by David Beers
More, she thought. I need more.
Alex battered the windows surrounding the room; they were reinforced and took more of her concentration. The AllSeer stepped closer with each spin and parry. The windows were vibrating, shaking, but finally they cracked, then broke.
The glass flew across the room.
The AllSeer wasn’t fast enough to avoid all the shards.
Alex plunged them into her brother. Five, ten, twenty pieces cut through his tough flesh and unbelievable muscle. Blood spilled from his body and splashed on the deck. He gasped, turning his head toward his sister, then fell to his knees.
The cold night air was blowing through the broken windows. Alex’s hair twisted in the wind.
Her brother was in front of her, his saber hanging at his side. Rage poured from his eyes as the blood did from his body.
“It’s over,” she told him. “Call it off.”
He said nothing, just slowly pulled one leg up so his foot was on the floor and he was on one knee. Alex should have known; she should have been able to see it coming, but she didn’t. He moved too fast, with too much strength.
With glass in his body and blood covering him, the AllSeer launched himself at the AllMother. He broke through her defenses, shattering them as he grabbed her with his left hand and brought the saber up with his right.
Alex remembered what she’d told Rankin not an hour before. You’ll know when to launch them. She could only hope he’d listened.
Alex’s mind grabbed the saber, holding it at bay. Her brother gripped her throat with his other hand and he gritted his teeth, trying to decapitate her. Alex stood tall and firm despite her brain being cut off from oxygen.
She grabbed hold of the room and—crunch. Every part of it suddenly bent inward, the metal twisting and the structural integrity of the dreadnought starting to crumble. She closed her eyes and wrenched harder, feeling more of the ship bending. Alarms rang not only in their cabin but across the ship, and they were losing altitude.
Gravity was exerting its hold.
Alex’s vision was fading.
The saber was inching closer to her face.
She pulled at the ship to break it more and hasten its fall to the ground. They would all die.
Alex and her brother started to slide across the deck as the ship tilted downward. If the AllSeer understood what was happening around him, he didn’t show it. Hate and murder were the only emotions in his eyes.
Alex gave one last push, this one at him. She thrust with all her might and finally broke his hold on her.
The two of them tumbled forward, falling through the atmosphere as the dreadnought did. Alex lost consciousness, but the last thing she remembered was that even as her brother was thrown away from her, he reached out to grab her again.
Her last thought was, His obsession knows no end.
Then blackness grabbed the AllMother.
Chapter Eighteen
The AllMother was still staring at the screen in front of her, the one showing the Commonwealth’s fleet. “That was the last time I saw my brother, nine hundred years ago or so.”
“How did you survive?” Alistair asked. “How did either of you survive?”
“Leave that story for another day, Prometheus. Time is short right now, as you know.” She smiled again. “It always seems short now, doesn’t it? There’s just never enough of it.”
It seemed obvious what she was telling him, but he wanted to make sure. He knew his weakness was rushing into things, and this wasn’t a decision to be made rashly. “So, you went on a suicide mission to save your children?”
“I didn’t think of it as suicide,” the AllMother responded. “I guess I figured there was a chance I would succeed, though most likely I wouldn’t. I just knew it was our only chance.”
She turned around then and put both arms out to the sides. “Now look at us, more powerful than ever. Had I not made that decision, I might not have any children today.”
Alistair nodded and stood up. “Okay,” he said, looking at his feet.
“Did that answer your questions? I might not have given you a chance to ask them completely.”
“Yeah. It did,” he responded. He met her eyes. “Thank you, Mother.”
She placed her hands in her lap. “Don’t doubt yourself, Alistair. Even if other decisions I made in my life were arrogant or rash, I chose wisely when I chose you. Trust yourself as I trust you.”
He remembered when she’d asked him to trust her. Time changed everything, he supposed.
Alistair left the AllMother, sure about what he would do and now only needing to tell his council. He’d been about to call them together when Thoreaux arrived at his door.
He stepped into the room, and Alistair understood his second in command was feeling the stress too. It looked as if all the energy in him had leaked out days ago, and he was only moving forward by sheer willpower.
“Pro,” Thoreaux said before Alistair could speak, “we’ve got to do something. Faitrin just came to me, and she says it’s impossible, that we can’t beat the Commonwealth in this situation. They’re too much.” He paced as he spoke, a stream of consciousness running from his mouth. “I know you’re thinking, but we have to do something and we need to do it soon. Now, if possible.“
“Thoreaux,” Alistair said, “I’m ready.”
His second stopped walking, his eyes wide.
“I know what I’m going to do.”
“You do?”
Alistair nodded. “Call the council together, everyone but the AllMother. Bring Aspen, too. We’ll meet in one hour, and we’ll begin the mission in five.”
Thoreaux sighed, relief growing on his face. Alistair wondered how relieved he’d feel in an hour when he heard the plan.
They were all gathered, including Aspen de Monaham, Thoreaux, Servia, Caesar, Relm, Faitrin, and Obs.
The drathe remained at Alistair’s feet, lying lazily by him.
The rest sat at the circular table while Alistair stood.
“I’m sorry it took me so long,” he said. “I… I see the same thing out there as you, and I couldn’t figure out what to do. I’m still not one hundred percent sure, but as far as I can tell, this is the way we’ll change the paradigm. Aspen, me, Obs, and a handful of Aspen’s warriors are going to launch from here. We’ll use an escape pod, one that’ll be hard to hit from this distance, as well as from ground support. We’re going to launch directly at the planet, get inside, and then create enough havoc to allow the fleet to join us.”
Alistair looked at Thoreaux. He was doing his best to not show his disappointment, but Alistair could tell this wasn’t the plan he’d wanted.
Alistair looked at Relm. “I want you to come too. You’re short enough to move well inside their tunnels. It might be a problem for anyone else except Faitrin, but she’s best utilized up here.”
Relm said nothing, though he looked about as happy as Thoreaux with the idea.
Servia spoke up first. “Pro, are you sure about this?”
“It’s the only way I know to change the paradigm. Right now, they control everything. When you look at that fleet, you know there’s no way to approach. There’s no way to attack without losing tremendous amounts of manpower. This might give us that chance.”
No one said anything when he finished speaking.
The unspoken words seemed to hang in the air. It might also kill you, Prometheus.
“You don’t want a larger force?” Thoreaux asked.
Alistair shook his head. “I want something that’s mobile. The fewer we send, the harder it’ll be to find us.”
“Aspen,” Thoreaux said, “can you give me three men or women who will go with us?”
The foreigner seemed less shaken than everyone else. Maybe it was because he hadn’t been in a war before, or maybe the thought of dying was better than the thought of leading, but either way, the young man simply nodded. “Yes, my liege. I’ll have them ready as soon as we’re done here.”
Alistair glanced down at Obs, who was also showing an odd calmness despite understanding everything that was being said. The drathe didn’t even look up at him. “All right, then. If there are no other questions, let’s get started. I want to leave here in three and a half standard hours, understood?”
Those at the table stood except for Caesar and Relm. It was clear the two of them wanted to speak to Alistair, and the rest left them to it. After the room was clear, Caesar stood up. “I want to go too.”
“I need you for the second wave or to bail me out if something goes wrong,” Alistair explained. “You’re big for those tunnels too. Just be ready for the second wave.”
Caesar studied him for a few seconds, then nodded in agreement. “Okay, Pro.” He looked at Relm, who was still seated, and put his huge hand on his pal’s shoulder. “Little man, try not to get hurt. I won’t be there to save you.”
Relm gave a small smile. “Leave the killing to the professionals, big man. I’ll see you when there’s only work for the cleanup crew.”
Caesar chuckled, then the big man walked out of the room as well.
It was only Relm, Obs, and Alistair.
Relm put his hands on the table and looked down at them. “I’m not afraid to die down there, Pro, but do we have a plan? I already know this isn’t like with the gigantes. The corporation wasn’t in any position to defend their turf like the Commonwealth currently is.” He looked up. “Do you have a plan?”
“Yeah, I do.”
Relm stood up. He didn’t look happy, but he looked ready. “That’s all I needed to hear. Ave, Prometheus.”
Alistair watched as Relm left the room.
He did have a plan, just maybe not one Relm wanted to hear…
Or that would work.
Chapter Nineteen
The escape pod’s launch was far enough away that the Commonwealth could see it coming from within Phoenix.
Hector, with Petra next to him, watched it from beneath the ground. Their screen was magnified so the small object was visible. Lasers streaked through the space to try to hit it but missed each time. The object was moving in a straight line; it was coming for them.
Hector, as well as the rest of the Commonwealth, had been waiting for Kane to arrive. They’d followed his path carefully, and when his fleet began to slow, then came to a stop, it was obvious something was wrong. Some had thought he might retreat, seeing the enormous force in front of him.
Hector didn’t.
He’d spent his time studying the man’s past and understanding as much as he could about the former Titan. Hector understood that Kane could be reckless, though he didn’t think that was why Kane wouldn’t retreat. He didn’t think “quit” was in the man. Kane would rather die than walk away from a fight.
“What do you think it is?” Petra asked as the two watched the streaking pod.
“It’s him,” Hector said without looking at her.
“Kane?”
Hector nodded, remaining silent.
“What’s he think he can do with something that small?”
He wasn’t sure. He doubted Kane would let another go in his stead, and he also doubted anyone else would be capable of causing the same damage. It made sense that Kane was in there, but why? “I guess he thinks if he can cause a disruption here, he might be able to get his fleet closer.”
“He’d have to be insane to think that’s possible. Literally insane. We hold the planet. He can’t fit more than twenty people in that thing.”
“Ten, tops,” Hector corrected. “Maybe he is insane.”
“Is that a good or a bad thing, ya think?” Petra asked.
“Well, for the people who go up against him directly, probably a bad thing. In the long term, insanity is no way to lead people, however.”
Hector stepped away from the screen and moved across the small hewn-stone room to his armor.
Petra looked at him. “What are you doing?”
“Going to meet him.”
“Didn’t you just say it’s bad news for the people who go up against him directly?”
Hector put his armor on, hanging it across his shoulders. “You can stay here if you’d like, Bird. The Commonwealth is better served if I’m fighting him. Fewer will die.”
“Can you kill him?” Petra asked.
“Yes,” Hector answered. He didn’t have any doubt about that. Kane was a great warrior, but Hector had been bred for this. His grandfather might even say that his whole life had led to this point.
“Would you go if you couldn’t?”
The question made Hector pause. It was one that no one had asked him before and one he’d never considered. He killed men; it was what he did.
“Yes,” he told her.
It was the truth.
Live or die, Hector would meet Kane on the battlefield. He had no quit in him, either.
The ship swept sharply to the left.
Aspen felt his stomach do a somersault. He’d never been in a pod like this, let alone a situation like the one he now found himself in. Alistair had told him to get warriors, and Aspen had said he would. He’d done his best to not show any fear, but in reality, he’d wanted to jump out of his skin.
Now they were rushing through space and about to enter the fiery atmosphere before plunging to the ground, hoping Jeeves had correctly calculated the location of the access tunnel. If he was off by a meter in either direction, they were dead.
Aspen’s three warriors were all females, and he’d picked them because they were smaller. They’d move more easily inside the tunnels, and he figured that what they sacrificed in strength would easily be made up by their added agility. Two had served his sister, and one had been part of his private guard.
Aspen was still trying to keep his face and emotions in check, although he was finding it difficult, given the pod’s jerky movements.
He looked at the other warriors, all of them strapped down to seats in the circular pod. The drathe was the only one who looked as sick as Aspen felt. He’d been outfitted with a special harness that allowed him to lie on the floor, but the animal didn’t look pleased.
Aspen’s eyes fell on his three warriors, Tyra, Yelsen, and Lens. Their eyes were closed, their faces still. If they knew this was a death march, they showed no signs. They’d taken his orders solemnly.
When Aspen glanced at Relm, the young soldier was looking at him. He had a smile on his face, and Aspen briefly wondered if the man was happy-go-lucky or crazy. Relm held a MechPulse in his lap.
The pod jerked hard to the right. Relm waggled his eyebrows but said nothing.
Finally, Aspen looked at their leader. Prometheus. The restraints barely fit over his barrel chest and wide shoulders. His brown eyes remained open, staring at nothing. His face was calm; it didn’t show anything even as the ship banked left.
Aspen could only assume the movement was to avoid catastrophe.
Even with the mighty warrior leading them, Aspen was certain they couldn’t avoid it for long. What could five humans and a drathe do against a force like the one they faced?
What would Cristin do? Aspen thought as he closed his eyes. The fallen Ice Queen?
He wasn’t a military strategist, but if anyone was like his sister, it was Prometheus. She was ice and he was fire, but in the end, both killed.
No one knew exactly where Alistair was going except him and Jeeves. He’d said the tunnels, but he hadn’t said which one or where. He’d lived with the Terram for six months, and during that time, he had learned about the tunnels above the ground. The ones that allowed you to walk among the flames without being harmed.
Alistair hadn’t prayed to the gods that the Commonwealth didn’t know about them, but he was close to doing that. The tunnels were transparent, only on a certain part of the planet, and wouldn’t show up on a heat scan, given what surrounded them. It was possible that the Commonwealth hadn’t discovered them, and the Terram certainly wouldn’t have volunteered the information.
If th
e above-ground tunnels had been taken as well?
Alistair guessed it’d been a fun ride, but when they landed, it’d be just about over.
Speaking of which, they were three minutes from that happening.
The ride was getting worse, and the pod was heating up. Sweat dripped down Alistair’s face, as well as that of everyone else on the ship. The pod was shaking as well as veering left and right since the air defense lasers were shooting even more rapidly than the fleet had.
Alistair could see Aspen, though he didn’t look at the man directly. He was holding it together. Alistair understood he’d have to protect him through much of this, but he’d expected that. He was here for a very specific reason, and like the AllMother, Alistair knew talent when he saw it. Perhaps it was different than his, but that was fine.
Jeeves was in Alistair’s ear on a comm. “The landing isn’t going to be like we wanted, sir.”
“What’s the difference?”
“You’re about to see,” the AI came back.
Alistair leaned forward, then lifted off the seat for a moment before slamming back down. He felt the pod rolling and hoped the metal legs were reaching out to bring them to a stop. Over and over they flipped.
Aspen vomited on the floor, but the mess quickly rotated to the ceiling as the pod continued to flip.
“JEEVES, GET IT UNDER CONTROL!” Alistair shouted.
“Trying, sir,” the AI responded calmly.
The pod stopped turning but was now skidding across something that felt relatively smooth.
“We hit the tunnel?” Alistair asked, his body now pressed against the chair.
“Please give me a fucking second,” Jeeves said.
The pod started slowing. Alistair gauged that through the pressure that was keeping him in his seat. It finally came to a stop, but the bottom began to vibrate.
“Broth,” Relm said, “you wanna tell us what in hades is going on?”
