Horizon Down (Galaxy Mavericks Book 9) Read online

  Smoke pulled against the pipe but the handcuffs prevented him from chasing Florian.

  “Come back here!” Smoke cried.

  But Florian just waved, and he began to whistle long and loud.

  Smoke sank to the floor, saying the name over and over: “Gino. Gino. Gino…”

  12

  “When we get back to the office, I want six glasses of wine, and an entourage of people singing my praises,” Florian said as he walked into the airlock.

  “Prepare for reentry in five minutes,” the pilot said.

  Florian strapped himself in a chair and let out a refreshing “aaah…”

  “Boss, your aunt wants a status,” Hux said.

  “Get her on the phone,” Florian said.

  Hux started to dial on a cellphone when something rocked the ship.

  Florian’s eyes went to the window.

  Macalestern lay ahead.

  “What the hell was that?” he asked.

  The ship shook again. Florian grabbed onto his seatbelt.

  “Sir,” the pilot said, “it’s the—”

  Darkness covered the window. Red eyes appeared, blinking rapidly.

  “Shit,” Florian said.

  A giant gaping mouth opened and swallowed the ship.

  In the negative netherscape, Florian stormed out of the airlock.

  Above, Defestus crumbled as the Planet Eaters ravaged it.

  “What the hell?” he roared.

  Gray particles gathered in front of Florian, and in a flash, the ink figures appeared, their eyes glowing.

  Growling, Florian whipped out his phone and activated his communication app.

  “What do you want?” he asked, banging clashing notes on the app’s keyboard.

  “You have begun your walk down the path,” the figures said via their ink blots. “You have begun your descent. Soon, there will be no turning back.”

  “There never was any turning back.”

  “You have doomed five souls to death,” the figures said.

  “You’re talking about the family I gave away,” Florian said. “Who cares?”

  “We did not discuss this,” the figures said. “You underestimate the heart.”

  “Heart, my ass,” Florian said. “Did you call me here to lecture me?”

  “Use the darkness,” the figures said. “But also, use the light. The positivity that will soon come will be your boon.”

  Florian raised an eyebrow.

  “We need more food,” the figures said.

  “All right,” Florian said. “Let me see what I can do. But really, I’m starting to think that maybe one of these days, you’re going to try to eat me.”

  “Mutual understanding,” the figures said.

  They gestured in the distance toward Kepler.

  The planet was no longer crumbling. It looked like a film negative version of its former self, but with a surface that was smooth and glistening.

  “I don’t get it,” he said.

  “Light,” the figures said. “It is light we need, man with the dark heart.”

  Florian repeated the word. “You’ve got plenty of it.”

  “We do not have light,” the figures said. “We need light.”

  “You guys are really annoying,” Florian said.

  “Bring us light, and we will give you the darkness.”

  Florian thought for a moment.

  “Light,” he whispered. “Do you mean…a star?”

  “Light,” the figures said again.

  “When do your little stomachs stop expanding?” Florian asked. “How the actual hell am I going to give you a star? You guys are going to give yourselves stomach aches.”

  “Use the light that will soon come to you,” the figures said. “The light of success.”

  Florian turned and waved his hand.

  “You’re making my head hurt. I’ll think on it.”

  He shut the airlock without looking back. The doors clanged shut.

  “Get me the hell out of here!” he screamed to the bridge, cupping his hands to his mouth.

  He paused for a moment, thinking about the conversation. Then he shook his head. He wanted an aspirin.

  Smoke was watching him. The cyborg sat cross-legged on the floor, unblinking. He had seen the entire encounter.

  “You got a problem?” Florian asked.

  Smoke shook his head.

  “That didn’t spook you, did it?”

  Smoke blinked. After a long, awkward pause, he said, “I’ve seen scarier shit than that.”

  Florian chuckled.

  “So you think,” he said, walking away.

  13

  Ren stepped off a helicopter onto a windswept moor.

  A loud ocean surf broke against the rocks, spraying a fine mist through the air. Thunder rumbled through the sky, and a patchwork of dark clouds rolled overhead.

  She pulled her cloak closer to her. The hood, made of red silk, was warm against her skin, giving her some comfort against the cold.

  A gloved hand grabbed her arm and guided her forward.

  Dyne led her over the rocks.

  “How do you feel?” he asked.

  Her cheeks were still sore from the tattoos. Tender and swollen. If only she could see herself—she probably looked like a chipmunk.

  She said nothing.

  “The coronation will begin soon,” Dyne said. “We have a speech ready for you. You actually have a full-time communications specialist who will help you craft your messages.”

  “What if I don’t want to speak?” Ren snapped.

  Dyne laughed. “They all say that.”

  “T-They?” she asked.

  “Every emperor is reluctant,” Dyne said. “But when you see the power you have, you’ll quickly change your mind.”

  “I don’t care about power,” she said.

  “Do you care about your hive parents?” he asked.

  She fell silent.

  “Do you care about Harlowe?” Dyne asked.

  Her boyfriend.

  “Their lives depend on your sacrifice,” he said matter-of-factly. “Sacrifice yourself or sacrifice them.”

  Ren stopped. “Are you threatening me?”

  “No, I’m guaranteeing your service,” Dyne said.

  Ren looked away.

  “Please don’t make me be the bad guy,” Dyne said. “I’ve got enough to do already. Ordering deaths is not something I prefer.”

  Ren gasped.

  “Come on,” Dyne said. “You need to make your address.”

  The first thing she saw in the mist was shadows. Hundreds of shadows with neon lines.

  Soldiers. Hundreds of them.

  They stood, unmoving and silent.

  She stood atop a rocky outcrop that rose ten feet over the shadows.

  Dyne stood next to her. He saluted and shouted, “Attention!”

  The soldiers’ boots clopped as they made their quick salute.

  “We present to you our new emperor,” Dyne said, pulling back Ren’s hood.

  The soldiers cheered and clapped. The applause was deafening, drowning out the sounds of the waves breaking against the waves.

  A screen drone hovered in front of her. Words began to scroll across the screen.

  Raise your hand to wave.

  She stared at the screen reluctantly, but Dyne whispered to her harshly.

  “Follow the instructions, or there will be consequences.”

  She didn’t want to listen.

  She didn’t want to just go through these motions without any emotion.

  But she didn’t want anything to happen to those who cared for her. She didn’t want to not have a place she could come home to. She didn’t want the future to be any more uncertain than it already was.

  Slowly, she raised her hand.

  A sly smirk crept across Dyne’s face.

  She read the words that came across the screen:

  Greetings, fellow soldiers. I have had to sacrifice my civilian life j
ust as you have had to sacrifice your own civilian lives.

  She choked.

  “I'm not cut out for this,” she said. “I'm not. I’m—”

  “No one is cut out for it when they start,” Dyne said. “You have your whole life to get better. And you will. Now speak.”

  Ren gulped, fought back the urge to shed tears. But her eyes were so sore she didn't even know if tears were possible.

  She spoke the words on the screen, and the drone amplified her voice. When she finished the sentence, the soldiers applauded.

  “My predecessor was murdered in cold blood,” Ren said, her eyes widening.

  The emperor…murdered?

  She had only heard that he died. If he was murdered, what might happen to her?

  She shuddered and stuttered through the next paragraph, not really understanding what she was saying.

  “We must stand united against our common foe,” she said. “We must stand united against the Rah Galaxy. We must stand united in revenge against a Florian Macalestern, so that we may assert our might for all to see.”

  She had never seen that name before. Florian Macalestern?

  She was certain she said his name wrong.

  “Tonight begins the start of a war unlike anything our galaxies have seen before.”

  She paused as she read the next line.

  Her throat tightened and her hands quivered.

  She didn't want to read it.

  She didn't want to send these next words into the world.

  But her lips moved, and she said them, shaking.

  “Tonight begins the ultimate bloodshed.”

  14

  Grayson whistled whimsically as Raul and Maria unloaded their damaged spaceship onto the shipyard at Mad Dog’s Spaceship Repair Shop.

  The rainy skies of Macalestern were gray and dreary.

  Grayson pulled a hoodie over his head to block out the rain.

  The tow ship beeped as it set the corsair down. The damaged spaceship was a sorry sight, and the damage to the wings and engine were extensive. It was a miracle the ship was even intact.

  He looked over at Eddie, who dug his hands in his pockets and stared at the ship wistfully.

  This had been—as much as Grayson didn't want to admit it—Eddie’s fault.

  Grayson didn't tell him that. Eddie already knew. It'd been eating at him for the last few hours. Like he'd committed a sin.

  “Sorry this happened,” Eddie said. “Look, man, I'm really—”

  “Don't apologize,” Grayson said. “We’re alive. That's what matters.”

  “I failed you.”

  “Didn't fail me,” Grayson said. “Trust me on that.”

  A mechanic walked out of the service bay, surveying the damage. He was a tall, lanky man with black hair, a goatee, and an earring. He shook his head at the ship, then waved at Eddie and Grayson.

  “You folks the owners?” the mechanic asked.

  Grayson nodded.

  “You got some extensive damage,” the mechanic said.

  “You think so?” Grayson asked.

  “How'd you manage to damage the wings AND the engine and hyper core at the same time?” the mechanic asked.

  “You don't want to know,” Eddie said, rubbing his head.

  “It's my job to know, unfortunately,” the mechanic said. “For insurance purposes. Trust me when I say I couldn't care less what you were doing.”

  Eddie sighed. “Well, we were traveling to De—”

  “Ran into some Arguses,” Grayson said. “Real sons of bitches.”

  The mechanic spit. “I was glad to see ‘em fly away.”

  “That makes three of us,” Grayson said.

  “Well,” the mechanic said, consulting his tablet. “I'd say you folks are looking at a good sum of money.”

  “You wouldn't mind cutting us a discount, would you?” Grayson asked. “My buddy recommended you. Will Stroud, Galactic Guard.”

  “No shit,” the mechanic said smiling. “Will and I go way back. We used to work together at another shop a long time ago. Okay, sure. But I'm gonna have to charge you what it costs.”

  “No problem,” Grayson said.

  “I'll make it a priority,” he said. “I've got the parts here. Probably take me through tomorrow.”

  “Sounds good,” Grayson said.

  From the wing of the tow ship, Raul and Maria waved at them.

  “Take care of yourselves!” Raul said.

  “You do the same!” Grayson said, waving.

  Eddie bade them goodbye in Spanish, and in a few moments, the tow ship rose and blasted into the sky.

  “Guess we need to get a hotel,” Eddie said.

  “The costs are just adding up, aren't they?” Grayson asked, chuckling.

  “Yeah,” Eddie said.

  Grayson grabbed Eddie by the shoulder. “Listen. Your family is still alive. You didn’t kill them. I don’t know for sure, but I got a feeling. I always follow my gut, and it’s never wrong. You know?”

  “I think I know what you mean,” Eddie said.

  Several fierce arms of lighting struck and covered the sky.

  A deafening boom shook the area, making Grayson duck.

  Sounded like thunder, but when he looked up, he saw three spaceships flying through the sky far above. They looked like Macalestern Corporation ships, but they were too high up for him to tell. The ships circled the ocean and then flew toward a cluster of tall skyscrapers on the living platform.

  “Man, those ships were traveling pretty fast,” Grayson said. “Wonder what’s up?”

  Shortly after, helicopters whirred overhead toward the corporate towers.

  “Hmm,” Grayson said. “Must be something going on.”

  “Maybe it’s something to do with the Arguses?” Eddie asked. “It was weird how they turned around and left all of a sudden.”

  Grayson nodded.

  “Well, we aren’t solving the galaxy’s problems today,” he said, staring after the ships. “But a coffee wouldn’t hurt, would it?”

  Together, they walked into the body shop.

  15

  Cameras flashed as Florian stepped off his spaceship onto the roof of the Macalestern Headquarters.

  A crowd of employees with ponchos and umbrellas had gathered on the roof and applauded feverishly.

  The noise took Florian aback. His eyes adjusted to the flashing lights, and then he saw a semicircle of people cheering for him.

  Hux and Tatiana were surprised by the cheering, too.

  Hux mumbled something, and Tatiana whispered to him.

  “Look alive,” Florian said to them.

  He grinned. Then he threw both of his hands into the air and waved. The applause grew louder.

  A security guard met them.

  “Sir, the board is waiting on you.”

  “Excellent,” Florian said.

  The press rushed him, but Florian held up his hands and said, “Gentle people, I can’t speak about this until I’ve debriefed the board. Tatiana! Schedule a press conference in an hour.”

  “Okay, boss,” Tatiana said. Florian couldn’t see her; she was lost in the shuffle.

  The security guard escorted him and his team through the press, full of journalists screaming questions.

  They passed into the roof stairwell and into the executive wing, which was quieter.

  “Man, it was crazy out there,” Florian said.

  “They were calling us heroes,” Hux said.

  “That’s because we are,” Florian said, walking ahead toward the board room. “See? Didn’t I tell you both that this was a wonderful day?”

  They reached the board room.

  The board was gathered around the table. Annaliese and Sakamoto was with them. When Florian entered, they all rose.

  And then they clapped.

  Florian pretended surprise.

  But the applause continued.

  Even Sakamoto, who had a sullen, damn, maybe I should have gone instead of you look
on his face, clapped firmly.

  Florian waved and downplayed the applause, motioning them to stop.

  But the applause continued.

  “Gentle people, I don’t deserve your applause,” Florian said. “Truly, I don’t.”

  The clapping faded.

  The chairwoman of the board, Thanya Aromdee, smiled at Florian.

  “How did you do it?” she asked. “We have never seen negotiation like that with Arguses.”

  “I could not have done it without my auntie’s talking points,” Florian said, clasping his hands and bowing to Annaliese. “I rehearsed them and rehearsed them, and the pigs agreed to have mercy on our planet.”

  “That can’t be all,” Aromdee asked.

  “They were simply testing our mettle,” Florian said dismissively. “When they saw me groveling at their feet on behalf of all of humanity, that was enough for them. We just wounded their pride, that’s all.”

  “We can confirm that the Argus fleet has in fact left the galaxy,” Annaliese said. “We’re in the clear for now.”

  Aromdee nodded.

  “You’ve shown remarkable leadership, Florian,” she said.

  “If that’s leadership, then I’ve got plenty more to show you,” he said.

  Aromdee puffed. Then she gave him a knowing look.

  “Perhaps. But we understand that you have just returned from a fruitful trip?”

  “Ah, yes, Madam Chairwoman, but I would hate to monopolize your time…”

  The board sat down.

  “Please share,” she said. “We have heard that you are burning to discuss it.”

  Florian glanced at Annaliese. He knew she wasn’t going to like this. She gave him a death stare.

  He shrugged, then strolled to the front of the room.

  “Forgive my lack of visual aids,” he said. “But ladies and gentlemen of the board, it is my honor to present a new venture for the company that I feel will take us in a profitable new direction.”

  He walked around the room.

  “What happened today was fortunate,” he said. “And we are all grateful for it. But are we going to send an envoy of begging humans every time something goes wrong with an alien race? At what point do we draw a line and stand up for what we believe in?”

  The board was quiet.