Burned (Shadows of the Void Space Opera Serial Book 6), page 1
Burned
Shadows of the Void Book 6
J.J. Green
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Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter One
Jas Harrington was having a staring competition with the Minister for Global Security. She had locked eyes with the long-haired, kaftan-wearing government official, who was tied to a rickety wooden chair. Above them both, a single bare light strip illuminated the windowless basement room. Jas wasn’t up to speed on the politics and politicians of Earth’s Global Government—her brief visits to Earth between deep space missions didn’t allow for it—but she’d been told the woman’s name was Bathsheba Dubois, and that she’d been in office for three and a half years.
Three and a half years was plenty long enough for her to have been killed and replaced by a Shadow—a perfect copy of the victim, only inhabited by a hostile alien. What Jas had to find out was simple: was it the real Bathsheba sitting before her, or was it Shadow Bathsheba? If she was the actual Minister, Jas and her friends were guilty of the crime of kidnapping. But if it was a Shadow, Jas was one step closer to alerting the Transgalactic Council that Earth was gradually being infected and taken over by an alien menace.
Bathsheba was the first to crack. She broke her stare, and her eyes shifted to the side. Jas gave a slight nod of satisfaction. The minister seemed to be weakening a little, and now she might respond to questioning. As part of her training as a security officer Jas had learned how to interrogate effectively, but she didn’t want to employ the harsher methods she knew. She had a distaste for them, and there was a chance the woman sitting before her was a human being.
“How did you know it was me in the car?” Bathsheba asked.
Jas straightened up in surprise. After removing her gag, she’d endured longer than an hour of furious threats and demands from the minister. Her question was the first real attempt at communication she’d made.
The truth was, Jas hadn’t known she was kidnapping a Global Government minister when she’d attacked her limousine. She’d been trying to kidnap another, known, Shadow. Unsure of the wisdom of giving away that information, Jas replied, “It wasn’t easy. You all travel in identical unmarked limousines. Maybe you should think about updating your security policy in that area.”
Bathsheba shrugged. “A motorcade only draws attention to important officials. And these days, when a targeted airstrike from kilometers away is technically easy to arrange, anonymity is the best defense. It’s worked pretty well.”
“Until now.”
Another shrug. “Security must be constantly revised and updated as threats develop and evolve.”
She was stating one of the first principles Jas had ever learned. Bathsheba Dubois was no lightweight. She knew her stuff. But her statement wasn’t evidence that she was the real Bathsheba. The longer Shadows spent living as replicants of their victims, the more they unlocked their memories and knowledge, and the more like them they became. Jas had heard that some Shadows even became confused about who they were, eventually.
What information could she get from the woman that would clearly identify her? Shadow Bathsheba could probably answer any question the original Bathsheba could. A certain emptiness behind the eyes or a vagueness in the gaze were some signs of a recently created Shadow replacement, but the woman showed neither of those symptoms.
“So,” said Bathsheba, “what’s your organization? What are you demanding for my return? You realize that the police are homing in on this location as we speak? You know, if you give yourselves up now, before it’s too late, you might be spared the death penalty.”
“Are you trying to tell me you’ve been fitted with a tracker?” asked Jas. “That’s a lie. They would have been here a long time ago if that were the case. Don’t worry. I know all about trackers. No. No one knows where you are. No one’s ever going to find you.”
Bathsheba’s gaze wavered. Her anger had given way to fear, Jas detected, though the woman was trying to hide it. Good. Maybe she would reveal something that would give away her true identity. “Tell me what you know about Shadows,” she said, watching the minister’s expression closely.
Surprise flickered over her face but was quickly suppressed. “What a ridiculous question. Shadows are shade cast by objects standing in light.”
Jas’ lips thinned. “Don’t waste my time and yours. You know what I mean. You know what Shadows are. The Government’s been covering them up long enough. You’ve been pretending to the Transgalactic Council that you have the situation under control ,and you’ve suppressed all reports about them in the media. But they’re here, and they’re taking over. You’ve let the situation get out of hand. Or maybe your victim did.”
“Wait. You think I’m a Shadow?” Bathsheba sat upright. “Is that what this is about? That’s why you kidnapped me? But that doesn’t make any sense. You could have informed the vidnews channels if you really thought that. You could have—”
“Told the media you’ve silenced?”
Bathsheba paused. Her shoulders sagged. It seemed the natural reaction of someone in her position, but it could also be the mimicry of a Shadow.
“I’m not a Shadow,” said Bathsheba. “I don’t know how to prove it to you, but I’m not. Listen. If you know about them and you’re fighting them, we’re on the same side. Protecting Earth from Shadows is the Global Government’s number one task. The longer you keep me here, the closer we come to losing that fight. You have to let me go so I can do my job.”
Jas snorted. “From what I’ve seen, we stand a better chance without you in power.”
Her face reddening, the minister replied, “You have no idea what you’re talking about. You have no idea the lengths I’ve gone to in order to fight this menace.”
Jas stepped closer and bent down so that her face was inches from Bathsheba’s. “The tests you use aren’t working. Shadows are flooding onto the planet. The parents of a very good friend of mine have gone missing, probably taken by Shadows. There are Shadows in the refugee institutions. There are Shadows in your own offices. Whatever lengths you’ve gone to, they aren’t enough.”
Behind her, the door opened. It was Sayen, looking tired and in pain. Less than a day ago, she’d had an operation to remove a tracking device her parents had had placed in her. The wound had to be sore.
“You,” gasped Bathsheba, her eyes widening. “Then you aren’t a Shadow. I thought not when I interviewed you, but when you disappeared...”
“No, I’m not,” Sayen replied. “Can I talk to you?” she asked Jas, who followed her outside.
“Erielle still isn’t back,” she said, after Jas closed the door. “It’s nearly dusk. She should have been here hours ago. Something must have gone wrong. She’s been captured, or hurt. Maybe she’s stuck at the Security HQ, Jas, and she can’t get out. Maybe she’s unconscious, and she needs our help. She’s covered in invisibility spray. How are we ever going to find her?” Sayen’s voice had been rising as she spoke, and her lower lip trembled.
“Let’s go upstairs.” Jas locked the door and helped Sayen mount the steps to the first floor. The missing underworlder leader hadn’t escaped her mind, but she wasn’t sure what they could do. The last they’d heard, it had sounded like she was in great danger. Since then, the radio contact they had with her had been silent, even when they’d risked hailing her. But they couldn’t storm the Global Government Security Headquarters. They didn’t have the firepower. And even if they managed to get inside, what then? They had no clue where she might be.
But Sayen and Erielle were lovers, and Jas didn’t want to crush her hopes that the underworlder might still turn up alive and well. “We’ll talk to her people and see what they suggest. They must be just as worried as we are. How’s Makey doing?”
“He sleeps most of the time, but he seems to be getting better. I dressed his wound. It’s healing up.”
“That’s great. Why don’t you go back to your room, and I’ll talk to the underworlders about Erielle. Do you know where Carl is?”
“He said he was going to get some sleep, but that was a while ago.”
“Okay, thanks. You try to sleep, too, and try not to worry. We’ll do our best to find Erielle. I promise.”
Leaving Sayen in the underworlders’ medical treatment room, Jas went to find Carl. The pilot was alone in the communal bedroom. He was lying on his back, but he was awake. His hands behind his head, he was staring out the window into the twilight. He looked sad and wistful. Jas wondered if he was thinking about his missing parents.
“Carl?” she said, breaking him from his reverie.
Jas shook her head.
“Krat.”
“I don’t know how we’re going to know for sure. But that isn’t what’s on my mind at the moment. Would you come with me to talk to the underworlders about Erielle?”
“She still not back?”
“No, and none of them seem to be doing anything about it.”
“That’s not good.”
The building was strangely empty and quiet. They didn’t find Erielle’s followers until they’d climbed right to the top, where her private rooms were. When they went in, they found all the underworlders gathered there. A meeting was going on, but silence fell abruptly the moment Jas and Carl showed their faces.
“Something we can do for you?” asked a large man, who appeared to have been addressing the rest. His tone was sarcastic. Jas recognized him as one of the men who had accompanied Erielle and Sayen when they had stolen the blood that saved Makey’s life.
“I think you all agree that Erielle has to be in trouble,” Jas said. “If you have a plan for some way to find her, we’d like to help.”
“What a generous offer,” said the man. “But, sorry, whatever we decide to do, your help won’t be needed.”
Chapter Two
Jas rattled the padlock on the cabinet. It was a simple mechanical device, typical of the underworlders’ dislike and distrust of technology. Luckily for Jas, that meant it would also be simple to break. She lifted up the blaster she was holding, preparing to hit the lock with its handle.
“I’m not sure this is a good idea,” said Carl, grabbing her arm before she could bring it down.
“Carl, if the underworlders turn against us, we won’t stand a chance unless they’re unarmed.” But her friend’s worries made her pause. They both looked at Erielle’s weapon cabinet while they decided what to do.
“When they find out we stole their guns,” Carl said, “they’re definitely gonna turn against us.” He let go of her arm.
“You saw that guy at their meeting. He was talking them into throwing us out, or worse. And what are we going to do then? Sayen can barely walk, and Makey’s too sick to move. Who knows what they’ll do with the minister we kidnapped.” She sighed. “I agree it might turn out not to be the best move, but in our current situation, I don’t think we have a choice. Offense is the best defense.”
After the underworlder’s rejection of their offer to help them find their leader, the rest of them had stared at Jas and Carl in silence until they left. Whatever they thought of the large man’s comments, it was clear that the underworlders still thought of them as outsiders. Their presence at Erielle’s place was on very shaky ground. Jas knew she would feel a whole lot more comfortable with their weaponry under her control.
Carl seemed to have run out of arguments. “I suppose you’re right. Go ahead.”
Jas raised her blaster again and brought the hard edge of the handle down on the lock. The metal rings on the door that held the lock bent, but they didn’t break. Jas tried again, but the welding held firm. The lock was turning out to be a lot tougher than antique vids implied. She would have to blast it.
She turned the weapon in her hand and aimed it before delivering a short beam. It sizzled the metal, and the lock clanked as it hit the floor. Erielle’s cabinet of wonders opened before them. She had a variety of weapons in there. Jas was familiar with most of them, though some were so old she’d only ever seen pictures of them.
They hastily filled a bag with the cabinet’s contents. They didn’t know how long the underworlders’ meeting would go on. Jas was worried about Makey and Sayen lying unprotected in the medical center.
Soon, the cabinet shelves were empty, and their bag was bulky and heavy. Its weight didn’t reassure Jas, however. With their criminal connections, the underworlders would have few problems replenishing their supply. Stealing Erielle’s stock was, at most, only buying them a little time.
“That it?” Carl asked, leaning over Jas’ shoulder to peer into the dark recesses of the cupboard.
“Yeah, we’ve got everything.”
“Krat.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Where’s the invisibility spray?”
Jas’ heart sank. “You’re right. It isn’t here. I swear Erielle put it back before we left for the security HQ. Someone’s taken it already.”
“Yeah. Someone’s thinking ahead. Probably that fella who was running the meeting.”
“Nothing we can do about it now. We’ve got everything else. Looks like I was right to be cautious. Let’s get downstairs to the medical center.”
Both Sayen and Makey were in bed but awake when Jas and Carl appeared with their cache of weaponry. Carl explained what had been said at the underworlders’ meeting, and neither of them was slow to understand the danger they were in.
“Jas, did you get anywhere questioning the minister?” Sayen asked.
“Well, once she stopped cussing me out and started talking...I don’t know. Either she’s doing a good job of acting like the real Bathsheba Dubois, or she isn’t a Shadow.”
Sayen grimaced. “I really thought she was. She was so cold toward me. And the fact that she was interviewing all the job applicants, it seemed like she was trying to assess me to see if I was worth turning into a Shadow.”
“I think she might have been interviewing candidates herself because she was worried about Shadows infiltrating the department,” said Jas. “She was trying to check for them.”
Sayen shook her head. “Things must have gotten really bad. We’ve got to do something.”
“Of course, and we’re trying,” Jas said. “But it looks like our plan of catching a Shadow has failed again. We still don’t have anything to convince the Transgalactic Council that Earth’s politicians have been lying.”
The door flew open and banged against the wall. The underworlder who had been addressing the meeting stood in the doorway, and the space behind him was crowded.
“We’ve come to a decision,” said the man. “You can stay one more night, then you’re all to leave first thing in the morning. Erielle’s not coming back from the look of it. You guys were only ever here because she wanted it. No one else did. We’ve lost friends because of you. You’re bad luck, and you’re trying to drag us into a fight that’s none of our business. If it were up to me, you’d be out of the door right now, but some people feel sorry for the kid. So we’ve agreed, you’ve got one more night. In the morning, you can pack up your stuff and get out.”
“We can’t leave in the morning,” exclaimed Sayen. “Makey isn’t nearly well enough yet. He almost died. He can’t just get up and leave.”
“Look...” said the man, approaching Sayen until he was within a few inches of her.
Jas slowly reached inside the bag of weapons, which the man seemed to have mistaken as containing their belongings.
“I could’ve died or gotten arrested stealing blood for that kid,” he continued. “And why? He isn’t one of us. He’s a complete stranger. I only did it because Erielle asked me to. But now she’s gone, and we’re going to see a few changes around here.”
Jas wondered if those changes included him taking over in Erielle’s place. He was standing only a short distance from the petite navigator. With her enhancements, she could take care of herself, but Jas didn’t want him thinking he could bully them into doing whatever he wanted.
“You’re crowding my friend,” she said. “Leave us alone. We’ve heard what you have to say, and we’ll talk about it. If it suits us to leave in the morning, we’ll go.”
The underworlder lifted a corner of his mouth. “You’re going whether you agree to it or not,” he said. But he moved back. “I’ll be back at dawn.” Pushing against them with his broad frame, he broke through the other underworlders who were peering in through the door, following the proceedings with great interest.
Carl closed the door on their curious faces and leaned his back against it. A tense pause followed. “Hey, Jas, give me a hand with this,” he said, indicating a tall metal cupboard full of medical equipment. Together, they positioned the cupboard in front of the door. It wasn’t much of a barricade, but the door didn’t have a lock and it was the best they could do.
