by C. S. Harte
Both Jonas and Alyana fired round after round at the flying beast who soared into the clouds, disappearing without a trace.
Alyana dropped to her knees. “Kovat…” Tears streamed down her face. “We lost both Kovat and Nume. What are we going to do, Jonas?”
Jonas lowered his head. “I don’t know.” He stared at the hover stretcher where Kovat’s body used to lay.
“Is this it Jonas?” She curled into a ball. “No Guardian Essence. No Nume. No Kovat. What do we do now? It’s over…”
Another critical warning flashed on Jonas’ HUD. His battery power dropped to 5%.
28
Five percent battery life remained.
Jonas injected himself with his last combat stimulant. “How much juice you have left, Alyana?”
“Less than 20%.”
“It’s only ten kilometers back to the Zephyr. We should have enough if we keep this pace.”
“Can't wait…” she said in between heaves.
“Have you used up your combat stims?” Jonas looked back at Alyana.
“No, I don’t like to. It makes me feel like I have ants all over my body.”
“OK. Just try to keep up. Use it if you have to.”
“Have we been on this street before? It looks familiar.”
“We’re not far from where we fought Deathy.”
Alyana skidded to a halt. “I’m not going through there. We have to find another way.”
Jonas checked his map overlay. “I surveyed the streets when we were on the rooftops. Most of the roads are blocked by fungal walls, and we’re running out of juice.”
4.2% battery life.
“I can’t Jonas. I just can’t.” She waved her arms across her chest.
The insect Chimera returned and started a slow spiral over their heads.
Jonas placed his hands on Alyana’s shoulders. “I know you’re scared, but we don’t have a choice right now.”
“We left Kovat behind, Jonas.” Her eyes watered.
“I didn’t know you two were close. How could you be? There was no way for you to talk to him.”
“It’s just… I’ve known him longer than you, and he’s never done anything bad to me. He may not be human, but he risked his life many times for Nume and me.”
Jonas saw tears streaming down Alyana’s cheeks through her visor. “Exactly. Kovat risked his life so you can move on.”
The Chimera made another pass around them.
“I get not wanting to leave friends behind. It feels like the worst thing in the world. Bad enough you feel like you don’t want to live anymore.” He recalled the face of a young Lieutenant and a partial name, Edra. She was someone important to him, and he let her down. Because of his failures, Edra and the rest of the Endurance crew were no longer alive. “Listen, Alyana. We're as good as dead if we go back for him. You understand, right?”
Alyana nodded slowly.
“We have to move forward. Going back isn’t an option.” Jonas’ eyes glazed over. Instead of seeing Alyana’s face, he saw his own reflection on her visor. Always forward. That was the motto spoken by Fleet Officers to help their subordinates focus on the objective at hand. It had been a long time since he uttered those words. He understood on a high level he needed to move past Fleet’s betrayal even if it seemed impossible. Suddenly, Jonas felt a calmness entering him, despite the whirlwind of chaos around him. I need to move on. I need to move forward. The past is dead to me. The old Jonas died. But I can still do something good. Save Alyana, then save Nume...
“Jonas!” Alyana clapped her hands in front of his face. “Look!” She pointed at the Chimera descending closer to their position.
Jonas took a deep breath. “If we go back, we’re dead. If we stay here, we’re dead. The only option is to go forward. Do you get me?” He tugged her arm. “I’ll carry you on my shoulders if I have to.”
They continued their sprint toward the Zephyr.
“Thanks, Jonas.”
“You don't have to thank me. Save your breath.”
3.7% battery life.
Off in the distance, a transport ship hovered.
“Look, 2 o’clock.” Alyana pointed as she ran.
“That must be Raven’s ship. We can still catch them.” Jonas picked up his pace.
They watched as the engine fired and disappeared into the clouds.
“The ion trails should last at least two hours,” Alyana said between breaths. "We can track it."
Thoughts of Saera rolled into Jonas’ mind. He had trouble disconnecting Nume from her. As the transport ship faded away, Saera’s face grew sharper. Jonas found another gear in his sprint. His pulse rate jumped to 200 beats per minute. I’m getting you back...
“Watch out!” Alyana stopped Jonas just in time to avoid an acid attack from the Chimera.
"Why can't you just leave us alone!" He roared as he fired his rifle at the Chimera.
Every projectile bounced off its chitinous armor.
“None of our weapons work against that thing.”
“Ignore it. We keep running.” Jonas dropped his rifle. “Let’s go.”
3.3% battery.
“Maybe we can shoot it down with the Zephyr.”
“Our priority is to chase Raven’s ship. Nothing, not even this giant bug will stop us.”
The ground underneath them vibrated.
“We’re close to Deathy aren’t we?”
Jonas nodded. “Remember, it’s blind. We should be able to run right past it.”
“If you say so. The only thing I remember is being thrown against a wall.”
He patted her head. “Stay close to me.”
“Couldn’t we take the rooftops again?”
“No. That makes us an easier target for the Chimera.”
“Ahh, I get the reference now.”
“What reference?”
“Being caught between a rock and a hard place.”
Jonas rolled his eyes. “Stay close.” He approached the monstrous bear from behind, careful not to make a sound.
The Chimera tried to hit Jonas and Alyana with another acid blast but ended up splashing the bear instead.
The acid quickly burned through the bear’s fur, releasing a thick plume of gas. It stood on its hind legs and blared a terrifying roar in response as it swiped its front paws wildly in all directions. One attack landed on the Chimera, knocking it down to the street. The massive bear pounced on the Chimera and tore into its wings.
“Now! Run!” Jonas grabbed Alyana and ran underneath the preoccupied monsters.
“I kind of want to see who wins this fight...”
“Alyana!”
“Sorry, coming!”
Jonas glanced at the corner of his HUD. 1.0% battery life with less than one kilometer to go. Should just be enough…
“Remember to decontaminate before we break the airlock. I don’t want to turn into those creatures back there.”
Jonas and Alyana made it back to the Zephyr with 0.5% battery life to spare. After decontamination, Jonas proceeded to the med bay while Alyana went to the bridge. Bits of his flesh stuck to his Obscura suit as he peeled off his boots and leg plates. His skin was raw with third-degree burns from his encounter with the Atoomwok fungus. Instead of opting for the medical pod which would have knocked him out with anesthesia, he rubbed med-gel on his wounds. Good enough for now.
He activated the ship-to-ship comm system. “Were you able to track the ion trails of Raven’s ship?”
“Even better, I have it on long-range scanners.”
“Don’t wait for me. Get us up in the air.”
“There’s nothing we can do for Kovat? He was still alive when the Chimera took him…”
Jonas felt a churning in his stomach. Nume flew further away with every second that ticked. There was no time to save Kovat. Even if there was, he might not be alive to save. But Nume was most likely alive. Raven would not have come all this way just to kill her. There was only one logical choice to make.
“Alyana, I’m sorry. There’s no time to save Kovat and Nume. If we try saving both, we will most likely lose both.”
“I know… It’s just…"
Jonas heard the pain in her voice. “I understand. Trust me. I know too.”
“Liftoff sequence initiated.”
As Jonas left the med bay, a glint of gold light caught his eye. My Pirate King Ace. How did it get here? I’m sure I left it in my quarters... Jonas immediately turned around expecting Whisper behind him but found himself alone.
Next to the coin was a cube-shaped container, one meter in length. It had a brushed metal surface with two markings he recognized as Katok. There were no obvious seams or opening.
Did Kovat leave this here? Jonas almost picked it up but stopped when he realized it could be dangerous. He opened a comm to Alyana. “Do you remember leaving a silver cube with Katok markings about one meter in size in the med bay?”
“No. That sounds very specific though. Is this a hypothetical question or do you actually have something like that in front of you?”
“Get us into space. I’ll get back to you. Jonas out.” He stared intently at the cube then at the Pirate Ace. Jonas picked up the coin and examined it. Seems like a normal coin. Solid. Hefty. He banged it against the counter. Sturdy too. Whoever left my coin here also left this cube… Jonas cautiously placed his hand on the top of the cube. Slowly he lowered his fingers until it grazed the surface.
A grid pattern appeared. Then the external walls of the cube split into smaller boxes.
Jonas jumped backward.
Some smaller cubes extended outwards, others depressed deeper. The tiny sections began moving, re-aligning until they all disappeared into the center of the matrix exposing a clear glass sphere.
What is this?
Inside the glass sphere was a glowing violet liquid.
As Jonas reached for the container, the liquid swirled by itself as if it were alive and aware of his presence. Could this be the Guardian Essence?
29
Someone left what appeared to be the Guardian Essence in the med bay.
Jonas scavenged for clues to see who might have left it. Did Kovat or Nume make it back to the ship before Raven caught them? He shook his head. They wouldn’t have enough time…
An explosion sounded outside the Zephyr.
“I need your help! Get up here, Jonas!” Alyana yelled.
“On my way.” Before leaving the med bay, Jonas opened a wall panel and hid the Guardian Essence inside. He secured the glass sphere from moving before closing the wall.
Jonas raced to the bridge. Once there, he took his seat at the tactical station. “Situation report.”
Alyana glanced over from the pilot seat. “You took your time in the med bay. Everything OK?”
“I’m fine. What’s our status? I heard an explosion earlier…”
“That was our acid-spitting, insect friend. I guess it won the battle of impossibly ugly creatures.”
Jonas checked the ship’s sensors. “I don’t see it.”
“Well, since you took your time getting here, I had to man tactical and navigation. Turns out plasma lasers are quite effective at cutting through winged nightmares.” She smirked.
“I was preoccupied with something, but that’s good to hear. What about Raven’s ship?”
“We’re leaving Nergal Prime’s atmosphere in 60 seconds. I found three engine signatures, which means the transport ship has two escorts.” Alyana updated the viewscreen to show an overlay of the signatures over the sector’s starmaps.
“Looks like they’re all heading in the same direction.” Jonas frowned.
“Yes, directly toward the star if the extrapolations are correct.”
“They’re trying to escape by warping. We need to catch them before they do or…”
“Or Nume is gone. I know…” She sighed. “The spores are clogging our atmospheric engines. We only got 50% thrust.”
“Have you done a weapon’s check?”
Alyana glared at Jonas. “No… but since you’re sitting at tactical, maybe you could.”
Jonas placed his palm on the command console. A three-dimensional, wireframe map of the Zephyr projected above his hand showing the armament count of the various weapon systems. “8 torpedoes, 32 drones. Laser banks fully charged.”
“Good, but I wouldn’t mind having more torpedoes since we’re facing three ships.”
He scoffed. “I guess we’ll have to make each one count.”
“Let’s hope.”
“Shields fully charged.” Jonas noticed a cluster of red dots on his sensor panel. “I think they left us some parting gifts.” He pushed his display to the main viewscreen. “Mines.”
“I see them. Adjusting heading.” Alyana slowly navigated the Zephyr around the minefield, weaving her way through hundreds of mines. “We’re finally clear of the planet’s gravity. Switching to ion engines. Setting a pursuit course.”
“They’ve increased their distance.” Jonas updated the viewscreen to show the distance between the Zephyr and the enemy ships. “Approximately 200,000 kilometers till intercept.”
“We’re in one of the fastest ships in the galaxy. We’ll catch up to them. I know we will.” She furrowed her brow.
“Of course we will. We have the best pilot in the galaxy too.”
Alyana gave a curt laugh. “Don’t try to be nice. It’s not your thing.”
Jonas smirked at her. “150,000 kilometers till intercept.”
“We should be in visual range.” She updated the viewscreen to show the three ships in a triangle formation heading toward the star.
Jonas zoomed in on the image. “No markings or designations but they definitely don’t look like Fleet vessels. Do you recognize the configurations?”
“Alliance ship designs,” she said matter-of-factly.
“How can you be so sure?”
Alyana scoffed. “Trust me. I’ve seen enough of them. The lead ship is a Mauretania-class transport craft. Mainly used for short-range troop transport.” She squinted her eyes. “But it looks like it has been modified for deep-space travel. I see retrofitted warp engines. The two escorts are Merian-class light cruisers. Small ships, but highly maneuverable. The Zephyr is at least twice as fast as the transport.”
Jonas smiled. “You know your ships. Impressive. How long till we overtake them then?”
“Calculating.” A simulation played on Alyana’s console. “Assuming they’re going at their top speed, I would say 10 minutes, 28 seconds at our max output.”
“Do you know the weapons capability of the escort cruisers?”
Alyana shook her head. “The light cruisers are highly configurable. They usually only have laser weapons unless they’ve been modified with missile launchers.”
“Watch for more mines. The Alliance Navy loves to use magnetic mines as a tactic.”
“I know.” Alyana smirked. “You don’t have to tell me about Alliance strategies. I used to make smuggling runs past both Alliance and Fleet patrols all the time.” She glanced at Jonas. “Are you going to tell me?”
“Tell you about what?” Jonas narrowed his eyes.
“What you found in the med bay. The cube you mentioned.”
“I found my Pirate Ace coin.”
“Oh, you left it in the med bay?”
“No, I left it in my quarters. Someone placed it in the med bay along with a metallic cube covered with what looks like Katok symbols. Not that I’m an expert on Katok symbols, but they look like it could be ancient.”
“You’re kidding!” Alyana’s mouth opened wide. “Oh wait, you’re incapable of being funny…”
“When I touched the cube, the outer layer broke apart into smaller cubes and collapsed in on itself, exposing a glowing violet liquid which I’m guessing to be Guardian Essence.”
“How did you not lead with this news?” Alyana nearly jumped out of her seat.
“I didn’t want to distract you. If it is Guardian
Essence, it means nothing without Nume.”
“Who do you think could have left that for us?”
Jonas shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. It’s hard to think we have friends given everything we’ve had to deal with.” His mind drifted as he thought about Alyana’s questions. There were times when I’ve had unbelievably good fortune. Could it be that some guiding hand is leading me in a direction?
“Look!” Alyana zoomed out the viewscreen. “The escort ships are splitting off from the main transport.”
Jonas watched as one cruiser veered hard left. The other, hard right. “They’re going to flank us.” With a flick of his wrist, he launched half of the drones in the armory. They quickly moved into a defensive position around the Zephyr. “We will be in a dogfight soon. Experience much of that during your smuggling days?”
“I was good at running, not fighting.” She scoffed. “Should I alter course to avoid being flanked?”
“No, we can’t lose the lead ship. Stay the course.” Jonas watched as his three-dimensional tactical display updated in real-time. As the cruisers neared the Zephyr, sensors updated with more detailed information about their enemies. “I’m seeing drones around the escort ships. No missile launcher armaments. Their laser banks are fully charged.”
The bridge rattled as laser fire hit the Zephyr.
“Direct hit to the dorsal shields. Minimal damage,” he said while keeping his focus on his console.
The 3D ship model in front of Jonas showed the shields turning a bright red before shifting back to blue.
“The escorts are just a distraction…” Jonas mumbled to himself.
“Wait, something’s wrong.” Alyana bit her lip.
“What? What is it?”
“We’re losing engine power. 70% and dropping.”
Jonas double checked the shield indicator. “I’m seeing 100%, all blue on shields. No breaches.”
“Ion disruptors,” Alyana said in a low voice as if remembering something.
“Is that new Alliance tech?”
She shook her head. “It’s old Pirate tech used to disable Fleet patrol ships.”
Jonas rubbed his temples. Unmarked Alliance ships with Pirate weapons. Could the Alliance of Faith and Pirates be working together? He checked the position of the transport. “We’re losing Nume. Transport ship lead is back to 200,000 kilometers and growing.”