by G J Ogden
“The next briefing with be at eleven hundred hours tomorrow,” Griffin said, finally breaking the silence. “Until then, get some rest, both of you. You have earned it.”
“Yes, Admiral,” Sterling and Banks replied, in perfect harmony with one another. Banks smiled at Sterling and extended a hand toward the door.
“Fancy finding out what meal packs Lieutenant Razor has transported over from the Vanguard?” Banks said, as usual thinking with her stomach.
“There had better be some twenty-sevens, or the Lieutenant’s chances of promotion will have dwindled rapidly,” Sterling replied.
The two officers turned to leave, but again Admiral Griffin’s thorny voice cut through the room like an air-raid siren.
“One moment, Captain,” Griffin said, still with her eyes focused on the ships outside.
“I’ll see you in the canteen area,” Banks said, taking the Admiral’s not-so-subtle hint that she was no longer required.
Sterling nodded and watched her leave. For someone who enjoyed being alone, he was finding it increasingly difficult to be separated from his first officer. However, he also knew that this was a dependency he needed to break, for more reasons than one.
“The sentient AI, do you trust it?” Griffin asked, still looking out toward the Invictus and the Vanguard.
“I do, Admiral,” Sterling replied, without delay. “It’s saved our ass on more than one occasion. We wouldn’t be here without it.”
“And Commander Banks, do you think she is up for the task ahead?” Griffin turned to look at Sterling.
“She is, sir,” Sterling replied, again without hesitation. “I trust her more than I trust myself.”
Griffin’s eyes narrowed and for a moment she silently studied Sterling’s face, clearly suspicious of his response.
“I see that you two have become close,” Griffin went on. Sterling’s gut tightened into a knot. He suspected he knew where the Admiral was heading and he didn’t like it. “Perhaps too close.”
“I’ve been close to people before, Admiral,” Sterling pointed out. He needed to act quickly to dispel any concerns she might have, rightly or wrongly, about his ability to remain dispassionate and detached. “And you know what happened to the last person I was close to, don’t you?”
Griffin’s eyes narrowed a touch more then she took a pace toward Sterling. He felt like running away, as if a rabid wolf had just paced toward him, and it took everything he had to remained fixed to the spot.
“It’s understandable that you and Commander Banks have formed an attachment, Captain,” Griffin continued. She had clearly disregarded Sterling’s attempt to refute the allegation that he’d grown too close to his first officer. “Given everything that you have gone through, it would be difficult not to.” Sterling’s eyebrow raised up on his forehead as Griffin said this. Griffin conceding that even Omega officers were human was as unthinkable as a clergyman admitting the possibility that god didn’t exist. “Despite what you may think, Captain, I am not entirely heartless,” the Admiral continued, appearing to have noticed Sterling’s incredulous involuntary reaction.
“I know what I may be called upon to do, Admiral,” Sterling replied, trying again to set Griffin’s mind at ease, “and Commander Banks knows it too.” He sighed and decided that the Admiral deserved a little more honesty. “You’re right, we have grown close.” Griffin continued to study Sterling closely, but stayed silent. Like Sterling, she was wily enough to know when to push and when to just let the other party talk. “All it means is that if I’m required to make the hard call, I’ll hate myself all the more for it.”
Sterling had said his piece, though he wasn’t sure it had been enough to convince Griffin. He was damn sure it hadn’t been enough to convince himself.
“You should never hate yourself for doing what is necessary, Captain,” Griffin said. “I sleep soundly, despite what I have done and what I may yet do.”
Sterling was aware that their conversation had taken a suddenly darker and more ominous tone. He had to remind himself that despite their familiarity, Natasha Griffin was as ruthless as any Sa’Nerran warrior, perhaps even more so. It was a fact he needed to remind himself of more often, he realized in that moment.
“I understand, Admiral,” Sterling replied. In truth, the conversation had confounded him, but Sterling still felt like he had to say something to acknowledge Griffin’s statement.
Sterling expected her to say more, but mercifully she chose to drop the subject. Instead, Griffin moved over to a cabinet that had been pushed up next to the floor-to-ceiling glass windows. Sterling could see that the cabinet was a recent addition, since it was clearly of Fleet origin. Griffin opened the door then pulled out a bottle of Calvados and two tulip-shaped glasses. She returned to Sterling and held out the glasses.
“Do you have bottles of this stuff stashed away in all your little cubby holes around the galaxy?” Sterling asked. He was both impressed and amused by the fact that, in and amongst the chaos of the last few months, Griffin had managed to salvage her favorite tipple.
“There are some things you just can’t do without, Captain,” Griffin said, pulling the cork out of the bottle. She then met Sterling’s eyes, while still managing to pour the liquor without spilling any. “I know you understand what I mean.”
Sterling’s mouth went dry. He wasn’t sure if Griffin was referring to Banks or to grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, or whether she was just being cryptic in an altogether different and unfathomable way. Even so, it set his heart and his mind racing. Griffin replaced the stopper in the bottle and raised her glass.
“To the Omega crew of the Invictus and the Vanguard,” Griffin said, raising a toast. “And to the battles, and the hard choices, still to come.”
“To the battles and hard choices still to come,” Sterling repeated, also raising his glass.
In his mind, toasting the battles still to come would have been enough. However, Griffin was again trying to make a point, one that hadn’t been lost on him. They both drank, draining the contents of the ornate glasses in one. Sterling was not a big drinker, but he couldn’t deny that in that moment, the liquor was precisely what he needed.
“Now, go and get something to eat and get some rest, Captain,” Griffin said, returning to the cabinet and carefully replacing the bottle. We have a big day tomorrow, and many bigger days ahead.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow then, Admiral,” Sterling said. He waited for a reply or acknowledgement of some kind, but Griffin had already returned to the window with her hands pressed to the small of her back. Sterling took that as his cue to leave and headed for the door.
The aliens were generally shorter than humans and he had to stoop a little to pass through the doorway. As he did so, he noticed Jinx the Beagle sitting on the deck outside. The dog let out an excited little “yip” then got up, wagging its tail furiously.
“How the hell did you get here?” Sterling asked, as the door slid shut behind him. “Where’s Mercedes? Does she know you’re out?” He shook his head, wondering what the hell he was doing. “Now she’s got me talking to a damned dog,” he muttered under his breath, stepping past Jinx and heading along the corridor. The dog trotted merrily after him. “No, you go home,” Sterling said, stabbing a finger along an adjacent corridor. He had no idea where the corridor led, but so long as the dog went in any direction other than where he was headed, he didn’t care. “Go on, go!” Sterling added, when the dog continued to stare at him, tail wagging. The sharper tone of Sterling’s voice appeared to have an immediate effect on the Beagle. Her head drooped and her tail dropped between her legs. Despite himself, Sterling couldn’t help but feel a stab of guilt. “Okay, damn it, you can come with me,” Sterling grumbled, beckoning the dog on. Jinx yipped happily before trotting to Sterling’s side and remaining glued to his ankle as he resumed his journey toward the small canteen area that Lieutenant Razor had set up inside the Obsidian Base.
The inside of the shipyard was even
more cavernous and labyrinthine than the interior of the Vanguard and it took Sterling several minutes to find the canteen. Eventually, he stumbled upon it, more by accident than design, and saw Mercedes Banks already inside. There were two meal trays in front of her, one already finished and one still covered by foil, plus another meal tray in the place setting opposite. Sterling smiled. He already knew that Banks had secured him his precious number twenty-seven, and that she was waiting for Sterling to join him before starting on her second tray.
“What do you reckon, Jinx?” Sterling said quietly, glancing down at the dog. Jinx sat down; her ears pricked up attentively. “Do you think we can live without her?” Everything about the dog’s posture immediately sagged, and it let out a sorrowful little howl. Sterling drew in a long breath and let it out slowly. “Yeah, I know,” he said to the beagle before again turning his gaze to Banks. “Come on then, let’s get some food.” His more chipper tone seemed to perk up the hound, who sprang to her feet and clung to his heel again as they both walked inside the canteen. Banks spotted them and smiled, as if she had just seen a long-lost relative for the first time in a decade.
“Well, aren’t you two a handsome couple?” she said, still grinning broadly.
“If it craps in my quarters, I’m still spacing it,” said Sterling, sliding into the chair opposite Banks and immediately tearing the foil of his tray. He was suddenly aware of just how ravenously hungry he was.
“What’s gotten you so cranky?” Banks asked, scowling at Sterling. Sterling raised an eyebrow and Banks added the obligatory, “sir…” though with a little more bite than usual.
“I can never quite figure Griffin out, that’s all,” Sterling admitted, realizing that if he couldn’t talk to Banks, he couldn’t talk to anyone. “Sometimes she comes across as almost human, then other times she freaks me out ten times more than Graves ever did.”
Banks placed her fork down and reflected on what Sterling had said for a moment. “But you still trust her, right?” she then asked, sounding concerned.
“I trust that she’ll see the mission through,” Sterling answered. It was a somewhat evasive response, and he could see that it hadn’t satisfied Banks. “Honestly, I don’t know, Mercedes,” he admitted, shrugging. “But maybe that’s not so unusual. In truth, there’s only one person that I’ve ever truly trusted.”
“Who?” asked Banks.
“You, of course,” Sterling replied, shocked and even a little offended that his first officer hadn’t known the answer.
Banks smiled. “Well, I’m glad to hear it,” she said, picking up her fork again, as if all the worries in the world had just melted away. She was about to fish out a piece of meat for Jinx to chew on when Sterling tore off a corner of his grilled ham and cheese and offered it to the dog. Jinx wolfed it down greedily, tail wagging. “Are you feeling okay?” Banks said. She then pretended to draw a pistol from her hip. “Tell me what you’ve done with the real Lucas Sterling,” she added, pointing two fingers at Sterling like a pistol.
“Just shut up and eat your damn meal tray,” Sterling replied, wiping his fingers on the provided wet wipe in the tray. “We’ve got a big day tomorrow.”
“They’re all big days from here on in,” replied Banks, skewering a piece of meat and dipping it into a curry-like sauce. “But it’s nothing we can’t handle.”
“I thought you considered all this pointless, now that Earth is already lost?” Sterling said, curious to learn if Banks had changed her opinion.
“You clearly don’t,” Banks hit back, deflecting the question back at Sterling.
“I’m not sure I was ever really fighting for Earth, Mercedes,” Sterling replied, having a sudden epiphany. “I just don’t like bullies, especially when they win.”
Banks pondered this for a moment, still holding the forkful of food above her tray. “We can still win, Lucas,” she finally replied, sounding suddenly sure of herself. “We win by making sure those alien bastards lose more.”
Sterling nodded then both Omega officers resumed their meals. Banks had summed it up and there was nothing more to say. If Earth had fallen to the Sa’Nerra then Sa’Nerra would fall to the Omega Taskforce. It was time they sent an emissary of their own into the heart of the alien empire. And, just as McQueen and Crow had acted for the Sa'Nerra, Sterling would be an ambassador of war. And the message he would bring would be one of death and destruction.
The end (to be concluded).
Continue the journey
Conclude the journey with book six: The Vanguard. Click the cover to learn more.
About the Author
At school, I was asked to write down the jobs I wanted to do as a "grown up". Number one was astronaut and number two was a PC games journalist. I only managed to achieve one of those goals (I’ll let you guess which), but these two very different career options still neatly sum up my lifelong interests in science, space, and the unknown.
School also steered me in the direction of a science-focused education over literature and writing, which influenced my decision to study physics at Manchester University. What this degree taught me is that I didn’t like studying physics and instead enjoyed writing, which is why you’re reading this book! The lesson? School can’t tell you who you are.
When not writing, I enjoy spending time with my family, walking in the British countryside, and indulging in as much Sci-Fi as possible.
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More by G J Ogden
If you like Omega Taskforce then why not check out some of G J Ogden’s other books? Click the series titles below to learn more about each of them.
Darkspace Renegade Series (6-books)
If you like your action fueled by power armor, big guns and the occasional sword, you’ll love this fast-moving military sci-fi adventure.
Star Scavenger Series (5-book series)
Firefly blended with the mystery and adventure of Indiana Jones. Book 1 is 99c / 99p.
The Contingency War Series (4-book series)
A space-fleet, military sci-fi adventure with a unique twist that you won't see coming...
The Planetsider Trilogy (3-book series)
An edge-of-your-seat blend of military sci-fi action & classic apocalyptic fiction. Perfect for fans of Maze Runner and I am Legend.
Audiobook Series
Star Scavenger Series (29-hrs) - click here
The Contingency War Series (24-hrs) - click here
The Planetsider Trilogy (32-hrs) - click here
