Page 34 of The Quoram Effect

What the…?I gasped, blinking back the shock. When I cleared the trickery from my eyes, they confirmed no being—man nor god—was sitting in the large armchair. It was in my head.Hewas in my head. But,shit—that seemed too real.

“You okay?” Torz’s voice steered my gaze back to him, but my mind trawled through how many times I’d seen things recently. I thought it had been exhaustion, or stress, or simply paranoia, but this was different. Dreaming about the Damson God was one thing, but this…?

“Rems, are you well? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“No…yes, I’m fine.” Avoiding his gaze, I forced a small smile, glancing over Torz’s shoulder again, making sure no one was sitting in the chair behind him. “What were you saying?”

“The manifesto presentations are taking place today, and I…” He cleared his throat, appearing almost nervous. “I’d really like you there with me. If we can’t work a way out of this together, I don’t know what to…”

Torz rubbed his brow, revealing a vulnerability I hadn’t seen in him since we were teenagers. He was drowning, and I was suddenly concerned he was struggling to keep himself afloat.

“Torz.” I reached for him, making a conscious effort to avoid his strained wrist. “Of course I’ll help you.”

And by Gods, if there was no way out, I’d remain by his side, whatever was thrown at him.

Chapter Eighteen

The manifesto presentations were long and, frankly, disturbing.

Governor Choy from Gemini II explained his plan to use a Puran biodome as an environmental experiment to measure how much air and energy a society could survive on. Whether or not he was proposing to utilise Purans as live subjects was not confirmed but, nevertheless, the incentive was there.

Then Governor Tateman from The Stellar demonstrated how a newly constructed energy shield could protect our civilisation from solar radiation and other catastrophic space debris. It would have the potential to match forty percent of the magnitude Quoram emitted. However, the scheme would require abundant manpower to keep the shield functional. Of course, money was an issue, and those who would power it would be little more than slaves, undoubtedly plucked from Puran biodomes.

The whole lot of these leading men and women were bastards to think their manifestos were ethical or humane. However, the Foundler’s entry was by far the most logical. Governor Dix was proposing to construct a huge refinery on Pura, promising to build a vast new city alongside it, which would raise the general living standards there, as well as provide a durable power source to produce fuel and a protective shield for the Orbital Stations. I remembered Torz had mentioned his approval of it, but the fact the display room was only a fifth full confirmed the lack of support behind the scheme. Especially when a handful of military chiefs voiced their disgust regarding the Puran-sidedbenefits, because, apparently, Purans didn’t deserve to live like the rest of us.

“Bigots, the lot of them,” Torz mumbled in my ear as the presentation ended.

“You should cast your vote for him.” I motioned towards the tall, spectacled man standing in front of the scaled model showcasing his plan. “How will Zuli know who you vote for, anyway?”

Torz checked his comms. “When it’s a leaders’ vote, it’s a visible one.”

“Seriously?” I glanced around the room at the few governors and station commanders filtering through the doors. “And I thought we lived in a democracy.”

“We do.” He sighed heavily. “Although the top tier can be just as vulnerable as the bottom.”

We exited the room, meeting Saul who’d been stationed outside. As we walked down the corridor towards the next presentation, my mind shifted to the Purans and their inability to voice their opinions in the same way the rest of us could. Their elected governor held no sway over the military chief of Pura, and Lieutenant General Klauss was a vile individual. I had no doubt he would be here casting his vote against the Puran’s favour. To be honest, I hadn’t seen the Puran governor here to fend off the likes of Klauss.

“Perhaps we need to warn the Puran general public,” I whispered, glancing at Saul behind us who clearly wasn’t listening. His hand rested on the hilt of his gun, eyes marking each face, every shadow, and vigorous movement.

“I’m not sure it’ll do any good,” Torz murmured. “It would only cause panic. And where would they go? Besides, it’s obvious news is leaking. There was another attack this morning, here in the docks. A military ship from Gemini II was targeted, but the culprits were caught before anyone was harmed.”

“Was it Russo’s men?”

“No. Chaz’s.” Torz shot me a heavy look, and I sighed my despair. I had no idea why Chaz’s team were getting involved in this alienating front. Blatant rebellion wasn’t their style.

“Have you spoken to Chaz recently?”

“Not since you and I met Russo in the bar on Alpha Ring.” Torz glanced over his shoulder and lowered his voice. “I’ve tried, but I can’t get a radio signal through to him. And there’s been a military lockdown on every ship coming out of Pura since then. He’s clearly blocked.”

“If there’s a lockdown on Pura, how the hell did Russo get through?”

Torz grumbled through gritted teeth, “I don’t know.”

My stomach dipped at the thought of that man. Flashes of his snarling face shot across my mind—the image of him holding a glowing syringe. “I’d love to figure out where that scumbag hides.”

Somehow, the Puran drug lord seamlessly evaded the authorities. Since his release from prison eight years ago, he’d become a phantom with no documented residence. Even his ships were untraceable, which had been beneficial to Torz’s undercover supply runs at times. But where Russo hid, no one knew. He only appeared when he wanted to be seen or heard, and it made him even more formidable.

I scoffed.And he had the audacity to say Chaz was evading him.“Maybe we should concentrate on finding Russo’s whereabouts. That way, he could hide a whole biodome or two of Purans with him.”