The Crucible- The Complete Series

by Odette C. Bell

  I was currently standing with my back pressed up against a wall, my arms crossed in front of me as I apparently supervised an engineering detail.

  Engineering wasn’t anywhere near my specialty, but considering the Ra’xon’s crew were now only 10% of the original complement, everyone had become an engineer. Particularly urgent as so much damage had been sustained to the primary driveshaft at the hands of the enforcement officers.

  While I was a terrible engineer, I was a relatively good commander.

  Or I usually was, when my thoughts weren’t spiraling out of control.

  The raw shock gave place to a deep, dense, niggling fear that had welled in my gut.

  Unlocking my arms from around my middle, I swiped a hand down my mouth and dislodged the sweat that had collected over my top lip.

  My gaze was slightly unfocused as I swept it around the cargo bay.

  There were a few ensigns under my command. Though I wondered how long that would last.

  In the Star Forces, I’d been a lieutenant commander. In the resistance, I was just another grunt.

  The door at the other end of the cargo bay opened, and I looked up to see Ensign Jenks walk-in.

  She was on board. Even though she hadn’t been a part of the resistance before, she was now.

  Bizarrely, after the Ra’xon had been evacuated, and the enforcement officers finally dealt with, apparently Ensign Jenks had been found still standing near the service panel I’d told her to watch.

  According to her, as soon as she heard me mention that there were Omega weapons on board, she’d realized this ship was somehow related to the resistance.

  Jenks, it seems, had always wanted to join the resistance.

  That, I could believe. Of the few short conversations I’d had with her before, her contempt of the Alliance had been evident.

  The Captain appeared satisfied with her claim.

  I took a step forward, trying to catch Jenks’ gaze.

  That straight hair of hers fanned in front of her face as she turned around, leant down, and picked up a small crate, helping another ensign shift it across the room.

  I could hardly wave in the air and whistle at her to come over to me. Though I wanted to.

  I barely knew the woman, but I wanted to know her life story, and I fancied she’d be more likely to tell it to me now.

  Now I wasn’t blinded by loyalty to the Alliance, maybe Jenks would open up.

  I took a step forward, then another, reasoning I could still use what was left of my command to pull Jenks aside and ask how she was.

  I didn’t manage it.

  The door to the cargo bay opened again, and Williams walked in.

  She’d been injured by her run in with the enforcement officers, but the Chief Medical Officer – a member of the resistance – had seen to her injuries.

  Williams walked right up to me. “I’ve been meaning to check in with you. This must be such…” she trailed off and let out a harsh breath, “I don’t know, but it must be hard.” She looked right up into my eyes.

  I’d been trying to maintain an even expression, but I couldn’t. My nerve cracked, and I fancied I showed a bit of the raw stress I was really feeling.

  “It’s okay, Nathan – you did the right thing. The resistance needs people like you.”

  “Are you sure?” I found myself crossing my arms again, not out of defensiveness, but out of a need to close down. I was still reeling, and I hated that feeling. I hated not looking like I was in control.

  “What do you mean?”

  I let out a frustrated laugh. It was short and sharp and echoed around the cavernous cargo bay.

  Ensign Jenks briefly looked over her shoulder towards me. Most of the time it appeared as if she was ignoring me.

  “What do you mean?” Williams asked again, tilting her head to the side, her now loose hair trailing over her shoulders. In the Star Forces, there were regulations for everything. The army stipulated how you were to wear your uniform, how you were to do your hair, how you were to goddamn breathe.

  Now it seemed that Williams was breaking free. To think, all this time I thought she’d been a neat freak, when all she’d been doing was following the rules set down for her.

  “What do I mean? Well, I guess it’s pretty obvious. You don’t need more guys like me – we need more people like you.” I dipped my head down, making keen eye contact with her. I wanted her to hear every word. “Williams, what you did,” my voice cracked for a second, “it was amazing. If you hadn’t been there, I would have died, and those bastards would have taken this ship.”

  I watched her blush. She even took a step back, her eyes open wide. “It wasn’t like that. You’d just never fought people like… me before,” her voice twisted on the word me. “Star Forces command suppresses all information on telekinetic warriors. There are really only a handful of people in the fleet that know we exist. They even restrict the information flow between telekinetic warriors. When I was a part of the Farsight Program, they always told me I was special. That there was no one else like me. That everybody else rejected the implants.” Her gaze dropped to the floor, and almost immediately she cupped her arms around her middle, covering her elbows with her palms protectively.

  My gaze flicked down to them.

  I’d seen her arms explode with light. This glorious yellow-gold light that ran in directed channels down to her hands.

  Apparently that was what helped her use her powers.

  ….

  Powers. Christ. In the space of several days I’d learnt more about this galaxy than I had in my entire lifetime.

  Maybe I blanched or my breathing became more pressured, because Williams took a step closer and smiled. “It’s okay, Nathan. Like I said, this will all get easier.”

  “Maybe it will get easier, but I’ll never be a match for you. I was useless during that fight,” I admitted, heart shrinking, “you did everything. You defeated those two officers on your own.”

  Her brow compressed, her eyebrows knitting together as a deep frown etched itself down her chin. “I still don’t remember a thing, you know. All I remember is one of those enforcement officers grabbing the back of my head,” her voice jolted, trembling badly. “Then the next thing I remember is waking up in the med bay.”

  “Well you must’ve defeated those officers. There’s no one else on board who could have done it. God knows I was useless.”

  “Don’t keep saying that. There’s a reason the Captain wanted you to join the resistance so badly. We need people like you. Your skills as a commander are legendary.”

  I had to laugh at that. I tipped my head back and let my shoulders shake with mirth. “That would be nice. If it were true.”

  “It is true,” she insisted earnestly. “With people like you, we might finally have a chance to make a difference.”

  Her words humbled me. Or more than her words – the way she said them. Her soft certainty.

  I pressed my lips together and found myself nodding.

  I found the intensity of her gaze too challenging, and I looked up.

  Jenks had her head angled towards me as she helped an ensign shift a crate.

  As soon as she saw me looking at her, she jerked her head away, her hair flaring around her face.

  I gazed at her for a few more seconds.

  “Nathan? Nathan?”

  “Oh, sorry. Blanked out for a moment there. Anyhow, when does the Doc think that you’ll get your memories back about the fight?”

  “Never,” Williams admitted in a soft voice.

  “What?” I now focused on her completely.

  “The use of telekinetic powers can be quite taxing to the nervous system. It’s not unheard of for it to cause permanent episodes of amnesia.”

  My lips spread with concern. “That sounds terrible, Annabelle. I’m so sorry you had to go through all of that.”

  She shrugged her shoulders. I wasn’t the most empathetic guy in the galaxy, but I could see the tension tracing
down into her back and up into her jaw.

  “It’s fine, Nathan. Everything is fine, now you’re here.”

  My stomach kicked. “… Yeah,” I fumbled over my words.

  “Anyhow, we’ll reach our destination soon. Then…” she trailed off.

  I swallowed hard. “Then what?”

  “Then you join the resistance for real. You’ll learn how we operate, what our immediate goals are, and how we plan to ultimately defeat the Alliance.”

  With that promise ringing in my ears, I nodded.

  It was time for a new future.

  Chapter 2

  Ensign Jenks

  At first I had planned on revealing my abilities to the resistance.

  At first, just after I’d defeated the enforcement officers, I’d been flush with the emotion of victory.

  When I’d had time to cool down, I reconsidered my options.

  I didn’t know the resistance. Though I shared their ultimate goal, I had no idea what means they were willing to use to obtain it.

  I didn’t believe in monsters and angels. I didn’t believe that in this galaxy some were born good and others born evil.

  Situations brought the best or worst out of us.

  You put a saint in a hellish place, and they would turn into a devil.

  For now I shared the resistance’s goals, but when they won – when they finally overturned the Alliance – what assurance did I have that they wouldn’t turn into the very evil they were trying to depose?

  And what assurance did I have that they wouldn’t use me to do it?

  I had to face the fact that I was a weapon. An ultimate weapon. I could not be used indiscriminately.

  Before I revealed who I truly was to the resistance, I would have to figure out whether I could trust them.

  So I’d run from the cargo bay after I’d defeated the enforcement officers.

  I’d run all the way back to the service panel Shepherd had told me to protect when he’d found the Omega weapons.

  And I’d just… kind of stayed there.

  When the resistance had found me, I’d muddled together a story for the Captain.

  Either I was a better liar than I thought, or the Captain was willing to take on any one who professed hatred for the Alliance.

  Regardless, there was no indication anyone was suspicious of me. Neither did anyone suspect that I had a hand in the defeat of the enforcement officers. They were in no state to tell anyone anything either. I’d overloaded their implants and wiped their immediate memories.

  The conversation I’d just overheard between Shepherd and Williams confirmed no one suspected me.

  … A part of me – a tiny fragment – felt a weird kind of jealousy at that.

  I’d defeated those officers, not her.

  But that jealousy was misplaced and ultimately useless.

  I wanted no accolades. All I wanted was peace.

  The Ra’xon was currently en route to one of the resistance’s main headquarters.

  One of them.

  The resistance had multiple headquarters.

  Since fleeing the Star Forces and living under the radar I’d already learnt quite a lot about the rebellion.

  And yet there was one fact that had been successfully hidden from me.

  They had telekinetic warriors.

  That thought still had the power to lock me in place, my muscles seizing up and feeling as if they would snap.

  More like me. More like me. That simple phrase kept echoing in my mind like the beat of a far-off drum.

  A few droplets of sweat even picked up across my brow. I put down the crate I was carrying and wiped the sweat off with the back of my hand.

  I glanced around the cargo bay. Shepherd had already left with Williams.

  They were clearly a couple. Or if not yet, they would be soon, especially now they were no longer under the constraints of the Star Forces.

  I didn’t know why I bothered to consider that thought. It seemed irrelevant. Surely I should be spending most of my mental energy on planning what I would do next.

  Keeping my secret safe from the resistance would be different to operating under the Star Forces’ nose. I’d been eluding the Star Forces for years. I knew what to do to keep myself safe.

  The resistance, on the other hand, clearly had a great number of telekinetic warriors. It may be harder to keep my secret hidden from them.

  I would also have to raid their Omega weapons’ supplies. After a while, they would start to suspect there was another warrior amongst them.

  I tried to focus on the task of figuring out how I would protect my secret, but my mind kept drifting.

  Soon enough, it didn’t matter.

  There was an alert over the ship wide comms.

  Apparently, we had reached the resistance base.

  My chest tightened, a nervous feeling sinking into my stomach and lapping at my spine in waves.

  I had to clench my teeth hard to control myself.

  So this was it.

  A new future.

  Apparently.

  I wasn’t a cynical person, or at least I hadn’t been before the Star Forces had got their hands on me.

  If there was one thing they had taught me, though, it was to be realistic. It was to look at the galaxy as it really was. It was to see every danger and every shadow.

  The resistance claimed to be fighting for a better future. I would have to see if they were willing to sacrifice enough to obtain it.

  Futures of peace are not bought with hope, but paid for in blood.

  Chapter 3

  Lieutenant Commander Nathan Shepherd

  We were here.

  The Ra’xon had arrived at the resistance headquarters.

  I don’t know what I was expecting. Something monumental, something to rival the central planet of the Star Forces maybe.

  Well, it’s not what I got.

  We arrived at a relatively barren looking planet.

  It was an ice world, or at least half of it was. The other half of the planet was a desert.

  Due to extreme winds, one half of the planet received no moisture whatsoever, while the other received everything. The result was an almost perfect half-sphere of desert and one of ice.

  It was inhospitable, and while it technically had atmosphere, the winds would drive through whatever soft flesh you exposed to them, and rip you to shreds.

  Still, it was remote and isolated enough that it meant it was far outside of the Star Forces usual routes.

  I assumed the Ra’xon would stay in orbit and be serviced by multiple ships from the surface.

  I was wrong.

  We came into land.

  We came into land.

  We were a huge vessel. The kind of vessel designed for spaceflight, not sub-orbital maneuvering.

  You didn’t take a vessel as large as this to the surface of a planet unless you had to.

  Especially not with a skeleton crew.

  I was on the bridge, back pressed hard into one of the three piloting chairs.

  While I was a terrible engineer, I had decent pilot experience. Enough that the Captain had requested my help in landing the Ra’xon.

  There were three piloting stations, and right now the other two were occupied by lieutenants trained specifically in the Ra’xon’s systems.

  Me, I just had to wing it.

  Sweat had beaded across my brow, and I’d been holding my jaw with so much tension for so long it felt like my muscles would twang.

  My fingers were a blur as they moved over the controls. I had to keep jerking my head up to reference with the central piloting panel.

  We had to check and recheck our calculations. We couldn’t be off by a single micron.

  Not only were we landing on the planet, but we were landing inside a hangar, one sunk into the desert.

  As soon as the Ra’xon cleared the edges, the hangar would close and descend beneath the surface of the planet.

  From orbit, you could theoretically
scan this entire planet and you wouldn’t pick up any trace of it.

  The resistance was so organized, apparently, that not only would they hide the ship, but they would systematically remove any trace that you had ever passed through the system.

  No wonder the resistance had evaded the Star Forces for so long.

  My heart pounded in my chest, and I ground my teeth together until it felt like I would chew down to my jawbones.

  But finally, finally the Ra’xon levelled out and we saw the resistance base rise up out of the sand to meet us.

  It was a hell of a sight, and if I allowed myself, it would distract me.

  Tons upon tons of sand dropped away as this enormous circular dome pitched up out of the dunes. The dome was made of a matte material that didn’t reflect the light and was camouflaged to match the sand, but nonetheless was discernible as it protruded from the desert.

  I could half imagine being down there on the surface of the planet, listening to the cacophony of the sand scattering as the enormous structure plucked up out of the ground. It would be like listening to a mountain grow.

  “We are listing by 3 microns,” the chief pilot announced in a terse tone.

  “Adjusting,” I said through clenched teeth.

  I loved being a pilot. It was in my blood. My great-great-grandfather had been a test pilot for some of the mark three faster than light drives. It had ultimately cost him his life, but he’d made a name for himself in the process.

  Back when I joined the Star Forces, I’d done so under the illusion I’d be able to travel the galaxy just like my ancestors had. But due to my father’s influence, I’d quickly been diverted from piloting to command. Pilots never attained a commission above Lieutenant. A Shepherd, however, must.

  “We’re back on course,” the chief pilot confirmed.

  Though the tension kept building in my body as the Ra’xon came closer and closer to the surface of the planet, I didn’t allow that tension to transfer to my fingers. I kept them nimble, needing the speed as I operated the controls expertly.

  Suddenly the dome below us began to open.

  Again, I couldn’t hear it, but I imagined a great shifting of gears echoing out over the desert as the hangar dome split in half and began to retract back in on itself.