by Ken Lozito
He should have fought harder for the secondary power station Titan needed. The space station even now was exceeding projected capabilities, and Connor attributed that to the CDF soldiers serving on it alongside Kasey Douglass. Connor thought about Governor Parish and the growing political movement that called into question the validity of an attack ever taking place. They’d had seven years to prepare for this, and there were thousands of lives on Titan Space Station that would pay the price. Connor kept thinking of all the things he could have done differently, given what he now knew—how he could have shifted priorities. It was a brutal rabbit hole to get sucked into, even if it was only in his mind, and Connor fought to pull himself out of it. He needed to stay focused.
He opened up the comms interface on his terminal. At least Titan Space Station still had their communications array working.
“Vigilant, this is Titan actual,” Kasey Douglass said. His voice sounded strange and mildly distracted.
The former Ghost’s face appeared on the screen and Connor stood up. The Command Center was a buzz of activity. Most of the CDF personnel Connor could see were armed. There was a shallow gash on the side of Kasey’s head.
“Situation report,” Connor said.
Kasey leveled his gaze at the camera. “I’ve ordered an evacuation of the station. Those of us who remain are fighting as long as we can.”
Reisman came to stand at Connor’s side.
Kasey saw him. “Hey there, you slippery bastard. You watch out for our CO.”
“I will,” Reisman said, his voice sounding thick.
Connor wanted to tell his friend to run, to get out of there, but the soldier in him knew it was impossible. He knew what Kasey was doing and would have done the same thing himself if he’d been in that position.
Kasey looked over at Connor. “At least it’s not as bad as the Sandy Springs Op.”
“But we got to walk away from that one,” Connor said.
A sad smile appeared on Kasey’s face. “I remember when Malarkey got stuck in the compactor. For a medic, he could curse with the best of them. I’ll say hello when I see him.”
Connor clenched his teeth together. “We both will.”
“Going soft on me, General? I know you’re not religious at all and don’t believe in all that stuff. In fact, I believe you kept calling it superstitious nonsense,” Kasey said.
“I changed my mind. I’ve seen the error of my ways. All is forgiven, right?” Connor said and felt the skin around his eyes tighten. “I wish I could be there with you.”
Kasey glanced away from the camera and Connor heard shouting. “If we had ever developed a transporter, I would gladly teleport myself and my crew over to your ship. Regardless, we beamed the intelligence we gathered to COMCENT on New Earth.”
A wave a bitterness stiffened Connor’s muscles.
“It won’t be long now. Vemus forces are fighting toward the bridge. They’re vulnerable to our weapons, but they’re more interested in capturing us than killing us. Several battleship carriers have continued onward. Do you think you can take care of those for me?” Kasey asked.
“We’ll come up with something,” Connor answered.
“Sir,” Lieutenant LaCroix said, and Connor glanced over at him. “I’m detecting a thermal mass building at the station’s main reactor core.”
Connor looked back at Kasey and stood up straight. “I’ll take it from here, Colonel. You’ve done more than anyone could have asked of you.”
Kasey was about to reply when shouting erupted all around. There were flashes of light. Connor heard the distinct sound of weapons fire before the comms channel was severed.
“Sir, the thermal mass is reaching critical levels. We need to make best speed possible to escape the blast,” Lieutenant LaCroix said.
“Helm, get us out of here,” Connor said bitterly.
The main holoscreen showed a massive swarm of Vemus ships surrounding the station, trading blows. Connor wondered why their forces were putting so much effort into capturing the station rather than destroying it and moving on to New Earth. The tactics they were using proved that they still fought an enemy they didn’t fully understand. In some respects, the Vemus were extremely slow to respond, and in others, like Titan Space Station, they used an overwhelming show of force, as if their ships didn’t matter. Connor frowned and felt like there was something he was missing.
“Ops, I want to know where those Vemus battleship carriers are—”
Connor stopped speaking. A bright flash came from Titan Space Station, and the feed to the main holoscreen cut out. The sensors were blinded. Connor balled his fists and glared at the empty feed, thinking about all those people who had just died.
“Get me their locations,” Connor said, his voice sounding raspy and strained. “Wil, take the con.”
He left the bridge and the two CDF soldiers assigned to be his security detail followed him.
Connor looked back. “I need a few minutes,” he said and gestured to his ready room. The two soldiers stopped just outside the bridge.
Connor opened the door to his room and stepped inside, letting the door shut. The steady hum of the large aquarium cast a warm glow in the dim room.
“Lights,” Connor said.
As the lighting in the room became brighter, Connor saw Sean lying on the floor. Connor gasped and ran over to him. He glanced down at Sean’s hands and saw that they were bound together at the wrists.
“He’s alive,” a cold voice said from behind Connor.
Connor spun and was struck in the head by something hard. He instantly went sprawling face-first to the ground. Pain blossomed on the side of his head where he’d been struck. He moved his hands under his chest and pushed himself over. Standing in front of the aquarium, holding a hand-cannon on him, was Captain Alec Toro.
Toro locked the door.
Connor glanced at Sean and then up at the Vigilant’s head of security.
“It was you,” Connor said and started to rise.
“Stay down, General,” Captain Toro warned.
Connor stayed on the floor and leaned back against the wall. He fingered the side of his head and felt a small trickle of blood. “So, what’s your plan here? You kill me and then what?”
Toro’s eyes became more intense. “I don’t know. You screwed everything up.”
“I screwed everything up? You poisoned Ian Howe. You were supposed to be his friend.”
Toro charged forward and came to a stop. “I am his friend.”
Connor glanced at the gun. “Oh, really? I’m sure he appreciated suffering from radiation poisoning right before he died. The doctor had him in a medically induced coma so he wouldn’t feel the pain, so who knows if he had any last thoughts at all. That’s what you did to your friend.”
“It was supposed to be you. It should have been you, but you kept changing things. Always changing things. Testing. Constant drills. Updating your schedule. I thought I had you . . . I did have you,” Toro said.
“What did you do to Sean?” Connor asked, wondering if the security detail had heard the commotion.
“He found me out. Traced the polonium to me. Here in this room, in fact,” Toro said and gave a lazy gesture with his other hand.
“Here? Why would you come back here?”
“To take one more stab at you,” Toro said.
Connor leaned against the wall and brought one leg up toward his chest while extending the other.
“We’re being attacked by the Vemus and you still want to kill me. What the hell for?”
Toro shook his head. “I had everything thought out. I knew the way investigations were conducted. You were supposed to be at the mess hall after meeting with the engineer. And then Ian and Nathan were there. I tried to stop them, but it was too late. I knew Ian had ingested the poison and it was already too late,” he said, glaring at Connor. “I thought I’d gotten you after that.”
Connor frowned. He’d only spoken to Toro here in this room. “The c
offee,” he said, finally remembering. “You laced it with poison.”
Toro nodded his beefy head. “Yup, and you took it onto the bridge with you. I thought for sure you would have reported to Dr. Allen, but you didn’t.”
Connor shuddered. He remembered losing his appetite and handing the coffee off to the soldier. No one else drank it either.
“Who ordered you to kill me?” Connor asked.
“How do you know I’m not working alone?” Toro asked. The head of security lowered his gun to his side, and his hand shook as it held the hand cannon.
“Because you’re too damn stupid to have cooked this up for yourself,” Connor said.
Toro’s nostrils flared and he brought the hand-cannon up, pointing it at Connor’s face.
Connor stared up at him grimly. “You’re a coward,” he sneered.
Toro cried out and lunged forward, his eyes narrowed menacingly.
Connor kicked out with his foot and caught Toro by surprise. The hand-cannon went off but missed him. Connor sprang to his feet and grabbed onto Toro. The head of security was so strong that Connor might as well have been wrestling a tree. He slammed his fist into Toro’s head and tried to hold onto the wrist holding the gun, but his grip slipped. After several long seconds during which Toro didn’t take the shot, Connor tore his eyes away from the hand-cannon. Sweat poured from Toro and his face was pale.
“You’re dying. You’ve exposed yourself to too much polonium,” Connor said.
Toro seemed to weaken right where he stood and then stumbled backward. He fell, landing near the unconscious Sean. Connor stepped toward Sean, but Toro pointed his gun at Sean’s head.
“Haven’t you caused enough death? We have an enemy that wants to kill us and we’re here killing each other. It’s over,” Connor said.
“They weren’t supposed to find us. The experts made such compelling arguments. Parish said it was impossible. No one was supposed to find us here,” Toro said.
“Was it Parish? Is that who ordered you to kill me?” Connor asked.
He didn’t glance at the door but he heard the two CDF soldiers outside. Any second now, they were going to open that door. He had to keep Toro’s attention on him or Sean would get shot.
“You changed things again. Instead of keeping the investigation quiet, you broadcast it to the whole damn ship. Everyone knew Colonel Howe had been murdered,” Toro said.
The door to Connor’s ready room burst open. Connor held up his hand. “Hold!”
The two soldiers glanced at him and then down at Alec Toro, who was pointing a gun at Sean’s head.
Toro glanced at the soldiers, his eyes seeming to linger on their uniforms.
“Look at me,” Connor said.
Toro swung his gaze toward Connor. “I know this kid is your friend. He’s good. Really good. I can see why you keep him around. If I hadn’t blindsided him, he would have caught me.”
Toro pressed the hand cannon against Sean’s head.
“You don’t have to do this. It’s over,” Connor said.
“You’re right; it is over. I’m dying. Either you or those soldiers are going to kill me—all because we wanted to believe a lie, that there was no invading force coming to the colony and that everyone we left behind on Earth was okay. None of this was supposed to happen,” Toro said, and his lips pressed together.
“Don’t. He’s a good kid and deserves a chance to die fighting for something he believes in,” Connor said.
Toro looked at him with red-rimmed eyes and winced in pain. “That’s all I wanted,” he said and then raised the hand-cannon to the side of his own head and squeezed the trigger. Blood and brain matter splattered onto the wall as Toro’s dead body slumped into its final rest.
Connor went over to Sean and glanced up at one of the soldiers. “Get a medic in here, now!”
The other soldier went over to Toro’s body.
“Get a decontamination team here. He had radiation poisoning and I can’t be sure he doesn’t have the substance on him,” Connor said.
“Sir, you need to step away from him then,” the CDF soldier said.
They cut the bonds that held Sean’s wrists together and carried him over to the couch. A medic came and started to examine Sean. A few moments later he used smelling salts and Sean woke up.
Connor blew out a breath and rubbed his face. Toro had been right: he did care for Sean like a son—like the son he’d left behind on Earth who bore the same name. He wouldn’t have been able to forgive himself if something had happened to Sean.
“Sir, are you alright?” the medic asked him.
“I’m fine,” Connor said in a strained voice.
Sean looked over at Toro’s body and then looked at Connor. “We found traces of polonium in his quarters and his locker. After I found traces of it on the bridge, I checked everywhere you’d been. It was on your desk, so I knew someone who’d met with you had to be the killer. He must have figured out that I was on his trail. I caught up with him here and he got me.”
Connor nodded. “Don’t beat yourself up about it. We should be hunting the Vemus, not each other.”
Sean sat up but stayed on the couch. “Did he tell you who else was involved?”
“Not directly, but I have a strong suspicion,” Connor said.
Sean frowned. “Who?”
“Let’s say his orders came from the top, or at least someone close to Parish,” Connor said.
Sean shook his head slowly. “What do we do now? We can’t let them get away with this.”
“Stanton Parish is the least of our concerns. We can worry about it if we make it back to the colony,” Connor said.
“What about Titan Space Station?” Sean asked.
Connor’s throat became thick. “It’s gone.”
Sean’s eyes widened in shock.
“They called for an evacuation and then Colonel Douglass ordered the self-destruct,” Connor said.
Sean swallowed hard. “Did it . . . stop them?”
“I don’t know. I’m going back to the bridge. Want to join me?” Connor asked.
“Always, sir. You know that.”
Connor did know that and was thankful Sean hadn’t been killed, but how many more would he fail to save? He had to get back to the bridge. The self-destruction of Titan Space Station might have struck a crippling blow, but this battle was far from over. They had to activate the missile-defense platforms they had positioned throughout the star system. Perhaps they would be enough to weaken the remaining Vemus ships even further.
Chapter Twenty-One
The escape pods carrying Noah and other survivors from Titan Space Station were actually part of the Ark, humanity’s first interstellar ship that had ferried three hundred thousand men, women, and children out among the stars. Although anything but comfortable, the pods were equipped so that the people inside could survive for weeks.
Noah glanced at the holoscreen that showed them closing in on the Chmiel. The cargo carrier had become a lifeboat to hundreds of personnel aboard the life pods that were lucky enough to escape from Titan Space Station before the Vemus made that all but impossible. They’d used the pod’s limited thrust capabilities to take them to the cargo ship, reserving just enough fuel so they could perform emergency maneuvers to slow down. Kara had reminded him of that little necessity when he’d suggested they reach the Chmiel as quickly as possible.
“The drone is almost here,” Noah said.
Kara bobbed her blonde head once and remained focused on her personal holoscreen. Noah had disabled the distress beacon for their life pod. He wasn’t sure whether the Vemus could track them, but he felt safer without the broadcast signal going out. The pod’s short-range communications worked, so they could speak to other survivors, as well as Captain Benson of the Chmiel. The cargo carrier was equipped with a small army of drones that were designed to retrieve smaller asteroids but were now guiding the life pods into the main cargo bay. They would keep as many of the life pods as they could
. One thing that had been drilled into the colonists of New Earth was the need to not waste anything that could be useful. In this case, the life pods themselves were made from high-grade materials. Noah had even done some calculations and determined that the cargo vessel should have just enough room to store them all.
Noah brought up the video feed on his own holoscreen. The Chmiel was a short distance away, and if there had been any windows on the pod, the only thing they’d have seen was the cargo carrier. There were several lines of circular objects heading toward the ship in steady succession. Although there were hundreds of escape pods, Noah knew that many CDF personnel had stayed behind to fight the Vemus.
He heard a clang as a drone made contact with their pod and propelled them toward the ship. Noah noticed that they were being guided to one of the shorter lines of pods.
He glanced at Kara, considering.
Kara noticed him looking at her. “What’s the matter?” she asked and looked briefly at his holoscreen.
“Nothing. They’re just lining us up, is all,” Noah said.
“Oh, good. We’re lucky Captain Benson decided to stick around,” Kara said.
“It would have been a much longer trip home,” Noah replied.
He felt foolish. Titan Space Station had been attacked. They’d evacuated and here they were talking about how lucky they were. He was immensely grateful to be alive and ashamed all at the same time.
“Before all this happened, I was going to ask you something,” Noah said.
Kara closed down her holoscreen and stretched her hands out in front of her before bringing them to rest in her lap. “About what?”
“I was reassigned back to New Earth, and I was going to ask if you wanted to come back with me,” Noah said.
There, he’d finally said it.
Kara stiffened next to him. “I knew you were going to ask,” she said quietly.
Noah’s eyes widened. “You did? Is that why you’ve been avoiding me? Because you didn’t want to come?”
Kara looked away from him and Noah felt a flush of embarrassment redden his face. He shouldn’t have brought this up here in this cramped life pod. Of course she didn’t want to come back with him. This thing between them was just a fling, something to pass the time during a particularly long rotation at the station.