by S. E. Smith
“I thought he was killed in the battle on Earth,” Thunder said, leaning forward.
Jag shook his head. “He was wounded, but managed to escape. With a small contingent of Drethulan Battle Cruisers, he has returned to the Waxian home world. Reports indicate that when Prymorus took over the position of Prime Ruler from his uncle, there was a major change in the power structure of the Waxian ruling class. An unknown number of his uncle’s trusted generals were replaced,” he added dryly.
“I’m assuming the replacement was cordial,” Vice commented with a wry grin. “At least if Prymorus is killing off his own government and military, it will help eliminate a few of the bastards.”
“Not enough. It looks like Prymorus is expanding what he began on Dises V. Jordan intercepted communication transmissions between Prymorus and the Drethulans. She is working on deciphering the encrypted messages. What we know about the current situation so far is from communications between the warships and activity surrounding Oculus IX. It seems that several days ago, there was a massive underground explosion on the Spaceport. The environmental and life support systems were severely compromised. Failure of the systems led to a mass evacuation of the Spaceport. It is believed that during the evacuation their Trivator prisoner and a human accomplice escaped,” Jag relayed.
Jag watched as both Thunder and Vice studied a hologram of the evacuation and the probable trajectories of the fleeing ships. Most headed for the main planet below, but there were at least two dozen which headed for open space on various trajectories. Out of the two dozen, there were only six of them heading in the direction of safe space for anyone trying to escape the Waxian’s reach.
“Our new mission is to intercept each of those six ships before the Waxian military does. Any engagement between our military and the Waxian or Drethulan forces will be without any assistance from the Alliance,” Jag warned.
Thunder and Vice nodded at him. He would make this same announcement to the rest of the crew. They each had known when they signed onto this mission that it could be a one-way ticket. The mission had now changed from a search and rescue to something far more difficult. Jag’s gaze moved back to the screen. At the speed they were traveling, they would intercept the first vessel in forty-eight hours. Unless Jordan could find additional information, they would be potentially revealing themselves multiple times. Each time the Nebula One reappeared would increase their risk of discovery.
“I will let you know when we have more information. Be ready for a quick boarding, and see if Torch can replicate that damn cloaking device. I want that technology on each of the fighters,” Jag ordered, rising from his seat.
Thunder and Vice nodded and stood up. “We’ve already got him working on it. The Kassisan must have realized that we might try it. He sent additional units. We can help Torch install them on the fighters,” Thunder replied.
“Make it happen. Dismissed,” Jag said.
Vice smothered a gruff chuckle as the door opened. “I told you he’d try to go all Captain on us before we left. You owe me a glass of whiskey,” he said with a slap on Thunder’s shoulder.
“I don’t know why I ever bet with you,” Thunder growled as the door closed behind them.
Jag shook his head in amusement. Sinking back down in his seat, he rotated the screen back toward himself again. He scanned the information before moving to the projected flight patterns of the fleeing ships. There were three heading in a direct line toward Alliance territory. He would focus on those three first. The other three were spread out further. He leaned forward and studied the ship along the outer rim.
He looked at the report. Jordan had noted that it might not be a ship because it faded in and out of the long distance scanning software, so it could be a glitch. She would monitor it to see if there was a pattern. If there was, that would prove there was something real there.
Rising out of his seat again, he walked across the room to stare out of the window. Faint streaks of light were a testament to the speed the Nebula One was traveling. He wondered if Torch might be able to get a little more out of the engines. Something told him that Edge and his human were going to need their help sooner rather than later.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Way to go, Gail!” Lina cried, watching another fighter explode.
She bit her lip when she saw another heading toward them. The shields lit up with a wave of color when the blasts from the fighter’s laser cannons struck them. She turned her head away when one blast nearly blinded her.
Using the toggle in front of her, she aimed the front cannons at the fighter and fired. A brief flash showed she’d hit the fighter, but it veered off before she had a chance to fire on it again. The Battle Cruiser was continuing to fire at them with one large cannon and three of the smaller ones. They had been able to take out all of the others. From the last count, the Battle Cruiser was down to eight fighters out of the fifteen Edge believed were on the warship.
“Whoever this ship belonged to must have had inside knowledge on the Waxian military,” Edge commented as he maneuvered the sleek ship along the underbelly of the warship. “The weapons system automatically locks onto the targets and sends out a pulse that jams their systems. That is the only explanation for the way we have been able to do as much damage as we have.”
Lina snorted. “I don’t give a rat’s ass what it is as long as it works in our favor,” she said before emitting a growl. “You sorry-ass-son-of-a-bitch! That one has learned to hit and run. Asswipe! Yes!! Mechelle, you toasted his ass.”
“Right up the butthole,” Mechelle laughed over the com.
“Mirela, look out, there is one coming up from behind us,” Gail warned.
In the background, Lina could hear Gail firing. From the viewscreen, she saw the fighter that Gail was talking about. It looked like the one that she had hit just a short time ago. The pilot had circled around them and come up from the rear. It looked like he was going to kamikaze ram them.
“Get him, Gail!” Lina ordered.
She could hear Gail’s loud, frustrated curses. “I can’t, he is using the back of the ship to shield himself. Andy, do you have a shot?”
“Negative,” Andy replied.
“Mirela, what about you?” Lina asked.
“Negative, I’ve got two on this side. Gail, can you or Andy take any of them out?” Mirela finally replied.
“I’m trying,” Andy responded.
Lina watched in horror as laser fire from above streaked by the side window. She concentrated on the fighters coming straight at them. Edge was lining up for another pass by the Starcruiser. They needed to take out the small cannons housed along the belly of the ship.
“I have a line on the cannons. Firing!” Lina said.
“That asshole is still coming at us,” Gail replied, swiveling around to fire on him. Lina heard Gail’s joyful cry before it changed to a gasp of horror.
“What’s happening?” Lina demanded.
“Mirela, look out!” Gail cried.
“Holy shit!” Mirela’s horrified gasp filled the comlink before the sound of a loud explosion shook the ship.
“Mirela!” Mechelle’s pain-filled cry could be heard by them all.
“Bailey, get to Mirela,” Edge ordered. “There is an outer breach. I’ve deployed a chemical sealer. It will only last a few minutes.”
“I’m almost there,” Bailey replied in a calm voice.
Lina shut off her fear for Mirela. She had to stay focused on the fight. They might have been up against a more powerful warship, but their ship was holding its own thanks to everyone on board and Edge’s skill at the controls.
Andy took out two more fighters while Lina, Gail, and Mechelle took out the last of the smaller cannons. The only one left was a large cannon located near the bridge of the warship. Lina looked at Edge in surprise when he suddenly veered off and away from the warship. Gail and Andy continued to fire on the remaining fighters.
“Prepare for a jump,” Edge ordered.
A muscle in Edge’s jaw throbbed. “Bailey, do you have Mirela out of the turret?” he asked, not answering her.
“Almost,” Bailey replied.
“You have one minute,” he said, unstrapping the harness to his seat.
Lina looked up at him in surprise when he stood. “Where are you going? Edge, the fighters…,” she said, looking out of the screen at the Battle Cruiser in the distance.
He leaned over her and pointed at the console. “When I tell you to, I want you to hit this button, then this one,” he explained in a soft voice.
“Edge…?” she murmured.
“There are more ships coming, Lina. If we don’t leave now, we won’t make it,” he said.
Dread filled Lina and she nodded. “I’ll wait for your command,” she said.
Edge nodded and disappeared through the doorway. She could hear him running down the corridor. In the background, she heard the faint sound of Edge and Bailey’s voices, and Mirela’s strained curses.
Touching a corner of the viewscreen, Lina watched as Edge and Bailey worked frantically to free Mirela. Edge sliced through the harness holding her friend to the seat. Unfortunately, one of the shards of metal had gone through the strap. The only way to free Mirela was to cut the strap on either side of the shard or removed the metal embedded in Mirela’s shoulder. With limited time, Edge gripped the shard and pulled it free while Bailey applied a patch to stem the blood. Lina’s hands tightened into fists when she heard Mirela’s scream of pain followed by silence.
She ripped her attention back to the controls when a red light flared. Looking up, she stared out the front viewscreen in dismay when two more Battle Cruisers suddenly appeared. Her fingers trembled when she saw the number of fighters streaming out of them. These Cruisers were almost three times larger than the first one.
“Now, Lina,” Edge’s voice rang through her earpiece.
Her hand automatically moved to touch the buttons in the sequence that he’d told her. The ship violently shook for a moment. Her lips parted in dismay and shock when she saw a large section of the gun turret from the starboard side of their ship floating away before the background changed as the ship lurched into the space jump.
“Edge…,” Lina called out in panic.
“Bring the starboard turret in like I showed you, Lina. I’m heading to medical with Mirela,” Edge instructed.
“She’s losing a lot of blood. We’ll lose her if I don’t stop it now….” Bailey’s voice came through in the background.
The sound of Mechelle’s smothered cry was heard over the com before she was cut off. Behind her, she could hear the sound of the other women’s boots against the metal floor. She moved her hand to the control that would retract the turret.
Her gaze moved blindly over the controls before she stared out at the empty space in front of them. Her heart hurt, not only for herself, but for Mechelle. Memories flooded her. Memories of losing someone who she loved and being helpless to prevent it. As hard as she tried to push the memories away, they washed over her with such a crushing force that it still took her breath away. Pain, guilt, and another emotion she couldn’t identify held her in its greedy grasp.
Ten years before: Earth
“Come on, Lina,” Leon whispered, motioning for her to follow him.
Lina rolled her eyes at her best friend and soon-to-be husband. She grinned when he gave her that damn crooked smile and looked at her with a hint of challenge. She knew Tim and Destin would be furious if they knew what they were doing, but Leon loved to explore the city after dark.
Tim was still mad at her for telling him that she was going to get married. At seventeen, she knew she was young, but she also knew that Leon was her true love. They had grown up together. They had played, explored, dreamed, and watched each other’s back since they were in kindergarten. When the aliens arrived, they had hidden together. At first, they were terrified. Gradually, that terror changed to fascination for Leon.
“You know Destin and Tim are going to ground us again,” she murmured when they climbed up on the edge of the old parking garage to watch the alien ships take off and land at the base situated along the river.
“We’re adults, they can’t ground us,” Leon teased.
Lina turned and leaned against the wall. She stared up at the night sky. She could see hundreds of moving lights. She had never seen the night sky before the aliens had arrived. She had lived her entire life in the city and the light pollution had blocked all but the brightest stars.
After the aliens arrived, their city, like many others, had become a war zone. The electricity was one of the first things to go. That was when Leon and she, along with the others had realized just how many aliens there were in orbit around Earth.
She raised her hand and held her palm over one of the moving objects. Some of the alien ships were big enough to see from the surface. They arrived and left at all hours of the day and night. So far, Leon and she had only seen what they looked like from a distance.
“Look at that one, Lina,” Leon murmured, holding out a pair of binoculars to her.
“I don’t want to,” she replied, dropping her hand to her lap with a sigh. “What do you think the future will be like?”
He looked at her with a tender smile and twisted around so he could sit down next to her. She scooted closer to him when he lifted his arm. Her head rested against his shoulder, and she giggled when he cupped her breast.
“Wonderful, because I’ve got you,” he teased, looking at her before he gazed up at the night sky with a somber expression. “I always knew we weren’t alone.”
“I know, I know,” she murmured. “But, what do you think will happen?”
“You heard what the government said. The Trivators said they aren’t here to conquer us. Hell, you’ve seen the damage. They weren’t the ones who did it, our people did. We are so fucked up it is amazing that we’ve made it as long as we have,” he said, still looking up at the stars. “I think we are going to see a new world. You’ve heard Tim and Destin talk. We’ll be able to travel out there and explore in ways that we’ve only dreamed about. Hell, maybe even a kid like me from the streets can go.”
Lina tilted her head and frowned at him.” I know you’ve always dreamed of going, but… what about me…? What about us?” she asked.
“We’ll go together,” Leon promised, leaning forward to press a kiss to her lips.
Lina looked up when she saw Edge reappear in the doorway. She blinked the memories away. Her eyes widened in concern when she saw the blood on his clothing.
“Mirela?” she asked in a hoarse voice.
He looked back at her with a grim expression. “Her injuries are severe. Between the surgery bed and Bailey, I can only hope that she survives,” he replied, sliding into the pilot’s seat.
“I…,” she started to say, glancing at the door, then the console, before looking back at him.
He nodded. “Go. I can manage here,” he replied.
Lina unstrapped the seat harness and stood up. She paused as she started to step between the chairs. Looking down at him, she bit her lip.
“Thank you,” she murmured before exiting the bridge.
She strode down the corridor to the medical bay. Andy stood at the door, staring at the floor with a tight expression on her face. The other woman looked up when she drew close. Through the doorway, Lina could hear the soft sounds of Mechelle’s sobs and Gail’s voice trying to soothe her.
“Is she….?” Lina asked, bracing herself for bad news.
Andy shook her head. “No… At least….” Andy looked through the door and shook her head again. “I need a drink.”
Lina watched Andy straighten and turn on her heel. She drew in a deep breath and stiffened her shoulders. Over the past ten years she had heard the same sounds so many times. Just when she thought she was immune to the pain, it all came rushing b
ack. She stepped through the door and paused when she saw the gaping wound in Mirela’s chest.
“What… How bad is it?” Lina asked, stepping up to where Bailey was attaching a series of wires.
Bailey didn’t turn. Instead, she finished what she was doing and pressed the panel on the wall. The glass lid slid closed over Mirela. The tube immediately filled with a mist that obscured Mirela for several seconds before it disappeared.
“She was impaled by flying debris,” Bailey explained.
Lina frowned. “Impaled… How?” she demanded.
She turned when Gail released a soft curse. Confused, she watched Gail walk out of the medical bay. Her gaze turned to Mechelle who was sitting in a chair near the end of the surgery bed.
“She…,” Mechelle began to say before her voice faded, and she shook her head.
Bailey watched the panel. “From what I could piece together, Gail hit the fighter that was coming up from behind. It collided with the underbelly of the Waxian Starcruiser and broke apart. Parts of the fighter pierced the outer section of the turret. Thankfully, there was a foam sealant that prevented it from shattering. I couldn’t get Mirela out. The rest of the clear glass was starting to crack from the pressure. The blast door alarm sounded. It would have closed on both of us if Edge hadn’t shown up when he did,” Bailey explained.
Lina realized that that the button he’d had her push first had stopped the door from closing. They had needed to seal the damaged area before they could jump. Otherwise, they all would have died.
“Can the surgery bed repair the damage?” Lina asked.
Lina saw Bailey glance over at Mechelle. Dark eyes the color of onyx stared up at Bailey with pleading in their dark depths. Bailey looked back at the panel on the wall. She was silent for several seconds before she nodded.
“Yes, I think it can. Her vitals are beginning to stabilize. I won’t know for sure until the unit is finished, but I saw what it did for you,” Bailey said, turning to look at her before she focused on Mechelle. “How about you take Mechelle to get a drink. I’ll let you both know if there is any change.”
