by J. P. Yager
Nathan and Trevor sat back in their seats in the cockpit, breathing heavily. They exchanged a glance that defied the divide that had grown between the two men. It was almost like old times, like family. They both smiled for a moment—Nathan, for the first time in years. Then the moment passed, and they both resumed their respective roles.
"We need to get out of here, and we're running low on fuel. See where the closest station is and reset our course," Nathan said.
Trevor turned back to his NAV computer. He watched his uncle go for a moment, about to advise they keep moving but then thought better of it. Instead, he removed the sword sheath and set it in the cubby next to him. For whatever reason, he picked it up and unsheathed it. His father's blood still stained the length of it. Trev clicked it shut again and set it aside. Was he expecting a different result?
Nathan had walked halfway back to check on the passengers when his robot stopped him, blocking the way, waiting for orders.
Without anything better for it to do, he said, "Go make sure Trevor doesn't do anything reckless."
Boost nodded and then sped off to go sit in the additional crew member seat behind Trevor.
Nathan dropped down the steps and saw his two passengers, plus the new stowaway.
The passenger compartment was one of his greatest achievements. When the war ended, Nathan had gutted it out and gone to work building. It became a sanctuary away from the pain of losing his family. It had taken seventeen months to complete before they started their new lives as planet-less cargo shippers.
The large room contained seating for forty-five. There were two bunk rooms on the right side, one for him and one for his nephew. In between was a plug-in port for Boost. On the left side was a full galley with fridges, ovens, and the like and next to that a spacious lavatory. The seats in the center could be maneuvered into multiple configurations; the one they were in had seven of the seats transformed into a long table. Staircases ran down into the compartment from the cockpit and out the back toward the cargo hold. The door to the hold was always closed to keep all the warm air trapped in the front, which currently held at a comfortable 72 degrees Fahrenheit.
Nathan noticed Kaida had torn out the first-aid kits and was working on the latest addition. The redhead had thrown off her overcoat and torn ribbons of cloth to help staunch the alien's external bleeding. Presently, she stood crouched over it with a medical scanner.
"Is he going to be all right?" Nathan asked.
The brown-robed Nymarian was on oxygen and breathing shallowly. His luminescent yellow skin continued to lose what color remained. The alien was covered in black soot from top to bottom and had all the appearance of suffering internal bleeding. The situation looked grim. The Nymarian was fading fast.
Kaida shook her head at the captain's question. She ran a hand through her lush red hair as though that would wash the truth out. "He may come around. But I fear the smoke poisoned him, and his other injuries are fatal. I will keep him on oxygen to make his…transition more comfortable."
Nathan had seen death many times on the battlefield. Sadly, this creature had only a handful of minutes left. Its life hung on a thread. "How are you fairing?"
"I'm all right thanks to you." Her eyes conveyed more than mere thanks. The excitement of evacuating Aquaria in time was still fresh and strangely invigorating. Realizing then the moment wasn't right for what else she had in mind; she turned her attention back to the dying alien.
Daphkalian, her large assistant, just sat watching over them. His slick feline ears pointed back.
Nathan saw the need to divert their attention from everything that had happened and the alien's dire condition. He changed the subject. "We're going to have to stop to recharge the fuel cells for the trip back to Mara VII. We'll get you back there as soon as we can."
Kaida had a time table to meet, but didn't think this was the moment to bring it up. "Um…back there, I heard that alarm. Was that really a rift?"
"Yes."
"Did you see a Ruveran ship?"
Nathan was about to answer, "No," but was cut off.
"They're coming!" The brown-robed alien had opened his eyes wide the moment the word Ruveran was spoken. He pulled off his oxygen mask and flailed, attempting to escape his seat. "We must go! We must hurry!" Then he fell back unconscious.
Nathan watched the figure and then asked Kaida, "What was that?"
"It's probably the last thing on his mind before he went under."
Without hesitating, Nathan pulled out the wake-salt package and opened it under the alien's nose. The stranger awoke instantly. He looked around wildly.
"Where am I? What's going on?" The alien went into a terrible bout of coughing. It was hard to tell whether the Nymarian's voice was always whispery or if it was because of the injuries it had sustained. "I must find the chosen one. Where is the one?"
Nathan had to hold him down to calm him. "You're safe. What happened to your ship?"
“Dosh?” The stranger looked around, still uncomprehending. He clutched his chest. For the first time he appeared to take in his actual surroundings and then Nathan. "We…we were running from a Ruveran battleship. It was trying to capture us." His words came out with great difficulty and a slight wheeze.
"There was no indication of any other ship in the sector."
The Nymarian nodded weakly. "They are out there. We were hit, but my pilots managed to hyper-jump. We were going to land on the nearest planet to figure out what to do next." The alien squinted as though rehearing something he'd forgotten. "I heard over the radio that another Ruveran battleship was inbound to destroy Aquaria, but we were already falling through the sky. Two battleships…" The Nymarian pulled at his abdomen and closed his eyes in pain. "I remember crashing."
Two Ruveran battleships?
The intercom beeped on. "Uncle, sensors are going haywire. I think it's a Ruveran probe."
The captain pressed on the intercom panel. "Have Boost take it out."
"Roger."
Nathan gave the alien a once-over. He didn't look like anything the Ruverans would be interested in. "Why are they after you?"
"For what I know." He pulled out a computer pad from his robes. Another bout of coughing brought bright-yellow liquid to his lips. "Oh no…I'm dying," the alien said weakly. "I can feel myself slipping."
"I'm sorry. There is little we can do." Nathan searched the Nymarian's face. "What's your name?"
"Cleph'thera."
"Cleph, why were the Ruverans after you?" Nathan repeated.
The Nymarian searched the captain's face for a moment, considering. Then he pulled the captain down and whispered something in his ear. Without an answer, Nathan cleared his throat. Kaida had never seen such a strong man look so surprised—or afraid. The moment passed and then the old captain was back to his stony-faced self. The alien's data pad disappeared into the captain's coat.
"Do you give your word?" the Nymarian asked.
"On my honor," Nathan answered.
"The responsibility falls to you now. Please give me my last rites." Cleph went into another string of coughing. The yellow discharge turned dull green. Clutching his heart, the alien took his last breath. Then his body went slack.
Nathan drew himself up. Death never got any easier to watch. He looked to Daphkalian, the large, well-muscled man. "We have containers in the cargo hold for remains. Can you take care of him?"
Daphkalian nodded darkly. He picked up the frail alien and walked him out to the back.
"Please have a seat, ma'am," Nathan said, trying to maintain an appearance of professionalism in dire circumstances.
Kaida took her seat and buckled herself in.
Nathan slowly made it back to the front of his ship, a sinking feeling spreading through his veins. He paused outside the cockpit for a moment to gather his wits. The alien's words echoed in his mind.
He had never imagined something worse than the Ruveran Empire. He exhaled, straightened his jacket, and walked up the stairs.
"What are you doing?" Trevor yelled back at him.
Nathan left the top step and jumped back into his seat. "What is it?"
"Did you forget Ruveran protocol?" Trevor seethed with frustration. "Boost shot down the probe, but that'll only indicate we're actually here."
Ignoring Trev's persistent attempts to engage him, Nathan remained calm. "What systems are around here?" He took the ship's controls in his hands and throttled up. He performed a one-eighty before they got caught in the asteroid belt. Open space spread out before them.
"Nothing of note. Aquaria was the only station for light years around so close to the Outer Rim." Trevor looked to his uncle to make sure he understood that things weren't okay. He saw instead something familiar in his demeanor that he didn't like. "Wait. Did that Nymarian die?"
Nathan didn't say a word. He didn't have to.
"Well, c'mon, let's get out of here before—"
Nathan looked down at the radar screen between them. On it, he saw that two Ruveran battleships had jumped out of hyperspace. Both were on an intercept course, bearing down on them.
Chapter 3
The Wrath sat helpless as the Ruveran battleships closed the gap. Stretching from one side of their viewing screen to the other, the Breakers stood, like monoliths at a full stop. They stared their ship down as though they were hungry leviathans that had stumbled upon a weary traveler. Now their only escape was the field of asteroids slamming into each other at their backs.
Having trailed through hundreds of solar systems, spaceports, life-sustaining moon worlds, and the like, Nathan and Trevor had never seen a Breaker in person. They had been built after the destruction of their world, and what they saw was much more than they had heard.
One Breaker was the length of a continent. Its width and height were the size of the ancient state of Texas. They were mostly rectangular in shape; some angles appeared cylindrical, due to slightly rounded corners. Somewhere near the bottom rested the most dangerous weapon in the universe, the planet-destroying rift cannon.
"What are they waiting for?" Trevor asked. He expected the fighter ports to burst open and overwhelm them or some supercannon to blast them into oblivion. Instead, they waited.
"I don't know." Nathan was just as confused and uneasy. There was no comfort in a situation one didn't understand and had no training for.
Button 6 was blinking on their radios. Nathan hit it and opened the common frequency.
A woman’s voice came over the radio spoken with a thick Ruveran accent. "We have your vitals and know who you are. If you enter the docking bay voluntarily, we will let you go on your way after we have the alien you retrieved. Until then, your force drive has been disabled."
Trevor did have to admit the offer seemed reasonable for Ruvera, even if it was true. But for some reason, trusting the very empire that had destroyed one's planet didn't come easily.
"Where are we? Do we have an out?" Nathan asked. He fiddled with the force drive trying to get something out of it, but the Ruverans were telling the truth. They had disabled it.
Trevor smiled. His uncle had fought the hardest against the Ruverans in the fight for Earth and would never let them dictate the terms of any agreement, no matter how dire the situation. Trev brought up the star map for the sector and scanned for anything that could aid them. The only plausible route at the moment was through the asteroid belt.
"Breaker IX, this is Commander Jeggas," the radio crackled. The man sounded angry. "We have your data on those people on board. The rift of Aquaria removed a secret base of the enemies of the empire. According to your systems, we have identified an additional agent that escaped the event. Our orders are to terminate everyone on board."
Nathan and Trevor exchanged confused looks. Were they talking about one of them? They had been careful for the last eight years since Earth's destruction. What Aquarian secret base?
"Breaker VI, this is Commander Argum, we have our order to capture and detain an alien as part of an unrelated mission. It is clear we must sort this out. Stand down until we—" She droned on.
"What are they fighting about? Are they after the same person?"
"No," Nathan answered plainly and then added. "Screw this." He punched off the radio. "What do we got?"
Trevor pointed to the energy ribbon beyond the belt. "The Endari Ribbon runs through this system." But he wasn't sure how it could help them.
"We'd be torn apart by it," Nathan grumbled, though it was an option and they didn't have many others. The stream of energy could be used for separation, but it was an unpredictable mass of energy that ran across the universe. The width fluctuated, but on average, it was larger than most suns. It was an event in space pilots actively avoided. No one actually flew into it.
"Your answer?" the woman broadcast.
Nathan disengaged autopilot, throttled up, and pulled the controls down into a 180-degree turn. The ship entered the asteroid belt.
"That was mistake," the perturbed male commander came again. Thousands of little red blips appeared on the radar as the battleship released its fleet.
Trevor punched out a load of countermissiles. The little projectiles stayed in formation as they reached their intended targets. When the enemy fighters shot them down, the trick ejecta set off an electromagnetic pulse, or EMP. The front batch of fighters went offline.
The Wrath tore through the cosmic dust first. Gray pebbles flicked across the view screen. Temporarily blinded by the chalk, Nathan relied on his terrain-detection screen. He barrel-rolled around the first boulder.
Never taking his eyes from the viewers, Nathan guided the ship down and around the great space rocks.
Their pursuers gave chase.
"Boost, buy us five minutes," Nathan barked.
"Aye, Captain." Boost had crawled up to the cockpit at some point. His little robotic figure popped from his seat and ran through the ship. He climbed back up to the defensive turret. The bionic creature brought the laser sights up and aimed at the offensive volley ripping toward them. Laser fire tore through the sky behind them as Boost went at it.
Nathan continued to dodge the floating stones—up, over, around, and then through a hollow one. When Trevor stole a glance over and saw his uncle's expression, he could have sworn he was enjoying this. Chunks of moons clashed all around them as they passed by.
Then they hit the outer wall running between the two moons. It was blocked in all directions.
Nathan pulled up his mic. "Forward, Boost. Forward!"
The screen erupted with green laser fire. The larger asteroid before them exploded into harmless chunks. Boost kept on them.
Trevor glanced at the radar and saw the little fighters had disengaged and were going the long way to reengage them when they came through. They were somewhere outside the radius of the moons.
"Uncle."
"I know."
A batch of massive rocks spun before them, threatening to smash their ship. The oblong asteroids reached for them. Nathan throttled forward just as they all connected.
They both held a collective breath.
The Wrath shot through. They had cleared the asteroid belt.
"The force drive is still offline." Trevor kept trying to reset it, but whatever the Ruverans had done to it continued to prevent it from firing up. Without light-speed travel, they were just killing time until the inevitable.
Outside the belt, Nathan pushed his ship to its highest threshold speed. He flew around another moon and put a massive red gas planet between them and their enemy.
The radio crackled again with a deep, commanding voice, "Jeggas, do not destroy that ship. We have orders."
The answer crackled back, "Argum, your radio is coming in broken and unreadable."
The fighters were back on them and firing. From Boost's position, he saw a good two thousand ships chasing them. It was like an angry nest of ants coming to kill their queen.
The Endari Ribbon grew in their viewport.
Nathan could hear
Boost getting off as many shots as he could from the back. The radar was filled with little blips coming around at them. They now appeared as a mass of color instead of individual crafts. Nathan continued to juke and spin his ship away from them.
"Electromagnetic pulse detected," the computer announced.
Nathan reacted out of instinct and hit the emergency shutdown. All their electronics went offline. The powerless craft continued flying forward without systems.
The pulse burst out, and the subsequent shock wave blew past them.
Nathan hit the quick start and fired the ship's systems back up. All the screens and lights blinked back on. This wasn't the first time someone had tried to EMP him.
They were almost on top of the ribbon. It stretched its energy toward them, flicking its lightning fingers out to destroy them. Drenched in sweat, they saw the dangerous space phenomenon reach out to take them in.
"Are we really doing this?" Trevor called over.
"We don't have a choice." Nathan pushed the controls down, and they went at it.
"Here we go!" Trev called over PA. "Brace yourselves."
Downstairs, Kaida looked over at Daphkalian. Neither of them had any idea what was going on.
Behind them, the fighters ejected every weapon they could as they closed in on their prey. Then the Wrath entered the ribbon, and everything went stark white.
Chapter 4
Beams of electricity tore across the hull. The searing-hot energy drew up lines that the scorch marks traced over, performing a type of fire dance. Past the outer beam, which they had broken through, the inside of the ribbon was hollow, with smaller bolts of lightning striking at random intervals. A smoky river ran down the middle. Nathan brought the ship to it. Clouds of white smoke engulfed them as the ship flew through, and then the screens went blind.
"Did we just survive that?" Trevor put his hand over his face and laughed.
Nathan nodded his head up and down, thoughtfully. "So it would seem." Then, not taking his eyes off the screen, he asked Trevor, "Are they still on us?"
