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

angel—Iris, the ship’s Cognitive. Her ethereal glow made her appear to be a divine being, like something from the old religions, and she was looking down at me with the same look of pity I gave that mutt in the pen.

“How are you, Dean Slade?” Iris asked in a too human voice. “Can you hear me?”

“I can hear you,” I said, wincing at the pain in my head and side. “Where am I?”

“You are restrained in the medical unit on the Orion seed ship.” Iris looked down at my wrists and ankles. “You were found breaking into the pens in the cargo area and attempting to weaponize the animals Elon Drake brought aboard.”

“Weaponize?” I repeated, clenching my fists to test the bonds. The steel cuffs around my hands didn’t budge. They cut into my skin, so I relaxed for the time being. “Listen, I know what you think you saw, but it wasn’t me. I fought whoever was breaking into the pen. Come on, you don’t believe me? You must have cameras everywhere on this ship. You’re a freaking Cognitive, for crying out loud.”

Before Iris could respond, the door opened. Stacy, Elon, and Arun walked in. Stacy wore the same mechanic’s clothing as always, and Elon and Arun were dressed in dark grey uniforms. Arun’s long white hair was pinned behind her head, while Elon’s was in a ponytail.

“I’m going to go out on a limb here and venture a guess that you’re not a mechanic,” I said, staring daggers at Stacy. I wasn’t sure exactly why, but I felt betrayed. “So what are you, then? Some kind of suit spy?”

Stacy looked over to Arun, who nodded to her.

“Special agent, actually,” Stacy said, crossing her arms over her ample chest. “Disciple threats were coming in every day, especially at the construction yards. I was placed in yours to keep an eye out for people like you. That’s also why I’m on this ship.”

I bit my tongue so hard it hurt. Instinct kicked in. I wanted to remind her that actual terrorists attacked our yard. That maybe she should work on finding them instead of keeping me detained. That there was a terrorist on board our ship.

“I didn’t do anything except try and stop the person who was going to release those animals.” I looked over to Elon. “Why do you have animals in the cargo pen to begin with? Hell, while we’re at it, why are they so big and—”

“Enhanced-looking?” Elon asked, finishing my thought.

“Sure, we can go with enhanced. I was going to go with mutated and deformed, but sure,” I said.

“We’re taking twelve special kinds of animals with us to Kronos Five, to build and sustain a working population, each for different reasons. A new colony needs livestock.” Elon moved his hands as he spoke like a conductor leading an orchestra. “Most of the animals were chosen for the food, but a few were also chosen as companions. The dogs, for example, are genetically modified to have the loyalty of a German Shepherd with the size of a large wolf.”

“Great, we’re taking giant puppies to keep people happy on an alien planet,” I said.

“I do not believe that Dean Slade is responsible for the vandalism found in the cargo bay,” Iris said, interrupting our conversation. “Although the cameras show no one else, I did discover something strange while playing back the footage.”

“No, it has to be him,” Stacy said, shaking her head. She skewered me with a glare.

I stared right back at her.

“There was no one else there when I arrived,” Stacy said. “No one passed me when I found him.”

Iris opened her right hand, palm-side up. Immediately, a screen appeared in the air above us, glowing with the same dull blue illumination that surrounded her.

The image looked down on the cargo pen door labeled with the warning sign. There was no one on camera yet. Even with the absence of any person, the lock on the cargo bay door was already broken and raised a meter. It was like someone had perfected the art of invisibility and succeeded in masking themselves from the camera.

“See?” I said, pressing my case. “I don’t know how they did that, but there it is. Last I checked, I couldn’t turn invisible.”

“Fast-forward to when Dean arrives,” Arun spoke for the first time.

Iris obeyed, fast-forwarding the footage to a few minutes later when my familiar, nosy face appeared on the screen. A moment later, a very real arm reached out and pulled me inside the pen.

“There are no cameras on the inside of the pen,” Iris said, confirming what we were all thinking. She rewound the feed and froze it on the image of the arm reaching out to pull me in. “However, that arm is enough proof to confirm what Dean Slade said is true.”

“All right, then,” I said, nodding over to Iris. “I take back everything bad I ever said about Cognitives.”

“Iris, let the feed play forward,” Arun asked.

Iris obeyed, showing the person dragging me into the pen. Within a mere twenty seconds, Stacy appeared on the screen, ducking under the pen door behind me.

“So, tell us exactly what happened in the pen once you were dragged inside, in as much detail as you can remember,” Arun said, looking over to me with her familiar calculating stare.

“It was dark,” I said, piecing together the events for myself. “When they started pounding on me, it must have deactivated their cloaking tech. They wore all black with a red handkerchief around their face. I could only see their eyes.”

“Was it a man or a woman who attacked you?” Elon asked.

“A man, I think, but I don’t know for sure,” I said, trying to recall the few seconds in poor lighting where I had seen my assailant.

“You think?” Stacy pried.

“Hey, give me a break,” I said, trying to move a hand to my head, only to remember I was still strapped to the table. “I had a concussion and probably some bruised ribs.”

“The Disciples’