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

“Just coming—into range,” Iris said. “Good—hear from you.”

“Good to hear from you too, Iris,” Elon said in a weary voice. “We’re returning to the Orion today. We should be there soon.”

“Understood—hurry,” Iris answered.

For the first time, I picked up a hint of worry in her voice, if Cognitives could be worried at all. I felt the icy hand of fear snake down my spine. Instinct told me to look behind us.

I did, half expecting to see something macabre following us: the infected, that creature they turned, or something else. There was nothing coming for us at the moment, just the bright green grassy fields.

“Is everything okay?” Elon asked.

“Yes, just a new development to go over with you,” Iris said. “Hurry.”

I knew something was very wrong. It was like when Mom and Dad were worried about something but didn’t want to talk about it in front of the kids.

Part of me didn’t even want to know what was going on. I just wanted to eat my weight in bacon and pass out for the next week. A hot shower might be nice too, one of those ones where you stay in there way longer than you need to be clean.

The rest of the trip went quickly, and for the most part, in silence. I tried to catch a few minutes of rest, but every time I closed my eyes, I saw images of the infected.

The crawler made great time back to the Orion. Just after midday, we saw the metal husk of what we now called home.

We were met with smiles and waves of the Civil Authority officers standing watch at the perimeter. The wall was nearly half completed in the time we were gone.

We pulled into the area inside the wall. Colonists surrounded us, eager to find out what we had seen and if there were more survivors on the strange planet. I saw it all in their faces even before they asked. So many of them had loved ones and friends they had not seen since the Orion broke apart upon descent and crash-landed on the planet.

“Did you find anyone out there?” an eager-eyed woman asked as I jumped off the crawler.

“What happened?” another man asked.

“Are there any survivors? Please, I’m trying to find my wife,” a middle-aged man asked.

The idea I had killed people these colonists were asking for crossed my mind. Who knew if some of the infected were the very people those looking at me now were so desperately searching for.

Lucky for me, Elon took charge.

“Please, the members of the expeditionary force are exhausted,” Elon said, moving from his area in the cab to the back of the truck. “We will have a full meeting tonight and tell you everything. For now, take heart that we have not only found a crawler and a case of armor but yes, there are survivors out there, and we will keep looking for more.”

Elon motioned toward David when he said there were survivors still out there on the planet. This was enough for a few of the colonists. Others bombarded David with questions.

I saw Elon whisper something to David, who nodded.

I could guess that the Eternal was asking the man to keep the whole infected thing under wraps for the time being.

“Would you mind overseeing the storage of the crawler and armor?” Elon asked Boss Creed.

“I’m on it,” Boss Creed answered.

Elon motioned to Stacy and me to follow him through the crowd.

I didn’t really want to. Something told me we were about to step in it right now. Iris’ cryptic message over the radio was enough for me to guess that things were about to go from bad to worse.

Arun popped out of a wide tent set against the base of the Orion as we made our way to the ship. She motioned us inside.

The look on her face said it all, stern and serious, and with a hint of happiness at seeing us returned alive.

Arun embraced her brother as we entered the tent.

“I want to hear about it all,” Arun said to Elon and then turned to Stacy and me to take us in. “I’m glad you’re safe, and for the time being, that has to be enough. We have a very serious situation on our hands.”

“More serious than a zombie tribe of aliens?” I said under my breath.

Stacy elbowed me in the ribs. My body was so battered, even in the armor, it still hurt.

The tent Arun erected at the base of the Orion was longer than it was wide. A kind of office had been set up with hard light emitters stationed in the corners of the chamber to give Iris physical form.

“This is Mr. Slade’s heads-up warning before I appear in the room,” Iris said.

“Thanks, Iris,” I said. “You’re always so thoughtful.”

Iris appeared as if by magic. She stood in front of us with her ethereal blue glow emanating from her body. Her fair skin and white hair gave her the appearance of an Eternal, but the blue glow around her and her bright blue eyes gave her away as something else entirely.

The room was Spartan with a desk and chairs on one side, a holo table in the middle, and the far end of the room stacked with crates.

“We should really go over what we found in the jungle,” Elon told Arun and Iris. “I’m not sure if we should be preparing for an attack soon or perhaps even a war.”

“I want to hear it all and we will plan, but first, we have a more pressing matter.” Arun ushered her brother inside. The way she waved off the warning of an attack or even a war threw so many warning signs up in my mind, I knew whatever Iris and Arun were going to tell us would rock the very foundation of our survival.

“Arun,” Stacy interrupted the brother and sister. “I’m not sure you heard Elon right. We