Now, Jea sat in one of the guest spots on the couch, twisting a strand of flaming dyed-orange hair around her finger. Next to her was Bako in a turquoise uniform, the new planned Martian navy style. Cooper sat in the commander’s seat behind the desk. He probably hadn’t managed to get Chris on the line to complete the Trinity.
Eric gave him a nod first, hoping it would convey the essential—that Heidi was safe.
Jea clapped her hands without much enthusiasm. “Baby O’Donnell. We didn’t expect to see you back so soon.”
Cooper stood from behind the desk and walked over to place a hand on Eric’s shoulder. “Are you all right?”
He only nodded, because he couldn’t say it out loud. It didn’t ring true. “Most of us are. Shaken but fine.”
Cooper squeezed Eric’s shoulder and motioned for him to sit in the chair opposite the commander’s desk. Eric spun it in a half turn, so he could look at both Cooper, who’d gone back to his seat, and Jea and Bako on his right.
Bako’s black eyes dug into Eric. “What do you mean by most, my friend?”
Eric’s heart made that awful thrashing sound in his ears. The sound of dread. “We landed on one of the worlds in their Goldilocks zone to check out this building. It looked like a science center or perhaps the entrance to their barracks. That’s when we were attacked. We lost five of ours.”
Dead beat of silence. Cooper broke it. “Who did we lose?”
“Carmen, Sebastian, Andrej, Jasper...” Eric hesitated, avoiding Bako’s stare. “Reid.”
Bako leaned in, his elbows resting on his knees. “Not even a fortnight into the mission and you already lost a Martian? You only had three to look after, all pilots. How does a pilot get killed on a recon mission?”
“This is a war,” Cooper said with a voice that was meant to silence further protests. “We mourn our dead, we honor their sacrifice, but we keep the fight alive. If that’s the price we had to pay to find the Fian army, then that’s what we paid.”
“Tell us about it, that army,” Jea said.
“It wasn’t an army.” Eric hadn’t stopped to think how they’d react to the news of the raptor-like creatures with Fian vibe. Looking at the three confused faces in front of him he wished he’d started the explanation differently. “It was wildlife on the new world. Yalena felt a masked vibe. We thought it might belong to genetically modified Fian soldiers. Then the...reptiles attacked us.”
Cooper stared at him unblinking. “What were they exactly?”
“Small, bloodthirsty dinosaurs.” If the memory of them wasn’t still painful, Eric would probably have felt self-conscious about how out of place that must have sounded.
Jea’s hand froze mid-twirl with a fiery curl knotted around her finger. “How can we be sure that’s not the army?”
Eric struggled to force his lungs and throat to produce the words. “The images from the drones, before they got taken out, revealed no trace of the Fians. Just a small research base, similar to the ones on Earth monitoring different species. No Fian in sight. It seems they study these creatures, but there was no sign of a military base.”
“Couldn’t Yalena feel the danger? The vibe must have alerted her?” Cooper’s stare was intense, hunting for the flaws in their plan.
“She did feel it,” Eric said. “And she stalled the attack long enough for half the crew to make their way back to the Eagles, but these were wild predators we’re talking about. They were hunters. We barely made it out.”
Jea finally untangled her fingers from her hair and leaned in. “Josie said that a few members of the Chameleon crew came back with you, but I have a hard time believing Yalena would just head back to Unifier, no matter the losses.”
“She didn’t.”
Eric glanced over at Cooper’s reaction, but Bako raised his voice first.
“This isn’t just a setback. Lives were lost. Now, I have to explain to the Martian council members, who already see this as a battle Earth should be handling alone, that we lost one of our own on a STAR Academy mission before the battle has even truly begun.”
Eric didn’t have it in him to argue back, but a part of him stirred, rubbed the wrong way by that statement. Lives were lives. Martian, Moonie or Earthling. They were meant to be equal.
Jea stood abruptly as if to distract from the tension that had built up. “Where’s Yalena?”
Eric pressed his lips together before replying. “She stayed to finish the mission.”
Bako’s eyes were a dark storm. “Who with?”
Eric expelled a deep breath, anticipating the backlash. “Alec, Dave and Natalia.”
Bako’s hands dropped to his knees with a loud clapping noise. “You’re telling me that out of the three Martians you had on your teams, one is dead and the other two have stayed behind on some sort of a suicide mission?”
Eric looked away from him and kept his eyes on Cooper, whose face was marred by deepening lines. “There was another planet to be checked out, an ice moon, but after what happened, Yalena insisted that I take back everyone who’d made it to the Chimera after the attack. This way her team will be smaller, more agile, easier to warn and defend with her vibe.”
Jea dropped back into the couch, sinking into its cushions. “Yalena is smart. I trust her judgment, and we couldn’t give up on gathering intel on the army at the first sign of trouble.”
“I agree,” Cooper said, although he sounded a little hoarse. “We still need to know what’s coming and Yalena could find that out. Plans rarely go off without a hitch. She made the right call staying behind.”
“My friend, that’s easy for you to say.” Animosity bubbled behind the familiar phrase. “Mars isn’t a part of this war, yet we’re the ones always losing our people to it. How do you propose I explain that to the leaders?”
Eric turned to Bako sharply. “I’m sorry, friend, but every human is a part of this war. The losses Mars has suffered prove this, and you owe it to your fallen Martians to fight back when the Fians come.”
Anger searing through his heart, Eric rose from his seat, and without even glancing at Jea, Bako or Cooper, he stormed out.
Chapter 16. Forever and a Day
Chris’ reaction wasn’t much different from Cooper’s, apart from a long pause on the line when he heard about Reid. As an elite pilot, Chris had trained the Martians himself. Despite often behaving like the biggest pain in their side, Chris did seem gutted by the news. He looked away from the camera to collect himself.
“Don’t let morale suffer in the aftermath,” Chris said grimly. “You’re the leader, that’s your job. And think of something...”
In case Yalena fails, was the unsaid bit that nonetheless hung in the air.
Eric stewed for a minute, but he felt the need to share what he knew. “There is something...”
“Listening,” Chris said with a small note of surprise.
The tension in Eric’s shoulders wasn’t a good sign. He hadn’t thought they’d end up discussing this option so soon, but after pacing the night away in his room, his body was filled with the restless desire to act.
Eric glanced at the door, even though he knew Jen had already left for the lab. “Dana left all her research to Jen. There’s so much we’ve only skimmed through.”
From the tablet screen in his lap Chris’ forehead wrinkled. “Dana? Does that mean we’re talking some sort of a bioweapon?” He squeezed his mouth into a pout. “Bioweapons are double-edged swords.”
Eric had to admit that this sober-minded grown-up was a lot easier to get along with than the Chris he’d known before. “I agree. Which is why only Nico, Jen and I will be looking into it. I’ll keep Cooper and you guys in the Trinity updated on what we find.”
“And Yalena?” The pause before that question made it seem like one Chris had been trying to avoid, but it came out anyway.
“We’ll have to wait for them to come back.” The guilt eating away at Eric from the inside felt like acid.
“She’s tough,” Chris
said. “She’ll make it back. The question is, with what?”
Eric sighed in a way he wouldn’t normally let himself in front of anyone but those closest to him. “It’s our job to anticipate. After what happened out there, trust me, nothing is off the table.”
THE MEMORIAL HELD FOR the fallen five in the senior class was virtual, and if Eric was being honest, a little hushed. Not that the near worlds didn’t hear of their fallen, but the details remained under wraps.
Cooper held a speech about the importance of the recon mission and how the sacrifice hadn’t been in vain.
“Crucial intel comes at a steep price,” his image said from every screen on Unifier, and possibly way across the near worlds. “Rest assured that after the loss we’ve suffered, we’re using the gathered intel to prepare for a Fian attack against the near worlds in a new way that will hopefully give us an edge. Friends and colleagues are too dear, too painful to lose, but with their lives, they’ve bought us time. For that we’ll be eternally grateful. Rest in peace, our fallen STARs.”
JEN WALKED INTO THE commander’s apartment with only a duffel bag of her belongings. “Thanks for letting me crash here.” She regarded Eric with a shy smile on her pale lips. “Hard to believe I’m missing Natalia, but I couldn’t move back into the dorms, not with her and Yalena gone. And Carmen...” Her whisper died off.
Eric carried her bag into his room and when he came back, he embraced Jen from behind, as if to steady her, to surround her with the comfort she craved. To him, this move felt final. “Please, stay.” His voice was a little weaker when he added, “Not just temporarily.”
Jen’s hand traveled up his arm all the way to his shoulder. “We’ll see.”
Eric spun her around in his arms. Jen leaned in closer, nuzzling into the curve of his neck. She’d taken down her ponytail like she usually did only in the evenings.
Eric smoothed the white-blonde hair away from her face. “What’s there to see? I love you. I’ll love you forever and a day.”
“I love you too.” Jen looked up at him and, at once, the weight on Eric’s shoulders lightened.
Her angelic face made him believe there was beauty in this world, hope and peace. Eric squeezed her tighter around the waist as he leaned down to kiss her. It wasn’t one of the fluttering, light kisses they’d shared for the past few days. It was deep, full of yearning.
A shuffling of feet somewhere down the corridor made them untangle from the embrace and turn around. Heidi approached from Cooper’s room, baby Marcus in her arms. She was forcing a relaxed expression onto her face, but Eric could spot a smile creeping in at the corners of her lips. She hugged the baby closer and sniffed his thin moss-like hair.
“He’s grown so much, hasn’t he?” she asked.
Eric nodded. As the sight of her washed over him, he pressed his lips together. Yalena was right. They never should have accepted Heidi’s bid to join their mission. And Eric swore to himself that he’d never place her in such danger again.
Jen walked over and gave baby Marcus a soft kiss on the head. “You should take a few weeks off and stay with him,” she said to Heidi.
Heidi looked from Jen to Eric, as if to check whether she should argue back. The resolve to do so must have crumbled inside her the past few days though. “You’ll let me know if you need me?”
“Will do,” Eric said with absolutely no intention of following through.
Heidi sighed and it sounded quite a lot like relief. “I’ll be back to team duties soon, I promise.”
Baby Marcus made a few feeble sounds, as if he’d understood that wasn’t something he’d like. Heidi adjusted her grip, laying him over her shoulder so his little head looked down her back. Eric gave Heidi a small smile and waited for her to go back into the other room so he could start a conversation he knew he couldn’t avoid.
Eric sighed, looking at Jen with guilt in his heart. “Not that I want to start our first night living together with a mission...” He motioned for her to sit at his father’s old workstation, now replaced by two smaller desks for Eric and Cooper.
Jen slid onto the seat gracefully. “Let me guess, this is about Dana’s research, isn’t it? Eric, I haven’t sifted through all of it, but what she told me before she...”—there was a catch in Jen’s throat—“before she was gone...Well, it sounded extreme.”
Eric reached out to hold her hand. “That’s exactly what I told the Trinity, but the news of the raptor attack has changed things. A stealth mission is no longer enough to appease leaders across the near worlds.”
“We’re not just gathering intel.” Jen’s eyes looked tense. “We’re training pilots by the thousands, which is more than the Fians could ever manage. We’re patrolling the Belt and starting a station there. We’re working on shielding the Moon. We’re doing all we can to up our defenses.”
“That’s just it,” Eric said. “Defense is not our only course of action. It cannot be.”
Something shifted in Jen’s expression with the uncomfortable realization of what he was going to ask of her. “Last year when I saved Jea with Yalena’s blood, it had unintended consequences.” A flush of color crawled up her neck. “People were so quick to jump at the opportunity to take something from another species, even if it was their lives, the very blood in their veins.” Jen’s soft features hardened with resolve. “I’m not doing this again. I’m not giving either of the warring sides the equivalent of an atomic bomb, even ours.”
“I don’t want you to either,” Eric said. “The truth, however, is that Sibel was right. We have no idea what’s coming. And trying to find out what she meant hasn’t worked out so far.” His throat felt dry, but he had to get through his argument. “I hate to ask this of you, but we need to at least explore the option.”
Eric hated himself for the pressure he was putting on Jen. He wanted to take her out of this mess, out of the game room of scenarios he’d have to sift through, and to some safe haven where she’d never have to face the dilemma—help kill or be killed.
Eric draped a hand over Jen’s shoulders, and she leaned her head against him. He kissed her forehead, allowing her a second to come to terms with the request.
“I’ll look through Dana’s research,” Jen agreed at last. “But I’ll be searching for a defense.”
Eric nodded. He’d grown accustomed to the occasional non-negotiable request from Jen. Eric was one of the few people who ever seemed to notice how fiercely she could stand her ground. She always seemed guilty when she turned people away, but she never swayed from her principles.
“I won’t object to that,” Eric said. “But you’ll need to let me tell the Trinity we are looking for a weapon of offense.”
Negotiations might seem odd and awkward to others, but Eric liked these moments with Jen, even if they were usually talking about their relationship, not the future of the near worlds. They let him show her that even if he had to proceed with a solution, he’d always fight to let her stay true to her values.
He pulled her so close to him, she was squashed against his chest. “And you’ll have to tell me if you actually find a weapon of offense.”
As his grip around her loosened a little, Jen lift her head from his chest with a piercing look. “Given the cursory look I’ve had over the summer, I will definitely find us a weapon. I promise to tell you all about it, everything, no matter how horrifying, but I need you to give me exclusive access to Dana’s research. No one can work on this but me. Not STAR Academy, not the Trinity, not even Cooper.”
She blinked at him fast.
Eric cleared his throat. “So long as we have some sort of a progress to report to them, it can be arranged.”
His jaw clenched tight though, and he ground his teeth. People often blamed Yalena for all the hidden agendas and secret missions, but even with her gone, Eric was stirring up another clandestine operation. And this one could save millions. Or destroy them.
Chapter 17. Offensive Defense
The station on the Belt was far
from ready. Earth needed a lot more resources in their training program. And the meetings with the Martians dragged on for hours each day. So far, they’d refused to send patrol ships to the Belt, but that didn’t discourage Eric. He knew their preparations of the navy were advancing fast. That had to be enough for now. They’d have to worry about how to get the navy to Earth or the Belt later.
So far, Jen’s access to Dana’s research had remained exclusive. However, the research was stirring up increasing interest in every meeting that Eric, as a STAR Academy representative, was having with the Trinity and Cooper.
“Do we know if Dana’s work can be used against an army—even a supposedly unbeatable one?” Jea asked in one of the meetings.
“Too soon to tell.” Eric weighed each word cautiously, but even so, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to hold the Trinity off much longer. “It would depend on what this army is.”
“So, as a biological weapon, it would only work once their troops have landed, right?” Bako asked.
“We’d rather avoid that,” Chris jumped in. His face on the screen looked tired, but Eric didn’t stop to think what time it must be for him back on Earth.
Eric wanted to snap at them. “We’re talking about a last resort. A backup plan. Or...” It was too soon to say it, but their questions pressed harder in every meeting he had with them.
Jea flashed a polite smile at him. “Or what?”
“Or it could be sneaked on board Felix’s ship.” Eric gave a sigh of resignation. “If we manage to pull that off somehow.”
Chris’ forehead wrinkled as his eyebrows rose high. “The Fians are surely bringing a whole fleet. It seems futile to target one ship. How would we even know which one?”
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