The Trail: A Colonization Science Fiction Serial (Colony B Book 2) Read online

  Siobhan held his gaze for a full five seconds, her eyes cold, then she turned back to Jim, taking in the way his eyes darted from her to Milo and back again. He was probably trying to figure out their relationship and wondering if they were a couple. Let him wonder, she thought. It’s not like I’m going to string him along or anything. She tilted her head on one side and made her expression open. “Why has the truck stopped, Jim? What’s going on?”

  Jim grunted under his breath. “The big shots are having a meeting. They didn’t tell the rest of us why, but you don’t have to be a genius to figure it out.” He inclined his head toward Siobhan.

  “Us?” Siobhan asked.

  “It’s obvious,” Jim replied. “When Kyrksen let you in, he was acting on his own, making it all up as he went along. But Doctor Teare isn’t going to be too happy with him.”

  “And this Doctor Teare, he’s in charge is he?” Milo asked.

  Jim smirked. “Doctor Teare is a woman, but yes, she’s in charge of the whole shooting match.”

  “Then we need to talk to her,” Milo said. “I need to ask her about getting off this planet.” He glanced at Siobhan. “And we need to ask about saving as many of our people as we can.”

  “She’ll talk to you when she’s good and ready,” Jim said. “But you’d better be careful what you wish for. She’s a piece of work.”

  A hollow thud sounded from the back of the truck. “That’s the outside door,” Jim said, and he picked up his rifle and sat up straight. “I wouldn’t be surprised if that was Doctor Teare right now.”

  Siobhan and Milo turned around in their seats, craning their necks to peer into the gloom. Siobhan knew that somewhere in the shadows was the doorway that led into the small chamber where everyone had to have their protective suits cleaned before they could enter the main compartment. A strange combination of high-pitched hisses and low whirring sounds rose up, and Siobhan exchanged a look with Milo. It was likely that the next person to walk through that door would be the one to decide their fate, and if what Jim said was true, Siobhan and Milo might not even get a fair hearing.

  But when the door opened, Siobhan frowned. The figure entering, clad in a protective suit and full-face helmet, had the build of a man, but not the awkward, gangling gait of Kyrksen. Someone new, she thought. But who?

  The man turned to face them then paused, his head turning from side to side, and Siobhan’s heart beat a little faster. The man’s face was hidden beneath his visor, but even so, there was something in the way this man carried himself; something impressive, something powerful. He marched toward Siobhan, his back ramrod straight, his shoulders square, and his arms hanging loose as if ready for action.

  He stopped in front of them, and for a moment, no one moved, but then the man removed his helmet, lifting it with a practiced motion, and Siobhan relaxed a little. The man’s face was rugged, handsome even, but there was a hint of kindness in his expression, and an honest openness in the way he looked at her. Perhaps, here was someone she could talk to, someone who might help.

  “First things first,” he said. “I’m Alec. Are you guys all right? Have they been looking after you okay?”

  “Sure,” Milo replied. “This is Siobhan. I’m Milo, and we’re fine.”

  Siobhan nodded toward Jim. “Apart from being held at gunpoint that is.”

  “Oh, now, that’s not—” Jim began, but Alec fixed him with a look and said, “Put that rifle away, Clennan. You’ve done more than enough damage for one day, don’t you think?”

  Siobhan frowned. What did he mean by that?

  “I’m only following orders,” Jim said. “Kyrksen told me to sit right here with my rifle, so until he comes back…”

  “He’s not coming back,” Alec said. “He’s no longer the pilot of this or any other truck. He has to stay in truck one. I’m taking over in here, so you’ll do as I say.” He took a step closer to Jim. “Put your rifle away, then return to your station in the cockpit. We’ll be getting underway soon, so find the techs. I want them back in here watching the monitors.”

  “You’re taking over the truck?” Jim asked.

  “That’s what I said,” Alec snapped. “So move it!”

  Jim stood slowly then headed toward the front of the truck, but after a few steps, he turned around. “I’ll just stow my rifle,” he said, then he hurried to the back of the truck and opened a metal cabinet, putting the rifle inside with a clatter.

  Siobhan’s sharp eyes followed Jim’s every move. It didn’t look like he’d needed to unlock the cabinet, but perhaps there’d been a keypad or some other kind of lock that she hadn’t been able to see.

  Jim shut the cabinet noisily before scurrying toward the front of the truck. His gaze flicked to Siobhan for a moment as he passed, but then he disappeared into a narrow corridor, and Siobhan heard a door close with a hollow click.

  Alec shook his head then turned his attention to Milo and Siobhan. “Sorry about that. You must be wondering what the hell’s going on.”

  “Yeah,” Milo said. “I guess we’re still getting our heads around the situation.”

  Siobhan stood, her arms folded across her chest. “We know what’s going on. You’re wiping out everything on this planet. It’s disgusting. You have no right. No right at all.”

  “You’re wrong about that,” Alec said. “We’re backed by the Galactic Resettlement Corps, and this project was approved at the highest levels on Earth. You can’t develop a sector of the galaxy without staging posts, fuel dumps, resources.”

  “So what, you just sacrifice this place and to hell with the consequences?” Siobhan drew herself up to her full height. “It might not mean much to you, but there are families up on that hill. Men, women, and children. They’re from Earth, just like you. There are new-born babies up there for God’s sake.”

  Alec held up his hands. “Wait a minute. We didn’t know about that. This planet was supposed to be uninhabited.”

  “Well, now you know different,” Siobhan snapped. “So what are you going to do about it?”

  Alec said nothing for a moment, then, “It’s not entirely up to me, but we’re trying to help. Doctor Teare will fill you in later. She’s in charge of the mission, and she’s already doing her best to liaise with the authorities on Earth. We’re certain they’ll send a rescue mission for your people.”

  Siobhan gasped and her hand went to her mouth. “Oh my God! Seriously?”

  “Yes,” Alec said. “Of course.”

  Siobhan was suddenly light-headed, and she took her seat, lowering herself onto the cold metal carefully. “A rescue mission. But that’s…that’s wonderful.” She looked at Milo. “We have to go back. We have to tell them. They’ll…they’ll be so thrilled. Just imagine it.”

  Alec cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, but that’s not going to happen. Not yet anyhow.”

  “What? But you said you’d help.”

  “And I meant it, but…” Alec shifted his weight. “You have to understand, the plans for the resettlement of this sector have taken years to put together. The whole operation costs billions, and it can’t be turned around just like that. Eventually, there’ll be ships full of settlers heading through this sector. Those people will have families too, and they’ll be relying on us to do our job, or they won’t have enough fuel to get to their destination. We can’t let them down, so our mission has to continue. We have to stay on schedule, and that means we have to keep moving.”

  “No,” Siobhan said. “No. We have to go back. There’s my mom and dad—they need to know I’m safe. They need to know about the rescue.”

  Alec shook his head firmly. “We already went through that region, probably before you arrived, and it’s already been seeded. It was pure chance that we had to pass through it again. We had to make a detour to go around the hills, and if we hadn’t seen your fire, we’d have passed by without a second glance.”

  Milo put his hand on Siobhan’s arm. “When you think about it like that, we were lucky to
get picked up.”

  Siobhan pulled her arm away from him. “You call this lucky? Lucky to be locked up in here? Lucky to be taken away from our families?”

  “Come on, Siobhan, we’ve been through this,” Milo said. “And listen, if we hadn’t come down to the trucks, they wouldn’t have known we were from Earth, so they wouldn’t have sent for a rescue mission. But we did it, Shiv. We saved the settlement.”

  Siobhan took a breath, flaring her nostrils. “You can twist it around all you want, but I still say we have to go back. We need to tell the council. We need to tell everybody what’s happening.” She locked eyes with Alec. “How far is it? How long would it take to get back?”

  “You have to understand something,” Alec said gently. “Kyrksen didn’t tell us you were on board. We had no idea you were here.” He hesitated. “We’ve moved fast today, trying to make up for the time we lost.”

  “So just tell me,” Siobhan insisted. “How far is it back to the hill?”

  “Since this morning,” Alec said, “we’ve covered almost four hundred miles.”

  A chill crept across Siobhan’s skin. Four hundred miles! For almost as long as she could remember, she’d never been more than a few hundred yards from her family. And now this. She swallowed hard. “But…but if you can go so fast, then it wouldn’t take long to turn around and take me home. Or maybe just this truck could take me while the others carry on.”

  Alec frowned. “You’re nothing if not persistent, but the fleet stays together. We all have our parts to play and we have strict protocols. And as for going back, the round trip would take too long. We’d run out of daylight before we were done, and we don’t fly once it gets dark—it’s too risky.”

  “What if—” Siobhan started, but Alec didn’t let her speak.

  “I’m sorry, I really am, but I have to get this truck moving. I’ll ask one of the technicians to sit with you. She’ll make sure you’re looked after. If there’s anything you need, just ask. I’ll talk to you later.” And with that, he turned and marched away toward the front of the truck. When he neared the narrow corridor, the man and the woman that Siobhan had seen earlier appeared, and Alec stood aside to let them pass. He said something to the woman, then he carried on walking without a backward glance. Siobhan heard a door close, and immediately, a dull roar filled the room. Siobhan could feel the vibration shuddering up through her chair.

  “This is it,” Milo said, and there was an edge of excitement in his voice. “We’re on our way.”

  “Yes,” Siobhan replied. She wanted to say more. She wanted to scream and shout, but there was nothing she could say, nothing she could do. Memories of her family rushed in on her, the images flashing through her mind, and beneath her breath, she whispered the only word she could think of, “Goodbye.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  THE HILL

  Connor stood in his downstairs room at home and scanned the faces of the people who had answered his call. All four patrol leaders stood shoulder to shoulder in the small room, including Parry, though Connor knew the man must be hurting. Parry was nursing a cracked rib or two after the team’s first encounter with the occupants of the hovering vehicles, but there was no sign of pain in his keen expression, only determination. Beside Parry, Ben Harris was standing in silence, his eager eyes bright with anticipation. Ben was the youngest of the group and had only recently been made a team leader, but there was no doubting his enthusiasm. Next to him, Cate Rosenthal had her arms folded across her chest and her chin jutted forward. At her side stood Phoebe Halbrook, the long-time partner of John. John had accompanied Connor, Parry, and Finn on their ill-fated scouting mission, but he wasn’t a team leader so he hadn’t been invited.

  All four team leaders were watching Connor carefully, searching for some indication of the news he was about to deliver, but Connor kept his expression neutral. This isn’t going to be easy, he told himself. Best to get it over with.

  He took a breath and began. “You must’ve figured out what this is about. I’m heading out to bring back Siobhan and Milo, and after the meeting I just had, I can tell you that I’m going with the consent and approval of the council.”

  “I should damned well think so,” Ben said. “Let them try and stop us.”

  Cate and Phoebe nodded, but Parry cleared his throat, then asked, “Did you get support from all of them?”

  “All except Derek,” Connor replied. “But I got a clear majority on my side, that’s the important thing.” He paused. “They also agreed, and this is something that none of you know about, that I can take our only vehicle, the planetary rover.”

  For a split second there was silence in the room, then Parry spoke up. “We have a rover? A working rover?”

  Cate, who had been a patrol leader ever since the beginning, straightened her back. “But…we were told that they were all destroyed.”

  “I know this comes as a shock,” Connor said, “and I’m sorry that this has been kept from you for so long, but the decision to keep the rover under wraps was made by the council a long time ago, and we haven’t got time to go into it now. The facts are simple—one working rover was salvaged from the landing craft, and it has been stored safely away from the settlement ever since. It’s been held in reserve until now, but I convinced the council that we need it. That’s it.”

  “This is bullshit!” Cate snapped. “If we’d landed like we were supposed to, I was going to be in charge of the goddamned rovers. If anyone should have been told about this, it’s me.” She held out her hands in exasperation. “For crying out loud, it’s probably not even working anymore. Rovers need regular maintenance, they need to be looked after. Maybe this machine was working once, but if it’s been left to rot, you won’t be able to get it going just like that.”

  “That’s all been taken care of,” Connor said. “The council put a plan in place, and someone has been keeping an eye on the rover ever since.”

  “Who?” Cate demanded. “There’s no one more qualified than me.”

  Connor hesitated. “Mac.”

  “What?”

  “Back on the ship, he was a senior engineer,” Connor said, “and the council felt, with his experience—“

  “His experience!” Cate interrupted. “Mac was an electrical engineer for Christ’s sake. What he knows about the rovers you can write on the head of a pin. Those machines are specialist equipment, and you need to have the skills and the knowledge to work on them. The fuel cells alone…” Cate let her voice trail away. “Can Mac get inside the rover.”

  Connor shook his head. “Absolutely not. The council wouldn’t give him the code. All he’s allowed to do is basic maintenance. He keeps it clean and checks it over, but that’s all, Cate, I swear it.”

  “You swear? Seriously?” Cate shook her head. “I don’t know what to think, Connor, because I remember when you stood in front of me, and you lied to my face. You told me the rovers had all been destroyed, and I believed you. I could have taken it out on recon missions. I could have scouted for new places to build, or maybe even found new sources of food or water.”

  “Hold on a minute,” Parry said. “This isn’t down to Connor. He was only doing what the council decided, and I’m sure they had their reasons.”

  Ben raised his hand.

  “You don’t need to do that, Ben,” Connor said. “Just say your piece, and I’ll listen.”

  “Okay,” Ben said, “I just think we’re getting side-tracked here. We can talk about this later. For now, we just need to know how many of us the rover will carry, because I don’t know about everybody else, but I came here to help, and the sooner we get started the better.”

  Ben turned to Parry as if looking for approval, and Parry acknowledged him with a nod.

  Cate exhaled loudly. “You’re right. You can’t blame me for getting irritated about this, but we’re wasting time, so let’s get organized.” She looked Connor in the eye. “As I’m sure you know, the rover can carry a crew of six, but you’re going to ha
ve to figure on bringing two people back with you, so you can only take a crew of four. Your choice Connor.”

  Phoebe stepped forward. “Can I say something?”

  Connor gestured toward her. “Sure, go ahead.”

  “The thing is,” Phoebe said, “I’m happy to come along, but as you know, our baby is still very small, and John has asked me—well, he practically begged me—to put his name forward instead of mine. I know he’s not a patrol leader, but he wants to see this thing through and to be honest, he’s probably more suited to this kind of mission than me.”

  Connor glanced at Parry. “What do you think?”

  Parry frowned. “John would be a good choice, but thankfully I don’t have to make that decision. It’s got to be down to you, Connor. You have the final say.”

  “All right.” Connor studied each of their faces in turn. “Phoebe, it’s good of John to offer, and he’d be an asset to the team, but he isn’t a patrol leader, and I have to show proper respect for those who are. John has already done a great deal to help, and I’d like him to carry on that good work by staying here.”

  “But–“ Phoebe started.

  Connor raised his hand to cut her off. “There’s something else you need to know. I assured the council that I would be leaving some good people behind to help them maintain order, and I told them that I’d leave at least one patrol leader here. I’m sorry, Phoebe, but it’s clear to me that I should leave you and John here, and then I can rest easy knowing that the settlement is in good hands. I’m sure that between you, you can handle anything that might happen while we’re away.”

  Phoebe pursed her lips. Then slowly, she nodded. “All right. I can see the sense in what you’re saying. John isn’t going to like it, but if I’m the only patrol leader staying behind, I’m going to need him by my side.”

  “Thanks,” Connor said. “As for the rest of you, I’d like you all to come along. Assuming you’re ready, willing and able.” He turned to Parry. “How about it? It’s going to be a long and bumpy road. Are your ribs going to hold up?”