Karr burst out laughing.
Friedrich Geisinger was the king of a pharmaceutical empire. A reclusive man who’d created so many medical advances, society practically bowed at his feet. It was his great-great grandfather that discovered the atlas orb, the cleanest and strongest source of power known to man. It was his great-grandfather that had cured the common cold, and his uncle that had cured cancer.
It was Geisinger’sfatherthat had created the supplemental vaccine that was supposed to save lives from the environmental changes. It was widely taken by all on Earth before it turned into the Reaper’s Disease. It had wiped outhalfof humanity there; a fate that Friedrich Geisinger had spent his entire life trying to unwind. To clear his family name.
Though only in his forties, Friedrich had a pill on the market for every ailment. A patch for every problem. Small solutions… but he’d never cracked the code on the Reaper.
“There is no way inhell,” Karr said through his laughter,“Friedrich Geisinger would hire us for a job. He’s busy trying to unravel the knots his father made.”
But Cade wasn’t laughing.
He crossed his arms and leaned back against the pod, face as stoic as a statue.
“Cade,” Karr said.
“Come on.” Cade only shrugged.
“Seriously?” Karr’s laughter fizzled to nothing. “You’re serious.”
“A captain never lies. He recently purchased the dwarf planet at auction. A low-level acquisition, being that the planet is practically uninhabitable by outsiders. I think many were shocked to find one of Geisinger’s emissaries wasting their time at the auction. But he’s sending us out on a short-term mission to dig up some of the planet’s resources. He’s a powerful man, despite his father’s history. He says he’s on the verge of somethingbig.And that little planet is the last key to helping him unlock it. One more job, and we’ll have our freedom.” He set the rock in the open doorway of the pod and backed away.
Karr chuckled beneath his breath. “It’s a pipe dream. Jeb will kill us all.”
“We have the protection promise of Friedrich Geisinger. Jeb can’t compete with that.”
True,Karr thought. For he knew that despite all of Jeb’s contacts and threats, he could never hold a candle to a man as wealthy as Geisinger. “What does it do? The rock.”
“Antheon,” Cade said, staring out the porthole at the little poisonous planet that hung in the sky. It looked like a glistening marble, its center a trio of strangely split colors. “It’s nothing in this form. But Geisinger swears it’s revolutionary.Another pivotal change in science,”he added,in a voice that sounded oddly like the man’s, clipped accent and all. “The job won’t be easy, per se. We’ll have to take a shipload, and… well, there are some minor wrinkles I still need to smooth out. But the crew’s in, and I need you to be, too.” He reached out and grabbed hold of the chain around Karr’s neck. The necklace itself, a flattened bit of glass that looked like the sea, preserved for eternity. “They were scientists. Not thieves. We’ll do it for them. In their memory.”
Cade had given his time, his life, his freedom, to always stay by Karr’s side. When he looked back on his memories, he saw his older brother taking swing after swing from the other boys in the orphanage when those hits were meant for Karr.
He saw every extra morsel of meat passed across the table, saved for him. So he could grow strong, and defend himself from the others when they deemed him an easy target because of his size.
He saw the extra blankets, stolen, so Karr could stay warm. The boots Cade nabbed from a shop, an act he was nearly hanged for. He saw a lifetime without his real mother and father, but with a brother who’d done his best to take their place.
It didn’t matter what Cade was planning, because as much as he hated the phrase, bloodwasstronger than fear. He’d always take Cade’s side.
“You and me, Cade. I’m with you. And I’m sure as hell with Geisinger.”
Cade looked like he wanted to hug him, but he settled for a curt captain’s nod instead. “Get some rest.” He grimaced at the storage bay, in all of its controlled chaos. Artifacts from planets strapped down to shelves, ancient weapons and strange foods,foreign animal pelts and all manner of alien things. “I don’t know how you can stand it down here.”
“It’s like art,” Karr said. “A beautiful mess.”
“Crew meeting in thirty. Details, specs… don’t be late. And for God’s sake, Karr, clean yourself up. You smell like a brewery.”
With that, Cade spun on his heel like a soldier and left Karr in the belly of theStarfall,alone with his thoughts.
Chapter 2
The Planet Dohrsar
The Kingdom of the Deadlands
Sonara
There was a Devil in the Deadlands, with blood as black as her sins.
She stood disguised in the center of a sweltering golden throne room, her palms pressed close to the blades hidden within the lining of her skirt.
