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

he wasn’t one of the ones in the tent. He helped me to my feet and I dusted my clothes off. “We should help.”

Ricky nodded furiously.

We rushed forward then abruptly skidded to a halt. A team of suits was desperately trying to lift a portion of the still smoldering truck off one of the mechanics. The man’s left leg was pinned under what looked like the rear axle of the truck, and sheer panic was etched in the young man’s face.

Ricky and I took it upon ourselves to go to his side.

“Hey—hey,” Ricky said softly, clenching the young man’s hand. “We got you—we got you. Hang in there.”

“I-I can’t feel my leg. Please, help me,” the young man said.

“It’s—it’s going to be okay. We’re going to get this off you, and then we will get you some medical help,” Ricky promised.

“Come on, we can move it together, on three,” I said to the pair of suits straining against the axle. I placed my hands on the hot steel, ignoring the pain. I straightened my back and bent my knees, finding fingerholds along the bottom. “One, two, three!”

I threw everything I had into the act, pulling from the memories that drove me forward every day. Each person had their own well of power they drew from when they were up against something physically demanding. I pulled from mine as memories of everything I’d lost threw me into action.

The hot steel under my fingertips budged then moved a few centimeters.

“Come on!” I raged at the suits struggling beside me. “Pull!”

With a groan, the axle moved up and sideways, off the young mechanic's leg.

I fell to the ground, panting. Sirens were already growing closer, promising more help to those who desperately needed it. The two suits next to me pulled out a medical case and began working on the young man’s leg.

The next few hours passed in a haze of helping wherever I could. I held bandages in place, searched for survivors in the rubble, and gave my statement to someone named Officer Serol.

By the time we finished, the sky had begun to darken. The emergency crew thanked us for our help and told us to go home. Stacy walked up to me, and we stood looking at the aftermath of the confirmed Disciple attack.

“They’re saying the colony ship wasn’t the real target,” Stacy said, her eyes never leaving the carnage in front of us. “The ship needs a crew of over two hundred able-bodied mechanics and techs to man the craft when it launches in a few weeks. They’ll be shorthanded now.”

She wasn’t asking a question exactly, but there was some uncertainty in her voice.

“The Disciples preach to their cult about keeping human DNA pure and untainted,” I said, looking at her. “They hate the Eternals for what they’ve been able to accomplish. Now the Eternals are giving the Transients a chance for a new beginning by creating these twelve colony ships. You’d think they’d welcome the chance to start over with other Transients. Other unaltered humans with pure DNA.”

“Maybe the Disciples see anyone willing to aid the Eternals as traitors to their own kind,” she said, letting out a long sigh. “I don’t know. Like you said, they’re a cult. They’re crazy.”

“Guess so,” I said.

“One thing’s for certain,” Stacy said, looking at me sideways. “The colony ships will need mechanics. I heard our ship will have two Eternals and a Cognitive manning the controls, with one hundred thousand Transients headed for a new world. That’s quite the responsibility for whoever gets the job. I’ve heard you’re good at what you do, Dean. You might want to try applying for—”

“Not interested,” I said, cutting her off. “I’m not kooky enough to travel through space in a metal ball to a distant planet I can’t come back from. I mean, come on. You’d have to be insane, right?”

The words died on my lips as I saw the look on Stacy’s face. She was one of those people, and she’d just asked me to join her. What the hell could she be thinking? As bad as this place was, why risk your life for an uncertainty?

“I signed up a few months back when they were looking for volunteers,” she said, shaking her head. “I just knew I wanted to get away from all of this, and it seemed like the best option. The Eternals are doing us a favor. They realize there’s no way for the Transient class to move up anymore. No more opportunity in the world when the people at the top can’t die and refuse to retire. If they left things as they are, someone would eventually start a war. This is our only shot. It’s the only chance humanity has to avoid killing itself.”

“Well, it ain’t for me,” I said, ignoring her words. “Besides, for as much as the Eternals are doing, maybe it’s out of guilt and not a sense of actually wanting to help. Maybe they realize what position they’ve put us in and this is just their way of getting rid of us—thinning out the Transient herd, so to speak.”

“Either way, I’m going,” Stacy said, turning to leave. “You can stay here and work in a scrapyard your entire life, maybe get enough credits to pay for a few extra years of life, but you’ll still have the same job you have now. You’ll still be here, serving someone else.”

“We’re all serving someone,” I told her.

“Maybe so,” she said, beginning to walk away. “But I’d rather serve myself.”

I watched her leave, choosing to stay silent. I had no interest in leaving this planet, especially with a couple of Eternals and a Cognitive leading the charge. I’d never interacted with a Cognitive up close before, but an artificial intelligence controlling my fate was something I wasn’t ready for.

“You headed back to the apartments?” Ricky asked, sidling up next to me. He was soot-stained from the smoke. Weariness in his eyes suggested that, like me, he’d had enough for