The Fringe Wars

3.8

Different Directions

Tulan Canyon, Playa

Reyne and Boden arrived at rendezvous point Alpha, and Throttle was nowhere to be seen. When they landed, Reyne strode into Vym Patel's office. "Have you seen Throttle?"

The old woman frowned. "Why would I have seen Throttle? She went with you to Spate."

Reyne collapsed in a chair. "She stayed with the ship when Boden and I went to meet Gin James. She was missing when we returned, and the CUF had a squad posted at the ship."

Vym leaned forward. "Then we must assume she's either a prisoner or dead. And if she's a prisoner, she won't be alive for long."

Reyne's lips thinned. "I need to find her."

"I'll put ears out around Devil Town, but it's become more difficult to get information with martial law everywhere. Tell me your meeting with Gin went well, at least."

"It never happened." Reyne waved his hands. "Gin was executed by the new stationmaster."

"There's a new stationmaster?" Vym's brows lifted in surprise. "Parliament has never moved so fast before."

"It's Axos Wintsel," Reyne said.

"A Myrad?" Vym filled two glasses with liquor as she thought. "Why, he can't be older than twenty-five, thirty at most. He's far too young to be a stationmaster. What could Mason possibly achieve with a Myrad as a stationmaster?"

She handed him a glass, and he took a drink before speaking. "We haven't heard a peep from Mason in over a year. Who's to say he's still pulling the Collective's strings? Maybe he was ousted from power."

"Mason—Gabriel Heid—is not someone you simply oust from power. The only way to accomplish that would be to kill him, and his death would splash across all the headlines. It's when he's gone quiet that I begin to worry the most. With nearly half the Founders missing, disavowed, or broken off from his control, I imagine he's grown quite desperate to see his ideology made a reality."

Reyne shook his head. "Mason's ideology is insanity."

"Is it?" Vym countered. "We all want a unified Collective."

"His unified Collective would be under a despot's rule. We want equality, not slavery."

"But we all desire peace. He's always seen himself as working for the greater good. He firmly believes that."

"He still deserves to die for the thousands he's killed."

"I absolutely agree with you," she said, downing the remainder of her drink. "And I hope to see the look on his face before I send him into the abyss."

Reyne finished off his drink. "I'd like to make that happen." He set down the empty glass and looked out the window. "It looks like Tulan Base is growing. How's production?"

"We're running at optimum production levels. It took over a month to print a second 3D printer using the first, but once that was built, we had one printer for printing munitions and supplies, and a second printer producing more printers. We're now at twelve printers operating thirty hours a day, seven days a week."

His brows rose. "That puts us well ahead of schedule. How are you managing to find enough labor for packaging and loading?"

"Heid brought over two hundred Nova colonists back with her. Over one hundred of them are helping out around here. Another eighty joined her crew, and the remainder are still recovering from their time on Nova Colony." Then Vym smiled. "It seems Gabriela made quite a statement on the return trip. Evidently, there wasn't a single drone left by the time she was finished. The colonists are quite taken with her."

Reyne chuckled. "I bet that caught her father's notice. Where's she? I need to catch up with her."

"She's on her way to Terra."

"Terra? Why's she going there? It's too risky. Ausyar has an entire armada in orbit over Rebus Station."

Vym held up her hands. "She and a few Nova colonists worked out a plan. It's better if she tells you it herself."

Reyne frowned. "I can't go to Terra. I need to stay here in case—when—Throttle arrives."

"Haven't you heard?" Vym asked.

"Heard what?"

"Seda Faulk declared independence for the fringe. He stated every colony has the right to govern itself." She inhaled deeply. "It made quite the headlines."

"I can imagine. If Seda didn't have a bulls-eye on his back before, he sure has one now. I take it he and Sixx made it back to Terra?"

She nodded. "Yes, but I didn't receive any update on how their trip to Myr went." She tapped a finger on the table. "You're doing Throttle and the Fringe Liberation Campaign no good here. The Campaign has escalated, and Rebus Station has become a warfront. The Arcadia is loaded with everything we've got, but Heid is still young. And Critch can be rash—he needs you there to balance him. The Campaign needs you there. There's nothing you can do for Throttle from here, Aramis. I promise, I'll send in people I can trust to Spate to find out what happened. I'll send word the moment I hear something."

He thought for a long, agonizing moment before abruptly pushing to his feet. "Okay, then. I guess I'm off to Terra. It's only Boden and me on the Gryphon right now, so if you happen to have any torrents ready to go fight, I can take a dozen."

"I'll have a dozen eager torrents on your ship within the hour."

He strode from Vym's office without so much as a goodbye. Once he left, his pace slowed before he stopped. He braced against the wall to keep from collapsing. Tears welled in his eyes, and he clenched his fists.

He'd convinced himself Throttle had somehow avoided the CUF and would be here waiting for him. That she wasn't here meant the CUF had her. He knew the odds of ever seeing her alive again were infinitesimally small, but he refused to give up.

He had to head to Terra, but as soon as he was finished there, he'd search every nook and cranny in the Collective until he found his daughter. God have mercy on anyone who got in his way.