Ghost Ranger

by Dayne Edmondson

  Using the map as an overlay in my mind’s eye, I led our team toward the weapons sector. The third team was already engaged with the enemy. These foes were better prepared and had clamped themselves to the floor.

  “Need some help?” I asked as we clumped up behind the third team. They were missing one Ranger.

  “Yeah, they’ve fortified the control center and countered your tactic,” the squad leader replied. “Got any more tricks up your sleeve?”

  “The fleet has shifted in-system,” the lieutenant said. “They’ve engaged the enemy fleet but bombers are delayed until weapons are confirmed disabled. What’s your status, teams?”

  “The enemy is entrenched,” I said, summarizing what the squad leader of team three had said. “But I’m going to try to dig them out.”

  “Do it quick, Private.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” I said, scrambling to think of something. What if I fly past them, I thought. I could use a graviton ball to zoom past and shoot as I went. But I’d be exposed. I’d need a shield of gravitons around me to protect me. But then I wouldn’t be able to shoot out. What if...I had it.

  “What’s your plan?” Julianna said from next to me. “I know that look in your eyes.”

  “Time dilation,” I said.

  Her brows furrowed. “How?”

  “Well, my...,” I cut off. I’d almost said “my father.” “...My research has shown that intense sources of gravity can cause time dilation to outside observers. Whatever is caught in the gravitational field moves more slowly compared to an observer outside said field.”

  “So?”

  “I’m going to slow our enemies down. Get ready for gravity to disappear,” I said through the squad channel.

  “You mean go back to its original intensity?” the lieutenant asked.

  “No. It’ll drop to only the asteroid’s natural gravity, which is minimal. Recommend maintaining mag-boot contact. Team One out.” It was time.

  I closed my eyes and found the gravity generator again. I inverted it, restoring it emitting gravitons. Then I summoned a wall around the gravity generator and, as the pressure built in my mind, formed a funnel streaking from the invisible enclosure toward the room we had just entered. The gravitational waves, acting like water in that they wanted to take the path of least resistance, traveled through the funnel like water in a pipe. The edge of the funnel lay a few feet in front of the foremost Rangers, meaning only our enemies would be affected by the gravitational field.

  I opened my eyes. The enemy noticed the effects immediately. They moved sluggish and their arms lowered despite their efforts to pull them up. Time to turn up the power. I channeled all my power, leaving only a little in reserve, toward the gravity generator. The inclusion of my power super-infused the generator and as a result the waves came stronger and more frequently. The tidal force being generated by it increased and our enemies continued to slow.

  Maintaining my shield around the gravity generator, I walked forward. “Wait here,” I announced aloud. Once I was within the bounds of the gravity field the pirates ceased being slow and seemed to move at my speed. And they were struggling to bring their weapons to bear upon me. I didn’t have much time. A glance behind me showed Julianna seeming to breathe faster. The time dilation field was affecting me.

  I released my mag boots and at the same time surrounded myself with just enough anti-gravitons to negate the effect of the intense gravitational field. It worked, the enemy slowed to a crawl. Bringing my rifle up to my shoulder, I walked among them. Where they could barely bring their weapons to aim toward my knees, I was fully capable of shooting them in the chest or head, and I took advantage of it. Bang, bang, bang. The enemies died without firing a shot at me.

  Exhausted, I released the containment field and anti-graviton field. Gravity returned to “normal,” or what it had been when we first arrived on the asteroid, in a flash. I bent over, head pounding as if someone had taken a jackhammer to it.

  Julianna and the other Rangers passed me, laying out every spare explosive we had.

  “Where did the weapons team go?” I asked. “What happened to them?”

  “We found them when we were on our way from the other direction,” the squad leader of Team Three said. “They were ambushed from both directions before they’d even had a chance to set their crates down.”

  “Hmmm,” I said, wondering how they’d been made.

  Minutes later the weapons control center exploded. The pirates were now toothless, defenseless and unable to call for help. “Team One and Three headed back to the hangar,” I reported.

  “...Teams...hurry...nukes...inbound...” the lieutenant’s voice came through as static.

  My mind seized on one word, ignoring the static that hadn’t been present before: “nukes.” “Lieutenant, say again.”

  “Nukes...inbound...detonation...imminent.” Through the crackle of the static I made out the words. “Leaving...” her words cut off as the asteroid shook. The first nuke must have hit.

  No, I thought. By instinct, I closed my eyes and drew upon the last reserves of my power. I shrouded myself in gravitons and formed a singularity above my head. Opening my eyes, I sought out Julianna. “Julianna! Take my hand!” I reached out to her, several meters away.

  The next detonation hit before she’d taken more than a step. I watched in horror as a wave of immense heat and energy surged through the cavern, turning Julianna to ash. I screamed, both in rage at her death and in pain, as the heat slammed into my gravitational shield and funneled toward the singularity. Fed new energy independent from me, the singularity stabilized and no longer leached off me. A third detonation washed over me but this time I barely felt it, whether because I was numb at the death of my friend or because the singularity had grown too strong, I wasn’t sure.

  A fourth detonation occurred farther in the asteroid, but it caused chunks of rock and debris to hurtle toward me. They were no match for the power of the singularity I’d given birth to, however. I stood at the eye of a detritus hurricane, anger burning deep inside.

  When the debris cleared, a huge hole in the top of the asteroid gaped above me. Shoving the singularity straight up, I soared toward empty space. With the asteroid broken, there was no need for an anti-gravity field around me to allow me to follow behind the singularity.

  There I floated, eyes searching the vacuum. I sought the source of the nukes. Through the asteroid field I spotted a cluster of ships. I turned the singularity in that direction and shot straight toward the fleet.

  The first asteroid the singularity met collapsed as rock met the event horizon. I passed through empty space a moment later. The same phenomenon happened with all the asteroids between me and the target of my ire.

  I emerged from the asteroid field traveling incredibly fast. I willed the singularity onward with single-minded purpose. Gone was the innocent girl from Galatia IV. In her place was an undead killing machine Hellbent on avenging her friend’s death. You didn’t die in vain, Julianna, I thought.

  The Federation fleet, seeing me coming now, or at least detecting the singularity, began firing. A starfighter flashed past me and swiveled around to face me. It fired a stream of bullets at me, but I held up a hand and the bullets flowed instead toward the singularity. Then I clenched my fist and caught the fighter in the grip of the gravity-well too. It spun out of control until moments later the black hole tore it apart.

  Weariness had fled, replaced by rage. The fighter being swallowed into the black hole fueled my rage and made me hunger for more. I imagined if I could see my face in that moment I would have feared what I saw. In retrospect, my feelings were mirroring the singularity. It had taken on a life of its own - not sentience per se, but a chaotic hunger that spoke to the basest nature of my virus-infused body. It brought to the surface the primal urges I’d have felt if I hadn’t had the treatment to “cure” me.

  I picked up speed as I soared toward the first capital ship. A frigate, by the looks of it. Growling, though
there was no sound in space so it only resulted in the rumbling sensation in my throat, I aimed straight toward the front of the ship. The black hole touched the silver metal of the frigate and twisted it, swallowing it faster than my eye could follow. Fragments of hull, electronic equipment, bodies, all swirled and disappeared into the whirlpool of death and destruction crashing into their midst. Before I knew it I was through, and a glance behind me showed a bisected ship with the entire middle of it missing. Bodies spilled into space. The ones swallowed up were the lucky ones - it was probably painless for them.

  Not losing momentum, I arced toward the second ship, a cruiser. It continued to fire at me. I saw what looked like a nuke flaring toward me - it was larger than the other missiles - but it flew into the singularity and died without even flare of light or heat escaping. Next, the ship tried to evade, turning, but it didn’t deter me. I hit at an angle and cut diagonally through it, leaving a gutted hulk behind. I stopped, floating in the void, feeling near infinite power.

  Fighters streaked through the void but not toward me, this time. They fled to their capital ships and, one by one, the remaining ships shifted into shadow space.

  Without enemies in sight, I deflated, my anger cooling in the icy void of space. The reality of what I’d done washed over me in waves, bringing on a feeling of nausea. If I’d eaten anything recently, I might have thrown it up. What have I done? No. What had they made me do? The Federation, firing into the asteroid. If I hadn’t had my powers, I would have been vaporized like...like Julianna. I had to think her name. I couldn’t let her memory fade. Had the Federation known we were in there? Had they intentionally sought to eliminate us?

  I lost track of time, floating there alone in the soundless depth of space. A living human would have long been dead, which made me thankful for the lack of a need to breath. Still, without the anger burning deep inside I felt weak. The nearest planet was millions of lightyears away in an unknown direction and there was no way I could maintain a gravity ball long enough to reach habitation before I died from thirst or hunger. I thought about going back to the wreckage of the asteroid to check for an alcove with supplies, but I was certain the nukes had irradiated the entire area.

  Jarvis, how long can I last out here?

  The virus and nanites are insulating your body. But thirst will cause severe dehydration and organ shut down within thirty-six hours.

  Far longer than it would take to reach a planet, right?

  Correct, he said, confirming my fears.

  And how much radiation can I take?

  You’ve already received a severe dose from the nuclear detonations, but the nanites and virus repaired the damage. Prolonged presence in a radiation source of that magnitude will overwhelm the healing capability of your body within three hours, twenty-four minutes and ten seconds.

  Thanks for the precision estimate on how long it would take for me to die, I said sarcastically.

  Of course, miss.

  That was sarcasm.

  Ah. I will make note of this experience to improve my personality matrix.

  Well, do you have any suggestions for how I can not die?

  At this point, unless a third-party intervenes, any attempt at survival will ultimately end in failure.

  I closed my eyes. What were the odds of that happening?

  Time lost meaning as I floated, watching the asteroids stream through the void. For a time I lapsed into sleep, I think, because I jolted awake as a light flared though my eyelids.

  My eyes snapped open to the sight of a ship shining a spotlight on me. It appeared to be an assault transport. In the distance, a corvette that reminded me of the Daedalus floated. Fear surged in me, followed by tensing of my muscles as I prepared to summon my power and defend myself.

  My comm crackled. “Rachel, come in. Private Halbert, do you copy?” It sounded like Captain Wilson’s voice.

  “Captain?” I asked, even my sub-vocal voice sounding weak.

  “You got it, Private. We came as soon as the fleet came back two ships short and the Daedalus didn’t.”

  “They...killed...everyone,” I said, struggling to string my words together.

  “All right, we’re opening the outer airlock. Can you reach it?”

  “Yes.” Suiting action to words, I gathered what felt like the last of my strength and summoned a small graviton ball which I followed into the open airlock. I released my power and slumped to the floor.

  The outer door closed and the room pressurized. When the inner door opened Captain Wilson stood there, arms crossed.

  I stumbled to my feet and he took my hand and helped me out.

  “Get her some water and some food,” he called out.

  Moments later, two Rangers showed up with the requested sustenance.

  The captain directed me to a bench. “Eat, drink and get your bearings. Then tell me what the hell happened out there.”

  I nodded and did as he directed. When I was ready, I started talking, meeting his questioning gaze. “Sir, we had completed the mission and were on our way back to the Daedalus when the Federation fleet fired on the base with nuclear warheads.” I paused for effect, but he didn’t react, just watched me with his usual dispassionate calm. “My entire team...they were vaporized after the second blast. I used my power to survive.”

  “And then you went after the fleet,” he finished. “Private...what the reports said you did...you killed hundreds of crew members. You’re lucky no one knew it was you or MPs would be here to take you into custody.” He pointed out the viewport toward the shattered hulks of the ships I’d destroyed

  “Wait,” I said. “No one knows it was me?”

  Captain Wilson shook his head. “Few people know about your power, and none in command of that fleet. So...I kept my mouth shut until I had all the facts.”

  “And now that you have the facts?”

  “We’ve been betrayed,” he said. “Sounds like the Federation wanted some undead Rangers out of commission...permanently. It’s what we’ve feared would happen for a while now.”

  “Yes.” The memory of my conversation with Julianna returned in a flash. “Julianna told me about your group. I want in,” I said firmly.

  The captain watched me for a long moment, whether for signs of hesitation or doubt I don’t know, but he finally nodded. “You’re in. And now it’s time to get revenge.”

  Chapter 26

  A day after the incident at the asteroid base and the account of the attack was nowhere to be found. I’d clicked through every holo-news station and no one was talking about it. Instead, most of the “top stories” were about a delegation of important Federation officials traveling around lobbying for support for one thing or another, a video of a cat dancing to a specific song and rumors of a trillionaire and his wife divorcing and splitting their estate.

  The ship I sat on, the Gamut, wasn’t the same as the Daedalus. It was structurally the same, but it lacked my team. Julianna. There were more undead here, with most of the crew being like me, which was a change from the Daedalus. Many of those lost on the asteroid base were living, and those who hadn’t gone on the mission had transferred out.

  Captain Wilson walked in as the news anchors began talking about the “important” Federation officials. I half-wondered if my father would be among them. “Display, off,” he ordered and the holo blinked out of existence.

  I met his stern gaze and swallowed a snappy comeback. “Sir?”

  “It’s time.”

  “Already?” It had been a day since I’d been rescued. My belly was full and I’d slept for twelve hours straight, but this soon?

  “Strike while the iron is hot,” he said. “Our targets are going to be on the opportune planet in a week. The plan’s already in motion.”

  “Can you tell me what the plan is?”

  “Come with me, and I will.”

  I nodded, stood up and followed the man. He led me to Colonel Schattler’s quarters and, not waiting for an answer to his knock, opened
the door and entered. “Sir, she’s here.”

  The colonel looked up and smiled, the first time I think I’d seen him offer a genuine smile. “Private, thank you for coming.”

  Not that I’d had a choice. “Of course, sir.” I stood there, waiting.

  “Please, sit down.” He gestured to a pair of chairs.

  I took the one on the left, while Captain Wilson sat in the other.

  “Tea?” the colonel asked, lifting an antique porcelain teapot and pointing to a pair of antique matching tea cups.

  “No, thank you, sir. I’m still recovering from yesterday.”

  “Of course.” He cleared his throat. “What has Captain Wilson told you so far?”

  “Very little,” I said carefully. I didn’t want to share that Julianna had given me information before our mission.

  “Well, the captain and I are part of a coalition of undead across the Federation who are dissatisfied with the new status quo imposed upon us by society and the inaction on the part of the Federation government to protect our kind.”

  The Dread Legion, I thought. “What’s the name of this coalition?”

  “We call ourselves the Dread Legion, because of how society dreads our existence and because we are everywhere, now.”

  “And what is it your group wants?” I asked, cautiously.

  “We want society to finally realize our power,” he said. “We are the next evolution of humankind and we deserve to have a place of honor within the Federation.” His face took on a feral expression. “And if they won’t honor us, we’ll teach them to fear us.”

  I found myself nodding. Twice I’d found myself attacked by the living, with the first almost resulting in my death. Change and acceptance wouldn’t come through peace.

  “Do you want in?” he asked.

  The memory of Julianna being vaporized before my eyes rose up. “Tell me one thing, sir. Why did they attack the asteroid with us still in there?”

  The colonel didn’t break eye contact. “They knew you were there. But the ‘why’ died with the commander of that cruiser you destroyed. My guess is secret orders to ensure you didn’t survive.”