The Crucible- The Complete Series

by Odette C. Bell

  With a massive sigh, I shifted towards the edge of the bed and pushed off. Shepherd was still there, still had an arm around my back. But when it was clear I could stand, he took a respectful step backwards.

  I didn't want him to go. God, apart from the 78 he was the only one who could make me feel normal. The only one who could push away the pain.

  I kept looking at him as he shifted, and maybe a little of my gratitude played in my gaze, because he dropped his eyes and took another step back.

  Despite everything that was happening in this goddamn war I wanted something to happen between us. I wanted to lose myself with Shepherd. I knew how selfish that sounded, especially since I'd started this war.

  “I’ll leave you two alone,” the Doc suddenly said, disengaging the electro needle, shifting hard on her boot, and returning to her office in a hurry. Like every other crew member on the Ra’xon, she couldn't rest. With the constant skirmishes, casualties kept flooding in.

  Shepherd cleared his throat. “You feeling better now? Any pain, headaches?” he asked again.

  I lied and shook my head. “I’m fine, Shepherd, and thanks – thank you so much for coming every time I have a dose. But you know you don't need to.”

  “I know I don't need to,” he said quietly, “but that’s not going to stop me from coming to stand by your side, Alyssa. We all deserve someone by our side,” he said, voice stronger.

  My stomach lurched. Not with fear, but with nerves. Quick, tight springing nerves that rippled through my gut like feet running through puddles. I even brought a hand up and patted my stomach. Then, when I realized that was too obvious, I forced a hand behind me and clenched it into a fist. “Shepherd,” I found myself saying, but trailed off, not knowing what to add.

  He looked up sharply, his eyes widening, his pupils dilating. “Yes?”

  “I…” I trailed off, pushing a frustrated sigh through my clenched teeth. “How are you holding up?”

  That excited look fell from his gaze like dead leaves falling from an autumn tree. His gaze swung right past my shoulder and locked on the far wall.

  He was tired. Not just fatigued, but crushed both mentally and physically. And I knew that just like me he felt guilty for what had happened to Williams. I wanted to tell him he could confide in me, but I couldn't push the words out.

  He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, his comm PIP beeped, and he was called away to yet another task.

  He paused, gaze lingering on me.

  “Go,” I said quietly. “I’ll come find you later,” I promised, the words springing from my throat before I knew what I was saying.

  He got that look in his eye again, took several steps back without turning, then finally shifted and walked through the door.

  My eyes locked on him until he left. I let out a breath, realizing I'd sealed so much tension in my chest it felt as if my head would explode.

  Letting out yet another sigh, I closed my eyes, shook my head, and walked out the door too.

  …

  Annabelle Williams

  I was… I had no words to express what I was. I was in some realm of pain and agony beyond description. Every now and then I was vaguely aware of what I was doing. Every now and then my consciousness settled back into my body, but not for long. For what was out there was too terrifying.

  I knew I was the puppet of the Forgotten. I had just enough conscious awareness to realize I'd been in their clutches for two weeks now. Fighting their war, winning their war – for there was nothing in the Milky Way that could stand in our way. No power, not even the Star Forces.

  Maybe as a member of the resistance I should have been gladdened by that. That my tormentors were finally being crushed under a boot far larger than their own. But it didn't work like that. All I felt was this overwhelming sense of loss as more and more lives crumbled into dust.

  The Forgotten were soulless. My whole body and mind knew that they would stop at nothing until they destroyed every advanced civilization in the Milky Way and wiped away every life like unwanted specks on glass.

  They considered this galaxy their own. They would not give it up to anyone. I didn't know too much about them. I couldn't snatch too many scraps of information, but every time they took over my mind, they let things slip. Little truths that confirmed over and over again what monsters they were.

  I became momentarily aware of my body as it jolted forward. I felt myself slip from ordinary space and transport somewhere.

  When I wasn't being used I was kept in the center of the Forgotten's most massive heavy cruiser. It was more like a planet floating in space than a ship. It was light years and light years beyond any technology the Star Forces had. And with it the Forgotten would crush the Milky Way like a human swatting a fly with an anvil.

  My body re-materialized just outside of the dense black hull of the Forgotten's ship. I felt my head twist to the side. My body was nothing but light. Maybe there were skin and bone and muscles somewhere underneath that powerful bursting illumination, but I couldn't see it anymore, and God knows I couldn't feel it.

  For a few seconds I did nothing but float there, then I felt my body shift and turn to face the opposite direction.

  There, I saw ships. It didn't take too long to see the Star Forces emblem emblazoned across their sides. I recognized the shape and design too. More heavy cruisers.

  To the Star Forces’ credit, they weren’t giving up easily. They kept throwing ships and bodies at the Forgotten. Even though it was useless. There was nothing that could be done but die.

  I felt my arms jerking up, my hands spreading wide as the Forgotten's power surged through me, leaping through every vein like electricity arcing from open wire to open wire.

  That light burned brighter. I was like a sun that had been condensed into a body. I instinctively knew that if anyone looked upon me without protection, their eyes would be burnt from their skull.

  I felt my body slipping from ordinary space again, jerking to the side and disappearing until I reappeared halfway between the Forgotten's ship and the approaching Star Forces heavy cruisers.

  For a few sweet seconds I did nothing, and I wondered if the Forgotten would choose not to use me. A single second later, I was pushed forward.

  I couldn't describe how it felt. No words could possibly penetrate the sensation of such tremendous force traveling through something as simple as a human body. It was like I was being ripped apart second from second, dying over and over again with no reprieve.

  The power leapt from my hands and did something to space. It shot into that vast blackness, warping it. The Star Forces cruisers didn't have a chance. Even though they let loose with volley after volley of ion cannons and phase torpedoes, all directed at me, not a single shot reached me. And even if a blast strayed too close to my brightly burning body, it would simply be obliterated in the eddies of my power.

  The closest Star Forces ship was suddenly torn apart. Whatever I did to space sliced through it like a hot knife traveling through butter. Hull plating twisted and tumbled into the void as explosions rippled over the ship's surface, billowing out into space and scattering debris in a 100 km radius.

  Another ship began to attack. But like the other, I destroyed it, until finally the last Star Forces ship turned tail.

  We would not allow it to escape. The Forgotten would not allow anyone to escape. Their goal was total annihilation of every single race in the Milky Way until finally they could once again claim this galaxy as their throne.

  I closed my eyes, but they could not remain closed forever, for a force beyond me opened them and focused on the fight.

  Chapter 3

  Lieutenant Commander Nathan Shepherd

  We were sitting in the observational room, side-by-side, silent as we stared out at the view through the wall.

  My hands were in my lap, and I picked at them methodically, running my fingernails along my palm, scratching at the numerous imperfections.

  Alyssa said noth
ing. With one hand rested on her lap and the other propped against her chin, her arm pushing into her knee, she stared at the screen.

  There weren’t too many people in life you could share total silence with and still feel comfortable. Okay, I couldn’t say I was comfortable. I wouldn’t be comfortable until the scourge of the Forgotten had been wiped from the Milky Way. But I didn’t feel the need to speak, and that spoke volumes about our relationship, didn’t it?

  Our relationship. A question that kept spinning in my mind like a ship in freefall. I wanted her close, and I’m pretty sure she felt the same. But we couldn’t start anything, not now, not when the stakes were so high.

  So all we did was sit side-by-side in silence.

  There was something else eating at me, something to add to the myriad problems that assailed me like a 10,000 strong army. My father. He was still in the brig of the Miracle. Despite everything that told me not to, I’d been going to see him almost every day. It wasn’t because I wanted a sense of paternal connection in these last few days of the Milky Way’s existence… or was it? I tried to tell myself that I was just picking his brains for more Star Forces' information, anything that could give the resistance an edge.

  Maybe my brow crumpled, because Alyssa turned to me, gaze darting down my body until it locked on my scrunched features. “You should follow your own advice.”

  “What?”

  “Stop thinking about whatever you’re thinking. There’s no point. There’s nothing we can do,” she said through a heavy sigh as she brought her own hands up and started looking at them.

  Whenever she did that, her eyes always drifted up to her elbows. I couldn’t even begin to imagine having implants, facing the same horrible history that had been thrust upon her.

  A wince twitched my cheeks, tightening my brow and slackening my mouth.

  She shifted her head on the side and stared at me once more, her hair slicing across her cheek and tumbling over her shoulder. My gaze locked on it, and I savored the gentle angle of her neck framed by her strawberry blond hair.

  Abruptly she gave a soft laugh, and I recoiled, realizing too late that I’d been staring. I shifted back, clicking my jaw from left to right as I shrugged.

  She stared at her hands for a few seconds, but the morose look was gone. Instead, a half smile crumpled her lips. Eventually she sighed. “Why can’t anything work out?” she suddenly asked.

  That question came from nowhere, and I had no idea what to say.

  Before I thought she would slip into another somber silence, she turned on the seat, body squeaking over the leather until she faced me in full. “Why can’t anything work out?” She brought her arms up and let them drop loosely to her sides. “Just when I get free of the Star Forces, the Forgotten raise their heads. It’s like… it’s like I’m cursed.”

  “You’re not cursed,” I said automatically, before I could think through my words. Because Christ, if anyone took a step back and looked at Alyssa’s life, my life too, there would be no escaping that we were two of the most cursed individuals in the galaxy.

  “You don’t believe that,” she challenged. “This is just so unfair. I just want to feel normal for one goddamn day.” She didn’t shift around to stare at the view again. Instead she locked her pleading gaze on me, and it felt as if wild horses couldn’t pull her away.

  I should have felt uncomfortable. I should have focused on my suddenly beating heart, my short choppy breath. I didn’t. Instead, I shifted closer, my own body now creaking against the leather. “I don’t know what to tell you, Alyssa. I can’t keep telling you it’ll all be alright, because I don’t know. But I’ll make it okay if I can.” My words were weak, my sentiment unclear. Thoughts spun in my mind, emotion sinking through my heart.

  With wide-open eyes she reached a hand out to me as if in slow motion. I saw it push towards my face. Then, just before it could reach my cheek and rest along my jaw, my comm PIP blared. The noise was so loud and unexpected we both jerked back as if we’d been struck.

  “Shepherd, this is a priority alpha. We have detected incoming targets,” the Captain snapped.

  My heart, which had been frozen with anticipation before, suddenly leapt with adrenaline. My body shook, a powerful jolt traveling down my shoulders and slamming into my gut like a battering ram. “What, what targets?”

  “The Forgotten. We’ve picked up at least 20 jumpers headed our way.”

  I swore bitterly, not caring that the Captain was still on the line. “20? Christ, are we sure?”

  “We checked and rechecked our tactical sensors. You need to get to battle stations. Is Nightingale with you?”

  “Yes, she’s with me.”

  “Then tell her to prep and head over to the Miracle as soon as she can.”

  “Aye, Captain.”

  “Good luck, Lieutenant Commander,” the Captain signed out.

  Though she’d never say it, I half expected she’d tell me I needed luck. No, we’d need a Miracle. There were 20 Forgotten jumpers headed our way.

  I sat there in horrified silence as that fact settled. Then Alyssa shifted. She got to her feet.

  My eyes jerked up and I saw her expression. It was crushed, guilt swamping in like dirty water from an engorged river.

  “It’s okay.” I jumped to my feet, forgetting the horror for just a second as I moved in and placed a comforting hand on her arm.

  She didn’t shift back, but she didn’t look at me either. With a sorrow filled expression, she stared at the floor.

  “I know this is hard, Alyssa. But you’ve gotta get to the Miracle. We have to ensure you’re safe. We can’t let the Forgotten…” I trailed off. I didn’t need to keep laboring the point. She knew already. If there was one thing we had to ensure it was that the Forgotten didn’t get their hands on her. If they were this powerful with Williams, God knows what they’d be able to do with Alyssa.

  She shifted back. Suddenly my hand dropped from her arm, falling slack at my side.

  “Alyssa.” I shifted my head down, trying to get her to look at me.

  Finally she did. She set her jaw hard, pressing her lips into a tight, bitter frown. “I should be doing something,” she said through clenched teeth. “I shouldn’t be hiding every time the Ra’xon is attacked.”

  “You know the answer to that,” I said in the softest tone I could manage, “you know the stakes, Alyssa.”

  “Yes, I know the stakes,” she continued to speak through clenched teeth, her words hissing like bursts of escaped pressure. “But it’s not fair, Shepherd. It’s not fair.” Tears touched her eyes again.

  God, I wanted to reach a hand out and brush them from her cheeks, but I didn’t have time. I forced myself to take a swift step back and another. I couldn’t turn from her, didn’t want to. “Promise me you’ll get to the transport and head to the Miracle as soon as you can.”

  I watched her nod, tight muscles referring all the way down into her chest and arms. “Don’t worry, I’ll get to the Miracle. But, Shepherd,” her eyes widened, the skin around them drawing slack, “promise me you won’t die.”

  I couldn’t promise that. Not really. I had no control over what would happen here. I felt like a minnow swimming in a sea of sharks. But that didn’t stop me from nodding my head low. “I promise you, Alyssa, I won’t die. But you have to promise me you’ll keep yourself safe.” I stared at her until she nodded.

  I finally took one more reluctant step back, turned, and left the room at a sprint.

  The corridors outside had already plunged into chaos, crew sprinting past, their faces pressed with terror and worry.

  We’d fought one or two jumpers before, but 20 was insane. The odds weren’t just stacked against us; there was no conceivable way we could win. But we couldn’t give up. Give up and let the Forgotten take Alyssa, and we’d be handing the Milky Way away.

  I pushed myself harder, faster down the corridor until my arms pumped at my sides like bellows.

  I headed straight to the c
losest tactical station. We’d set them up at even intervals along every deck. When the Ra’xon wasn’t fighting we were busy producing weapons, cannibalizing parts of the ship to create armor and phase rifles – anything that could make a dent in the Forgotten and their foot soldiers. Their foot soldiers – or the body drones, as we called them – were the mysterious creatures we’d discovered on Moon Alpha 98. They were deadly. Not only could they transport through space with the ease of a human blinking, but they could tear through inch thick metal plating with nothing but their claws.

  There was some kind of pocket of space around the body drones that protected them from ordinary projectiles. You had to pound into it with thousands of rounds of ordinary ammo before you picked a hole large enough to get to the drone’s body beyond.

  It was the stuff of nightmares.

  I reached the tactical station, slammed a hand over the biometric panel, and stood back as it opened from the wall.

  I grabbed the closest set of armor and started cramming it on. All sophisticated sets had been destroyed long ago. We were down to the rudimentary stuff that could be hashed together in a couple of hours with a simple matter synthesizer.

  As for my guns, they were repurposed pulse rifles with a few added modifications to help them pierce through a drone’s barrier quicker. You still had to shoot at least a hundred rounds before you had a chance of taking one down. And considering how quick they were, that was an eternity.

  My mouth was dry, throat aching as I took deliberate, even swallows.

  As I finished putting on my armor and the joints connected together with a hiss and a rattle, I took a step back and closed my eyes briefly.

  It would be the last reprieve I would get in hours.

  Suddenly, the red alert klaxon kicked into gear. It blared through the ship like a scream.

  I shook my head, hardened my jaw, and pushed off, gun in my hands.

  I reached the closest checkpoint, which was being set up by a security team. The Ra’xon was running at a quarter capacity now. We’d shifted the majority of our crew over to the Miracle. If we had any hope of staying out of the Forgotten’s reach, we had to utilize the sophisticated technology aboard the Miracle. That meant we had to understand it; the majority of our science and medical officers were aboard the Miracle now, trying to do just that. The Chief was over there, too, and the Captain often switched between both ships daily.