The Juggernaut (Juggernaut #1)

Twenty One

No way will he buy that question. Of course we can't go on like this. Scrubbers might be simple tech but without a regulator in place to monitor the CO2 build up we could all suffocate in our sleep.

"Let me check the schedules," said Theo. He poked the terminal on the side of the desk until it gave him an answer he didn't like. "You're right, this is going to be a problem." He looked up, correctly anticipating the answer to his next question. "I assume you have a solution in mind?"

"I was thinking, as you are busy with Orion, maybe, umm, I could go and get them?"

Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease.

"You want me to let you take the Rhino and go to Selah alone?"

Malachi nodded, not trusting himself enough to speak without giving himself away.

It's not going to work. He knows. He won't let me go. He'll have another plan, he always does. He—

"Very well."

—what?

"What?" he said out loud.

"I said you can go. I won't need it for the Orion job. We're working in a pressurised bay and my initial investigation makes me think the problem is internal, anyway. You can be back from Selah in a couple of days."

"Jenova."

Shut up! Idiot! Say Selah. He doesn't need to know where you are really going!

"Why not Selah?"

"I need to go to Jenova. I already checked prices and reserved the items."

"You know how I feel about that system, Malachi. I avoid it whenever possible."

"I know but, but, it saves us a lot of money. And I can get what I need on Mirador."

Liar.

Theo leaned back in his chair and considered his son's proposal. He would rather Malachi travelled to Selah. It would be a longer journey. Thanks to the orbit of the city, at this time of year the Selah beacon was located on the far side of Celato.

He had no reason to doubt Malachi was right about the price of the regulators though, and that was where they could save money. The jump fees would be the same either way. There was no need to squander the fees from the Orion job. And he had to admit that the space lanes around Jenova were better patrolled than any of Selah's planets.

He knew Malachi was aware of the special risks involved in travelling near Parador but a gentle reminder would still be helpful. "Are you sure you can get what you need on Mirador?"

Malachi nodded again. Any moment now his heart was going to burst through his chest and bounce off the wall above his father's head.

"I won't need to land on Parador. The Rhino's registration might still be on a watch list there. But do you really think it is? We left years ago."

Theo weighed his options carefully before answering. His son deserved some measure of truth by now. He was a more capable and honest young man than Theo was at the same age. The whole truth could come later.

"Honestly? I don't know. But we can't risk having the ship impounded, and more importantly I can't have you caught up in any of the fallout from my past mistakes."

Malachi was taken aback by this uncharacteristic admission of a failing. His father worked so hard to avoid mistakes that it was a shock to hear him acknowledging one so large that it had forced them to leave their home. But even this was overshadowed by his father's look of concern. "Don't worry, I'll be careful."

"One more thing. I imagine that your friends would like to accompany you on this trip, especially Ellie. Can I assume you have spoken to them about this already?"

Uh-oh.

"I mentioned it."

"I don't want them to go with you. Tila will get into trouble, and Ellie is too young. She would be safer here. I don't want to be worrying about them as well as you. Understand?"

Malachi nodded. Was that a yes?

"And be careful. Don't talk to anyone you don't need to. Don't draw attention to yourself. Don't break any rules."

I wish he hadn't said that! Now I'm not only lying to him but I'm also putting myself at risk by going to the one place he wants to protect me from. I don't think I could feel worse than I do right now. I hope he never finds out about what we are about to do. I've got what I wanted, so why do I feel so bad?

But he only said, "Yeah, I understand."