The Breadth of Creation

by C. S. Johnson

  The feeling that something was off came rushing at him once more. Before, when he attacked the Memory Tree, he felt the force of Osgood’s attack was too strong. This time, it was the timing. The timing was off.

  “See if you can link up to the attacking fighters’ comms,” he ordered. “Maybe we can help them.”

  “Exton, we need to get Aerie first. If anything, this is the perfect distraction. We can slip in, slip out, and no one will be the wiser.”

  “The Ecclesia said they were going to get Aerie to us,” Exton reminded her. “I need to know the specs.”

  “I guess it is true they haven’t contacted Tyler,” Emery said. “They were supposed to call him when they had her.”

  Exton turned to his other side, where another one of his aids stood at the ready. “Sir. What’s your name?”

  The man turned and eyed him. “I know it’s been awhile, Captain, but I’m Phil.”

  “Sorry,” Exton muttered. There were over a thousand workers on the Perdition and several more thousand people down at Petra. He couldn’t remember them all, and he had no idea why people expected him to. “Phil, get me the Perdition. See if Jared or Tyler is at the helm. Thora, can you link up the comms to the fighters?”

  “Rerouting comm signals,” Thora replied with a press of a button. “We’ll know in a moment.”

  “Perdition on the comm, sir,” Phil replied.

  “Tyler, can you hear me?” Exton called. “What’s going on at the military academy?”

  “The Ecclesia have staged an attack,” Tyler responded. “I was just about to call you.”

  “Did you hear anything?”

  “Meredith said Aerie’s been picked up, but she wasn’t delivered to the team. Our contacts in New Hope had a way to slip her out to the old building site.”

  Exton felt his heart stop. “She didn’t make it?”

  “Not to the team. One of them saw her taken into another ship, with two other people.”

  “Can you hack the surveillance feed?” Exton asked.

  Before Tyler could answer, a new alarm went off.

  “Cargo ship approaching, with locked targets,” Emery called. “Buckle up, it’s time for evasive maneuvers.”

  Two blazes of fire streamed through the sky toward them. The missiles barely passed them, as Emery rolled the ship to the side. Exton hurried to strap himself in, certain that the missiles had only missed by the slimmest of chances.

  Either that, or I’ve just witnessed another miracle.

  “Exton, are you there?” Tyler’s voice came in over the comm once more.

  “What is it?”

  “We have two more fighters launching behind the approaching ship,” Emery said. “Sensors on alert, shields up to maximum power.”

  “We have a bit of a problem,” Tyler said.

  “What is it?”

  “St. Cloud is on the line here. He says he wants to talk to you.”

  “St. Cloud?” Exton snarled. “Put him on.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure I’ll regret this, but I want to know how he managed to get through our jamming signals.”

  “Can’t argue with you there,” Tyler muttered. “At this rate, I’m going to have to go back to school and learn some more tricks myself.”

  “Just put him on.”

  “Rerouting now.”

  St. Cloud’s voice came over the line a second later. “Exton, I didn’t think I would get the chance to make your acquaintance again so soon.”

  “Worried for the bump on my head, were you?” Exton gritted his teeth. “You already knew you would have to hit harder if you wanted to stop me.”

  “I happen to know how sturdy your head is,” the general bit back. “You’re lucky I didn’t straight up kill you.”

  “You’re lucky Aerie was there to protect you,” Exton said, his voice rising in anger. “I could have just killed you there and taken care of it.”

  “This is a very lovely chat,” St. Cloud said, “but I have a more pressing issue I want to discuss. If you think you’re really going to be able to attack the entire New Hope Military Base with just your shuttle, then perhaps you should be more worried about it.”

  Exton struggled not to yell any amount of obscenities in response. He wasn’t about to admit that they were there to pick up Aerie.

  “If you’re here for Aerie,” St. Cloud said, “you just missed her. She’s on the cargo ship with my other daughter.”

  Exton’s rage turned into bewilderment. “Why are you telling me this?” he yelled. “What makes you think I believe you, after everything you’ve done to me and my family? And what makes you think I’m here for Aerie to begin with?”

  “You should recall I know you better than even you know yourself. I trained you to be who you are, Exton, as a fighter and as a leader.”

  Exton felt a rush of rage that nearly blinded him. “You’re wrong,” he said, thinking of nothing else he could say to derail him.

  “We’ll have to revisit the argument later. For now, I’d rather you didn’t blow up the cargo transport ship,” St. Cloud said. “And I thought I’d give you the proper incentive to avoid doing just that.”

  “Why should I believe you?” Exton yelled again.

  “You can’t,” St. Cloud replied easily enough. “But are you willing to bet your rage on Aerie’s life?” With that, the image of his enemy faded away.

  Emery reached over and took his arm, offering her support as she signaled to him to calm down. It was a small comfort, one that didn’t go far as Exton watched the cargo ship cruise by, heading off into the cloudy horizon.

  “Follow that ship,” he muttered to Emery. “If Aerie’s on it, we’ll get her.”

  “What if St. Cloud is lying?” Emery asked.

  “Aerie’s still supposed to be transferred to the old site,” Exton said. “The Ecclesia can keep her there safely until we get back.”

  “Captain,” Phil called. “There are two new fighters coming at us.”

  “Prepare to engage,” Exton said. “If we’re able to take them out while we’re here, all the better. That’ll save our allies and our people from some attacks, at least.”

  “Sir,” Thora said. “The new pair of fighters are fighting with the others. Should we move to assist?”

  Exton grimaced as one fighter jet exploded. “Not yet,” he said. “We can’t be sure we won’t hit one of our guys. Thora, were you able to find a way to open the comms?”

  “No, Captain,” Thora called. She brushed her long hair out of her face. “Still working on getting an open line. There’s more interference as we move away from the base.”

  Static came over the monitor as Thora tried to reach out to the different fighters. Exton looked off into the distance as the cargo ship disappeared into the cloudy horizon.

  We have to hurry.

  “Emery,” he called, “can you—”

  Boom!

  Beside them, another fighter burst into a ball of flames, before the burning twisted metal fell out of the sky.

  “No survivors from that one,” Phil murmured. “A direct hit.”

  Exton watched as the two remaining ships, instead of fighting with each other or heading back to the base, took off in the direction of the cargo ship. He gripped the console controls, wondering if they would attack Aerie’s ship before he could get to them.

  But when the fighters flanked the cargo ship, taking on a protective role a moment later, Exton felt a mix of suspicion and relief.

  “They must not be from the Ecclesia,” Emery said.

  “No, not likely. Our team members were the ones they blew up,” Phil concluded. “Tyler was able to hack the feeds. Those fighters aren’t on our side.”

  “What are they doing?” Exton asked. “Why aren’t they attacking the cargo ship? Even if they’re not our allies, why are they protecting Aerie? She’s an enemy of the URS now.”

  “It’s entirely possible they are working with the Ecclesia, even if the
y aren’t members,” Emery said, uncertainty still overshadowing the hope in her voice. “We do harbor our share of dissenters, and they don’t seem to be concerned with us. Should we follow them?”

  “Captain,” Thora called. “The cloud cover is getting thicker the further away from New Hope we get. We’re having trouble with our comms. If we do follow them into the thick cloud covering, we might not be able to reach the Perdition.”

  Exton grimaced. He hated to shut out Tyler and the rest of his allies, even if he knew it would only take a couple of hours. The cloud cover posed other threats, too; there were traces of toxins and ash, left over from the nuclear radiation, and it was entirely possible that the cargo ship could disappear without a moment’s notice. Especially, he thought, if they are only headed this way with the hope of losing us.

  He hesitated for the longest moment he could. Emery looked back at him, and Exton had no answer. But he made his choice, praying that it was the right one.

  “See if you can track the cargo ship directly,” Exton ordered. “I know it’ll be hard with all the cloud cover, but it’s more important that we follow that one than the others. We don’t know enough about them. Their orders might be to act as decoys now.”

  “Roger,” Emery answered. “Thora, can you help me with the tracker?”

  Exton sat back in his chair, trying to calm his nerves and release the tension in his body. He’d been so close to getting Aerie back.

  I hope you’re okay, Aerie.

  Exton knew he was going to get back to her. He knew it, just as surely as he knew it was only a matter of time now.

  Emery had insisted before that God was still a god of miracles, and if there was ever a time for miracles, it was now.

  ♦15♦

  “What do you think you’re doing?!” Brock yelled, as Aerie launched herself over the control console.

  “Stop it,” Aerie shouted back. “You can’t attack him! He’s ... he’s ... ” She blushed furiously as she faltered.

  Serena scowled at her. “We’re focusing on saving you,” she reminded Aerie. “Did you ever stop to think that if we managed to take down the number one enemy of our nation, you’d be given some slack?”

  “I don’t need you to protect me,” Aerie snapped.

  “Yes, you do. And you’re getting blood all over the control board.”

  Aerie glanced down to see the little lines of blood dripping out of her arms. “I’ll clean it up,” she muttered apologetically.

  “Aerie, please, just go sit down,” Brock ordered. He sighed indignantly as he straightened in his seat. “You got your wish, apparently. You managed to move my missile target. He’s still out there.”

  Relief and gratitude sunk into her, even as she realized there was still danger—danger for Exton, if Brock or the URS continued to fight him, and danger for herself, if she revealed to Serena or Brock her exact feelings about the space pirate captain.

  She knew she had to convince them to refrain from attacking Exton again.

  “Look,” she said slowly, “we can’t attack him.”

  “Why not?” Brock frowned at her.

  “Because,” Aerie said slowly. Come on, think, think, think! This is no time to be stupid about this.

  An idea hit her, full force.

  “Because he’s the perfect scapegoat,” Aerie explained. “With him out there, the other fighters will be less worried about following and attacking us.”

  When they both refrained from responding right away, Aerie knew she’d said the right thing. Now she just had to make sure she didn’t overplay her hand.

  “I mean, really, Brock,” she said, turning to him. Aerie knew if she could win him over, it would be easier to get Serena to go along with her plan. “You saw what they were doing to me in the med ward of the Reeducation Center. Do you think they’ll let a little thing like killing one of our enemies stop them from sending me back there?”

  “No,” he said. He turned back to the console and sighed. “Fine. You were probably right. But Serena’s right about the blood. You need her help.”

  Serena unbuckled and stood up. “I’ll take care of her wounds,” she said, her voice full of reluctance. “You just find a place we can land.”

  “It’s going to be a while,” Brock said. “We’re pretty far away from our destination.”

  “Where are we headed?” Aerie asked, suddenly curious. Where was it possible to go and hide from the URS?

  “Let’s just hope we have some insulated jackets in this ship somewhere,” Brock said. “We’re going south.”

  “Are you going to Petra?” Aerie asked, before recalling she wasn’t supposed to know about Petra in the first place.

  Brock gave her a quizzical look, but before Aerie could get more details, Serena jumped up. “Come on, Aerie! Watch it,” she yelled. “Now you’re dripping on my uniform, and thanks to you, this is the only one I have.”

  Serena stood up angrily. “Brock, can you take care of the helm by yourself?”

  “Sure,” Brock said. “I’ve plugged in the coordinates. We should be fine.”

  Aerie glanced out the front window, surprised to see they were surrounded by thick, gray clouds.

  At least I have some of idea of where we’re going, Aerie thought.

  “If you’re sure.” Serena pursed her lips together.

  A second later, Aerie jumped as a pair of URS fighters came up beside the ship. She gasped. “Look out!”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Brock said. “That’s just Cal and Dorian.”

  Even Serena seemed surprised. “What are they doing here?”

  “They’re following us,” Brock said.

  “I can see that much,” Serena muttered as she rolled her eyes. “Why are they here?”

  “They agreed to come with me.” Brock shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

  “Why?” Aerie asked. She glared out the window, as one of her twin brothers­—Cal, most likely, since he was more of the show-off—twirled his ship around. “Was it just to protect me?”

  “I know you might not like it, but it’s helpful,” Brock told her. “And they are my friends, Aerie, even if you don’t like them.”

  “But—”

  “Aerie, watch it! You’re still getting blood everywhere. Come on,” Serena interjected, grabbing Aerie by the shoulders and pushing her out of the cockpit and toward the infirmary. “I’d better clean you up now, before you make an even bigger mess.”

  “But I want—”

  “Come with me, now!” Serena’s voice carried enough authority to make Aerie comply. She didn’t have the strength to resist much anyway. Nor did she really want to. Knowing she was safe from the URS was enough for her, for the moment.

  She barely watched as Serena cleaned off her wounds, even chiseling off some of the burnt skin on her upper forearms.

  “Well,” Serena huffed indignantly. “It seems you’ve finally improved some when it comes to following directions.”

  Aerie’s face burned. Serena didn’t know it, but she had hit a particularly sore point.

  “You know, Cal and Dorian and I don’t protect you of our own choosing,” Serena told her. “Before Mom died, she told us if anything ever happened to you, we would have to take care of you.”

  Aerie stiffened as Serena talked about their mother—and in such familiar terms. Aerie realized she’d never known that Serena referred to their mother as “Mom.”

  “So if you’re wondering why the twins are out there in their fighters following us, it’s probably because of that.”

  Aerie softened. “I’m sorry I never realized how much Mom meant to you,” she said softly.

  Serena flinched. “Don’t worry about it. And don’t apologize. It’s a sign of weakness.”

  “The URS says that,” Aerie replied. “I don’t believe them about that. And I don’t believe that about love anymore, either.”

  “Oh, great,” Serena scoffed. “So I suppose you’re one of those people who are convinced th
at there’s some person out there who will complete your life, and they’ll love you forever and all that garbage now?”

  “Why do you say that?” Aerie asked. “Is it wrong to believe love is not just a response to stimuli?”

  “Here,” Serena said, throwing her a food pack. “Eat this. You need to eat.”

  Aerie complied, but repeated her question. “Why do you think love is nothing special?”

  “It’s a subjective feeling,” Serena said.

  “That doesn’t mean it’s wrong.”

  “It doesn’t mean that it’s right.” Serena shook her head. “Objectivity is better.”

  “But what about marriage? What if it’s more—”

  “Don’t be silly, Aerie. Marriages were thought to be for love once, but it didn’t work out. That’s part of the reason the URS scrapped the idea and they went with units. It’s much better for everyone if no one can really get hurt.”

  “That’s just silly,” Aerie said. “They threw out something good because part of it was bad?”

  “Pain is bad, Aerie.” Serena rolled her eyes. “I shouldn’t have to tell you that. And anyway, weddings were just ceremonies to show off wealth, and marriages were hardly harmonious. The divorce rate was just deplorable before the Union of North America was reformed into the URS.”

  “But some people still made it,” Aerie insisted.

  “Yeah, likely people who didn’t know their full options or what they were really doing. You’re young yet,” Serena said. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Love still boils down to science. Circumstances, sex, age, attraction, and the advantage of being in a relationship. Those things change with time.”

  “What about the relationships you can’t choose?”

  Serena shook her head. “Those doesn’t matter. If you’re stuck, you’re stuck.”

  “It has to matter some, or I doubt you and our brothers would be here,” Aerie pointed out.

  “Well, I was talking more about the idealistic, romantic idiots who believe in marriage for love instead of material advantage.” Serena’s jaw tightened in irritation. “I wasn’t talking about family.”