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

Stacy arrived on the scene and barreled into him with her right shoulder. She slammed him against the still closed elevator doors, taking the air out of him and forcing him to his knees.

Without mercy, she hammered him across the face with a closed right fist. As a testament to how tough this guy was, he struck out with his own right fist to the side of Stacy’s left hip.

She yelled with what sounded more like a growl and limped backward. The Disciple sprang to his feet. I was on him again. I slammed my fist into his stomach. He doubled over, exposing his head. Stacy took the opportunity to grab the back of his skull with both of her hands, driving it down into her right knee.

A loud, satisfying crack echoed through the hall. The world went black for our Disciple friend. I spat a wad of blood on the ground, remembering how hurt and beat up I really was. I looked over to Stacy, and she didn’t look much better. Her hair was a wild mess with blood coming from her nose. Her left eye was beginning to swell, and she favored her left hip.

“You sure you don’t want to become a Civil Authority Officer?” she asked with a grin. “You’d make a good suit. Fair warning, you’d probably have to shave and cut your hair. On the upside, the benefits are great and the pay is decent.”

The elevator doors opened, and a squad of heavily armed suits exited, equipped with riot shields, stun batons, and blaster rifles.

“Easy, easy.” Stacy showed her open hands in a sign of surrender. “We got him. I’m Special Agent Stacy Wilson. I’m just going to reach into my pocket to show you my credentials.”

“Where were you guys ten minutes ago?” I asked, shaking my head. “Hell, I would have settled for five minutes.”

They ignored my question, still training their weapons on me. Their eyes widened as they saw the Disciple at our feet.

They lowered their weapons, reassured at the message on Stacy’s holo card that she was who she said she was. They secured the unconscious Disciple by both his wrists and ankles. He was propped up in a sitting position against the wall.

One thing still bothered me. I knew I’d heard that Russian accent before. I leaned down, grabbing the crimson mask that covered most of his face and pulled. It was the same guy that had tried to choke me out and pulled me off the Warlord the day before, back in the shuttle.

Sure, it could have been a coincidence that he had been right next to me when that all went down, but I didn’t believe in coincidence. Were the Warlords working with the Disciples, or was I just acting like a crazed conspiracy nut?

These questions and more crossed my mind as I looked down on him. Stacy spoke to the suit in charge. She was informing them of the two men he had wounded earlier.

The elevator doors opened again, Elon and Arun stepped out. It was strange not to see the easy smile on Elon’s face. Much like his sister, he was stoic.

“You two did well,” Arun said, looking to Stacy and me. “Though I believe another trip to Doctor Allbright will be in order.”

I dug into my pocket, where I had jammed the cloaking device.

“Here,” I said, handing it to Arun. “This is what he was using to sneak around.”

“Thank you,” Arun said, accepting the piece of tech. “You saved us from another catastrophe. Although some of the damage will be difficult to resolve.”

“The water supply?” Stacy asked.

“The reserve is intact and free of the virus,” Elon said. “We’re going to have to break the news to the ship soon. Questions will arise as to why water is being rationed and now only for drinking. This isn’t the beginning to our journey that I had envisioned.”

“The relationship between Eternal and Transient hasn’t exactly been the best,” Arun added. “Those on board are grateful for the opportunity to start over, but I’m not sure if their loyalty will crack under the pressure of this new information.”

“Are you going to tell them everything?” I asked. “I mean, about the Disciple?”

“I know Elon wants to disclose everything.” Arun looked over at her brother, who was slowly nodding his head in agreement. “I’m not convinced. We need to tell them what’s going on without starting a panic. If they think there are other Disciples on board, this could turn into a scenario where fear and distrust tear this colony apart before we even reach Kronos Five.”

I didn’t envy the situation Arun and Elon were finding themselves in. On the one hand, I understood the necessity of keeping secrets. On the other, maybe just coming clean with this whole thing would result in people understanding and keeping their cool.

“Hey, is this yours?” Stacy asked, leaning down to pick up my medallion. It dangled from the broken chain. “It must have been torn off you in the fight.”

I massaged my neck, realizing that the chain was gone. A surge of panic washed over me as I realized I had almost lost it altogether.

“Yeah, thanks,” I said, accepting the medallion from Stacy while trying not to appear too eager to get my hands on it once more.

I ran a thumb over the emblem on the front.

“What is that?” Arun asked, turning to look at my medallion. “I think I’ve seen that symbol before.”

“Really?” I asked, willing to show her the medallion in my palm without offering it to her. It felt silly, like a kid with a toy he didn’t want to share, but this was all I had left of the life I left behind.

“What does the symbol mean?” Elon asked.

“Hell if I know,” I said. “It was a gift.”

We all looked down on the bronze medallion in my hand.

“Where have you seen it before?” I asked Arun. “I’ve researched it myself, and it's never come up anywhere. At least nowhere that I’ve