I crossed the room to stand behind Slate, seeing a blip appear on the screen, then another, and another. Soon there were six of them surrounding us, each a few hundred kilometers away.
“Looks like we weren’t as sneaky as we thought. Any way to tell if they’re ours?” I asked, proud my voice didn’t convey the nerves I was really feeling.
Clare went to work on her console, and in less than ten seconds, she had an answer for me. “They’re not doing anything to hide their IDs. They aren’t in our database, but they’re using the same number format as our ship, and the ones from Earth’s base. They’re ours.”
“Can we contact them?” I asked.
“Message arriving. In audio,” Clare said.
“Uncloak the ship, deactivate your weapons, and follow along. Do not attempt to contact us. There is no negotiating this.” The message ended. Clare played it again.
“Do we know that voice?” I asked, trying to put a finger on it. It was a man’s voice, but the message was so monotone, the Deltras’ lack of inflection came to mind.
“It could be Heart,” Mary said. “Dean, are we going to obey?”
What choice did we have? Something felt off about the whole thing, but if we tried to run, where would we go – if they didn’t blow us to smithereens on the way out? “Do what they ask.”
She nodded and soon we were visible to the outside world, weapons off, and flying toward Proxima b, or as our people were calling it, New Spero. I only hoped our new world was a friendly one.
It was a nerve-racking hour later that they sent another message. We tried to stay calm and keep the speculation to a minimum, since we couldn’t control what was going to happen to us. The planet had come into view some time ago, and with every minute, it grew larger on our viewscreen. The message alert came as we spotted the station hovering in space over the planet. It was much smaller than the one near Earth, but along the same design.
“Play the message, please,” I said to Clare, who tapped the console, and we heard the same clipped-speech voice over the speakers.
“Follow the lead ship to dock. We’ve reached our destination.”
“I don’t like this,” Slate said. “If they led us planetside, I’d feel better about it. Up here, they can do anything to us, and no one down there” – he pointed to the floor – “would ever know.”
He made a good point. We didn’t have many options. Either we complied or we made a run for it, leaving the system or heading for the surface. Any of those options could get us killed. Mary looked at me, eyes hard, and there was only one real answer. “We follow them in. We haven’t done anything, and if this is the colony, like we think it is, they’ll know us and listen to our story.”
Slate’s eyes still burned, but he didn’t push his opinion any further.
“Going in.” Mary eased the ship behind them, and five minutes later, she was entering a docking station on the far bottom of the station.
Slate was heading for the storage room already. I knew what he was doing and wasn’t sure if I should stop him. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. What was the answer? I saw Mae fall, her wound instantly fatal, and Slate’s massive form there. Target down. I went after him.
“Slate, we can’t go in guns blazing,” I said, catching him strapping a pulse pistol to his calf.
“No, but we can be prepared for anything. Being prepared keeps us alive.”
I couldn’t argue with that. The rest of the crew made their way to the bay. Mary stood there, arms crossed and a frown creasing her forehead. “I’m with Slate. Let’s at least have something to give us a chance.”
I nodded solemnly. Even though they looked to me to lead them for some reason, I wasn’t a dictator, and they were probably right. “Small weapons. They’ll most likely take them from us anyway, but it can’t hurt to be cautious.” Everyone concealed some sort of weapon: me a knife, and even Nick, who used to be scared of handling a gun, pocketed a pistol with confidence. Two months on a small ship, and we were all trained and more fit than we’d ever been, thanks to time and Slate’s willingness to teach us.
“They’re waiting, I imagine,” Clare said, standing near the ramp. We hadn’t lowered it yet.
“Let’s make them wait another minute,” I said, suddenly feeling like we should have made a break for the planet. If they knew who we were, Dalhousie would have sent a greeting party instead of the curt messages and show of power.
It must have been five minutes before I nodded to Clare to hit the icon, lowering the ramp. She looked relieved as it sank to the floor of the hangar.
“I’ll go first,” I said, Mary holding my hand and walking up front with me. Slate stuck close behind, always on alert. We walked down the ramp, our boots clanging on the metal. I wasn’t sure what I’d expected, but it wasn’t what we found. At least twenty guards in black uniforms greeted us, and instead of handshakes and hugs, we had pulse rifles in our faces.
“Stand down,” I whispered to my crew through clenched teeth. I raised my hands in the air, and the rest of the team followed suit. “Who’s in charge here?” I asked the soldiers.
“I am,” a voice echoed from the far end of the room, but we couldn’t make out a face past all of the guns still pointed at us. Footsteps clinked on the floor, and in a minute, the guards were stepping out of the way, making a path for their leader. When he arrived, I was surprised to see I didn’t recognize the man. Seven years was long enough for a shift in power.
He stood there, not speaking as he silently assessed us. The man was wearing a suit, tie included, a fashion I didn’t expect us to hold on to on a colony planet. His black hair was slicked, and his dark pupils judged us through a squint. I instantly didn’t like him.
“Come with me,” he said, turning his back on us. No questions, no patting down, just an order; not that we had a choice, with twenty weapons pointed at us.
“What do you think?” I asked Slate behind me.
“We do what he says,” Slate replied softly, “for now.”
I stepped forward, and we followed the man, twenty feet behind him, until we were out of the hangar. From there, only three guards continued on the trip with us, the rest presumably staying behind to watch our ship. I had the urge to go back and raise our ship’s ramp, but I knew if they wanted in, they would get in.
The halls we were in were built to be corridors only; they were just metal studs and support beams, visible wiring running through them. Nick must have been dragging behind, because we heard a grunt from him, and I turned to see the rear guard shoving him with a gloved hand. This wasn’t what I’d expected our arrival at Earth’s first colony to look like.
Nick and I made eye contact, and I moved my head a bit to the side, to tell him to hurry and let it go. I’m not sure if it translated, but his gaze went to the ground and his feet sped up.
The lead guard stopped as their leader entered a sliding door to the right. I followed him in and found myself in a large open space, with tables and chairs like my university accounting classroom. It felt out of place here.
The man sat down at a table near the front of the room. It had stools all the way around it: one for each of us, and an extra. They hadn’t known how many of us there were. That might have been a good sign.
We each took a seat, with me closest to the man in the suit. It felt like five minutes before he spoke but was probably only thirty seconds. “Why did you come here?”
It was a simple question, but one that felt loaded in many different ways. “We came to see our friends.” The answer was short, but the truth.
He nodded to that. “And just who are your friends? We have a lot of people here on New Spero.”
“General Heart. President Dalhousie.” I almost smiled when I saw his eyes go wide at my reply, but I kept my composure. I was going to be a better poker player than him.
“Interesting choice of friends. Here’s what I do know. We received a message from World President Naidoo a while ago. Apparently, you threatened
her and were in possession of a genocidal weapon. When confronted, you escaped and ran here.”
“Then did she tell you who we are?” Mary asked, obviously getting tired of this charade. I didn’t blame her.
He nodded once again, more slowly this time. “She did tell us who you claimed to be, but it’s impossible. Those Heroes of Earth are long dead. The Bhlat sent Naidoo video evidence. They attempted to attack an outpost of the Bhlat and were expunged from space for their efforts. That leaves me with some questions. Where did you get this ship? Did you steal it from the old base in America? Why take the most famous,” he paused, “or infamous people on Earth to imitate?”
I was getting tired of it too. “Listen here” – I motioned for him to say his name, but he didn’t – “fella. I don’t know what the Bhlat showed Naidoo, but it wasn’t us dying, and frankly, I don’t give a crap about your power trip, or whatever this is. Let me speak with General Heart or President Dalhousie, and let me speak to them now.” I tried to keep the anger out of my voice, but it was impossible to conceal.
“You keep saying those names, but I’m sorry to say, neither of them can help you now.”
“Then I want to talk to Magnus Svenson.” I said the name slowly.
He didn’t hesitate. “I’m afraid that’s not possible either.”
“Why? Why is that not possible?” Mary asked. “If you claim we aren’t the Heroes of Earth, then let’s bring the other two up here, and let them identify us.”
He shook his head. “I’m under orders to hold you for your crimes on Earth. Possession of alien weapons and conspiracy to murder the World President.”
I stood up, fists against the wooden tabletop. “Wait a minute! We did nothing of the sort. We went to talk, and she was ready to kill us for that alien weapon you talk about. She’s already in bed with the Bhlat, who’ll come and destroy every last person on Earth.”
“That’s what anyone would say to save their own skin.” His words were firm, but fear escaped his eyes. Hearing that she was working with the Bhlat probably sent some alarm bells ringing, especially after already knowing she had video from them. What was their arrangement? The man stood, and Slate moved between him and the doorway. The rest of the crew looked ready to spring into action, but I couldn’t let that happen yet. We were at a disadvantage.
“Let him go, Slate,” I said, the fury leaving me with each breath.
Slate stood firm, and the man had to go around him. I loved the power move by my large friend, but we weren’t in a position to intimidate either.
The door slid open, and I spotted a few guards out in the hall with weapons in hand. We were being quartered here for the time being.
“What the hell do we do now? Has this whole colony gone to shit?” I asked.
“Maybe there’s been a regime change, or,” Mary stood, “the station is run by that slimy man, and he’s in Naidoo’s pocket. That would allow them to control who arrives, or who leaves the colony, with the surface never knowing.”
It made sense. “I think you’re right. We need to get back to our ship and down to the planet.”
“How do we do that with all of these guards around?” Clare asked.
Slate had a twinkle in his eye as he came back to the table. “Do you all have your pins on?”
We each felt our collars, where the small metal pins sat that would lift us to the ship if needed. “It looks like we do,” Mary said.
“You know what that means, right?” Slate asked, and it clicked.
“But how will we have enough time? They have ships at the ready,” Mary said.
“Then we distract them. We have to get to the surface, and then we can straighten it all out,” I said, not fully believing my own words one hundred percent, but giving them a good chance. I looked around the space for signs of cameras or listening devices. They were undoubtedly watching us. I raised a finger to my lips in a “be quiet” gesture. We moved to the corner of the room that was most inhospitable. If any part of the room wasn’t bugged, it was that dark unfurnished corner.
The plan formed faster than I’d thought possible. We felt like a real crew at that moment.
TWO
“Come on, I have to use the bathroom!” Nick called to the guards on the other side of the door. It had only been an hour, but we weren’t going to sit around waiting for them to convince themselves to dispose of us.
Clare must have sensed that Nick wasn’t getting anywhere, so she went to join him. Maybe a woman in need would pull on their macho soldier hearts.
“Me too. I can’t go in here. Don’t you guys have any compassion?” she asked, layering in a thick sad tone to her voice.
After a minute or two, the door slid open, and a guard motioned for them to step through. It was tough to see, but even from across the room, I spotted the glint of the screw as Nick placed it at the base of the door, feigning tying up his shoe in front of the guards.
We hadn’t been counting on two of ours getting separated, but it was in motion now, and we couldn’t turn back. Slate was already moving for the door, which had slid shut but not all the way, as the six-inch-long screw stopped it from sealing so that it wasn’t locked. Clare had seen the blueprints on the original station plans, back on Earth at the base she’d spent a year working at. These doors had almost a faux lock; a precautionary thing for safety, not really meant to keep anyone in. Only prison cells would have the real locks that would alert someone if the door wasn’t sealed properly.
“Two guards, minimum, had to go with them. It looked like we only had three or four watching us, so I say we all go, swing the ship back, and grab the other two,” I said to Mary and Slate, the only others left in the room with me.
Slate nodded, gun already in his hand. I wished I’d seen this coming, because the knife in my grip didn’t give me the confidence a pulse pistol would have.
Slate stood at the door, three fingers raised. He lowered them one by one, and when his count was at zero, he gripped the handle and pulled it inward with a grunt. It slid open, and two guards were there, talking between themselves.
Before they could react, Mary was on one of them, disarming him and pointing her gun to his head. “Drop it,” she told the other one, and I bent down, picking up the pulse rifle from the ground.
“Do it!” I called to the last guard still holding his weapon. He lowered it, letting go, the metal clanging on the floor. “Mics,” I said, holding my left hand out. They looked at one another, and the smaller of the two took an earpiece out and set it in my hand. The other guy followed suit. “Thank you. So you know, we are the Heroes of Earth, and when this all shakes out, come down to the surface and I’ll buy you a beer.”
They looked at us, wide-eyed. “I told you it was them,” the smaller one said, grinning as we led them into the room we’d recently vacated.
Slate pulled the screw from the door jamb, and we left, locking them in.
“Let’s go before the other guards come back,” I said, wishing we had Clare and Nick with us. Even though we had a plan, leaving anyone behind was a chance I didn’t want to take.
We knew the way back, since we’d walked these very halls over an hour ago. Foot traffic was nonexistent; I wondered how many people lived on the station, and what exactly it was they did up here. I hoped I’d eventually learn the answer.
“This way,” Slate said as we heard footsteps coming from down the hall. We ducked into a side room, the door sliding shut as the steps reached us. We waited in the dark as the sound echoed away from us. My heart was hammering in my chest, and Mary had gripped my hand, a gesture of worry and comfort.
“Let’s go,” I said, heading back into the hall. The one good thing about function over fashion was that we could hear anyone coming from a hundred feet away on the metal floors. Twice more, we ducked into empty rooms before continuing on our way, soon making it back to the hangar. As we paused in the hall leading to the docking station, alarms blared loudly, getting the attention of the guards lingering
inside the large room.
One of the guards held his hand to his earpiece, trying to hear commands over the noise, and he pointed to the door we were standing near. The three of us ran the other way, turning in time to see the guards from the hangar heading down the hall, toward the room we’d escaped from.
“Time to shine,” Mary said, rushing back to the hangar. There were only a couple guards left in the room, the rest likely sent to assist in searching for us. Mary ignored them and ran straight for our ship, which still had the ramp lowered. I followed her while Slate threw some covering fire at the guards’ feet and made for one of the other ships docked inside the hangar.
The guards didn’t even have time to fire back, which was a good thing. We had no intention of killing anyone today. They were doing what they were told, like any good soldiers.
Our feet clanged on the ramp, and I hit the button as I entered the storage area on our ship. Slate was still firing, and I caught a glimpse of green light emanating around him as he lifted into one of their ships. I still hadn’t seen a guard fire at us.
“Time to go!” I yelled as Mary ran to the bridge, firing up the engines.
Our viewscreen showed Slate’s ship leaving, erratically flying like a madman. We followed him out, and when he went left, we went right, back toward the middle of the station. It was only moments later that two ships came after us, but Slate was on them, firing at their shields, making more of a show of it than actually trying to harm them. It was enough of a distraction that the two ships focused on him rather than us.
“Come in, Clare,” I said after slipping my comm-device in my ear. The sound crackled, and as I thought they might not have been able to conceal the earpieces, her small voice came through.
“Dean, we’re down the hall in an office, about a hundred yards down from the room we were in. I can’t talk, they…” Her voice cut out.
“We’re coming now. Be ready.”
There was no reply as I told Mary the directions. When we thought we were above the section of the station they were in, I told Clare to activate the pins. The energy changed slightly in the room, and I ran to the storage room where the beam drive sat. Clare entered, and she was crying.
The Survivors: Books 1-3 Page 44
