The deck officer looked up from the alert on his datapad. “Commander, we’ve got reports coming in that the Motti ship has changed course and is coming within range.”
The Healer came up behind her, her worry prickling Jetta’s chest. “Jetta, I have to go.”
“Hold on,” Jetta said, trying to think of what to do next.
What could they do? If the fleet jumped, they might buy themselves some time, but Jue Hexron would fall to the Dissemblers. They had to give the ground team a chance to crack their systems; disabling the Republic was the only way they could protect the Holy Cities.
Jetta shared thoughts with her sister, but nothing came to mind. Holding on tightly to the railing of a nearby lift, she tried to stay upright as her overworked body began to fail.
“Jetta, please,” Triel whispered, inconspicuously helping her stand. “I have to go.”
A medic called out to her, running as fast as he could. “Sir, we found this in Jahx’s hand.” Uncurling his fingers, he revealed the gruesome prize covered in flavescent ooze. “It appears to be Motti.”
As soon as Jetta touched the ocular device, a potent memory stain struck her senses; she saw the future unfold from the celestial stems of her brother’s inner eye.
“Dear Gods,” she said, taking it from the medic and holding it up. “This is our way in.”
In the background, Billy Don’t squealed and yelped. When she looked back, Tech had accidentally dropped a paneling grate on his foot and was hopping around.
“Get Billy hooked back up to a broadcaster, immediately,” Jetta ordered. “Give this to Tech,” she said, handing back the gooey implant. “Have him integrate it with Billy; he’ll know what to do.”
Jetta turned to discuss the matter further with her sister when Triel got between them.
“Jetta, I have to go. Now. I am the only one who can stop the Dissemblers.”
“No. We’re installing M’ah Pae’s hive link into Billy—we can use him to shut down their—”
“My people are aboard that ship,” she said, lips trembling. “I am their only chance.”
Before she could protest, Jetta felt the Triel’s pain as if it were her own. Never had she felt such a strong emotional current, even from her siblings.
Jetta could not refuse her. “Okay,” she said, her knees giving out. “But I’m going with you.”
Chapter XV
“And yet you’re leaving me again,” Jaeia said, watching her sister help Tech patch up the secondary engine. The nervous engineer kept checking Jetta’s progress, surprised each time that she could possibly know the workings of the Wraith so well. I guess he hasn’t figured out that she’s already stolen his entire life’s experience and is putting it to good use.
“I’m escorting Triel,” Jetta said, keeping her voice controlled as she struggled to tighten the last bolt over the blast plating. It was a patch job, done in a rush. Jaeia cringed to think how the ship was going to handle actual spaceflight. “I’m not leaving you.”
An explosion rocked the warship, and they grabbed onto each other to keep their balance. Jaeia chortled. “I know. This is different. I just want to go with you.”
“They need you here,” Jetta said, nabbing a wrench from Tech. “Tarsha will need you, and so will Unipoesa. This isn’t over yet.”
“Jetta—”
“Don’t say it,” she whispered, tossing the wrench back to Tech and testing the fickle power grid.
Seeing the resolute look in her sister’s green eyes, Jaeia sensed there would be no further negotiating. Jetta knows that not everyone will return from this mission...
Even if her heart had yet to accept it.
Jaeia opted for a hug instead of an argument. “Love you.”
“Love you too,” Jetta said, tears already in her eyes.
“Come back,” Jaeia whispered, trying not to let her sister go.
An uncertain promise was all she got. “I will.”
TARSHA WATCHED AS JAEIA Kyron boarded the bridge with the help of one of the deck officers. Even in such a debilitated state, she doubted that anybody could do anything to persuade the stubborn captain to relieve herself from duty.
“Have they left?” Tarsha asked, focusing on the holographic war globe of the battle against the Republic Fleet.
Jaeia checked the flight log. “
The Wraith just took off.”
“I thought that thing was unflyable,” Unipoesa said.
“Tell that to Tech and Jetta,” Jaeia said, wearily approaching the battle display.
Out of the side of her eye Tarsha watched the captain with quiet awe and envy as she deconstructed and reconstructed the battle in seconds. It’s true; there is no commander in all of history that could rival the Kyrons. But deep down, Tarsha sensed another truth. (I’m the only one that can win this battle.)
Tarsha thought that Jaeia seemed to know that too.
Jaeia spoke privately to Tarsha. “We just need time. We need to keep the Republic back long enough so the Wraith can get through to the Dissembler horizon and the ground teams can crack the command net.”
Tarsha looked again to the war globe. Cold worms wriggled in her stomach.
This is too much like the Command Development Program, she thought, seeing the staggering enemy numbers and her dwindling resources.
(Know when you’re defeated.)
Only this time Unipoesa was not in control. He stood over her, his eyes deceptively hooded, hands clasped behind his back as if he was concocting a master strategy.
Instincts told her otherwise. He’s a man running on fumes, out of options.
After all, why else would he have complied with the shock collar?
Tarsha palmed the remote to the shock collar before placing it in her pocket. A faint tickling touched the back of her head as she gave commands for the corvettes to retreat behind the battleship and protect the Wraith.
Irritated, Tarsha addressed Jaeia directly. “Why are you in my head?”
“Because I can’t believe that you haven’t seen the obvious move,” Jaeia said calmly. “You know what you have to do to win this.”
Tarsha kneaded the back of her neck. The action surprised her; she had forgotten the old nervous habit. Just like old times...
(I can’t beat Li.)
She gave several more commands to reposition her fleet. Even without the powers of telepathy, she sensed the anxiety levels of the bridge crew in their tightened jaws and rigid postures.
They don’t trust me. And why should they? After all, she did ice out. She could never hack it. Maybe she should have stayed a Scabber Jock. At least I was good at that.
(Know when you’re defeated.)
Jaeia swayed. Tarsha thought she might faint, but the captain held herself together.
“Tarsha, trust your instincts,” Jaeia said with effort. A film of sweat accumulated across her pale brow as she fought for every word. “You see much more than you realize.”
Unipoesa came over from the action console. “What’s the problem?”
Jaeia’s voice softened but held its adamancy. “Tell her, Damon. She needs to know.”
“Tell me what?”
Jaeia and the admiral exchanged looks before Unipoesa grunted and unclasped his hands. “Tarsha, you were the best cadet we ever had in the program. By far. You were never second to Li. I found ways to manipulate the scores and rig the game to essentially provoke you and get you out of the program. Remember when you were winning in the air combat round of the Endgame? I flubbed your win by recycling his lost ships. There was no way for you to win against his numbers.”
Tarsha looked blankly at the war globe. An Alliance fuel freighter exploded on the screen. Two of her fighter formations broke up and flew blindly in the crossfire.
The paralyzing numbness of impossibility crawled into her belly. She had forgotten how awful it felt, how powerless she was in the face of her own demons.
“Tarsha,” Jaeia instructed quietly. “You know who�
�s out there. Make the call. Trust your abilities.”
She was shaking now, her voice locked in an iron ball in her throat. It was just like the last time she battled in the Endgame. The bridge vanished. It was just her and her failure blazing on the projections, the entire world laughing as she lost yet again.
Why did I think I could do this?
(Know when you’re defeated.)
“Tarsha, make the call,” Jaeia said, laying her hand on her shoulder and looking at her with tired gray eyes. “Only you can do this.”
The admiral stopped shouting at the deck hands and leaned over on his knuckles so that his eyes leveled with hers. “Tarsha, you were the only person Li was ever afraid of.”
With tingling legs, Tarsha moved to the center of the bridge. She nodded to the tactical officer manning the com. “Ring them in.”
Tarsha forced her breathing to slow as the Republic flagship unhurriedly picked up their call. She watched with quiet unrest as two more Alliance corvettes went down before Li’s face finally appeared on the screen.
“I have always believed in you,” the admiral whispered to her before stepping out of the visual field.
Li hid his shock well, as did she upon seeing him after so many years. His ragged shape disturbed her. His right eye was swollen shut, and that side of his face sagged as if he had suffered a stroke. Reviving him after that dog-soldier Liiker deactivated Victor’s implants must have come at a massive cost.
“Where did they dig your sorry carcass up?”
“Old Earth,” Tarsha replied.
“Fitting. And now you’ve been chosen to represent the Alliance in defeat? I can think of no one more suitable to offer us their surrender. Perhaps maybe Damon? No, you,” he said with a cackle. “Definitely you.”
Tarsha looked at her feet. Li didn’t know that Unipoesa had given her open access to all the classified material on the Command Development Program, including the cadet profiles. She had initially asked for them to prove that Unipoesa was lying about his intentions. Instead, she gravitated to the sordid details surrounding the suspicious deaths of her classmates, and to one curiosity in particular: Just before his death, a kid named Henderson had witnessed Li in a compromised state. She repeatedly watched the video until she disassociated herself from all emotion, and realized her only chance.
She hated herself for seeing it.
“Just give up, Li,” Tarsha said. “Make it easy on yourself. Don’t be an embarrassment to your men.”
Initially, her bold assertion took him aback, but he quickly recovered. “You’re completely delusional. How sad; you’re projecting to compensate for your own inadequacies.”
Tarsha held her ground. “I just want to know one thing before I accept your surrender. Why did you save me from the fire after you attacked me?”
She felt the tickle in the back of her head again. Tarsha thought that if she was telepathic, Jaeia would have told her something. Maybe even warned her.
Half of Li’s face curved in a smile like a scythe. “I didn’t want to be deprived of the pleasure of killing my dear sister.”
But Tarsha knew that wasn’t all. “I think you had to know first.”
“Know what?” he scoffed.
“If I was better than you. You couldn’t stand to kill me without being sure. Your ego wouldn’t allow it.”
Li backed away from the camera, only to return with his chin held imperiously high. “I never wondered. I always knew, as did all of our teachers. They were just hoping to find some use for you. Just look at us now. You, a washout just like dear old Dad, and me, an indomitable galactic commander.”
Unipoesa breathed heavily beside her. She turned her head just enough to see his face. He was sweating profusely, but his face remained cast in steel.
(I’m the only one that can win this battle.)
“Still piss yourself?”
Li’s smile vanished. “I will wipe out every last ship of yours. Then I will let the Motti devour Old Earth.”
“You’re finished, Li. We have President Paulstine. You’ve lost control of your base of operations. We’ve deactivated most of your top commanders and officers. It’s over.”
A grin dented the left side of his face. “Come on, Sis. My warships alone still outnumber yours ten to one. And I have the Deadwalkers on a leash. Why would you want to provoke me any further? Surrender now and I might not consider sending you and Dad to the Labor Locks. Maybe I’ll be merciful and just kill you.”
Tarsha checked the communications relay between the ground team. They had uploaded the video clip she had sent earlier. The command control systems hadn’t been cracked, but they had a lock on the broadcast signals used by the Republic Fleet.
For some reason the words Unipoesa had used to describe her in the cadet personality qualifiers came to mind. Intelligent. Cunning. Sensitive. She remembered how he had questioned whether the latter made her vulnerable or dangerous. In the Command Development Program it made her susceptible; the criticisms and vituperations of her teachers practically crippled her. However, that same characteristic transitioned to her life as Agracia Waychild, proving critical to her day-to-day survival, enabling her to get a good read on other Scabbers and pick out easy targets. Now, facing Urusous Li, it felt like both a hindrance and an advantage.
He’s my only brother.
And I’m about to destroy him.
“Li,” she said, offering him one last chance. “Have you ever considered that you and I were engineered for someone else’s purpose? Have you stopped and asked yourself what it is that you want? Do you even know who you are without an enemy to fight?”
Laughing, Li ordered for the flagship to aim a full spread of torpedoes at their warship.
Tarsha’s heart sank. “I will never forgive you for this,” she muttered to Unipoesa. She typed in the commands for the ground team to release the video clip.
Li’s half-face turned ashen. “What have you—?”
The crew kept their comments to a low murmur as her video clip played out on the center screen, and across the entire Republic network.
Unipoesa came into view. He was younger and had more hair.
“Not very good at following orders, are you, candidate?” he said, circling Li. The entire classroom watched in silence as he coldly instructed a soldier where to hit the young boy. The soldier’s punch landed hard and fast over his bladder, and Li doubled over in pain. His blue uniform darkened around his groin, and his futile efforts to conceal it from the other students left him reddened and enraged.
“Still pissing yourself like a baby, just like you did when you first set foot on base,” Unipoesa said. “You’re still a baby. You can’t follow a simple set of orders. You’ll always be a worthless little pisser. A failure. An embarrassment to this program.”
Tarsha clenched her jaw as the last part looped over and over again while zooming in on his urine-soaked pants. “You’ll always be a worthless little pisser. A failure. An embarrassment... You’ll always be a worthless little pisser. A failure. An embarrassment... You’ll always be a worthless little pisser. A failure. An embarrassment...”
As Li continued to shout commands to attack, she pushed it one step further. She uploaded the looped audio segment into the broadcast signal Billy Don’t had sent to initially disable the implanted Republic officers. The Liiker command inputs had no further effects, but the repeating audio did.
“Stop it—STOP IT!” Li shrieked, falling to his knees and digging at his swollen eye and ear. Blood and vitreous fluid streamed down his face as he continued to scream and gouge.
“Begin a concentrated attack on their flagship,” Tarsha commanded, resuming her post beneath the war globe. “Change heading to mark 0.7302.”
Unipoesa tried to compliment her, but she turned her back to him.
“Nice work,” Jaeia said quietly, taking the position next to her.
“It’s not over yet,” she replied sharply. Even if she had overloaded their communications wit
h the viral video clip and disabled their chief commanding officer, they were still grossly outnumbered.
“I’ve got this,” Tarsha said, refusing Jaeia’s help. This is something I have to do.
The captain backed off.
Calmly and steadily, Tarsha gave commands to the last of their fleet to aggress the Republic flagship and provide enough cover for the Wraith to pass through. Though the communications channels were closed, she could still hear Li screaming.
JETTA MADE TECH TELL her three times that Billy Don’t had properly integrated M’ah Pae’s ocular device into his own internal network before she would believe the nervous engineer. All the while the little Liiker giggled and spat up his meal of concentrated proteins and hydral-fluid all over the floor. Tech didn’t even both to clean him up. Not that he could have with him hooked up to the Wraith via every available input/output socket on his biomechanical frame, leaving no room to navigate around the web of coils.
“Please, I checked him twice—you have to believe me. It worked before!”
“I know, I know,” Jetta sighed, tapping her fist on the wall. “This is just different. He’s not contacting a bunch of people wired with Motti implants. He’s reintegrating himself back into the Liiker hive mind. Are you sure he’s ready for it?”
Hanging upside-down from the pipework, Tech inspected Billy Don’t’s cervical plate interface from above. The Motti Overlord’s ocular device, plugged into Billy’s neck, rolled around on his shoulder as if it was trying to get away. Tech did something with a modified drilling laser to make it stop before he answered.
“I didn’t tell him.”
“What?”
“He wouldn’t understand,” Tech said, swinging down and catching himself on a wall handle. Still recovering from his near-fatal wounds, he gingerly let himself down the rest of the way. “He’s just a kid.”
“Wait a minute—”
“N-no, you wait,” Tech said, fumbling to sling up his tools. The fur on his head and neck stood on end as if he had been electrocuted. “I—I spent years restoring him, giving him back his freedom, and you’re asking me now to help you connect him back into the Deadwalkers’ mind. That’s a big risk for him.”
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