“You know what they’re saying to one another?” I asked.
“No, not like that. Just the origin and destination pings.”
“And what did you find?”
Tiny lights appeared throughout the hologram, and soon there were thousands of them. If this meant what I thought it did, we were in some serious trouble.
“Hard to tell how many there are, but they’re here. Hidden from plain sight. The messages have increased over the last six months. Ten times as many, which tells me…”
“They’re preparing for something,” I guessed. “Where are they now?”
He tapped a command into the PersaTab, and the light pattern changed. “It seems they’re moving. Outward.”
“Damn it. To the Space Race finish line. Why?”
“Maybe they heard about our trouble. With Liberty and the Primary’s fleet present, they plan on hitting the majority of Earth’s defenses at the same time.”
“While we’re fighting each other,” I finished. “I need this. Give me a patch for my ship.”
Jinx shook his head. “Same old Arlo. What if I was pulling your leg?”
I stepped closer. “Are you?”
“No, but you always told me my imagination was too much for you.”
“I know you aren’t a Corporation fan, but we need to warn them,” I said.
“Who? The Board? Good luck. Their heads are so far up their—”
“Bryson might be able to help.”
“The SeaTech guy? He’s no different than the others,” Jinx spat out.
“He seems better…” I really didn’t know him well, and maybe Jinx was right. I’d been working with Bryson and had trusted him far too quickly. That wasn’t like me. I remembered the pill he’d given me that first day, and cringed.
“Don’t trust these guys. They’re all the same. Profits over people.” Jinx ended the hologram. “Fine. I’ll give you the patch, and I won’t even add it to the bill. Actually, tell you what. The battery is on the house.”
“Come on, what do you need? I’ll make sure you get it.”
“Titan should be safe for a while. Not much here to excite the new overlords.” He laughed. “It’s those other suckers that better beware. Luna Corp. Mars.”
“Earth,” I whispered. Could any of this be reality? A few months ago, I would have said no, but my eyes had been opened. This made getting R11 powered up again imperative. What if these distant beings were out there, and they could help us? It was an extreme long shot, but so was SeaTech’s racer making it this far.
Jinx passed me a Coin with the radar plug-in and led me to the door. Inside was a collection of veritable junk, but each item had a specific purpose for something. He walked inside, his shadow stretched across the floor from a light source across the space. “One R-9818748 power pack.” He dropped the hefty item into my hands.
I was leaving with more than a heavy battery.
“Take care of yourself,” I told him.
“And you. Don’t trust anyone.” It was a classic Jinx comment.
“Even you?”
“Especially me.”
Twenty-One
“…happy to assist you with the removal of my battery unit.” R11 finished a sentence from our previous conversation before Jade had cut the pack out. “I seem to have misplaced some time.”
“Thanks for the help, R11. Without you, we’d have been dead in the water and out of the Race,” Jade told him.
R11 looked at each of us surrounding him on the bridge. “We made it? We didn’t lose?”
“You bet. We leave in the morning.” I pointed at his seat. “We need to see that communication you translated.”
“And here I thought you revived me for my delightful personality,” R11 quipped.
Holland nervously wrung his hands. I’d relayed Jinx’s theories, and they were as on edge as me over the revelation. I’d added the radar plug-in, but so far, there had been zero spikes.
R11 retrieved the file, opening the decoded message. It was shorter than I’d hoped, especially after finding the thousands of mathematical files attached.
“Would you like me to read it aloud?” R11 asked.
“I’ll do it,” I said, standing behind him. Jade’s hand reached out, taking my arm in her grip.
“Location...” I read a series of numbers that sounded like coordinates. “Level Dark. Destination: Refuge. Location unknown. Assault imminent.” I said the words and read it over quickly in my head.
“What do you think it means?” Luther asked.
“You tell us. Looks like it’s in your field of expertise,” Jade whispered.
“R11, are you certain that’s it?” I asked. “Nothing more?”
“Sorry, Captain Lewis. I have brought the location up,” he said. It didn’t match the system we’d retrieved the message from. It was closer, but not by much.
“We don’t know. Let’s think about this,” I said, running my fingers through my hair. I’d really been hoping we’d learn something important from this communication. “Have you tried the Coin I gave you?”
“It’s identical,” R11 said, changing to another file. I read it, finding they said the exact same thing.
“We don’t have time for this.” Luther nudged me with a fist. “The Race is starting.”
“We can speak to them now, right? Send a communication in reply. Tell them…” I strode to the pilot’s seat, grabbing the head rest.
“What are we going to say?” Holland asked. “We should ask my dad. He’d know what to do.”
The comment riled me more than it should have, or maybe it was Jinx’s words of warning that set me off. “Perhaps if your father responded to any incoming communications, we’d be able to ask for his astute wisdom.”
“We’ll worry about it later, Arlo. We’re almost at the end of the Race, and we can figure it out after that.” Jade took her chair. “There’s still Proxima to win.”
“If there is an after,” I muttered.
“What was that?” I felt her stare through my chair.
“What if Jinx is right? Aliens assembling in the cold darkness of space? He says they’re moving for the finish line.” Lotus was in the lead, and Octavia went on live, wishing everyone luck. It was just background noise to me. Suddenly, we had a lot more to worry about than Proxima.
“We still have to conclude the Race,” Luther said. “I’m not missing out.”
“And what if they’re all wrong, and Dad is correct? We have to win, Arlo. Proxima. Nothing else matters. I swear, Dad would respond if he could. He’s probably working on something important for the colony. He has a blackout location he operates in.” Holland’s voice was hopeful, and I almost felt sorry for him.
“Fine. Maybe. But that doesn’t skirt the fact that Eclipse is coming with a giant fleet. This will be bloody no matter which way the weapons are pointed.” Lotus was off, their Racer speeding from the starting line. We had a few minutes until Sage departed, and then we were up.
“Join a racing team, he said. It’ll be good for your career. The team is great, he said. Big rewards. Fame. Retirement.” Luther stopped.
“Can we focus, Arlo? You’re the captain. We need your head in the game,” Holland said.
Despite the conflicting thoughts speeding through my mind, I centered myself.
My countdown hit zero, and I gunned it. Time to fly.
____________
Sage wasn’t giving up their position easily. With their proximity being so close, I wanted to test them early on. But after two hours of attempting to outmaneuver them, they were still in the lead, if only by a couple of heartbeats.
“Varn’s good,” Luther said.
“Good for nothing,” I replied.
Luna Corp was losing distance behind us, and for the time being, it was a three-ship race. But a lot could happen in the span of a day and a half. I pictured the final checkpoint near Neptune, with the welcoming committee of top executives around to witness the decisive sprint
for the finish. This was shaping up to be a photo finish. If the Board wanted excitement, they’d get it.
“If only there was a way to disarm their ship like we did with that probing drone,” Holland said.
There were ten filming drones on the radar near us. “We have the better Racer, so we’ll prevail,” I said. “Jade, you sure there’s no more room for added boost to the thrusters?”
“Not unless you have a shot of—” She cut herself off.
“You think of something?” I asked.
“I can’t believe I hadn’t until now. Bryson said there’s a backup cooling unit for the Core under the floor panels.”
“I remember that.” Holland stood, and I saw him stretching out the corner of my eyes. The setup on the bridge wasn’t ideal. While I faced the viewer at the front, I couldn’t see my teammates behind my chair without turning.
“And that helps us?” I asked.
“Everything does. We could cut a lot of functions at the end. Drive the power to the Core, and it’ll flare up for a few minutes.” From the sounds of her fingers dancing on the keypad, she was running the numbers. “I think we can get an extra seven percent if we redirect all non-critical features to the Core.”
“What do you consider essential?” Luther asked. “I hope air is one of them.”
“Gravity coils can be killed if we strap in, can’t they?” I suggested as I rotated the chair around.
“I hadn’t thought of that. Takes us to nine percent. Perfect.” Jade was in her element, having an important purpose for the last section.
“We have those asteroid blasters. We can torch those.” Luther started scrolling through Pilgrim’s files. “What about the lights? Do we really need them?”
“Sure, why not turn the viewer off too, and I’ll steer through the Ring blindly,” I joked.
“Can you do that?” Holland asked, realizing I was kidding. He looked away, embarrassed.
“With all of these, we have thirteen percent. Which means we need to finish within a few minutes over the final ten thousand kilometers. I’d say four, but I’ll firm up the numbers.”
That was a tall order, but doable if Lotus continued losing their lead at this pace. I didn’t expect any sleep until we were done.
We went on, Sage visible in my viewer without using the zoom, and I started to grow drowsy after hours of this pace. “Hey, Holland, do you mind throwing the feeds on?”
“Sure, Arlo.”
He turned the volume up and I listened, patching in the video to my dash’s central display.
“Baru, we’re almost there! Space Race has been unorthodox at times, but the ending is shaping up to compensate for it.” Yon smiled as he spoke.
“You’re not kidding, Yon. We’ve been shocked for most of the Race, with Lotus starting in third and taking the lead. Sage is still in it, and they were everyone’s top pick at victory with Luna Corp second. But Luna’s chances have dwindled in the final stretch. As it stands, we have a six-minute differential between Lotus and SeaTech.”
Yon nodded dramatically. “Let’s take a moment to discuss SeaTech, because if there was an underdog no one would have bet on making the final three, it was the newcomers. They’re led by Arlo ‘Hawk’ Lewis, a rookie pilot in a Racer, but a pro in a Pod, which he proved on Mars. Many of you will be interested to note his grandfather was the great Preston Lewis, captain of the most recent mission to Proxima. Unfortunately Obelisk was deemed lost two years after their departure. The remaining crew is green, comprised of Lotus’ CEO’s personal security officer Luther Payne, Jade Serrano, a techie from Luna, and of course, SeaTech’s heir apparent, Holland Kelley.
“The odds were against them, but they’ve proven resourceful and relentless in their pursuit for the prize. Controlling Proxima isn’t out of reach for any of these three teams, and I, for one, cannot wait to see how the space dust settles. Baru, what can you tell us about the finish line?”
Neptune’s cool blue shone beyond the giant gathering of vessels. The largest spacecraft I’d ever seen floated beyond the incoming ships. “What is that?” I asked myself quietly.
“As you can see, the Board has spared no expense for this event. This transport, aptly named the Boardroom, will hold all of the executives from the Primary Corps, as well as the Board, and we’ve been told as many as two thousand will be present for the riveting ending,” Baru said.
My stomach flopped, and I asked Holland to mute it. “This could be dangerous.”
Holland was at my side. “What do you mean?”
“The Board and Primaries are painting quite the target on themselves. Liberty’s going to have one hell of a focus with that Boardroom.”
“Eclipse must be close. I still can’t believe they’re moving unseen.” Jade was there too, and Luther joined us at the front of the bridge.
“Unless the Primary don’t think they’re a true threat.” Luther indicated the screen. “Arlo, pause that.”
And I saw what he meant. There were dozens of new ships gathered: bulky, gray, and from what it looked like in this picture, armed to the teeth. “This must be what Mars was working on.” It was a true military fleet, something never actualized since the creation of the corporations had ended the military in general.
“Kid, try your dad again. He said he’d be here. This is getting out of hand.” Holland darted off, and all I could do was stare at the image of the finish line. Earth was vulnerable without the defense of the lower corporations. All their spacecraft were accompanying Eclipse, in search of a revolution.
“Son, it’s great to see you.” Bryson’s voice was loud, and I peered over my shoulder to see his face on Holland’s screen.
“Dad! Where have you been?”
Before he could answer, I demanded Holland send the link to my dash display.
SeaTech’s CEO appeared a moment later, smiling at us, his teeth white, his skin as healthy as ever. Throughout the Race, Octavia Post was looking older, while Bryson looked the opposite. “Team, what a pleasure to connect. I’ve been trying endlessly, but there seems to be an issue on board.”
People shuffled around behind him, uniformed employees bustling about.
“Are you coming?” Holland asked him.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Bryson said. “You’ve all done splendidly. Have you determined what the communication said yet?”
“We have, but it was a pre-recorded transmission, just giving some coordinates. We don’t think it’s relevant to anything, especially the Race,” I told him before anyone spoke.
“Good. Send the details along.” Someone whispered into Bryson’s ear, and he squinted momentarily before nodding and sending the guy on. “You all understand how imperative it is that we win, don’t you?”
“Yes, sir, we understand,” I said. “Jade devised a plan that will add a nine-percent improvement for the home stretch, but we won’t have any communication during that duration. According to the numbers, this should give us the boost we need to cross the finish line in first.”
Bryson grinned at this. “I knew I had the right team from the start. Proxima will be ours.” He clapped his hands together and let out a bark of a laugh. “I’ll see you at the finish line.”
“Dad, be careful. We think Liberty is going to interfere,” Holland told his father.
Bryson dismissed his concern with a flick of his wrist. “I’m planning on stopping that.”
“How?” Luther pressed.
“By offering her a piece of Proxima. Not everything needs to end with warfare,” Bryson said. Another officer spoke in hushed tones to the SeaTech CEO, and he waited until she was gone to continue. “I have to run. Finish strong, Team SeaTech.”
Holland tried to say something when the visual dropped. His shoulders slumped. “At least he’s coming.”
“What do you think of his plan to prevent an all-out war?” Jade asked.
I considered it and thought he was onto something. “Why not? The people of the Wastelands would be
happy to relocate, and why wouldn’t Eclipse and Liberty?”
“Fair point. The Board seems ready for the fight. Maybe that’s what the rumors about a merge were about. Sage’s Mars facility using resources from all of the Primaries,” Luther suggested.
“Everyone but SeaTech,” Holland added.
“Right.” I stared at the paused feed of Neptune, wondering how this was going to unravel. All that really mattered to us was finishing in first place.
“Who wants a coffee?” R11 asked.
We each raised our hands. When Jade started to send the coordinates we’d translated, I shook my head at her discreetly, and she stopped before shooting them to Bryson. She didn’t ask any questions.
“Before we cut the extraneous functions of the ship, can you do me a favor?” I asked her. The other two wandered off with R11 in this quick moment of down time before the big push.
“Sure.”
“Can you set a target for your communication device?”
“You got it. What do you have in mind? Want to check in on someone on Earth?” she asked.
“No. Can you scan the entire Proxima Centauri system?”
Jade smiled as she set to work. I stood behind her chair, anxiously awaiting the results. She filtered through what she called radio noise for ten minutes, before zeroing in on a specific target. “This is interesting.”
I leaned down, trying to get a better look at her screen. “What did you find?”
“There’s a distress call, but it’s just sitting there, like it’s being blocked from transferring to Earth.” Her fingers moved quickly over the screen. “I’ve never seen something like this. It’s as though the call went out, but only made it 0.5 AU, almost in a perfect sphere from the origin’s destination.”
“You’ve lost me,” I said.
“Someone sent a distress call, but it’s dormant. Without my invention, we never could have located it.”
“What does it say?” I glanced at the bridge entrance, where Holland, Luther, and R11 were joining us again.
Jade lost color as she read it. “I think we should watch it.”
“What are we doing?” Luther asked, passing me a coffee. Holland offered a cup over to Jade, and she reached for it with trembling hands.
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