Oblivion: The Complete Series (Books 1-9)

by Joshua James

  Ben opened his eyes, but his vision was blurred. Yet through the legs of the growing number of onlookers, he saw a familiar shape. His eyes focused on it, slowly bringing it into sharp relief. He recognized what he was seeing now. It was the woman with the skull mask, from the train. She stood there and looked perfectly fine: not a scratch on her.

  “Impossible,” he said, or tried to. It came out as a ragged breath.

  There was no way that she could’ve survived, let alone doing so without being harmed. The grenade had been in her hand.

  As if sensing his gaze, the woman met his eyes. She took off the mask and dropped it on the elevated walkway. Then she smiled at him.

  It might have been the blood loss or result of his numerous injuries, but Ben saw the impossible. The woman’s very being changed before his eyes. Under her skin, he saw bones and muscles shift around, reform, and rearrange themselves. Blood seeped into Ben’s eyes, and he desperately shook it off. When his vision cleared, it was over. The woman was a man: a tall, skinny, pale man. His eyes were a deep, cloudy, churning black. He smiled as he picked up the skull mask and calmly walked away.

  Ben passed out.

  Four

  Lee

  “He’ll be here, Lee,” said Beverly Saito.

  Her husband, Captain Lee Saito, downed a glass of Scotch.

  “I’m sure he will. He always shows up,” responded Saito, before refilling his glass. “Eventually.”

  Beverly took the glass from her husband. “Instead of brooding here, go mingle. This is your party, after all.”

  Saito ran his hands along the sides of his close-cropped hair, once jet black, now mostly grey. His thick mustache matched it.

  “After all the mighty Lee Saito has been through on the front lines against the AIC for the last twenty years, are you going to tell me that he’s scared of a room full of partygoers?” she asked playfully.

  “At least on the battlefield, I know who my enemies are,” Saito said. “Out there?” He shrugged.

  “That’s easy,” she said with a little twinkle in her eye. “All of them.”

  Saito smiled, kissed his wife on the forehead, and left the kitchen. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you take my Scotch,” he said as he went.

  She laughed. “Don’t think I was hiding it.”

  The party wasn’t just for Saito. Generals, politicians, and members of influential UEF families had all gathered to celebrate the impending launch of the UEF Atlas. And they celebrated its mission: to bring a historic peace accord to the AIC capital planet of Vassar-1.

  That was the official mission. The unofficial mission, if they met with hostility, was to launch one of the four world-ending fusion bombs and obliterate the planet. It would end the war, all right, and millions of lives.

  Look at them, celebrating. Celebrating what? Saito politely shook hands, smiling and nodding at some of the partygoers as he crossed the rather large living room to the wall-sized windows on the other end. From there he had a perfect view of the Atlas as workers did their checks and made any final repairs and maintenance before the launch, which was happening in less than twenty-four hours.

  How will they see this as a gesture of peace? Saito looked over the many visible guns on the Atlas. It was a dreadnought, a ship of war. That was obvious to anyone who laid eyes on it. Why wouldn’t the AIC, the off-worlders, think the same?

  Deep down, Saito knew that the mission was doomed. For the first time over the two decades of this Universal War, he felt that sinking feeling in the bottom of his stomach. It wasn’t the liquor. Part of him knew, down to his bones, that he wouldn’t be coming back.

  Saito felt arms around his waist from behind. Beverly rested the side of her face against his upper back. “You’re not mingling.”

  “It really is something else,” said Saito, eyes trained on the massive dreadnought. “Something beautifully terrible.”

  “It looks safe.” Beverly transitioned to her husband’s side. She too stared at the impressive feat of engineering. “That’s all I care about.” She kissed his broad shoulder.

  “I don’t know, Bev.”

  “What is it?”

  “It doesn’t feel right.”

  “What doesn’t feel right?” she asked.

  “We’re taking a warship, the biggest, most advanced warship ever made, to negotiate peace? The rebels, they…how are they supposed to take that?”

  “But you’re forgetting one thing,” said Beverly. “You’re the man in charge of the biggest, most advanced warship ever made. You’ll make sure they know you’re there for peace. I’m sure of it.”

  “That makes one of us.”

  “Don’t look now, but it looks like Admiral Chevenko is going to give a speech.”

  This should be good. Saito heard the clinking of silverware against a glass. He turned away from the window. Chevenko was holding his glass above his head.

  “It means so much to see you all here under the same roof, the Saitos’ roof.” Chevenko held his glass out towards Beverly and Lee. “Thank you. It means so much seeing all these faces here, some of whom I saw when this horrible war began. Others, well, they can’t be here anymore. Today we’re not only celebrating them, the ones we’ve lost, but we’re celebrating the future.

  “This war has taken millions of lives on both sides. We’ve all lost friends and family. Twenty years…twenty years we’ve been fighting, all leading to this moment, to this mission, to that ship.”

  “He’s drunk,” said Bev.

  “He sure is,” Saito said.

  “Peace is on the horizon. And our host, Captain Saito, he’s going to bring it to us. Not to put too much pressure on you, buddy, but we’re all counting on you.” Chevenko shot Saito a playful smile. Chevenko never smiled. He was very drunk.

  Oh yeah, no pressure at all.

  Chevenko raised his glass even higher. “To Captain Saito! To the Atlas! To the UEF!” He managed the last bit before needing to be helped off the chair and back to the floor.

  “Captain?” A young woman approached Saito and Beverly. She was beautiful, and a stranger to both.

  “Can I help you?” asked Beverly, protective of her husband.

  “I hope so. My name is Aubrey Linus. I work for the Herald. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions?”

  Beverly was on guard. “We’re trying to enjoy our party. Maybe at another—”

  “What do you need, Ms. Linus?” Saito asked. He was willing to do anything that would get him away from the fake smiles and insincere handshakes. Even talk to a reporter.

  “I’ll get you another drink,” said Bev. She stared down the reporter as she left for the kitchen.

  “I don’t think your wife likes me.”

  “She doesn’t like reporters,” Saito said.

  “And you do?”

  Saito smiled. “Not at all.”

  Five

  Lee

  If Linus was bothered by his response, she didn’t show it. “First of all, congratulations on being assigned this mission. I, and I’m sure everyone else here on Earth and throughout human-occupied space, wish you luck on your coming mission.”

  “Thank you,” Saito said.

  “Though, forgive me, but many are bound to ask: why were you chosen for such an important mission after what happened with the Valiant?” asked Linus.

  Son of a … should’ve known. “I’m afraid I’m not sure what you mean.”

  “Your command of the Valiant. Some say that it was a disaster that your failure to recognize the threat of AIC scout ships led to the attack that killed most of the crew. Some would question the fact that it was only you, your son, and a handful of officers who survived the attack and made it back home. Some question your skills as a leader and at the helm of a dreadnought, especially one as important as the Atlas.” Linus waited for an answer. Saito knew her HUD would be recording the whole interaction.

  “Tell me, Aubrey, what news site do you really work for?”

&nb
sp; “I don’t know what—”

  “I’ll still answer your misguided question,” Saito said. “I just want to know who I’m actually talking to.”

  The reporter blinked. “I’m with Ulysses Underground.”

  Saito nodded his head. It made sense. Ulysses Underground was a movement that wasn’t only anti-war, but also sought major changes in the UEF government. They weren’t quite rebels like the AIC, but some would argue the opposite.

  “I believe I was chosen because of my experience. As a twenty-year vet of the Universal War, I’ve been in the fight since day one.”

  “At the battle of Europa, right?” asked Aubrey.

  “That’s right. I was at Europa, Junos-5, the Belt; I’ve fought in all of them.”

  “And with that experience comes the knowledge and instinct required to be at the helm of a dreadnought and command Marines, is that it?” the reporter asked.

  “It means I managed to stay alive long enough to make my way up the officer ladder,” Saito said. He looked over Aubrey’s shoulder for his wife and that drink.

  “I see.” Aubrey forced a brief, polite laugh. “But what about the Valiant? Many say that you were to blame for the deaths of several thousand men and women under your command, your first command.”

  Stay calm, he told himself. Choose your words wisely. You got yourself into this.

  “Events on the Valiant have been well-documented. We were ambushed by a well-disguised enemy. I did everything in my power to save as many of my crew as I possibly could.” Saito gave a composed, rehearsed answer. It wasn’t the first time he’d been questioned about the Valiant.

  “So you didn’t make any mistakes? Any errors in judgment?”

  A scene replayed in Saito’s head.

  “Close the hatch!” shrieked Lt. Gregories. A fire had broken out on the Valiant after the ambush. It spread from section to section, burning the poor souls who weren’t already sucked out into the vacuum of space after the initial attack.

  “You can’t do that!” screamed Saito’s son Ben. “There’s still people on the ship. We can’t just leave them!”

  “We have to! Unless you want all of us to die!”

  “Coward!” yelled Ben. He turned to his father. “Please, Captain, dad, we can’t do this. It’s not right. We can’t just leave them here to die.”

  Lee remembered looking through the porthole on the hatch. Members of his crew tried their hardest to make their way through the zero-g of the Valiant to the hatch, to the rescue tug. Behind them, dancing flames advanced rapidly, swallowing them up along the way.

  Saito cleared his thoughts.

  “No. I made the best decisions available to me at the time with the information I had. Unfortunately, that meant that some under my command had to die in order for others to live. I’m not proud of it, but I would make the same decisions again.”

  “Regardless of that, and considering the events on the Valiant, do you truly believe that you’re the best candidate for this historic mission to Vassar-1?”

  No, I don’t. But I don’t really have a choice now, do I?

  “I believe that I was chosen by Admiral Chevenko to helm this mission for a reason. And I’ll do everything within my power to make sure that it’s completed successfully.”

  Saito spotted his wife in the kitchen. It looked like she was talking to herself, but he knew she was really having a conversation via her HUD. Thanks for the save, Bev.

  “Now what will you do if—” Linus was interrupted by a waiter coming by with a tray of champagne. She took one. “Thank you. Where was I? Oh, yes. What will you do, Captain, if the AIC don’t give you the reception you’re looking for? What if they take it as an act of aggression and try to engage you and the Atlas?”

  “In that case, we’ll respond with appropriate force.”

  “How about the rumors of some kind of super-weapon being housed within the Atlas?” Linus had been working up to this question for most of the conversation, Saito realized.

  How does she know about that? “I’m not sure what you’re referring to, Ms. Linus.”

  “I’ve heard that there’s a weapon capable of leveling not only Vassar-1 with a single shot, but any planet. That weapon is said to be on the Atlas. In fact, it’s the reason it was built: to equip and deploy said weapon.”

  “Whoever told you that is either gravely misinformed or lying to you, Ms. Linus. The Atlas has no such weapons on board. As the captain, I would know. It’s armed as heavily as it is because, like we just talked about, we may be received with hostility, and it must be able to fight its way out of AIC space.”

  “If you’ll excuse us,” Bev said, a drink in each hand. “We have a party to enjoy.”

  Took long enough, Lee thought.

  “One last question.”

  “I don’t think so,” Lee said. He could keep his cool, but his wife was another story. She would have scratched the reporter’s eyes out by now if she’d heard half of her questions.

  “Captain,” Linus said urgently, “how do you respond to reports that the Oblivion cult has infiltrated not only the UEF military, but also your crew?”

  Saito noticed two soldiers starting to forcefully push through the crowd toward them. “I hope you enjoyed the party,” he said, turning away just as the soldiers grabbed her.

  Six

  Lee

  “That escalated quickly,” Bev said, watching as the woman was forcefully walked across the room, one of the men murmuring in her ear.

  “Who were you talking to in the kitchen? Was it Ben?” asked Saito, trying to steer the conversation in a new direction.

  “It was. He said he was on his way. He was going to take the skyway. He’ll be here in a little bit.” She studied her husband’s face for a reaction.

  Saito took a sip of his newly-received drink. “And what excuse did he give this time?”

  “All that matters is that he’ll be here.”

  “What matters is that I can’t…I need him to be my right hand up there on that damn ship. If I can’t depend on him to get to a party on time, how can I depend on him when it really matters?”

  “He’s your son, Lee. Not only that, he’s a good man and a good soldier. He likes to enjoy himself; so what? Let him have his fun before going out there and risking his life alongside you.”

  “You were always too easy on him.”

  “And you were—” Bev began.

  “And why did they assign him to the Atlas?” Saito hissed, more frustration in his voice than he’d ever shown the reporter. He downed the rest of his drink in one gulp. “It wasn’t appropriate for him to serve under me on the Valiant, and it sure as hell isn’t appropriate now.”

  “You know how much Chevenko likes you. I’m sure he thought he was doing you a favor, having Ben with you instead of on some random dreadnought out on the front lines.”

  “Yeah, he likes me. That’s why he had my son join me on this suicide mission they’ve concocted.”

  “That’s bullshit.” Beverly’s normal friendly tone and demeanor turned icy. She looked deep into Lee’s eyes. “You’re coming back to me. You understand me?”

  “I know. Sorry,” Lee said.

  “I’ve never heard you talk like this.” She hesitated. “Is there something you aren’t telling me?”

  “I’m just in a mood.”

  “I know there are things you aren’t telling me. I understand that. But is there something more about this mission?” There was real fear in her eyes now. “Something more I should know?”

  Lee suddenly wanted to tell her. He wanted the burden off his shoulders. “Bev, I—”

  An explosion outside caused the floor to rumble and the windows to shake. Everyone at the party went to the windows.

  Black plumes of smoke rose up from multiple points across Annapolis. From the Saitos’ apartment, they could see almost the whole city. Some panicked, mostly the non-military in attendance, as several more explosions erupted. All of them were small, but there w
ere so many of them.

  The red emergency lighting turned on in the Saitos’ apartment and the luxury tower itself. Sirens could be heard in the streets below and around the naval base.

  “Okay, everyone, stay calm!” ordered Chevenko. His voice was slurred. He was far too drunk to take charge here, Saito realized.

  “Call Ben again,” Lee said to Bev. “He’s out there somewhere. He probably knows more of what’s going on than we do.”

  Saito put his hand on Chevenko’s shoulder and whispered in his ear. Immediately, the admiral hurried to the door alongside three Marine bodyguards.

  “Okay, everyone, the building’s going to be on lockdown,” Saito said. “We’re not going to be able to leave for the moment, but don’t panic. This is a naval base. There’s no safer place to be.” He did his best to try and calm his party guests. Many of them listened. Others made for the exit.

  There was another explosion. This one was much louder, closer. Saito looked outside. Down in the courtyard, by the docks, a fight had broken out. UEF Marines fought with a force of about forty or fifty people in street clothes.

  Damn, this makes things a lot more complicated.

  “I can’t get hold of him!” Beverly said worriedly.

  “We’ve got bigger problems right now. I need you to stay here with these officers’ families. Try not to let them leave.” Saito motioned for one of the attending Marines to come over to him. “Give her your sidearm!”

  Saito disappeared into his bedroom for a minute. He came back out with a UEF-issue assault rifle, complete with a thermal imaging scope and packed with hot rounds.

  “On me,” Lee commanded. The remaining military in the apartment followed him out the door.

  As they went, Lee could hear his wife gathering the remaining family members in the living room. “It’s okay,” she said reassuringly. “They won’t let them in here. We’re safe.”

  Lee took the steps two at a time, barely under control, wondering what he might find when he got to the bottom. They were halfway down when an explosion shook the whole luxury tower. Pieces of plaster and other building material fell from above in the stairwell.