Absolute Zero - Epilogue
He looked out the windshield, seeing nothing but stars.
Life returned to normal for Wyatt. He took a week to travel to the area between the orbits of Earth and Venus for a change of view. He found the number of addled nomads to be about the same, however. A part of him was always on alert now, and he was extra cautious whenever boarding an unresponsive SCS. Always on the lookout for signs of a trap. And always keeping a Taser with him. Just in case.
Not normally communicative, he forced himself to send Abbi and Orla a message before every wellness check. He hoped both would meet some day and was planning to return to Earth in a few months. He would let Abbi know and see what happened.
A few weeks later, while en route to the next SCS, a call came in from Abbi. Her face filled the vid screen, which made him smile.
"Hey," she said.
"Hello there."
"So, that message from the Widow."
It took him a moment to recall. "Yeah?"
"Well, I think she's about ten klicks from your ship."
He could feel adrenaline kick in. Heart rate and breathing elevated. He took a deep breath and exhaled before pushing aside the vid panel to bring up the nav screen. There were no dots within 100 kilometers.
"Are you sure?" he said. "I'm not seeing anything."
"Military tech," she said. "It's 'running silent' as they say."
"I'm almost at Mars so you're on your own," Abbi said.
"Any advice?"
She shrugged. "Play it cool, I guess. Maybe she's just watching."
"Sure," he said. "Maybe."
"Want me to call in a favor? I think I have one left."
"No, it's fine. Whatever happens, happens." He still felt guilty for the death he caused on Mecca. Ever since then he accepted that he deserved whatever Fate had in store for him. Not that he wanted to tempt Fate, but he wasn't going to run from her either.
"Check in as soon as you can," she said. "And I'll let you know if I find out anything."
He nodded. "Sounds good."
"Take care."
The call ended. The only sound was the faint hiss of circulating air. He looked about his ship, taking it all in like it might be the last time. Then grabbed his Taser, feeling the plastic handle, trying to derive some reassurance that he had a chance against whatever came next.
A thud reverberated from above.
The ship began shaking, causing him to grab onto the console edge for support.
"IOPS One!" A female voice shouted from ubiquitous speakers. "You're under arrest." Wyatt studied the console to see what channel they were using. It looked like they were broadcasting on all of them.
"IOPS!" the voice bellowed again.
"Under what authority?" he shouted back.
The ship began vibrating as if riding a conveyor. Or attached to something much larger.
"Under the authority of being Tli Cho's gods dammed boss." The connection ended. Now all he could do was wait for Fate to show her hand.
The rumbling stopped. Wyatt unbuckled and pulled his weightless body to the airlock. Closed the inner hatch behind him, then stared out the porthole.
Darkness. Silence.
He was not sure if atmo was beyond the door, so he took his EVA suit from the wall and began to step into it. Before he had a chance to affix his helmet, the wheel on the outer hatch began to spin. The door swung open, revealing pitch-dark with no stars.
As he watched, a figure approached from the shadows. A woman. Hair pulled back tight, wearing an austere, jet-black flight suit, the breast emblazoned with a gold symbol he didn't recognize.
"You must be Widow," Wyatt observed.
She smiled. And that's when he recognized her.
"Lena?"
Thus concludes this series. Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed reading this, please support the author by purchasing a copy of the book at Amazon.com.