me after a few hours.

During the day, I worked as a mechanic and reported to Boss Creed, the same as I always had. He doled out tasks that needed doing around the ship, just like he would at the yard. The difference was that instead of building all of this from the ground up, we were fixing it, and since the ship had launched a little prematurely, it meant there was more than enough work to go around. Several of the systems were barely functional, and I guessed the Eternals had expected that.

Boss Creed’s office was as small as my room. With so many Transients living in such a relatively tiny space, every meter was precious.

“You’re making quite a name for yourself,” Boss