by Justin Sloan
“My apologies. We are coming upon an outer gate now, and since the quickest route had to be destroyed, it will be a series of four quick jumps instead of the one.”
Orlean turned to listen to someone beside her, then returned to the screen with a frown. “Meaning you’ll be going through the Outer Stars?”
He nodded, not liking it any more than her. This was a system unclaimed by the alliance or the enemy, as neither was able to hold it long.
“Be careful, Hadrian,” she said, glancing around the table. “We eagerly await your arrival.”
They would have to watch their backs, and he knew it.
10
HADRIAN’S SHIP: TRAINING ROOMS
Samantha had barely slept since learning about the simulation, only taking breaks when she needed to eat to replenish her energy. This was any nerdy, badass, fighter’s dream. Kicking butt while improving your skills, preparing for potential fights—it was amazing.
Soon she learned she could go outside the cave. A spot at the entrance glowed faintly in her likeness, and if she stepped into it she would be swept back into Hadrian’s ship. But if she avoided it, she could venture into the land beyond the cave. She wasn’t sure if she ever really left the ship at all, actually. But that’s how she liked to think of it.
During this session, she had made her way out toward the tall hills at the other side of the caves, and here the enemies were worse. They were still mostly Kolack, as Hadrian had told her they were called, but now she faced taller ones that wielded shields, double blades, and attacked in groups with drones flying overhead. One had even come at her with a mini-mech, taller than her but nowhere near as large as the mechs she had seen back home, like the one Dan had taken out.
She would charge through them, using her enhanced speed and strength to take them down. Soon she began to feel she was performing a dance, or a kata to rid the land of Kolack.
This was starting to feel more like the fights back home, only with a sword.
It was when she realized she could use the guns of the fallen drones that she really found her groove again. She wanted the skill points on her sword, so used it most often, but using the armor’s support base to heft up that drone gun and just unleash on a horde of them got her blood moving.
One afternoon as she made her way down one of the hills, having just taken down a couple of drones and a tall, ape-like alien that had attacked her with a spear, she froze at the sight of someone staring at her from the base of the next hill over.
Squinting, she realized he looked to be a boy, not much older than her. Not quite human, she thought, based on his white eyes and the small, yellow triangle at his hairline, barely noticeable against his skin. He wore a thin armor that could almost be mistaken for pajamas if one didn’t see the hexagon-shaped armor plates showing through.
Everything here had been so violent so far, this felt out of place to her. Wrong.
Samantha took a step toward him, causing him to startle, and then move away.
“No, wait,” she said, moving slowly down the hill. “Who are you?”
The boy glanced back, clearly debating whether he should run or not, then turned to her with a hesitant stare.
“You… you’re part of the simulation?” she asked, removing her helmet so as to not frighten him.
He frowned at that word, thought about it, then said, “No.”
“No, what?”
“I don’t know about any simulation.”
She was at the base of his hill now, moving toward him, and he was only a couple of paces off. Now that she was so close, she could see he had a stance and facial structure much like Dan, although this boy’s hair was dark black and his skin a darker tone.
“If you were part of the simulation, I don’t suppose you’d know otherwise,” she commented, to which the boy smiled and shrugged.
“I honestly don’t know how that would work. I know I exist, just like you. But I have no idea why you’re here.” He approached now, looking her up and down and frowning at her body armor. “We don’t get many visitors, and when we do, they’re always bad people who want to hurt us.”
“So you live here?”
He glanced around, then shook his head. “I’m not far off.”
“Can I see?”
He smiled and stood, “I’ll take you in that direction, see if I can trust you, then decide.”
“Seems fair enough.”
“But you have to stay low,” he said, motioning her beside him as a new batch of drones flew overhead, scanners searching. His eyes went wide and he pulled her down so that she landed at his side, one hand on his arm. His eyes met hers and he mouthed, “Sorry.”
“Whose drones are they?” she whispered, watching the sky and longing to take them down.
He glanced at the way her hand was clenching the sword. “Have a habit of bringing knives to a gunfight?”
“I have a habit of not giving a shit,” she replied with a laugh. “And another habit of kicking butt when I get a chance, instead of hiding.”
He nodded, considering that, but then said, “Sometimes, hiding is the only way to survive. There are animals on my planet that hide in holes until their prey has passed them by, then leap out and get them from behind.”
She smiled. “I’m sure we have those too. It’s just not me.”
The boy’s smile was charming, but Samantha frowned, not wanting to be distracted right now.
TWANG! A shot hit the rocks nearby, exploding them, and Samantha and the boy ducked. She instinctively pressed the button to put her helmet back on.
“This way,” the boy said, taking her by the hand and running down the hill and around the bend.
She followed, but when he leaped over a ledge and started heading underground, she slowed. “Wait, I don’t understand…Why are you here? Who are you?”
“Call me Ralod,” he replied. “And get that sword ready. Down here it’s not as crazy as those drones, but we’ll need to fight.”
“We?”
He gave her a charming smile again as he pressed a button on his arm. Instantly, a helmet covered his face and he was holding a sword not so different from her own. They continued into a chamber that would have been completely dark if not for the glow of their swords.
“Won’t the light give us away?” Samantha asked.
Ralod cocked his head, then laughed. “You don’t know? The light can’t be seen by them. Take your visor off.”
She debated not doing so, considering there could be combat at any moment, but then retracted her helmet as Hadrian had shown her. Sure enough, when it was gone, the place was practically pitch black.
“That’s a neat little trick,” she commented, putting the helmet back on so she could see.
“You’ll need to learn a lot more,” he replied, raising his sword. “Behind you.”
Samantha turned, and stumbled back at the sight of her green light shining off a tall beast, its canines long and gleaming in the subtle light. It stood like a panther on its hind legs, but with an extra set of arms and claws.
Ralod leaped into action, swinging for the creature’s hind legs. It came down to all six, then turned on him for an attack.
A paw swiped and knocked the boy down, but it left the creature open for a thrust from Samantha. Flesh sizzled as she pulled the sword out, and she saw the lit area had acted as a heat source—a likely effect of leveling up the sword.
She was about to strike again when she heard a whirring sound behind her. Spinning, she saw several drones filling the entryway to the tunnel.
The creature hit her from behind, knocking her down, but that also meant he took the shots from the drones. A moment later, he had collapsed on top of Samantha, smothering her with his dead weight. Blood seeped out around her and she shrieked, attempting to heave it off. It wouldn’t budge, so she lay still, watching Ralod scramble out of harm’s way as more shots came.
Three drones went after him, the others swooping in to confirm their kill.
Samantha debated her next move here, remembering the way Hadrian had blown up the drones back on Earth—or maybe she had? It was all fuzzy. Focusing on the nearest drone, she tried to imagine it exploding and taking the others with it. She tried with all she had to push energy out, to manipulate matter and reconnect with the flow of the universe or whatever it was that had given her such powers.
A red scanner hit her and began to flash, then the drone directly in front of her aimed, about to fire.
Maybe she was a nutcase, she thought. Maybe all of this was part of her imagination, and she was back on Earth right now, dying alongside Gunny. It was possible that Dan was holding Ashley while Samantha bled out, all the while imagining she was on some secret black ops mission to save the universe.
No way was Samantha going to accept that. She would go out fighting, even if she was already dead.
Thrusting her sword up and behind her, she stabbed through the dead creature’s rib cage for leverage, then heaved it over. It landed between her and the drone, taking the shots as they rained down. From farther down the tunnel she heard an explosion, followed by another, and hoped Ralod wasn’t hurt.
A glance up showed she had more reason to be worried for her own safety than his, though. Two more drones were turning to aim at her.
The sword was still stuck in the creature, so she was pretty much defenseless. Then the blue lights on her armor caught her, and she had an idea. She could use the level ups on speed she had been gaining, and try out a new one she had upgraded just that morning—grip.
She threw herself back, kicking off the wall. But instead of moving away from the wall, she ran up it. Sure enough, the armored boots gave her a bit of a false gravity along the wall as she moved. She leaped off, landing on one of the drones and using her momentum to spin it to its left and take out the other one. The drone below her now collapsed under her weight as the other one exploded, careening down and plowing into the dead creature’s corpse.
The third drone spun on her, but she grabbed it, tore off the gun, and opened fire just as the one above hit her. Two strong shots to her chest knocked her back to slam against the wall, sending her own shots wide and causing her to drop the drone.
Gasping for breath, she stared up at the drone as it started to fire again, but a sword took off its gun and then speared it, and it was done.
She collapsed to her knees, sending her helmet into recession as she looked down, feeling her chest for blood or holes. Two dents, but nothing else.
“That was a close one,” Ralod said, pulling back his faceplate. “Careful, there could be more if they heard the sounds.”
He helped her to stand, and together they continued down the tunnel.
“Good thing you upgraded defense,” Ralod stated. “Otherwise, you might have problems right now.”
She eyed him briefly as she triggered her helmet back up, wondering how much to tell him. It was a simulation, after all. It wasn’t like she would really die if she was hit… right? Now that she thought about it, she realized she didn’t have a clue what would happen to her if she died in here. That was poor thinking on her part, and she made a mental note to remember to ask Hadrian about that the next time she saw him.
Farther and farther they went into the tunnel, fighting more of the creatures and the occasional slitherers she had met before. Ralod proved he knew how to handle himself, and Samantha found herself wondering again where he had come from.
A circle of light appeared ahead, and soon the two emerged on the other side of the hills. They looked out over a large lake with more hills surrounding it. She hadn’t come across this place before, and looking around the deep valley, she realized it wouldn’t have been discoverable unless someone flew over it or climbed to the top.
“What is this place?” she asked, sending her helmet into her armor.
The boy did the same, then pointed at the far side of the lake where several short trees were visible.
“There, you see it?” Ralod asked.
She frowned, unsure what he meant, until she squinted and saw that the trees weren’t trees at all, but camouflaged rooftops.
“Your village?” she asked.
He laughed. “Mine? No, not exactly, though I do find myself staying there from time to time.”
“You’re here to train, just like me?”
He shrugged and said, “Sure.”
Something about the way he said that caused her to pause, looking at him with curiosity. “You have the armor, the sword… Is this some trick of the simulations? Are you Hadrian or one of the others, just messing with me?”
Ralod laughed. “I don’t know who those people are. And no, I don’t exist outside of this world.”
“So you’re… like part of my training, then?”
He seemed to like the idea, based on his smile and the way he winked at her. “Yeah, let’s go with that.”
She pursed her lips, unsure how to interpret that response.
“So… Hadrian?” the boy asked. “He’s like your dad or something?”
“Dad? God, no.”
“You mentioned a team, though.” He looked her up and down. “You’re kind of young, and I’m guessing you’re an Earther. Don’t tell me they have you all doing this for school projects now.”
“Hardy-har-har,” she mock laughed. “For your information…” Her voice trailed off as she frowned. “You have a lot of questions for part of a simulation.”
“Do I?”
She frowned, considering how to get the right information out of him and find out who he really was. Before she had a chance, however, a notification sounded and she looked around, confused.
Ralod laughed and pointed to the button that made the helmet emerge. “Try that.”
She did, and when the HUD screen from her helmet was in front of her, a message flashed across the screen that read, “All passengers of the Noraldian report to the command center for evasive maneuvers.”
With a frown, she released the helmet and turned to tell Ralod she had to go, but he was gone.
Strange, she thought, though if he was part of her training simulation and it was time for her to return, she supposed that made sense.
Turning back to make her way through the tunnels, she took off at a sprint to find the area that glowed in her likeness. It would’ve been so much easier if she could just press a button and exit the simulation, but she imagined this way taught accountability and sense of direction, being able to return to where you started.
As she made her way back and finally stepped into the light, she found herself once again thinking about Ralod. She felt a strange longing—a curiosity about what could and couldn’t happen in a simulation. The logical part of her mind wanted to slap that part away and tell her to focus.
She hadn’t left the LRR behind with the Earth on the verge of collapse so that she could make oogly eyes at a simulated young man.
Next time she came across that part of the simulation, she told herself to treat it like a test at being distracted. Learn the teamwork aspects, fight the temptation. Easy peasy.
HADRIAN ENDED his call with the Elders, still considering saying they could all go to Hell and leave him and his team to their mission.
But the Elders had been very specific: if there was the slightest chance they had discovered the hideout of one of their own, they had to investigate.
The others started filing in. He had them strap into seats along the walls of the control deck. When they were all there, he said, “I wanted you all to hear this. We’re going through a gate, and have been rerouted.”
“Any reason for the reroute?” Napalm asked.
Hadrian sighed, not sure how much to share yet, so he simply said, “We have a prisoner pickup, in a sense. Might get hairy out there. On the bright side, this’ll be an excellent chance to test your training.”
He appreciated the look of excitement in Napalm’s eyes, but couldn’t help but notice the distant, thoughtful look from Samantha.
Considering what he had just seen from observing her training, he wasn’t surprised. But he wondered how much she knew.
Moving past deep space and into range of their assigned gate, he checked the system for any signs of enemy ships. They were in the clear.
“Captain, prepare for the gate.”
The captain glanced back, nodded, and moved his hands across his display. As he did so, the nodes floating like stars in space lit up, and the image of the stars beyond vanished, replaced instead with turquoise and purple light like a curtain drawn across it all.
“Gate confirmed, sir,” the captain said.
“Proceed,” Hadrian replied.
The ship floated forward, and then soared through the blanket of light. They felt a surge of pressure as they slowly emerged from another gate, this one in the Clamnor system. A small star was visible in the distance, along with two gas planets. Not visible yet was, Hadrian knew, a chain of several inhabitable, but inhospitable, planets. They were often avoided because of the large populations of violent creatures, but were also known to be a hideout for criminals and those on the run.
Hadrian confirmed the landing coordinates and sent them to his captain, then turned to watch the others stare in awe as they approached the middle of the three planets.
“Prepare to land, ladies and gentlemen,” he said as a proud father would to his children. “We’re going on planet.”
He’d decided not to tell the team yet why he and the Elders had chosen this planet first. That information was best for Samantha when the two of them were alone. From there, she could use the information as she wished.
11
CLAMNOR SOL
Samantha stared at the planet as they approached, the gaseous clouds forming circular patterns of purple and red on its surface. She was amazed by these worlds she had never known existed, but now surrounded her.
Large spacecrafts, some in boxy shapes like shipping containers and others angular like the tip of a spear, floated in the distance.
