The Crucible- The Complete Series

by Odette C. Bell

  “Stop it,” I shouted before I knew what I was doing. The words slammed from my throat before I could mollify my tone.

  I just couldn’t put up with this anymore. If we didn’t get our heads out of the future, we’d die in the present.

  My father half smiled at my outburst. “You are right son, now is not a time—”

  “No, the both of you are going to stay quiet. And now you’ve said your piece, you’re going to head back into your cell,” I added quietly, knowing Argoza wouldn’t be comfortable until the Admiral was locked behind a category ten force field.

  My father didn’t move. Instead he stared right into my eyes. “Who should go into that cell?” he challenged.

  I felt the color drain from my cheeks.

  Argoza sucked in a surprised breath. “He’s threatening us!”

  “Son,” he ignored her, never breaking his gaze, “act now. You know she’s a traitor. You know she’s deliberately resisted giving all her support to this cause. You know she belongs in that cell. Not me. I can help you.”

  “Nathan!” Argoza cried. “He’s trying to manipulate you.”

  My head spun. I couldn’t break eye contact though. I stared right into my father’s eyes.

  I’d felt like this before. Back when I’d been a naïve lieutenant commander before this adventure began, I’d never been able to win my father’s games. I would vacillate between thinking he was a monster and the worst father in the galaxy, to realizing he was the best admiral in the fleet because he knew how to make sacrifices.

  And that was it – the one fact about my father I could never get passed: despite the fact I hated his decisions, a part of me still admired them. They were decisive, unforgiving, effective.

  Me, I did nothing worthwhile. I just reacted to every new trouble, running from danger to danger, never ultimately changing anything.

  “Nathan, do something,” Argoza insisted as she backed towards the primary panel.

  I ignored her and stared at my father.

  “Yes, Nathan, do something. But this time, do the right thing. I have gained you the allegiance of the Star Forces. Now let me help you carry out this war. You will need me.”

  I twitched as if I’d been struck.

  I… I hated to admit he was right.

  Suddenly my father glanced towards Argoza. “What are you doing?”

  Her fingers flew across the panel.

  I twisted my head to stare at her too, but it was too late.

  A force field flicked on, separating my father and me from Argoza.

  “Hey, what are you doing?” I snapped. I went to shift towards the force field, even bringing a hand towards it. I didn’t reach it. As soon as my hand strayed too close, it was burnt.

  I yanked it back, staggering into my father.

  That force field was set to kill.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I snapped again, eyes drawing wide with fear. “Computer, lock Argoza out—”

  “It’s too late,” she turned over her shoulder to stare at me as her fingers still danced across the controls, “I’ve locked your voice commands out.”

  “What? You can’t do that!”

  “I can.” She didn’t turn from me, her eyes wide. “And I must. You can no longer see reason.”

  My father didn’t move a muscle. He’d drawn up a hand and locked it onto my shoulder when I’d stumbled into him. He didn’t remove it. He didn’t speak, either. He stared at Argoza, gaze locked and calculating. “You cannot maintain a level 10 force field across half the cockpit. The field emitters in the cell are not designed to extend this far.”

  “Shut up,” she spat vehemently, “I know what I’m doing.”

  “You’re going to get us all killed,” my father interrupted, standing as close to the shield as he could.

  “You’re a traitor, a savage monster. You’ve murdered so many, enslaved others. You deserve to be punished.” Her lips yanked up over her teeth.

  “Lady Argoza,” I forced myself to calm long enough to push her name out, “let me out of here.” I spoke slowly, clearly, calmly. The same kind of tone I would use on a cadet learning the ropes for the first time.

  “I’m sorry, Nathan,” her voice became a whisper, “this is for your own good.”

  “What do you plan to do with us?” my father asked, again never shifting his hand from my shoulder.

  “You will face trial for what you’ve done. You will pay for your crimes,” she snapped, a righteous glare in her usually stunning eyes.

  My father snorted. “Where, pray tell, will I face trial, and when will I pay for my crimes? Have you forgotten the galaxy is hours from destruction?”

  “No. But we will prevail. And when we do, I will help usher the Milky Way into a true era of peace.”

  “You will die. The Forgotten will hunt you down and show no mercy,” my father rounded on her, never pausing for breath.

  For a split second her eyes drew wide with fear, then she reached a hand behind her and locked it back on the control panel.

  “Argoza, he’s right – these shields aren’t stable at this distance—” I began.

  “I know what I’m doing, Nathan.” She never tore her eyes off my father. “I’m ensuring we have a future.”

  “You’re ensuring you have a future,” my father growled, finally pulling his supportive hand off my shoulder and maneuvering between me and the shield.

  As he did, he made eye contact with me. It was brief, maybe only a few seconds. But in those seconds… I saw something I’d never expected to see in his eyes.

  Vulnerability.

  Yet just as I recognized it, it changed, and he moved in front of me. “You’re right, Argoza, I am a monster. Just like you.”

  She twitched. “Shut up.”

  “But there is one difference between us – I know that. I did what I needed so others could survive. And I’ll do it again.”

  “Dad?” the word cracked from my lips.

  “I’m about to die, son. Don’t let the Forgotten win. Don’t let everything I sacrificed be in vain.”

  “What—” I jerked towards him.

  I didn’t reach him.

  At that exact moment the shield buckled, jerking backwards a half meter as the field emitters lodged in the cell half failed.

  As the shield moved through my father, he was disintegrated, body burnt up in that wall of powerful energy.

  I was thrown back, just out of the path of the shield.

  It came to a stop right in front of my face. Not close enough to burn me, but close enough that its biting heat felt like fire by my face.

  I….

  I… I couldn’t….

  Argoza threw herself at the primary controls, face slack with fear. “Nathan, the shield emitter is failing. Get in the cell. Get in the cell! If you don’t the shield will disintegrate you!”

  I didn’t move. Couldn’t. My father had just been obliterated in front of my very eyes.

  Argoza messed with the piloting controls, and I felt a thud as the primary inertia stabilizers were shut down. We’d now feel every bump.

  Staring at me over one shoulder, she tapped something into the piloting station, and our ship lurched upwards.

  I was thrown backwards, rolling across the floor until I slammed into the cell.

  Just in time.

  The shield failed at its extended distance, and with a blink reverted to its standard position right in front of the cell.

  “Shield emitters at 50%. They will take ten minutes to self-heal. Until they do, the maximum capacity attainable will be a level five force field.”

  A level five force field would still kill me if I dared stray too close.

  I was trapped.

  My father was dead.

  And as I watched in horror, Argoza programmed a new flight path into the computer.

  We turned away from the Omega Sector, from the last stand, and from Alyssa.

  Chapter 6

  Annabelle Williams

/>   The hunger was unbearable now. It cut through me, shredding every cell until what remained was nothing more than a diffuse sense of greed.

  We were almost upon them. A few minutes now. Then the battle would begin.

  It would not last long.

  …

  Alyssa Nightingale

  So this was it.

  I locked a hand on the small portal as I stared out the side of the ship. Below was the planet where this would all end.

  My hand was shaking. I hid it by forcing my shoulder hard against the glass, trying to hide my nerves.

  I couldn't afford to have them. Fear would only get us all killed.

  I didn't say a word as we swept in to land. The ship sailed low over the rocky barren world. I'd never seen a planet quite like it. I'd seen desolation before, sure. But there was something different about this chunk of rock. It felt… lonely.

  Or maybe that was just me.

  For about the trillionth time, I leaned back and typed something frantically into my wrist device.

  I was checking to see if he'd arrived yet. If there'd been any word at all about Shepherd.

  As the tiny electronic screen on my wrist device blinked back a negative, I clenched my teeth and sucked a sharp breath through them.

  Where the hell was he?

  He'd promised me he'd be here. And even if I academically knew I’d feel better if he wasn’t, I… I wanted to see him one last time.

  As soon as I thought that, I clutched a hand into a tight fist, concentrating on my implants.

  Despite my conversation with the Chief and the realizations I'd come to, a part of me still knew I wouldn't live through this. Or at least not as the Alyssa Nightingale I'd come to be.

  “Landing in 10 seconds,” the pilot said from the command seat.

  I didn't bother turning around. Instead I leaned even closer to the view, locking a sweaty palm against the tempered reinforced glass.

  The massive rocky peaks of the planet flattened out as we came in to land in a valley.

  A second later our landing gear engaged and our small ship landed without so much as a bump.

  “Just checking atmosphere integrity,” the pilot said, fingers flying over the controls, “…We’re good to go. The weather on this planet can get treacherous, but our computer models confirm it will be fine for the next several days.”

  This war wouldn't take several days. 20 minutes was all I needed.

  20 minutes. It felt like that number had been emblazoned in the back of my mind, drawn there with a knife.

  “You ready?” The pilot locked a hand on the back of his seat and turned to face me.

  I forced myself to make eye contact and nod.

  He twisted around in his seat, tapped something on the panel before him, and the hatch to our side opened.

  A rush of cold air whipped into the ship like a quick hand. It buffeted my hair over my forehead, sending it playing against the sweaty hand print I'd left on the glass behind.

  Forcing a breath deep and hard into my chest, I pushed myself to my feet.

  Though the pilot was polite enough not to turn and stare at me, I caught him gazing at me in a reflective side panel.

  I lingered behind him and nodded. “Good luck.” I don't know if I was saying it for his benefit or mine.

  Now he did turn, and he returned my low nod. “Good luck. Happy hunting.”

  Though it was customary in the Star Forces to use that term when you were going into battle, it was inappropriate here.

  Happy hunting?

  I was the one being hunted.

  Rather than say anything, I pushed myself out the open hatch, locking a still sweaty hand on the latch as I looked around at the barren world before me.

  Nothing but rock. Brown and grey and black. Weathered by the ages. No sign of life. Perhaps this planet had burgeoning bacterial lifeforms, but nothing sophisticated.

  Nothing that would be missed.

  I finally jumped out of the hatch, boots landing and scattering rock debris under my feet.

  I took several cautious steps forward.

  Twisting my head from side to side, I surveyed the valley.

  In my mind's eye I could imagine the fight already. Frantic. Unstoppable. The Forgotten would surge towards me with no reprieve. It would be nothing compared to the fight aboard the station's engineering bay. While that had been insane, this would be beyond.

  “Models confirm this is the best place to set up the endgame weapon and make our last stand,” the pilot said, voice filtering in from inside the ship.

  I managed a nod, even though he couldn't see me.

  Leaning down, I grasped several loose stones, shifted them around my hands, and let them tumble through my fingers until they struck my boots and scattered at my feet.

  I was meant to walk around and get a feel for the land. Figure out how I'd run this war.

  … Run this war.

  For the first time in my life as a telekinetic warrior I’d be using the ability Axis had originally envisioned. I would float above this battle and command it, as if the people and the machines were nothing but pieces in a game of chess.

  As soon as I thought that, my hand sprung into a tight fist, nails digging hard into my palm, leaving perfect half-moon cuts arranged across the skin.

  I kept walking forward, shifting up a large rise, disturbing innumerable stones by my feet and hearing them scatter back down to the base of the valley below.

  The wind howled around me, biting at my hair and skin, whipping my fringe over my face with a percussive beat.

  Eventually I reached the top of the rise. It gave a view of more rocky ridges, plateaus, and valleys.

  Without realizing what I was doing, I tipped my head up, eyes gazing at the dawn sky above.

  Where was he?

  Had he done what I’d originally suggested, and decided to ride this battle out somewhere else?

  That would give me an immeasurable sense of relief, but… I… wanted to see him. One last time.

  Before the end.

  I remained staring at the sky for a few more seconds until I forced myself to turn and I walked slowly back down the ridge.

  …

  Annabelle Williams

  Two hours.

  We were two hours from the end.

  I was surprised my addled mind could still function sufficiently to understand the concept of hours. But it could. Only barely. The greed of the Forgotten was so great it reached into the depths of my subconscious, corrupting everything in its path.

  I didn't know where I began and where they ended anymore. All I felt was their want.

  And their right.

  They were the greatest civilization the galaxy had ever seen and would ever see. They understood concepts our fragile minds would never be able to comprehend.

  They deserved this. No other life form would ever reach the heights they did, so what was the point of allowing other life forms to exist?

  Ascending the throne of the Milky Way was their right.

  And they would take it.

  …

  Lieutenant Commander Nathan Shepherd

  “Argoza, you can't do this. You have to let me go.” I sprang forward, pressing as close to the force field as I dared. I could feel the high yield energy crackling against my skin. Even a centimeter closer, and it would start to burn me. 10 centimeters closer, and I would impact with the majority of the force field, be thrust back, and die.

  I didn't care. I stood as close as I dared and I stared at her, eyes wide, cheeks pale with desperation.

  She wouldn't look at me. Instead she sat with her robes arranged neatly around her legs. One hand was rested on the navigational panel before her, her face tilted to the side as she watched data streaming over the view panel.

  “I don't care what you’ve done. But let me go. Let me go back to the battle,” I begged.

  “This is better for everyone, Nathan.”

  “Let me go back!” I roared.


  This got her attention. With that same hand locked on the panel before her she tilted and shifted her head towards me. Those stunning crystal blue eyes locked on mine. For several seconds she said nothing. If I was any judge, she looked sad. As if I’d disappointed her somehow.

  That ignited the remaining indignation in my chest, and I pressed a few centimeters closer to the shield.

  A mistake. A burn blossomed over my cheeks and hands, and I was thrust back.

  “Nathan.” She jumped to her feet and took several jerked steps towards me. “Be careful. Don't do anything stupid.”

  “Anything stupid?” I said through bared teeth as I cradled my hands. “What the hell do you think you're doing? You could be threatening the entire galaxy. Why? What’s this for?”

  Again she withdrew into silence. She watched me. Gaze locking on my hands then drifting slowly up my body until it reached my eyes. “I'm saving you,” she said in a quiet whisper.

  “I don't want to be saved. Let me go back to the battle,” I said through bared teeth.

  She shook her head softly. “Nathan, they will win that war without you. You'll be needed when it's over. For the next war.”

  I felt like thrusting towards the shields again, trying to push myself through even though I knew it would kill me. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “You know what I'm talking about. Do you really think you being there will make any difference? Either the resistance and the Star Forces have amassed enough fighters to push back the Forgotten, or they haven't. You,” she pointed one elegant long finger at me, “are just one man, Nathan Shepherd. You will not and cannot make the difference. It is irrelevant whether you go to that battle. Yet if you stay, you will be here for when we need you most. When the dust has settled and we must fight for our future.”

  I jerked to my feet again. Her eyes grew wide as I pushed close to the shields.

  “Don't do anything stupid. I won't let you do anything stupid.”

  “How do you think this will end, Argoza? That I’m suddenly gonna start thanking you for kidnapping me and keeping me away from her?”

  Argoza's face crumpled. She knew exactly who I was talking about.

  “If I get a chance to break free, and I will, I’ll leave you. You have no right to do this.”