Hadrian's Colony: Chapter Ten, Part One

 Notes: Uh-oh, things are happening, decisions are being made, PEOPLE ARE BEING PEOPLE! Which is to say, self-serving. At least that's something we can always count on, huh?

Title: Hadrian's Colony: Chapter Ten, Part One

***

Chapter Ten, Part One

 

“Hey, Lizzie. It’s me. Zakari,” he added at the end, hoping the change in name would be enough to clue her in to the fact that things were amiss. Not that she wouldn’t already know that, if she had any sort of communication going with Catie…or even if she didn’t. Still, it didn’t hurt to be prepared.

“Identification code, please,” Lizzie said after a moment, and oh, Kieron could kiss his girl if she had a cheek to kiss. She was playing along beautifully.

“Desfontaines 3141 Outer Elys.” Thank goodness the little games they’d decided to play along the way to this fucking planet had included codes for if they got separated. Putting Desfontaines in as his primary identifier should clue Lizzie in to the rest of his assumed identity. 31 meant he was the only one of their party of three there, 41 indicated there were four other people surrounding just the one of him, and Outer Elys was an obscure reference to an ancient mythology. The Elysian Fields were, according to this old piece of human culture, the nicest part of their hell.

It was still hell, though, and the Outer Elysian fields meant he could tip over any moment into Tartarus.

“Acknowledged. What happened to you? We’re all so worried.”

Even though she was dissembling, Kieron could tell that Lizzie really was worried about them. “I’m okay, Lizzie,” he said gently. “Just, ah…got separated from the others. I’m not sure where they are right now, but I found some friends who might be able to help me out.”

Lizzie sounded very young when she asked, “Is Catie okay? And Dad?”

There was a vague shuffling from Doubles’s direction, as if it was only now hitting him that the people they’d been threatening included young children. If only they knew. Of course, as far as Kieron was concerned, it was true regardless of the form his kids took.

“I don’t know, sweetheart,” he said honestly. “They were under fire when they flew away, and I think the ship was damaged pretty badly.”

“Oh no!”

“Where is an adult?” Alissa snapped. “Why are we going through a kid right now when we ought to be talking to someone in charge?”

“Lizzie is in charge,” Kieron replied.

“She’s a child!”

Kieron could dissemble, or Lizzie could start using another voice, but honestly? Fuck this. “It’s not like the entire group is going to hang around waiting to see if we survived before heading out,” he said. “It’s a waste of valuable fuel, not to mention time. You think we picked this armpit of a system to settle in because we were spoiled for choice?” He gestured around with a hand. “Between you and the goddamn weather, I think we proved to the rest of the group that Hadrian’s Colony is a poor place to try and raise a family.”

“Are you saying they won’t stay around to help you?” Carlisle said.

It was time to walk a delicate line. If he made it seem like they were abandoned, then there’d be no use in keeping him alive. On the other hand, there was no fleet in orbit, so if they managed to get a signal through the atmosphere to check and found nothing… “I’m saying they’ve got to think of themselves first. They’ll come back for us when they can, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s just Lizzie holding down the fort for now.” One ship could be missed. One ship could be explained away as interference or, whatever, a passing asteroid or moon shadow.

“You left your kid up there alone?” Carlisle didn’t seem to think much of that. Kieron didn’t care if she did—she had no room for comment.

“Looks like she’s safer up there than down here,” he said.

“Kee?” Lizzie sounded nervous now. “Is Catie hurt bad? Do you need me to come to you?”

“You stay where you are, baby,” he admonished. “The last thing we need is someone else getting stuck down here. It’s too dangerous to make it through the storms right now anyway. They should only last for another…” He looked at Carlisle and made a “go on” motion with his hand.

“The season’s just begun,” she said after a moment, “but there are breaks. We get lulls in the weather every few weeks. They usually don’t last more than a day—that’s eighteen standard hours, if you don’t know—but they’re consistent enough to get a ship in or out.”

That was a relief. “There we go. I’ll find the others, we’ll wait for a lull, and we’ll come back to you together.” He stared straight at Carlisle as he laid out the plan, watching her face closely. Her expression could have been carved from stone for all he learned from it, but she shifted a little bit on her feet. Good. Feel bad. Feel really bad.

“Okay, Kee.”

“That’s my girl. Be safe, I love you.”

“I love you too.” The transmission ended, and for a long moment silence reigned in the cabin.

“Welp,” Trapper finally said. “That was touching, but there’s no way in hell we’re just letting you go.”

“Trapper,” Carlisle began, but he shook his head.

“No, Boss. That’s not how we work—you taught me that. We don’t walk away empty-handed.” He crossed his arms and stared down Kieron. “You’ve got a ship down here and a ship up there. Help us find the ship down here and hand it over without a fuss, and you and your family can fly away safe on your other ship during the next lull.”

There was no way Kieron could do that. “How can I trust that you won’t take our other ship the moment it breaks atmosphere? No.”

“We can go get it ourselves during a lull if it comes to it,” Alissa pointed out. “One kid’s not going to put up much of a fight.”

“No,” Kieron said amiably. “She won’t.” He didn’t say anything else. He didn’t have to; he knew that Carlisle, at least, understood where he was going with that.

She won’t, but I will.

“There’s no need for threats,” Carlisle said. “Trapper’s not wrong, though. We can’t let you walk away without getting something out of you. But we don’t need your ship. I want your expertise instead.”

“Boss—”

She held up a hand and Trapper went quiet.

“What skills?” Kieron asked. Not as a mechanic; this crew knew their own ship far better than he did, despite his little party trick with the respirators.

“Fighting skills. You think three moves ahead, you have nerves of steel, and you’re not afraid to get dirty. I think the rest of our people could benefit from some time with a professional.”

Rest of our people… That meant they would be moving. Heading somewhere else, undoubtedly farther away from Elanus and Catie. That was good, in a way—the more space between these mercenaries and Kieron’s family, the better. But that was going to make it exponentially harder for him to reconnect with them as well, especially if they were badly hurt.

Who was he kidding? He knew they were badly hurt. Just thinking about Catie taking gunfire made his gut clench, and Elanus’s leg…shit. Kieron needed to be with them. He missed them, he wanted them, he wanted his fucking family back.

Maybe you can steal a ship once you get there. Or a land cruiser, or a hoverbike. Anything is better than sitting around letting these assholes hunt them down.

“Fine,” he said at last. “No more than two weeks, though, and you let me communicate with Lizzie at least every other day.”

“Deal,” Carlisle replied and held out her right hand. Kieron reached out, cautious, and shook. Touching her made his skin crawl, and he took his hand back as fast as he can.

I’ve made a deal with the devil.

Let’s hope I survive it.