The Crucible- The Complete Series

by Odette C. Bell

  I fought it. I stared at the Captain, clenched my teeth, forced myself to keep breathing. “He’s a telekinetic spy,” I managed.

  The Captain turned from me.

  She turned from me.

  “No,” I gasped, “you have to believe me.”

  “It’s over, Lieutenant Commander,” F’val said. His expression was back to being dutiful. The cold victory was gone.

  But I knew it was still there, buried deep in his eyes.

  I clenched my teeth together. “What have you done to Williams?” I managed.

  “You know fully well what you did to Williams,” the Captain snapped.

  My head began to spin again. “F’val attacked her,” I tried.

  “Williams is in a coma and is unlikely to wake,” the Captain snapped. “Now remain silent.”

  That bastard.

  That bastard.

  Anger tore through my mind, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t pull myself to my feet. Even if I could, what then? The resistance had turned against me. F’val had spun another clever web. No matter what I said, they wouldn’t believe me.

  I was done for.

  And yet I couldn’t let go. I clung to hope with more strength than a man clinging to life. “No,” I began.

  “It’s over,” F’val said.

  Over.

  It couldn’t be.

  This wasn’t how my life would end. Was it?

  My life flashed before my eyes. Not every memory. Not even the big ones. I didn’t see the day I graduated from the Academy. I didn’t see the day I was promoted.

  Instead it was all the little moments. The insignificant ones. The ones that defined me far more than any other. Smiles and laughter, tender words and actions.

  I kept telling myself that I wouldn’t die like this.

  There had to be more I could do.

  But what? I was a bloody mess at the feet of people who thought I’d betrayed them.

  That’s when I saw her.

  The Chief Engineer.

  She was standing off to the side of F’val and the Captain.

  Just as fear punched through my heart that she could have been the one to turn against me, she made brief eye contact.

  She didn’t have to say a word – I understood.

  She turned from me. My heart leapt with hope.

  There was still a chance.

  …

  Alyssa Nightingale

  I could move my hand now. Relish in the feeling of the fingers extending and the palm pressing against the cold floor.

  I still couldn’t use my implants. Not yet.

  But soon. Soon I’d be able to activate them. I’d be able to break free.

  There was every chance, however, that F’val would sweep in before that happened. He would see the twitches in my hands and medicate me again.

  But I wouldn’t give in.

  I clenched my jaw and concentrated on shifting one finger after another.

  Within those fingers, within me, was a power I would soon ignite.

  …

  Commander F’val

  Carefully. I had to take it carefully.

  I wanted to go in and check on my prisoner, but couldn’t. I could tell the Captain was suspicious, even if she wasn’t fully aware of it herself yet.

  I couldn’t afford to lose my position of influence with the resistance. We weren’t ready to destroy them yet.

  They were too spread out. I also needed to leave this planet. Though I could try to battle my way out, all it would take was one person at the controls of the Ra’xon to destroy my ship.

  I had to trust Alyssa would be too weak to do anything. Though Shepherd had messed with the environmental controls, I had quickly reversed the changes he’d made.

  She should still be incapacitated. Still, keeping her medicated and incapacitated was a delicate process – if I pumped too much of the compound Axis had given me into the air, I could end up killing her.

  And we still needed her.

  Still, I needed to placate the Captain and leave this planet as soon as possible.

  The Captain kept peppering me with questions, and it took a great deal of control not to snap at her.

  This was a waste of my time, my intelligence, and my power. If I’d wanted to, I could have torn the head right from the Captain’s neck. I could have plowed through every resistance member, could have mowed them down.

  But I had to control myself.

  For now.

  “I still don’t understand how Shepherd managed to do all this on his own,” the Captain said, voice insistent.

  “The details of his treachery will be revealed once you begin an investigation,” I told her for the umpteenth time.

  “He seemed so loyal, so willing to go against his father’s wishes.”

  “Appearances are often deceiving, especially when the Star Forces are involved. Captain,” I couldn’t quite keep the irritated edge from my tone, “it is imperative that we act quickly. I need to check my ship to ensure that Shepherd hasn’t sabotaged it.”

  “Shouldn’t I do that?” The Chief Engineer – who’d been standing to the side throughout this entire conversation – finally swiveled her gaze to me. Two of her six arms were crossed in front of her chest.

  She was a hard woman to read.

  If she didn’t appear so loyal to the Captain, I would half wonder if she’d had a hand in Shepherd’s actions.

  I doubted it, though. The Chief Engineer appeared to be a smart woman. If she’d wanted to disable my ship and break Alyssa out, she would have.

  Still I made eye contact.

  She didn’t look away.

  “Keeping a prisoner like Jenks in place is a delicate business. You aren’t trained in this field. I am. I will check my ship’s systems myself.”

  “Oh,” the Chief said as she looked down at the fingers of one hand, turning them over as if she were checking to see they were clean. “You sure you won’t need a hand?”

  I stiffened. What was that look in her eyes?

  The Captain swept her gaze between the two of us. “It makes sense for the Chief to assist you, Commander. Plus, there are still questions you need to answer,” she began.

  I felt that stiff tension shift further through my jaw. It was becoming harder and harder to maintain an even expression.

  These fools were getting in my way.

  The Chief never stopped looking at me. Finally, however, she unhooked her arms from around her middle. “That ship of yours is pretty nice-looking, I’ve got to admit,” she suddenly said.

  I frowned.

  “It’s got some great drives on it,” she began, as if she were doing nothing more than bantering. She even brought another hand up and checked the fingernails again. “Yep, fast and powerful, what more would you want?”

  “… Thank you, Chief. However, considering the circumstances, perhaps we should—”

  “Yep, she’s pretty nice. Pity about the environmental controls, though.”

  “Sorry?” I faulted.

  I was aware that I could not control my expression, and soon the Captain’s gaze locked on my face.

  “I said, pity about the environmental controls.” The Chief pressed one hand into her face, drumming three fingers across her brow.

  “What are you talking about?” I felt the tension rise and rise through my chest, spreading into my shoulders and down into each fingertip.

  “Oh, they’re easily hackable. In fact, it took me barely two minutes to introduce a command-level virus.” She brought a hand up and pressed the knuckles of one hand into her cheek.

  I stopped.

  Froze.

  Stared at her.

  Then slowly I felt the eyes of the resistance lock on me.

  “Captain,” I began through clenched teeth, “the Chief is a spy,” I hissed.

  “Captain,” the Chief replied in a completely calm tone, “I assure you, I’m not. F’val, here, however, has got a lot of explaining to do.”
<
br />   The Captain stood there. A pressured kind of confusion swept across her face as she stared between the Chief and me.

  The resistance watched the Captain. They would follow her.

  “What’s going on here?” the Captain snapped.

  “What’s going on?” The Chief shrugged. “Sleeping beauty is about to wake. I’m pretty sure she’ll be happy to tell us what’s going on.”

  A breath tore through my chest as I snapped my head towards my ship.

  No.

  …

  Alyssa Nightingale

  I moved.

  I stood.

  I pushed myself to my feet. Though my fingers slipped against the floor, I still stood.

  My body jerked, shook as if I were about to have a fit.

  But I held on. I clenched my teeth, drove my attention through my body, and found my balance.

  Then I did it.

  I let my fingers spread, and as each peeled back from my palms like petals from a rose, my power ignited.

  I screamed and let it go.

  …

  Lieutenant Commander Nathan Shepherd

  The Chief was still on our side.

  I watched F’val back away.

  That was all the Captain needed. Her eyes narrowed. “What’s going on here?”

  “Watch out, he’s a telekinetic warrior,” I screamed.

  Sure enough, F’val took another step back and brought both his arms out. Light exploded down to his fingertips. It shone so brightly it was a surprise I could stare at it without being blinded.

  The resistance jerked back, guns pulling high.

  They didn’t get a chance to shoot.

  With nothing more than the flick of a hand, F’val tugged their weapons free from their grips. He slammed his hand to the left, and the guns sailed across the length of the hangar, smashing into the far wall with such force they would be damaged beyond repair.

  “F’val,” the Captain roared as she threw herself forward.

  Massive and powerful, she would be able to take down most creatures.

  F’val doubled backwards, shunting a hand towards her.

  The Captain stopped as if invisible ropes suddenly latched around her body.

  F’val did to her what he’d done to Williams. But it was harder. The Captain was powerful, after all. Still, there was nothing she could do as slowly F’val shifted her backwards, the rubber of her shoes squeaking across the floor.

  The Chief tried to dart away, but F’val stretched out another hand and locked her in place as well.

  “I can pop them,” he warned, voice ripping through the hangar bay and echoing off every wall. “I can pull the blood right out from their veins. So stop, understand?” he bellowed.

  The security guards who’d once stood around me now stopped, faces pulled tight with surprise and fear as they stared from the Captain to F’val.

  The act was now gone. F’val had no need for it.

  “Do you have any idea who you’re dealing with?” he roared. His voice felt like a shot ricocheting around the room.

  The Captain made no sound as he held her in place, but the Chief began to groan. I watched as her arms were pulled back at sickening angles.

  I had to do something.

  I tried to get to my feet, hand slipping in the blood that had pulled beneath my body.

  F’val laughed. “Don’t bother, Shepherd. You’re next. Just wait your turn.”

  I ignored him. Instead I brought up a hand and surreptitiously tapped my command PIP. “To the bridge of the Ra’xon, destroy the hangar bay,” my voice bottomed out with determination, rattling like a sword.

  F’val suddenly shifted towards me, dropping both the Captain and the Chief. I felt myself being pulled up until the tips of my toes were all that touched the floor.

  My eyes drew wide as I felt pain explode through my body.

  “Don’t bother,” F’val snapped, “they won’t dare.”

  I saw the Captain somehow gather the strength to tap her own command PIP.

  She didn’t get the chance to speak.

  F’val whipped a hand around and the command PIP went sailing through the air far from her reach.

  “Destroy the hangar bay,” I screamed. The Ra’xon’s crew couldn’t hear me, but I let my voice echo out nonetheless.

  “Belay that order,” someone said.

  It wasn’t F’val.

  In fact, I saw F’val stop. His face paled. His eyes became so wide they looked as if they would tear holes through the universe.

  Footsteps.

  I heard footsteps coming towards us. Around the side of F’val’s ship.

  I heard him breathe. Watched as his throat punched against his tight collar, watched as his eyes somehow drew even wider.

  Then the footsteps came closer.

  Someone came into view.

  The Chief and the Captain were on the ground 10 meters away, choking, struggling for breath.

  The rest of the resistance couldn’t do a thing, too scared that F’val would kill everyone with a single thought.

  But the person walking slowly around the side of his ship was another matter. I finally saw her.

  Jenks.

  Alyssa Nightingale.

  Her hair was clumped to the side of her face, her collar was torn, but her face – it was locked with determination.

  F’val suddenly dropped me. I saw the fear explode over his face. He threw himself to the side like a man desperately dodging fire.

  Alyssa walked towards him, expression impassive. Her gaze, however, was anything but.

  I could see the pain, hatred, the anger at what he’d done to her.

  F’val skidded to the side, shifting an arm around with so much speed he could have snapped his elbow. Suddenly a crate came spinning from the other side of the room, moving so fast it was nothing but a blur.

  Without taking her eyes off him and without stopping her slow and deliberate steps, Alyssa brought a hand up.

  The crate stopped.

  Right there next to her, a few centimeters from her face.

  Then she twisted her hand down and slammed it towards the floor.

  The crate went spinning into the floor. It slammed so fast and so hard into the metal plating, that it shattered. The metal split into thousands of tiny scraps.

  And Alyssa kept walking forward.

  By now I’d fallen to my knees. My hands were the only thing that kept me aloft as my body continued to be racked with pain.

  My hands, and the sight before me.

  I’d never… I’d never seen anything like it.

  The power Alyssa had was unimaginable.

  Exhilarating.

  She didn’t say a word.

  She casually brought a hand up and brushed the hair from her face.

  Meanwhile F’val was throwing himself across the hangar bay, skidding to get out of her path. Occasionally he jerked his head around, eyes wide as he stared at her.

  “Jenks, end this now,” the Captain commanded, her voice a tortured mess as it came from her crippled throat.

  Her order, however, was clear.

  Alyssa paused for a moment. She swiveled her gaze to the Captain.

  I wondered what she would do.

  Had she lost all loyalty for the resistance when we’d turned against her?

  The look in Alyssa’s eyes passed.

  She turned.

  F’val had already made it towards the other side of the room.

  He started throwing boxes at her.

  It was no use.

  The boxes never made it anywhere near Alyssa. With nothing but subtle movements of her fingertips, they would fall out of the air and shatter at her feet.

  I was aware of nothing else but what she was doing. Not the pain, not the numbness, not the blood. Just her.

  There was a quiet subtle beauty about the way she moved. Despite her terrifying raw power, there was a grace beneath it.

  It was like watching the destructive but be
autiful power of a supernova.

  F’val kept fighting desperately. Throwing anything he could find at Alyssa.

  She barely moved her hands. She never stopped walking casually and slowly forward.

  Her hair sliced around her face, the movements of her body smooth as she took step after step, slowly following him across the hangar bay.

  At one point he reached a gun. My heart punched into my throat as he flung himself at it, grabbed it, punched to his feet, twisted, and shot her.

  Or at least he shot towards her.

  The bullet peeled off before it could strike her chest, and started to spin around her like an electron around its neutron.

  Faster and faster, it span and span until it was nothing but a line of light.

  Was I breathing? I didn’t know anymore. It didn’t matter.

  I knew I’d never seen anything like this and likely never would again.

  It was the stuff of fantasies.

  F’val screamed, shooting bullet after bullet towards her, the gun shaking in his hand as the shots spun from the chamber.

  Not a single one reached her. Every shot neared her, appeared to lose its momentum, and started to circle her until it looked as if she were encapsulated by a halo.

  “End this,” I heard the Captain give another rattling roar as she made it to her feet.

  She pulled up the Chief.

  Despite the fact it appeared as if two of the Chief’s arms were broken, she could still stand.

  With a jerking movement, the Chief flung herself towards F’val’s ship.

  “What do you think you’ll do?” F’val suddenly screamed. “You’ll never outrun us,” his voice was a quick loud crack, but the desperation was clear as it poisoned and shook through every syllable.

  She didn’t say a word.

  She simply kept stopping every futile attempt he made to bring her down.

  The light cascading off her arms was different. It wasn’t as violently bright as F’val’s. It was more controlled, more organized, and though she walked quite a distance away, I could still see how patterned the lines of illumination appeared as they plunged into her fingers.

  “What do you think will happen?” F’val screamed. “You can’t join them, Alyssa. You’re a liability. We’ve changed you. You need more 78 now. A day. A day is all you’ll have,” he bellowed, voice cutting through the hangar bay.

  She didn’t stop, though I fancied she hesitated.