by Scott Moon
“Then we better fight dirty,” DeVries said.
The mood on the bridge was grim. No one had argued with her decision. Kimberly DeVries stood quietly at her station with her murderous Siren bodyguard beside her. Jeda had seen footage of the interior of the Escaping Doctor and knew what the sword saint could do to a Noctari boarding party.
“Bring Doctor Robedeaux to the bridge,” Jeda said.
A Marine officer snapped a salute and left.
“Navigation, all ahead, full. Prepare small ships to make the initial jump to Siris to lead us through the next jump opening,” Jeda said. Her crew complied efficiently.
“Admiral, some of the damaged ships are falling behind,” Circu said.
“Send orders for all ships that can’t keep up to reform and hold station until they’ve made repairs. Whether or not they travel to Siris or to an alternate destination will be up to the senior captain of their impromptu task force.”
“Yes, Admiral.”
Jeda watched the viewscreens in silence, thankful no one disturbed her. Everyone was in a quiet mood and they understood what she needed right now.
Even the DeVries girl kept her mouth shut.
Before long, all she could see of what she was leaving behind were icons on a tactical screen. She didn’t need to actually view the small, abandoned fleet. She could imagine the damaged ships limping toward each other and forming a sphere for defense. When she’d survived the first Noctari battle, she’d ordered several ships to physically dock with each other, creating an abomination that looked like a moving junkyard but nevertheless kept thousands of people alive that would have died otherwise.
She suspected this was what many of her captains were doing now.
A pair of Marines presented Doctor Robedeaux.
“Doctor.”
“Admiral.”
“Tell me how to kick these assholes in the balls.”
The bridge fell into a silence so deep that all Jeda could hear were computers humming and the occasional beep of a tactical feed.
“You’ve survived longer than I would have predicted.” The doctor’s voice sounded rough, like he hadn’t slept for a while and was nervous to make this presentation. “Why not just keep doing what you’ve been doing?”
“Our campaign has been based on sound strategy and good tactics. Now I need to piss them off, make it personal.”
“Kill their leaders, or more accurately, one of their leaders,” Robedeaux said.
Jeda felt good about the doctor's plan. Everything she had worked for was about to pay off. Win, lose, or draw, she was almost done with her mission.
"Do we have reports from the scout ships yet?" she asked.
Circu looked grim. "We are receiving garbled transmissions. Sounds of combat worse than we've seen."
Jeda laughed, and her crew laughed with her. "It seems like every battle is worse than we've ever seen lately."
She monitored her fleet as it left the expanded tunnel they built by following the smaller ships through the tunnel. Space travel was simpler than they'd been led to believe, a situation she now knew was or had been deliberately confounded by the Guide and his ilk.
When she’d first realized the Guide had been keeping them from the home system of the Darkness, she had gone there and tried to attack it. Results had been mixed. She succeeded keeping them busy for years but did little to stop their advance across the galaxy. Images of fire filled her dreams, specifically that condition where all the oxygen was burnt out of the room and the flames went out.
To win, she needed to sacrifice everything.
Unless she could draw them into a lifeless section of the galaxy where they could kill one star after another without wiping out entire civilizations. The DeVries girl understood this intuitively, but also knew how to get it done.
This was about to get personal.
Klaxons sounded on both sides of the bridge.
"Impact alert!" Her navigator and her point defense officer shouted at the same time.
One of her own ships, a battleship called the Stryker, flew directly into the viewscreen. The Honor twisted sideways and down in the three-dimensional battle space. Flinching backward, she cursed her reaction. None of her crew saw her, however, because they were crouching near their control terminals or ducking down to brace for impact.
She stood and listened to pieces of her ship being broke off as the Stryker slid across the surface of the Honor and kept moving. As soon as the viewscreen cleared, she saw complete chaos.
Noctari, Ignari, human, and Siren-nix vessels swarmed in every direction above the planet of Siris.
"How the hell did we jump this close to the planets? We should've come in near the edge of the system," Jeda said, not expecting an answer from her overwhelmed crew.
Missiles and energy weapons cut across the sphere of battle, pulsing like the worst lightning storm imaginable. She adjusted her tactical monitor and saw that the battle was only slightly more reasonable farther out. Most of the system was consumed by fighting. The only difference between the battles was the pace of the engagements.
"Well, we wanted to be in knife-fighting range," she said.
"The Darkness is here," Circu said. “We didn’t enter on the edge of the system because there is no room. Goddamn, that thing is big.”
Jeda had never grown accustomed to her XO using human curses, but this seemed to fit the situation.
Half of the tactical monitors were blank, completely overwhelmed by the size of the Noctari overlord’s ship moving through the Siris system.
"I'd hoped we would not have to face Hanax.”
“Hanax is not in control of the sphere ship. Can’t you feel it?” Doctor Robedeaux asked quietly. "The Dreamrider is trying to take it from him. When they start fighting, we are all doomed."
“Ignari are swarming toward the new threat,” Circu said.
Jeda nodded. "Of course. See if we can avoid them."
Three Burner vessels, much smaller than their dark counterparts, blasted through one of Admiral Danzig Robedeaux’s ships then sliced a Noctari cruiser in half without slowing. The ships that glowed like white stars moved with a direct contrast to how the rest of the battle was being fought.
“Hail Admiral Robedeaux.”
Several moments passed before her communication officer spoke. "I have a connection with Admiral Robedeaux. He seems to be sitting at the bridge."
Jeda frowned. "Put it on the main screen."
Static made the audio transmission difficult to decipher and the screen view wasn't much better. It took her a second, but she realized why the infamous Danzig Robedeaux was sitting in some sort of wheeled contraption. He was injured, possibly maimed.
Just as he was about to speak, his ship jerked violently sideways. To make matters worse, Jeda's flagship was slam downward a moment later.
She joked with her crew. "Did we ram him?"
"It is unlikely, Admiral," Circu said. "We are thousands of kilometers from them."
The bridge crew chuckled as they worked.
"It's good to see you, Danzig.”
His face lit up when he recognized her. “Soldottir? And it really is the Black Fleet."
A storm of Noctari missiles clashed with Ignari ships, sending out pulses of energy. The screen flashed white before going completely black. Seconds passed before they were online again.
"We don't have time to divide up the battle sphere," Danzig said. "I'll handle everything from Siris to the first Lagrange point and you can work the system beyond that. Agreed?"
"Why, Danzig, you've given me the harder task. I'll have to fight to reach that position and it's closer to the massive Noctari sphere ship," Jenna said.
Danzig laughed weakly. "Just let me mop up these Burners and I'll be right there to help you."
"Agreed." Jeda gripped the rail as the owner was slammed sideways from another attack. She waited until her bridge crew had recovered and then began to give the appropriate orders.
; 32
Defying the Burner Queen
Cronin knew he could not stand against Eigon and the Burner Queen. He held on to the rock that kept him from being swept into the rapids.
Wounded as he was, either enemy could destroy him. Amanda was downriver. Furious and wounded, Ace faced the Burner Queen and the Forever Siren.
But she’s the real Forever Siren, Eigon. She’ll use us both and burn the world.
All was lost.
He had failed and would continue to suffer for no reason. It was a human thought, something he’d done more often since the most recent regeneration in the chamber. Why not let go of the rock and float away? Just die. End the struggle.
Because he was bound to the twins. For reasons he couldn’t understand, his life had to be given for theirs.
He climbed onto the rock and saw two things. Farther down river, Amanda sheltered in the frigid water of a waterfall. Many tributary rivers poured into these rapids. She was in a shallow cave looking miserable and defeated.
Ace looked just as desperate. He faced two powerful enemies without apparent fear. Cronin struggled to hear their argument over the rapids.
“My brother won’t give you the Chrysalis Matrix!” Ace shouted at the flaming creature who Cronin feared more than anything living.
“He doesn’t need to, boy. All that is necessary is that he find Guidis. Then we will take it. And you and your sister provide the energy it needs during the journey to the Sol Gate,” the Ignari Siren growled, mouth full of white-hot flames and wrath.
“Ace!” Cronin shouted.
The boy turned.
A ship landed on the mountain slopes behind Ace and Cronin’s enemies.
“You must jump to me. I will catch you!” Cronin yelled the words and thought them in Ace’s mind, unsure if the human child could understand his language.
Eigon grabbed Ace. He pulled free and flung himself into the water, splashing well short of Cronin’s rock.
Eigon sneered at Cronin as he limped to the edge of the rock and dove after the boy. All that he needed to do was get Ace and Amanda near each other and keep them away from his enemies. Or better yet, get them back to their family, who would keep them safe from the creature he barely recognized as one of his kind.
Arthur Connelly was too exhausted and damaged to find a flight suit and put it on. He wore fatigue pants, boots, and bandages. A cool breeze cut across the alien landscape, prompting him to close his eyes and raise his face to enjoy it.
“For what it’s worth, I regret nothing,” Fartravel said. He lay flat on his back, arms down to his side but away from his body in some kind of yoga pose. “We have to die somewhere.”
Arthur didn’t argue. The weak part of his spirit wished he’d stayed on the battlefield where they’d buried the others. Instead, they’d struggled against inhuman odds and suffered greatly. Now they lay here in front of one of the last ships on the planet.
And couldn’t fly it. First, it wasn’t a human ship. Second, there was no crew. Third, he’d never even been good at flying games, much less excelled in driving anything without legs and plasma guns.
“We’ll figure out,” he said, unwilling to even look at the Siren-nix vessel. A quick tour of the inside had proved depressing. He wasn’t sure what any of the controls did. Combined with his lack of knowledge and Fartravel’s propensity to pass out and vomit, the ship that had seemed like a blessing was just another inanimate object.
The thought of what he’d gone through to get here made him want to quit. He’d carried the last of his squadron most of the way, stopping every few feet to rally his strength and look for rescue.
“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Fartravel said without sitting up. He just turned his head to look over the ruined landscape. Above them, the red nebula had fallen near the horizon. The night was dark, but there were fires everywhere that cast shadows in the wake of the Burner attack.
The biggest Nix he’d ever seen stomped forward with two smaller figures trailing close behind.
Arthur struggled to his feet.
Ace and Amanda ran forward, leaving the protector behind.
“Kevin!” they shouted.
Fartravel laughed hysterically. Arthur ignored him. He was too tired to correct the twins. All he could manage was to move forward with his arms spread wide.
They hesitated then rushed into his embrace.
“I’m glad you’re alive,” Amanda said, crying through the words.
“We both felt you die,” Ace said. “It really sucked.”
Arthur cried tears of joy and had no idea what to say. He held them until both complained he was crushing them, just like back home. He’d always roughhoused with them and teased them until they laughed hysterically.
“Does the ship fly?” Ace asked. “You’d be the one to find a ship that doesn’t even work.”
Arthur mussed his brother’s wet, blood-caked hair. “Maybe if you get off your ass and learn something useful, like how to fly a ship, we wouldn’t be in this predicament. It’s not a human ship. Maybe your big friend can help us.”
“I can fly the ship, brother of Ace and Amanda. Where is the other brother?”
Arthur stared at the huge creature. “No idea. I just hope he’s alive.”
The Nix warrior stared downward and swayed on his feet, grunting something that could’ve been self-deprecation or a curse.
“I will go inside and see if it works.”
Arthur watched it duck into the hatch. He held the twins and thought that it was about time to see if Fartravel could stand up.
“Come on, buddy. I think we’re saved,” he said.
Fartravel rolled onto his side and vomited for several seconds, then wiped his mouth with one arm. “Oh joy.”
“I’m neither good nor bad,” Cronin said. “Watch closely, Ace, and I will teach you to fly it.”
To his surprise, the human boy complied. Without one of his comments. Without looking to his sister to see if she agreed with his decision.
“These levers do different things than on human ships.”
“You know how to fly a human ship?” Ace asked.
Amanda moved closer. The older brother was in the medical bay attempting to make Fartravel stop vomiting blood.
“I should go help Arthur, our brother. The other man is going to die, I think,” she said.
Cronin watched the twins. He did not like it when they were away from each other, but perhaps since they were both on the same ship, it was okay.
“You could come too,” she said.
Ace grumbled.
“Fine.”
“Fine,” she said, still not leaving.
“I don’t know that guy. We try to help him and he’ll be just another person I wanted to live who didn’t. I can’t take this anymore, Amanda-Margaret.”
She hugged him for a long time. “We’re almost at the end, brother.”
“I know we are.”
“I’m going to help Arthur’s friend.”
“Okay. Let me know if there’s anything I can do and I will. Right now, I just want to watch Cronin fly the ship.”
She nodded and left.
“You have a special bond with your sister,” Cronin said.
“Arthur and Kevin were always running the streets and getting into fights. After our parents died, it was just us. We learned to get by. Your Siren friends came like a dream and took us. I should have seen them coming, but it was too late when I realized we were both awake and what was happening was real.”
“And you were suffering from head pain,” Cronin said. He’d seen this in his dreams long before meeting the human children.
“Headaches. Head pain can be a lot of different things.”
“Different from a pain in the ass like you and your sister sometimes call each other?”
Ace laughed. “Yeah, different.”
Cronin felt a vibration through the terminal and activated a screen of lights that was most like what humans used to visuali
ze items in space. He pointed at symbols and explained them to the young man.
“Then what you are showing me are enemy ships. They’re fucking everywhere!”
Cronin concentrated on flying clear of the chaos toward a massive object he’d seen many times in his dreams since Chrysalis with Eigon.
Human ships, Burner ships, and Noctari flew at each other, executing maneuvers that would have been impossible in atmosphere or under the pull of gravity.
Ships of all sizes arrived in the system. Some came out of jump space intact. Others vented atmosphere or broke apart from a battle they’d been in before fleeing.
Cronin thought the translation was done, but then his sensors went dark. Something huge was entering the system and he feared he knew what it was.
"What is that thing?" Ace asked, color draining from his face as he stared at the screen.
"Our sensors can't understand what they're seeing. They call it the Darkness for more than one reason," Cronin said.
The boy shook his head in disbelief. "I've heard of battlemoons and super dreadnoughts, but that's so big and must be half the solar system."
"I do not think it is so large. But it is many hundreds of times bigger than the largest human ship ever built. I will fly toward it because to run is to be caught. Once it is here, there is no escaping," Cronin said.
Ace looked around for his sister but hesitated to leave. "Have you seen it before?"
"I've only memories of others who have been through Chrysalis."
Cronin understood what he had to do. In the dreams, it had always been clear what he must do, even before the revelations he experienced in his final Chrysalis. He knew now that it would be his final time to the process. "I'm sorry to have involved you and your sister. Do not argue or apologize. I know you will say it is not my fault, but I am here and both of you are here, so there must be something to it."
"You're worrying me,” Ace said.
"We have to go to the Darkness. If I were making my own decisions, I would say this is a mistake because this is where the Burner Queen and Eigon wish to take you. It feels like I'm doing their bidding."
