Raven's Sphere

by Melissa Koberlein

  “No, those are paralysis darts. I’m not a monster like you. The only person on this mission I aim to kill is you,” I yell back at her.

  Garren claps her hands together, clearly entertained. “I love the fire in you, Raven. Even when you’re finished. You still fight back.” She folds her arms across her chest. “It’s such a shame I have to kill you. I think you’re the first Zetian I actually like.”

  “Go to hell.” I struggle to get my arm free from the wall as she advances toward me, picking her knife back up.

  “Oh, I don’t think so. But it looks like you’ve been somewhere, haven’t you? Your eyes are the same silver Emery’s were. That’s how you got immunity to the sphere. You were on Mythos. Well, that doesn’t work for my plans. We’ll have to destroy the planet, obviously. I can’t have people becoming immune to my perfect weapon. Now, which of your new silver eyes should I take out first? Do you have a preference?” She waves the knife toward my face.

  My knife is on the floor, by my right foot. The only other line of defense I have are my pistols, but she would take me out before I could get one drawn. If I could somehow throw her off balance…distract her in some way.

  There might be one thing I could try if she was closer—

  As if on cue, she stares at the top of my head. Vanity floats just beneath the surface in her eyes, and her hands twitch. I know that feeling, the same one as when I first saw the sphere.

  But while she’s looking up, I’m looking down. I knock her knife from her hand, put my weight on my artificial arm, and grasp her shoulder with my other hand to swiftly leverage my legs up and around her head as I push her down. I lock them tightly around her skull and squeeze, using the titanium plates sewn in my pants.

  She attempts a scream, but my thighs muffle and crush her mouth. Finally, there’s a crunch as her neck snaps like a twig between my thighs. She drops to the floor, her beautiful green, lifeless eyes staring blankly up at me. I fall back against the wall, still hanging by the arrow.

  “How’s that for a Zetian, you arrogant bitch?”

  I tilt my head back against the wall, breathing heavily.

  I did it.

  But I’ve got a big problem. I’m stuck to a wall. No matter how much I struggle and pull on the arrow, I can’t seem to get it free. I reach for my pistol. Using the butt of the handle, I hammer the end of the arrow to give me a better angle to pull free. I bite down on my lip as the exposed wires that are connected to my nervous system send shockwaves of pain up across my chest and into the side of my face. I take a deep breath and twist my shoulder, sliding down until, finally, I’m free.

  My arm is in bad shape but still somewhat operational. I have limited use of my first two fingers and thumb, but my third and fourth digits are sporadically dysfunctional. I bend down and grab the sack that Garren had placed back on her belt. I reach inside, no longer concerned because of my immunity, and pull out the sphere in my bare hand.

  The light is so bright as it touches my palm then slowly hovers, gently caressing my skin. A bright green light emits from the center, arcing out like tiny lightning bolts. The sphere is passing on to a new guardian—me.

  I did it, Emery. I got the sphere back.

  The sphere dances excitedly in my hand.

  “Happy to be away from her, huh?” I glance down at Garren’s body.

  The sphere brightens and whirls faster.

  “All right, let’s get out of here.” I put the sphere back in the bag and attach it to my belt. I need to contact our forces to confirm that I have the sphere.

  I make my way back out of Garren’s chambers and head to the hangar. There are dozens of fighters, as well as pilots and soldiers. Hopefully, one of the fighters will take the same security code I’ve been using on the rest of the ship. They will figure out what’s happened to their princess soon enough, and my lack of proper Cadmarian uniform is suspicious. I duck my head and stride over to the closest fighter, hopping into the cockpit. I’ve flown plenty of these bad boys before…just need security clearance.

  Yes! The code works. I fire her up and lift off. Below, a few soldiers recognize that I’m not Cadmarian and shout to close the hangar doors. I punch full speed through the small expanse between the closing doors, making it into space.

  Alarms sound as my radar lights up. Shots fly past me. They’ve engaged the ship’s plasma turrets. I spin and roll, doing my best with only one fully functioning hand to avoid the enemy fire. But their shots are dead on, and they are readying their fighters to engage. I don’t stand a chance.

  Wait a minute.

  The sphere.

  I pull the sphere from the bag. It feels warm in my hand, like it has a life force of its own. “Okay, buddy, let’s see what you can do with those plasma turrets.”

  I tap on the controls and pull the flexible evacuation tube from the wall. I drop the sphere in the tube, seal it, and touch the release. Out of my front viewing panel, I watch the sphere jettison back to Garren’s ship. It approaches a turret mounted topside.

  “Come on,” I say, biting my bottom lip, continuing to evade their plasma shots. It slows down, and as soon as a plasma shot bursts from one of the cannons, the sphere dives, obliterating the turret in a giant cloud of smoke and fire.

  “Starfire!”

  The sphere moves on to the next turret and destroys that one in the same fashion. Then the next and the next, bouncing off the surface of the Cadmarian ship, leaving no defense functioning. After the last of their artillery is destroyed, the sphere speeds back toward my fighter. I open the evacuation tube, and the sphere moves back inside. I clear the tube, allowing the sphere to float back into the cockpit into my outstretched hand.

  “That was awesome.”

  My radar screen lights up, flashing frantically. Ten, no twelve, fighters have fallen into formation behind us.

  “Okay, let’s have another pass so we can get some breathing room. See what you can do about those fighters.”

  Again, I release the sphere back out into space and loop up and around to take the fighters head on. The sphere whizzes ahead of me faster than any fighter I’ve ever seen, and I follow like a good wingman, except I don’t think the sphere needs me.

  The lead Cadmarian fighter takes its first shot at the sphere.

  The sphere dips, evading the plasma blasts and speeds toward the ship, dodging every blast coming from the team of fighters. One by one, each fighter that shoots at the sphere or me explodes as the sphere tears through their ship’s hull, turning them into bursts of scrap metal. After the cluster of fireballs clear, there are three Cadmarian fighters still intact, retreating to Garren’s ship.

  The bright sphere flies back to my fighter. Once it’s inside, I can’t help but say, “Nice work.”

  The sphere flickers, rotating in my hand before I set it down.

  I head into deep space and hail Stass on General Casik’s ship. “Casik Home. This is Raven Nevar. I have the sphere. I repeat, this is Raven Nevar. I have the sphere. Over.”

  A moment passes, and I grow nervous. Shouldn’t Stass be responding?

  I move to tap the comm again, when Stass’s voice comes over the frequency, “Copy that, Raven Nevar. You have the sphere. Head back to Casik Home.”

  “What’s the status of the Zetian teams?”

  Silence.

  “Stass, where are Cole and Teagan?”

  “Copy, Raven. The Zetian teams have taken a beating. We lost communication with them a few hours ago. Garrick’s ship has blocked all our frequencies on the near side of Zeta. We are working to get comms back up and running. Over.”

  “Then that’s where I’m headed. Add me to the ranks.”

  “Copy that. You’re Nevar One.”

  “Copy. Nevar One out.”

  Hang on, guys. I set coordinates for Zeta.

  27

  Joining the Fight

  I press the comm again, making sure I’m set to the right frequency. “Mason team, over? Teagan team, over? Hell, is any
one out there?”

  Nothing.

  Damn it. Where are they?

  In the distance is Zeta. Directly in front of the planet are cruisers, small battleships, and a variety of smaller fighters maneuvering around each other, trading fire in an intricate dance of flashing lights. At the center of it all is a giant battlecruiser, no doubt Garrick’s ship. Occasionally, there are larger bursts in space, signaling direct hits. Hopefully, there are more Cadmarian ships biting it. The battling armadas grow larger in my viewport with each passing second. I glance back at the panel for an update on ETA. I should be in the thick of things in orbit over Zeta in less than two minutes.

  “Casik. This is Nevar One. I’m inbound to combat zone in E-minus 1:35. Still no comm with Zeta teams. What’s the status, over?”

  Stass answers, “Nevar One. Garrick’s ship, the large battlecruiser, is blocking our comms on the far side of the battle, nearest to Zeta. We have no contact with them or anyone on the ground. The rear flank teams are attempting to take out their communications tower, but they can’t penetrate the ship’s shield.”

  “Copy that, Casik. I see it on my radar. I’ll assist. I’m in a Cadmarian fighter. I can get in range undetected. Send schematics to locate comm tower. Sending my ship identification and authentication codes. Over.”

  “Acknowledge. Receiving codes. Sending Cadmarian surface schematics to Nevar One.”

  I glance down and tap accept for the incoming message. The schematics of Garrick’s ship display on my screen. It looks like the tower is on the belly of the ship surrounded by plasma cannons. The shield surrounding the ship is still up as well. “Nevar One. Setting coordinates for the battlecruiser. Out.”

  Stass comes back on the comm. “Be careful, Raven. We’ve lost too many already. General Casik is considering pulling back.”

  “Copy that.”

  I glance down at the sphere, nestled in the folds of the soft bag pooled in the seat next to me, whirring and buzzing like a cat purring. The sphere does seem to have sentience, or at the very least, it’s receptive to its surroundings. “Better get ready. We need to find Cole and Teagan and kick these Cadmarians out of our system. But that’s nothing we can’t handle.”

  The sphere jumps at the sound of my voice, bouncing up and down excitedly.

  Well, you certainly are a contradiction—full of life yet downright deadly.

  I enter the space battle. We are losing big time. The allies on the space side of the Cadmarians are dwindling as battleships and firepower from Garrick’s ship pound our fighters and cruisers. The allies are attempting to knock out the communications tower while the Cadmarian ships pick them off, safely zipping in and out of cover from the large shield projected out from the battlecruiser. I’ve never seen anything like it. The shield is brilliant—provides protection for the battlecruiser and the smaller ships in the fleet. Give Garrick credit. He knows how to win a space battle. But he won’t be winning today after I get under that shield.

  I scan the battle, looking blindly for any of the Zetian teams. But they are on the other side of Garrick’s battlecruiser and out of my range. With no comm, I have no way to find out how they’re faring.

  Come on, Cole. Where are you?

  My radar lights up as a Zetian cruiser falls in line behind me and fires a torpedo in my direction. Quickly, I send out some anti-artillery and roll out of the way. My decoy explodes the torpedo. Starfire, that was a close one!

  I hail the cruiser. “This is Nevar One, Zetian space team. Watch yourself. I’m on your side.”

  The cruiser responds, “Nevar One, this is Westerly Four. Sorry about that.”

  Sorry about that? I’m okay. Thanks for asking. I eye the sphere, which flickers as my temper flares. All it would take is one shot out the evacuation tube.

  I take a deep breath and hear Tobias’s words in my head. Remember your training. Stay focused.

  I switch Westerly Four off and hail Casik Home. “Casik. This is Nevar One. Can you please notify the space teams of my ship ID and that I’m with them? I’m taking on some friendly fire here.”

  Stass answers, “Nevar One. I already did. Some of them are so overwhelmed that they can’t keep track. You are in a Cadmarian ship. Just do your best not to get tagged.”

  Okay, so I’m a target for both sides? Great. “Nevar out.”

  I maneuver around a team of Zetian battleships attacking a group of Cadmarian fighters evading flashes of plasma fire from both sides. On my bionic hand, only my thumb and index finger are good for keeping the ship steady. My goal is to stay as far away from the actual fighting until I can get to that communications tower.

  I touch the comm to hail Garrick’s battleship as I approach. “Fighter 23461 requesting permission to enter shield space.”

  “Fighter 23461, you’re not logged in this mission. Where are you coming from?” a male voice asks over my comm.

  Here we go. “I’m the lead scout coming from Garren One.”

  “One moment, Fighter 23461.”

  Surely they should be hot on my trail. I expand the radar again to check. More Cadmarian fighters and cruisers are coming into range behind me from Garren’s fleet.

  “Fighter 23461. Confirmed. You may enter shield space. Assigning frequency for entry.”

  I’ll only have minutes before Garren’s other ships contact Garrick’s and they realize my ruse. I fly through the shield barrier that encapsulates Garrick’s ship like a bubble and head toward the communications tower. So far so good.

  “Okay, here we go. You need to take out those cannons and destroy the communications tower.” I place the sphere back in the evacuation tube and tap the release.

  As soon as the sphere emerges from my fighter, Garrick’s ship comes back on the comm, “Fighter 23461, you have been identified as an enemy. Your frequency for the shield has been revoked. You must dock immediately, or you will be fired upon.” Then after a quick pause, I hear, “All eyes on the communications tower now.”

  Well, that didn’t take long.

  The sphere speeds to the surface of Garrick’s ship as the cannons turn and aim at me.

  Shit. I grasp the controls and roll left and then back right, dodging cannon fire. I’m in real trouble—I’m locked in the space between the battle cruiser’s shield and open space. If I touch the shield barrier, I’m toast like a moth in a zapper.

  My ship shakes as a large explosion on the surface of Garrick’s ship envelops the communications tower. I turn back toward the explosion, rolling and spinning to evade fire from some Cadmarian fighters that are now locking onto me. I trade a few shots, but there are too many of them. Warning signals go off as one of the fighters launches a torpedo.

  I roll away and again drop some anti-artillery bait. The torpedo misses, but the fighter is still hot on my trail.

  The sphere whirls back, heading straight at me. What is it doing? I brace for impact, but instead it zooms up and over my fighter, heading for my pursuers. I check the radar and fly up and loop around to double back. The sphere is plowing through the Cadmarian fighters like a knife through butter, leaving only dust and scrap metal behind.

  “Need some help getting out of there, Nevar?” a familiar voice says on the comm.

  My heart pounds at the sound of Cole’s voice. The Zetian comms are back up and running. “Where have you been? Where’s Teagan?”

  “I’m right above you, Raven,” Teagan says.

  I glance up, and sure enough, there are two teams of Zetian fighters maintaining a position just above the shield.

  Teagan asks, “How the hell did you get in there?”

  “I was restoring your communications. You’re welcome. Now get me out of here.”

  “Copy that, Nevar One. Looks like you’ve got a little helper in there. Hang tight,” Cole says. “Teagan leader, we need to destroy the shield generators. On me.”

  They speed off to the opposite side of the ship, maneuvering around Cadmarian fighters and turrets that are protected by the shield.r />
  The sphere, having taken out the last fighter within range, flies back toward me, hovering just off my left wing. “All right, let’s stay the course until they can get us out of here.”

  I barrel roll and swoop under the belly of the ship, hoping to stay out of sight. But there’s a squad of Cadmarian fighters headed our way.

  “All right, I can’t let you have all the fun.” I arm my guns and torpedoes. “I’ll take the three in the front, and you take the other nine.” I nod at the sphere, realizing at that moment that it knows my thoughts whether spoken aloud or silent. That’s why it protected me when it belonged to Emery—he asked it to.

  The sphere flies off to flank, and I set my sights on the three in the lead. I lock onto the first fighter because he’s distracted by the sphere taking out the rest of his squad. The remaining two recover, and I draw them out in a chase up and around the other side of the ship. After a few sharp turns, close to the surface, one of the remaining fighters crashes into a tower on Garrick’s ship.

  One more to go. The top side of Garrick's ship is a maze of supports, channels, and towers with working turrets and cannons. I dive down into the channels, maneuvering my fighter through twists and turns as the enemy fighter follows. I can’t let him get a lock on me. I shoot up and over a high cross beam and turn back down, following the schematics on my radar. The fighter behind me is relentless. I can’t shake him.

  Then, as soon as I take a right turn down a narrow channel, the entire ship quakes, slamming me into the side of the passage. I grasp the controls tightly, trying to regain control. I pull up and out of the maze of channels. My pursuer follows right on my tail.

  My computer panel shouts, “Warning. Warning. Power loss. Shutting down weapons. Full shut down in one minute, thirty-four seconds.”

  Starfire! That’s not good! I check my instruments. I’m not close enough to any of the large Zetian cruisers to land. More importantly, I’ve got a persistent fighter on my tail and zero weapons. I change course and head for the hangar of Garrick’s ship, my pursuer following. He’s had a few close shots. I’m not sure how much longer I can evade him and still set my ship down in the hangar.