The Crucible- The Complete Series

by Odette C. Bell

  “Sorry?”

  “This,” she pointed two hands at the lump, “is what’s left when you take 20 Omega weapons, remove their antimatter drives, and compress the rest of the metal.”

  I shook my head, clearly not understanding. “Compress the metal? You mean someone… what, melted the metal down?”

  “Did I say that? No, I clearly said compress. This,” she pointed to the lump of metal again, and for the first time I saw that one of her hands was trembling, “Lieutenant Commander, is what happens when you take this much metal,” she spread her hands wide to indicate roughly the size of one of the missing crates, “and you apply enough gravitational force to it – you reduce it to that.” She pointed at the lump, the fingers of one hand so stiff it looked as if they would fracture.

  It was my turn to swallow hard. I shifted back from her, face stiff with confusion. “That’s impossible.”

  “Impossible? No. You apply enough pressure to something at the subatomic level, and you can compress something as big as a box of Omega weapons into something that would fit into the palm of your hand. Sure, it would require an astounding amount of heat, and would produce a massive amount of energy, it would also release a heck of a lot of gas and waste materials. But it isn’t impossible, Lieutenant Commander.”

  “What are you saying?” I cut to the point.

  “Well, it’s a first for me, I’ll admit, but I have no idea what I’m saying. All I know is that that,” she pointed at the lump of metal once more, “is our missing weapons. All of them. Minus the antimatter drives,” she repeated again.

  “You’re saying that somehow they just what… imploded?”

  She shot me a disbelieving look. “You passed your science class at the Academy, didn’t you?”

  “Let’s just pretend I didn’t. How can something like this happen?”

  “Pressure. A lot of pressure. An astounding, astounding amount of pressure. Energy too.”

  I scratched my brow, feeling like I crumpled my nose into a concertina. “Where did that astounding amount of pressure come from?”

  She shrugged.

  I felt my shoulders give a shake. It raced down my back, shifting hard into my muscles, suddenly reminding me of how tired I was. But that fatigue was quickly being extinguished by this mystery. “Are you telling me that whoever stole our Omega weapons had the power to do this?” It was my turn to drop a hand towards the metal ball. I couldn’t keep my fingers steady either. They trembled, ever so slightly.

  The Chief wouldn’t look at me for a few seconds. Instead her eyes scanned around the room settling on the metal ball once more. I saw her shake. Then nod. “Yes, I think I’m telling you exactly that. I can’t tell you how they did it,” her voice broke, “but I can tell you that these are our Omega weapons.”

  I latched a hand onto my mouth, feeling the fingers dig hard into the flesh. I shook my head and shook it again. “This doesn’t make any sense.”

  “I’m not here to make it make sense, Lieutenant Commander, I’m just here to tell you what I found.”

  “What the hell are we dealing with here?” I let my voice drop, speaking more for my own benefit than the Chief’s.

  “I have no idea.”

  I made eye contact with her. We both looked puzzled and worried.

  Finally I took a step back from the workbench. “I have to tell the Captain.”

  “Better you than me,” the Chief replied quickly.

  “Keep that evidence safe,” I responded, whirled on my foot and headed for the door. Before I could make it, I found my gaze twitching back to the apparently nondescript lump of metal.

  My back shook. I turned and walked out.

  It didn’t take the Captain long to call a meeting. She brought along the senior staff plus a few new trusted crewmen, including Jenks.

  We sat around the massive table in her ready room.

  I’d informed the Captain what the Chief had told me. I told her it was wise to keep this information to ourselves. We still had no idea who the spy may be, and we needed to be careful with our information until we did.

  The Captain, however, had another plan. To her, it was far smarter to reveal to the spy exactly what we knew. That way we could keep them on their toes, make them desperate, maybe even flush them out of hiding.

  I wasn’t sure I agreed with the Captain’s style, but I was smart enough not to point that out.

  I kept my eyes averted as I sat there, white stiff knuckles pressing out from my tensed hands.

  Now I allowed my gaze to drift around every person in the room.

  Who could it be? Were they even in this room? Or was it someone else out there on the ground? Someone with the power to pull the rug out from under the feet of the resistance at any moment.

  The Captain stood. “New information has come to light. We have discovered evidence of the missing Omega weapons.”

  Williams turned quickly in her chair. “Where are they? It’s critical we recover them. We need that compound 78.”

  “We will not recover them. We did not find the weapons themselves, simply their residue.”

  “Residue?” I watched Williams’ face crumple in confusion. “What are you talking about, Captain?”

  “This.” She swiped a hand forward, and a hologram jumped up from the middle of the table, big enough that everyone could see it. It showed a recreation of what the Chief had assumed had happened to the Omega weapons.

  “What the hell is this?” Williams turned her attention back to the Captain.

  “We were hoping you could help us, as our resident telekinetic warrior. Perhaps you have an idea. The Chief does not. Something or someone managed to obtain an energy source sufficient to destroy what remained of those Omega weapons. Do you have any idea what could have done this? Could it have been a telekinetic warrior?”

  Williams slowly swiveled her head back to the hologram in the middle of the table, then shifted her attention to the Captain. “No,” she said flatly. “We’re talking about immense pressure here,” her voice shook, “far beyond anything a telekinetic warrior would ever be able to produce.”

  “Then perhaps a group of telekinetic warriors?” the Captain questioned.

  Williams’ brow scrunched together as she looked back at the hologram. “You would need more than a group, Captain. You would need every telekinetic warrior there is. I’m sorry, but I just don’t believe someone like me could have done this.”

  “I see, then what do you suspect?”

  Williams looked floored. “I’ve got no idea. Why didn’t the antimatter chambers explode when,” she shifted a shaking finger towards the hologram, “that happened to the guns?”

  “They were removed beforehand. We have scanned the base time and time again, but can find no evidence of them. Either somebody is using extremely sophisticated shielding technology, or they have been converted into another substance, one we cannot scan for.”

  “This doesn’t make any sense, Captain,” Williams said. “If the antimatter chambers are missing, and you can’t scan for them, then it makes sense to assume they’ve been converted into compound 78. But,” her gaze slid towards the hologram again, “but I’m telling you, a telekinetic warrior couldn’t have done that.”

  “On their own. They must have utilized some kind of technology we are unfamiliar with. But do you agree that it’s likely, considering the circumstances, that we’re dealing with a telekinetic warrior?” the Captain asked directly.

  Williams appeared to think about it for a few seconds, then finally nodded her head. There was a sick pale look to her cheeks. “If the antimatter is gone, it’s reasonable we assume that. But…” she trailed off.

  “Then I regret to inform everyone that this situation has become even more critical. It is now obvious that there is a powerful spy amongst us,” her voice dropped low. Then, in turn, she looked at everyone in the room.

  I followed the Captain’s gaze, staring at every person seated around that massive table.

/>   Just like Williams, nearly everyone else was reacting with shock.

  … Except for Jenks. She wasn’t making eye contact with anyone. Instead she was staring at the hologram, a peculiar look on her face.

  I frowned. I frowned, and I don’t know why.

  “I have already informed the rest of the resistance about this. Considering the risk we face, we must now redouble our efforts to flush out the spy. And considering it is relatively obvious that they are a telekinetic warrior, we must protect the rest of our Omega weapons. From now on, they will be under permanent guard. I will personally devise a plan with the security chief to ensure that they cannot be accessed without our knowledge.”

  “That’s all very good, Captain, but if you’re right, and there is a telekinetic warrior out there, they’ve already stolen a whole crate of Omega weapons. They would have refined enough compound 78 for more than a year.”

  “Perhaps. Or perhaps they require more than the average user. It still makes sense to guard our weaponry,” Williams said.

  There was a general muttering of agreement.

  Again I found myself assessing every person at that meeting in turn. And again, my eyes locked on Jenks.

  She still wasn’t looking at anyone. Which was unremarkable, considering Jenks was about as friendly as a wall.

  But there was… there was something about the way she was staring off into space.

  “Shepherd,” the Captain suddenly called my name, “you will personally continue this investigation. I have every confidence that you will find the spy. They have underestimated us. They will not be able to outrun us for much longer,” the Captain’s voice shook through the room.

  I knew what she was doing. She was calling the spy out. If they were in the room, it was a threat. It was one that told them to stop running, because they wouldn’t get far.

  I couldn’t share the Captain’s enthusiasm. Not yet. We still had no idea who amongst us was a spy for the Star Forces.

  “This meeting is dismissed for now,” the Captain said as she turned from the table. “You will all have new tasks assigned to you.”

  We all rose and headed for the door.

  My gaze locked on Jenks, as usual, but, as usual, she was out of the room before I could catch her.

  Williams was a different matter. She walked up to my side, her steps unsteady, and she pulled me aside. “This isn’t really happening, is it?” Her shifting gaze locked on mine. “The Captain can’t be serious. She can’t honestly think that another telekinetic warrior is amongst us.”

  “That’s exactly what she thinks,” I said.

  “But that makes no sense. She couldn’t possibly believe that a telekinetic warrior could have done that to those guns,” her voice shook again. “No one could possibly have that much power.”

  I focused my attention on Williams. Saw how surprised and terrified she was all at once. I’d never suspected she was a spy, not for an instant. Her story was too compelling. But if I needed further confirmation, her reaction was enough. That was genuine fear and shock rippling in her gaze. “It’s okay, Annabelle. We’ll find the spy.”

  “And if we don’t? I… Nathan, we can’t lose. I can’t go back to the Star Forces. They’ll take me, and—”

  I grabbed her shoulders and looked into her eyes. “Anna, look, nobody is going back to the Star Forces,” I said with a strict tone. “We’re going to do everything we can to defeat the Alliance.”

  She shivered. “And what if it’s not enough?”

  “We’ll make it enough,” I said in a strong determined tone as I finally let go of her shoulders. “You’re never going near the Farsight Program again,” I emphasized, “we can shut it down,” I promised her.

  “You’ll have to find it first,” she said in a cold whisper. “Professor Axis is one of the most protected assets of the Star Forces.”

  I’d heard her mention Professor Axis before. Frowning, I realized I’d never asked for more information on him. Now it seemed more imperative to do so. I didn’t want to push her – anyone could see she was traumatized by her experience – but I needed to know what she did. “What was this Professor Axis like, anyway?”

  She shrugged her shoulders, a brooding, somewhat detached look filling her gaze as she looked to the middle-distance but just over my shoulder. “I only ever met him once. The rest of my training,” her lips pulled up hard over her teeth, “was completed by his underling scientists.”

  “But Professor Axis led the program, right?”

  She nodded. “He was always looking for his special one, as he called it.”

  I frowned, a curious tingle descending deep into my gut. “Sorry?”

  She was still looking over my shoulder, gaze still lost in a haze of memory. “The special one, he called it. The one he could turn into his complete battle system,” her voice dropped so low I could barely pick it up.

  “What?” I asked, a frozen feeling spreading through my gut.

  “He had this theory that if he could find a candidate who was compatible enough with the implants, he could make them into this… avenging angel. Someone who could float above a battle and take control of it.”

  I was shaking now, actually shaking. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “His complete battle system would be able to take over everything within its range. Every soldier, every munitions item. They’d be able to conduct them, shift them around the battlefield like somebody playing a game or conducting an orchestra.”

  “Anna… that’s crazy,” I said, incapable of controlling myself as a stab of fear sliced through my middle.

  She finally jerked her gaze back to me. “Yes it is. It’s impossible, too. He never found a candidate with power close to that. And he never will. The man was insane,” she said bitterly. “He was insane, and the Star Forces let him play whatever games he wanted with his helpless victims.”

  “I’m so… sorry,” I said weakly, incapable of thinking of anything else to say.

  “I don’t want you to be sorry for me. I want you to help me to put a stop to this.”

  I held her gaze. I nodded. There was nothing else I could do.

  She turned around, and for the first time in a long time, she smiled. “Thanks, Nate.” She walked away.

  I watched her leave the Captain’s ready room.

  It didn’t take long until my thoughts rebounded to what she’d said.

  A complete battle system? Somebody who could float above a war and conduct every piece like they were playing a goddamn game of chess?

  Impossible. Annabelle was right. Such a thing was impossible.

  So why couldn’t I shake that image from my mind? Why did it stay with me as I turned and faced the discussion table, the rotating hologram still visible in the middle of the room?

  No… Annabelle was right – Professor Axis must have been crazy.

  Such power simply couldn’t exist.

  …

  Ensign Jenks

  I was in trouble.

  I knew that. Part of me realized that, but the rest of me – the rest of me just wanted another fix of compound 78.

  I had no idea what was happening to me.

  I’d synthesized it correctly – the compound 78 was pure. So why was I still jittering? Why had my headache returned so quickly? Why were my fingers tingling? Why did I feel like I was mere hours from a fit?

  I’d injected myself with more 78 barely a day ago.

  This shouldn’t be happening.

  The worst thing was that I had no one to talk to, no one to go see. I couldn’t dare step foot inside the medical bay. While they wouldn’t pick up on my implants, in my current condition, they’d certainly detect my tension. And in the current atmosphere, where everyone was looking for a telekinetic spy, it wouldn’t take long to put two and two together.

  I was completely alone and on the run again.

  I knew I should be thinking of a plan to escape this planet, but I couldn’t. The only thing I could th
ink of was more goddamn compound 78.

  I was worse than a drug addict. I couldn’t quit. I hadn’t chosen this life either.

  I was sweating again. I had to keep running a hand down my mouth and shifting the back of my palm over my forehead.

  Though I’d only injected myself yesterday, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d have to have another fix by tonight.

  I couldn’t run the risk of looking too suspicious. But if I kept blowing through my supplies of compound 78, I’d run out in a few weeks. And the Captain had promised it would be harder, much harder to access the Omega weaponry from now on.

  Everyone was suspicious. Everyone was looking for their Star Forces spy.

  Me, I was trying to survive. All thoughts of destroying the Alliance and guiding the resistance were gone.

  One day at a time. I just had to take one day at a time.

  I walked forward, a slight stagger in my step, the back of my hand pressed against my lips.

  One day at a time.

  …

  Lieutenant Commander Nathan Shepherd

  It was the first time I’d had some time to myself in days.

  I settled down in my quarters, but my thoughts wouldn’t settle.

  They kept revolving back to what Annabelle had said.

  A complete battle system. I shouldn’t be able to imagine it, but I could. A person with the power to shift people around like a god.

  I was aware that my heart was beating hard in my chest, feeling like a hammer as it thundered against my rib cage.

  Sweat had picked up across my brow too.

  In the comfort of my own quarters, I pulled off my shirt and threw it on my bed. Then, with a sigh, I wiped a hand down the back of my head.

  I walked over to my workbench. That’s when I saw it. The small holo message revolving above the table.

  “Play,” I said simply as I walked up to the table, shifting my bare shoulders around, thankful for the freedom of ditching my shirt.

  “Good news,” the Chief’s recorded voice came, “it’s time to recreate civilization.”

  At first I frowned, then I let out a chuckle as I realized what she meant.