“How’s this?” Benson asked, opening a door to reveal a huge room. The lights turned on, a soft white glow over the small space. Inside were a living room, a couch and table, and a small kitchen; two doors led him to his own bathroom and bedroom.
Ace was speechless, but he finally found his tongue. “All of this? For me?”
“Yes. The Eureka is state-of-the-art, and one thing our benefactor believes in is crew comfort. What do you think?” Benson asked.
Ace turned away, not wanting the man to see his reaction. He couldn’t remember ever having his own room before. When he glanced back, Benson was at the door, and Charles between them.
“I… thank you,” Ace was able to muster out.
“Think nothing of it. You’ve done humanity a great favor, and we’re happy to have you on board. Charles, please fill him in on any details he requires. And show him where to get food, if you don’t mind.” Benson stepped into the hall, and the door slid closed before Charles could reply.
“Would you care for a moment to get situated?” Charles asked, eyes glowing dim orange.
Ace liked the android. It might have been lower on his list of surprises over the last forty-eight hours, but it was there. “I’d like to take a shower and change.” He glanced to the bed, where a stack of clothing sat. How did they know his size? They moved quickly on this ship.
“Very well. I’ll wait in the hall,” Charles offered.
Ace shook his head. “Stay here. One thing first, though.”
“Anything,” Charles said.
“Are they really going to invade?” Ace asked.
Charles stared at him for a moment before speaking. “It is likely. I only know what I’ve been told on the subject by humans, so there is a lot of conjecture and trust in my views on it. I have seen an alien, and that in itself proves a lot to me. I have not seen the Rift yet, but we will tomorrow. Flint Lancaster claims to have seen evidence of the Rift. And he is trustworthy… for a smuggler.”
Ace had no idea what the android was going on about, but if Charles believed it, then so did he. “What are you?”
“I am… I don’t know. Different.”
“So am I,” Ace said, feeling a kinship to the robotic man.
Charles moved for the door. “Anything else?”
“The destination. On the other side of the Rift. Do you know it?” Ace asked. His heart beat harder in his chest. He wanted options.
“I don’t think they would care for that to be spread around,” Charles said. “What do you want it for? I see no path that leads you to using that information.”
Ace had to be careful. Instead, he decided to be honest. Charles seemed to appreciate that. “I’m scared. I just joined the Earth Fleet, and I left all my new friends back there, one in particular. If what you say is true, they’re going to be decimated. I want to warn them.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. The diversion was used to prevent the Fleet from interfering with the councilman’s plans.”
“Then give me the location, so I can help them when the Rift opens. I’ll take my ship back and follow Eureka.” Ace thought the plan might work. At least, a small part of him did.
Charles looked deep in thought as he considered the situation. Ace wondered how the thought was processed inside his positronic brain.
“I will give you the location, but promise me you will only use it for yourself. Not the others.” Charles crossed the room to the desk and opened up a holoscreen, entering some information into it. “There. Use this, but I urge you to come with us and forget what you know. There is no helping them. Not one young man against the coming Watchers.”
Ace got goosebumps as the android used the name for the aliens.
“Thank you. I’ll be out shortly.” Ace was thrilled Charles had given him the information. Now he just needed a way to get that information to Serina. She deserved his loyalty.
26
Wren
Wren drained the remaining coffee from her mug and finished off her runny eggs. It was August second, the day everyone had been waiting for. Jarden’s life had been building up to this moment for thirty years – actually, sixty – and his obsession was clear. Nothing felt different for her. She was on borrowed time. If Charles hadn’t broken her out of prison, she’d still be hauling sheets of metal used to produce more Fleet ships, and eventually, she’d have died or been killed from toxin inhalation due to a faulty mask in the smelting room.
Wren sat for longer than she would have back in New Dallas and listed off things she was grateful for this morning. She was grateful to be alive, for the fresh coffee she’d just had, for meeting Charles, for the forward thinking of a man like Fairbanks, for her ex-fiancé saying all those horrible things about her so she didn’t have to worry about him any longer, for meeting Lancaster.
She considered the last thought, which had come unbidden. There was something about the way his chestnut eyes bore into her, and the sideways grin that was always ready to show itself off.
With a shake of her head, Wren pushed back and got up. The cafeteria lounge was quiet. Everyone aboard was nervous, and likely there were a few uneasy stomachs this morning. Wren grabbed a coffee to go, smiling at the ability to do so, and made her way toward her lab. On a ship this size, it took her a good fifteen minutes, but she took her time, saying hello to half a dozen crew members along the way.
Eventually, she wound her way to the lab, where two guards stood perched on either side of the door. They moved to prevent her from entering the room, and Wren had to bite her tongue to keep from telling them off. It was her lab, according to Jarden, so why would they try to stop her from going in?
“I’m Dr. Wren Sando. What’s going on?” She stretched her hand out, and one of the guards scanned her before stepping aside and lowering his gun.
“Sorry, ma’am. Just following orders,” the one on the right said, and she passed by, opening the solid sliding door.
It was dark inside, so the blue light emanating from the left side of the room instantly caught her eye.
“It’s funny, Doctor.” Wren jumped at the sound of Jarden’s voice. She could hardly make out his shape where he sat on a table in the middle of the lab.
“What is?” she asked hesitantly.
“I got a sample a few years ago but had no success with a potential virus until I hired you. That damned Karn found out and shut it all down. We could have been ready for the invasion otherwise. I never expected to see you again, but here you are, in the very same room as myself and the subject. That’s what I call a royal serving of ironic situation.” Jarden’s voice was lighter, more wistful than she’d ever heard it sound before.
“What do you mean, the subject?” Wren took her gaze from his shadowed back and looked at the energy field covering the front of the glass cell in the lab. Something was inside it. “Oh my God. You didn’t…”
She kept walking until she stood a foot away from the flickering wall of light. Behind it was the creature: the one her DNA map drew out, or a very close representation. “The Watcher,” she whispered. It heard her and met her eyes from the corner of the cell. She instantly felt sorry for the being. It was trapped far from home and had been for the last thirty years.
Wren knew what it was like to be stuck in a cage and had the urge to let it free. She pushed the thought away, because that wouldn’t do anyone any good. Who was she kidding? She was going to use its samples and find a way to destroy every last one of its kind, should they decide to attack the Earth Fleet.
“Impressive, isn’t it? I still can’t believe Karn managed to keep it hidden from her crew for so long. Do you know how close I was to whistleblowing on her after you were caught?” Jarden let out a low whistle, as if this would prove something.
“But you didn’t.”
“No. I trusted my gut, and look where it got us. All three of us, together in one place. Wren, today is August second. It’s the big day, and I expected to be a ball of anxiety and stress. But I’
m not. I’m the opposite. Today, I’ll see another galaxy: one where my… the one the colony ship traveled to so long ago,” he said, and she looked back at him to see him staring at the trapped Watcher.
He looked far younger in the dim blue glow of the energy field, and she imagined him at an impulsive forty, finding out his children and wife had left through the Rift. She admired his tenacity and dedication.
“I have to go now, but if you don’t mind getting started, there’s no time like the present. You need to continue your work, and quickly. We don’t know what we’ll find over there, but I want to be ready for it. The Eureka won’t go down easily in a fight, but if we find the colonists are held as slaves, or dead by the Watchers’ hands, they’ll regret ever poking their heads through the Rift. Is that clear?” Jarden was up now, closer to her, and he looked every second of his age again.
“Clear as crystal.”
“Good. Now find a way to kill them.” With that, he left her alone in the lab with the lights off, and an extra-terrestrial a few feet away from her.
Jish
The tumbler broke as it hit the door, sending shards of glass spraying around the entry of her office. Who the hell did the little twerp think he was? The Invader was gone, the damned little kid was gone, along with her backup to the destroyed probe. How the hell had the alien escaped? It didn’t add up.
Jish picked another glass and threw it hard against the wall, this one also shattering. Almost unconsciously, she grabbed the decanter of Scotch and drank too much for her mouth to hold, spitting some of it out as she tried to swallow it down.
What kind of leader had she become? Their Fleet was amassed together for the first time in a century, and she was throwing a tantrum in her office while they waited for her decision. It was a risk. She had no intel on the Rift at all now, and they needed to know if the attack was coming. She’d waited too long, and it was now only an hour away.
Jish dropped the near-empty decanter of Scotch and wiped her mouth with a sleeve. She was in no position to lead the Earth Fleet, but there was no one else with enough balls to make the tough calls. Except for Jarden Fairbanks, and he was the reason she was in this mess in the first place.
She got on the communicator and made her announcement. “All Shift drive vessels to the Stellae. We make the jump in twenty minutes. Bring every EFF-17 you can fit. Today, we fight for Earth.” Jish ended the call and sat back in her leather seat, the room spinning slightly.
This was it. Either the Invaders would be there or they wouldn’t be. She wished she could give the odds at fifty-fifty, but her gut was one hundred percent sure they’d arrive and soon find a fleet of enemies nearby. She needed another thirty years but didn’t think she was going to be that lucky.
After cleaning herself up, she took an injection to help process the alcohol and pulled her disheveled hair into a slightly professional ponytail. When she arrived on the bridge of the Stellae, the crew were scattered, and she could smell their nervousness.
The ships were in formation and ready to go. Jish hit the comm-switch for the entire Fleet to hear. “Today, we stand together as Earth Fleet. But more than that, we’re going to protect the entire system: each colony, and every human alive. We’ll bring the fight to the enemy before they can bring it to us. I’m proud to be Earth Fleet because of all of you. Today, we fight for humanity.” She paused and noticed her own crew sitting straighter and standing taller. “Activate Shift drives. On three.”
She watched out the viewscreen as the handful of carriers, corvettes, and warships vanished, the Stellae a split second behind them.
Flint
Flint was startled as the Earth Fleet vessels appeared near the Rift’s eventual opening. He counted fourteen large vessels in total. A lot of firepower, but potentially not enough, if Jarden’s predictions came to fruition.
“I knew they’d still come,” the councilman said as he paced to the front of the bridge. “Don’t engage in communication with them. Stick to the plan, do you all understand?”
The entire crew said “Yes, sir” in unison, including Flint.
Jarden was still in front of them, staring at the massive screen from two feet away. Flint followed his head angle and saw the blue dot appear. “It’s here,” Jarden whispered.
Flint glanced over at Kat, who was sitting still, her mouth opened slightly as she took in the image. When Flint looked back, the Rift was opening wider. There was nothing coming through it. He let out a sigh of relief. Maybe the Watchers weren’t going to make their move after all. He started to smile, when he heard a gasp from behind him.
The image on the viewscreen zoomed in, but they were too far to keep a crisp image at this distance. It didn’t matter. Flint could still see the familiar boxy shape of the Watchers’ ship as it entered. He’d seen the same thing on the footage they’d found aboard his ship, only this time, there wasn’t just one. Vessel after vessel poured through the Rift, which had to be five kilometers wide at this point.
“Stick to the plan. Flint, get ready to punch it,” Jarden said, never averting his gaze. He was so transfixed on the viewscreen, Flint doubted anything would break the old man from staring at it.
“Yes, sir. Destination is locked, and we’re ready to Shift.” Flint sat there watching the imminent battle unfold, his finger ready to tap the icon on command.
Ace
Ace could see the image from the viewscreen through his feed in his quarters. He pocketed the datastick with the Shift coordinates and ran for the door. Serina was on one of those carriers, and he couldn’t let her get killed. He’d slept like a baby last night, at peace with his decision to stay on board the Eureka and go with them through the Rift. Now, seeing the Fleet arrive and the aliens coming to destroy them, something broke inside him.
He raced down the halls, winding his way toward the small hangar, where the Shift-modified fighter sat empty. He made it there quickly and was surprised to find the hangar unguarded. It was dark and quiet in the room as he hurled himself into the fighter’s cockpit. His mask was where he’d left it, and he threw it on before closing and sealing the ship.
The hangar wall lifted as the engine started, a nice technologic advancement that made his exit easier. Ace kept worrying the Eureka would jump, and he’d exit into space to find they were already on the other side. He hurried, lifting the fighter up, and passed the blue containment field into space. He let out a sigh of relief when his sensors picked up the Earth Fleet vessels a few thousand kilometers away.
Ace raced toward them, pushing his thrusters as fast as they would go. As he approached, he heard chatter in his earpiece from the crew of the ship he’d just escaped, but he ignored it.
“Where are you, Serina?” he asked himself and spotted the carrier she’d been in the other day by its ID number. She’d still be there. He had to get in touch with her, and he searched for her private line.
He’d been so preoccupied, he hadn’t seen the thousands of alien ships rushing toward the Earth Fleet lines. Ace felt the urge to bank the ship away from them and run back to the Eureka with his tail between his legs. The battle began to unfold before his eyes.
Earth Fleet fighters tore through space, entering into dogfights with the enemy ships. They were clearly outmanned and outgunned, and Ace noticed some of the alien fighters blink out of existence. They were using their Shift drives to do small jumps. There was no way the Earth Fleet could compete. The attacking fighters were squat, wider than the Fleet’s, each of them moving swiftly and with purpose.
Large pulses shot from the Watchers’ largest ships, blasting against the Fleet’s warship shields. They would only hold for so long.
Finally, he found Serina’s line and tried to reach her. “Serina! It’s Ace. They’re shifting mid-flight. You have to get out of here. Move back to the rendezvous and regroup. Tell them what you found here. You’ll all be destroyed!” His words came quickly and erratically.
“Ace? How’s this possible? Where are you?” Serina’s voic
e hit his earpiece, and he grinned despite the chaos around him.
He could give her the location Charles had passed him. While he considered this, he ensured the Shift drive was charging and set the destination into the fighter’s console.
“I just got here. It’s hopeless. Look. They’re still coming.” Ace zoomed in on the Rift; more and more alien vessels were entering through the opening in space. It was real. They were really being invaded, and Ace knew there’d be no way of stopping them. Charles swore this Fairbanks character was going to save humanity, but Ace didn’t know how.
“We can’t let them invade!” Serina sounded scared, and he didn’t blame her.
“You’re overpowered here. Retreat. For me. Tell them what’s happening!” Ace saw the Rift shrinking. He glanced to the right edge of his viewscreen and saw that the Eureka was gone. It had jumped.
Serina didn’t reply, but he noticed the carrier she was in under heavy fire. He raced toward it, firing at an enemy fighter along the way. It shifted away, his pulse cannon missing and hitting empty space where it had been a moment before. As he approached, hundreds of the EFF-17s still battled around him. One of the huge enemy warships arrived a thousand kilometers away, and he knew what its target was.
“Serina, they’re targeting you. Retreat now. Shift out of here!” he yelled as the blasts cut through space. Just before they hit the carrier, it vanished, and Ace let out a sigh of relief.
That was, until he saw he was under fire of his own, surrounded by a half-dozen alien fighters.
He arced away, checking the Shift drive with the corner of his vision. It was charged. At this point, the Rift wasn’t a tenth of its largest size, and he closed his eyes as he activated the drive.
Rift Page 24
