by M. D. Cooper
“Why would you ever say that?” Bubbs asked with an arched brow.
ESCAPE
STELLAR DATE: 12.22.8948 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: Starlight Station, Dante
REGION: Dante Velorum System, Fringe
Kylie cycled the airlock the moment the Solidarity passed into the bay. She had no idea what Marge had said to convince the station to let them dock and not fire on them, but she was glad it worked.
She hit the emergency button on the airlock, ignoring the pain in her ears from the pressure imbalance, and jumped from the still-moving ship to the deck ten meters below.
Her armor absorbed the impact, and she rolled to her feet, running for the bay door as the cat’s voice came into her head.
Kylie sprinted through the corridors, following the layout of the station on the general network. The passages were almost entirely clear—likely because everyone else was getting to ships to either join in the battle that was about to happen, or run.
Marge crowed.
To her right was an open atrium, and Kylie angled toward the railing and leapt over, falling the fifteen meters to the next deck, where she just managed to snag the railing with an outstretched hand.
Kylie ignored the AI and swung herself up onto the deck, dashing across the concourse to the indicated bay.
When she reached the doors, she palmed them open and stepped onto a catwalk high above a sleek grey corvette. The ship had massive engines, and she could tell that it was similar in design to the Orion general’s ship that had docked on Starlight Station.
To her left, she saw Paul racing along the catwalk toward the ship’s upper gantry and she took off in pursuit.
Suddenly the deck below her shuddered, and she grabbed onto the railing to steady herself.
Kylie resumed her pursuit as the deck shuddered again and again. She knew that the shipyard only had minimal shields and no ablative plating on its hull. It wouldn’t last more than a few minutes, if the Transcend was actively trying to destroy it.
Only a few meters ahead now, Paul turned onto the gantry, but fell when another blast shook the station.
As he rose, Kylie’s hand caught the collar of his jacket, jerking him backward. He clawed at her fingers, then when that didn’t work, shrugged out of his jacket.
Kylie pushed past him, blocking the entrance to the ship, and trained her pistol on him.
“You’re out of moves. There’s nowhere else to go.”
He clamped a hand on the railing as the gantry shook beneath them. “You won’t shoot me…if you were going to do it, you would’ve—”
Kylie fired a pulse blast at her brother, knocking him down. It was enough to stun him, but not kill him. She holstered her weapon and crouched next to Paul, pulling him up and slinging him over her shoulder.
“Stars, I’m sure tired of cleaning up the family messes,” she said while rushing toward the ship’s airlock. A glance back into the bay to check for any other enemies earned her a glimpse of Mr. Fizzle Pop loping along the catwalk. “Hurry, you stupid furball! I thought I told you to stay on the other ship.”
“Fizz! Not now! Find somewhere safe and get secure,” she ordered the cat. “This ride is going to be a doozy.”
* * * * *
Kylie would have loved to stop and admire the quality craftsmanship of the corvette, but she didn’t have time to appreciate it while racing to the bridge. Once there, she threw her brother into a seat, and quickly pulled down the harness to secure him.
“OK…tell me they left the keys in this thing,” Kylie said as she slid into the pilot’s seat.
“Shit, Marge, I know! But we need to go!”
Kylie shook her head as the console activated before her. “Well, why didn’t you say so?”
“Sure hope so,” Kylie said as she sent a command for the ship to lift off the docking cradle. “I can’t fight and fly at the same time.”
She sent an order to the dockmaster’s office using her brother’s command codes, telling them to open the doors. She half expected no one to be there, as the station shook from another explosion, but by some miracle, the doors began to slide aside.
Another blast hit the station, and the ship shifted in the bay, nearly slamming into the bulkheads. Alerts came over the general network, ordering all hands to abandon the shipyard.
Marge managed an upbeat chuckle.
The bay doors had finally opened wide enough for the vessel—named the Isolation, from the labels on the displays—to fit through, and Kylie punched the grav drives, once again ruining a rear docking bay bulkhead.
Not that it matters. This place is being torn apart.
Once outside, scan highlighted dozens of TSF fighters flitting about the vessels boosting away from the shipyard. Many of the escaping craft were shuttles and freighters—which the Transcend squadron left alone—but some were near-complete Revolution ships, and the fighters harried them, disabling engines and weapons before moving on to new targets.
Paul groaned, and Kylie turned to see him holding his head, gazing bleary-eyed at the forward display. “That’s a lot of ships,” he noted.
Kylie clenched her teeth. If her brother thought they were going to have a friendly conversation, he had another think coming. “Broadcast channel is open. Tell your people in the Revolution Fleet and planetside to stand down.”
“Kylie—”
She had had it with his excuses. “Tell them!” She twisted and stared at the pathetic man, a man she used to respect so much. “Now! If you don’t, the Transcend will destroy your ships and maybe everyone downworld as well. I have friends there and I don’t want to see them killed because you can’t separate yourself from Dad. It’s over, Paul!”
Paul shook his head and stared forlornly at the display. “What do I have left if I don’t have this?”
“Do you want all these people to die and have that on your conscience forever?”
“And if they don’t listen to me? If they won’t stand down?”
“Then that’s on them, not you, but you make them listen. You’re their leader. You know how to throw a good speech together, so you say what you need to.”
Kylie turned back to the console, setting a course to pass behind the station. They took a few hits from the fighters, but nothing their shields couldn’t shed. As they slipped between a pair of external repair cradles, Marge activated the stealth systems and killed the main engines. Now the Isolation was just a patch of nothing floating through space.
S
he looked back at her brother and raised her eyebrows. He met her gaze for a moment, then looked away. She was just thinking about getting up and attempting to use force when he connected to the channel and began speaking.
Paul hung his head and sat back in his chair. Kylie shut off the communication channel.
“Nice speech,” she said sarcastically. “But at least you did it. At least you followed through.”
“It may not be enough. Some won’t listen.”
Paul sat up straighter and went pale. “Who’s that? Do you have an AI in you?”
Kylie nodded.
“Then we really did lose you.”
Kylie hid a smile and focused on contacting the Queen. “You out there, Rogers?” she called, bouncing the signal off Starlight Station so as not to give the Isolation away. “Did you get Ricket?”
“I am out there alright, for thinking this was ever a good idea! We’re caught in a dogfight, and it ain’t fun!”
Kylie smirked. “But did you get Ricket?”
“She’s what?!” Kylie exclaimed.
“Bubbs! I have your cat.”
The woman’s sigh of relief was palpable.
“BUBBS! FOUND BUBBS!” Fizzle Pop jumped up onto Kylie’s lap and started to scratch at the navigation panel.
Kylie groaned and tossed the furball back down to the floor.
Mr. Fizzle Pop did an about-face to glare at her. “NOT NICE, ASSHOLE.”
Once they had altered course, Kylie turned in her seat to Paul. “Three days before we can make the FTL jump, and then nearly two months from there. Long time for us to pal around together, don’t you think?”
Paul stretched his neck, trying to see her console. “And where will we be going?”
“Silstrand, so I can complete my mission. I imagine you’ll be brought up on charges for war crimes…and genocide.”
“To think I was partially glad to see you….” Paul said, pulling off the harness before heading for the bridge’s exit.
Kylie rose and followed after him. “Where do you think you’re going? Paul!” He reached the corridor before she caught up and grabbed his arm. “Paul, now isn’t the time to panic.”
He shrugged her off. “I lost Father, my wife, my children. I have nothing left, so why don’t you tell me why I shouldn’t panic!”
Something broke in Kylie, and she realized she couldn’t abandon Paul, even though he’d turned into such a poor excuse for a man. “You have me. I’ll stand beside you through all of it. The questions, the charges, the trial. I won’t leave you again.”
Paul sighed and stared off down the hall. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”
“I know. I’ve felt that too, believe me.” Kylie studied his face. “If you give them information they can use, they might let you off easy.”
“Don’t spout dreams and fantasies to me, Ky, I’ve had enough of those.”
She followed Paul as he slouched down the corridor and stepped into one of the cabins.
Kylie returned to the bridge and collapsed into the captain’s chair.
Despite the odds, she had completed the mission her way; Paul was alive and would answer for the things he had done. But she didn’t feel any better.
Now that she had come to terms with what her brother was, she only felt worse.
REKINDLING HOPE
STELLAR DATE: 12.24.8948 (Adjusted Gregorian)
LOCATION: SSF Shuttle, approaching Chimin-1
REGION: Chimin Asteroid Group, Hanoi System (independent)
Grayson was filled with both relief and anticipation when the Polis Fury finally returned to Chimin.
Grayson cringed.
What? That wasn’t sarcasm? First time for everything.
Grayson turned to look at his passenger. Fen was sitting in her seat, her legs pulled up beneath her, chewing her fingernails.
“Don’t be nervous, Fen, soon you’re going to get to see your sister. She’s going to need you, even if she doesn’t realize it, and you’re going to need her.”
Fen nodded. “Babies need someone to take care of them.”
Grayson laughed. “Oh, Fen, she’s not a baby anymore. She grew up. She’s a woman now.”
Fen lifted her head and her eyes widened. “No more baby?” She took a deep breath. “Wow.”
* * * * *
Fen clung to Grayson’s side as they stepped out of the shuttle and into the docking bay. Winter approached first, shaking Grayson’s hand with a relieved smile.
At his side, Fen trembled and backed up. “Big man is awfully big.”
“He won’t hurt you, will you, Winter?” Grayson asked.
Winter shook his head. “Nah, I get no pleasure in hurting people. I mean, sometimes I guess I might, but not old ladies. I mean—”
Fen gazed up at Grayson as they made their way to the elevator. “Stupid big man likes to ramble.”
Grayson chuckled at Winter’s shocked expression, and they stepped onto the lift together. “Lana and Ranstock?”
“Set up in the conference room and waiting for you.”
“How’s Ranstock…do you think she’ll sign on?”
Winter slapped Grayson on the back with a laugh. “Don’t worry, big G, Lana has been working her magic. Ranstock will come around.”
Grayson was so relieved to hear it that he let the horrible nickname slide for once.
* * * * *
Ranstock rose from her chair as Colonel Grayson entered the conference room. She was scared of what he’d ask, scared to think that her mother was out there on the colonel’s ship. She felt stiff as a board and couldn’t move, couldn’t even swallow.
“Captain Ranstock,” Colonel Grayson offered her his hand, “I do hope you’re ready to hear what I have to
say.”
Ranstock shook his hand. “I’m ready, Colonel.” Her gaze shifted to Fen, who had ducked behind the man, chewing on her thumbnail. Ranstock hadn’t seen someone with so many wrinkles or such wiry gray hair before. “Hello?” she added to the poor old woman.
“Fen, please, I want you to meet someone important. This is Ranstock. She’s the one we’ve traveled all this way to meet.”
Fen kept her eyes on Grayson. “Ranstock? Like the baron?”
“My father,” Ranstock answered. “How is it you know him?”
“Ranstock, this is the woman who saved your life when you were born. Fen is the one who got you out of Mei’s palace. She was your mother’s handmaiden—” Grayson’s expression softened, “but she’s also your sister.”
Ranstock’s eyes bulged. “Sister? I…didn’t know I had a sister.”
Fen seemed equally shocked. “Much bigger than a baby now.” She looked at the colonel. “You were right.”
“Usually I am, though I try not to brag,” the man said out of the corner of his mouth.
Winter snorted a laugh, but covered his mouth when Lana glared at him.
“All these years, you’ve lived under Mei’s rule?” Ranstock asked, taking off her cap. She spun it nervously in her hand before setting it down on the conference room table.
Fen nodded. “Mean Mei got what she deserved…finally. She can’t hurt me anymore.”
Ranstock saw the pain in the old woman’s face, along with old scars and recent cuts scabbed over. It flooded her with a rush of remorse.
“I’m sorry, Fen. So sorry. I should’ve come back for you years ago, but I didn’t know…. I didn’t know I had a sister.”
“No one knew who I was,” Fen admitted. “She made it that way. That’s why I got you out; I didn’t want to kill any more babies.”
Ranstock stepped around the table and took the old woman by the hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. Beneath her papery-thin skin, Fen’s bones felt frail and so small.
Colonel Grayson’s voice drew Ranstock’s attention from her sister. “I thought it was important you two meet before discussions went too far. Has Lana filled you in on why I’m here?”
