by Tom Chattle
With lunch being served as it normally was—shoved unceremoniously through the door hatch—Chen was surprised when the dour guard called out after she had taken it, disgust evident in his mind. "You have a visitor later. Try and clean yourself up."
Other than Bennett, doctors, and a handful of other members of Naval Intelligence, Chen had not received a visitor the entire time she had been detained. Never a huge people person, she longed for some form of human interaction outside the damn NI doctors. Chen picked at the bland food while her mind raced, trying to think who it might be. One of her old crew? Admiral Wilde, perhaps? A thin strand of hope wrapped around her heart. Maybe someone was trying to get her out of this hole.
She turned over the options in her brain for the next hour, fidgeting with the loose cuffs of the plain, tan jumpsuit she wore. She even managed to wash her face and gather the hair that now fell past her shoulders into a loose ponytail rather than the lanky mess it had stayed in for weeks. Perched on the edge of her narrow bed, her knee bounced in anticipation. The moment the buzzer sounded, her head snapped up, eager to find out who might arrive.
The door swung open, and Chen jumped to her feet, straightening the rumpled jumpsuit as best she could. A breath caught in her throat moments before her heart plummeted and all anticipation for her visitor vanished.
The woman who entered was tall with a thin face, her tailored blue suit immaculate, narrow glasses framing her cheekbones. Strawberry-blonde hair was pulled neatly back into a bun, not a single strand out of place.
"Mother," Chen stated, flatly.
The woman gave her a brisk nod. "Auri, how are you doing?"
Both of Chen's eyebrows shot up so fast they could have flown off her face. "Seriously?" She gestured to the cramped quarters around her. "How the fuck do you think I'm doing?"
"Language!" Evelyn Chen had never approved of her daughter's rough and rebellious nature. Both a politician and a socialite, appearance had always seemed to be her first concern throughout Auri's childhood. Probably why she'd rebelled so damn hard.
As far as Chen could tell, she had inherited all her features—both physical and emotional—from her father. Except maybe that streak of stubbornness. That she definitely shared with her mother.
Evelyn pulled out a chair and sat down at the table, waiting for Chen to do the same. Even though she was acting politely, Chen could feel discomfort radiate from her, and judgmental thoughts about her appearance spilled out.
Chen gritted her teeth and flexed bruised hands before she plopped into the chair opposite. Arms folded tightly, she lifted her chin. "So, are you going to ask why I'm in here?"
"Please, Auri, I already know all the details behind your little...escapade." The last word seemed forced.
Of course, she did. Her mother had been steadily rising through political circles since Chen was a child, and she'd been the political representative for the Pan-Pacific Seaboard for nearly a decade now. With her constituency covering most of Earth's Pacific region, Evelyn made it her business to know everything about everyone.
"Really, are you doing okay in here? Are they treating you well?" Even through her curt words, she actually seemed concerned, something Chen didn't remember experiencing from her for...well, she couldn't remember the last time.
"I'm not going to lie—I've been better," Chen leaned back and unfolded her arms. She played with a loose thread on one sleeve while she tried to find the words to sum up her pitiful existence in this place. "The same questions over and over again, painful medical exams...The worst part is nobody will tell me what the hell is going on outside these damn walls."
Chen shook her head, irritation swelling within her. "Mother, why are you here?"
"Auri, I'm hurt." Evelyn lifted a well-manicured hand to her chest. "I'm worried about my only daughter. I was outraged when I found out that those brutes in Naval Intelligence were holding you on spurious charges. Now," she adjusted the narrow glasses perched on the bridge of her nose, "it took quite a lot of persuasion to get them to allow me in here, but in the end, they had to listen to the President's new Planetary Defense Adviser." She looked up, expectantly.
"Oh, I see." Chen rolled her eyes. "You got a nice new position and needed to make sure your wayward daughter didn't sully that by being locked up."
Her mother pursed her lips. "How about a little gratitude for the sacrifices I've had to make to continually sweep your mistakes under the rug?"
"My mistakes?" A surge of anger threatened to explode from within Chen. "I did as I was ordered. I did the best that I could." A ripple of fear emanated from her mother, and Chen realized she was standing, fist pounded into the table. She gathered herself and sat. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell."
Worry creased her gray eyes, and Evelyn reached across the table to gather Chen's hands in her own. "That mission clearly gave you some terrible trauma. I'm doing my best to get you out of here so you can be treated by proper professionals, not the lunatics running this place."
Chen gazed down at the table, then squeezed her mother's hands. For a moment, it almost felt like they had a functional relationship. "The aliens messed with my head, Mom. Nobody can figure out how the changes I've been through are affecting me." She jerked her head up and locked eyes with her mother. "The Syrax are a terrible threat. Is anyone taking them seriously? What's going on outside here?"
Evelyn frowned. "Quite frankly, nothing. Naval Intelligence secured your ship's crew and barely even allowed Fleet Command access to the information they brought back."
Chen couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Nothing at all? What happened to my crew?"
"The Valiant received a new commander. I don't know much about him. A Captain Arnesen, I believe."
The name sounded familiar, but Chen didn't know the man. "But nothing is being done?"
Evelyn cleared her throat and shifted in the chair. "Well, the media got hold of some of the information about the mission. I didn't want to mention it, but it became rather a scandal. They're crucifying Admiral Wilde over why he sent a junior crew on an unauthorized mission to find his daughter. A ship that was supposed to be on a test voyage, of all things. Naval Intelligence managed to quash most of the more alarming portions of the mission, but the deaths and damage to the Valiant are well known."
A stab of pain shot through her head at the mention of the deaths, and Chen scrunched up her face. How could they be focused on that when the Syrax threat was more important? Withdrawing her hands, she slumped back in the chair. "But what about the information Katrina was going to research? There was evidence that information about the Syrax threat had been hidden before."
"Katrina Wilde?" Evelyn asked. "The media basically ostracized her for the role she played in everything. All of the claims she's come forward with have been laughed off the air. Nobody is taking her seriously. She hasn't even been able to replace her crew, let alone that ship she lost."
"I don't understand..." Pain swelled through Chen's temple, and she clamped a palm to it, eyes shut.
Evelyn lowered her voice. "Dear, nobody is taking any of it seriously—other than the misappropriation of military crews and ships, that is."
"But..." The idea that everything they had gone through was being ignored raced through Chen's head. How could Alex have died for nothing? She dug her fingers into her palms, arms trembling from the fight against the anger within her.
With a gasp, Evelyn's eyes fell to Chen's hands. Glancing down herself, Chen saw a trickle of blood dripping from each onto the shiny table surface. Releasing them, she gazed at the gashes her nails had opened in her palms.
"Auri..." her mother started, "what happened to you?"
Chen brought her eyes up to her mother's worried gaze. "I thought you knew already."
- 4 -
2208.10.09 // 12:26
UNI Lunar Facility, the Moon
Evelyn shook her head. "Clearly reading the report doesn't convey the wounds it inflicted on you."
Chen closed w
eary eyelids and sighed, the persistent pain in her head a constant burden. "I really don't want to talk about it anymore. I've had to relive every moment of the mission hundreds of times already."
"Please, Auri. I can't help you if I don't know everything."
The last thing Chen wanted to think about was Arcturus and everything they had been through, but her mother was powerful...If she could be convinced, then maybe there was still some hope.
Chen wiped bloody trails on the legs of her jumpsuit and straightened, eyes locked to her mother's. "Our rescue mission got attacked during the night. In the battle, I got captured by their leader—the matriarch." Chen bounced her knees under the table. Even the faintest thought of those few, terrible days were enough to overwhelm her. "It...ripped into my mind, searched my thoughts, my memories..." She had to pause—a painful ache heavy in her chest. Visions of the towering beast in the darkness of the distant, alien mountain flashed through her mind. "Whatever it did to me changed me somehow." Chen tugged at a lank strand of hair. "Both outside and in. Alex...The Marines rescued me, but during the extraction, we lost a lot of people. A lot of good people." She lowered her gaze and sighed. "And that was an ancient outpost barely out of hibernation. There's far more of them out there; I know it."
Evelyn remained silent, fingers laced before her.
Chen blinked back the pain that was threatening to encroach upon her vision and let her mother digest the information. Clearly, whatever reports her mother had seen had been sanitized by Naval Intelligence. No surprise, it sounded like they'd slammed a tight lid down on everything after the Valiant had limped home.
Fingers tenderly massaging her temple, Chen glanced up when her mother cleared her throat and shifted in her chair.
"There have been...disturbing reports from several far-flung colonies."
That got Chen's attention. "What sort of reports?"
Evelyn frowned. "It's unclear at this time. Two neighboring colonies out near the edge of explored space sent garbled transmissions that caused quite a fuss. There was a possible mention of attacks, but no details were ascertainable."
Chen's breathing quickened. "It's them."
"Now, there's nothing certain at this point." Evelyn laid down her palms. "But it's certainly concerning given the information you've told me."
"Mom..." Chen leaned forward, pleading. "You have to make them do something. If the Syrax are on their way, we don't stand a chance without being prepared. They're brutal. They will stop at nothing if they decide they want what is ours."
Evelyn nodded, patting her daughter's hand. "Auri, whatever the truth, I'm going to do all I can to both get you out of here and impress the urgency of the situation on the President." She paused for a minute and glanced at the camera in the corner of the room. Chen thought she saw her reach for something inside her pocket, but before she could, her mother stood and smoothed down her suit jacket.
The seemingly sudden change in her mother's demeanor confused Chen and she sat back, brow furrowed. It now felt like the information she'd divulged had been an effort to confirm her own suspicions that she couldn't say out loud.
"Do try to not let them get the best of you. If there was one thing your father and I agreed on, it was a disdain for Naval Intelligence." She leaned over and gave Chen a quick hug before she retreated to the door and rapped on it. In the few moments Evelyn waited there, Chen felt a thought explode from her.
~These bastards aren't keeping their hands on any daughter of mine~
As soon as the door swung open, Evelyn departed, the door clanging shut behind her.
Chen sat, confused and surprised. It was not like her mother to be so supportive, let alone mentioning her father. Chen had spent years barely listening to the woman, tired of the scorn and judgment she so often piled upon her daughter. She had pushed so far the other way from her mother's prim, upper-class attitude, it had constantly gotten her into trouble in every aspect of her life. Chen slid down in the uncomfortable chair. Emotionally numb from the discussion, she was about to return to her cot when she felt a thin shape pressed into her palm.
The size and texture was unmistakable against her skin. Chen hadn't noticed it, too preoccupied with her mother leaving, but somehow, she'd slipped a datacard into her hand.
Acutely aware of the constant surveillance she was under, Chen forced herself to not bring it to her face and examine it. Instead, she feigned her usual exhaustion—even as excitement threatened to overwhelm her—and made her way back to the thin cot. One eye on the camera, she carefully slipped the datacard down the side, resting it against the chipped wall.
Chen had no way of telling what was on the card, but it must be important if her mother had taken such a risk to give it to her. She sighed and rolled onto her back. All she could do now was wait and hope her mother could actually help in some way.
- 5 -
2208.10.13 // 15:02
UNI Lunar Facility, the Moon
The rattle of the door's announcement buzzer jolted Chen from her nap. Bennett had not shown his face since her mother had visited, and the last few days had merged together without the regular interruption of his probing interrogations. With nothing to occupy her time—not even a book—Chen had started to think she might go crazy from the isolation. She straightened against the wall she'd been resting on, then scooted to the edge of her narrow cot and unfolded her legs, swinging them over the side.
Moments later, Lieutenant Commander Bennett strolled in. The scowl fixed on his gaunt face filled Chen with a mix of hope and wariness. Had her mother been able to actually do something, pissing Bennett off in the process?
Without preamble, Bennett sat at the table and pointed at the chair across from him. When Chen took her time, he snapped a finger, eyebrows narrowing. "In your own time, Lieutenant."
Chen reached the seat and sat. "What can I do for you today, Lieutenant Commander?"
Bennett placed his datapad on the table and spun it to face Chen. "I've been informed that you have been provided certain information without the appropriate clearances." He sucked through his teeth, searching for the right words to continue. "Against my judgment, people higher than I have decided to furnish you with further details on the subject." Even though his mind remained locked tight, the irritation that rolled off him was a wonderful sensation to Chen.
She did her best to hold back a smirk and nodded. "And what information would that be?"
He tapped on the screen, playing an audio transmission that was full of static and digital errors.
"They cam...Not been able...questing assist—" With a piercing squeal, the transmission cut off.
Bennett drummed his fingers on the table. "That was from the Nova Terra colony, a relatively recent settlement in the last expansion phase. Settlers, farmers, the usual pioneers. A similar message came from the nearby Destiny colony." He snatched the datapad back. "There has been no word from either one since."
Even though Chen had already heard about it from her mother, actually listening to the audio sent a chill through her. However much she hoped it wasn't the Syrax, she knew it had to be. Awakening them in the Arcturus system had just been the start. "What's being done about it?"
There was a long pause. It was clear Bennett wanted to find a way around telling Chen more information. "It's being kept quiet, but Fleet and NI are preparing a mission to investigate the matter."
That perked up Chen. She sat up straight, her mind going through the possibilities. "What are they sending? A task force?" She tapped a finger on her chin. "It would have to be enough firepower to contend with whatever they ran into."
"They're sending the Valiant."
Bennett's statement stopped Chen cold. The Valiant? As much as she'd grown attached to her first, fated command, it was an outdated, underpowered relic. It had no business being thrown back against any Syrax threats. She shook her head, her brow scrunched. "What? They can't send the Valiant alone. What else is going? A couple of battlecruisers? A carrier?"
>
Jaw clenched, Bennett exhaled. "Just the Valiant, Lieutenant."
"No, that can't be," Chen objected. She didn't understand what Bennett was saying. "It will be totally outclassed by anything it comes across."
"I wasn't aware you had more experience than the high-ranking officers in charge of this endeavor, Lieutenant." He glared at her. "The Valiant is small and easily missed. This mission has to be covert—there is no desire to alarm the public by mobilizing half the damn fleet. Besides, there's no real evidence of any supposed alien threats."
"Oh, I see." Chen should have realized the underlying motive earlier. "It also keeps the ship and crew out the way of any pesky media attention about Arcturus."
Bennett leaned back and shrugged, the corner of his mouth curled up. "I guess it does."
"You just hope they'll disappear completely," Chen muttered.
A dark scowl washed across Bennett's face, and he leaned forward, glancing up at one of the cameras that monitored Chen's every move. "Please, Lieutenant, I would never wish any sort of harm on Union military personnel." He tilted his head. "Besides, you're being sent with them."
"I'm what?" The announcement took Chen totally off guard.
Bennett pulled up a document on his screen and spun it back to face Chen. "Against my better judgment, command has decided that you may be a useful resource on this mission. On the extremely limited chance that any incidents are in fact due to a hostile alien species, it has been deemed that your prior experience could be beneficial to the overall mission."
Chen brushed a palm across her forehead, sweeping back long strands of hair. Whatever results she'd expected from her mother's intervention, being assigned to a rescue mission was not one of them.