Weapons of War

by M. R. Forbes

  Someone was in the water, swimming toward them.

  "Diaz," Donovan said. He had two of the Dread rifles hanging from his body, and she took one and lifted it from him, aiming it at the approaching figure. "Don't shoot."

  She grunted in response. He wasn't sure if she was going to listen or not.

  The figure was ten meters away when it stopped swimming and stood in the waist deep water.

  Donovan fell back onto his rear, the tension draining from him, the exhaustion making him dizzy.

  "I don't know how you did it," he said, "but I'm glad you did."

  Ehri's face was covered in a layer of grime, her hair had been singed, her left arm was cut and bleeding, and she had another wound across her abdomen. Despite all of that, she was alive, her expression serious as she approached them.

  "I've bought us some time, Major," she said. "Let us not waste it."

  NINE

  Gabriel stood in front of the hatch leading down into logistics, staring at the cold metal. It was the only thing remaining between him and Lieutenant Daphne O'Dea. The only remaining barrier before he would have to be the one to deliver the bad news.

  "I'm sorry, Daphne," he whispered to himself. "Soon didn't make it back."

  He wasn't sure how she would react when he said it for real. She was a soldier, and she had fallen in love with the pilot and married him knowing that he would likely die somewhere near Earth. She might be coldly accepting of his fate. She might fall apart. He needed to be ready for either reaction. The silver lining was that there was a chance, a small chance, that Soon wasn't dead. He was landing the starfighter, not crashing it.

  He heard a noise behind him and glanced over his shoulder. A tech crossed the corridor behind him, pushing a heavy cart of tools. Two hours had passed since they had come out of slipspace, somehow still alive. Two hours since Reza had informed them that they were essentially trapped out in the middle of nowhere, right after they had kicked the hornet's nest and sent the Dread searching for them.

  It was a truth that didn't sit well with him, or with anyone on the bridge who knew about it. Calawan was only fifty light years from Earth, close enough that if the Dread wanted to find it, they would be able to find it. Nobody had any doubts about that. Meanwhile, the only chance they had of defending the settlement was resting in a makeshift laboratory near the hangar, waiting for Reza and Guy Larone to be able to take a break from calculating possible stream positions to take a look at it instead.

  Meanwhile, the Magellan was almost twenty generations away from the planet, and away from Earth, unless those calculations bore quick fruit. Plus, with the damage to the fluid systems, the starship only had three months of potable water. It sounded like a lot, but Gabriel knew it wasn't.

  He put his hand to his chest, feeling his mother's cross beneath his shirt. He traced the lines of it, tentatively asking for strength. For all that had gone right in retrieving the weapon, so much had gone wrong immediately after.

  He knew he would have to go and see his father soon. He wasn't going to make the mistake of abandoning him again. He just couldn't deal with all of the conflicting emotions that went along with it right now.

  He tapped on the control panel beside the hatch. It slid open slowly, groaning as it did. The ship hadn't been in the best shape when they took it. The Dread's attack had only made it worse. There were dozens of doors within the ship that wouldn't open at all, and enough damage it would take their crews weeks to get to it.

  Lieutenant O'Dea was standing in the middle of the large cargo area, holding a tablet in her hands and shouting to a dozen crew members as they dug through bins of replacement parts, bolts, and screws. The Magellan had been expected to break down during her journey to the stars, and so had come with a supply of pieces to keep her running. That supply had dwindled over time and seeing the way the crew dug into it signaled to Gabriel that it was running thin.

  He had wondered if news of Soon's fate had leaked from the bridge ahead of him. He could tell by the way Daphne was working that it probably hadn't. He was proud of the crew for the level of professionalism they had shown. Most had spent their entire lives groomed to occupy Delta Station, to practice war but not to live it. They were holding up well.

  "No, we need six of the inverse capacitors," she was saying as he approached her.

  "We only have four, ma'am," one of the crew members said.

  She shook her head. "We need six. See if you can find them in one of the other bins."

  "Lieutenant O'Dea," Gabriel said.

  She looked over at him. Her face immediately froze, paling and falling flat in a moment's time. He should have realized he wouldn't need to say anything. It should have been Soon coming to see her, not him.

  "No," she whispered, blinking a few times.

  "I think I found one," the crew member said. "Why didn't we get a decent inventory before we stole her?" He laughed for a second before looking back at Daphne and Gabriel.

  "Sergeant Keene, is it?" Gabriel said.

  "Yes, sir," Keene replied.

  "Take over for Lieutenant O'Dea. I need to speak with her privately."

  Keene nodded curtly, his whole demeanor shifting.

  "Gabriel," Daphne said softly.

  "Come on," Gabriel said, leading her from the large room.

  He got her out into the side corridor where he came in from and tapped the door control. It groaned again and didn't close.

  "Damn door," he cursed, his own control slipping at the mishap. Soon was his friend, too.

  "What happened?" she asked, the tears beginning to run from her eyes.

  "We were taking heavy fire from Dread Bats. Heavy fire. He was hit. He didn't have enough power left to make it out of orbit. He saved my life, Daphne. He distracted the Dread, gave us the time we needed to make it back out. He's a hero." Gabriel felt the wetness in the corners of his own eyes.

  Daphne responded with a small smile. "I bet he made a joke while he was crashing."

  "He didn't crash. He had enough control to land the fighter. There's a good chance he's still alive."

  "If the Dread didn't capture him. Or kill him."

  "Yes. He wanted me to tell you how much he loves you."

  "Thanks, Gabriel. I already know that."

  "I don't think we should give up on him. The rebels on Earth captured some of the Dread's weapons. They're able to fight back. The tides of war may be turning."

  "What about us? What are we doing?"

  "Trying to get back into the fight. Our slip away from Earth didn't go as well as it could have, but we'll recover. Reza's a genius, and for as much as I hate Guy Larone, he's got a good head on his shoulders when he wants to."

  "We're going back to Earth, though, right?"

  "Not right away, but yes, we'll be going back."

  "You got the enemy weapon? Do you think we can use it?"

  "They'll figure it out. They have to."

  She took a deep breath, straightening up and wiping her eyes. "I was always worried he would die making a run. Knowing he has a chance, that's all I need. Don't ever talk to me like he's gone, Gabriel. Until someone proves otherwise, Soon is alive on Earth, helping the rebels take the fight back to the Dread."

  "Okay," Gabriel said, wiping his eyes. "We'll save him. We'll save all of them."

  "I know that, too. You and your father, you're cut from the same cloth. Neither one of you will be able to die before we're living peacefully on Earth again."

  "I hope you're right about that," Gabriel said, his thoughts turning to Theodore again. "Are you going to be okay?"

  "I won't lie and tell you that I'm one hundred percent. I'd rather have Soon here with me, and I'm going to miss the hell out of him. I'll survive, just like he will."

  "I can bring Wallace over if that helps. So you don't have to be alone."

  Daphne laughed at that, stepping into Gabriel and wrapping her arms around him. He returned the embrace, holding her in silence for a minute and letting her dec
ide when to pull away.

  "I don't need his hair all over my bed," she said. "But maybe I'll stop by and take him for a run."

  "Anytime."

  Daphne straightened her uniform, and then flattened her hair and wiped her eyes one last time. She looked back in at her team, pretending to be busy while they kept an eye on her.

  "I'll tell them what happened," she said. "We're stronger together than we are alone."

  Gabriel nodded. He knew it was true.

  Now he just had to convince his father of that.

  TEN

  Sergeant Diallo was standing outside Theodore's quarters when Gabriel arrived. She had a stern look on her face, one that suggested at her strict loyalty and stricter orders not to let anyone past.

  "Colonel Choi was already here," she said as Gabriel approached. "She didn't get past me, and neither will you, Captain. General's orders."

  "I'm not here as an officer," Gabriel said. "I'm here as a son."

  Diallo shook her head. "I'm sorry, Gabriel. He doesn't want to see anyone."

  "I know. That's why I came."

  "He knew you would. So did I. He specifically told me not to let you in."

  "And you're going to listen to him?"

  She bit her lip. "Please don't make me choose. I promised your father I would follow him. If I renege on that, he'll never forgive me."

  Gabriel thought about it. He appreciated the woman's loyalty to Theodore, even if it was getting in the way of his mission. "Okay. I won't ask you to choose. Can you just pass a message to him for me?"

  "That I can do."

  Gabriel paused. He wasn't sure it was a card he wanted to use, but what choice did he have? His father had holed himself up in his quarters, feeling sorry for himself instead of taking charge. It was an embarrassing response to his moment of failure. A response that Gabriel wasn't going to let him get away with.

  "Tell him I have news about my mother. About Juliet. He doesn't get to know what it is unless he lets me in."

  "Do you really have news?" she asked.

  "Yes."

  "Do you swear?"

  "I very rarely lie, Sergeant, and only when it's important."

  She raised her eyebrow.

  Gabriel smiled. "I promise."

  "Fine. I'll tell him. Step back a little. I don't want you trying to sucker me."

  "Would I do that?"

  "I think if it were important."

  Gabriel took a few steps back, putting his hands behind him for good measure. Sergeant Diallo smiled and then opened the hatch to Theodore's quarters. Gabriel looked past her. His father wasn't sitting out in the open. It was more likely that he was in that bathroom sick, or in bed, tired.

  She vanished inside, the hatch closing smoothly behind her. Of course, that one would be in good working order. Gabriel leaned back against the bulkhead to wait, keeping his arms folded behind his back.

  He didn't have to stand there for long.

  "He said he'll see you," Diallo said as the hatch opened. "Provided, as he says, 'you keep your coonass opinions of my fitness for duty to your damn self.'"

  Gabriel smiled. At least there was still some sass in his old man. "You know I won't," he said.

  "I know," she replied, stepping aside to let him in. "Be gentle with him, sir. He isn't feeling well."

  "He's my father, Sergeant. First and foremost. I want to help him."

  "Yes, sir."

  Gabriel entered the living space, closing the hatch behind him. He could smell the vomit in the air, and he noticed the stain of it still on the floor.

  "You come to tell me I'm a screw-up?" Theodore St. Martin asked, moving into the room. He was wearing his full dress uniform, crisp and tight. "You come to tell me I don't deserve to lead these fine men and women?"

  "Dad," Gabriel said.

  "We ain't stupid, son. Neither one of us. We both know what happened out there, and we both know the cause."

  He pulled something from his pocket. The remainder of his pills. He tossed them to Gabriel, who caught them smoothly.

  "I ain't hiding from my responsibility in here, Gabe. I'm getting my ass clean. Two hours ain't much so far, but I need to be stronger. I need to deal with the pain. Those people are counting on me. They're trusting me to take care of them, the way I did all those years ago. To get them away from harm." His voice cracked as he said it, his emotions threatening to break through the resolve of a General.

  He paused, turning away so Gabriel couldn't see his face. It was just as well. Gabriel had never seen his father like this, and it was waging war on his composure, too.

  "They still believe in you," Gabriel said. "They don't blame you for this. You did the best you could."

  Theodore's head whipped back. "Best I could? No, I did not do the best I could. I gave in to the demon of pain. I let my weakness get the better of me, and I damn near got us all killed. If you hadn't been so quick up to the bridge, we'd all be one with the Atlantic Ocean right about now." He walked over to the sofa and sat down. "I blanked, son. Completely blanked. Couldn't think a lick. All I could see was your mom and me on the beach in Hawaii. What a time that was. No Dread, no war. No outpost in the middle of a sea of nowhere."

  "Because of these," Gabriel said, shaking the bottle. "When you don't take them, you get sick."

  "I'd rather be floating in my own vomit than losing my head when it's needed the most. Oh, don't get me wrong, son. I want them. I really want them. I'm damn near ready to tear your head off to get another hit. I ain't going to do it. I have a responsibility to these people. They're following me because I promised to give them everything I had to take back what's ours. You got us the gun. You gave us that chance. I need to hold up my end."

  "I'm not arguing with that as a soldier," Gabriel said. "As a son, I don't want to see you in pain."

  "I appreciate that. I do. There ain't no way around it. Not this time. I'm going to hurt. I'm going to hurt bad for the next few days. You want to help me? Don't tell anyone."

  "Why not?"

  "Ain't none of their business for one. It will be more effective when I reappear clean and sober for another."

  "Okay. You know our situation?"

  "Diallo passed the info along to me, yeah. Up shit's creek and we ain't got a paddle."

  "Huh?"

  "I guess you're too young for that one. Point is, we ended up in a bad way thanks to me. Now, the only reason I let you in here is because you know something about your mother. Vivian tried to use that line to get in here too, but I wanted to hear about it direct."

  Gabriel clenched his jaw. He had been holding onto the slim hope his father would forget. As if that would ever happen.

  "It isn't good news," he said.

  "Fifty years," Theodore replied. "I wanted it to be. I was hoping she was with him. General Rodriguez. I wanted it so bad." He leaned forward, putting his head in his hands. At first, Gabriel thought he was going to cry, but then he rubbed his face and sat back up. "It was all wishful thinking, wasn't it? Selfish, wishful thinking. God's always had a plan for my Juliet. I wish it had included me for all of my days, but that ain't His way, is it?"

  "I don't know," Gabriel said.

  "I do. You don't get to choose when to believe and when not to believe. That ain't faith. I have to believe there's a reason she was taken from me. So, what did you learn?"

  Gabriel sat down next to his father, turning toward him. "The resistance soldiers that gave me the weapon. There was a woman with them. She was human, but clearly not human."

  "One of their clones?"

  "Yes. I never met mom, but that picture of her that you always projected onto the wall of our apartment, that's etched into my brain. I don't even need to think about it to call it up. The woman, she was the spitting image. An exact duplicate."

  "They cloned Juliet?"

  "It seems that way."

  "So they caught up to her, and they took her?"

  "I think so."

  Gabriel expected his father
to fall apart again. To take the news hard, like he and Colonel Choi had both believed he would. Instead, he started to laugh. A hard, deep laugh.

  "What's so funny?" Gabriel asked, as his father leaned forward, beginning to cough from the effort.

  "They made copies of your mom," Theodore said. "Do you have any idea what that means?"

  "It means she was captured. It means she's most likely dead."

  "She was always most likely dead, son, as much as I hate to admit it. No, I'm laughing because it means that those couillons have no idea what kind of reckoning they've brought down on themselves. None at all. A spirit like Juliet's can't be quelled forever. They're going to learn that the hard way if they haven't learned it already.

  "It's like I said, son. God has a plan, and it's a doozy."

  ELEVEN

  Tea'va shifted slightly in the confines of the gi'shah, the suspension gel of the cockpit cold and damp against his more sensitive, more human-like flesh. For older drumhr, the koo'lek was a necessary ingredient, as it was filled with nutrients, hormones, and chemicals that would make the pilot a more efficient fighting machine. For them, it would remove waste and add back needed fluids, as well as act as a transmitter to the bek'hai's every thought, transferring electrical signals into activity that would pass to the organic control system of the gi'shah. For him, it did little more than cling to his body, attempting to fulfill its design and failing miserably. Instead, he had to wear a cap and suit composed of the gori'shah, microscopic symbiotic organisms that were often grown to maturity woven into their more recently developed clothing.

  It was the gori'shah that would enable the transfer for him. This made flying the craft less efficient for him than was for the others, and was one of the reasons he had given chase to the Heil'shur. He had wanted to prove that his more genetically advanced form strengths were greater than its current weaknesses.

  He had failed.

  It didn't matter. The Domo'dahm had listened to his plea. Had allowed him another chance. While the other pur'dahm ridiculed him, the Domo'dahm believed in him and his future. If only Rorn'el didn't insist on his mating with the Mothers, the situation would have been perfect.