by J. A. Scorch
"No. Put him in the co-pilot's chair. Slap a helmet on him. They won't see that he's out cold."
Complying, Teve carted the body back out the ramp and around to the side door that opened to the co-pilot's seat. He loaded him in and watched as Porter put a flight helmet over his head. They strapped him in tight until it looked like the crew chief was sitting upright. The reflective surface of the helmet's visor contained his closed eyes.
"This is nuts," Teve said.
Porter climbed into the pilot's chair and prepared for take-off. He grabbed the crew chief's tablet and began punching in the necessary commands to allow their shuttle to take off without being shot down by the Orion. He granted final permission by using the unconscious man's fingerprint.
"We should be good to go, now," Porter shouted to Teve who was in the shuttle's cargo bay. "When we get there, you unload the crates. We'll close up the ship and sneak the crew chief into the back to hide him."
"Then what?" Teve asked with wide eyes.
Porter sucked in as much air as his lungs would allow. He exhaled and shook his head. "Then we pray for a miracle."
Chapter Forty-Nine
When the shuttle docked with the MBC Andromeda, Teve couldn't help but think about what he had done. Sitting in the co-pilot's seat by Bradley was the crew chief of Deck A from the Orion. He had choked him out cold so that Bradley could make his trip over to see his girlfriend.
It wasn't loyalty or anger that pushed him to risk everything, but a voice in his head had yelled out loud, demanding him to silence the crew chief before it was too late. X had returned from the void to control Teve's thoughts once again.
"Are you okay?" Bradley asked him with a turned head.
"Yeah ... I don't know what overcame me back there. I'm sorry. I've ruined everything."
"No, you haven't. I was about to be busted. This guy would have taken me down and probably you along with me just for standing there. You did what needed to be done."
"But what are we supposed to do when he wakes up?" Teve asked as he gripped the handle by his fixed seat for dear life.
Bradley sighed. "We'll burn that bridge when we get to it. For now, let's get on board this ship. I'll quickly say goodbye to Nicole and then ... "
"You've got nothing, don't you?" Teve asked with half a forced chuckle. "We're screwed. I always wanted to check out the inside of a Martian brig."
"Well, it's your lucky day, then." The two shared a laugh as they came to a stop on the deck. Magnetic clamps grabbed hold of the ship and shunted it to an elevator that would bring the shuttle into Andromeda's gravity. Once the small vessel reached the surface, an automated truck wheeled the transport into an unloading bay.
A single crew hand came over to inspect the ship and check it into the system. Teve got ready to unload the two crates that were fastened to the floor of the cargo hold while Bradley hopped out and met the crew hand head on to distract him. With Bradley's door open, Teve could hear the conversation as clear as day.
"What's with this last-minute delivery, sir?" the deck hand asked. "My crew chief wasn't expecting anything."
"Not sure, Private. I was given orders to deliver these ammo crates. I didn't ask why."
"Fair enough, sir. Just we usually only send cadets on milk runs."
Bradley huffed. "Are we going to have a problem?" he asked the deck hand with a firm but calm voice.
"No, sir. My apologies."
Teve let out his held breath and sat down on one of the crates for a moment. The ramp started to open a few seconds later. He sprang into action, pretending to deliver the goods as requested. He spotted the deck hand running his eyeballs over the situation one last time before he moved on.
Once the goods were out and placed into a designated cargo drop-off point, Teve rushed back to the ship and closed the ramp. The ship sealed its rear door for space travel. He climbed into the cockpit and unbuckled the crew chief to drag him into the passenger area.
A few minutes later, Teve and Bradley left the shuttle and the crew chief behind as they headed to Deck C to a spot where Nicole would typically meet with Bradley for some private time. The location they chose was more of a maintenance access void than anything else, but Teve didn't question the idea.
"We need to make our way to Deck C in a hurry. I can't run into anyone who will recognize me, or they'll ask me questions I can't answer."
"Got it. Lead the way. I'll do my best to blend in."
"Shouldn't be a problem with your uniform and purple eyes."
Teve stopped mid-step. "Shit, you're right. I should head back to the shuttle and hide."
"Too late now. We really botched this whole idea, didn't we?"
Teve glanced down a long corridor. A few MAF crew members were scurrying around with purpose, but they all seemed to be too focused on whatever task they had been asked to perform. Most had their heads buried in a tablet.
"Might as well keep going then. Is it much farther?" Teve asked.
"One more sector to cross and we're free. Follow me." Bradley continued, hugging the walls as he went. He brushed past the control room to Deck C. According to Bradley, Commodore Garcia would be inside making plans for the attack. Despite not being too high up the food chain, she apparently had the most input to what decisions were made for the fleet.
When they arrived on Deck C, two things happened the second Teve's foot entered the open area: an alarm sounded overhead, and Bradley's tablet received a ping from multiple sources at once.
"What was that? Are we under attack?"
Bradley tapped his way through the screen and looked up to Teve with an open mouth. "Worse. The crew chief woke up. He altered the ship's security. We better hurry up before—"
"Before what, Porter?" Commodore Garcia asked as she came around the corner from her control room. She had two armed guards by her side. Both had their rifles trained on Teve's head. They weren't messing around.
"Good to see you, ma'am," Bradley said.
"Cut the crap, Porter. You two are in a world of shit."
"You don't understand. I need to see Nic—"
"Did I say you could talk?" the commodore shouted. "Now put your hands on your head and drop to your knees. You too, Teve."
Bradley snapped a look at his brother. "She knows who you are."
"Of course I do, moron. Anyone can tell he's one of the Special Forces soldiers from Earth. I can also see that he's as big an idiot as you. Does stupid run in the family?"
Teve stared at the fuming commodore and watched as she signaled her two guards to move forward toward him.
"On your knees, Sergeant. Don't even think about laying a finger on my men. They have the authority to shoot you dead right in front of all these people."
By that point, every person on the deck was gawking at the scene unfolding. Teve felt over a dozen eyes on him at once, but none of them seemed to matter once his eyeballs settled on the object in Garcia's hand. It was a small container that she held tight with her spare arm. Every sound in the world drained down to a distant echo until the box spoke into Teve's mind. "Hello, T."
The racket of the first cuff closing around Teve's wrist broke his concentration, snapping him free from the trance of the container. He had to know what was inside the package. "What's in that box, ma'am?"
Garcia seemed to stumble back from the question. "What?"
"The box. I need to know what's inside of it, ma'am. Please, you have to open it." The second cuff clicked shut, bonding Teve's wrists behind his back. The soldier raised Teve to his feet while keeping his rifle trained on his body.
"This box and its contents are classified. Why do you ask?"
"I don't know. I can't explain why, but it's calling my name. I need to examine what's inside." Teve stepped toward Garcia.
"Don't move," the guard yelled. The second man raised his weapon up to Teve's head as he stood on the opposite side to his comrade.
Garcia stared at Teve as she held on tight to the box with both hand
s. "We don't know what this is."
"But you know that it is not from our system and that it doesn't match anything the Zeal have used on us up until this moment in the war."
The commodore's brow screwed up. "You heard that over the rumor mill, didn't you?"
"I did," Teve said, "but none of us knew what the object was or that you would be holding on to it for dear life. You have to trust me, ma'am. That thing is calling me to it, and I'm going to get to it one way or another."
Garcia narrowed her eyes at Teve. He was one second away from snapping the cuffs free from behind his back to snatch each rifle clean from the guards' hands. From there, they wouldn't even know what had happened until they woke up from the beating of a lifetime.
"Take off his cuffs," Garcia said.
"Ma'am?" the first guard asked. Teve detected the doubt in his voice.
"Do it. Keep your rifle trained on the sergeant, but let him come to me."
The guard stood firm for a moment before he complied. He removed Teve's shackles in an instant by entering a short code on the interface found on the restraints. The cuffs popped open, allowing Teve to free his arms.
"Now, move toward me slowly, Sergeant," Garcia said. "One wrong step and my men will paint the bulkhead with your blood and your brother's to boot."
"Understood, ma'am," Teve said as he inched forward. He kept his eyes on the box as the voice of X in his head beckoned him in. Each word held some clarity, but the case was half blocking the noise. He needed to open the container before he lost his mind.
Garcia stepped toward a small mobile table and set the box down for Teve to examine it. "The lid is unlocked. You just have to open it."
Teve didn't say a word as he moved toward the container in silence. By the time he reached the table, all other noise muted. There wasn't a sound in the entire ship that could break his concentration.
The second he lifted the lid on the box, a white flash stabbed into his mind and screamed louder than he knew sound could reach. Both of his hands found his skull and gripped on tight until he felt himself fall to the deck and collapse under the weight of every single moment of the war replaying in his head at once until the images stopped on one memory: the first time he met X inside the Zeal base.
Teve passed out as the menacing stare of the head hybrid overtook his every thought.
Chapter Fifty
"What the hell did you do to him?" Porter yelled at Garcia. Teve convulsed on the floor in front of his eyes.
"Not a thing, Captain. Now, stand down this instant." The commodore stabbed her index finger at him as she stepped forward. "Don't let him move," she said to the guard who had switched targets to Porter. The man pushed him down to his knees while his comrade moved over to Teve and tried to place him on his side.
"It's killing him. You need to close that box," Porter yelled as he got back to his feet.
"Shut your mouth, Captain," Garcia shrieked. "Do not move from your position or I will personally execute you." The commodore kept her eyes focused on Porter's as she stepped toward Teve and grabbed the box. She sealed it with a snap and placed it inside one of her pockets. The very instant the lid closed with a click, Teve stopped convulsing.
"What is that thing?" Porter asked.
The question seized Garcia's attention, enough to get her to head directly toward him. Her sharp eyes zeroed in on her target as she stomped the deck. "That thing, Porter, was found by the first soldier to survive the Zeal over four years ago. And as the rumor mill suggests, it's not from any of the planets in our broken little system, and it's not made up from anything the Zeal hold in their possession."
Porter shook his head uncontrollably. "So what is it, then?"
She shook her head. "Whatever it is, the nanites in your brother's head don't agree with it. None of this matters. You two attacked a fellow soldier of the MAF and kidnapped him. On top of that, you stole a shuttle and illegally boarded my ship."
"I'm sorry," Porter said. "You can sentence me to life in jail or put me up against a bulkhead and shoot, but please let me see Nicole first."
Garcia shook her head with closed eyes and a palm over her face. "You can't seriously tell me you came all this way just to see her?" She opened her eyes as Porter nodded.
"I had to. This last fight is going to be a bloodbath. We won't survive it. You know that better than anyone on board this ship."
A loud huff came from Garcia as she moved a few steps closer to Porter. "We all know, but we also all have a role to play in the final fight. Circumstance placed you on the Orion. Why couldn't you just accept a problem beyond your control for once in your life."
Porter stared past the daggers in Garcia's eyes as he pleaded with her. "Please, ma'am. I need to see her."
The commodore turned away and moved back to Teve. She checked his neck for a pulse and seemed satisfied with her findings. Porter didn't know if Teve being alive or dead was what she wanted. She turned back to Porter and gave him his answer. "Take him to the brig. Take his damn brother with him as well." Garcia stared around the deck and caught everyone's attentions. "Don't go light on the restraints, either. These two are extremely dangerous and should not be trusted. I am stripping them of their ranks. Until further notice, they are under arrest for treason. Take them away."
Porter stared on as Garcia confidently left the area. Her guards remained behind to transport Porter and Teve to the brig. He was given leg cuffs as well as wrist restraints. Teve, on the other hand, was bound with heavy duty clamps. He was still out cold, but the advanced cuffs would do a decent job to keep him under control when he woke up.
A stretcher carried Teve to the brig beside Porter. As they made their way to the small cell, every person on board the ship stopped and stared at the two soldiers being taken into custody. Whispers and harsh looks met Porter head on. Teve was lucky to be unconscious instead of having to face a ship full of his peers.
Once the pair were tossed into the small cell, Teve was placed against the wall. The guards removed Porter's cuffs but left Teve's on. Garcia understood the SF soldiers and their abilities. She wasn't taking any chances when the sergeant woke up. If he woke up, Porter figured.
Several hours passed. At least he thought so. Time became impossible for Porter to tell given that the guards had taken his gear. No clocks existed on the wall, but the hour was drawing nearer to the point when the Andromeda would begin to burn toward the belt. He would be on board the wrong ship while his wingman back on the Orion would wonder where he was. There was nothing Porter could do but sit and wait for Garcia to make a move.
From her public display, he figured that justice would be served swiftly and without any resistance met. Why would anyone get involved in this? Porter hoped Nicole didn't fall through the ranks because of his moronic approach to find her before the big push.
The thought must have been projected out wide as Garcia came around the tight corner of the corridor and headed straight for Porter. There were no other personnel currently incarcerated on the ship, so her options were limited.
"Ma'am, please. For old times’ sake, will you let me speak to Nicole? That's all I want. Nothing else."
Garcia ran her hand along the bars of the cell, letting each pole slap into the palm of her hand. "Why did you come here, Porter?"
"I told you, because of Nicole."
"That's not it. I know you love her. I'm pretty sure she feels the same, given the way she talks about you. But I know you wouldn't normally do this with the risk it's putting upon the fleet."
"What are you getting at, ma'am? I came for Nicole."
"No, you didn't. I've never seen you be this reckless with something personal. If it were for the greater good of the fleet, noble old Porter would have been over here in a heartbeat. But you came here instead to see a girl while dragging along your nanite-infested brother."
Porter sneered at Garcia. He knew why he came over to the Andromeda. Seeing Nicole compelled him to come. Nothing else. He also had no choice but
to bring Teve along after he knocked the crew chief out cold.
But a thought hit his brain as Garcia slapped one of the bars again. He didn't need to bring Teve over. He could have told him to hide somewhere in the Orion. The crew chief never saw Teve's face, yet Porter insisted he come with him.
"Wait, what are you saying?"
"Nothing concrete, Porter. Just that it almost seems like something was driving you to bring your brother over to this ship."
"Like what?"
Garcia held up the box. "Like this."
"Oh, come on. That's insane, ma'am." Porter still gave her the respect of an officer out of habit. "Did you ever think that maybe I based my decisions on nothing but fear?"
"Bullshit. You and Cannon always had to face the likelihood of losing each other. How many sorties did you fly between the pair of you? The odds were stacked against you. It was only a matter of time before one of you was killed."
Porter shook his head. "Whatever that thing is, it's rotting your brain."
"No, but you may have something rotting yours. You've been aboard the Zeal ships when they were still active. I think some of the nanites got into your system."
"What? That's bullshit, ma'am."
Before Porter could say another word, Garcia opened the box and held up a small object toward his face. In an instant, a bright light stabbed into his eyes as a deafening sound spiked his ears. The pain subsided when Garcia pulled back and shoved the object back into its container.
He found himself on the floor, heaving for air as he held his skull. "What was that?" he got out.
"That, Porter, was me confirming that you have a small level of nanites in your system."
"But how? I was never exposed to them."
The commodore paced about the room. "Could have been any number of ways. You're not the first person on this ship this has happened to. But, nanites aside, that's not what compels me to waste another second with either of you two down here. There's more to this situation that we need to get to the bottom of."
Porter found himself backed up against the wall as far away from the commodore as he could get. "What else is there? I just want Nicole."
