Europa Collective 1 - Collective Flight Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  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 NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  End of the Book Stuff

  About the Author

  Europa Collective 1

  Collective Flight

  By Aaron Hubble

  Copyright © 2015 by Aaron Hubble

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof

  may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever

  without the express written permission of the publisher

  except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, and events appearing or described in this work are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events, is purely coincidental and the product of imagination.

  Dedication

  To Pastor Merritt (1943-2016) the consummate cheerleader

  To Claire who just wanted a character named after her

  CHAPTER ONE

  The fight left Malone with bruised and bloodied knuckles. His opponent, the pulse drill, remained unharmed.

  It was going to be one of those days. He could feel it.

  He let the wrench clatter into the tool tray. Wearily, he picked up the least greasy rag and pressed it against his wounds. The pulse drill hovered on mag lifts in the middle of his shop. As massive as it was, it looked lonely. There was nothing else waiting and demanding to be repaired. Not a good situation for a mechanic shop.

  Malone shook his head and moved around to the other side of the engine. Joe, his apprentice, was removing the last bolt holding the rusted and dented cylinder head cover in place. His new mecha-droid rolled underneath the cover and took the weight as Joe pulled the last bolt. The droid rolled over to the work bench and set the cover there.

  Malone watched the droid. He’d saved up for the down payment, and it had been worth every penny. He sighed. The payments were the problem now. The work had dried up since the Collective had moved into his area of Carrefour. The droid was another expense he didn’t know what he was going to do with if work didn’t pick up.

  Joe looked up at Malone. “You okay, boss?”

  “Yeah.” Malone uncovered his knuckles and looked at the cut running across them. Bright red blood leaked slowly from the laceration and stood out against his grease stained skin. “I’ll live.”

  Joe nodded and pulled his headlamp over his dark, tightly curled hair. A streak of black grease trailed across the young man’s dark brown cheek. He peered inside the cylinder and gave a low whistle. “Those monkeys down at Vetliv’s mine really did a number on this one. I don’t think they ever put any oil in it. It needs a complete rebuild.”

  “Sounds about right. They’ve been my best customer because they never take care of anything.”

  Malone tossed the rag and leaned against the pulse drill. All week he’d been dreading what he needed to do next. “Hey, things have really slowed down since the Collective showed up on Carrefour.”

  “Protection fees,” Joe snorted, his brow wrinkled. “They’ve driven a lot of good people out of business. Somebody really should stand up to them.”

  “Somebody probably should, but that doesn’t usually work out for the person trying to be brave.” The Europa Collective was dangerous and highly organized. If they wanted something, they just took it. Malone’s hands clenched into fists. If it was within his power, he’d stand up to them. Being forced to give them money for ‘protection’ made his stomach turn. Pure extortion. That’s all it was. He hated the feeling of powerlessness, but what could he do?

  He looked at Joe. “Look, I’m going to have to lay you off. Just for a little while. Until things pick up again. You’re a great worker and a fine mechanic. I’m sorry. It’s just that—”

  Joe held up a hand. “You don’t need to apologize.” He wiped his hands on a rag and set it aside. “I can see there isn’t enough work here for two guys. I’ve been asking around and found a farm outside of town who could use someone during harvest.”

  Malone exhaled and ran his hand through his hair. “Thanks. But don’t get too comfortable there. I’m going to need you again.”

  “You don’t need to worry about that. I’m not a farmer.” He held up his grimy hands. “The dust chafes my delicate skin.”

  Malone laughed and dug into his pocket. He pulled out his phone and tapped at the screen a couple times. “There. I just paid you for the work you did this week and a little extra to keep you going until the harvest starts.”

  “Boss, you don’t need—”

  Malone cut him off. “Yes, I do.” He grinned at Joe. “You’re a pain in the butt, but I like having you around. You deserve the pay.”

  “Thanks.”

  They were silent for a moment. Even though Malone hoped the situation was temporary, he couldn’t shake the feeling he was letting down a friend.

  “Well, why don’t you get out of here. You’ve more than earned your pay today. I’m going to attempt to get the valves off this piece of crap before closing up.”

  “You sure?”

  Malone nodded. “Yeah. Get out of here.”

  Joe extended his hand to Malone. He laid the rag aside and took the young man’s hand in a firm grip. In the three years they’d worked side by side, he’d watched Joe grow from an awkward, fourteen-year-old trouble maker with no direction, to the solid man who stood in front of him with a bright future in whatever he decided to do.

  “Thanks, boss. For everything.”

  “My pleasure,” Malone pulled him into a hug. “Remember, you’re coming back.”

  The door of the shop flew open and banged against a rack of newly powder-coated brackets. Sunlight streamed in behind a blur of motion and long, streaming black hair.

  “Daddy! Daddy! Can we go down by the creek and catch frogs? Can we?”

  Safiya jumped, and Malone had just enough time to gather the eight-year-old bundle of kinetic energy into his arms. “Whoa, there. What’s all the excitement about, jumping bean?”

  “She wants to dig a pond in the backyard and fill it with frogs from the creek,” Galila said. The willowy, twelve-year-old stepped into the shop, her dark, almond shaped eyes finding his. “I told her you wouldn’t want a pond in the backyard, but she said you would when you knew you could hear the frogs croaking every night.”

  A smile stretched across Malone’s face. The daughters he and his wife had adopted couldn’t be more different. Galila was the budding adolescent pushing against anything that remotely reminded her of being a child. She was practical, reserved, and had a mind for anything mechanical, preferring to sit quietly and improve the processing speed of her computer or help Malone in the shop
, which made him proud. Safiya was a compact dynamo who never stopped moving. The fact that she wanted to dig a pond for frogs shouldn’t have surprised him. The outdoors was where she lived. Being forced to come in during the evening was almost torture to her. Her effervescent spirit was contagious, and it took every bit of his fathering strength to rein her in or tell her no when it was necessary. Even when he knew it was for the best, it was so darned hard to deny her anything her little heart desired.

  He touched the tip of Safiya’s nose with his finger, and then set her back on the ground. “A pond? We should probably talk about any construction projects you have in mind before you start them.”

  “Awwww.” Safiya said as the corners of her mouth turned down and she crossed her arms over front of her pink striped shirt.

  Malone knelt in front of her and laid a hand on her shoulder. “Now, I didn’t say no. I just said we should probably plan out a project of this magnitude so we don’t dig up water pipes or your mother’s garden.”

  Her cheeks rose in a smile and she threw her arms around Malone again. “Thank you! Oh, you’re going to love it.”

  “I’m sure I will, but I’m not so sure you should be going down to the creek by yourselves. Not that I don’t think you’d be okay.” He looked at Galila to let her know he trusted her. The girls were more than capable of walking a quarter mile to the creek on their own. It was the thugs who worked for the Collective who worried him. He’d heard too many stories to feel comfortable letting them wander on their own. “But there have been some new people, some strangers hanging around town, and I’d rather be with you to keep an eye on you.”

  “Please, Dad.” Safiya’s dark eyes pleaded with him. “We’ll be super careful.”

  “I don’t know—”

  Joe stepped up beside him. “I’ve got this Mr. Kay.” He squatted down to Safiya’s eye level. “Is it alright if I come along and catch some frogs too?”

  “Sure.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the door. “I’ll show you the best spot.”

  “Careful with him, Safiya,” Malone called after them as they disappeared into the sunlight. “I’m going to need him again.”

  He smiled and then reached over and pulled Galila into a hug. “Keep an eye on those two, okay? Make sure they stay out of trouble.”

  She smiled up at him, her eyes framed with long lashes. Malone’s heart caught in his throat. She was growing up so fast. Every day she looked more like a woman and less like the little girl he’d adopted. She was going to beautiful, and he dreaded the attention she would draw from the local boys.

  “I will.” She moved toward the door and then turned around. “When’s Mom supposed to be here?”

  Malone looked at his watch. “She was supposed to be here twenty minutes ago. So, she’ll be right on time, according to her clock.”

  Galila nudged a cam shaft lying on the floor with her foot. “I miss her. I want her to be here all the time.”

  Malone rested his hands on his hips and stared at the ceiling. His heart ached for his daughter. She needed her mother. A father was important, necessary in fact, but there were things that only a mother could give a daughter. If he was honest with himself, his heart ached because he missed Luana as well. “I know you do, hon. It’s just…it’s complicated.”

  She pushed her dark bangs away from her olive colored face and swallowed hard. “Okay. I’m…I’m going to find them. See you later.” She disappeared through the doorway. He could hear her footsteps crunching on the gravel for a few seconds before they faded away.

  He’d done well today, hadn’t brooded over his estranged wife or the fact she’d walked away from them. That’s not what she would have said. Luana would’ve said he’d pushed her away. That he never trusted her enough to become a true partner in their marriage. He couldn’t help that she thought more about herself than anyone else.

  Malone leaned on his hands against the workbench. The muscles of his forearms bunched. The wrench he’d dropped still lay on the floor. He snatched it off the concrete and hurled it the length of the shop. It hit the plexiglass shield protecting the computer screen. A corner of the shield broke off, and the wrench clattered to the floor.

  He’d been willing to do anything for the family. When they’d adopted the girls, he’d changed his schedule, working during the night and helping her during the day to acclimate the girls to their new family. It’d been hard. Galila and Safiya had watched their biological parents die of sickness and been stranded in the house with their bodies for three days before anyone found them. Galila had suffered from terrible nightmares and Safiya had cried constantly. That meant a lot of sleepless nights for Malone and living on coffee to keep up with his work.

  What about Luana? What had she sacrificed? She wouldn’t even get tested to see why they couldn’t have children of their own. There was always an excuse why she couldn’t make sacrifices like he had. Being chronically late was one thing, but never thinking of anyone but herself was the thing that Malone detested the most.

  Now she was late again. She’d promised the girls they would have a girl’s day, and she was going to keep them overnight at her apartment in town. Safiya didn’t seem to notice the strain in their marriage, but Galilia did. Malone had done his best to keep everything normal, but it was getting harder and harder as the separation stretched on.

  Malone hated that he missed her. Hated that his insides were a constant churning mess. Without Luana, he felt like his right arm had been cut off. Loneliness squeezed his heart like a vise every time he crawled into their bed alone.

  He drew in a breath through gritted teeth. What he needed was to get back to work. A little wrenching would help him forget and ease the hurt.

  “Treadwell,” he said to the mecha-droid. “Bring me the valve pullers.” The droid rolled over with the tools, and Malone set to work on the engine.

  He’d settled into a nice rhythm when he heard a gunshot followed by screams. Fear seized him. The screams had come from his daughters. Malone tore out of the shop, his legs propelling him toward the house.

  When he cleared the clump of scrub pines, his heart dropped. In front of him, a man held his crying daughters while Ely Ekene, the leader of the Europa Collective enforcers on Carrefour, held a pistol, its barrel smoking. Joe lay at Ekene’s feet. His unblinking eyes stared at Malone. Blood poured from the gaping wound in his chest.

  CHAPTER TWO

  While his daughter screamed, Malone understood one very important truth. There were monsters out here at the rim of the galaxy. One of those monsters now held his crying daughters.

  “Nice to see you again Mr. Kay. Your taxes are late again. What’s it going to be? Do you have the money or do we take your girls in payment? The choice is yours. My suggestion is you pay promptly and don’t try to be a hero like this young man,” Ekene said. His dark skin stood in contrast to the white washed Carrefour landscape. Malone saw the reflection of Joe’s body in Ekene’s mirrored sunglasses. He wrestled with the nausea that threatened to consume him.

  Malone’s eyes flicked between his daughters, Ekene, and Joe’s body whose blood was coloring the dirt of his driveway. Panic gripped his mind and froze his joints. What options did he have? He was a mechanic gripping a crescent wrench, not a mercenary with a gun.

  He held up a hand and inched forward a couple of steps. “Just…just let them go. I’ll find the money.”

  “Come on, Mr. Kay.” Ekene spread his arms wide. “You either have it or you don’t. It’s that simple. You’re a businessman, I’m a businessman. This is a simple transaction. You pay the taxes and we let you keep your shop open for another month.”

  Malone rubbed his forehead. His chest was tight and he felt like there wasn’t enough oxygen in the air. Galila and Safiya struggled and cried in the arms of the man. Thoughts spun through his conscious mind, and he tried desperately to grasp one, something that would get his children away from the EC. Every time he thought he had something worth holding onto, it w
ould slip away.

  What kind of father was he? His first job was to protect Galila and Safiya. Make sure they were safe, but he’d failed. What would Luana say? A bead of sweat trickled down his forehead, and he fought to control his shaking limbs.

  “I just need a little more time.”

  Ekene placed his hands on his hips and looked down at the ground. He shook his head and spat. “Well, this is disappointing. I believe you made the same request last month.” He took off his sunglasses. “Which I granted.” The gray eyes were cold and cruel. Malone felt his stomach drop.

  “And I had the money for you by the middle of the month. Just do that again and I’ll‒”

  Ekene cut him off, his voice becoming hard. “It doesn’t work that way. You’ve moved well past your grace period, and I’m at the end of my patience. The Europa Collective is here to protect your rights and make sure everyone on Carrefour has equal opportunities to conduct business. That costs money and when one person doesn’t hold up their end of the agreement, then corrective measures need to be taken so the whole system isn’t weakened.”

  Ekene’s white teeth flashed behind a cruel smile.

  “Don’t worry. Other arrangements can be made. If you don’t have the money, that’s okay. These little ones,” he gestured toward the girls. “They’ll do fine. They can work off your debt in one of our special entertainment houses.” A small smile played across his lips and Malone grasped the meaning behind the words. Bile rose in his throat. His sweet girls would be put to work in a brothel where men and women with no morals and abhorrent fetishes would treat them like trash and use them for whatever means their money could buy. Malone set his jaw. He wouldn’t let this happen. Whatever it took, no matter what the cost, he would get his girls back, unharmed and innocent. There wasn’t a pit of hell too deep that he wouldn’t cross to bring them home.

  “What’s it going to be? I need an answer.”

  Malone’s fingers flexed around the handle of the wrench. His voice came from deep in his throat.