Titan's Legacy: A Science Fiction Thriller (Children of Titan Book 5) Read online

  Contents

  Children of Titan

  Children of Titan Series Timeline So Far…

  ONE

  TWO

  THREE

  FOUR

  FIVE

  SIX

  SEVEN

  EIGHT

  NINE

  TEN

  ELEVEN

  TWELVE

  THIRTEEN

  FOURTEEN

  FIFTEEN

  SIXTEEN

  SEVENTEEN

  EIGHTEEN

  NINETEEN

  TWENTY

  Thanks for Reading!

  About the Author

  TITAN’S LEGACY

  ©2020 RHETT C. BRUNO

  This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of the authors.

  Published by Aethon Books LLC.

  Cover Art by: Jasper Schreurs

  Cover Design, Print and eBook formatting and cover design by Steve Beaulieu.

  All characters in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. All characters, character names, and the distinctive likenesses thereof are property Aethon Books.

  All rights reserved.

  Children of Titan

  Book 0: The Collector

  Book 1: Titanborn

  Book 2: Titan’s Son

  Book 3: Titan’s Rise

  Book 4: Titan’s Fury

  Book 5: Titan’s Legacy

  Pick up the whole

  series.

  Children of Titan Series Timeline So Far…

  AD 2029: A meteorite the size of a small moon is discovered hurtling toward Earth.

  AD 2034: Scientist Darien Trass develops an ark for a crew of ten thousand of Earth’s finest. Destination: Titan.

  AD 2034: M-Day. The meteorite slams into Earth, blotting out the sun, and flooding the planet after the initial wave of destruction.

  AD 2039: Trass’ ark arrives on Titan. Darien, the first colony is founded. Its settlers become known as Ringers.

  AD 2074: Earther survivors begin to emerge from underground bunkers around Earth and crowded space stations in orbit. Wealthy Earthers who ran these safe havens, such as the Pervenio family, establish control.

  AD 2080: New London is founded as the new capital of Earth in what was once central Europe.

  AD 2093: Growing abuse from wealthy leaders forces the establishment of the United Sol Federation, or USF, to keep them in check.

  AD 2181: Earth establishes the first Lunar Colony by using parts from space-stations intended as survival havens before the Meteorite.

  AD 2199: First Earther settlers arrive on Mars and establish New Beijing.

  AD 2203: The Ringer leaders on Titan notice Earth’s growing presence throughout Sol, but make the decision to keep to themselves.

  AD 2280: Pervenio Corp contacts Titan and persuades the Ringers to invite them for a Great Reunion.

  AD 2284: Pervenio Corp arrives on Titan. Sickness due to weakened immune systems promptly threatens millions of Ringers’ lives, forcing Pervenio to take control to keep Ringer civilization from dying.

  AD 2334: EVENTS OF TITANBORN: On M-day’s Anniversary, a Ringer terrorist cell known as the Children of Titan bombs New London and makes their presence felt. Pervenio Collector Malcolm Graves is put on the case to discover what they were after.

  AD 2335: EVENTS OF TITANBORN: Pervenio Collector Malcolm Graves tracks the Children of Titan to their hideout inside the Darien Quarantine Zone on Titan.

  AD 2335: EVENTS OF TITAN’S SON: Pervenio Corp invades the Darien Quarantine Zone, allowing the Children of Titan to bomb and wipe out half of their forces. Kale Trass, leader of the Children of Titan and descendant of Darien Trass claims responsibility, inspiring revolution throughout Titan.

  AD 2335: EVENTS OF TITAN’S RISE: After the Children of Titan take over, Kale Trass is named Titan’s king. They slowly retake all colonies around Saturn, and drive Pervenio Corp from the Ring. Kale attends a summit on Mars alongside Earth’s leadership to discuss peace talks brokered between Madame Venta, CEO of Venta Co, and Kale’s ambassador, Aria Graves. Kale rejects their proposal to lease Titan and declares their independence. Pervenio agents attempting to assassinate him on his departure are incidentally thwarted by Malcolm Graves who is after his daughter.

  AD 2335: EVENTS OF TITAN’S FURY: Irate with Earth’s refusal to see Titan as a credible threat, Kale kidnaps brilliant researcher Basaam Venta and uses him to develop powerful fusion engines capable of redirecting asteroids. At the same time, he uses Malcolm Graves as his own Collector in order to take out rivals. One such rival is Orson Fring, a longtime citizen of the Ring in charge of developing a fleet for Titan.

  AD 2336: EVENTS OF TITAN’S FURY: At the turn of the year, Kale travels to Earth’s orbit in order to use his new engines to throw the Undina asteroid mine into Earth. His plans are almost thwarted when it is discovered that Luxarn Pervenio’s son, Zhaff, has been rebuilt into a deadly machine. However, Luxarn and Zhaff are both left to die on Undina. Kale successfully carries out his plot, only changing his mind when a fight with Malcolm Graves causes him to accidentally kill Aria, who is pregnant with Kale’s son. Kale dies altering the trajectory of Undina, saving millions of lives.

  AD 2336: Alann Trass, heir to the throne of Titan is born as Aria dies. Malcolm Graves remains on Titan to look after him, publicly considered to be imprisoned for his crimes or dead. Rin Trass is named acting Prime Minister of Titan until Alann is of age. Kale Trass is remembered by his people as the merciful hero who freed them all.

  ONE

  A glass of whiskey in one hand and a gun in the other.

  That’s the only way to go out if you ask me.

  I had one of those things, at least. A globule of blood swirled in the glass, deepening the amber hues of my drink. Nobody ever talks about how beautiful it is, the dance liquids do when they’re struggling against mixing. It’s like a nebula in deep space. Maybe if I’d gotten on one of the United Sol Federation Ark Ships a decade ago, I’d be staring out a viewport at one—colors cascading through space like so many ribbons.

  Blood in whiskey would have to do. As for a gun? Well, there was one present, but it wasn’t in my grip. Its muzzle was buried in the back of my unkempt, fully-gray hair. A dying man didn’t need to bother with haircuts. Who was I trying to impress?

  I looked up from the red splotch, spreading like a virus in the drink. We were on a rooftop in the industrial district overlooking the glittering New London skyline, colorful ads on all the towers playing against the always-cloudy sky. The chilly air kissed the sweat on the back of my neck. It was your average day on Post-Meteorite Earth.

  I remembered being on such a rooftop with my daughter Aria when she was young. We watched a Departure, waiting for the distant hum of engines as the tremendous ship soared overhead, carrying with it dreams of a brighter future.

  It all felt like ages ago—a dream. At some point, I’d left Aria to watch alone while I took care of some collector business. If I could go back in time, what I wouldn’t give to stand up t
here with my arms around her and watch the entire affair. I wouldn’t have left her alone for a pointless job, or a good fuck, or whatever reason I did it… probably both. My mind wasn’t what it used to be anymore. Memories blended together.

  But Aria’s face…

  Even as my body decayed, rebelling against me, it was clear as day. If I closed my eyes, it was like she was right there.

  “What are you waiting for?” I asked. The person with a gun aimed at the back of my head didn’t answer, but the barrel shifted. A nervous tick. A younger me probably would have gotten out of this. Hell, an older me could have. But this ancient version of myself, full of aches and pains both inside and out—he didn’t even try.

  Living… it’d just gotten so goddamn exhausting.

  3 Months Earlier...

  “Echo Two, what’s your situation?” I asked over coms.

  “Pinned down,” my partner replied. “I sent Zhaff up for surveillance.”

  “I’m on my way.”

  I exhaled slowly, then popped up, pulse pistol at the ready. An enemy combatant fired, and the bullet bit off a chunk of the concrete building next to me. My return shot caught him in the shoulder and sent him tumbling off the roof of a half-collapsed structure.

  Another shooter came at me from a corner as I approached. Grabbing his arm, I shifted his aim away. He fired. I kicked. My artificial leg sent him smashing through a wall, and the deafening crack hung in the air.

  I spotted a sharpshooter on the roof of the building nearest to me. We were in a pre-Meteorite Earth ruin. It was flooded, even this far inland, thanks to Kale Trass launching a mining asteroid at the planet. My feet splashed through shallow water as I slid behind cover.

  I winced. Even here, my old muscles ached.

  “Echo One, are you coming?” my partner shouted into my ear. “Zhaff spotted a sniper locked on your position.”

  “Thanks for telling me,” I said, then grumbled, “Kids” to myself.

  Emerging from the other end of my cover, I emptied a mag toward the sharpshooter. High-caliber rounds slashed through the water on all sides of me. Somehow, I made it into the covered lobby of what looked to have been a bank at some point. Half the second floor had collapsed, forming a sort-of ramp.

  My HUD informed me that my partner was one building down the street. He’d rushed ahead, as usual. Like taking down a smuggling ring in the wilderness of Earth was worth dying for.

  I hurried for the ramped floor, heard a buffering sound behind me, lost my balance, and slipped. I rolled over, quick as I could, and spotted that same sharpshooter soaring toward me on a jetpack. If I hadn’t fallen, he’d have had me dead to rights. Instead, I buried two rounds from my pulse pistol in his gut.

  Being old and clumsy helps occasionally. Don’t tell the kids that.

  “I’m hit!” my partner yelped. “Zhaff, keep them off me.”

  My heart dropped. I ignored the stabbing pain in my tailbone from falling so hard and sprinted up the floor. Through the broken window ahead, I saw that my partner was on his back, leaning against a partition, armed smugglers swarming his position. The sphere-shaped service bot my partner called “Zhaff” swooped down overhead and electrocuted one with a shock-blast. Then Zhaff was hit and sputtered outside to safety through a crack in the outer wall.

  What ever happened to good old-fashioned humans?

  “Just hold on!” I said, then coughed. Our fighting kicked up dust that hadn’t been disturbed in centuries. Running, I reached for my belt and removed a mass detonator—a new bit of close-combat weaponry being tested in VR on behalf of USF scientists and Basaam Venta. Venta was now their acting Minister of Technology while they worked on sub-contracting development. No kinetic blast meant it would be able to be safely used in space-stations and on ships.

  It only took a shift and click of my thumb to activate the device. Then I flung it over my partner’s cover, where it froze in midair between the smugglers. They rattled off a few terror-filled phrases in Old Russian, tried to dive out of the way, but couldn’t. Don’t ask me how the device works, but it generated a ball of pure mass between them all, like a miniature black hole. The smugglers were whipped off the ground and sucked toward the singularity. Chunks of the floor and ceiling flew with them. The bit of the wall my partner was behind cracked and fell over, then proceeded to drag along the ground.

  I tucked my head, sprinted, and leaped through the window. A boost from my anti-grav boots allowed me to clear the gap. As I soared, I picked the smugglers off in short order while they writhed to break free of the crushing force, helpless. When the singularity collapsed, they clattered to the ground like rag dolls.

  “Watch out!” Just as I landed, my partner tackled me out of the way with a force only youthful muscles were capable of. An attack drone hovered down between the buildings and placed sights on my partner.

  “You are in danger, Master Trass,” Zhaff’s robotic voice came through coms.

  A stream of electricity from above blew the drone out of the sky. Zhaff entered in behind it to hover over my partner’s side. The thing was damaged, sparks and smoke pouring from its top half, but still intact.

  “That’s cheating,” I said, panting.

  “Why do I always have to watch your back in here, old man?” my partner said, laughing.

  “Watch it, kid.” I dusted my pants off, then stood. A wave of dizziness rushed to my head and sent me stumbling. When things became clear again, I found myself hanging on my partner’s arm.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.” I squeezed my eyelids tight until the feeling passed. Then I regarded the pile of dead, neatly packed smugglers. My bullets may have killed them, but one had his arm bent the wrong way, the other a knee twisted so far his foot touched his forehead.

  “I liked Basaam Venta better when he was making engines,” I remarked.

  “Who’s that?” my partner asked.

  I shot him a stern glare. “Don’t you pay attention to the newsfeeds?”

  He shrugged.

  “He’s an angry genius that your aunt probably should have never let live. Minister of Tech in the new USF.” Dust snuck into my lungs again, and I coughed. “Now, c’mon. Their leader should be a few blocks up.”

  “Should Zhaff call air support?” My partner’s eyes lit up, and he pulled up a holo-display on his wrist filled with commands. “Please, can we call air support?”

  “Where’s the fun in that? You think collectors got air support? We were out there alone, looking to make the solar system a safer place, or whatever the hell I was doing.”

  “There are no collectors anymore…”

  “I know, kid. Just amuse an old man?”

  “Fine, but next session, I’m squad leader.” He deactivated the interface and crossed his arms, causing his pistol’s aim to wave in my direction. I gave him a soft whack in the back of the head.

  “Always watch where you aim that,” I scolded.

  “Oh, it can’t actually hurt you in here.”

  Kids… I gritted my teeth but let it go.

  Waving him along, we made our way to the edge of the balcony. He set Zhaff to follow us at surveillance altitude.

  Ruined buildings towered in every direction outside. Walls peeled away, ceilings crumbled—centuries of negligence laid bare to see. The farther out, the deeper the floodwater got until all that could be seen were the tops of spires or snapped antennae. History was drowned as if the millions on Earth who’d once inhabited sprawling cities like this never existed.

  I switched my HUD to display thermals in conjunction with Zhaff’s overhead scans.

  “This unit counts eleven hostiles in the target structure,” Zhaff relayed. “Current locations are being transmitted.”

  I ignored the bot and trusted my own sight. The only enemy signatures remaining came from an atrium in the middle of a tower with its first few floors underwater. Maybe glass once covered the exterior of this proud structure, which looked like a fat cigar—a
testament to humanity’s ingenuity—but it’d all been worn away to the rusty structure. Crossed columns extended all the way up to the tapering, rounded peak of the building.

  Smugglers transferred supplies to a small, anti-grav airship hovering just outside their hideout.

  “We’ll come at them through that building,” I said. “Keeping above the waterline. They know we’re here, but if we send the bot to the other side as a distraction, we can get close enough to hit the structure with a detonator. That should bring down most of the floor they’re on.”

  “So, no air support?” my partner said, deflated.

  “We are the support.”

  “You mean, I am!” He glanced back, smirking under his visor. “Partners forever?”

  “Partners forev—”

  He leaped off the ledge before I could finish. He slid down a few meters on the adjacent building and launched himself back at the one I was on before skating all the way down onto a rusted vehicle. The roof caved in under the weight of his strength-augmenting combat armor.

  “Try and keep up!” he called up to me.

  I rolled my eyes and hopped off. Anti-grav boots provided a jet of propulsion upon collision alert, slowing my landing. I allowed most of my weight to fall on my artificial leg anyway. It was better for the soreness the next morning.

  “Dammit, boy,” I said, kicking the rubble out from under me. “Never charge ahead without planning your route.”

  “Why?” he said. “It’s more fun when they know we’re coming.”

  He took off across the street, leaving me scrambling to catch up with him. My foot caught a pothole hidden by floodwater. I didn’t fall this time, but I staggered the rest of the way. Goddammit. I’d been old for a while, but this was getting ridiculous.