by Nick Webb
“Captain Granger. Will you make alliance with us?”
Granger’s automatic reply sounded surreal in his mouth. “We will.” They were the only words to say, really. “And who do we make alliance with?”
“The Fifth House of the Concordat of Seven. You’ve shown us we can throw off our masters, just as you did with the Dolmasi.”
Granger cut his hand across his throat, eyeing Ensign Prucha, who muted the audio. He shot a glance at Commander Proctor. “It’s got to be a trick. They have us at their mercy.”
“Maybe,” she said. “But what choice do we have?”
He shrugged, and nodded toward Prucha, who restored the audio. “Very well. To prove your sincerity, would you mind neutralizing the Valarisi carriers that are just now coming in range?” he said, using the name the Swarm used for themselves.
The alien, to Granger’s disbelief, nodded once. “By all means, Captain. Please maneuver your ship around ours to shield yourselves—we detect that you cannot take much more damage.”
Granger signaled Ensign Prince, who maneuvered the Warrior as the alien had suggested, putting the dreadnought in between it and the three incoming Swarm carriers.
“Captain, the dreadnought is opening fire on the carriers,” began Ensign Diamond. “Full spread of antimatter beams.”
The viewscreen split, half still displaying the new alien, and the other half showing the carnage. The dreadnought had at least ten times the number of beam turrets as the carriers, and within fifteen seconds of the flyby, the targets were in ruins, breaking apart and blazing through the upper atmosphere.
“Captain,” said Proctor, her voice betraying her disbelief, “receiving word from the fleet: the rest of the carriers are pulling back. One already made a q-jump out.” She looked up at him. “Shall I order pursuit?”
He nodded quickly, still paralyzed by disbelief himself. The new twist of events had happened so suddenly, so … illogically, that he was still trying to process it.
“New contacts, sir,” said Ensign Diamond, who broke out into a grin. “It’s Admiral Zingano and his fleet.”
The dreadnought broke off from their escort vector and accelerated toward another Swarm carrier that was blasting away from the planet, trying to make its escape. Over a hundred green beams lanced out from the dreadnought, overwhelming the carrier. The dreadnought eclipsed the fiery death throes of the much smaller ship.
“Maybe they detected Zingano’s imminent arrival and decided to make their move?”
“Maybe,” said Granger. “I suppose we’ll get their explanation shortly.” He watched as the dreadnought reoriented itself and rejoined Warrior’s flight vector. He couldn’t help but feel he’d cheated. Or that someone had cheated. It was too easy. They were about to die. Twice.
That alien had better have a damn good story.
Chapter 13
Senator Joseph P. Hill Memorial Shipyards
Athens, Alabama, Earth
Vice President Isaacson smiled as widely as his strained, exhausted cheeks would allow him to. As the hovering cameras nearby zoomed backward into the air and panned wide, he relaxed the rictus-grin a bit, knowing that the actual crowd assembled on the street below wouldn’t be able to see him as closely as the ever-present cameras. Wouldn’t be able to see him sigh ever so slightly.
They would never see him like she saw him. She saw everything. She was always there. In his every waking moment. Governing his thoughts, his feelings. And of course, his actions, and to a lesser extent, his words. At least, his spoken words. But he had to tightly govern his running mental commentary.
He couldn’t even call her bitch anymore. Not in his mind, at least. Not without suffering ungodly agony—an unfortunate side-effect of having thirty mind-and-emotion-reading implants capable of delivering fifty-four millijoules of brain-bending pain apiece. In certain moments, talking with certain senators or Russian agents with whom he was still trying to uphold the facade of agitator-in-chief, he allowed himself to unload on President Avery, calling her every filthy name his frenzied mind could grasp at. With those people, he had to maintain appearances of a murderous traitor and so she allowed him to play the part. But with everyone else, with the public, he was to be the cheerleader. Avery’s number one surrogate.
“Thank you. Thank you. You’re too kind,” he said, his voice amplified by a microphone hovering just a meter in front of him. Thousands of people had crammed into the plaza and neighboring streets to see him in person. It was just another ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newest heavy cruiser coming off the line at the nearby shipyard, but the people of Athens, Alabama were proud of their contribution to the war effort.
It was their fifth ship completed since the start of the war. All four of the previous ships had been lost, of course, just like over sixty percent of all newly-built ships these days. But the pride of the crowd was palpable. “You know, back when I was interning for Senator Hill,” he paused for dramatic effect, “I guess some of you may have heard of him.” The crowd roared. The late Senator Hill was, in fact, an Alabamian native. “Back when I interned for old Joe he told me, he says, ‘Eamon, the people in my senatorial district are simply the best people in the galaxy.’”
More roars from the crowd.
Isaacson continued. The crowd was putty in his hand—he may have hated his forced servitude at the scheming hands of President Avery, but this part—the adoration of a war-weary crowd—this part he loved. “He says to me, ‘Eamon, the people in my senatorial district are simply the best in the galaxy,’” he said again, expertly knowing that the key to any good political speech was repetition, repetition, repetition. “‘And you know why they’re the best, Eamon? It’s because they never give up. They never give up. They’re the most bad-ass, unbreakable people on the planet. They never give up. And you know what, Eamon? You know what? If the Swarm ever comes back, the shitheads—I’m sorry folks, Senator Hill was pretty colorful, if you know what I mean—the shitheads will never know what hit ‘em.’”
He paused to let the crowd scream ecstatically again. Old Senator Hill was an Alabama legend, especially here where he grew up. It didn’t matter that Isaacson was making up the story about the old bastard, one hundred percent blatant fabrication—the crowd ate it up. “When old Joe died a few years later,” he continued slowly, adding a note of heaviness to his voice. The crowd hushed. “When old Joe died, I found a letter in my mailbox the next week. He’d included it in his will. Imagine little ole’ me, just a snot-nosed intern, getting a personal letter from a United Earth senate legend. I opened it. Hands trembling.”
The crowd was utterly silent.
“I pulled out the letter. I read it. I read it again. Tears came to my eyes.” He continued, filling in with meaningless words as he racked his brain for what he’d say next. There was no letter. He’d only interned for the old codger for a week before the man died suddenly of a heart attack during a blowjob from some prostitute, and Isaacson had never even met him. But he needed a good line for the crowd. “And through my tears I saw the firm, hand-written signature of that patriot, that giant of a man.” He cleared his throat, summoning a good show of emotion. “The words he wrote are these. And I quote: ‘A sacrifice made in the service of your fellow countrymen is no sacrifice at all.’”
Brilliant, Eamon, he thought, as the crowd went wild. He held up a hand. “Thank you for your sacrifice. I know you’ve seen hunger, pain, loss, and seemingly endless war. And through it all, you’ve persevered. You’ve given us a fighting chance against our mortal enemy. You’ve given us this,” he said, indicating the giant cruiser in dry dock about a kilometer away.
He slipped in a few more anecdotes, some good old fashioned folksy homespun wisdom, pumped up the crowd with a bit more cheerleading, and finally called it a day. Three speeches in a row. Three starship naming ceremonies. Three ceremonially broken bottles against tungsten-iridium hulls. Hundreds of local dignitaries and factory chiefs and shift managers. Thousands of handshakes. Hi
s hand ached. His back ached. His head ached. And when he finally collapsed on his bed at the end of the day, he groaned when his comm card alarmed, indicating she wanted to talk to him.
He couldn’t mentally swear at her. He couldn’t slather her with creative insults and curses. All he could do was take a deep breath, and tap his fingers against his leg in the same rhythm as the syllables of one particular insulting vulgar phrase. He couldn’t think the words—she’d hear that. And she’d punish him severely for it. But he tapped the rhythm. Tap, tap-tap, tap. Tap, tap-tap, tap. It was his only release. The only way he could impotently strike back at her.
The alarm sounded again, and one of his thirty implants buzzed slightly. Not painfully, but as a warning: Don’t keep me waiting, Mr. Vice President, I’m not a patient woman.
He pulled his comm card out and tapped it. “Yes, Madam President?”
“Good work today, Mr. Isaacson. I trust you’re not too exhausted? Three naming ceremonies. Three! That sounds downright tiresome!” She laughed.
Tap, tap-tap, tap.
“Don’t worry, I’ll let you sleep soon. Any word from Ambassador Volodin?”
“Not yet. He says an audience with Malakhov is highly unlikely, but that he’d pull all his strings to arrange it.”
“Good,” said Avery. “We need to get you in there. Much depends on it.”
“If I may ask, Madam President, why not just meet him yourself? If the message you want delivered to him is that important, wouldn’t it carry more diplomatic force if it was the President of United Earth delivering it?”
She laughed. “Oh, Eamon. You’re so incredibly naive sometimes.”
Tap, tap-tap, tap.
“Oh?” he couldn’t help but let a hint of sarcasm seep into his voice. Luckily, she let it slide—his implants remained silent.
“Mr. Isaacson, the message I want delivered is one that is suited uniquely to you.” She laughed again, then added, “Besides, it wouldn’t look good at all if I were the one to negotiate with Mr. Malakhov. Just think of the optics! I’m the bad-ass no-nonsense take-no-prisoners President of United Earth. I can’t be seen talking to war criminals.”
He’d been halfway through sitting up to walk to the bathroom, but he froze. “I beg your pardon, Madam President?” Was she actually thinking of sending him off alone, outside her influence, to talk to her mortal enemy?
“You heard me, Eamon,” she said, using his first name for the first time in two months. “You’re going to negotiate with President Malakhov. In person. In his own office. You need to get inside his head. See what he’s thinking. Otherwise, we don’t stand a chance.”
He heard her take as sip of a drink she was holding, the clink of the ice rung against the glass. She continued, “And if that doesn’t work, then you’ll sabotage his secret computer network. Preferably with a bomb or something. In full view of live television cameras. The whole galaxy will see it live.” She laughed again. “Should cause quite a stir, don’t you think? People will see that we’re finally striking back against the Russian bastards. Oh, don’t worry, I know what you’re thinking. I’m sure you’ll escape the blast. Well, reasonably sure. Ha!”
Tap, tap-tap, tap.
Chapter 14
Sickbay, ISS Warrior
High Orbit, Britannia
Volz watched her through sickbay’s window. She was asleep, and still bound to the bed by thick straps and cuffs. They weren’t going to take any chances with her—Commander Proctor had done some tests involving meta-space signals and determined that while Fishtail was unconscious the Swarm was not able to control her or send and receive signals though her, but even so it was safest to keep her chained.
When she could transmit the Swarm virus with the touch of a single finger, it was the only thing that made sense. A transparent panel had been set up around her to prevent medical staff and other patients from inadvertently brushing up against her skin, but otherwise sickbay still made the most sense as the place to keep her. This way she could be easily kept under sedation, and under constant monitoring.
He watched her. Just as he had almost every evening for two months. When he wasn’t flying his bird, or training his squad, or sleeping and eating, he was here.
Was she in there somewhere? Could she be saved? Proctor had assured him that she could be saved. Just like Granger. But he had trouble believing his XO when he passed away the long hours watching her.
“If you keep watching her this much I think I’m going to rename you Stalker. Tyler “Stalker” Volz.”
Volz gave a short, gruff laugh. “What do you know about stalking, Spacechamp?”
She stood next to him, watching the former pilot sleep. “Clearly not as much as you, Ballsy. Though, if a guy were to stalk me, I think I’d want him to at least leave me some chocolates or something. Maybe some small talk. If I was really drunk maybe a quickie.”
He looked at her aghast.
“Kidding, Ballsy.” She turned to him. “Seriously, man. You’re obsessed. What’s up? You can’t go on like this, pining over her. You guys weren’t even an item, right? I mean, she was married, has a kid….”
He waved a hand, dismissively. “No, nothing like that. It’s just … she was on my team, and she threw herself into that thing to save the ship. And she made me promise to go tell her kid that everything would be ok, and I just, I don’t know. For awhile she was dead, and then, miraculously, she was alive. And I rescued her. But now she’s in limbo, and … I’m just hung up, Spacechamp. It’s hard to explain.”
He wasn’t even sure why he was there.
“Are you just scared that you’ll end up the same way?” Spacechamp folded her arms, studying the sleeping pilot. “That you’ll go into the void and then come back … changed? Different? That you’ll lose yourself? Demon possession?”
He rolled his eyes. “This isn’t some B-movie space horror show.”
“And yet, there she is. Changed. Taken over by an alien race. Sounds like a horror show to me,” she said.
“Yeah,” he rubbed his arms—he’d clasped his hands behind his back for so long that they had started to prickle. “I guess this is a horror show. It could happen to any of us, at any time. Dogtown? Taken by the Swarm, then killed. Those other two pilots? And Hanrahan? Doc Wyatt?”
She pat his shoulder. “Don’t worry. At least there won’t be any aliens bursting out of your chest and dancing on the bar. And remember, Granger came back. If he can, so can Fishtail.”
“Yeah, I know. I keep telling myself that.”
Spacechamp turned to leave, then paused. “You know why they call me Spacechamp?”
“Uh … didn’t you just pick it because it sounded cool?”
“Pfft. You know you don’t pick your own callsign. No, they called me Spacechamp when I was first assigned to the Oregon. I wore my hair in a bun, and the guys said I looked like that cartoon character from when we were kids. Remember her? Spacechamp? The zany happy-go-lucky nerd girl turned space pirate? Robbed from the rich inter-solar plutocrats and gave to the poor?”
Volz shrugged. “I played basketball. Never watched many cartoons.”
“Well,” continued Spacechamp, “the thing with that cartoon was, Spacechamp was a goon. A total gamer girl with bad grooming habits and crazy hair that she wrapped up in a bun. When those jocks called me Spacechamp, it wasn’t a compliment, believe me. Behind my back they called me, and I quote, “Eterna-virge,” referring to their belief that I’d never get laid in my entire life. That first week was horrible. But you know what I did? I got in that cockpit, and I decided that I’d be the best god-damned fighter jock any of those bastards had ever seen. I put up a friggin’ full-size poster of Spacechamp on my locker. I plastered her name on my helmet. I owned it. I wasn’t going to let them define who I was. And, by the time a month had passed, I was the best. Ya know why?”
“Why?”
“Mainly because the rest of them were killed by the Swarm. They had it coming, the bastards, god rest the
ir souls,” she crossed herself. Volz had forgotten she was religious. “But I lived. I survived. I fought my way through and clawed my way out when those other wankers got themselves killed. By the time I left, Spacechamp was my badge of honor. It was my title that said, Suck it, bitch, I’m better than all your sorry asses.”
She turned and pointed to Fishtail. “She survived. Both because she’s a kick-ass pilot, and because you risked everything to bring her back. She had the lady-balls to put her life on the line for all of us, throwing herself into that thing to save the ship. Something tells me she’s going to fight this thing, and win. You just watch.”
Volz shook his head, finally turning to face her. “You haven’t talked to it, Spacechamp. You don’t know. You don’t know what it’s like. It’s completely taken her. When she talks, it’s all Swarm. All hate and malice and chest-thumping and dick-wagging about how they’ll overcome us all and make us all friends, or kill us if we resist. I just … I just worry that in spite of her bravery, in spite of me bringing her back, that we’ve lost her after all.” He bit his lip. “And that I’ll have to go back to that house, again, and tell them that their daughter and his mother is dead, again. I don’t know if I can handle that.”
He was looking her in the eye, but she seemed distracted. Following her gaze, he scanned sickbay for what Spacechamp was looking at, and gasped.
Fishtail was awake. And staring right at him, with dead, glassy eyes. A joyless smile curled the edged of her lips.
He put his hand on the window. One of the nurses noticed the monitor beeps announcing Fishtail’s return to consciousness, and raced over to the transparent enclosure, jabbing a few times at the automatic IV to dispense a new dose of tranquilizer.
A few moments later, she closed her eyes again and fell asleep.
