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

unmoving bodies in the alley. “With everything that’s happening, it’s just gonna get worse around here.”

“I usually don’t,” the woman said. “I picked up an extra shift at the yard, and well, I needed to get to work. You’re—you’re bleeding, by the way.”

I looked down at my left forearm. As the adrenaline wore off, its throb only grew more intense.

“I’m fine,” I lied. It seemed like the right thing to say. “I’ve got to get to work now. I’m going to be late.”

“At least let me stop that bleeding,” she said, picking up her coat from the pavement and coming closer. She leaned down again retrieving her beanie from the ground and tore it, making an impromptu bandage.

Getting a better look at her now, I discovered she was slender with deep brown eyes and full lips. Problem was, I didn’t want to get any closer to her, or anyone else for that matter. “Really.” I took a step back. “I’m fine.”

“Hold still,” she said, reaching for my forearm.

I bared my teeth against the pain as she squeezed the cloth around the wound.

“No warning? Not even a countdown or something like that?” I asked.

It wasn’t pretty, but it would do the job until I reached the yard. I could pass the injury off as something that happened to me at work and receive medical attention there. They had a med pod that could fix a wound like this in under an hour—one of the perks for working on the colony ships. Gotta keep those cogs turning.

“I’m Stacy, by the way,” she said, moving to pick up her scattered belongings.

“That’s nice,” I answered back.

“Really? You’re not even going to tell me your name?” she asked, raising her brow.

“Dean. And I’m still late.”

She stepped aside, picking up her lunch bag and a red holo card. Whatever the card was, it seemed precious to her. She quickly stuffed it into her pocket, as if she was protecting it.

I thought about digging through the trash for my own lunch, but the horn for the next shift blared from the yard.

If I didn’t get there soon, I was going to be in a heap of trouble with the foreman, and he wasn’t exactly the forgiving type.

2

“I suspected this from you, Wilson,” Boss Creed said to Stacy, skewering her with a severe stare. He ran a hand over his bald head as he looked at me. “But not from you, Slade. You’re always on time, keep your head down, and—are you bleeding?”

“New fashion trend,” I said, hiding my wounded arm behind my back. The makeshift tourniquet Stacy fashioned for me was beginning to bleed through. My arm felt like it was on fire, and the pain was growing more intense.

“Uh huh,” Boss Creed said, clearly not believing me, but also not caring enough to pursue that line of questioning. “You know there are a dozen other mechanics on the line that would kill for your job. Right now, we’re only weeks away from the greatest journey into space Earth has ever seen, and you two are here showing up fifteen minutes after the horn. I have enough to worry about with threats from the Disciples. I don’t need delinquent mechanics on my mind.”

Boss Creed looked us over again.

“Sir—” Stacy cleared her throat to speak up. “It’s not Dean’s fault he saved—”

“I saved her from a bad date last night, and she returned the favor by going out with me instead,” I boldfaced lied. “It was a late one. Too many drinks. It won’t happen again.”

I could feel Stacy glaring at me. Not just for the lie, but also for what I was insinuating. I didn’t care. Any lie was better than the truth. This was something Boss Creed could understand—two people acting like fools, spending a work night together. He’d been married for twenty years, but he still talked about his dating life in the break room. Still bragged about the girls he’d been with before the missus tied him down.

“Oh, I see.” Boss Creed stood from his seat behind his desk, crossing thick arms over his chest. “All right, both of you are docked a half day’s pay. One more screw-up like this and it’ll be your jobs. I have too much going on right now to deal with relationship drama. Now get the hell out of here and make up for the lost time.”

“Thank you.” I turned for the door, trying not to appear too eager to get out of the office.

I reached for the door with my right hand and let myself out into the cold morning. The familiar sounds of welding tools, power hammers, and chain blades echoed in the yard. Engineers, construction workers, and their supervisors were all hard at work on the ship.

Most of the vessel was being constructed at a station near Mars, but most of the more complex systems were designed and put together down here. There were dozens of factories just like ours, each of them tasked with producing specific pieces of a greater whole—a ship that most of us would never have the pleasure of seeing with our own eyes.

The ship didn’t have a name yet but was being built in unison with eleven others. The project had taken years to see through to fruition. It was the start of a whole new era for humanity, a chance for the Transients to get out there and build something of their own.

That was the agreement the Eternals had made with them—stop rebelling and everyone who wanted to leave would be given passage to another world. A fresh start on the other side of the galaxy, never to return. It was an enticing prospect for people who’d spent their lives at the bottom, desperate for a better life.

The first seed colony ship would be launched in the next few weeks, carrying one hundred thousand colonists.

I didn’t really care too much about any of this. Now I just wanted to get paid and do my job.