Sideris Gate: A Paradisi Chronicles novella (Paradisi Exodus Book 2) Read online

  “No problem.”

  Solomon nodded at Tavian, who punched in the code for them, and the heavy door slid open.

  “Wait,” Solomon whispered. He heard voices down the hall and barred anyone from leaving with an outstretched arm. He listened a few moments longer and realized the people were heading away toward the starboard side of the ship.

  “Thanks guys, and good luck,” Solomon said to Jonesy and Baern.

  “Good luck, boss.” Jonesy clapped him on the back. “I think you’re gonna need it.”

  Solomon grinned and turned to Tavian. “All right. Let’s move.”

  “We heading toward Eden now?” Tavian asked, referring to the Reacher crew’s nickname for the Lab Sector’s lush, green vivaria.

  “You tell us. Where is this elusive part for the drive?” Tavian had thus far refused to divulge the location of the part he had removed from the Cavitran Drive, the ship’s engine. The SS Challenge would be dead in the water until he replaced it.

  Tavian smirked. “You’ll find out when we get there.”

  Solomon scowled at him.

  “If I told you”—Tavian flashed him a wide grin—“I’d have to kill you and all that. Very messy. And my boss wouldn’t appreciate blood smearing the hallways of his pretty spaceship.”

  “Remind me why I hired you again?”

  “My considerable charm with the ladies, of course.” Tavian’s lascivious smile was directed solely at Dextra.

  “Ah, yes,” Solomon said, clapping him on the back and steering him away from Dextra, “always an invaluable skill set when escaping an apocalyptic Earth in search of a new planet to colonize.”

  “Oh, I agree.” Tavian laughed a little too loudly, but he stopped abruptly when Dextra put a finger to her lips to shush him.

  “You guys should have had a comedy routine back in old Las Vegas,” Dextra whispered.

  Tavian scratched his chin. “Considering Las Vegas is a pile of rubble thanks to said apocalypse on Earth, I’ll settle for a comedy duo on New Eden.”

  “If we ever get there,” Dextra murmured.

  “It’s only the next galaxy over. Piece of cake,” Solomon said, trying to reassure her with a smile. It only took a moment for her to smile back, though it didn’t reach her stunning brown eyes, which immediately looked away.

  It was obvious she was nervous about what lay ahead. Frankly, so was he. They were bound to run into more Founders and JCorp security guards along the way. His plan was incredibly risky, but they’d come this far.

  “This way to Eden.” Tavian gave them both one of those obnoxious smiles people reserve for couples in love.

  Solomon scowled again but followed his overly confident employee down the corridor.

  “Why do the Reachers call it Eden?” Dextra asked him.

  “It’s what the Reachers have always called the Lab Sector. A bit of home up here among the stars is all we mean.”

  “It’s housing as much of Earth’s flora and fauna we can fit in, right?”

  “Exactly. Earth was the original Eden after all—”

  “Before we fucked it up, that is,” Tavian said. “What do you plan to do after we get to the Astro Lab, boss?”

  “I plan to take a spacewalk to intercept Docking Commander Daniela Marcks’s son and use him as leverage to make her undock us from the space station.”

  “Zander Marcks? You want to force the docking commander to undock the SS Challenge from the Nautilus-11 Space Station? And you expect to accomplish this how?”

  “With luck.”

  Tavian eyed him. “Are you insane?” He looked sideways at Dextra. She merely shrugged.

  “Probably.”

  “Why would you need an EVA for that?” Tavian asked.

  Solomon nodded at Dextra. “Credible sources tell me he is doing nanosilc panel repairs out on the forward hull.”

  “Yes, it’s true,” Dextra interjected. “But I still say this plan is risky—and not just for the boy.”

  “It’ll be fine,” Solomon assured her.

  He hoped he wouldn’t have to do anything to the kid. He had no intention of putting him in any real danger, but he had to make it look that way. Zander’s mother had to believe he would kill him.

  “Solomon, you aren’t going to hurt him...?” Dextra asked.

  “I wouldn’t willingly do that.”

  “Not the answer I was looking for.”

  “It’s up to Docking Commander Marcks. She will decide how far I have to take this.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. You’ll be the one with that boy’s life in your hands. Remember you’re better than Director Graversen and Commander Edge.”

  “Better than your mother too?” Solomon immediately regretted his words.

  Dextra visibly flinched. Her mother, Alexandra Justice, had condoned Commander Edge’s methods of torture when he had put the squeeze on Solomon for valuable intel on his plans to prevent their betrayal. Solomon absently fingered the bandage where Edge had stabbed him with a scalpel. The wound still throbbed, but it was healing well as the hours passed by.

  “I’m sorry.” Solomon stopped and gently took hold of her upper arms and tried to apologize with his eyes. “I don’t know why I said that.”

  Dextra gave him a stony look and pulled away, saying nothing.

  Solomon wanted to say more but not with Tavian standing there. It was too personal, he knew, and Dextra wouldn’t want to discuss her mother’s questionable ethics in front of a near-stranger.

  He decided to switch tacks as they turned down another deserted corridor. “Tav, after you get the Cavitran repaired—”

  “What do you need?” Tavian interrupted.

  “Lay low. You’re going to be of little interest to Challenge Command once this thing goes all to hell. I’ll be completely exposed when I take my spacewalk. Anything could potentially happen at that point. The ship could leave without me.”

  “Not going to happen,” Dextra said, and he could see in her eyes that she had forgiven him. Whether it was because of the thought of him dying or the remembrance that her mother was not the most moral of individuals, he didn’t know.

  As much as he loved spacewalking, he couldn’t help but admit to himself—and only himself—that his greatest physical fear was being untethered during a spacewalk. The idea of floating free in the vacuum of space was terrifying. Back when he was in EVA training, he used to have frequent nightmares of floating off into the darkness. The loss of light was the worst part, and he would usually wake up in a cold sweat, breathing hard.

  Most of his life he had felt so cut off from humanity. With no remaining family ties and only the Reachers to care for, he’d led a singular life. And to be cut off completely with no ability to defend against a black void of endless space, waiting as the minutes ticked by until his oxygen ran out...

  He shook off that line of thinking. He had to focus on the mission. Save the Reachers. Everything else that came after that would be what was required. He had to face it no matter the cost.

  “Mizz Justice is right. We’re not going to let that happen.”

  “Call me Dextra, Tavian.”

  “Don’t mind if I do.” Tavian gave her a lopsided grin.

  Solomon scowled him. “Focus on the Cav. If anything goes wrong with the drive, none of us are getting out of here.”

  “You got it, boss.” Tavian offered up a salute, touching his forehead and dipping his head.

  Solomon brushed off the deference. “Oh, and I forgot to tell you. I am wearing Vida Rosado’s UiComm chip, so if you want to call me, you’ll need to contact me via her—”

  Dextra held out her hand and stopped them. Solomon glanced at her as she nodded toward the far corridor. She put a finger to her lips. Footsteps coming their way fast.

  Solomon and Tavian glanced around for a good hiding spot. They were passing a major communications hub in the Engineering Sector. It was the Comms Station where all Ui and DOT data was stored and processed. He probably
should have taken them on a more circumspect route, but he knew they needed to get a move on before the Marcks kid came in from his spacewalk—and before Challenge Command got wind of what they were up to.

  “Hurry,” Dextra whispered.

  “Here,” Solomon said, tapping in a code for a compartment across the way marked maintenance. He mentally shuffled through engineering drawings for this deck. Only essential areas and sectors were affected by the lockdown sequence. Maintenance compartments were necessarily left unaffected for emergency staff to easily access. Thankfully, he knew the codes for almost everything else he needed. A near-photographic memory was useful like that.

  He barely remembered this particular room, but he did remember it was way too small for three people. Couldn’t be helped. Whoever was coming was about to make it around the bend in the corridor. He shoved Tavian in after the slider opened and pulled Dextra after him. They dropped a mop, and it clattered on the floor out in the hall.

  Solomon swore under his breath and picked it up. Tavian ended up sitting on a bucket at the back while Solomon and Dextra were parted by the mop handle he held between them. Pitch-black darkness descended once the slider closed behind them.

  “This slider has no lock from the inside, does it?” Tavian whispered.

  “Most people don’t want to lock themselves into a closet, do they?”

  Tavian grunted. “Damn engineers. You’re wishing you had now, huh?”

  “Perhaps,” was all Solomon would say.

  He felt Dextra’s breath on his face, and it made him remember her kiss and the feel of her hands on his skin. He reached down and took her hand in his. It made her breath come quick, which rather pleased him. She gripped his hand harder and tried to steady her breathing. And then he realized he could get caught in the next few moments, and he’d better take advantage of this opportune moment. He blindly reached up to touch her cheek, and then pressed lips to hers. He didn’t move, didn’t breathe. Just kept his mouth on hers, willing himself to remember the feel of her, the taste of her.

  The sound of keys rattling and the voices growing louder made Solomon pull away, but still he kept her hand in his.

  How would they even know when the hall was clear again? Solomon was currently regretting how soundproof he designed these doors. He’d have to rethink that in his next Asteria-class spaceship design. He almost laughed out loud. What next design? This was the last ship out of the galaxy. And even if he survived this day, Challenge Command would probably float him off this ship or lock him away forever.

  He didn’t have the luxury to beat around what ifs. He needed to give the Reachers a fighting chance. Challenge Command was attempting to replace three thousand of his Reach Corp employees with three thousand of their own family members—and God knew who else. But the Reachers had a contractual right to be there, to hitch a ride to the Paradisi Planetary System in Andromeda galaxy. It was the ten Founding Families themselves who signed the original contract. Failure was not something Solomon could even consider. Too many lives at stake. Too many hopes resting on this one chance.

  “You’re going to save the Reachers, Solomon. I know it,” Dextra whispered in his ear, as if in answer to his unspoken fears.

  “She’s right, boss. This is going to work.”

  Because it has to, Solomon thought. He was going to crack a joke to lighten the mood, but the seriousness of this task hit him like a punch in the gut. His words came out in a whisper.

  “I hope you’re right.”

  Unfortunately, the door slid open, making him rethink his efforts at hoping for the best. The bright light was a shock to Solomon’s system. He blinked rapidly to get a sense of who they were dealing with. Damn. It was Challenge Security. Two of them. The people coming around the corridor must have tipped them off, so they came to investigate.

  “Solomon Reach.” The guard, his eyes narrowed and his mouth drawn into a smug line, pointed a Taser at him. “You are to release Dextra Justice and surrender yourself. Challenge Command would like to speak with you immediately.”

  From behind, Tavian tapped Solomon’s leg with something metal. Solomon handed Dextra the mop handle and gave the impression he would give himself up. He then took hold of what Tavian handed him, which felt like a heavy drill. Well, he could knock out one of them with it but not likely before they let loose with the Taser gun. He’d have to risk it in order to block their access to Dextra.

  “Dextra, stay back,” Solomon said. “Let me handle this.”

  “No, she will come out first,” the second guard commanded from behind the other.

  “Not while you have a Taser aimed right at us. I don’t think COO Justice would appreciate hearing you’ve stunned her daughter.”

  “I’m in complete control of my weapon—”

  Solomon knocked the Taser gun out of his grasp with a hammerfist strike while simultaneously whipping the drill up to slam the guy across the side of the head. He dropped unconscious to the floor, his belt clattering loudly. The first guard immediately jumped Solomon, and they struggled with the drill high up in the air.

  Dextra shoved Solomon and the second guard out further into the hall, and they hit the far bulkhead hard with their shoulders. Tavian came up from behind, and before Solomon could react, the loud rat-tat-tat-tat of the Taser went off and stuck into the second guard’s chest and Solomon’s arm before Tavian pulled it away. The guard shouted out in pain.

  Solomon knew he got less of it than the guard, but he was surprised at the intensity of the pain. His muscles instantly contracted as the shockwave traveled through his body. The second guard wasn’t struggling or fighting him anymore, so Solomon assumed he was experiencing the same thing.

  It wasn’t until Dextra asked him if he was all right that he realized she was holding him up. Tavian was shoving the other guy up against the bulkhead.

  “I’ve got to put you all into the maintenance closet right now,” Tavian whispered to Solomon. “I hear someone else coming.”

  “What?” Solomon stuttered, though somewhere through the haze of pain he knew Tavian was right. He heard more voices.

  “Give me a few minutes, boss.” Tavian pushed them both into the claustrophobic closet. Smelled like sweat and fear in there now. Solomon ended up in the back sitting on the bucket while the other two where lumped against each other, one or both of them moaning quietly. Solomon doubted they could see anything but the whites of his eyes, since his skin was so dark.

  “Sorry, boss. At least I got the other guy too.”

  “You’re fired,” Solomon attempted to say, but nothing came out but a groan of pain.

  “Here, boss.” Tavian handed him the drill and Taser. “Hold these to the side of their heads.”

  “Sounds messy,” Solomon said, barely able to grip them, his hand muscles were so weak.

  “Mission necessity.”

  “You hear that?” Solomon asked the second guard, pressing the drill hard against the guy’s head. He kept his tone flippant but allowed a tinge of anger to come through. “Mission necessity, he says. I’m sure you understand.”

  “Fuck you,” came the reply, accompanied by a look that could cure the devil of his evil ways.

  The last thing Solomon saw was Dextra’s crinkled brow of concern and Tavian’s mile-wide grin, and then instant darkness when the slider closed.

  Bastard.

  Solomon was left with guard two’s onion breath, the chemical smell of whatever nasty substance was left in the bucket, and the after-waves of pain. And on top of it all, his stomach let out a loud growl of hunger making the second guard grunt in irritation. He wasn’t going to ask himself if this day could get any worse. He was smarter than that.

  Deprived of his sight, his hearing perked up, and he listened for sounds out in the hall.

  “Dextra? Is that you?” Solomon heard a woman say. “I heard Command was looking for you.”

  “No, it’s all sorted. Just a misunderstanding.” Dextra’s voice was cool and breezy, but S
olomon detected a tinge of strain at the ends of her words.

  “Are you all right? What happened?” The woman’s voice rose a notch.

  “Sorry, Joya, not at liberty to talk about it per Challenge Command protocols.”

  “Geez, Dextra. How long have we been friends? You gotta tell me everything, girl.”

  “When this is all over, I promise I will.”

  “That’s all I get? Gah! So are you going to introduce me or what?”

  “Oh, this is... uh...”

  “Tavian Hunt at your service, ma’am.”

  Solomon pictured Tavian winking and kissing the woman’s hand. He must have done because the next words out of her mouth weren’t words at all.

  “Oh, uh, hmm...” the woman stuttered.

  “Go on, Joya. I’ll talk with you later. Besides, I know you’ve got loads of comms work to do getting everything ready for the launch. So get to it.”

  “Yes, mother.” Joya laughed, and it nearly woke the unconscious guy, who twitched a bit against Solomon’s side.

  “Damn it,” mumbled the stunned guard, as he shifted to a more comfortable position.

  “Your fault for bringing the Taser,” Solomon whispered unapologetically. “Those things are obnoxious.”

  “Only when you’re the one getting zapped.”

  After a few moments of silence, during which Solomon wondered if he was getting high off chemical fumes emanating from the cabinet beside them, the slider opened to reveal the smirking faces of Dextra and Tavian.

  “If I didn’t know you needed your anonymity today, Boss, I’d take a picture and post it ship-wide.”

  Behind him, Dextra covered her mouth to stifle a snicker.

  “Get these guys off me now, Tavian,” Solomon said, attempting to bring a little gravity to the situation, though he didn’t doubt the three of them stuffed into the closet looked utterly ridiculous. He was still feeling the effects of the Taser and amusement was not in his current bag of tricks.