The Crucible- The Complete Series

by Odette C. Bell

  “… Are you done?” I stared at him impassively. I took a step forward, shook my head to shift my fringe from my eyes, and locked my hands on my hips. “You’re here to show me how to beat the Forgotten. Now you are going to do that. Or you’re going to find this mighty uncomfortable.” I flicked a hand at the mag cuffs still covering his wrists and ankles. With a single command, I could make them lock together. With a different command, I could use my implants to silence Axis forever.

  He wasn’t in control.

  And for the first time in my life, I was actually starting to see that.

  I was the one with the power. And if I could just control my emotions long enough. I could wield that power.

  Knowing that – feeling that fact deep in my chest – I took another determined step forward.

  Axis tilted his head to the side, as if he didn’t know what to make of my new-found courage. Slowly, however, that same sanctimonious smile spread his lips. He even brought his hands up and gave a brief clap, clap, clap. “You have found a mask of bravery, Alyssa. But you cannot fool me. I know you are still haunted by your thoughts, by that storm of emotion that has always raged in your mind.”

  “It’s not a mask,” I said flatly. “And I am not haunted.” I didn’t have to control my voice – it controlled itself.

  Axis and the horrible destiny he’d thrust me towards no longer loomed like a storm in my mind.

  Why?

  Because now I wasn’t afraid. I knew, win or lose, it would be on my terms.

  “Stop stalling. You said you could show me how to fight the Forgotten. You will do that now.”

  He considered me for a few more seconds, but conceded with a nod. “Scans have located a valley on the planet where you will make your last stand. We will arrive in the Omega System soon. Once we do, the finishing touches to the endgame weapon will be made, and it will be shipped down to the valley. You will fight directly alongside the weapon. And it will be your responsibility to arm it once the Forgotten are in range. You cannot arm it early. The primary Forgotten forces must be close enough – within a 100km range – for the weapon to pick up their signature and the antenna to arm. The resistance armada will attempt to reduce the Forgotten fleet before they reach the planet, but the reality is they will be able to do little. You will need to be prepared to fight the Death Giver.”

  “… How is a ship that large going to maneuver within a 100km range of the surface of that planet? Won’t they just stay in orbit and pick me off with long range weapons?”

  “No, my dear, they will not. The Forgotten will amass upon your location like a nest of starving ants. They will be drawn in by your power and the promise of the end game weapon. They will also not risk destroying it from space. They require it. As they require you. They will come close enough that their forces can overcome you. That is your advantage. When the majority of the fleet are within range, you will arm the weapon. You must then keep the Forgotten back for twenty minutes. Once those twenty minutes are up, the weapon will deploy, and that will be the end,” he spoke with such finality I shivered.

  “Twenty minutes,” I found myself repeating in a hollow voice. “How the hell am I going to hold off their forces for that long?”

  “Resistance ground forces will be deployed beyond your valley. Using the ability I built you for, you will rise above the battle and conduct them.”

  “That’s all very well, but how am I meant to know what to do? Why will I be any better than the ground forces themselves? They’ll all have access to tactical computers, presumably, and those computers will be far better at processing battle data than I am.”

  “You have an advantage.” His lips pulled up in a cold smile.

  I could have shivered. I didn’t. Instead I leveled my gaze at him. “What?”

  “You can hear them. You can access them through your mind.”

  I really did shiver this time.

  He noted it and smiled even harder, lips pressing up until the skin under his eyes crinkled like burnt plastic. “You hear their song in your thoughts, don’t you, my dear? It calls to you, beckons like a hand through the dark.”

  I clamped my teeth together and took a hissing breath. “What about it? How can I use that to my advantage?” I was acutely aware that several hours ago I wouldn’t have been able to have this conversation. I wouldn’t have bounced back from every cold comment as quickly. I wouldn’t have been able to push away the fear. It would have coiled around my spine like a snake ready to strike.

  Now all I had to do was remind myself that I knew who I was doing this for. My suffering meant something more than just pain when I put it in the perspective of those I was saving.

  I swallowed, leveled my head, and smoothed a calm expression back on my face. “How can I use this to my advantage,” I demanded again.

  That curling smile marching up Axis’ face faltered. Again he shot me a calculating look. “Just as the Forgotten can use that ability to locate you, you can use it to locate them.”

  “I won’t have to locate them,” I spat, “they’ll be right in front of me. Now tell me what your holding back – how can I use this ability to fight them?”

  He let out a short burst of a laugh. It was a laugh I’d heard countless times before. It haunted my dreams. It would always be a prelude to some new cruel test.

  Today I heard it for what it truly was. Unease.

  Slowly but surely I was undermining Axis’ opinion of me. He thought I was weak, and that’s how he kept me weak.

  Today, here, it ended.

  I took another threatening step towards him.

  With eyes narrowed, he finally answered, “you can use it to predict what they will do next. It gives you access to their collective mind, just as they have access to your mind.”

  My eyebrows crumpled down. “What?”

  “Have you never wondered what kind of connection you have to the Forgotten? Why they sing so loudly in your mind?”

  “I just thought they were after me.”

  “It’s more than that, my dear. With your unparalleled connection to your implants, you are essentially a Forgotten yourself.”

  “Excuse me?” my voice punched from my throat so quickly I could have torn a hole in my neck.

  “They consider you one of their own. And in many ways, you are. Your connection to your implants provides you access to their hive mind – and that is why you hear their song, that is why they beckon to you.”

  I wanted to shake my head, stagger back, flatten a hand to my thumping heart.

  I barely controlled myself as I took a steadying breath. “I’m not a Forgotten. I’m human.”

  “Your connection to their technology goes beyond anything I have ever seen—”

  “Stop,” I suddenly commanded in a booming reverberating voice. “I know what you’re doing, and stop.”

  He was trying to overcome me with information. He always did this. He would dangle a disparate fact, then another, and another, dragging me along behind him as if I were tethered by a chain.

  He tilted his head to the side again. “Is this information too much for you, my dear?”

  “No, it isn’t,” I snarled back. “Now tell me everything. No lies,” I warned through another snarl.

  “I am not lying to you, and never have. This is the truth. The Forgotten consider you as one of their own and will do anything to get you back.”

  I didn’t bother interrupting to point out they’d never had me in the first place.

  No. I remained silent, hands drawing into tight fists behind my back as I used all my energy to retain a neutral expression.

  I refused to show him my fear and confusion.

  Even though I felt it. God, it powered through me.

  … I couldn’t be a Forgotten. That didn’t make any sense. He was only saying that to disrupt me.

  There was one fact I couldn’t deny though – my implants did seem to provide me with some kind of link to their hive mind.

  … Their
hive mind. I hadn’t thought about it like that until now. That’s what all those voices were. That’s where that eerie singing came from.

  Again I stopped myself from shivering. “Tell me how I can use this… connection to stop the Forgotten. You said I could figure out what they’re going to do. How?”

  I wish Shepherd could see me now. I was being strong. Forthright even.

  Then again, he’d never seen me as anything other than powerful, had he? He’d looked through my cracked exterior to what he knew was underneath.

  A rush of energy erupted in my chest as I thought of him.

  “Tell me,” I demanded once more, letting my curled fists relax and drop to my sides.

  “You must concentrate on them just as they concentrate on you. If you find peace in your mind, you will be able to let them in far enough that you will be able to access their hive mind, yet keep them far enough away that they will not be able to control you.”

  I took a sharp hiss of a breath through my teeth. “That sounds impossible. Let them in?”

  He nodded low. “It is the only way. It will be hard—”

  “It sounds impossible,” I spoke over the top of him. “It sounds like suicide. If I… if I lose control, they could take me over. Then everything will be lost.”

  He stared at me impassively. How he could do it, I didn’t know. Monster or not, he would die if I failed. Didn’t he care enough about his own existence to react to what I was saying?

  “It’s the only way,” he eventually repeated. “You must gain access to the Forgotten’s movements. If you don’t, you will not be able to conduct the resistance’s ground forces and hold the Forgotten back long enough for the weapon to deploy.”

  “What you’re suggesting is suicide,” I repeated through clenched teeth.

  He stared at me impassively, the seconds ticking on and on. “Have you forgotten what I have already told you? You will die during this battle.”

  I had to use everything to keep myself controlled. Every scrap of determination, every ounce of control.

  “Yes, you are correct – it is risky. But there is simply no other way. Unless you find out what the Forgotten are going to do before they do it, then we will all perish in the first few seconds of their attack. The ground forces under your command will be relying on you, as will the remainder of the fleet in space.”

  I ground my teeth together harder and harder until I felt as if I would chisel all the way through my jaw. “If… if I can do this – if I can actually let them into my mind and find out what they’re going to do, then why do we even need the endgame weapon? Can’t I stand aboard the Miracle and direct our every move?”

  “It would not be enough. There is nothing in the Star Forces’ arsenal that could possibly break through the Death Givers' defenses.”

  “Then can’t I at least relay information about the Forgotten to the Miracle? Won’t that give our fleet more of a chance to pick them off in space?”

  “You will not be able to maintain a precise connection with them over such a distance. You will only be able to utilize this ability when they reach the planet.”

  “How the hell do I know you’re not lying?” I finally asked the question I should have hours ago.

  Everything Axis did was for his own benefit. He was about as trustworthy as the Devil himself.

  “Why would I lie to you, Alyssa? Why would I jeopardize the one thing I have been working towards for my entire career? Peace,” he proclaimed in a ringing voice that echoed around the room. “I am prepared to do anything to ensure peace in this galaxy.”

  I watched him warily, drawing a deep breath into my chest and holding it there as I tried to think.

  There was every chance Axis was lying to me… and yet every chance he was telling the truth. Because he was right. Why would he jeopardize everything, including his own life?

  Maybe he could see my indecision because he took a slow careful step forward. He dipped his head low and looked right into my eyes. “You must trust me and do everything I say. It is our only hope.”

  I wanted so much to rebuff him, to stretch out a hand and send him careening into the far wall.

  I didn’t. I lifted my head and stared at him. I was doing this for Shepherd, for the resistance, for the whole goddamn Milky Way. “Fine. Show me how to do it.”

  Axis smiled.

  I ignored the way it made me feel.

  Because from now until this was all over, my feelings would be irrelevant.

  I was one thing – hope. And I couldn’t forget that.

  Chapter 5

  Lieutenant Commander Nathan Shepherd

  I’d programmed a course back to the Omega Sector, realizing we didn’t have the time to wait.

  I’d managed to establish contact with the rest of the Star Forces ships in range with my father’s help.

  Now I needed his help one more time.

  The Captain had entrusted me with this mission because she erroneously thought I could single handedly bring the Star Forces and the pirates together.

  I couldn’t. And maybe that was my real ability – knowing when I was beaten.

  If I got on the line to what remained of the Star Forces, they’d ignore me. Or worse. Send a ship to free my father and kill me.

  No. There was only one way to catch the Star Forces’ attention.

  And he was currently in a cell behind me.

  I rose from my seat and walked towards the cell. “Are you ready to do this?”

  He sat with his hands neatly arranged in his lap. Angling his head back, he nodded slowly.

  While I could have had my father relay this message from the cell, I wanted him on visual. I wanted the Star Forces to know that we hadn’t touched him.

  “Can I trust you?” I asked.

  He didn’t reply immediately. He dipped his head low.

  I took a breath and let him out. He strode into the center of the cramped cockpit. “Computer, begin relaying message.”

  There was a beep.

  He cleared his throat. “This is Admiral Shepherd. And this is a call to arms. We find ourselves in our final hour. Death and destruction loom before us. We must take up our weapons and make our final stand. Most will not live through this,” his gravelly voice echoed around the cockpit.

  It was something to do with the exact pitch – it shook right through me like hands around my throat. I swallowed and watched.

  “Most will die. Most will have to die to buy peace. But it’s a price we have to pay,” he continued, never diverting his gaze from the primary screen. “Today, right here, right now,” his voice punched out with every reverberating word, “we find ourselves atop a precipice. If we do not do all we can and give all we have, we-will-fall,” he said each word slowly, pausing for a few seconds between breaths. “We-will-fall,” he repeated. “And we cannot. There will be no galaxy for the survivors, for there will be no survivors.” His delivery was perfect. It felt like the whole ship shook with the gravitas of every word.

  He was doing something I couldn’t. I didn’t have the sheer dominance of will to deliver a speech like this, nor the authority.

  “You will be asked to work alongside traitors. The resistance. The pirates. You will work alongside them, for there is no other way. We are strong enough to put aside our ideology for this battle. We are strong enough to work alongside former enemies for a common goal. Because we understand true loyalty. It pumps in our veins, beats in our hearts, rings in our minds.”

  I tore my gaze off my father long enough to note Argoza’s expression. As she sat there, pressed up against the back of her seat, she stared at the Admiral with suspicion etched into her brow.

  Me… I stood there and marveled. This was the father I’d hated and yet admired. The man who could rally the troops and light a fire in your soul. And yet the same man who’d always treated me as nothing more than a chess piece.

  “We will all work as a common alliance to push back the Forgotten threat,” my father concluded,
voice booming out. He wasn’t just confident – he spoke as if there could be no question of his order. He was an Admiral, after all. And yet what he was asking was tantamount to treason. “You are all intelligent, the best of the best. You understand the risks and appreciate what will happen if we do not prevail in this encounter. Total assured destruction of every entity in the Milky Way. When the risks escalate, so too must our sacrifices. And that is why I ask you to put aside every misgiving, every memory of loss, everything. Work alongside the resistance, welcome them and the pirates into our fold. Treat them as family, and fight alongside them in this, our final hour.”

  A burst of emotion punched through my chest, and I sucked in a sudden breath.

  Though I didn’t want to be moved by my father’s words, I was. The swell of loyalty, of camaraderie – it was all still there even though I’d turned my back on the Star Forces. Because he was right – it did beat in my heart.

  I wasn’t ready to ditch the resistance and skulk back to the Star Forces. That wasn’t the point. The point was, I still felt connected to these people. Not to the Star Forces, not to the resistance – not to any name or institution or set of beliefs – to the people beyond. For it would be those people, not the institutions they stood for – who would ultimately win this war.

  “You will rally every ship you can, every soldier, every gun. You have received the blueprints to modify your beyond light drives, and you will make these modifications. Then you will descend upon the Omega Sector – every ship, every soldier, every gun,” he repeated like a prayer, “and there we will measure our worth.”

  Abruptly, he ended. He took a step forward, cut the comm feed, turned, and faced me.

  Almost immediately Argoza was on her feet. “It’s over. He’s said his peace, for what it was worth,” she added harshly, “now put him back in the cell. I don’t trust him.”

  My father stared past me at Argoza. His expression was mostly blank. Yet there was a spark of distrust flaring deep in his gaze. “I have never sought nor wanted your trust. The trust of an Elogian is not worth my time.”

  She glared at him. “I know what you’re planning,” she spat back, “you will rally your troops, and once this is over—”