by J. J. Green
Montfort’s cell was the only room that had a door. It was a simple one made of bars of plastiwood. Cariad could see the doctor from where she sat in the comm room in front of interfaces displaying live feeds from the settlement and the ships. Mariko stood guard outside the cell.
The doctor was slumped on the floor, his head on his knees. He didn’t look like he intended to try to escape. After all, where could he go? Reaching the surface and leaving the settlement wouldn’t help him. Even if the approaching aliens didn’t attack, he couldn’t survive by himself out there.
Cariad returned her attention to the interfaces. There wasn’t a lot to see on the screen that showed the settlement. The streets were empty and the streetlights had been turned off so all that was visible were black, shadowy outlines of buildings against a brilliantly starry sky.
The bridge of the Mistral was a total contrast. It was busy with intense activity and loud with shouts detailing data on the alien ship and orders given by Addleson. The pilot seemed to have risen to the challenge of orchestrating his ship’s response to the potential threat. Aubriot sat at a console that Cariad assumed controlled the Mistral’s weapons. She didn’t doubt that the financier had also bent Addleson’s ear with advice on battle tactics.
Another interface displayed the exterior of the Mistral. Concordia hung below the starship a dark globe. To one side of the screen the Nova Fortuna could be seen, its spindle encircled by the massive wheel that had been Cariad’s home, suspended and awake, for nearly two centuries.
Cariad thought of Cassie and Florian aboard the nearly empty ship, faithfully caring for the tiny lives that were in their hands. The Nova Fortuna’s feed didn’t show her techs. It only showed Geisen in her pilot’s cabin, alone and tense as she prepared for whatever might happen.
Cariad typed a message to Addleson asking for an update. She didn’t want to distract him by requesting a live comm. He answered immediately, however: “Cariad. Is Osias there?”
“No, he’s still outside with the engineers. They wanted to make some final adjustments to the entrance doors. What’s happening up there?”
“Bad news, we think. The ship’s approaching much faster than we thought it would. We added more time for braking to the calculations than it apparently needs. Of course, that could mean that it doesn’t intend to stop when it reaches us, but that doesn’t seem likely. Its course hasn’t altered.”
“It’s still on course for Concordia?”
“Yes. It’s on a collision course with the Mistral, in fact. They seem to know we’re more dangerous than the Nova Fortuna.” The man’s face was tense with worry.
“What’s the ETA now?”
“Anything between an hour and ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes!”
“Yes. The speed that ship’s approaching, it doesn’t look like it intends to pay us a friendly visit. You guys better seal yourselves in.”
Cariad cursed. She comm’d Osias.
“Yes?”
“Addleson said they underestimated the arrival time of the ship. It could be here any minute. You need to get inside. Now.”
“Okay. Got it.”
Cariad comm’d Cassie next. “You two get into your crash seats, okay?” Cariad had insisted that the seats were to be installed in the reproduction section.
“But it isn’t time yet,” Cassie replied.
“Yes it is. Do it now. Please.”
“Okay. I’ll tell Florian. Take care down there.”
“We will.”
Cariad’s skin prickled. She looked over to Bob Montfort’s cell and found that he was staring at her. He had a weird, crazy look in his eyes.
“Your judgment is finally coming,” he said. “We told you what you were doing was wrong but you wouldn’t believe us. You puffed yourself up on the pride of your achievements. Your arrogance blinded you to the truth. You refused to bow down and now you’re all going to pay. All your efforts, all your schemes, all your labor and suffering will come to nothing.” He spat the final word, a look of triumph spreading over his features.
Cariad had no time to respond to Montfort’s manic nonsense. She tore her gaze from him and went out into the tunnel, intending to run down to the main entrance and make sure Osias was in and the doors were sealed.
It was as she was running that the first attack came.
Though she was deep underground, the shock of the impact on the surface made her stumble and fall. The slim hope she’d carried in her heart that they were in no danger was snuffed out. She got to her feet and continued to run. But then shouts and the sounds of a scuffle came down the tunnel from behind her.
Still running, Cariad glanced over her shoulder. Mariko struggling with a man outside Montfort’s cell. It was a Gen but Cariad didn’t recognize him. She couldn’t figure out what he was trying to do at first, then she realized he was trying to help Montfort escape. He had to be a co-conspirator.
Cariad began to run back to help Mariko, but another impact struck. Once more, she ended up on her hands and knees. She lifted her head to see Mariko knocked to the ground. The man had the keys to Montfort’s cell door. He was opening it. Montfort emerged. What were they planning to do? And how could Cariad stop them?
She raced toward the two men, who were heading her way. “Stop! Stop them! Somebody help. Montfort’s escaped.” Mariko was lying insensible on the tunnel floor. Montfort and his rescuer were bearing down on Cariad, showing no sign of slowing.
They were upon her. She braced for impact but the two men only ran past her and away up the tunnel toward the entrance.
Cariad followed, speeding up to try to catch them. What were they going to do? They couldn’t achieve anything while the settlement was under bombardment. Were they going to try to keep the entrance doors open, endangering everyone sheltering in the bunker?
An icy hand clutched Cariad’s heart. Had Montfort’s co-conspirator rigged something to blow up the shelter? Nearly every single man, woman, and child was present in the place, including most of the people who were usually aboard the Nova Fortuna. Even the last of the Woken to be revived were down there, including Kes. If there was ever a time to inflict the worst damage possible to the colony, this was it.
Fear spurred Cariad on. She had to catch Montfort and the other Natural Movement saboteur and stop them. She was nearly at the entrance. The engineers who had been putting the final touches to the entrance doors appeared in her view ahead, walking toward her. Montfort and his rescuer were there too. They blasted through the small group of men and women, causing cries of exclamation and anger.
“Stop them,” Cariad shouted. “They’re Natural Movement terrorists.”
At her words, the engineers turned, but Montfort and the other man were already gone, racing down the final section of tunnel. As Cariad caught up to the group one of them said, “We have to stop them opening the doors.”
A third impact above reverberated from above. Cariad’s mind flew to Addleson and the rest of the crew of the Mistral, who had to be engaged in battle with the aliens. She continued running toward the entrance. A second later she reached it. The doors were wide open. The sky was no longer starry—it was lit with a red glow. She ran up the stairs, the engineers following her close behind. Where was Osias?
Blinding light flared. A hiss came from above and a split second later another impact struck. Debris showered down the stairs.
“Osias,” Cariad yelled. Where was the man? And what had happened to Montfort and the other terrorist?
She reached the top of the stairs and gasped at the sight that greeted her. The settlement was on fire, flames and smoke reaching high into the night sky. Silhouetted against the backdrop were the figures of two men: Montfort and his Gen rescuer. They had their arms raised high as if in supplication to the attacking alien ship. They were shouting something but the roar of the flames drowned out their voices. They got down on their knees and bowed their heads to the ground before raising their arms again. Insanely, they were wel
coming the aliens’ attack.
Then Cariad saw Osias. He was off to one side, calling out to the men. He was beckoning them, seemingly trying to get them to come inside the shelter.
“Osias,” Cariad yelled again, straining her voice in her effort to be heard. “Osias, leave them! You have to come in now. We have to close the doors.”
A great rending sound rose above the noise of the fire. The side of a burning building was collapsing. Horror freezing her, Cariad saw Osias try to run out of the way, but he was too late. He disappeared under the remains of the wall.
“Come inside,” shouted an engineer, grabbing Cariad’s arm. He pulled her down the stairs.
There was another flash followed by a hiss and a boom. The world turned silent. Cariad could see the engineers shouting but she couldn’t hear what they were saying. She was fighting to return to the top of the stairs, but they were forcing her down.
“Osias,” she said, though her voice was dim and distant.
Someone was shaking his head at her. Above, the doors closed, shutting out the fiery sky.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Numb at the loss of Osias, Cariad sat in the comm room in the bunker watching the live feed from the battle raging overhead. The Mistral was engaged in a fire fight with the alien ship. She could see the intense activity on the bridge and also the incoming fire from space. The crescent of the aliens’ ship was too distant to see on the visual but the Mistral’s crew could clearly pinpoint it with their scanners.
Aubriot was leading the defense and seemed to have taken over from Addleson in that capacity. From what Cariad could tell, the pilot was doing his best to maneuver the ship to the most advantageous position to mitigate the aliens’ attack on the settlement.
Cariad hated to think what the current bombardment would have been like without the Mistral to defend them. The bunker would probably be a hot, molten ruin if it weren’t for the Guardians’ ship. As it was, the situation was just about under control in the shelter, despite the devastating death of Osias. The colonists were staying calm and keeping the young children occupied to try to distract them from the regular reverberations of attacks that had avoided the Mistral’s defense.
Cariad’s comm chirped. It was Florian.
“How’s everything going down there?” he asked.
“We lost Osias,” Cariad replied.
“Oh, no!”
“And Bob Montfort ran outside with another man—I guess it was another Natural Movement follower—they must both be dead by now too.”
“They ran outside?!”
“I think they wanted to welcome the aliens, or something like that. They were both behaving like maniacs. They seemed to be welcoming the aliens like they were avenging angels, turned up to punish us for building the colony. Osias was killed while he was trying to make them come inside.”
“Shit,” Florian said. “That’s terrible.”
“What’s happening up there?” Cariad asked “Are you and Cassie okay?”
“We’re fine. No attacks on the Nova Fortuna yet. It looks like the aliens are more interested in destroying the settlement.”
“Well, they’re certainly succeeding at that.” A dull boom echoed and the floor shook. “I got a look at the damage when the bombardment started. I doubt there’s going to be anything left of the place.”
“All that work gone to waste,” said Florian.
“It’s okay. We can rebuild. There are still plenty of materials and equipment aboard the Nova Fortuna. We can improvise. What’s most important is that we don’t lose anyone else.”
“Perhaps the Mistral can persuade the aliens to retreat, or blast them out of the sky.”
“I hope so.” Cariad didn’t say any more, but she had a feeling that the battle was only a skirmish. The aliens had only sent one ship. If they really wanted to erase the human colonization they would definitely send more. “How are the gestation systems holding up?”
“The babies are all fine,” Florian said, “so you don’t need to worry on that account.”
“That’s good to hear.”
Raised voices on the bridge of the Mistral distracted Cariad from her talk with Florian. The crew were cursing and yelling and Addleson was making fast adjustments to the ship’s controls. It took Cariad a moment to figure out what was going on, but when she did her heart rose into her throat. “Florian, I think the alien ship’s altered course. It’s heading for the Nova Fortuna.”
Florian’s pleasant expression turned grim. “Okay, I have to go and get Cassie to a crash seat. Don’t worry. We’re ready.”
“Please take care,” said Cariad.
“You too.” Florian closed the comm.
Cariad put her head in her hands. After Ethan’s and Osias’ deaths, she couldn’t bear it if she lost her lovely techs too. Hardly daring to look, she lifted her eyes to stare at the battle unfolding on the screens in front of her.
On the external visual from the Mistral, the Nova Fortuna came into view as Addleson brought his ship around. The massive colony ship looked tiny in the distance, suspended above Concordia’s globe. Cariad imagined the empty corridors and silent rooms. The only living beings on the ship that had sustained thousands over the duration of its long voyage were Geisen in her pilot’s cabin, Cassie and Florian monitoring the gestation systems, and the one hundred and twenty-three tiny babies in their sacs.
Why were the aliens targeting the colony? Why couldn’t they leave them alone? They weren’t doing any harm. Or were they? Cariad recalled the intelligent thread creatures in the lake—the fila as Kes had called them. Was this attack something to do with Concordia’s sentient species? Had the fila contacted a distant arm of their kind and summoned them to drive the humans off the planet?
A bolt flashed across the screen coming from somewhere beyond the Mistral. It hit the Nova Fortuna’s wheel and splashed fire that dissipated into space. It was impossible to tell what part of the ship had been hit.
Cariad comm’d Florian. When there was no reply she tried Cassie.
“Yes?”
“Are you okay?” Cariad asked. “Have you been hurt? I saw the ship take a hit.”
“We felt it but we’re okay. Florian’s giving the systems a final check before he straps in.”
Another bright orb lit Cariad’s screen and smashed into the Nova Fortuna. This attack hit the spindle. Cariad sucked in a breath. The ship’s engines were in the spindle.
“Cassie!”
“I’m here.”
“If the situation gets too bad, leave the ship. Geisen can fly you out on one of the shuttles. There won’t be anything you can do for the babies but you’ll have a chance to save yourselves.”
“Okay.”
“Promise me.”
“I promise.”
A third bolt of light sailed past the Mistral in a flash. The ship tried to shoot it down but failed and it scored another hit on the colony ship’s spindle. The effect of this impact on the Nova Fortuna was noticeable. The ship’s attitude altered and Cariad thought she detected its spin slowing down. Losing artificial gravity wouldn’t be a big problem for her techs or their charges, but the ship couldn’t withstand this continued attack. What was happening on the Mistral? Why couldn’t they defend the colony ship?
The Nova Fortuna was growing larger as the Guardians’ ship drew closer to it. Was the Mistral trying to position itself between the colony ship and its attacker?
Cariad listened in on the talk on the bridge of the Mistral.
“We’re in a bad position,” Aubriot was saying. “Every time I try to deflect their fire I risk hitting our ship. The margins are too narrow.”
“I’ll alter our approach,” Addleson replied. “Give you some leeway.”
Another bolt hit the Nova Fortuna. This time the effect was unmistakable. The wheel was noticeably slowing.
Cariad comm’d Cassie, and then Florian, but there was no answer. She tested the line and found that it was dead. The attack on the ship ha
d taken out the comm system.
“She’s lost an engine,” said someone on the Mistral’s bridge.
Aubriot cursed. “We’re doing this wrong. Turn the Mistral around. We’re going after that ship.”
More bolts were impacting the Nova Fortuna.
Someone exclaimed, “Another engine’s gone.”
Cariad hoped that Cassie, Florian, and Geisen were doing the sensible thing and abandoning the ship.
The view from the Mistral’s perspective was changing. First the planet surface came into view and then open space. The crew seemed to have decided to abandon their defense of the settlement and the Nova Fortuna in favor of a direct assault on the attacking ship.
As the Mistral drew around, another view of the Nova Fortuna appeared in the edge of the screen. Had it altered position? Had it dropped a little lower toward the planet surface? With two of its engines down, the Nova Fortuna would lose velocity and would not stay in orbit. Concordia’s gravity would drag it in.
If the Nova Fortuna fell to the planet surface it would be a disaster, and not only for whoever remained aboard the ship.
“What’s happening?” said a voice at the door to the control room. Cherry stood there, leaning on the jamb. “Nothing’s hit us for a while. Is the bombardment over?”
“I don’t know exactly,” Cariad replied. She explained what she’d seen. “I think the Mistral was deflecting the assault on the settlement, then it was trying to defend the Nova Fortuna, but now they’re trying to take out the alien ship.”
“So what’s happened to the Nova Fortuna? Has it been destroyed?”
“No, but it’s damaged. I’m not sure it can stay in orbit.”
“Oh no.” Cherry came into the control room, her animosity toward Cariad momentarily forgotten in her desire to understand what was happening. She sat down next to Cariad and watched the screens.