“Attempting.” Jade let out a small cheer. “I’ve linked.”
“Come in. This is the Racer Pilgrim.” Jade’s words were hurried. She said it again, this time more slowly.
“Thank the heavens.”
I recognized the voice. “Barnes?”
“Hawk, latch me up. Can you tow us to the station?”
I cringed at his question. I couldn’t tell him that everything he knew was gone. That his Belt Station had been destroyed. “We’re going to latch you on now.” I cut the link and placed my face into my palms. So much loss. How could Barnes expect the station to still be standing?
“R11, connect to them. I’ll meet Barnes in the cargo hold.” I rushed through the Racer. I had to know what had gone down at the Belt, and what we’d find as we flew deeper into our own solar system.
I used the cargo hold’s screen while the shell connected to our underside. When the contacts were latched, Barnes emerged from the opening and into the airlock. A woman was with him.
The airlock sealed, and a rush of air decontaminated them. It was standard procedure when picking someone up from a case. I’d never had to do it, but they seemed surprised as the air blasted their bodies.
I unfastened the hatch, and they stepped onto my Racer.
A projection appeared from the shell’s entrance. “Having issues at the mines? Worried about possible radiation or contamination? Improve your odds with Orion’s newly improved case. Link your PersaTab for more information.”
I reached past Barnes and punched the screen, ending the advertisement.
“Hawk? What are you doing here?” It was Octavia. Her eyes were red-rimmed, and her hair was messy.
Barnes must have sensed our remorse, because he hurried to me, grabbing my shoulders. “What is it? What aren’t you telling us?”
I peered at Octavia, then back at Major Hewitt Barnes. “The Belt Station is gone.”
NINETEEN
“This is impossible.” Octavia was in shock while we returned to the open space where the Station had once orbited.
“Why were you in the case?” Luther asked them.
“We were running drills for the staff. The Belt Protectors feigned an assault, and you know the first rule.” Barnes paused, waiting for someone to say it. When we all stayed quiet, he finished his own thought. “The top-ranked officers retreat.”
“That’s a dumb rule,” Luther said.
“Especially in a time of crisis,” Holland added.
“It’s not our rule. The CEOs are the ones—” Octavia started, but I cut her off.
“They’re cowards, Octavia. I didn’t expect the same from you and Barnes.” I’d had enough of these executive types running for the hills and leaving their people in harm’s way.
“Watch your tongue, Hawk,” Barnes said, his words laced with a casual threat.
“Don’t talk to him like that!” Luther stood his ground, protecting me.
“We’re on the same team,” I assured them. “Tell us exactly what happened.”
Barnes glared at Luther and spoke cautiously. “Liberty joined us. Eclipse had suggested the Velibar were coming from three distinct points in the solar system. She broke her forces into thirds and sent a regiment here, one to Saturn, and the last to Earth. She had no proof, so when our war games began, we complied with the case protocol. No one came back for us.”
“Your sister was here?” I asked Octavia.
She nodded and glanced at Holland as if finally noticing him. She lifted a hand and touched Holland’s face, as if confirming he wasn’t a ghost.
“What about the message we received from you?” I fumbled with my PersaTab and found the recording. I hit play. “If anyone hears this, my name is Octavia Post, Lead Chair of the Board. The invasion has begun. We’re under attack.”
“How did you find that? I said that for the sake of the war games trial run,” she admitted. “Someone must have sent it to you.”
“The comms went dark after that message,” Jade informed them.
“No wonder you rushed back. Dear God. The Velibar did this? We have to contact Earth!” Octavia was no longer the shrewd conspirator I’d met on a few occasions. She seemed frantic now.
“I don’t think it was the Velibar,” I told her.
“Then who?” Barnes asked.
“We have a lot to tell you. But first, we can’t stick around.” I sent Varn Wallish our next destination, and he responded, confirming his understanding. I blasted from the Belt with little concern for my speed. I couldn’t linger in the death and destruction.
An hour later, we were clear of danger, and I primed the FTL drive. The SeaTech number eleven Racer rushed toward Saturn. I had a feeling we’d confront a familiar scene.
Once we were on target, we informed Octavia and Barnes of our encounters. The story only took a half hour, and they gaped at us after the tale ended with us leaving Biks with Holland.
“Then this is the work of the Darlor and Hidan?” Barnes asked.
“I still don’t think so.” I said this, and everyone began talking at the same time, even my allies. “Bear with me. I think someone on the inside has been having a good laugh.”
“Who?”
“That’s the million-dollar question,” I whispered.
We slowed some distance from Saturn, and I was somewhat relieved to find the ringed planet was still undamaged. It was quiet, with few signals showing on our radar.
“I’ll take the lead, Hawk. Moving for Titan,” Varn said.
“Major, what was supposed to be out here?” I asked.
“The Station is gone. We had manufacturing on Titan ramped up.” Barnes leaned over Luther’s console, trying to contact Titan’s surface. There was no response. “Damn it. How could this have happened?”
“We had a plan. They might have escaped too,” Octavia said. She was returning to her old self. Barnes was starting to get some of his vigor back as well.
I looked at the radar. “Where are they supposed to retreat to?”
“Venus. We have a bunker there. Well, far more than a bunker, but it’s hidden from anyone if they attempt to locate it,” Octavia said.
“Who knows about it?” If my estimation of the mole was accurate, the bunker wasn’t as safe as the Lead Chair hoped.
“We all do,”
