by Charles Nall
“No! Not yet! She’s my ticket out of here!”
The collapse of ice continued underneath Lynx. The icy ground fell out from beneath the rear landing apparatus. The corvette lurched.
“Grab a hold of something!” Jaxon yelled.
The sounds of crashing ice subsided, but Lynx started to tip over vertically. Most of the weight on the rear of the ship was unsupported. Crates began sliding out of their positions. Sharon leaped to the side and grabbed a ladder that was leading up to the catwalk. Jaxon grabbed a chain that was hanging from the ceiling. Jacob fell down and started to slide off the ship. He grabbed onto the lip of the loading bay ramp. Crates tumbled past him into the pit. The corvette continued to fall further and further into a vertical position.
Roach was struggling to keep standing but ended up sliding down the floor. He let go of Mia. She screamed as she, too, fell towards the pit below.
Jaxon reached out to try to catch Mia.
Roach fell past Jacob. Jacob tried to reach out and grab Roach but it was to no avail. Roach screamed as he plummeted into the icy depths.
The corvette began to slip into the pit itself.
Jaxon held Mia tight as they hung onto the chain together.
Suddenly, the thrusters on the corvette fired. Lynx did not continue falling into the abyss. The corvette slowly straightened back out to a horizontal position.
Jacob climbed back into the bay and took a deep breath. “Thanks, Arnold.”
Mia hugged Jaxon’s leg.
Sharon smiled. “I think she likes you, Jax.”
March 9, 0271 AC – 19:00
Hangar Bay 4, USS Empyrean
Orbiting Artemis
Jacob, Sharon, Trevor, Arnold, Cane, and Marv were standing in a line in the hangar bay. Crewmen looked down from the catwalks above them. Other officers, crewmen, and members of the wing stood behind them. Other crew members sat on crates that were scattered about the hangar.
Commander Ember Skyrift, Commander Boaz Aurigae, and Lieutenant Commander Elijah Shepherd stood nearby. Captain John Devereaux stood at a podium in front of Jacob and company.
Captain Devereaux’s voice echoed in speakers situated around the hangar. “Thanks everyone for coming today. This is a big day. First off, I would like to thank Commander Boaz Aurigae for his years of service with the Fleet. He is stepping down from the wing leader position. I would like to congratulate Elijah Shepherd on his promotion to wing leader and squadron leader of Alpha Squadron!”
Aurigae clapped and nodded toward Elijah Shepherd. Devereaux backed away from the podium and Shepherd walked up to it.
Lieutenant Commander Elijah Shepherd smiled. “I have very big shoes to fill. I know a lot of you don’t know who I am yet. People say that I am, well, a ghost from the past. It’s true, and we’re still trying to figure that out. In the meantime, I will try my absolute best to keep our squadrons as the best in the Fleet. To continue our tradition of having an excellent fighter wing, I will be doing promotions of my own today. The three recruits of Zeta Squadron...” He looked toward Arnold, Cane, and Marv. “Grizzly! Skids! Mouse! You have performed to a high caliber. Even Skids,” he joked.
The crowd laughed.
Shepherd grinned. “Cane Venatici and Marv Cooper, you are now both members of Delta Squadron. Vera Takahashi will take good care of both of you. Arnold “Grizzly” Lawrence, you are going to be with me in Alpha Squadron.”
Arnold was surprised. He mouthed, “Really?”
Jacob pat Arnold on the back.
Jaxon Knight, who was in the crowd, clapped along with the rest of the crowd. Mia had a huge grin on her face and also clapped, even if she didn’t understand why. The girl was standing next to Jaxon, her current foster faster.
Even though it wasn’t Alpha or Beta Squadron, Skids and Mouse were quite happy with their assignment. It meant at least they were going to be active fighters in the wing and they weren’t going to be sent to some other warship.
Shepherd stepped away from the podium and Commander Ember Skyrift took his place.
“Finally, we must make some additions to our command staff,” Skyrift said. “They saved many of us over Artemis. They earned their stripes. Please welcome Lieutenant Carpenter, Lieutenant Turner, and Lieutenant Reynolds to the command staff!”
The crew cheered.
“And even though he’s part of our fighter wing now, it just wouldn’t be fair if Grizzly was not also promoted. Lieutenant Lawrence!”
The crew continued to cheer and clap.
Devereaux provided each new lieutenant with two new chevrons on their uniforms and a patch with two stars.
Skyrift continued, “Fleet Admiral Straczynski and Captain Devereaux have reposed special trust and confidence in the patriotism, valor, fidelity and professional excellence of Jacob William Carpenter and Arnold Benjamin Lawrence and Trevor Enoch Reynolds and Sharon Rose Turner. In view of these qualities and their dedicated service to the Galactic Union Fleet, they are therefore promoted to lieutenant. Promotion is effective March 9, 271 After Cataclysm. Let it be done. We will stand with them! Congratulations.”
Devereaux placed the chevrons onto Jacob’s uniform.
“Thank you, sir,” Jacob said.
Devereaux replied, “No. Thank you. You’ll make a fine captain one day.”
“Respectfully, sir... You are full of crap.”
Devereaux let out a hearty laugh.
7
April 12, 0271 AC – 04:12 Local Time
USS Empyrean
Edge of Galactic Union Space
An explosion echoed down the corridor.
What was going on? Jacob Carpenter glanced around. Marines ran past him down the corridor. Another explosion rumbled.
From the other direction, John Devereaux limped down the hall. He was carrying a woman with olive skin down the hall. Devereaux’s uniform was covered with blood.
“What’s going on?” Jacob asked.
Devereaux glanced at Jacob. “Aren’t you supposed to be on the mission to Babylon?”
“Do what?”
“Nothing. We gotta get her to sickbay. You can’t stay here, boy. Keep going!”
Jacob looked at the woman. It was Ashara Cinderflake, Medical Officer of the warship.
Devereaux groaned in pain. “Come on! I can’t let anything happen to her or the baby.”
“Baby?”
Jacob followed Devereaux down the corridor. Jacob noticed an additional chevron on Devereaux’s uniform. Why was Devereaux wearing an admiral’s uniform?
The lights flickered constantly as gunfire echoed.
Jacob struggled to remain standing after an explosion shook the warship. “What the eff is happening?”
“Jesus, Jacob, how hard did you hit your head?”
They entered an unoccupied sickbay. The contents of medical cabinets were strewn all over the floor. A few of the medical beds were thrown to their sides.
Devereaux put Cinderflake on a table and lifted her shirt, revealing a gunshot wound right under her clavicle. “I promised myself after Euphrates I wouldn’t watch them destroy another planet,” he said. “I will not let them take Urbania from us!” He handed Jacob a sidearm. “Here. Watch our backs. Don’t let them get in here.”
“Them?”
“Just do it.”
Devereaux grabbed the sharpest instrument he could find and cut into the wound. “I need to get this bullet out.”
Another explosion rumbled in the distance.
“Should we get off this ship?” Jacob asked. “It sounds like it is falling apart.”
“Probably. Are you not going down with your ship? That’s the usual captain thing. I understand why you wouldn’t want to, though.” Devereaux pulled a bullet out of Ashara. Devereaux grabbed some cloth and placed it over the wound and applied pressure. “Don’t die on me. Please.”
The ship shuddered from an explosion.
Jacob was entirely confused. He looked down the corridor. The lighting in the h
all went dark.
Ashara screamed out in pain.
“John?” she whispered.
“Yes, I’m here. We’re okay, we’re okay.”
She coughed. “John?” She looked over to the doorway and saw Jacob. “Captain?”
“Huh? Captain?”
“Captain Carpenter... it was all your fault.”
Jacob woke up, covered in sweat.
Jacob heard Sharon’s soothing voice. “Jake, you were having a nightmare. Are you okay?”
He sat up in bed. “I... I don’t know.”
April 13, 0270 AC – 19:40
Captain’s Quarters, USS Empyrean
Edge of Galactic Union Space
“There was another one.”
Devereaux leaned back into his chair. “Who this time?”
“A civilian woman named Ann Stone,” Skyrift replied.
“Strangled?”
“Yes. This one was also... sliced across the throat. Reminiscent of the Slicer from Euphrates.”
“The Slicer?”
“A despicable man. They caught him. We need to catch this guy. We’re on the right track, though. The investigation team noticed that the security feeds are interrupted at the time of the murder. The feeds are replaced by pre-recorded segments of the previous day. By carefully monitoring our feeds, we managed to discover the murder moments after it had happened. If we were faster we could catch this guy. And I’m sure you heard about Salzman?”
“The marine that had a firefight with the presumed killer?”
“Corporal Salzman managed to catch a glimpse of him after we first mobilized to the area where the security feeds were manipulated. The man was rushing away from the area and wouldn’t respond to the marine’s orders. Eventually, the two men had a short exchange of fire. Salzman took a bullet in the side but he’s okay.”
“That’s good to hear.”
“We analyzed the bullet, it matches a discarded sidearm we found a few hours later. There are no prints, but it’s something. A small glimmer of hope. We have it locked down in evidence locker B-3. Unfortunately, it is worse that we feared. The killer is a member of our command staff. This type of sidearm is only given out to the command staff. We’ll get to the bottom of this.”
Devereaux nodded.
Skyrift saluted and made her way out of Devereaux’s quarters.
Devereaux pondered to himself. He made his way to a cabinet on the wall and opened it up.
The imp controlled some of his actions, but he could always see what the imp was doing. Devereaux was always there, even if he wasn’t always in command of his actions. Was there any way that the imp could cloud his memory? Was he responsible for these killings?
His sidearm was still inside the cabinet.
Thank god.
April 23, 0271 AC – 15:20
Hangar Bay 1, USS Empyrean
Edge of Galactic Union Space
Arnold gently ran his hand across the nose of his Peregrine starfighter in Empyrean’s hangar. The hangar was a cavernous area carved out of the middle of the warship. It went from one side of the ship all of the way out the other. If one stood in the middle of the main runway, they could look out the starboard side of the ship and then turn around and look out the port side as well. Many cargo boxes, ships, and maintenance hubs generally blocked the view unless one was going across the upper catwalks that spanned over the deck.
Although the whole area was just typically dubbed the “hangar” it was divided into two main parts: the main runway, sometimes called the flight deck, and the hangar area off to the side of this runway. Other auxiliary hangar bays were under the deck. The hangar area’s ceiling was much higher than other decks, about four times as high as the typical starship deck.
Empyrean had four hangar bays. They were situated in a square formation on the middle section of the heavy cruiser. The combined barracks for all of the fighter pilots were in between all four hangars, so the pilots could get to any particular hangar during an emergency.
There were nine squadrons onboard the warship, each named after a different Greek letter. Not all of the squadrons were fighter squadrons, there were six fighter, one corvette, and two bomber squadrons each consisting of a varying amount of available craft. Each fighter squadron typically flew with five members, with several other members on standby.
Empyrean was part of the new Interstellar Federation. For now, the warship continued to patrol near the border between the former Confederate state of Sol and the Galactic Union. Empyrean was not getting involved in anything that went against Arnold’s morals. Arnold had a feeling that this would soon change.
Elijah Shepherd greeted Arnold. “Hey, ready to take these birds for a spin? Alpha Squadron is up for the patrol.”
“Yep. Just burning holes in the sky?”
“Pretty much. We’re not expecting any hostiles out here. The battles lines aren’t too far away though. Ajax was heavily damaged in the battle to take Zeta Volantis III. That’s another Judgment-class.”
“I heard about that.”
Elijah walked over to the small maintenance hub that was next to the fighter. He looked at a deckhand that was reading over some diagnostics on a computer. The deckhand nodded at Elijah.
“Looks like your bird is good to go...” Elijah sighed. “If we had been assigned to that Judgment instead of Empyrean... well, who knows where we would be now. They lost a lot of men.”
“In a pointless battle.”
“Pointless battles are a staple of war.”
Arnold leaned against his Peregrine. “Is this war?”
“The war is upon us. The final war.”
“Huh?”
“I will be among the first to go to the twilight.” Elijah rubbed his forehead. “Ouch.”
“What do you mean, the twilight.... the final war? The eff?”
“I wish I knew.” Elijah bent over as he tried to fight back vomit. “One... one of the agents of the enemy is here...”
Elijah regained composure. He stared at Arnold.
“You okay, man?” Arnold nervously laughed. “Agent... of the enemy? Who—what do you mean?”
Arnold’s head started to pound.
Elijah broke his stare and looked out toward the starboard side. A corvette with Galactic Union markings flew into the hangar area. It wasn’t one of Empyrean’s. The huge corvette, compared to its surroundings, found a suitable place to land and gently came to a rest. There was barely enough room for it between the other craft and maintenance hubs it was next to. It appeared from the deckhand’s expressions that this landing wasn’t planned.
Arnold and Elijah’s patrol would have to wait. They rushed toward the new arrival that towered in the hangar.
The cargo bay of the corvette opened. A ramp led down to the deck of Empyrean.
A man with broad shoulders walked down the ramp. He was accompanied by soldiers. He wore a lavish blue uniform. Arnold recognized him as President Rhett Trachis.
Trachis called out in a deep voice to the nearby deckhands, “Sorry for the unscheduled stop. This ship was the closest to Zeta Volantis.”
Captain John Devereaux, with a few crewmen, walked up to the ramp. He nodded toward Arnold and Elijah who were standing off to the side.
Devereaux smiled. “I considered not telling you our shield frequencies. What brings you out here?”
“My ship, Ajax, was heavily damaged. It is still undergoing field repairs over Zeta Volantis III. If necessary, I will be commanding this vessel in any further... liberations.” Trachis reached out his hand to Devereaux for a handshake.
Devereaux glanced down at the outstretched hand. “Liberations...” Devereaux shook the new President’s hand. “... More like unnecessary slaughter.”
Trachis quickly withdrew his hand from the handshake. “Oh Captain, let’s do try to get along. I know many people do not agree with... the current events. But it is our duty as the Interstellar Federation to unite humanity! Unfortunately that means there will be...�
� Trachis smiled. “Slaughters, as you say, occasionally.”
Devereaux frowned. “Perhaps I should remove you from my ship.”
Trachis burst into laughter. “You can’t do that. You do realize I outrank you, right?”
“It only took a good man to die for you to get your rank,” Devereaux said.
“Yes, and Eridanys was a dear friend. I have taken command of Empyrean. You are still second-in-command. Don’t push your luck.” Trachis pushed himself past the captain.
Devereaux followed the President. “Respectfully, sir, if you do anything I do not agree with, I will cite the Articles of Galactic—”
Trachis laughed and turned back to Devereaux. Trachis got right into Devereaux’s face. He was at least six inches taller than Devereaux. “You cannot cite that, my friend.”
“I can, it applies to any commanding officer.”
“You would become the laughing stock of the entire galaxy. Removing the President from command? Perish the thought. That would not hold up in any court of law. This is my ship. Besides... You are on my side.”
“What?”
Trachis smirked. “The Interstellar Federation. Don’t stress too much, Captain. Stress can cause...” Trachis scratched under his nose. “...bloody noses.” He smiled. “Headaches, among other things. Don’t fight the future.”
Devereaux sighed in frustration.
Trachis continued walking away. “I need a good cabin, preferably close to the bridge. Get some of these crewmen to fetch my things. Thank you.”
April 24, 0271 AC – 17:10
Bridge, USS Empyrean
Edge of Galactic Union Space
Jacob did not like President Trachis. The President was far too friendly with King Mabus. The Interstellar Federation was disgusting, and yet, Jacob was a part of it. Jacob was an officer on board the new flagship of the Union. A flagship of the Interstellar Federation.
There were plans to attack Epsilon, a former world of the Orion Confederation. Jacob was glad that Empyrean would not be part of the attack. Apparently the defenses over Epsilon were light, and there was no sense potentially losing the President in case something went horribly wrong.
