by JN Chaney
“Power is being restored to this deck. Please, place the subject in the surgical pod,” answered the Cognitive.
“Which one?” asked Octavia.
“A moment, please,” said Athena.
I heard a small beep to my left. One of the pods lit up, its lid raising to reveal a cushioned interior. “That’s our sign,” I said.
“Proceed when ready,” said Athena.
Bolin and I lifted Alphonse out of the cart and gently placed him inside the pod. He groaned when he was seated, and for a second I thought he might wake up. Instead, his head flopped down against his shoulder and he let out a wheeze. Bolin took the kid’s chin and moved it so his head was facing straight, then we backed away.
The pod door closed immediately, and the entire machine tilted and moved, positioning Alphonse so he was on his back.
We watched as the pod filled with a gentle light. I got in close, as did the others. Several small sticks—no, they were claws, extended from within the pod, each one glowing. One of them drew closer to Alphonse’s chest, hovering momentarily before it finally dove inside of him, phasing through to where the bullet waited.
“It must be hard light,” said Octavia.
“Hard light?” asked Bolin.
“The same thing Athena is made of,” she responded.
“Fascinating,” muttered Hitchens.
I watched as several more claws joined the first, and after a moment, they began to retract, bringing the metal slug with them. It popped free of the hole, sliding out with ease.
Some blood followed, but not as much as I expected. The claws responded by transforming into a syringe. It moved to the side of the pod and withdrew a gel-like substance, which it then proceeded to eject into the wound, filling it.
The blood stopped soon enough, and the claws fully retracted, disappearing completely.
I was about to ask if that was all there was to it when a small tube popped out from behind Alphonse’s neck. It extended itself, directly into his skin. The tube filled with liquid, going into his body.
“The object has been successfully removed and the subject’s tissue will regrow within the hour,” said Athena, her voice coming from overhead. “Vitals are holding.”
I heard Hitchens breathe a sigh of relief, next to me. I turned to see him lording directly over my shoulder. “Hey, watch it!” I barked.
He stumbled back, trying to get out of the way. “M-My apologies!”
“Is he going to be okay?” asked a familiar voice from behind. I turned to see Abigail standing in the archway, watching us.
I paused, surprised to see her. Had she followed us here? Was her guilt still so strong that she needed reassurance?
Athena chimed in with an answer before I could. “He will recover soon. His injury was moderately life-threatening.”
“See?” I said, looking at Abigail. “Only moderately. The kid will be fine.”
Octavia looked at me and Abigail, then wheeled herself away from the pod. “If the Constable is all set, I’d like to see to something. Hitchens, Bolin, if the two of you don’t mind.”
“Oh?” asked Hitchens.
Octavia motioned at the back of her chair.
“Ah, yes, of course,” said the good doctor. He grabbed the handles and began to wheel her away.
Bolin followed with them, and I watched the three head into the corridor, toward the elevator.
Abigail approached, giving me a nod, then leaned close enough to see inside the pod, staring at the boy inside. She touched the glass, and I could see in her eyes how real the fear had been.
Maybe she didn’t even know it herself, but there it was, behind those beautiful green eyes. A dreadful sort of fear that isn’t expected, the kind you don’t see coming. It was a surprise when you felt it, and the shock stayed with you until it was done, and you wondered why you never saw it before. You wonder how you could let it get this far.
Abigail had treated this kid like garbage, ever since she first met him. It was hate that did it to her. Hate for the Union, for the people who did those awful things to Lex, back in that lab.
I knew what it was like to have hate like that…to want a person dead because of what they represented. I knew it better than most, I wagered, and maybe that’s why I could so easily see the remorse that followed.
Because I knew what it meant to be afraid of myself…
Afraid of what so much hate might do to me.
Twelve
Alphonse cracked his eyes open and blinked several times, trying to focus. He licked his lips, swallowing hard.
“Welcome back,” I said, standing beside his pod. I was alone in the med bay, except for the Constable himself. Abigail had left only a few minutes ago, but would be back soon.
“Where…?” muttered Alphonse, clearly confused about what was going on.
“You took a bad hit in the chest. The bullet was lodged near an artery, but we got it out,” I explained. “Congrats. You get to live.”
“That’s a relief,” he said, trying to smile.
“Are you in a lot of pain?” I asked.
He pushed himself up, trying to straighten his back. “It’s manageable. Thank you, Captain.”
“Don’t thank me,” I said, fanning a hand at him. “I didn’t do shit.”
He tried to laugh at my humility, only to cough instead.
“You’re an idiot for doing what you did,” I said, after a short moment of silence. “You almost died because of it.”
“I couldn’t let that woman die,” he said, giving me that same innocent expression I had grown accustomed to by now. Alphonse had never struck me as a Constable, not in the way I imagined them to be. He knew how to fight, sure, but he always looked so innocent, like he was just a kid, confused about what he was doing here. Being next to him had felt familiar, like talking with an old friend. At first, I’d thought it was a tactic to gain my trust, but now I was beginning to believe otherwise. Maybe this was just his personality. Maybe he really was just a kind person.
“You risked your life to save Abigail,” I said, resting my hand on the side of the pod. “She treated you like crap.”
“She had a good reason,” he said. “She was trying to protect a child.”
The way he said it felt genuine, like he really believed it.
“I must admit, I was concerned the bullet might have set off the bomb you gave me,” he continued, chuckling a little.
“There never was a bomb, Al. Didn’t you figure that out already?” I asked.
It was true. As much as I wasn’t sure about Alphonse at the time, putting a bomb inside his gut had simply been a bluff. Athena had explained that such a surgery would be too difficult, especially given how little power Titan had at the time. I figured bluffing would be enough to keep him in line, and besides, I was a quick shot…and he didn’t have a gun.
“I was pretty certain you were lying,” he answered. “Although, one never knows about these things.”
I nodded. “You’re welcome.”
“For what?” he asked.
“Not blowing you up,” I said.
He smiled. “You’re always joking.”
“What’s your deal, Al? What do you have to gain from helping any of us? Tell me the truth now, would you? I know there’s more going on inside that stupid head of yours than you’ve let on.”
He managed a laugh this time, but only a small one. “You have to understand, Captain. While I might have wanted to assist you, I am still a Constable. I couldn’t be certain you were in the right, not until I had enough data.” He cleared his throat. “I read about Lex when I was working in the Red Tower. It’s where the Constables keep all classified records. I’d heard about the experiments from a fellow of mine, someone you might call an associate, but not a friend. She had mentioned some interesting work being done in the Third Laboratory.”
“The Third Laboratory?” I asked. “Is that the name of the place Lex was being held?”
He nodded. “The
very same. I located the files, which are on a closed system, meaning you can’t access them outside of the facility. I began to read about the work being done, and as I am prone to do, I became obsessed. I wanted to know everything there was to know about the children.”
“Children?” I asked. “How many were there? Did they all have tattoos like Lex?”
“No, not quite, although it wasn’t for lack of trying,” he said. “Upon their discovery of the child, they began working on a means of replicating the markings. Several children were used as test subjects, each for different reasons. Thousands of tests were attempted, all of which resulted in utter failure, as you may have already guessed.”
“Failure? Does that mean the other kids…?”
“I’m afraid so, Captain,” said Alphonse. “I can’t begin to imagine how many were lost. Even after the girl was taken, the Union continued their attempts at replicating her abilities, none of which has been successful, last I checked.”
“How many?” I asked in a low growl.
He paused. “Hundreds. Maybe more.”
I stared at him in disbelief, trying to imagine so many kids, all of them gone. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. The thought was unimaginable.
“To tell you the truth, Captain, I wasn’t certain whether or not you were any better,” Alphonse added. “Not until I was able to observe you for myself.”
“Observe?” I asked, coming out of my thoughts. “The way I remember it, we took you prisoner and stuck you in a cell. Are you telling me that was all part of the plan?”
“It went a bit messier than I expected, because of Docker, as you’ll recall. I only wanted to see whether you could be trusted with the girl.”
“And if I couldn’t?” I asked, raising my eye. “I seem to recall shoving a pistol in your face…more than once.”
“I knew you wouldn’t shoot me. You aren’t the type to shoot an unarmed man,” he said.
“You make a lot of assumptions,” I told him.
“No,” he said. “I research. You’d be surprised what you can find in the Tower’s database. They have profiles on all of you.”
“Is that so?” I asked with a smirk.
“You’re an honorable man, Captain Hughes, whether you want to admit it or not,” said the Constable.
I scoffed. “Shove it up your ass, Al.”
* * *
I walked out of the lift, on my way back from the med bay, when I saw Octavia. She was alone, wheeling herself along. I gave her a nod and asked, “Where’s the professor?”
“Helping Bolin clear out one of the rooms so that Camilla can have her own space,” she said.
Camilla and her father had been sharing a room since we arrived. We’d all be restricted to using the main deck, but now with power being restored, several rooms seemed to have opened up. “Are you going to check on Alphonse?” I asked.
“Hardly,” she said. “Athena says she can unlock that medical supply closet. I thought I’d have a look.”
“Supply closet? Wouldn’t all that stuff be expired by now?” I asked.
“Not everything,” she said. “This ship was meant to travel for generations. They went through the trouble of securing quite a bit of their medicine in stasis.”
“If the power was out on that floor, how could it maintain the supplies?” I asked.
“Power reserves,” Athena chimed in. Her disembodied voice made both of us flinch. “Pardon the interruption, Captain, but to answer your question, there are several emergency systems tied directly to the backup power supply. There is a priority tree in place to ensure the essentials remain online at all times.”
“Well, there you go,” said Octavia, wheeling herself past me. “I’ll do an inventory and let you know what we have. Hopefully there’s something worthwhile.”
She boarded the elevator and I watched as the doors closed.
“Captain,” said Athena. “If I might have a word.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“I believe we have a situation that requires your immediate attention.” She blipped into existence, manifesting beside me in her physical form.
My hand went straight to my pistol, quickly relaxing. “Goddammit.”
“I’m detecting movement, headed towards our current coordinates. I believe it is a Union ship, quite large, along with multiple other vessels.”
“A large ship?” I asked. My mind went to the worst possible scenario.
She nodded. “We’ve seen it before. The Galactic Dawn.”
My eyes widened at the sound of the name. “The Dawn? Are you sure?”
“I can’t confirm it, precisely, but given its size and shape, it is extremely likely,” she said.
“Shit,” I muttered. “Looks like we’re still not free of this mess.”
“Do we have enough time to run?” I asked.
“They’ll arrive within a few minutes. I apologize for not informing you sooner, but my long-range sensors could not detect them until power was restored.”
I felt heat in my cheeks, a rising tension in my throat. “Tell the others to meet me in the landing bay,” I said. “Prime whatever weapons you’ve got and get ready to make the jump to slipspace.”
“Understood, Captain,” said the Cognitive.
She suddenly vanished, leaving me alone in the hall. I began running, faster and faster, headed to my ship, hoping I still had enough time.
Thirteen
Everyone arrived in the hangar, including the kids. I was already in The Star, prepping the ship to launch if it needed to.
I tapped my ear. “Siggy, patch me through to the others outside.”
“Of course, sir,” said the A.I. “Please, speak when ready.”
I cleared my throat. “In case Athena forgot to tell you folks, Brigham is on his way. He’ll be here any minute,” I explained.
“On his way?” asked Abigail, who was standing beside Freddie and Hitchens.
Bolin tilted his head. “Is this the man who’s been chasing you? The general?”
“That’s the guy,” I said. “He’s coming to get us, along with multiple other ships. Athena’s prepping the slip engine, but she needs a bit of time. The new core hasn’t fully integrated yet.”
“What does that mean for the rest of us?” asked Octavia.
“It means we have to stall,” I said. “Athena, can you hear me?”
“Yes, Captain,” said the Cognitive.
“I’m taking The Star out to drop a few dozen mines, right in front of us. We’ll create a tunnel and they’ll have no choice but to go through the bombs,” I explained.
“What can we do to help?” asked Abigail.
“This is a one-man job. The rest of you stay here while Siggy and I handle shit on the outside.” I strapped myself into my chair and began the engine prep.
“You can’t just expect the rest of us to wait here while you run off alone,” said Abigail.
“Why not? It’s not like I need you to help me drop a couple of bombs,” I said.
“Someone needs to handle the guns while you’re dropping bombs,” she said.
“I can handle both. I’ve done it before.”
She stormed up to the ship. “Sigmond, open the goddamn door!”
“Acknowledged,” said Sigmond.
The lift door dropped slowly to the floor. “Goddammit, Siggy!” I barked. “You aren’t supposed to take orders from anyone but me!”
“Apologies, sir, but Ms. Pryar was rather insistent,” he said.
Abigail climbed inside and began jogging to the cockpit. I closed the lift and primed my engines. “Everyone else, get inside and wait for us to get back!”
“See you in a bit,” said Bolin.
“Try not to die,” said Octavia.
Abigail banged on my door and I opened it. She shuffled inside and took the seat next to me, strapping herself in. “I can’t believe you almost left me here, Jace.”
“I didn’t want you to take the risk,” I said.
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She snapped her eyes at me, scowling. “It doesn’t matter what you want. All that matters is what’s best for the team! You running off on your own isn’t that. It’s the opposite. What happens if you get yourself killed?”
I sighed. “I can’t win for trying.”
“And you never will as long as I’m here,” she said.
The Renegade Star lifted off Titan’s deck and made its way into clear space, leaving the others behind. They’d be safe for now, so long as we could plant the bombs and stall.
Long enough so Titan could open that tunnel and get the hell out of here.
* * *
The slip tunnel opened while we were still deploying the bombs, and the first of several ships entered the system. It wasn’t The Galactic Dawn, though, but another Union military ship with credentials I didn’t recognize. “Captain Jace Hughes of The Renegade Star, you are under arrest for the abduction of—”
I cut the transmission off. “Shut the fuck up,” I said, knowing they couldn’t hear me. I dropped the last of the mines in place. The little black bomb slid out of my ship and into open space, bringing itself to a motionless standstill.
“Do you really think this will be enough to slow down those ships?” asked Abigail.
“Without a doubt,” I said, pulling us back from the line of explosives that currently surrounded Titan.
“Sir,” interjected Sigmond. “Please be advised. The incoming vessel is charging weapons.”
“Raise shields!” I snapped.
A blast struck our side, but the shields took most of the damage.
“Idiots,” I muttered. “They’ll hit these mines if they aren’t careful.”
I brought us around, turning my targeting sights on the enemy spacecraft. Abigail grabbed the controls and locked on, firing a spread the moment she had the chance.
The enemy ship came flying in our direction, right as several others began to emerge from the tunnel. Before I could say anything else, another rift formed in the nearby space. It was a separate tunnel from the last, which meant even more reinforcements. “Sensors detect a Sarkonian vessel incoming,” informed Siggy.
I wanted to curse. I hadn’t expected so many of them this quickly. “Start firing!” I barked at Abigail, flying us in a 90-degree angle, away from the mines and the oncoming ship.