“Yeah.” Max chuckled dryly. His old friend and their former principal had done nothing but clash when they’d been on the run from the GDA. Now, Jimmy seemed almost glued to Chambers’ side.
And he’s not the only one.
“Are you pushing them away?” Chambers asked.
“Of course I am.”
The agent nodded.
“They just…they don’t understand. They’ll never understand.”
“Well, I was there, and I still don’t understand.”
Max pressed his lips together. Chambers had been there, fought to the last in that final struggle, on what people had started to call Liberty Day. He’d laid down his life for his people. That meant he and Max understood each other, on some level.
But the man couldn’t understand the torment Max had endured ever since taking control of his Lark pilots—since spending their lives like poker chips. He’d never forgive himself for that, and he found he had no interest in talking to people who tried to feed him empty words, like “you had no choice” or “think of the billions of people you saved.”
Chambers didn’t say those things to him. So Max could stand being in his presence.
They’d lost most of the people they’d brought with them onto the mother ship. In the end, thirteen had survived, forced back into the central chamber where Aegis had been working to free humanity.
Max had been unable to access the iterations in that final fight, probably because Aegis had been wholly preoccupied with ending humanity’s forced self-destruction. Still, it felt like a failure on his part. He’d tried so desperately to fight as well as the strange alien power had let him fight before. But he couldn’t. And he’d felt next to worthless.
Then, suddenly, it had been over. The insectile aliens had all collapsed as one, motionless. Aegis had finished freeing humanity from the insanity that had gripped them since the invaders arrived, and then she’d turned her attention to saving Max, Chambers, and the eleven other surviving soldiers.
Only nine hundred million people were left on Earth, of the billions who’d lived and worked there mere days before.
Now, they had to rebuild.
Aegis had left him on Liberty Day, without even a goodbye. He hadn’t been able to contact her since, and she wouldn’t contact him. He knew she was in touch with General Andrews, and the congressmen and women he’d arrived with shortly after the fighting had ended. But she never spoke to him.
As for Tara, Max still didn’t trust himself with her. The dreams of her pregnancy still lingered, and the world had grown too dark to risk making them come true. Even now that the threat was over…the universe had proven itself to be a brutal place. Who knew when the next fight would come? Or what the cost would be, next time?
“How’s boot camp going?” he asked.
Chambers raised his eyebrows. “Boot camp?”
“You know what I’m talking about.”
“I wouldn’t call it boot camp, exactly.”
“From the way I’ve heard the guys going through it talk about it, it’s at least as grueling. If not more.”
Chambers shook his head, cursing under his breath. “Well, they asked for it.”
And they had. One of the first kids to wander out of the surrounding countryside, dazed and terribly alone, had asked Chambers to train him soon after learning who he was.
Kid? Tony Redding was older than Max was. At the same time, he seemed so much younger.
Others had soon gotten word of Redding’s training, and asked to join in. Now, Chambers shouted them around this same field for six hours a day, starting at five in the morning. On top of their training, they mowed the enormous grassy expanse and kept Chambers’ new house clean. And they seemed to love every minute of it.
It kept them from their own thoughts, Max guessed, at least for a time. Thoughts of losing everyone, and of living in a world that was a shade of its former self. Of the things they’d done while the madness gripped them.
Global civilization was coming back together, after a fashion. Nothing resembling America had returned, but Pueblo was in touch with eighty-two other communities, all across the country, which were reassembling themselves. That number would probably move into the hundreds, soon.
Some of the congresspeople Andrews had brought were working with him to put systems in place to salvage what goods they could, while doing their best to get agriculture back up and running. Part of that was a widespread effort to train new farmers as quickly as possible.
Others among the former congressmen and women contented themselves with useless bluster and politicking.
Not much changed, there.
The same thing was happening all over the world. Smaller countries like Switzerland and Monaco had already reclaimed some sense of national cohesion.
America would take longer. But she would return.
Chambers was looking at him. “You know I’m in touch with General Andrews.” It wasn’t a question.
Max nodded. Andrews was holed up in the secret installation in the Rockies, with a diminished but intact battalion of freshly battle-hardened soldiers. The congresspeople were there with him. For now, it was the closest thing the country had to a government. “Do you have news from him?”
“I do indeed. I’m not supposed to tell anyone this, of course, but I figure you deserve to be kept updated. Whether Andrews signs off on it or not.”
“I can keep a secret.”
“I know you can.” Chambers sighed. “It looks like our trouble might not be over.”
“I didn’t expect it was.”
“This is big. Aegis has revealed she has knowledge of a crisis on the Canor homeworld. We don’t have details yet, but apparently, whatever it is, she’s certain it’s only a matter of time before it boils over to threaten other species”
“Meaning us.”
“Yeah. It sounds like she wants humanity’s help in dealing with it.”
“She has control of the entire invasion fleet, now. What can we possibly offer her?”
Chambers grimaced. “I suspect it’s something to do with you, Max. Your ability to resist being taken over.”
That made him fall silent for several seconds. She hasn’t even spoken to me. Can she really want my help now? “Why didn’t she mention this before?”
The agent shrugged. “One thing at a time, I guess. I just hope we can trust her.”
They didn’t have much choice, on that score. Aegis held all the big guns, now. They had to trust her, though most people seemed convince she was likely to turn against them at any second—to recommence the invasion.
She was just a machine, after all. Machines were known to malfunction. But they had no choice.
“I want to join boot camp,” Max said.
“It’s not boot camp.”
“Whatever it is. And whatever it becomes. I want to be part of it.”
“Why?”
“Because whether Aegis wants my help again or not, I don’t want to be in command again. Not without earning it. I wasn’t ready for it before, and it turned out to be a disaster, even if it did end in victory.”
Chambers exhaled slowly.
“No one knows what comes next, Ted.” It still felt strange to call Chambers by his first name. “And whatever does come, I don’t want to face it by relying on weird powers granted by aliens. Those powers can be taken at any time. If I’m going to hold any rank at all, I want to train for it. I want to earn it.”
Chambers seemed to consider this, then nodded slowly. “Fine. You’re in.”
They returned to a comfortable silence, each staring out over the field, lost in thought. A breeze started up, and it held a hint of chill.
The leaves will start turning, soon.
For a long time, they stayed just like that. Each lost in thought, each lost in the stillness of a world that was catching its breath.
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Dedication
To Brian Loeung - thank you for your incredible support of my writing.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to my Alpha Team, who have been reading this book since its earliest stage and who’ve provided substantial feedback along the way, which helped me develop the story with my readers’ desires foremost in mind. They are Rex Bain, Sheila Beitler, Bruce Brandt, Colin Oliver, Jeff Rudolph, and Ben Varela.
Thank you to my proofreading team, who helped eliminate scores of spelling and grammar issues. I take full responsibility for any mistakes that remain :) My proofreaders are Rex Bain, Sheila Beitler, Bruce Brandt, and Jeff Rudolph.
A special thank you to my Patreon supporters at the Space Fleet Admiral level. Your support helps me to package my books as professionally as possible while staying true to what my readers like best about my books. My Space Fleet Admiral patrons are Eldon Adams, Brian Loeung, David Middleton, Lawrence Tate, and Michael Van De Hey. Thank you so much.
Thank you also to Patreon supporters Rex Bain, Richard Gunn, Alex Hamilton, Christian Kallias, John A Koenig III, Luke Lofgren, Daniel Mabry, Jason Pennock, Wynand Pretorius, Bill Scarborough, John Tava, Ben Varela, and Jerry Winiarski.
Thank you to Tom Edwards for creating such stunning cover art, as always.
Thank you to my family - Mom, Dad, and Danielle - your support means everything.
Thank you to the people who read my stories, write reviews, and help spread the word. I couldn’t do this without you.
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