The Crucible- The Complete Series

by Odette C. Bell

  She gave a heavy, weary sigh, her remaining hand dropping limply to the table. “It looks as if the research dig was attacked by the Star Forces. Murdered. In cold blood. Research Manager Lee took footage and managed to get off a message just before she was killed. Using her skills as a signal researcher, she essentially hid the message until the Star Forces jamming equipment was destroyed. Then the message was sent.”

  “But why didn’t the Forgotten pick up on it? They’ve been playing havoc with Star Forces communications. They clearly have the technology to intercept and destroy messages.”

  “That’s why I called you here, Lieutenant Commander. It seems in her last few seconds Research Manager Lee gave the Milky Way a parting gift. If I’m right, this could be just what we need. A full proof means to communicate without the Forgotten knowing about it.”

  The importance of what she was saying finally struck me. I swallowed wildly, feeling like a rock had become lodged in my throat. “Are you sure?”

  “Right now the only thing I’m sure about is I feel like hell. This will require further analysis. But for now, it’s a promising lead. And considering the beating we’re taking, it’s worth pursuing.”

  “I nodded my head firmly. “Well I hope it works, we can’t…” I trailed off. I didn’t need to tell the Chief we couldn’t take too many more defeats – she more than anyone knew that.

  She nodded, brought up a hand, and latched it on the back of her neck. “Yeah, I get it – the galaxy is standing on a precipice, and at any second we could be pushed off into the void. I get it,” she added in another soft, defeated tone.

  “Don’t give up,” I said in a voice that hardly bridled with authority. It was heartfelt though. If the Chief were any other member of crew, I’d tell her it was her duty to keep fighting until the end. But I didn’t need to give her lessons on duty, not considering her unending contribution to the fight. So I hoped my commiserating smile was enough.

  Surprisingly, it appeared to have an effect on her, and she leaned back, stretched out her six arms with a click, and nodded more firmly this time. “Right, now I’ve told you that, Lieutenant Commander, shouldn’t you be getting to that briefing? It’s in three minutes now. You’ll have to run.”

  I nodded, turned hard on my foot, and left, shooting the Chief a quick “Thank you,” as I strode quickly from her office.

  Walking to the briefing, what she told me filtered through my mind. A method of communicating the Forgotten couldn’t pick up on.… Christ, if it was true, this was the weapon we needed.

  No, I corrected myself almost immediately, not the weapon. A weapon.

  What my father had told me slammed back into the forefront of my mind.

  There was a way to fight the Forgotten. If we were willing to risk enough.

  I felt cold as that thought settled hard into my gut.

  Finally I made it to the briefing room where the Captain and a few other members of senior staff waited, including Alyssa, and a few faces I hadn’t seen in a while – the Lady Argoza and J’axal.

  Due to her status, the Lady Argoza had been transferred to the Miracle, and J’axal had gone with her as a personal bodyguard.

  She made enduring eye contact as I roughly sat in the closest seat.

  “That was a hell of a victory you managed to pull off.” J’axal offered me a gruff nod. “Thanks to you, we’re still alive.”

  I returned the nod.

  Then my gaze settled on Argoza. Looking at her brought back a memory that had been shunted to the shadows of my mind.

  The Elogian Factions were behind the resistance. They were puppet masters, financial backers, and ultimately the only party that would win from our hard fought victories.

  At first the Lady smiled at me, but then maybe a little of my suspicion cut through my gaze, because her brow crumpled. “Is everything all right, Nathan?”

  There’d been a time when her familiarity had been welcome. I’d thought it had meant Argoza held me in her esteem. Maybe it didn’t. Maybe she really was part of the Elogian Factions, and this was all a game.

  Before I could continue down the rabbit hole of my suspicions, the Captain cleared her throat. “I have called you all here to discuss the next phase of our battle plan and to inform you of several interesting developments.”

  I knew what she was talking about. I’d already radioed ahead and told her about my father’s revelation.

  But did she hold enough faith in my old man’s ramblings to believe him?

  As soon as I caught myself thinking that, I almost laughed. I clearly held enough faith that my father was right about the Elogians. So maybe he wasn’t lying about this either.

  At that thought, a chill sensation raced down my back and lodged hard in the base of my spine.

  “Admiral Shepherd has informed us of a possible weapon built to destroy the Forgotten,” the Captain said without pause or fanfare.

  Before her monumental words could settle, Argoza shook her head. “How can we trust a man like him?” Her gaze automatically flicked towards me. “I mean no offense, but surely we cannot forget his primary goal is to destroy the resistance. And knowing that, we must assume this is a trap.”

  The Captain nodded diplomatically. “Such suspicions have crossed my mind, and I believe it is integral that we independently verify his claims. However, we cannot ignore the possibility this is right, nor can we push away the hope it gives. We are yet to find a weapon effective against the Forgotten. We are yet to find a strategy sufficient to push them back. Every day the combined efforts of the resistance and the Star Forces leads to naught but more casualties.”

  “The resistance aren’t combining their efforts with the Star Forces,” J’axal suddenly challenged, a deadly look in his gaze.

  The Captain didn’t react. A meteor could be barreling down upon her, and the woman wouldn’t blink. “We must face the fact that the Milky Way has changed. We must also face the fact that if we are to win – if we are to live as a civilization – we must focus our efforts on the Forgotten, not the Star Forces.”

  “They will only use this as an opportunity to destroy us,” Lady Argoza qualified immediately. “And if we help them win, we will only be helping them solidify their control of the Milky Way.”

  “The galaxy is never going to be the same again,” someone interrupted.

  It was Alyssa.

  Her words were quiet, more like a hush. But by God was the certainty behind them powerful. It made me shiver.

  “The galaxy will never be the same again. If we win – if we somehow win against the Forgotten,” she placed a hand on the table, leaned into it, and let her head drop low as she stared up under her eyebrows, “there’ll be no Star Forces. There’ll be no resistance. There will only be survivors. The galaxy will have to be rebuilt. And when the time comes, if the time comes, we can fight for the resistance’s cause. But right now, if we let that goal distract us, there will be no survivors. We will all die,” she said each word slowly, and though they were quiet, they still reverberated around the room.

  “I concur with Lieutenant Nightingale,” the Captain said evenly. “Though I caution that we still cannot trust the Star Forces, we must not undermine them at this time. We must focus all of our attention on the Forgotten.”

  “You’ll be sacrificing the resistance and everything we stand for,” Lady Argoza protested.

  “There is no resistance anymore,” Alyssa suddenly snapped, “it’s dead, and so is the Star Forces. We need to do what’s best for the galaxy. If that means helping the Star Forces, then so be it. Without them, we simply won’t have the firepower to destroy the Forgotten.”

  “I can’t believe someone like you could be saying something like that,” Lady Argoza challenged, a somewhat haughty look in her gaze.

  “And what does that mean?” Alyssa actually snarled.

  “You feel sympathy for your masters and it is affecting your judgement.”

  “My masters?” Alyssa’s tone bottomed o
ut in warning.

  “That’s enough,” the Captain said firmly.

  “I’m simply pointing out the truth. And I cannot agree. We will not work with the Star Forces. The resistance must be in a position to take over the galaxy once the battle is over.”

  “I think you mean guide,” the Captain said diplomatically, but there was a hard edge to her tone. “And we cannot fight over the spoils of a battle that is not yet won.” She shifted her head back, a regal angle to her long powerful neck.

  The Lady Argoza sat back reluctantly, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

  The Captain ignored her and turned her gaze on me. “Lieutenant Commander, you are yet to express your opinions. I invite you to now do so.”

  I nodded my head low. “I think you’re right, Captain, and we can’t preoccupy ourselves with fighting over the spoils of a war we haven’t won. We need to face the fact we have no idea what state the Milky Way is going to be in once we drive the Forgotten back. And we have to understand that if we are to win this, it is likely we will have to sacrifice everything. Holding back, even one soldier, even one ship, even one gun, could be the difference between us winning and losing. And if we lose…” I let my voice trail off. I didn’t need to paint a picture, and I couldn’t. I couldn’t begin to imagine a Milky Way devoid of life, every scrap of our once great civilization crushed to dust.

  “Then we need to go after the primary outer storage facility,” Alyssa interrupted.

  Before Lady Argoza could turn her cold gaze on Alyssa, the Captain cleared her throat. “I have not yet informed the meeting of the importance of that facility, so I will do so now. Admiral Shepherd has assured us that within that facility the Star Forces have stockpiled weapons that can be used to destroy the Forgotten.” She immediately brought up a hand before Lady Argoza could protest. “We have not confirmed this report yet, but I am diverting resources to do just that, and with the novel new communication method the Chief has discovered, we can be confident we can relay this message through the fleet.”

  “Call me cynical,” J’axal growled, “but Admiral Shepherd is about as trustworthy as the Forgotten. Plus, if the Star Forces had such a weapon, why haven’t they used it yet?”

  The Captain’s gaze swiveled towards Alyssa.” Because they have not had a chance to deploy it yet. For it to work, we must strike a decisive blow and gather all the Forgotten in one place.”

  “Short of sending out a stunning party invite, how exactly are we going to do that?” J’axal crossed his arms and sat back heavily in his seat, the leather creaking against his slim-fit body armor.

  “With me,” Alyssa stated flatly. “We can lure them there with me.”

  My skin crawled as soon as she said it. It felt like someone had punched me in the gut.

  I thought I’d managed to get through to her, hammer home how important it was that she didn’t risk her life.

  Obviously I hadn’t.

  “I might be missing something, but isn’t that a massive risk?” J’axal asked. “Aren’t the Forgotten specifically after you?”

  “We may need Lieutenant Nightingale’s abilities to deploy the weapon and offer a sufficient distraction to the Forgotten.”

  “And what if none of that works?” I found my voice. It wavered and clearly lacked confidence, but this had to be said.

  Rather than look at the Captain, I unashamedly let my gaze cut towards Alyssa.

  At first she stared right back, but soon enough she let her eyes drop, and she stared at her hands.

  “We will risk everything and gain nothing but defeat,” the Captain summarized succinctly. “And yet, we must do something decisive to win this war. Thus far the Forgotten have proven that we are no match for them. It is therefore my recommendation that we proceed to the outer storage station to investigate this possibility.”

  “If this storage station really is holding technology that can destroy the Forgotten, do you honestly think we’ll just be able to waltz in and take it?”

  “No. The Star Forces will offer resistance,” the Captain conceded evenly. “Our priority will be to assess the station’s security, mount an operation, and retrieve what we can.”

  “This mission is simply too dangerous,” Lady Argoza protested.

  “Nothing in war is safe,” the Captain countered. “However, with the Miracle and the Ra’xon, it is my assessment that we will have a chance. And any chance, no matter how small, is preferable to waiting around to die. For no matter where we go, the Forgotten will continue to hound us. If we vacillate and do not head forward to our goal, we would be robbed of the time required to reach it.” With that, she pushed her hands into the table, rose, and nodded. “This meeting is over. If any of you have questions, you are welcome to come and see me privately.”

  With that, she turned and walked through the door that led back to her own office.

  I stood, intending to follow her, ready to plead my case that we couldn’t sacrifice Alyssa like that.

  I stopped when Lady Argoza walked over and placed a hand on my arm.

  I jerked my gaze over to her.

  “Nathan, I need to have a word.”

  “Now is not a great time—” I began.

  “Please, if our relationship means anything, please listen to me.”

  I nodded. Then I reluctantly walked out of the room with her.

  …

  Alyssa Nightingale

  I watched him walk out of the room with her, and it kicked off something in my gut.

  I would be kidding myself if I pretended not to know what it was.

  Jealousy, pure and simple.

  I’d been the one to turn Shepherd down and ask him to wait, because at the time, I hadn’t been able to process anything. With Admiral Shepherd’s warning so fresh in my mind, all I’d been able to think of was the fight.

  Now everything else came to the fore, and everything else was Shepherd.

  Did I want to be with him? Of course I did. I’d never felt a connection like this with anyone else. I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that without him, I wouldn’t be here right now. I’d be dead.

  So I wanted him. But at the same time, I needed to keep him at arm’s-length. Because I couldn’t destroy this. I couldn’t ruin our friendship by screwing up a relationship. And I would screw it up. Sooner rather than later. I couldn’t control any aspect of my life right now, let alone my emotions. So how could I trust myself to be with him? How could I invite him to join me in my cursed life?

  I tried to push the sensations away. I wanted to label them as unreasonable, foolish, childish, but that didn't help.

  I was just so goddamn conflicted.

  I stood there for a few seconds until finally I turned hard on my foot and strode from the room.

  My skin itched. It wasn't nerves. It was still goddamn jealousy.

  Letting out a frustrated sigh, I forced a hand against my forehead, pushing hard back into my hairline, dislodging a few strands from my ponytail.

  I wanted everything, and that was the problem.

  More than anything, though, I wanted to run away.

  I balled a hand into a fist and started to strike it against my thigh – thump, thump, thump.

  If I wasn't careful and didn't calm down, I’d inadvertently activate my implants. God knows how much damage I could do before I regained control.

  And that was it – that was the cornerstone of all my problems. The reason I couldn't give into my feelings and accept Shepherd was because I couldn't trust myself.

  I couldn't trust myself.

  So the only thing I could do was fight.

  But had I the presence of mind to analyze my thoughts, I would have realized something important.

  What I really wanted to fight wasn’t the galaxy – it was myself.

  …

  Lieutenant Commander Nathan Shepherd

  “What’s this about?” I tried to get to the point immediately as Argoza drew me into an empty room.

  She sto
od there for a few seconds, clasping her hands, gaze directed at the floor between us. Her expression wasn't so much thoughtful as wary.

  “Can I trust you?” she asked suddenly.

  I think I was expecting her question, but it still threw me off guard. “Of course,” I answered automatically, but I can't say my tone brimmed with confidence.

  Because the truth was, I didn't honestly know. Could I trust Argoza? Or was she a member of the Elogian Factions, tasked with keeping up the pretense of helping the resistance?

  “What is this about?” I pushed once more.

  She held her hands before herself, clasping the fingers tighter and tighter, the thumbs winding over each other.

  The move was so obviously nervous that it kindled the remaining compassion in my heart.

  “Are you alright?” I asked in a soft tone.

  “I fear we are making a grave mistake,” she said, voice slow and measured.

  As I looked at her, there wasn’t any indication she didn't believe what she was saying. I couldn't see the treachery I suspected was there.

  In all honesty, she still looked like the woman I’d almost fallen in love with.

  She looked up at me sharply. “You see it too, don't you? We’re rushing towards death. If we want to win this war, and if we want to be victorious over the Star Forces once we do, then we must plan carefully. We cannot throw away our lives on this slim dangerous hope.”

  I felt obliged to shake my head and tow the Captain's line. I couldn't.

  Maybe she saw my hesitation, because she suddenly took a darting step forward, coming a little closer than personal space allowed for.

  I took a nervous swallow.

  “Shepherd, I trust you, and I want you to know you can trust me, more than anyone else.”

  “I trust you,” I defaulted to saying in a much more forthright tone this time.

  “I feel like there's nobody else aboard that understands me.”

  “Just because the Captain hasn’t agreed with your position, doesn’t mean she doesn’t value your opinions.”

  The Lady pressed her lips together but didn't say anything. Again her gaze drifted down and locked on the floor. “I just want to know that no matter how much we sacrifice, there’ll be a galaxy worth living waiting for us at the other side.”