Sentinels: Children of Valhalla (Sentinels Saga Book 1)

by Linn Schwab

  When Jenny rushed into the Wallaby’s bridge, the girls were all focused on the rear view monitor, practically staring down the barrels of the Alabama’s guns. She only caught a glimpse of the terror on their faces, focusing all of her attention on the captain’s console. She grabbed Robin’s key and ripped it out of the ignition, immediately replacing it with her own. There was a brief hiccup in engine power during the transition, and the lights grew dim for just a second. Jenny looked at the throttle on Caroline’s console and noticed she had it pushed all the way forward.

  “Everybody, hold on!” she screamed, just as the star drive began to activate. There was a powerful surge of acceleration which threatened to push the girls away from their stations. The Wallaby quickly pulled away from the battleship, leaving it with nothing but empty space in its sights, and no chance of closing the distance between them.

  Nancy heard the other pilots cheer as the Wallaby passed out of sight in the distance. “Alright,” she said, “let’s stay focused! There’s still a battle going on here!” She made a quick scan of the surrounding area, looking for signs of combat nearby. But before she could lock in on a suitable target, the radio jamming suddenly ceased, and the enemy ships all began to withdraw.

  Delia couldn’t believe her eyes when the Calypso steered clear of her most recent victim. There was an enemy battleship off in the distance, steaming directly across her line of sight, with no support ships anywhere near it. It was every destroyer captain’s dream come true, laid out right in front of her. She opened her mouth to order an attack, but hesitated, struggling with second thoughts. She’d already destroyed four enemy cruisers, and damaged a couple of others as well. The enemy ships were beginning to withdraw. The Sentinels had succeeded in turning them away. She had seven young girls down below her to think about, and with the threat to Volaris already receding, her primary concern now had to be for their safety.

  “Emily,” Delia ordered, “turn us around and head back toward Volaris. We’ll take up position near that cluster of wreckage again, and keep watching for further activity for a while.”

  Major Richards dimmed the control room lights and took a seat at a console near one of the windows. The battle near Pangea was out of her hands, leaving her with little choice but just to stand by, and wait for news to come in from her forces. But there was going to be an impressive light show in the distance, and she wanted to enjoy it to the fullest extent possible — as a tribute to the memory of Robin and her squad.

  “Seven seconds to detonation,” Veronica announced, following the progress of the Sunbright’s missiles. Shortly thereafter, the flashes began, and continued methodically for a couple of minutes.

  “Well done, Captain Starling,” Major Richards said, observing the distant detonations. “The results of your efforts are greatly appreciated.” She placed her right fist over her heart, and softly whispered, “Valhalla!”

  Veronica looked at her and managed a faint smile, still feeling the pain of ECHO 5’s loss. “Scratch one enemy shipyard,” she said, then relaxed and leaned against the back of her chair.

  “It’s okay, Caroline,” Jenny insisted, “we’re out of their range now. You can pull back on the throttle a little.”

  Robin stood up and turned to face Jenny, already breaking down into tears. With the older, more experienced girl now in charge, the younger captain was essentially relieved of her command, and all of the expectations that went along with it. There was no need for her to contain her emotions any longer; she was free just to be a thirteen–‌year–‌old girl for a moment.

  “Jenny,” she sobbed, “they sent us out here … with no weapons … and no star drive…”

  “I know,” Jenny said, tenderly wrapping her arms around Robin, “I know. It was a mistake, Robin. They didn’t intend for any of this to happen.”

  “I tried so hard,” Robin complained, “but everything I did just went wrong.”

  “You got through it,” Jenny consoled her. “That’s all that matters. We’re gonna get you back to Volaris now. Everything’s going to be okay.”

  Robin felt soothed by Jenny’s warmth and embrace, and by the confidence she seemed to exude. The feeling reminded her of Commander Jeffries — of the strength and compassion the commander had conveyed. “Do you think Commander Jeffries is disappointed in me?” she asked, anxious and uncertain of what to expect.

  Jenny felt a twinge of sadness in her heart. Robin was upset enough already. This was not the time or the place to tell her about Commander Jeffries. She would have to break the news to her later, and just hope that she would understand. “No, little sister,” she said with reluctance. “I don’t think she is.”

  The Angelfish was the first to arrive back at Volaris — her engines smoking badly as she backed up to the spur. Veronica monitored her approach from the control room. “Any casualties on board?” she asked the crew. Major Richards listened carefully to their response.

  “Nothing serious,” the captain’s voice replied. “Just scrapes and bruises. But our engines have been heavily damaged. It looks like the battle is over for us.”

  Major Richards broke in now. “What’s happening out there?” she asked. “Are we in serious trouble?”

  “We’re holding our own for right now. The enemy’s advance didn’t seem very well organized.”

  Her words were a welcome relief to the major. At least things hadn’t spiraled out of control just yet. A few moments later, the Terrapin limped into view, reporting similar results from the battle.

  The major looked at Veronica and gently shook her head in dismay. “The attrition is starting to get us,” she said. “It looks like our ships are getting beat to hell.”

  A third destroyer now appeared in the distance, raising the major’s level of concern even higher. She took a deep breath and waited for the approaching ship’s call, dreading the possibility that things were taking a turn for the worse. Suddenly, Captain McNeil’s voice broke in over the control room’s intercom:

  “Volaris, this is the Wallaby! Be advised, we have wounded on board!”

  The controllers all gasped and looked out through the windows, anxious to see if it could really be true. As the Wallaby swung around to back up to the spur, her name became clearly visible to them, sparking excited cheers and screams of joy.

  “Veronica, take over for me!” Major Richards ordered, sprinting immediately for the elevator. “Let me know if there are any changes!” As she darted out of the room, her thoughts were with the members of ECHO 5. If there were any serious injuries to the girls, she wanted to evaluate them as quickly as possible and begin to treat them right away. She scrambled into the open elevator and immediately pressed the button for the spur level.

  The elevator tortured her with its slowness, robbing her of imagined critical seconds. “Come on, come on, come on,” she urged it, staring at the digits on the level designator. Finally, the platform stopped moving downward; the doors opened up and parted for her. She burst through the opening and raced along the spur, arriving just in time to see the airlock doors slide open.

  Her first glimpse of the cargo bay left her stunned. The wingless remains of Jenny’s fighter were tightly wedged inside the compartment, with both of its engines still smoldering and hissing, and shards from its fuselage scattered around on the floor. A weary procession of young Sentinels began to slowly file out through the airlock. Captain McNeil walked out at the end of the line, carrying a wounded Sheri in her arms. The major rushed to her side and carefully looked underneath Sheri’s bandages.

  “Let’s get her to the infirmary right away,” she said. “I need to get a closer look at that wound.”

  With the Calypso hovering in her hiding place again, Delia looked out over the battlefield, scanning for signs of approaching vessels. There were occasional scattered flashes of light in the distance, from explosions on wrecked ships where fires were still smoldering. The older girls had surrendered their seats to ECHO 7, giving them a chance to relax and ob
serve the results of their hard work.

  “Did we kill some of them?” Christy finally asked, after sitting in silence for a few moments.

  “Yes we did,” Delia confirmed. “A lot of them. Does that make you feel better, little sister?”

  Christy searched her feelings and reluctantly shook her head. “No,” she said, sounding surprised. “I thought it would. But it doesn’t, really.”

  “I know what you mean,” Delia said. “I still feel empty inside as well. I think we both learned something today. No matter how many Earthlings we kill, it’s no substitute for the friends we’ve lost.”

  After a few moments, a pair of fresh Sentinel destroyers arrived and took up positions overlooking the battlefield. Delia gave the order to fly back to Volaris, leaving the Gecko and Violet on Sentinel duty.

  Virginia sat quietly in the isolation of her cockpit, floating amongst the debris that now littered the battlefield. The left side of her plane was riddled with bullet holes; the emergency seal had plugged a hole in her canopy. One of her engines was completely dead now, and the other was definitely bleeding power, although she wasn’t yet certain how badly. There was a stinging sensation in her upper left arm, but it had so far failed to draw her attention away from the dead Tiger Shark floating nearby. She quivered and trembled as she stared at the fighter, trying desperately to work up enough courage to approach it. It had taken every last ounce of her ability to keep that plane in front of her long enough to score a kill.

  The enemy pilot’s sole remaining comrade had done everything in his power to prevent her from killing him. But when her quarry had finally fallen victim to her guns, the lone remaining Tiger Shark had given up the chase and headed off toward a carrier that was waiting in the distance. Now, in the stillness of the abandoned field of conflict, Virginia had finally secured an opportunity to get a closeup look at one of the monsters from her nightmares.

  Her hands shook nervously as she worked the flight controls, moving her fighter closer to the enemy plane. She could see that her bullets had shattered his canopy, leaving him exposed to the vacuum of space. Her first hint as to the true nature of his being was in the form of a name painted under his cockpit:

  CPT ELIAS KINCAID

  But that alone was not sufficient to satisfy her needs. A few painted letters were hardly conclusive proof of anything. She tried her best to brace herself for what she had to do — terrified at the thought that her worst fears might be confirmed. With the tension now beginning to eat away at her nerves, Virginia took a few quick shallow breaths, and forced herself to look through the hole in his canopy.

  The peaceful face of a lifeless human body calmly stared back at her through the darkness. There was nothing more for her to fear from him. He wasn’t a monster. He wasn’t a machine. He wasn’t some ghastly manifestation who was impervious to the destructive influence of bullets. He was just a man who’d been recognized for the deplorable accomplishment of having killed far too many of her sisters.

  Virginia’s fear quickly morphed into anger, and from anger it progressed to rage. She pulled back firmly on her weaponry trigger and emptied her guns into her adversary’s plane, continuing to shred its defenseless remains until her every last bullet was spent. She then fired one of her remaining rockets at it, blasting the wreckage into even smaller remnants. When the smoke and the dust began to clear away, she relaxed and collapsed against the back of her seat. The ordeal was finally over for her; her greatest uncertainty had at last been resolved. With years of pent up emotions inside her, she couldn’t contain them even one moment longer. For the first time since the deaths of squadron Fifty–‌Seven, Virginia broke down and started to cry.

  RESOLUTION 045

  As Jenny paced back and forth outside the infirmary, waiting for an update on Sheri’s condition, she surmised from some of the activity around her that fighters were beginning to return from the battle. There was no apparent sense of panic among the station’s personnel, so she reasoned things must have gone well for the Sentinels, and that Volaris was in no immediate danger. The important thing now would be to get the planes prepped and ready in case they were needed again in short order. And of course her own plane was a total loss now. A new one would have to be brought out to her.

  Inside the infirmary, Sheri lay unconscious on a bed, with a fresh bandage on her forehead and an intravenous drip in her arm. Major Richards made a quick note of her pulse rate, then turned around to share her prognosis with Robin.

  “It looks like she’s stable…” she started to say, then immediately fell silent when she saw the young captain. Robin had insisted on remaining with Sheri until she was certain her friend would be okay. But as tenacious and persistent as Captain Starling was, she just couldn’t fight off her fatigue any longer and had fallen asleep on a nearby cot while the major was analyzing Sheri’s condition.

  The major gazed at Robin with admiration. There was no doubt in her mind that this young girl had just saved the lives of countless Sentinels. Beyond that, it was impossible to say. Perhaps she had even just saved the whole planet.

  “Sleep well, Captain Starling,” she whispered. “No one’s going to tell you that you don’t deserve it.” She turned the infirmary lights down a little, then quietly stepped out into the corridor.

  “How is she?” Jenny asked, rushing over to the major’s side.

  “Well, her injuries don’t seem severe enough to kill her. That at least is some good news. We’ll know more in a couple of days. How are the rest of them doing?”

  “They’re all asleep,” Jenny said. “They looked so tired. You should probably give them a few days off.”

  The major responded with a weary smile. “I don’t see how I could deny them that, given what they’ve just been through. They’re fortunate to have you looking out for them. And I’m grateful for that as well.”

  “Is there any chance some of that gratitude is going to result in me getting a new plane?”

  “I’ll have one here for you as soon as possible. In the meantime, if you need to, just commandeer one from another squadron. There’s no sense in having one of our best pilots grounded if we come under attack again.” The major started to walk away.

  “Major Richards,” Jenny called after her, “you do know I’m supposed to be leaving soon, right?”

  “You’re not going anywhere, Captain McNeil. Not until I’m convinced this station is safe. The Fourth Fleet may have to do without you for a while, now that things may be heating up in this sector.”

  As Major Richards stepped onto an elevator, Nancy and Suzanne rushed into the corridor and immediately ran to Jenny’s side.

  “How are they?” Suzanne asked anxiously. “Is everyone okay?”

  “Sheri took a hit to the forehead,” Jenny said. “It looks like she’s gonna make it, though. The other girls all seem to be fine. They’re just a little traumatized. And exhausted, of course. Did all of us make it back in one piece?”

  “I don’t know,” Nancy said. “Have you seen Virginia?”

  Jenny shook her head. “She didn’t come back with you?”

  “No. Right after you escaped in the Wallaby, the enemy fleet stopped jamming our transmissions and all of their forces started pulling back. We tried to make contact with her, but we didn’t get any response.”

  Jenny sighed and lowered her head.

  “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Nancy asked her.

  “Squadron Fifty–‌Seven?” Jenny replied.

  Nancy somberly nodded.

  “What are you two talking about?” Suzanne asked, troubled by their melancholic expressions.

  Nancy looked into her eyes for a moment. “Suzanne,” she said, “did Virginia ever tell you what happened to her first fighter squadron?”

  Suzanne shook her head. “No. What happened?”

  “They were all killed by Tiger Sharks,” Nancy explained.

  “In one battle!” Jenny added.

  Nancy nodded. “Virginia was the onl
y one that survived.”

  “So … what are you saying?”

  Jenny took a deep breath. “Suzanne. We think Virginia … may have been hoping to join the others. That maybe she was just waiting for the right opportunity. That she wasn’t really planning on coming back.”

  Suzanne shook her head in emotional denial. “No!” she insisted emphatically. “No, Virginia wouldn’t do that! She’s coming back, I know she is! You’ll see! She’s gonna be fine!”

  “Suzanne,” Nancy argued, “going after Tiger Sharks alone is suicide. Even for Virginia. She knew that as well as anyone did. She knew exactly what she was getting herself into.”

  “You’re wrong,” Suzanne said, walking away from them. “I can’t believe you would even think that way. Virginia may have been a mystery to you, but I refuse to believe she was hoping to die!”

  Jenny and Nancy looked at each other, unsure of their own perceptions of Virginia. Both of them wanted to believe Suzanne was right. But neither of them could convince themselves of it.

  Volaris was now the temporary host to a significant amount of additional firepower. There were more planes than usual crammed into the hangar, with the extra squadrons that had come to help out. Two of the station’s three spurs were now in use, to help service the destroyers that had taken part in the battle. When the Calypso arrived and began searching for a dock, Christy’s eyes happened to focus on the side of the Wallaby.

  “Delia,” Christy anxiously asked her, “do we have more than one ship called the Wallaby?”