Atrophy (3 page)

He fought the guilt-ridden sensation down. He might never find another opportunity like this to escape. Yet, the knowledge he might be putting his own life and concerns above these unknown people sat uncomfortably on his shoulders.

The figure moved a bit farther out, giving him a tantalizing glimpse of feminine curves. Looking at her made what he planned that much more real. Before he’d felt a little uncomfortable and on edge, now the reality of his resolution churned his stomach sour. He tore his gaze away, turning his back on the vessel that could be his salvation. Frustration mingled with agitation as he pushed his way back through the crowd of eager-looking officers and rode the elevator back down to ground level alone.

The command compound seemed abnormally quiet as he crossed the grounds to the gate that would allow him into another sectioned-off cluster of buildings, these for inmates who had been classified as low risk. Like him, most who lived here volunteered in various tasks around the assorted IPC sectors. As a “reward” they got to live in a safer complex, separate from the general inmate population. He had his own sparse apartment, which included a small allowance and permission to shop at the officers’ supply marketplace. There, he was able to buy his own food so he didn’t have to eat at the mess hall with other inmates if he chose not to. It also meant the quality of clothes he owned were better, though he was still required to wear the black and dark green colors of a prisoner.

He had the best lifestyle one could hope for living on Erebus. As he paused at the front door of his apartment to place his palm over the security scanner, the first stirrings of doubt pushed from a shadowed corner of his mind. Did he really want to risk all he’d spent the last twelve years working for? If he was captured, there would be no other chances—he’d be sent out with the common residents, forced to survive the gangs, murder, and violence.

Yet the answer to that was simple, and cold detachment washed the doubts away. If he got caught, if any IPC officers tracked him down once he set foot on the
Imojenna
, then he would choose death over returning here. Either he would escape or die by one of the officer’s weapons. He would have freedom. One way or another.

“A
s you can see, the compound where the officers work and live is entirely safe from the inmate population.”

Rian stopped a few steps from the crystal pane window as the colonel marshal indicated the throng of people clashing beyond the high security walls surrounding Erebus’s spaceport. He, Zahli, and Lianna had been brought to a conference room of sorts, the highest room in the tallest building on Erebus. The view looked out over the nearby buildings, which housed some of the prison’s inmates. In the streets between apartment blocks, at least a hundred people—men and women—fought with crudely made weapons. It reminded him of war zones he’d seen, graffiti covered every available surface, and most buildings appeared to have no glass or crystal panes in the windows, only bars and wooden boards. Erebus lived up to every story he’d ever heard.

“Is it always like this?” he asked, leaning a bit farther toward the window.

“No, in actual fact, this is quite unusual. A decision was made not to interfere in this particular skirmish.”

He looked over at the general. “You’re just going to stand around and watch them kill each other?”

“As long as they don’t turn on the officers, or this compound, yes. Think of it as an easy way to control population growth.”

Well, that sure was one way to go about it. He turned away from the window and caught sight of Lianna’s frown. The ship’s engineer and navigator doubled as both his second and Callan’s security partner when the need arose. Today, Lianna was packing almost as many weapons as Callan, which said something about her thoughts on being here.

Across the room, Zahli helped herself to a glass of chilled water from the condiments dispenser and then sat at the large oval-shaped table in the middle of the room. Her shoulders were tight, expression pinched, clearly unhappy about this little outing. Well, what did she expect? She was the one always going on about him being polite to the morons who practically worshipped him. He’d thought accepting the offer of a tour from the colonel had been the courteous thing to do.

He moved from the window and braced a foot on the chair next to his sister, crossing his arms as he turned his attention to the colonel. “My engineer tells me we need a panel to fix our hull breech and my mechanic says we need a new environs filter and a centrifugal hypodermic—” He broke off and looked down at Zahli. “What did Sen say it was again?”

She smiled, the kind that told him she thought he only ever half listened when one of the crew started talking schematics. Which was totally true. He had mechs and engineers to run his ship for a reason.

“Jensen said we needed a centrifugal hyper-ionization separator.”

The colonel marshal nodded. “Of course. I’ll have the spaceport mech-techs bring them to your bay as soon as possible.”

Rian took his commpad out of his pocket and tapped the crystal display to life. “In terms of payment—”

The colonel held up his hands and shook his head. “No, no. We won’t hear of it. A few ship parts are the least we can do for you, after all you did for the IPC during the war.”

He stiffened, clamping down on the aggravation surging through him. He frecking hated it when people gave him special treatment for his years in the service or mentioned the things he’d done to earn the rank of major captain at such a young age. Yeah, he’d all but turned the tide of the Assimilation Wars with one idiotic, suicidal act that by all rights should have seen him dead. Over the years, he’d become somewhat used to the crowds of people waiting when they docked somewhere new, but if anyone mentioned his role directly, he shut down quicker than the
Imojenna’s
hyper-drive engines had when they’d executed their emergency drop out. He didn’t deserve their admiration. Far from it. They should have locked him up instead.

“We have some currency and goods we can barter,” he insisted, voice tight.

The colonel marshal took out a square of linen and mopped his neck. “If you wish to buy any other provisions while you’re here, spend your currency at the supply marketplace, but I won’t have you paying for the ship parts.”

Rian looked down at his sister. “Zahli, do we need any other supplies?”

“We could do with some fresh fruit, veggies, and meat to save us an extra stop next week. Unless you want to keep living on repli-rations until we reach the Rim.”

He made a face, the same one they all made at the prospect of eating repli-rations.

“Get what you need to provide us with meals for a few days. We’ll do fresh food for the first half of the trip and live on repli-rations for the last few days, right?”

“Is it all right if Lianna comes with me?”

So his sister didn’t want to wander around the big scary prison complex on her own? “Sure thing, Zi-zi.”

As she stood, she glared at him for his use of her childhood nickname. Yeah, he always called her on it whenever he thought she was being a wimp. What the freck did she think could possibly happen with all these IPC officers around?

“If you go back down to the main square, you’ll see a sign directing the way,” the colonel said as she and Lianna walked to the end of the room.

Once the girls had left, the colonel turned to him with a wide grin. “Now, Major Captain. How about we go get a brew and dust off some war stories?”

Rian sent the general a taut smile. Oh, fun. Just what he’d love to do. About as much as swallowing boiling plasma.

T
he conference room doors slid closed behind them and Zahli dropped a hand to rest on the butt of her pulse pistol. “This place really is like hell. I think I could have happily lived my life without visiting.”

Lianna didn’t have her hands on any weapons, but her posture was rigid and tense. “Let’s just hope Jensen and I can get the ship fixed sooner rather than later. And pray we never have reason to come by this part of space ever again.”

They took the elevator down and crossed the main square. Even without the signs, she probably could have guessed where the supply marketplace was situated. It seemed to be the only building with a constant stream of people going in and out. As they got closer, she saw most wore the uniform of an IPC officer, but some seemed to be wearing the obvious colors of inmates.

“I thought the colonel marshal said the inmates couldn’t get into this part of the compound.”

Lianna moved closer to her as they reached the doors. “They’re not acting or being treated like inmates. They seem to be shopping.”

“They must be prisoners, though. Why else would they be wearing the uniform?”

“Maybe they’re allowed in here for good behavior or something.”

It seemed hard to believe anyone sentenced to Erebus could be trusted enough to mix freely with the officers. Just inside, they moved out of the way of two women wearing inmate uniforms. One of them smiled and greeted them politely, a stark contrast to the violent people she’d observed outside the walls. Stopping by the computers where currency was exchanged for goods, she grabbed a hovercart and followed Lianna into the isles of products on display.

Lianna stopped by a stack of powdered cleaning solution. “If we split up, we can get out of here and back to the ship sooner rather than later.”

“As much as I don’t want to walk around here by myself, the thought of getting back to the ship sounds great.” Zahli looked along the isle to where she could see vegetables and fruit gleaming under the harsh lighting. There were plenty of people around, many of them officers. Nothing could happen to her between here and buying a few supplies.

“I’ll meet you back here in a few minutes then.” Lianna turned and headed off in the other direction, while Zahli instructed the hovercart to move towards the back of the store.

She loaded the cart with what she’d come to learn was a fine balance between the amount of food Rian expected to see versus the amount of currency she spent, and then moved onto the meat section. She grabbed a few cuts of beef, but took mostly jerky since it’d last longer. Her shopping finished, she directed the hovercart back to where she’d started. But typical of shopping carts, it decided in that moment to develop a mind of its own and have a mini-meltdown. The cart seemed intent on squashing her against the refrigerator and she took a few steps back, only to bump into someone behind her.

“I’m so sorry.” She blurted out the apology before she’d even turned around, still trying to get the stupid hovercraft to stop ramming the refrigerator door.

“No problem. Here, let me.” She glanced up as an officer leaned over to tap one of the icons on the hovercart’s control screen, bringing the device to a rattled stop.

“Thanks.” She puffed out a small breath of relief and checked the more delicate vegetables hadn’t gotten squashed by anything heavier in the commotion.

“You’re from the damaged ship that landed a while ago?” the officer asked, stepping back and casting a quick look around.

“Yes. The colonel marshal said we could get supplies. I am in the right place, aren’t I?”

He gave a quick nod. “There’s only one marketplace in the spaceport compound. But there’s been a security breach. I need you to come with me.”

He took her arm, tugging her away from the shopping cart as her heart pushed up into the bottom of her throat.

“What happened?”

He shook his head, expression tense. “I can’t say here. I just need to take you to a more secured area.

“But, I came here with another of the crew. We need to go get her—”

The officer hurried her along an aisle, not seeming deterred by her hesitation.

“Another officer has been dispatched to get her.”

Hoping to see Lianna, she cast one more look into the marketplace as they reached the doors. Despite the fact that this officer had told her there’d been a security breach, no one inside or outside the marketplace seem to be acting anything other than normal. Suspicion stirred below her apprehension.

Maybe it had something to do with their ship. Maybe someone had said something to piss off Rian and he’d reacted with his typical violent tendencies, and now they were all being detained. Damn it, they couldn’t take her brother anywhere. But this wasn’t like getting into some bar fight on Palomo, one of Auberon’s lawless moons. They were on
Erebus
. If ever there was a time Rian should keep a tight leash on his temper, it’d be while they had their boots on the dirt of the IPC’s prison planet.

By the time they’d rounded the building next to the marketplace and the officer paused to put his security clearance into a door, she’d worked herself into a pretty decent indignant rage over what her brother had done to cause them trouble this time. Usually she cut him some slack—he wasn’t anywhere near as bad now as when he’d first gotten home from the war. But the possibility they might have to stay here for even a short amount of time to sort out any issues left her fuming.

She followed the officer into a quiet corridor lined with shut doors. This section was somewhat more utilitarian than the other buildings she’d seen. The sound of the conflict going on beyond the walls was louder in here, and the interior had a chill to it that left goose-pimples racing over her skin.

Crossing her arms, her steps slowed as something about this registered as not right. Where was the rest of the crew? In fact, where was
anyone
else? There didn’t seem to be any other people in this building—neither officers nor prisoners.

Her escort had stopped in front of another door, pausing to put another security code in. He glanced up to where she’d stopped a few feet away.

“Come on, I need to secure you in here.” He pushed the door open and stepped back, waiting for her to join him. But the absolute emptiness of this place had started creeping under her skin.

“If it’s all the same, I’ll just wait until Lianna or the rest of the crew turns up.”

The officer’s expression tightened into lines of anger, and in that second, being alone with him was about the dead last thing she wanted.