“It is of archaeological significance,” he answered simply.
“What’s down there? What are the Star Forces trying to hide? What are they willing to kill for?” my voice reverberated on the word kill.
I hadn’t forgotten Weatherby. Never would.
I was determined to find out what had happened to him and his crew.
My father paused. I wouldn’t call it hesitating, because his expression was still one of perfect control. Maybe he was trying to ratchet up the tension.
“Tell me.”
“That moon possesses an archaeological site belonging to an ancient race known only as the Forgotten.”
My expression soured, lips crumpling as my brow compressed into my fringe. “The Forgotten?” A cascade of nerves travelled up my back as I whispered that name.
I’d never heard of it before… but… it still terrified me.
“As far as we can tell, they were active in this sector and much of the Milky Way approximately 200,000 years ago.”
“200,000 years ago?” I repeated, incredulous. “There were no galactic civilizations at that time. No single race had achieved beyond light travel.”
“Yes, that is the standard belief.”
“And you’re telling me it’s wrong, are you?” My incredulity gave way to fear. My heart started to beat harder in my chest. I could feel its reverberations travel deep into my hands and feet as I crossed my arms and stared at my father.
“Yes,” he answered simply. “The Forgotten, as far as we can tell, rose to galactic significance approximately 500,000 years ago.”
I choked. “500,000 years ago? That’s ridiculous.” Again, I could no longer muster incredulity – just that growing fear. It tightened my chest, wrapped around and around my back.
My father leaned forward in his seat, hands unwrapping slowly from around his chest as he rested them easily on his knees. While his posture was loose, the look in his eyes… it was electric. “There’s a lot you don’t know, son.”
“This… is impossible.”
“Why would it be impossible?”
“500,000 years ago there was no race developed enough to build an autonomous vehicle, let alone travel to the stars. The very idea that there could have been a galactic Empire back then… is preposterous.”
“A good scientist knows that anything is possible.”
I sneered at him. “Stop wasting my time. What’s down on that moon?”
“A wall.”
“Sorry?” His admission threw me.
“A wall. Belonging to the Forgotten.”
I wanted to snap at him to stop it, but couldn’t.
Alyssa had mentioned a wall to the CMO. Apparently Axis had talked to her about it. He wanted her to open it with her implants. In fact, that’s why he’d upgraded them.
I shook my head.
He watched me keenly. “You’ve heard about it, haven’t you? Wait till you see it, son. It will take your breath away.”
“What is it?”
“It’s a wall.”
“Stop wasting my time.”
“Start asking intelligent questions.”
“Why would you be willing to sacrifice so much, why would you be willing to kill so many people,” I spoke through clenched teeth, “for a goddamn wall?”
“Because we are interested in what is behind it,” his voice dropped, bottomed out.
I shivered. “What’s behind it?”
He smiled. I couldn’t say it was a move full of mirth, nor cold victory. It was… it left me feeling sick.
I took a step back before I knew what I was doing, ducking away like a man dodging an impending blow. “I don’t get it. If you’re so interested in what’s behind the wall, why don’t you just blow it up?”
“It is made of an intelligent metal that can absorb the force of most explosions. Believe you me, son, we tried every option to open it.”
“So next you’re going to try Alyssa, ha?” I couldn’t control my voice as I said her name. Nor my heart. It beat harder in my chest, hammering away like a fist knocking on a door.
“Alyssa?” he asked, as if he didn’t know who she was.
“Alyssa Nightingale,” I could barely shift my jaw. It felt like someone had cemented it in place. “The woman who tore through this ship. “
“Ah,” mock recognition flooded over his expression, “Subject Omega.”
“She has a name – use it.”
“She has a destiny, too.”
“She was just an ordinary person before you…” I couldn’t finish my sentence. Too much rage boiled in my gut. It felt as if I was starting to digest myself.
“There was never anything ordinary about her. She possessed a peculiar biology that allowed her to interact with the Forgotten implants.”
I shook my head, incapable of keeping up. “What?”
“Subject Omega – Alyssa Nightingale, as you call her – possesses a never-before-seen capability to interact with Forgotten implants.”
“Forgotten implants?” I shook. I made no move to hide it, either. It would have been like trying to disguise a mountain behind a mole hill.
“Haven’t you ever wondered where the technology for those implants came from? Why, it came from the same race behind the archaeological site on Moon Alpha 98,” he spoke calmly and directly, as if we were engaging in nothing more than an intellectual debate.
“That’s… impossible.”
“I told you, son – nothing is impossible. Professor Axis has made his career out of obtaining Forgotten technology and adapting it to the Alliance’s needs. He worked on the telekinetic project, also known as the Farsight Program, for 50 years before Alyssa came along. He’d always been looking for a subject who integrated with the implants as well as she did.”
“… No.”
“Yes. And that’s why the Miracle is currently in this sector. Professor Axis wants to be the first one to access the technology behind that wall. It will represent a cache larger than any we’ve ever seen. It will further solidify the Star Forces’ superiority in the galaxy.” Considering the subject matter, I expected my father to speak with fervor, expected his eyes to grow wide with patriotic pride. They didn’t. He spoke easily and calmly, no sign of tension anywhere on his body or in his tone.
“I—”
“You don’t believe me, son? You will,” he promised ominously. “Give it time. You will. And don’t you worry – I’ll accept you back. You’ll always be my son.”
Chapter 4
Dig site, Mari Sector
Something was happening.
The geological disturbances at the dig site were increasing in intensity. It felt like the very ground was ready to split in half.
Fear ran through the camp, catching from heart-to-heart like a spark igniting through a canopy.
Something wasn’t right. Everyone knew that now.
More and more corpses appeared on the surface of the moon – scientists and soldiers whose bodies had been mangled by them.
The creatures.
They tried to travel in groups. It didn’t work.
The intensity of the attacks was getting worse.
Something… something was waking up.
It was time to call for help.
…
Annabelle Williams
“Captain, they’re moving,” I said, voice pitching high as terror punched through my heart.
“What?”
“The four ships around the moon. They’re moving. I… I think they’ve been trying to contact the Miracle and haven’t got a response.”
I turned in my chair, twisting right around, neck at a painful angle as I stared at the Captain.
She sat in her seat, hands clasped around the armrests, her expression unreadable.
Slowly she pulled back her stiff lips. “It’s time for another fight. Prepare battle stations. Get me the Miracle on the line.”
“Aye.”
…
Lieutenant Commander Natha
n Shepherd
I received a call when I was still standing there, interrogating my father. Though interrogating was a generous term. I had no control here. Not a scrap.
As my comm PIP beeped, I jolted backwards, as if I’d been hit.
I slammed a hand against it, cleared my throat, and swallowed my nerve. “Yes?”
“Prepare for attack, Lieutenant Commander. Those four ships are on the move. The Ra’xon is moving to intercept.”
I felt cold. Cold through and through.
I heard my father shift forward, and I jerked my head around to watch him.
His expression hadn’t changed.
He looked calmer than ever.
There was a possibility he was about to be rescued, and he didn’t seem to care. In fact, he brought up a hand and started cleaning under his nails methodically, one after another.
“Lieutenant Commander?” the Captain prompted.
“On it. What do you want the Miracle to do?”
“I’ve already contacted the Chief. She’s managed to regain basic engine control. Though we haven’t cracked the Miracle’s command codes yet, she’s confident she can bypass them for now.”
“What are you thinking? Are you going to bring us into the fray?” I asked, my pitching voice revealing just how I felt about that option.
“Yes. You won’t be able to do much, as your weapons array has been disabled. However, the Chief has managed to restore basic shield control. You will be able to provide the Ra’xon with support.”
“That’s a hell of a risk,” I said, incapable of holding myself back.
“Yes. But there is no other way. I want you back on the bridge of the Miracle, coordinating the attack.”
“Got it.”
“How’s your interrogation of the Miracle’s senior staff progressing?”
I looked back at my father. We made eye contact briefly. “Don’t ask,” I managed as I turned hard on my foot and ran from the room.
I could feel his eyes on the back of my neck.
…
Alyssa Nightingale
I heard the red alert blare through the Ra’xon.
I stiffened immediately. It felt as if my weary body could take no more, as if another attack would kill me.
“What’s going on?” I asked the CMO as she rushed past.
She stopped, boots skidding against the polished floor. “We’re about to engage those four Star Forces vessels around the moon.”
I paled.
“Don’t worry. We’ve got a chance. The Miracle’s right behind us. She’s got no weapons, but she’s got shields. We’ll be fine.” She darted away.
Leaving me alone.
I sat on the edge of my hospital bed, gut a churning mess. I hunched forward, head dropping, hair slicing over my knees.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
I felt them.
My implants.
Worse than that, the desire to switch them back on. To see what I could do.
Despite what they’d done to me, I still… wanted to use them. Not because I was a glutton for power, but because I just couldn’t sit here and do nothing.
The CMO was being overly optimistic. Even with the Miracle, this would be a close fight. The Star Forces would be desperate to get their heavy cruisers back.
I clenched my teeth and found myself rocking back and forth, tense muscles contracting and crunching as I rolled them against the hard edge of the medical table.
It seemed we were out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Again.
…
Annabelle Williams
“Two minutes until we intercept.”
The pressure on the bridge was unimaginable. It was such a stark contrast compared to the ebullient mood when we defeated the Miracle.
While the Ra’xon had sustained minimal damage during its fight with the Miracle, we had less crew now. We were also missing the Chief Engineer, one of our most valuable assets. Nobody knew the engine systems like she did.
Tension welled in my gut, feeling like a stone as it pushed me through my chair.
“We need to come out punching,” the Captain warned. “We have to concentrate our attack on the main scout vessel. It has the most maneuverability. We can’t allow it to hem us in.”
I turned back to my task.
I wanted to pray that this would work, but I knew praying wouldn’t save our skins.
So I hunched over my console, fingers darting like frantic spiders, sweat slicking my brow.
This would be the fight of our lives.
…
Lieutenant Commander Nathan Shepherd
“Chief, are you sure we can do this?” I pressed two sweaty fingers into my brow, digging them hard into the flesh.
“Don’t ask me that. You don’t want to know the answer.”
“Chief?” my voice pitched with concern.
“Shepherd, relax. We wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think it was a good idea. But no, I can’t offer you any guarantees. It’s taking a long time to wrap my head around this ship’s engines. But I think… I think I know enough to keep her steady.”
I shook my head. I was on the bridge, alone. We didn’t have the command codes for the Miracle. There was nothing much I could do but access basic systems.
Propulsion and shields would be controlled in engineering.
I was just here to… what, watch over the crew? Send them good vibes? Pray that this would work out, even though it was goddamn impossible?
My stomach lurched with nerves. It felt like I’d swallowed a bomb.
I watched the view screen. We had enough control to set it so it showed the section of space directly in front of the Miracle.
The Ra’xon was before us, leading us forward.
She was a mighty ship. You didn’t really appreciate that when you were inside. But now I was watching the Ra’xon on the screen, I could appreciate how magnificent she was. Massive, a testament to technological advancement.
That thought reminded me of what he’d said. That alien race my father had mentioned – the Forgotten.
It was impossible that they’d been a galactic Empire 500,000 years ago, a time when archaic humans still roamed the Earth.
Inconceivable, I repeated to myself. But even as I tried to convince myself of that fact, I couldn’t push away the doubt.
My father had appeared to be telling the truth. And I certainly couldn’t deny that there was something down on that moon that had captured the attention of the Star Forces, Axis included.
My thoughts lurched from memory to memory, and every time I closed my eyes I saw the destruction Alyssa had meted out on the Miracle.
… Did it make sense that a power like that could have originated with a long-forgotten, long-dead race?
No. Of course it didn’t. If a race that powerful had existed, there’d be evidence of them. More dig sites, legends – something.
… Or would there be? The Star Forces were good at keeping secrets.
I had to push those thoughts from my mind. I had to concentrate on the battle.
A proximity sensor beeped on the panel to my side. I flicked my gaze over to it.
I knew what it meant.
Two seconds later, we slipped back into normal space.
We arrived at our destination.
The battle.
It felt weird presiding over a bridge that couldn’t do anything. All those shiny panels, all those weapons consoles, propulsion, communications, navigation – and nothing I could do but stand there.
“Shields are up,” the Chief snapped, her voice reverberating through the audio system of the bridge and echoing all around me.
I heard her cheer, as if she was surprised she’d been able to do it.
I kept my eyes locked on the view screens.
The Ra’xon was right in front of us. All of a sudden the Miracle’s shields scooped around both ships, this glittering line of blue slicing through the black depths of space.
The Chief whooped with relief.
“The battle isn’t won yet,” I warned. “How hard is it going to be to maintain the Miracle’s shields at this output?”
“We’ve got about 20 minutes.”
“And then what?”
“A core malfunction. A serious one.”
I closed my eyes and winced.
When I opened them, the battle began.
Those four Star Forces ships swept around the Ra’xon like a pack of wild wolves. They started peppering her with blasts. Bright light flashed across the view screen. Ion cannons, pulse beams, even phase torpedoes.
Those four ships were smaller than the Ra’xon, but Christ, they were armed to the teeth.
“Is there any chance we’ve got any weapons at all?” I asked, voice snapped.
“None. Our array was completely destroyed.”
I swore.
“Now stop distracting me,” the Chief ordered.
I felt completely useless as I stood there and watched. My heart pounded in time with every shot, but that was it.
I couldn’t do anything.
Or could I?
“Is my shuttle still in the Miracle’s hangar bay?”
“I thought I told you to stop bothering me. But yeah, it is. Why?”
“It’s time for me to do something.”
“That shuttle is pretty small, Lieutenant Commander.”
“But she’s maneuverable.” I twisted on my foot, racing for the door.
The Captain wanted me on the bridge. But there was nothing I could do here.
With the controls of that shuttle at my fingertips, everything would change.
This was risky, but you had to risk in order to win, right?
…
Alyssa Nightingale
It felt like hell sitting there on the edge of that medical bed.
I could have helped. In fact I’d offered, but I’d been ordered to sit tight in the med bay.
I was still recovering.
Plus… who could trust me?
I couldn’t even trust myself.
For the umpteenth time I brought my hands up and stared at them. My eyes would always drift up and lock on my elbows.
I felt sick.
What had Axis done to me?
And why?
For that wall?
My mind kept being drawn back to it, as if the thought was stronger than gravity.
The Crucible- The Complete Series Page 50
