Shadow of the Coalition Read online

  Shadow of the Coalition © 2018 by Jamie A. Waters

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, or events, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Cover Art © 2018 by Deranged Doctor Designs

  Editors: Beyond DEF Lit

  ISBN: 978-0-9996647-1-1 (Paperback Edition)

  ISBN: 978-0-9996647-5-9 (eBook Edition)

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2018907711

  Second Edition *September 2018

  Contents

  The Omni Towers Series

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Sneak Peek

  Tremors of the Past

  About the Author

  The Omni Towers Series

  Shadow of the Coalition

  Beneath the Fallen City

  Shadow of the Coalition

  Tremors of the Past

  Drop of Hope

  Flames of Redemption

  Spirit of the Towers

  Chapter One

  Kayla got down on her hands and knees, eyeing the space between the floor and a collapsed ancient wall in Sector Twelve. It would be a tight fit, but she’d navigated worse in the past. Taking a deep breath, she sucked in her stomach and squeezed through the narrow space.

  She stood, brushed the dirt off her helmet visor, and shined the flashlight around what appeared to have once been a common room. Living room, she corrected herself, although there definitely wasn’t anything living in the room now. Only the remnants of an old fireplace stood in the corner while pieces of broken furniture remained scattered on the floor, a thick shroud of dust and debris coating everything within the room.

  Closing her eyes, Kayla took a deep breath to help focus her thoughts. Using what she now knew as energy threads, she opened up her senses to explore the hidden world beneath the surface. The darkness fell away, and Kayla embraced the energy that now swirled in the ruins. The surrounding energy vibrated, its wordless demand inviting her to tap into it. She shivered, her blood humming with a rush of power. Her fingers unfurled as the energy became a tangible thing.

  She basked in the warmth and excitement of the intoxicating power. As the energy flowing through her increased, it was a little easier to ignore the strange ache and sense of longing she suspected came from being separated from Alec.

  It had only been a month since she’d left OmniLab’s towers. After she helped restore control of the towers to those who would look after the best interests of its residents, Kayla had found herself irrevocably bonded to Alec, the new co-leader of the High Council. Even though he was enigmatic and alluring, the shared energy bond scared her more than she wanted to admit.

  It might have been easier to remain in the towers and allow Alec to train her, but history had taught her to be cautious. She wasn’t willing to blindly trust someone she barely knew and risk being exploited again, especially when it came to these supernatural talents she didn’t understand. So she’d spent the past month secretly exploring her ability to manipulate energy within the confines and solitude of the ruins. Once she got a better handle on this aspect of herself, she’d eventually need to face him again and figure out the rest.

  Alec was likeable enough, but Kayla had only spent a handful of days with him. They’d exchanged a few messages since she left, but she wanted to proceed cautiously. Trust took time. Kayla had never wanted to rely on anyone before, and the thought she’d need to return to the towers because of this bond was more than a little unsettling, so she was determined to push the limits, train on her own, and figure things out in her own time. Besides, even though they shared a metaphysical bond, she wasn’t in love with Alec. It was an OmniLab trader named Carl who had truly touched her heart.

  Her face warmed at the thought of Carl, and it wasn’t just from the stifling heat in the ruins. Even though they’d known each other for a year when her ruin rat camp had moved to his district, it wasn’t until she recently joined his camp that she began to see him differently. Through his altruistic actions, he’d challenged her beliefs about traders and even OmniLab, forcing her to look beyond the surface. Sure, she was still cautious, but a darker side of human nature could be found anywhere, whether it was in the towers or on the surface.

  It was a constant challenge to live as a ruin rat on the surface when survival was sometimes dependent upon outsmarting the OmniLab traders and their crews. Kayla enjoyed the challenges Carl provided, pitting her will against his. He was willing to let her go her own way for the most part, but he wasn’t beyond resorting to some unethical tactics to prevent her from going too far. The man had a quick mind and was incredibly devious, two traits she greatly admired. More than anything, he understood her. Of course, it didn’t hurt that he was sexy as hell too.

  With a sigh, Kayla pushed away the errant thoughts in order to focus again on the dilapidated room. Her former camp was depending upon her to continue providing them with tradable credits they could use to purchase vital supplies. Since she’d left them a month ago, they’d taken a hit to their productivity and had been struggling to make up the difference. If she managed to find enough tradable materials on this scavenging expedition, it might be enough to put them back in the clear for another few days, or even a week if she were lucky. She couldn’t afford to spend time daydreaming when there was work that needed to be done. Hopefully, tapping into her new energy abilities might help expedite things a little bit.

  The energy continued to flow around her, and she channeled it until the mental image of the room shifted and transformed the dingy walls into brightly painted surfaces covered with family photographs. A child played on the floor while her parents sat on the couch and watched an antique vidviewer on the wall.

  Kayla opened her eyes and stared at the verisimilitude of the ruined room. A wave of vertigo swept over her as the mental image overlapped with reality. Shaking her head, she pushed aside the image, but the memory of the past refused to leave completely.

  An old photograph caught her attention, and she crossed the room toward the cockeyed frame. The glass was cracked and the picture faded, but she gasped at the sight of the image. The family looked exactly like the one she’d imagined. The energy flow around her shifted dangerously, and she swallowed nervously as she tried to regain control.

  “Kayla?” Veridian’s voice interrupted over her headset. “You okay? Your vitals just spiked.”

  “Uh, yeah. Sorry about that,” she said in a rush, not wanting to alarm her scavenging partner on the surface. He’d been monitoring her progress for the past hour. “I just found an old photograph that surprised me. That’s all.”

  Okay, Kayla, keep it together. You know this energy shit is freaky and you haven’t figured exactly how it works yet. Just relax.

  A slight vibration under her feet caused her to freeze. The floor felt secure, but vibrations didn’t usually happen without reason. More curious than alarmed, she bent down and pr
essed her gloved hand against the ground. The vibration grew stronger.

  “Kayla, get out now!” Veridian shouted over the headset. “We’ve got seismic activity on the monitors.”

  The walls began shaking violently. A rumbling noise grew in intensity as the dust and debris fell around her. The picture frame on the wall clattered to the floor. Kayla crouched low against the wall, powerless to do anything else. A loud crash resounded though the room, and she threw her arms up over her head as part of the ceiling collapsed.

  Almost as soon as it had begun, the shaking stopped. Dust filled the area, obscuring her vision through the helmet.

  “Kayla? Are you all right?” Carl’s panicked voice came through her headset. He must have been monitoring the channel from the trader camp.

  “Yeah, I’m okay.” She tried to brush off some of the dust covering her visor with limited success. The filtration device embedded within her new helmet worked overtime as a cloud of gray powder surrounded her. Apparently, OmniLab had some uses after all—they made terrific toys. “That was scary as hell. I didn’t think there was any seismic activity in this area.”

  Carl sighed. “Thank God. There normally isn’t. I don’t know what happened. The building you’re in is mostly underground, and it’s possible some of our equipment may have affected the stability of the chasm. I’m going to have Xantham look into it now. In the meantime, get the hell out of there until we know it’s safe.”

  Fantastic plan. She wasn’t a big fan of shaking ruins. “Is everything okay above ground, Veridian?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine up here. A few pieces of equipment got knocked over, but that’s it. Can you make it back to your harness so I can pull you out?”

  Relief rushed through her. In every way except for blood, Veridian was like a brother to her. It was Veridian’s mother who’d saved her from nearly dying in a ruin collapse when she was a child. After adopting Kayla as her own, she and Veridian grew up together and had created an unbreakable bond. She couldn’t imagine losing him.

  “Shit!” Kayla looked around, investigating the now collapsed entrance to the room. “The tunnel’s blocked. I can try digging my way through, but I don’t know if the area above is stable. Can you run a stability scan? While you’re checking that, I’m going to see if I can find another way out.”

  “On it,” Veridian replied.

  Carl’s voice came over her headset again. “Kayla, don’t move. Other areas may have weakened if that tunnel collapsed. Veridian, send me the data as soon as you finish running it. I’m heading out with Cruncher right now to bring some stability supports.”

  Kayla snorted. Don’t move? Who the hell was he kidding? There was no way she was going to sit with her thumb up her ass and wait. She’d been rescuing herself for twenty-one years. No need to stop now.

  Visibility was crap, but she could see a few inches in front of her. It would have to do. Moving along the wall, Kayla climbed over rocks and rubble, searching for another way out. Other than the tunnel and part of the ceiling collapsing, the rest of the room appeared to be stable.

  A small opening by the fireplace caught her attention. She didn’t recall seeing it before the tremor, but then again, they’d only managed to excavate down to this level a few days before. With grim determination, Kayla began clearing away the debris blocking the area. If she could clear enough of a path, there might be another room on the other side. After about ten minutes, Veridian’s voice once again came over her headset.

  “Kayla, we’re going to have to wait until Carl gets here with the supports. It looks like the structural integrity of the tunnel wall is compromised. Everything else appears stable as far as I can tell from here.”

  “Sounds good,” she replied absently and continued to focus on the task at hand. They could do what they wanted, but waiting wasn’t an option. When she finished clearing away the rest of the debris, a sizeable hole had been made between the floor and the wall. It appeared to be some sort of natural tunnel sloping downward, and with no debris inside that she could see, she believed it might be relatively safe.

  She knelt closer to the opening, and a tingle of energy swept through her. Her heart thudded in excitement. I knew it. There’s something else in this sector.

  Kayla bit her lip, debating whether to explore the tunnel. Carl wouldn’t be happy if he knew what she was considering. He’d argue that the strange energy pull was even more of a reason not to explore alone. It might be possible to take a quick look and get back before they knew she’d disappeared.

  “V, can you send Carl and Cruncher down with a hydrating pack? I’m parched.”

  Veridian’s voice responded in her headset. “Sure thing.”

  She pressed the button on her wristband to change comm frequencies to an unmonitored channel. Fortunately, neither she nor Veridian had volunteered their little code to Carl’s crew. “V, I found some sort of natural tunnel. I think there’s something down here.”

  “Tell me you’re not going to do what I think you’re going to do.” Veridian’s voice was strained.

  “I’m going to do it,” she informed him, pressing her gloved hand against the wall of the tunnel. Even through her gloves, she could tell the temperature was several degrees cooler than the room.

  Veridian groaned. “Not a good idea, Kayla. Carl’s got to be monitoring your vitals and comms. You may be sleeping with him, but he’s still my boss.”

  She grinned. “Loosen the connector for the control monitoring panel. Pretend the earthquake did it.”

  “Fine,” he agreed. “You better cover for me when he loses his shit.”

  “Done.” Dropping to the floor, Kayla used her elbows to crawl through the narrow opening. It was a tight fit, but once inside, the earthen passage widened. “I’m inside now. There’s no debris in here. It’s probably safer than the last room. I’ll let you know what I find. I’m going back to the other channel now.”

  “Be careful,” he warned.

  Kayla pressed her wrist unit again to switch back to the main channel. Sometimes the old saying was true: it really was better to ask for forgiveness than permission. Adjusting the light on her helmet, she crawled through the tunnel where the swirling energy seemed to beckon her further. Rocks bit into her knees and palms, but she continued. After a reasonable distance, the tunnel suddenly ended. It appeared to open up into some sort of chamber, but it was impossible to tell much from her location though.

  Twisting her body, she gripped the edge of the dirt wall and lowered herself to the rocky floor below. Kayla pulled out a secondary light and flipped it on to get a better look. She nearly dropped the light, her breath hitching in excitement at the sight in front of her. A huge natural cavern extended back into darkness. There was a distinct noise and she paused, trying to determine what it was. The sound was vaguely reminiscent of the waterfall in the towers.

  The light cut through some of the oppressive shadows and illuminated large stalactites and stalagmites filling the cave. Kayla tugged off one of her gloves, unable to resist touching one of the rock formations. A cloud of moisture hung in the air and clung to the rocky surface. Trailing her fingers upward, she felt the dips and jags of the natural stone. She tore her eyes away from the rock and took a step away from the tunnel. The ground was slippery, forcing her to tread carefully as she approached the center of the cavern.

  A large underground river flowed through the cavern at a steady pace. In all of her experience, she’d never seen anything like it.

  “No freaking way.”

  Carl’s voice came over the headset, breaking through her daze. “What’s wrong? Are you all right?”

  Kayla swallowed, trying to form a coherent thought. “Yeah. Um, you guys close?”

  “We’re in the ruins, and we’ve got the supports in place. Cruncher and I are clearing the debris now. It won’t take long until the tunnel is clear.”

  “Uh, you’ll need to excavate a bit farther. I went through another tunnel.”

  “Dammit,
Kayla! We don’t know how stable that area is yet. We need to run a full scan of the ruins before you start crawling around.”

  She laughed into the headset, unable to suppress the giddiness at her discovery. “Yeah, yeah, bitch at me later. You’re not going to believe what I found down here. You might need to widen the tunnel entrance a bit, but it gets bigger once you’re inside.”

  Veridian’s voice came over the headset. “Huh. Found the problem. The earthquake must have loosened the connection. You should be able to track Kayla’s location and vitals now.”

  There was a deafening silence over the channel. Carl’s voice, when he spoke, was strangely calm—a little too calm. “You’re telling me you just figured this out?”

  “Come on, Carl,” she interjected before Veridian could say anything, “you know how sensitive some of our equipment can be.”

  “Fine. Don’t move until we run further tests. By the way, we brought you your hydrating pack.” Carl’s voice cut off abruptly, and she could only imagine the swearing that must be going on at the other end. Guess they’d need a new code phrase.

  He’d get over his irritation quick enough once he saw the cavern though. Kayla pulled off her helmet and took a deep breath.

  The air was clear from dust but still felt thick and heavy on her skin. The different sounds, smells, and even the taste of the moist air in the darkened cavern gave the impression she’d stepped through to another world. The energy threads felt stronger here, too, but she ignored them. Her focus right now needed to be on scanning the dimensions of the cavern. Reaching down, she dug around in her bag to locate an image mapper.