The Crucible- The Complete Series

by Odette C. Bell

  “It’s my ability, Nate. Just keep going. We can’t lose this ship. It’s everything to the resistance.”

  Though the shock threatened to pull me apart, cell by cell, I followed.

  The light was so goddamn bright as it burnt over her arms, it was almost enough to counter the constant red flash of the alert system.

  What the hell had the Alliance done to her?

  That thought stabbed through my mind and removed every last trace of doubt.

  The Alliance really were monsters.

  Deck 16 was a mess.

  Sections of the floors and walls had been ripped open, and circuits hung in broken chunks, their wires exposed and crackling in the air.

  “What the hell happened here?” I stammered.

  “The enforcement officers. They’re trying to tear this ship apart and make it self-destruct. We have to stop them. Nate, we have to stop them.”

  I stared at her.

  I nodded.

  We turned and ran forward.

  …

  Ensign Jenks

  I followed from a distance.

  I had not evacuated this ship.

  … I don’t know why, but I was still here.

  I had never planned on joining the resistance. Though they fought for a cause I believed in, I didn’t trust them.

  They’d use me, just like Axis had.

  When they found out what I could do, they’d use me.

  So why was I still on board?

  I could have fled this ship with the rest of the crew. The Star Forces would have been none the wiser.

  Yet, I’d passed up my chance.

  Now I was following him. Shepherd.

  And her. Lieutenant Williams.

  She was just like me.

  That thought kept echoing in my mind.

  I followed at a distance.

  I felt it as soon as Williams activated her implants. I could even see the faint glow spread down the corridor.

  God, she really did have the same abilities as I did.

  Could she be more powerful than me? Had professor Axis lied when he’d said I was his child, his perfection, the one experiment that mattered more than any other?

  I shook my head and tried to push that thought from my mind.

  The deck around us was badly damaged. Someone had pulled chunks of the ceiling and walls away.

  There were no blast marks. The metal was simply bent and warped.

  I kept following, more cautiously now, always staying out of sight.

  I heard the two of them stop.

  They reached a room.

  From my constant shifts spent scanning, I knew it was one of the primary cargo bays.

  It seemed like an irrelevant target until you realized that underneath the floor was one of the primary buffering manifolds for the engine core.

  The enforcement officers F’val had warned of were clearly trying to destroy this ship.

  As if to confirm that fact, the Ra’xon suddenly lurched to the side.

  I pressed a hand into the wall to steady myself, then I continued forward.

  I watched Williams and Shepherd barrel into the cargo bay, the massive doors closing behind them.

  I stepped out of hiding and spread my hand, stopping the doors from closing completely. I left them open with the tiniest gap.

  I reached them and pressed my eyes close.

  I saw the cargo bay.

  It was a mess. In the far corner a hole had been ripped in the floor, jagged metal jutting out in every direction.

  The ship lurched again.

  Two men in jet-back armor shifted up. They’d been kneeling near the hole punched in the floor.

  They moved with deadly ease.

  Williams came to a stop in the middle of the room, her arms spread wide, her implants on full. So much light spewed out of them, it was a surprise they didn’t burn a hole in the hull.

  “You’re not taking this ship,” she screamed.

  Neither of the black-clad enforcement officers said a thing; they simply walked forward, both splitting off in opposite directions to circle around her.

  Shepherd had grabbed a gun from somewhere, and lifted it up.

  One enforcement officer spread his hand, yellow light bleeding down through channels in his armor.

  The gun suddenly lurched from Shepherd’s grip. He managed to hold onto it for a few seconds – which was incredible, considering the force the man used.

  In another instant he swore as the gun spiraled from his grip.

  Both enforcement officers kept circling Williams.

  “You won’t win,” she warned.

  Neither man said a thing.

  They simply attacked.

  They lurched towards her.

  She doubled back, slamming her hand forward and locking one man in place.

  She was powerful, and kept him frozen in mid-air, but she wasn’t strong enough to stop the other man from circling around behind her.

  She gasped, shifting to the side, dodging the other officer as he sliced towards her.

  She tried to grab a box from the far side of the room. There were large metal crates lined up neatly along one wall.

  Williams grabbed one.

  Or at least she tried to.

  Suddenly both enforcement officers spun and spread their hands towards the crate, locking it in place.

  Williams was strong, but it was clear she couldn’t take both men on at once.

  I heard her give out a scream of frustration.

  She dropped the crate and backed off.

  She couldn’t win, and I fancied she was starting to realize that as she shook on the spot.

  I, however, could win. Easily.

  So this was it.

  It was time to decide. Run or fight.

  Run or fight.

  I watched Williams continue to battle. She had no chance, however.

  She simply wasn’t brutal enough.

  As for Shepherd, he had no clue how to fight these men. Maybe he’d learn in time. If someone bought it for him.

  Run or fight.

  “Run or fight,” I repeated to myself, teeth pressing hard into my lips as I watched the scene through the crack in the door.

  Williams suddenly screamed in anguish as one of the enforcement officers slammed into her shoulder, latching a hand onto her head and smashing it into the floor. She tried to push him off, but as golden-yellow light erupted over his armor, it was clear he was a stronger telekinetic warrior than she was.

  Shepherd let out a brutal cry, rounded his shoulder, and slammed it into the enforcement officer who held her down.

  His attack did nothing.

  In fact, without even turning around, the guy spread a hand towards Shepherd and locked him in place.

  Shepherd’s body spread, his limbs pulling in every direction as if he were being drawn and quartered.

  He screamed, the sound ripping from his throat.

  … They were going to kill him.

  And her.

  And everyone else on this ship.

  “Run or fight.”

  ….

  Fight. I had to fight.

  Now.

  Now.

  I pressed a hand against the door.

  I activated my implants.

  I let them glow, glow until they practically burnt through the ship.

  Then I flicked my fingers at the door.

  It slammed away from my move, spiraling into the room.

  I directed it at the officer holding Shepherd in place.

  I watched the man turn.

  But he didn’t have time.

  The door spiraled into him, knocking him off his feet and sending him skidding across the floor.

  The other enforcement officer pounced on me.

  Shepherd dropped, his limbs buckling as soon as they hit the floor.

  His head lolled towards me, his eyes half open.

  They fluttered. Once. Twice. Then finally closed.

  H
e was out cold.

  Williams was beside him, her body crumpled. She’d lost consciousness too.

  It was up to me.

  I turned my head to the side slowly to see one of the black-armored enforcement officers power towards me, one arm twisting behind his back as he grabbed his gun.

  He turned it on me.

  I took a casual step towards him, boots echoing against the floor, hair cutting around the side of my face as I half-turned to him.

  I swept my hand to the side just as he brought up the gun.

  I pulled it right out of his hands.

  All it took was the slight articulation of my thumb.

  The enforcement officer stumbled.

  Though he wore a blackened helmet, I could feel his surprise.

  I held the gun just out of his reach.

  He watched me for a single second longer, then he slammed both his arms to the side, collapsing his fingers into tight fists.

  Suddenly yellow-gold channels opened in his armor.

  He activated his implants in full.

  He reached for the gun, spreading his fingers wide, obviously using his ability to try to wrench it from me.

  I pulverized the gun. Crushed it into millions of particles of dust. I let them rain down on him as he jerked his head back to stare at me.

  “Sorry about that,” I said.

  He doubled backward, moves jerky now, all the cold efficiency gone from his actions.

  He skidded on his boot, shunting a hand towards the far wall and the boxes lined up along it.

  He brought a single box into the air, then, as he pivoted on his foot, sent it crashing towards me.

  At the last moment, I brought my hand up and stopped it in place.

  He strained, spreading his hand wide, even letting out a groan as he tried to crush me with the box.

  As I held it in place, I brought my free hand up slowly. As I did, all the other boxes in the room raised into the air.

  All of them.

  I saw the man jerk his head to the side, his shock clear as every box floated past him, as light as feathers on the wind.

  I pressed my fingers together then spread them quickly, right at the man.

  It was time to take his armor off.

  I kept the boxes spinning softly in the air as a distraction.

  The enforcement officer tried to take a step back, but he couldn’t.

  He strained. I even saw his armor start to buckle.

  So I gave it a hand.

  With the flick of a finger, I lifted him into the air.

  It was time to do to him what he’d done to Shepherd.

  I suddenly made a fist. I connected to the man’s armor, and I pulled it right off.

  It may have been the most sophisticated armor in the Milky Way. But I had more power, because the Alliance had been dumb enough to give it to me.

  His armor shattered, shedding off him in a wave of shrapnel.

  Now I could see his face. I could register his shock as he stared at me, eyes two pools of hatred and gut-wrenching fear.

  I stared at him for a single second before I let him fall. His body jolted into the floor.

  He tried to scramble towards me, his bare feet slipping against the floor.

  I swept my hand to the side, collecting his body and pinning it to the ground. Then I moved a mound of boxes and slammed them down all around him, creating an impenetrable cage.

  One down.

  The other enforcement officer had already picked himself up.

  He was shifting away from me, one hand on the ground as he kept his body low, his head angled towards me.

  I took a step forward and took away his armor with a sweep of my hand.

  It was marginally harder.

  This guy was stronger than the other one.

  It wouldn’t matter, though.

  Not in the end.

  Professor Axis had created me never to lose.

  As soon as his armor shattered, scattering through the room in a cloud of debris that floated along with the crates, he fell.

  He got up quickly, though.

  He clearly knew how to fight.

  He ran towards me.

  So I ran towards him.

  He activated his implants, a sea of yellow-gold light spilling off them and lighting up the underside of every crate as they slipped quietly by.

  He sent a cloud of shrapnel stabbing towards me.

  I cleared it away with barely any effort.

  We reached each other.

  With a scream, he lurched towards me, a ball of light erupting off his implants.

  I flipped right over him, using my ability to sail right towards one of the floating crates. I landed on it as it tumbled in the air, then I pushed off, flipping forward until I reached him.

  As I flew right over him, I watched his eyes widen.

  Then I landed. Right behind him.

  Before he could lurch around and attack me, I snatched at his exposed elbow.

  I slammed my hand around it, digging my fingers in.

  He twisted and brought up a hand, forming a fist.

  I stopped it in midair.

  I watched his muscles tighten, his neck straining as he tried but failed to send his fist sailing towards me.

  His teeth were bared, his lips actually shaking at the effort to move his hand.

  I was far, far stronger than he was.

  I kept my fingers locked around his elbow. Then I did it. I located his implant, and pulled it right out of his arm.

  I tugged my hand back, and a pulse of blood erupted around it, the implant shooting from his elbow and slamming into my palm.

  He screamed, his arm jerking to his side as his eyes grew so wide they could have swallowed the universe.

  “What the hell… are you?” he managed as blood trailed down his arm, off his fingers, and splashed over the floor.

  I still held his fist in place, even though he wasn’t fighting me anymore.

  I took a step back.

  I stared right at him.

  I let it swell – the anger, the unbridled hatred at what had been done to me.

  But most of all, the bitterness at what we, the Alliance, had become.

  “What are you?” he stuttered once more.

  “I’m the resistance,” I said.

  And I meant it.

  I spread my fingers wide, and the man sailed across the room. Slamming into the far wall.

  He wouldn’t be dead, but he’d be out cold for hours.

  I stood there and stared at him for several seconds before turning and glancing at both Williams and Shepherd.

  They were still unconscious.

  I stared at them for a few more seconds before turning my gaze around the rest of the room.

  One by one, I let the crates drop into place.

  Then I took a step back.

  I’d just fought the Alliance.

  My first battle.

  I brought my hands up and stared at them.

  I’d told that man I was the resistance. And it had felt good to hear those words echo around the room.

  It had made me feel powerful.

  … But I wasn’t, not really.

  I alone could not tear down the Alliance.

  But maybe I wasn’t alone anymore.

  I turned back and stared at Nathan Shepherd. He was alive. I could see his chest moving up and down as he took soft breaths.

  I flicked my gaze over to Williams. She had clearly made the choice to join the resistance.

  … Was it a choice I could make too?

  I stared at Shepherd for one more second.

  Then I turned and walked out the door.

  It was time to make a difference.

  It was time to join the resistance.

  Thank you for reading Episode One.

  Episode Two

  At Heaven’s Door

  Chapter One

  Lieutenant Commander Nathan Shepherd

  I was alive. Somehow, I was a
live.

  The ship had survived too. Though those enforcement officers – aided by their incredible telekinetic powers – had done a fair bit of damage, they didn’t get the chance to tear this vessel in two.

  The Ra’xon was now en route to the resistance headquarters.

  Maybe the Captain and Commander F’val didn’t trust me completely yet, because they hadn’t shared with me the location.

  I would just have to wait and see.

  Now the battle with the enforcement officers was over, and the Ra’xon was relatively safe, it gave me an opportunity to think about what I’d just done.

  In a few short hours, I’d thrown away everything I’d ever worked for. All that training, all those sacrifices. All gone.

  Or not gone. Not completely. They’d all morphed into something new.

  What I’d felt before – the loyalty for serving the Alliance – had been nothing but ignorance.

  I’d seen what Williams could do, those enforcement officers too. It was hard to believe, even in this modern galaxy.

  I’d heard rumors of soldiers with telekinetic powers, but I’d always thought they’d been just that – rumors.

  If you weren’t careful in this galaxy, you’d find yourself believing some pretty wild tales. Head down to some bar and listen to the inebriated patrons for too long, and you’d come away believing in holographic soldiers and ancient parasitic civilizations from the past.

  But this… Christ, it was no tale. No fiction.

  There were people out there with the power to move things with their minds.

  It wasn’t magic though. Williams had described it to me briefly. It seemed she had a rudimentary ability for telekinesis. Something that could only be measured by machines. Before the Alliance had got their hands on her, it wasn’t like she was conducting boxes across the room or throwing people against walls. But the potential had been there. When her ability had been discovered in a medical test, she’d been shipped away to something called the Farsight Program.

  Even as I thought of it now, I shivered. The movement was deep, pushing hard into the muscles of my lower back and abdomen, tracing high, racing into my shoulders and neck.

  I swallowed too, the move hard as it felt like I was trying to breathe around a stone lodged in my throat.

  The things they’d done to her in that program were unforgivable. Everything the Alliance had done, it seemed, was unforgivable.

  Had I been so blind, so senselessly loyal that I’d not seen the damage I’d helped to create?