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

“I—I can’t remember right now, but it’ll come to me,” Arun said, scrunching her brows in deep thought.

The Disciple at our feet moaned something unintelligible.

“We should get him secured before he wakes up,” Elon said.

“Yes,” Arun agreed. “Before I address the rest of the Orion, I want to speak with him. If another Disciple is lurking in the shadows, I want to know about it.”

“I’ll get him up and taken to the brig,” Stacy said, motioning for a suit to help her get the Disciple on his feet.

“Well, this has all been fun,” I said, gripping my medallion tightly in my hand. “I think I’m going to go get some painkillers and sleep for the next week.”

“Are you shot?” Elon asked, concerned as he noticed the burn in my shoulder for the first time. “Did the Disciple have a blaster on him?”

“Nope, Stacy shot me,” I said with a frown, turning in her direction. “You tased me, and then you shot me. That’s two I owe you.”

“No way; that doesn’t count at all,” Stacy said, coming over and placing her hands on my shoulder. She looked through the tear in my shirt. “You’re barely grazed. That doesn’t count as being shot.”

“All of a sudden, you’re the leading mind on what does and doesn’t count as being hit by a blaster round?” I asked.

Stacy grinned then turned back to gather the unconscious Disciple from the ground.

“My brother and I have had a discussion, and we’d like you to work with us,” Arun said. She took a step closer to me, lowering her voice. “The skill set you possess will come in handy. We need people we can rely on, both on the ship and when we start our colony.”

“You mean you want me to be your muscle?” I asked. “Not interested. This was a one-time deal. I owed our Disciple friend here one for jumping me in the cargo hold.”

“Threats like this one aren’t going to stop,” Elon said, joining his sister. “If it’s not the Disciple, it’ll be someone else.”

“I’m no suit,” I said, shaking my head.

“Just come with us and hear what the Disciple has to say,” Elon urged. “Perhaps when you see what we’re up against, you’ll reconsider.”

I thought about it for a moment. I wondered if they’d let me interrogate the Disciple. My ribs and face reminded me that I could get a few more licks on him before this was all over.

“What the hell?” I asked. “I’m already in this. Let’s see how far the rabbit hole really goes.”

17

A quick visit to Doctor Allbright later, and I was with the Eternals and Stacy in the brig. The brig level of the Orion wasn’t like the rest. Dark steel walls and unfinished pipes stuck out from the ceilings. There were more security checkpoints and pass-codes than I cared to remember, even if I was paying attention.

I didn’t plan on being back here, either as a prisoner or a guest.

I was shown into a room with a one-way see-through wall. It reminded me of every interrogation scene out of a movie or book I had ever read. The room on the opposite side of us had a chair with the Disciple strapped to it, both by his wrists and his ankles. A single bright light shone down on him.

He was slumped forward still unconscious, or at least allowing us to believe he was. His mask was pulled down and his hood pulled back, revealing a bald head crisscrossed with scars.

I stood in the room with Arun, Elon, and Stacy.

“I’m giving the appropriate ‘heads-up’ Mr. Slade requested before I enter the room.” Iris’ voice reached our ears.

Elon and Arun looked confused while Stacy smirked.

“Thanks for the heads-up, Iris,” I said as the Cognitive walked into the room from the solid wall behind us.

“Are you and Miss Wilson all right? Do you require further medical attention?” Iris asked with an expression I guessed she considered concern, but it looked more like intrigue to me. “You appear as though you’ve been struck by some kind of large vehicle.”

I glanced over at Stacy. We both looked like we’d been through hell. Stacy’s nose had been reset. She limped a little and held an ice pack to the side of her face.

She was one tough chick. I never heard her complain or cry out in pain. It made me have a deeper level of respect for the woman.

Moving in any direction hurt for me. There was a cut on the inside of my mouth as well as multiple bruises on my eye and cheek. My ribs ached, and my shoulder still burned despite the pain meds I received from Doctor Allbright.

“Yes, we’re okay, Iris,” Stacy said. “Thank you.”

Iris nodded.

“What can you tell us about our guest?” Arun asked the Cognitive. “I’m assuming any identity he used to board the Orion is false?”

“I would have to agree,” Iris said, opening the palm of her right hand, allowing a holographic display to pop up in front of us. “He used the alias Jeffrey Hooke to board the ship, but upon deeper inspection, there seems to be no record of that person. I cross-referenced his facial pattern and prints in the Civil Authority database and found a match. His name is Trevor Bishop.”

My eyes wandered from the Cognitive through the wall to our guest on the other side. He didn’t look like a Trevor to me. With his Russian accent, it seemed plausible this was just an alias as well.

“On the street, he goes by the Assassin,” Iris continued. “He’s linked to half a dozen Disciple strikes across the globe.”

“How did he board the Orion in the first place?” Elon asked. “The cloaking device?”

“If I had to guess, yes,” Iris agreed.

“It’s disturbing to think that even with our level of technology, assassins and terrorists are finding a way around it,” Elon thought out loud.

“We might be able to solve that problem sooner, rather than later.” Stacy removed the ice