The Resistance- The Complete Series

by Nathan Hystad

  Wren let out an unconscious laugh. She wasn’t sure there’d be a “once everything was over” for them, but she liked the idea.

  “You are important, Charles. I’m glad you’re here.” Wren checked the viewscreen, but there was no sign of the arriving vessel quite yet. Wren’s heart was racing; the empty space in the viewscreen making her nervous. “Charles, do you think Flint’s idea is sound?”

  Charles appeared to contemplate this, but not for long. “I’ve considered other options, but his plan is sound. We can do this, Wren. We will do this.”

  She set a hand on the android’s forearm, feeling the chilled surface. Sometimes it was hard to remember he wasn’t one of them. “I think so too.”

  More cheering erupted, and Wren had to step around a couple of people to see the viewscreen. Flint and the Eureka were back. She couldn’t hold back her smile now.

  Flint

  The boardroom was now full. On the end of the table, a video of the Pilgrim’s meeting room projected, just as theirs was playing to the other ship. They didn’t have time to get everyone together, so anyone heading toward the Watchers was on this ship, while the ones heading to the Rift were on the Pilgrim. Captain Heather Barkley stood at the end of the table, bringing the meeting to a start.

  “We’re at a crucial time for humanity,” Captain Barkley stated. While Flint appreciated the rallying of the troops, he also wished she’d cut the bull so they could get on with their mission. She didn’t appear to have heard his inner thoughts, as she continued. “Our race has been threatened, and there’s a chance they’ve already been destroyed beyond the Rift. We have no choice but to fight back.”

  The crew in the room clapped, as did the group projecting into the meeting. When it died down, Captain Barkley kept going. “Dr. Wren Sando has created the virus we believe will wipe out a large portion of these Watchers. How do we do that? Not all of you know this, but Grand Admiral Jish Karn had a Watcher on her ship, the Stellae, and kept it a secret for thirty years.” This brought an eruption of gasps and sounds of disbelief.

  Frankly, Flint didn’t know it was such a secret lately, especially since that very same creature had been aboard their ship for some time. He caught Wren’s eyes from across the table and smirked at her. Her thick black hair had grown out over the months. She’d left it to go wild, and it swayed when she bobbed her head from side to side, as if she were listening to a catchy song.

  Barkley raised a hand to silence the room, but it took a minute, and questions were still being randomly shouted into the space. “Karn caught one of their ships during the previous Rift, and that’s how we got this Shift technology. How else did you think we obtained it?”

  A woman Flint didn’t know spoke loudly and with passion. “It’s her fault, then. Jish Karn be damned! They’ve attacked us now because she kidnapped one of their own.” A series of agreeable mutters carried through the room.

  “No, that’s not accurate. They attacked us thirty years ago. We think they were testing us, but when the Rift was closing, they retreated,” Barkley said.

  A man interrupted the frazzled woman three seats down as she tried to speak again. “It’s a classic strategy. They wanted to poke and prod, to see what we’re made of before deciding whether to send a fleet to invade. Clearly, we weren’t much competition.”

  “Don’t forget, they only had to wait a year on this side. They likely don’t know about the time dilation either. That’s the only thing that might give us an edge… or might have given us an edge.” Barkley was once again impressing Flint with her composure. She’d come a long way in a short amount of time. Flint guessed she felt the meeting was getting away from her and had to get it back on track.

  “What are we doing about it?” a different man asked, his voice loud and deep.

  “I’ll let Captain Hawk tell her side, and go from there. Captain?” Barkley said, motioning toward the projection of the Pilgrim crew.

  “Thank you, Captain Barkley. As you all know, this ship has no Shift drive. We’ll be taking a mixture of the newer EFF-17s and our original EFF-15 fighters, and we’re heading straight toward the Rift. The trip will take us under three months. We don’t know whether to expect more of the Watchers amassing there or not. We think not, since they can Shift and would have no need to arrive early. Regardless, we’ve been training against their Shift drive fighters and are confident we can hold our ground, depending on the size of their fleet.

  “We’ll guard the Rift and wait for the Eureka to do their part, which, I must say, is a load more complicated than what I just described, so I’ll pass it back to Captain Barkley to go over the details.” Captain Hawk’s 3D image sat down, and the faces around Flint were even more curious as to the next step they’d be taking.

  Flint knew this plan like the back of his hand, and as Heather ran the crew through it, he watched their faces instead of listening to the words. Most were pale by the time she was done, and Flint started to worry it might be just too asinine a move after all.

  Before he knew it, the meeting was over, and he sneaked away from the crowded room, finding Wren by the door. He grabbed her hand and led her down the hall.

  “Let’s get the others and toast to the cause before we’re fighting for our lives,” he said, and Wren just nodded, her eyes damp.

  Wren

  After months and months, it was finally happening. Wren was in uniform and on the bridge as part of the Eureka’s latest crew. To keep up with protocol, Captain Barkley had dubbed her their science officer, but Wren was just happy to be where the action was and part of the major discussions. It was her virus, after all, that was the end goal, and she wanted to ensure they made it to the surface of the Watchers’ world.

  “Godspeed, Pilgrim,” Barkley said as the older colony ship raced from the vicinity of Domum, below and away from their own ship at the same time.

  Wren truly hoped the Pilgrim would arrive to find Jarden Fairbanks’ masterpiece, the Eureka, waiting beside the Rift. If all went as planned, they’d get to the rendezvous point well ahead of the slower vessel.

  “Lieutenant Lancaster, bring us around and charge the Shift drive.” Barkley sat down, and Wren took the seat to her right. Since Barkley still hadn’t named a first officer, the chair was free, and Harry Tsang grinned at Wren as she took the seat.

  “Charging the Shift drive.” Flint sounded agitated, and Wren felt she was missing out on something.

  “Are we done, Lancaster?” Barkley asked. “Or do I need to ask Junior Lieutenant Foggle to step in for you?”

  The co-pilot glanced over at Flint, who shook his head at the other man. “No, Captain. We’re simpatico.” He started to turn back but paused momentarily to raise a hand in the air. “But, for the sake of argument, are you sure you won’t reconsider?”

  Barkley didn’t get up, and she kept her voice low. “This is my ship, Flint.” She hissed his name. “And I’ve decided that Shifting right to the hornet’s nest without a little recon would be remiss. We Shift, stay a while, make sure everything’s good, and head in twelve hours later. As we’ve gone over more than once now.”

  So that was what this was all about. Flint had been muttering this morning about Barkley making it harder than it had to be. Wren could see both of their points, but only time would tell which was more effective. Wren had taken the cautious approach most of her life, but now, after everything she’d been through, she was more apt to jump head-first into the situation, like Flint suggested.

  Flint was about to speak his mind, and Wren stood up, coming between the captain’s chair and Flint’s helmsman position. “There’s no point in continuing this conversation, Flint. We Shift where the Captain says, then we do your plan in twelve hours. No harm, no foul, okay?”

  Barkley didn’t seem happy to have someone else fighting her battles, but her eyes softened as Flint agreed. He did have to get the last word in, and muttered something about a scout potentially spotting them and ruining it all.

  “In a sys
tem with no other races we’ve heard of, I think the chances of them finding us – a tiny speck in space outside their sensor range – is astronomical,” Barkley said.

  “So were the chances that I found a buyer on Mars for an early sample of Mars dust, but I did just that and lived for a month on the profits,” Flint said, winking at Wren as he craned his neck back.

  Wren saw the timer on the viewscreen glow brightly as it finished counting down. They were ready.

  Barkley ordered Flint to engage the drive, and a moment later, their view out the screen was far different. Much the same, but different. The system’s star wasn’t in their line of sight from this angle, but they could see the Watchers’ world, a distant dot among the canvas of stars.

  Wren felt flushed and afraid. Her virus was going to be unleashed in a day. If all went well, they’d be starting the destruction of an advanced race. She had no comprehension of their health system and capabilities. Part of her knew that the Watchers might be able to create a cure before all of them were wiped out, and that was very likely. There was also the chance that the Watcher they’d had in captivity was a genetic fluke, and the virus would fall flat on its face upon release.

  There were too many possible outcomes, and Wren didn’t want to sit and consider each of them. It was her job to give them a chance, and she’d done that. Now the rest was up to the fates, she supposed.

  “You’re sure we’re out of range, Lieutenant Tsang?” Barkley asked her weapons officer.

  “As long as the details we were given were accurate, then yes, with ten percent additional distance in for good measure,” Harry returned.

  Barkley tapped her console. “Squadrons, deploy as planned.”

  Wren watched as tiny fighters emerged in pairs on the viewscreen, each heading in different directions.

  24

  Ace

  “I’ll be glad when we can head back in. There’s nothing very exciting about patrol duty, is there?” Oliv asked over their secure line.

  “I couldn’t agree more. Another thirty minutes, and we can go have something to eat. I’m starving.” Ace smiled under his mask as he talked with Oliv. It was nice to have someone his own age to hang out with, and it didn’t hurt that she was so easy on the eyes.

  “I’m going to have a cheesebu…” Oliv’s word stopped midsentence as a ship appeared on their sensors only ten kilometers away.

  “Bogey sighted. We’re going in,” Ace said over the common channel.

  “Affirmative. It’s a Watcher.” Lieutenant Collins was in space with them, but each pair was thousands of kilometers apart in some cases. No one could get to them in time to help, should they require it.

  As soon as Ace knew it was time, he’d started his countdown. 1:11. The time it took for the Watchers’ drive to recharge.

  Oliv was following behind and to the right of Ace’s fighter, right where she was supposed to be, and Ace challenged his throttle as he raced toward the dot on his screen. By the time he saw the ship through his actual viewer, it had turned toward them, seemingly startled to find company of any kind this far out.

  Fifty seconds.

  The Watcher didn’t waste any time. It fired at them, and Ace wanted to keep it busy so there was no chance to send any communication back home. He and Oliv rapidly fired high, then low, trying to trick it into staying in the middle.

  Thirty seconds.

  Oliv took a few shots as they crossed paths, the Watcher a much better dogfighter. This time, Ace arced around, becoming a tail on the ship, and Oliv joined him. She fired high, and the Watcher went under it, just like Ace had been counting on. Something fell off the Watcher’s ship as Ace fired, making a direct shot and breaking down its shield before the fourth pulse exploded the enemy fighter.

  “We did it!” Ace shouted, seeing the countdown to zero flash red on his HUD. But the object dropped from the Watcher’s ship seconds ago detonated as Oliv flew overtop it, sending her ship into a spiral.

  “Oliv!” Ace shouted as he chased after her. Her shield had already been weakened, and Ace worried it was about to explode.

  “I’m okay, Ace. My ship’s engines are dead, and life support is dwindling. I think my arm’s broken.” Oliv sounded strong, but Ace was thrilled to hear her voice at all.

  “I’m coming.” Ace used a lance, a mini-tractor beam, and pulled the dead ship along behind him toward the Eureka as he filled Collins in on the details.

  Flint

  “This is why we needed to Shift right into it. If that Watcher sentry sent any information about an invasion back to the outpost, we’re done.” Flint stood up in his seat at the table. His heart was pumping vigorously, feeling the energy and adrenaline from each of his missions back in the Fleet, but more intensely. This was life or death, and not just for him: for everyone, here and at home.

  Charles’ eyes glowed at the far end of the table, the room otherwise dark as the 3D projection spread out before the android.

  “I appreciate your concern, Flint, but this changes nothing. We go in now as planned.” Barkley crossed the room to stand before the projection of the circular station. In the center was a docking station. It remained motionless, while the station spun like a bicycle wheel.

  The room had each squad leader there, and they quickly reiterated the plan, though it had been ingrained in each of their minds over the last couple of months. 3D images of what it was going to appear like projected over the table, and the ships each had identifiers to show who was where, and when.

  Flint smiled. It was going to work. As long as the Watchers still weren’t expecting company, it was going to work.

  “Very well. Everyone good?” Barkley asked. No one countered, and she left the room, followed by everyone else.

  Charles, Wren, and Ace stayed behind, and their little group had a moment together before the insanity began.

  “Good luck, everyone. I wish I could be of more help,” Charles said.

  “Buddy, you were the one with enough skills to get us these details, even after Benson tried so hard to hide them. We couldn’t have done any of this without you,” Flint said, and Charles seemed to stand up straighter after he heard that.

  “Good luck. You two come back to us safely, okay?” Wren said, giving each of them a hug, starting with Ace. She ruffled his hair, which was growing in. It was as if the kid wanted to emulate the great Flint Lancaster or something. Flint chuckled to himself as Wren made her way over. She hugged and held him there for a second longer than she had Ace.

  “What, no kiss?” he asked.

  Wren shook her head. “Maybe if you make it back.”

  Flint cracked his knuckles. “I’m holding you to that.” He clapped Ace on the shoulder. “Come on, kid. Time to go to work.”

  An hour later, Flint found himself strapped inside an EFF-17 fighter. He remembered his first mission in one of them, and it felt like so long ago. The Fleet’s base at the Moons by Jupiter kept losing its supplies in transit. The freighters were disappearing without a trace. So this time, they’d decided to send six fighters along with the freighters, kept the manifest otherwise public, and it was up to the fighters to protect the supply freighter.

  Flint had been so scared that day, worried they’d be met by a brigade force of twenty vessels and he’d be killed in the blaze of glory. It turned out some scum-sucking pirate was using a hundred-year-old Recon ship to latch on to the freighters and drill into their engines from the outside, rendering them useless.

  The pirate arrived, stuck to the ship, and quickly realized there were six fighters to contend with. Flint had loved that first mission, and felt like he’d done some good in the universe while they arrested the repulsive old man who was stealing food from the Fleet and selling it back to the poor on Mars. In retrospect, the old man wasn’t much different than Flint had become, dealing in black-market product, though they went about it in dissimilar ways.

  “The Shift is complete! The mission’s a go!” a voice called into his earpiece.

>   Flint had been waiting for this moment for a few months now, and he’d expected to feel nervous. But instead of his stomach churning, a calm washed over him, a deadly focus on the task at hand. Flint knew there were forty of them heading into danger today, but he was at the lead. His task was monumental, and he had no time to waste on being afraid.

  He emerged at the same time as the other nine fighters from Hangar Four, passing through the blue containment field and into space. The Shift had taken them very close to the outpost, and Flint immediately spotted the slowly rotating circular station through his viewer. There were two transmission satellites, but one was the main, the other just an amplifier. If he took out the first target, they were in the clear.

  The satellite specs were inputted into his sensors, and it appeared as a purple dot on his HUD. The other nine fighters spread out in formation; his partner, Robin, was a hell of a shot, like the old tale of Robin Hood. Flint wanted to make sure someone else could finish the task, should something befall him.

  At the thought, a series of red splattered across his screen as ten Watcher fighters appeared, attempting to intersect their trajectory to prevent the Fleet fighters from reaching their target. It was a race. A countdown flashed on the Watchers’ Shift charge as Flint’s fighter screamed toward the transmission satellite.

  “Three incoming,” Flint said to his wing mate. Robin veered farther away from him but stayed within their allotted zone. Flint tried his best to ignore the approaching vessels but couldn’t when they began firing on him and his partner.

  “I’ll distract them,” Flint said, breaking away from his trajectory.

  “You have to keep on track, Lancaster,” Barkley ordered from within the Eureka. Flint flipped the comm line off for a moment, trying to stay focused.