“Are we prepared?” Reeve asked.
“We’re ready,” Zolin said through her helmet’s speaker.
Reeve stood on the side of the generator, peering through the window along its edge. Inside, blue light was flickering and stirring, swirling as the ore amplified the procedure. She confirmed the destination location and took a deep breath. She wished the captain was there to witness the first Concord-created wormhole, but they all had other tasks at hand. It was her job to complete this mission. With the slightest of trembles in her hand, she touched the screen, activating the final phase of the generator. Light blasted inside the cruiser’s cargo hold, temporarily blinding her, and Zolin gasped through the speakers.
“It worked!” he shouted, and Reeve blinked away the dancing light from her eyes. The computer showed green lights along all of the mission parameters, and she rushed to the exit console, Harry directly behind her. The viewer showed what they’d been hoping to see: a swirling wormhole, one that could be turned on and off with the press of a button.
“Basker, send the probe,” she ordered the pilot, and he quickly responded.
“Deployed.”
Reeve had been the one to develop this particular probe. Before, they’d lost connection with anything that traveled through the space rift, but this one was self-contained, ordered to traverse until the energy readouts were different from the inside of the wormhole. It was to record and return. Simple instructions, but Reeve was tense as they watched the screens, waiting for the tiny drone to traverse the invisible tunnel. Even Yephion looked nervous, his mandibles clicking slowly inside his helmet.
“It’s been too long,” Harry said after ten minutes.
“Give it time,” Reeve whispered, her hands shaking with anticipation.
Basker’s voice cut through. “There it is. The probe’s returned.”
Zolin let out a cheer from his position on Intonation, and they followed suit, hugging one another. Reeve stared at the mouth of the wormhole, the beautiful cascading light giving the Concord a tool to win a war they’d thought was over nearly five decades ago.
She powered the device down, and the wormhole vanished as the destabilizers shot through the entrance. A few minutes later, there was no indication the rift had ever existed.
Now all they needed was a fleet.
____________
Thomas Baldwin landed in Aris as the sun began to set. After a restless sleep, he’d taken the day to relax and visit Tauros. The only thing it did for him was remind him that Constantine was his new home. His grandfather had never liked Earon, and Tom realized he was more like the old man than he’d care to admit.
Their other shuttle was nearby, and Tom stepped from his own to find Treena, Brax, Doctor Nee, and Tarlen standing there staring toward him. “Been waiting long?” he asked.
“No. We’re just ready to leave,” Brax said, his expression unreadable.
“How did things go?” Tom asked, not expecting a positive answer.
“Fine. The Assembly was here, but there’s no sign of them now,” Treena informed him. She wasn’t wearing her uniform and neither was Brax. It was strange seeing them like that.
“Then I suppose that case is closed,” Tom said.
Brax frowned and opened his shuttle’s door. “We didn’t apprehend all of them, but we don’t have time to investigate any further. Their ringleaders are gone, and Keen and his family are sealed up tighter than an Eganian tourist’s credit account.”
Treena glanced at Tom, and he changed the subject. “That’s reasonable. And you, Doctor Nee?”
“We have a guest coming…”
A hovering bus with “R-emergence” stenciled along the side came to a halt beside the shuttle, and out walked a stunning woman in a lab coat. “Load it up, boys,” she told a few workers in coveralls, and Tom raised his eyebrows in question.
“This is Doctor Vicci DeLarose,” Nee said, and Tom stepped over, smiling at the woman.
“Hello, Doctor. I’m Captain Thomas Baldwin of Constantine,” he told her.
“Well met. I’m looking forward to seeing your vessel. Nee has told me many good things about you,” she said.
“He always has been a bit of a storyteller,” Tom said, wondering why he was blathering.
“Captain, we believe Vicci has a way to heal Belna,” Nee said, and Tarlen’s face lit up.
“And perhaps we can alter the slaves we find when we meet the Statu,” Brax added.
“That’s fantastic news. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m ready to leave Earon,” Tom advised, and they all echoed his sentiment. The rest of the crew visiting the planet had another day before they were returning to the ship, and he’d let them have it. They were about to head into yet another dangerous situation, and they deserved respite before the battle.
“Do you mind if I ride with you, Captain?” Treena asked, and Tom shook his head.
Once the large crates from the R-emergence van were loaded, Brax and the others filed onto their shuttle, and Tom closed the door on theirs. Treena was already in the front seat, and he noticed she was upset.
“What is it?” he asked.
“My mother. I hate asking her to do this. If the Prime doesn’t agree with your petition, what’ll happen? Will she be in any danger from the Concord?” she asked.
“No. I’ll take full responsibility, Treena. Karen is a resourceful woman. She’ll be fine,” Tom assured her.
“I know. It’s just… with my father passing, and her having to care for me while I was… am bedridden and miserable, she’s been through a lot. And she’s always worrying about my well-being, along with raising a little girl. She’s supposed to be able to relax now. She’s done enough.”
Tom remained quiet and lifted from the ground a few minutes after Brax departed. They moved for Constantine, Tom glad that another pit stop on their way to the Statu was over.
“Captain, we have word from Earon Station.” Constantine’s voice carried through the cockpit.
“Go ahead, Con.”
“The Ugna are here. The fleet has arrived. And Reeve has returned as well.”
Tom’s blood pumped harder, and he asked the question: “Was her mission successful?”
Con didn’t speak for a moment, Treena and Tom meeting gazes as they broke out of the atmosphere and moved toward the distant, orbiting cruise ship. “She brings word that it was a full success.”
“It seems we’re ready,” Tom said to Treena, and she nodded, staring out the viewer. It was time to finish the war his grandfather was supposed to have won fifty years earlier.
____________
“Don’t fear for her, Tarlen,” Doctor Vicci DeLarose told him as they moved Belna onto the table. His sister was sedated, but they’d explained to her what they were attempting. Tarlen was given a few minutes to speak with her before they injected her with the dose, and it hadn’t been enough time to say what he’d needed to.
“She has to make it,” Tarlen told the doctor.
“She’s in good hands. Nee, would you care to begin?” Vicci asked, and Nee walked to Tarlen’s side, speaking softly.
“We’re going to ask you to leave the room for this, okay, son?” Nee asked him, and Tarlen peered over his shoulder as Vicci activated a tube-like machine.
“Can’t I stay?” he asked, but the doctor was adamant.
“It’s for her benefit that you’re absent for the duration of the procedure, but you can observe from the other room, okay?” Nee had always been so kind to him and his sister, and Tarlen believed he was telling the truth.
“Sure thing. Just… take care of her, would you?”
“I’d never let you down,” Nee said confidently, settling the lingering doubts in Tarlen’s mind.
With a final glace to his sister as she entered the tube, Tarlen stepped near the door and left the operating room in the medical bay.
He was surprised to find Commander Starling there, sitting at the observation window. “Hi, Tarlen,” she said,
patting the seat beside her.
“I didn’t expect you,” he told her.
“And miss such an important moment of your life? Never. Come on; it’s starting.”
Tarlen sat, watching with interest as Vicci’s machine slid Belna inside it. The contraption was long, a shiny white tube with glowing blue lights inside. There was a screen near him, and Tarlen tapped it to life, seeing a life feed from the interior of the surgical tube. There were half a dozen robotic arms adjusting controls, and one rolled Belna to the side. With a quick and precise movement, it shaved the back of her neck, cutting away some of her long dark hair.
“She’s going to hate that. She loves her hair,” Tarlen joked, and realized it had been so long since he’d allowed himself hope for her recovery. Was this really going to work?
Another robotic arm slid up the wall, and a thin blade reflected light from it. He looked away as it cut a straight line in her neck. He concentrated on Doctor Nee instead, who was standing beside his counterpart as she controlled the mechanical limbs doing the surgery.
Tarlen saw his sister’s vitals, and they remained stable, according to what Nee had told him was normal under this kind of duress. “Come on, Bel. You can do it,” he whispered.
A clear object appeared in robotic digits, and the arm placed it inside, sealing it with some kind of organic goo. It was mere minutes later and the surgery was completed. Judging by Vicci’s and Nee’s satisfied expressions, it had gone well, but they wouldn’t confirm results until Belna came out of her anesthetized state.
Tarlen stared at her as the tube spat her out slowly, and glanced at Treena. “Thanks for coming.”
“It’s the least I could do,” Treena told him. “And you’re welcome. Plus, I needed to get out of the captain’s hair. He has a million things coming at him, and I’ve managed to have a lot directed at me instead, to ease his stress levels.”
“Then what are you doing here?” he asked.
She laughed, the sound a pleasant noise. “Hiding.”
“How’s everything coming along with the preparations?”
Treena rose from the seat and brushed her pants off. “They’re good. By all accounts, the wormhole is ready to operate. We have the Shu prepared for the mission, and the Ugna are sending twelve of their fleet along to ensure we can’t lose.”
“Will that be enough?” he asked.
“We hope so. From what we could tell, there were only a few of the warships remaining.”
Tarlen nodded, recalling it vividly. He’d been on ground level as they’d rescued the Bacal; only they’d been too late for Belna.
“You can stay behind, Tarlen. The captain has already expressed his concern with bringing non-crew along on this mission. Your friend Kriss and the others won’t be coming. They’ll be staying on Earon Station.” Treena headed for the door, and Tarlen wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. He needed to wait and see what the results with his sister were.
____________
It was the first time Ven had witnessed so many Ugna in one place. The twelve of their cruisers were docked near Constantine, and after a couple of days of anxious planning and message relaying, everyone was finally gathered in a giant amphitheater on Earon Station.
The place was made to seat over five thousand, and the stage was large enough to land a freighter on it, so their group was unremarkable as they piled into the first three rows near the dais.
Ven sat with the executive crew of Constantine beside their counterparts from Shu, and the Ugna captains and commanders were all together, waiting silently for the last of the parties to arrive. Captain Baldwin and Captain Bouchard sat on the stage, and Ven let his senses seep out.
The room’s mood was impatient, the people all afraid of what was to come. He directed the tendrils at Shu’s captain and sensed her unease at the huge responsibility. She wondered if she was good enough, and he saw her glance at Baldwin, feeling inadequate at his resume. Ven considered the detail he was consuming, and realized he was nearly reading their minds, even if he wasn’t. It was more of an emotional detector that translated at a higher level. Interesting.
He was about to check Baldwin, when he stopped himself. It felt too invasive, like he was doing something unethical, and he ceased, cutting off the tendrils. He shifted in his seat, catching Brax and his sister whispering to each other. He couldn’t hear them but knew they were as ready for this to happen as everyone else.
Captain Baldwin rose, his shoulders broad as he strode to the lectern. “Thank you for your patience, everyone. We’re about to start, but we’re still waiting on a few guests.”
The doors to the rear of the stage opened, revealing Prime Xune and Admiral Jalin Benitor. The gathered crowd rose, Ven along with them. He’d heard they were attempting to make the trip in time, and it appeared as though they had.
“Prepare to be inspired,” Brax whispered to Treena, who waved him away.
The Prime stopped at Bouchard and Baldwin before heading to the center of the stage to speak to the Ugna captains and the Concord cruise ship crews. “Thank you for waiting. I do apologize for the delay, but as you know, we’ve been struggling with stretching ourselves too thin these last few months. Amid all the chaos, we’re still having to stay extra vigilant along the Borders, as outsiders seek to take advantage of our situation.
“We thank the Elders for allowing us access to the Ugna fleet, and to the captains and commanders here and heading on this imperative mission, I thank you.” He nodded to the Ugna, and Ven felt a rush of pride at the acknowledgement, even if it wasn’t him being targeted by the comment. Contrary to what Father Hamesly had suggested, they were a great people and deserved their place among the Concord.
“I’m new to this role, but I’ve learned an awful lot about the Concord in a short time.” Xune paused, setting his hands on the podium. Ven leaned forward, drawn to the man’s charisma as he spoke. They’d done well in choosing the Prime. In Ven’s opinion, this one was far more suited to the task than the human named Harris had been.
A screen lowered behind the stage, and simulated images of their fleet appeared. “The wormhole generator has been completed and tested by our team of experts.” Ven noticed Brax patting his sister on the shoulder in front of him. “Tomorrow, we leave. We’ll embark on a mission more important than any of us truly realize. There’s a chance the Statu would never return here, but sadly, that’s not the reality. They will fight us; they will come to Concord space once again and attempt to duplicate what happened back then. Many of you were around in the years shortly after, some even during…” He glanced at Admiral Benitor, who was seated beside Baldwin.
“The Concord was shaken in the aftermath, and this already feels similar. We were complacent for too long, too happy to forget our past, too lazy to carve a future. But that era is over. When we return from defeating the Statu, we will be ushering the Concord into a new era, one with stronger connections, with morals that stand the test of time and with great leadership.”
Someone clapped, and Ven noticed it was the one named Cedric, from Shu’s crew. He stood, and the rest of his team joined him.
“What a suck-up,” Brax said, standing too. Ven did as well, and soon they were all risen, clapping at the encouraging words from their new Prime.
He raised a hand, silencing the crowd, and smiled at them. “What I ask of you is absurd. The burden you carry on your shoulders is not for the weak of heart, but I believe you can all handle this task with poise and determination. I recognize many will be unable to return, but those who do will claim satisfaction at the future you’ve helped secure for our next generations.”
More clapping, and Ven felt a surge of elation from the people inside the room. He glanced at the Ugna, and a few were bent over, the emotions possibly too intense in the room.
“Stay vigilant and remember: There are two sides to every conflict, but know in your heart, the rightful will prevail.” Prime Xune stepped away, moving toward the center of the stage, where he mot
ioned for Captain Baldwin to take over.
Ven watched the captain settle at the podium, and he spoke with passionate determination as they went over their plan, step by step. He showed them visuals and 3D projections of battle plans, and when they opened it to the floor, the one-sided conversation turned to hours of discussion and strategy tweaking. Ven said his suggestions where he saw fit, and noticed that the one named Cedric had a mind for confrontation with their enemy.
When Ven thought the discussions were coming close to an end, Brax stood up, getting everyone’s attention. “This has been very informative, and using their past movements and strategy will probably work, but we have to bear something in mind.”
“What’s that?” Captain Bouchard asked. She sat on the edge of the stage beside Baldwin, the Prime, and the admiral in the front row as the conversation had shifted to the war details.
“The Statu are unpredictable. They seem to be almost robotic in their ways and are rarely seen themselves. Why did they go to such lengths to hide the fact that they were sending our people against us?” Brax asked.
“So we wouldn’t stop fighting them?” Commander Shu asked.
Brax nodded slightly. “Could be. But would we have stopped even then?”
Cedric spoke up. “No, but maybe there was another reason.”
Ven rose, thinking he might have the answer. “Because they didn’t want us to be aware of how few soldiers they truly had.”
“That’s correct,” Brax said.
“Then why the war at all?” Commander Starling asked.
Captain Baldwin took this one. “People have been asking that question from the very start, and no one has come up with a conclusive answer.”
Ven thought he might have an idea, but he didn’t want to say it yet, not in front of everyone. He’d wait until he could speak privately with his crew members.
“Okay, back to the point. We have to assume they’re weak, they don’t have many slaves, and we took the ore they stole from Greblok. They’re as good as decimated,” Brax said with confidence that Ven no longer felt.
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