“It’s all good,” Gavin reassured. “We managed to take out the psionic who was responsible for her death,” And the death of my unborn kid…
“Hashmedai took away the lives of a lot of our loved ones,” Aura added as their game continued. “Like my parents when I was a little girl.”
Aura’s story triggered Gavin to grimace and mutter, “Damn.”
“Luckily for me, I ran into Captain Xavier out in the ruins of Manchester,” Aura said.
“Was wondering why he always referred to you as his daughter. You two look nothing alike,” said Capt. Greg “Hammer” McTavish.
“Aye, he raised me as if I was his own,” Aura said. “Like me, his whole family was killed by Hashmedai ground forces.”
There was silence for a minute, probably because of the unexpected negativity their conversation generated. “So.” Gavin said, “let’s change the subject to something less depressing.”
Aura concurred. “Agreed.”
“I’ve yet to see the fighters you guys use now,” Gavin said to Aura.
“I’ll show it to you later today,” Aura offered. “Perhaps get a head start on your training as well.” She then smiled. Oh, how he loved how she looked when she smiled.
The glass sliding doors silently slid open, and Chloe hastily stepped in and approached Gavin as he addressed her, “Major Vaughan.”
“Hey, I need to talk to you,” Chloe said to Gavin. “In private.”
Chloe led Gavin to a desolate corner in the corridor that led toward the rec room. After confirming nobody was close enough to hear the two, she began to speak. “You still have that gem from Anna?”
“Of course, I do,” Gavin said.
She leaned toward him closer, “The bridge is picking up some strange psionic activity, and they claim it started when we boarded.”
“And they think it’s the gem?”
“They don’t know about it…yet.” Chloe said. “But they plan to not only perform a more detailed search throughout the ship, but to haul us off into transports to see if the psionic energy follows us.”
“So.”
“You need to come clean about it, hand it over to the lab, save us the headache when they find out we brought something aboard that we shouldn’t have.”
Gavin’s voice started to sound more concerned. The gem was valuable, too valuable to just give away. “It’s a piece of jewelry, and my dead wife’s prized possession that she asked me to have with her dying breath.”
“That Hashmedai commander aboard the command ship had a gem that looked just like it; it turned him into a fucking freak of nature that nearly killed me,” Chloe explained. “Now that I think about it, I think that Hashmedai princess had one too…Kroshka.”
Gavin began to exhale slowly and then shook his head, “No, no, no.” he said rapidly.
“It might be some kind of fucking Hashmedai bioweapon that we don’t know about.”
“Anna had this for years; her folks gave it to her as a gift,” Gavin said.
“Did she tell you were they got it by chance?” Chloe asked.
“No.”
“Figure it out how you want to handle this, Chambers.” Chloe began to walk away from him, then stopped to add, “But if it is of alien origin and dangerous, and they find out you’ve kept it hidden.”
“I’ll deal with it,” Gavin grumbled.
Chloe’s bombshell triggered some uncomfortable sweating to soak the top of Gavin’s forehead as he moved at a steady pace toward his quarters. Handing over the gem was not an option; it was on the same level as someone asking him to remove his arm or leg because they demanded it. It was a part of him, and the only damn thing that could make him think straight some days.
“Gavin.” Ella’s Australian accent called out to him. He stopped and turned around to see her walking toward him. She then asked, “Are you free by chance?”
“Yeah,” he said, turning back toward his quarters. “But not in that way.” No time for our sexy stress relief sessions right now, sadly.
“Somethin’ bothering you?” she asked.
He remained silent as he approached the sliding-door entrance to the quarters that Chris and he shared. His hands fingered the door controls, prompting the doors to open, and then he entered while guiding Ella’s hand in with him.
As the two entered, his hand once again interacted with a panel, causing the doors to lock; he then broke his silence. “The gem.”
“What about it?” she asked.
“Chloe thinks it’s more than a jewel,” Gavin explained. “It gives off strong psionic energy, and the captain is concerned about that.”
Ella smiled warmly at him. “Gavin,” she said and reached below to open his bag. Her hands then left the bag with the red glowing object in question gripped within her smooth hands. “Of course it’s more than a jewel, you even said so yourself. It soothes your mind.”
“Yeah but.”
“And it does the same to me—calls out to me.” Ella placed the gem in front of her face. Its red glow covered her body. “Doesn’t it do the same to you?”
“I…can’t just let it go.”
“Don’t. I need it to reach out and soothe me as well.” Ella then added, “How about this—let me hold on to it.”
“Why?” Gavin asked.
“I’ll put it in my med kit, the Radiance one I was using before coming here,” Ella said. “If anyone asks, I’ll tell them it was in the kit when I got it.”
Her solution only solved one problem. There was still an issue. “They’ll still take it,” Gavin said.
“But none of us will get in shit for having it, and if we can convince them it’s a part of the kit, they might just let us keep it and forget the whole issue.”
Unless they ask Radiance what such a device is doing in a med kit, he thought.
“It’s not like its causing any harm to anyone or the ship’s systems,” she said and then handed it to Gavin. His mind began to calm the second its warm solid surface hit his hands. “It’s the best I can come up with without tossing it out the bloody airlock.”
… … …
The fighter launch bay was located on the underside of the ESV Winston Churchill. Dozens of F-108 Solaris fighters were lined up one by one, on the zero-g flight deck, held in place by magnetic anchors. The fighters were all reverse-engineered Hashmedaian fighters, merged with human design and improvements and armed Radiance weapons.
Solaris fighters were armed with rail guns, which had functions similar to magnetic rifles, such as having nano machines manufacture an appropriate-size round for an attack. Plasma missiles bearing the same design and firepower as those aboard Radiance ships were loaded on the underside of the fighter. And in special situations, nuclear warheads could be added to the fighter’s offensive layout. The lack of plasma cannons meant that the shields of the craft were stronger than their Hashmedaian fighter counterparts because of the extra energy available, though an option to have rail guns swapped out for plasma cannons was available under special circumstances at the sacrifice of shield power.
All this information had Gavin struggling to contain his composure as he and Aura floated out from the elevator onto the flight deck. Aura swam her way toward a computer terminal and interacted with its controls. A holographic window loaded in front of her face, displaying the readiness of the fighters in the bay.
“Sure wish we had these babies during the invasion,” Gavin said.
“Shields and inertia dampers allow you to pull moves that would have killed you with old-world fighters,” Aura explained as she finished her work on the computer. “There we go. Got you registered for your own fighter.”
Must be Christmas in October. “I’m getting one already?” he asked. “I haven’t even been trained on these.”
“Don’t worry about that. If you can fly those rubbish old-world jets, you can fly these, as they are much easier to handle,” Aura said then floated toward Gavin. “With that said, wanna go for a test flight?�
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“Hell fucking yeah!” Gavin yelled.
Aura smirked at Gavin and said, “Then suit up, Penetrator, you’re going in.”
… … …
“Holy shit, she wasn’t kidding,” Gavin mumbled to himself as his F-108 Solaris left the ESV Winston Churchill.
Handling the fighter was indeed easier and much more responsive compared to anything else he’d flown. Aura’s fighter followed behind him as indicated to him via a small holographic window off to his side, one of many holograms. There was no atmosphere within the cockpit of the craft; as such, a full specially designed environment suit had to be worn. Gavin saw Aura’s fighter propel ahead of him, and then she transmitted, “Try to keep up with me; time for a grand tour of the exosphere.”
“Sounds fun,” he transmitted back.
Her fighter turned away out of sight, toward Earth, Gavin’s hands commanded his fighter to do the same. Suddenly the luscious blue orb came into view, with sunlight slipping up from the horizon.
“I hope you are enjoying how these fighters perform,” said a female voice over the comm line.
“Who’s that?” Gavin asked.
“That’s EVE, the Winston Churchill’s computer slash android,” Aura explained.
A grin of fascination formed underneath Gavin’s helmet. “We got androids too?”
“Well just the one. EVE is the only one we have in service right now, with more copies in production,” Aura transmitted. “All of the other ships simply have the EVE computer system installed, and that’s it.”
“Nice—what makes the Winston Churchill so lucky to have the computer system and android?” Gavin asked as Earth quickly dominated the sights of Gavin’s windshield.
“It’s the newest ship in the fleet, and so it has all the latest upgrades, including a quantum entanglement communicator,” Aura transmitted, though most of it went over Gavin’s head.
“You lost me at ‘entanglement,’” he said while he continued to follow Aura’s fighter, entering the exosphere of Earth just off the western coast of Africa.
“Faster-than-light commutation,” she explained. “The Winston Churchill could be a thousand light-years away, and we could send or receive messages from Earth in real time, no psionic telepathy required.” Sunlight faded away as they flew above the Atlantic Ocean toward North America, enjoying its nighttime slumber. “The catch is, the Winston Churchill is the only ship with one, and we can only communicate with command.”
EVE chimed in. “Plans are currently set in motion to have all ships equipped with one.”
Gavin’s eyes lay on the gritty darkened craters along the East Coast of North America as they flew above it under the night sky. “I see the scars of war haven’t gone away,” he said.
“Areas that were glassed by the Hashmedai never recovered since there isn’t much of an ecosystem left,” Aura said. “A chilling reminder of what happened twenty-two years ago.”
Gavin remembered watching videos of the international space station making flybys above the East Coast of North America during the night. In them, you could see the lights from all the big cities illumining the terrain. Now? Darkness, eternal darkness until central North America came into view, then later the West Coast. The concentration of city lights was the brightest on the West Coast as they hovered high above California.
“I see LA is still a big bright-light city,” Gavin said, looking down at his hometown.
“Never got hit during the invasion,” Aura transmitted.
“Good, that means my house might be still standing,” Gavin said with a small chuckle. “I’m pretty sure I left my patio lights on when I left.” The view of the California coastline vanished underneath darkened clouds. “I assume we can fly these fighters through the clouds?”
“Of course!” Aura said.
“Let’s see how these handle in the air,” Gavin said.
Aura’s fighter dipped toward the clouds below them, Gavin adjusted course to follow her. The two crafts sank into a thick blanket of clouds that was shrouding the Pacific Ocean from their previous view from the exosphere.
… … …
►► Vancouver, Earth
► Sol System
Hawke exited the club after her first and only shift was over. Having sex with Justin wasn’t part of the plan, but she needed to maintain her cover. And who was she kidding? He was a good fuck. Too bad it might be the last time he’d drill a woman. She activated her earpiece communication device, establishing a connection to her partner in this complex EISS assignment.
“It’s done. I’m returning to the nest,” she said.
“Good stuff,” Ken replied. “Can’t wait to try it out.”
… … …
►► ESV Winston Churchill, Earth Orbit
► Sol System
Ella double-checked to ensure the contents of her med kit were in order, namely Gavin’s red gem tucked away on the inside. The call had been made for her along with Sarah, Chloe, and Chris to head to the airlock to perform a test to see if the psionic power source will follow the transport. Lucky for Gavin, he and Colonel Davis went out on a joyride with their fighters; he’d have to experience the test when he got back. Though there was no doubt in Ella’s head that the gem was indeed the source of the psionic power and that they’d pick up its presence leaving the Winston Churchill as they launched the transport.
She stared at the gem from her med kit one last time, and then felt it calling to her like…like an old friend you haven’t seen in ages. Her fingers slipped into her kit to feel the warmth of the gem once more before she shut it.
And then, a strange voice called out to her, “Free your mind, Ella. Embrace the goddesses.”
… … …
►► Port Shala, Morutrin Prime
► Morutrin System
Avearan stood on an overly packed rapid transit train, as it traversed across the downtown core of Port Shala. Beads of sweat dripped of her body despite the fact that the train she traveled on was air-conditioned. She watched the sunlight slip behind the towering skyscrapers of the city and then the occupied seats as the train neared its next stop. People, manly Linl and the odd Hashmedai, got on; nobody got off, just like the last eight stops.
She felt the gem she swiped from Parcisei become more…warm, and at one point, she thought it was trying to speak with her. Must be the heat. I need to cool down soon, or voices in my head will be the least of my worries, she thought and then examined the gem once more from the palm of her hands. The central orb started to glow brighter, and then a voice called out to her, “Do not look away, and do not be afraid.” Avearan’s head looked for the source of the voice. Everyone on the train either had data pads in front of their faces or spoke with their travel companions. No one from behind spoke to her, no one to the side said anything. The voice spoke again as soft and soothing invisible hands forced her head to look back at the gem. “Free your mind, Avearan. Embrace the goddesses.”
… … …
Ella’s eyesight transformed from being in the infirmary aboard the Winston Churchill to the blackness of space. Planets of the solar system zipped out of sight along with a few stars. She felt her entire body become something that could only be described as pure energy capable of going anywhere, any place, any time—only she had no control over where she went. Someone, something was pulling her across the cosmos. A brilliant flash went off, and then she felt as if she were in two physical forms, one she could control, and another that felt far away that she had no control over. The form she had control of was an unfamiliar one.
A train—she was on a train, one that looked and sounded similar the ones on Lejorania Sanctum. She saw humans—no wait, Linl, it had to be since they all had Radiance-designed data pads. That and the holographic displays had text written in a language that didn’t originate from Earth. Her breathing began to get deeper, and her hands started to tremble. Where was she? Why were they Hashmedai among the people on this train?
She moved
to a window to get a better idea on what was outside the train. The enormous buildings looked similar to the ones found at Unity City. This place was of Linl design, no questions asked. The face looking back at her in the window’s reflection…dark creamy complexion, long purple hair, and red eyes, Ella was a Hashmedai woman. She was a psionic woman by the looks. Her head moved down to examine the rest of her revealing appearance and cybernetic implants across her belly and the sides of her breasts.
What the hell happened? she wondered.
And then she heard another voice, another thought. That’s a very good question. The thought echoed in her mind in Hashmedai, which was strange, as Ella didn’t speak a word of it. Yet here she was, able to understand English, Radiance and now the Hashmedai language fluently.
While in the Hashmedai body, Ella shut her eyes. Suddenly she was able to see herself back in the Winston Churchill’s infirmary, only she wasn’t in control of her body. Someone else was, someone who looked lost and scared. You’re in my body, Ella thought.
And you must be in mine, Avearan thought.
Avearan…how did I know her name? Ella wondered.
Our minds must have become one, but how? She saw the vision of Avearan, in control of Ella’s body, look at the gem stored in her med kit.
Ella opened her eyes, having realized the whole time she possessed this Hashmedai body, she held on to a gem just like the one Gavin gave her. You have one too? They both thought at the same time.
… … …
►► ESV Winston Churchill, Earth Orbit
► Sol System
Seconds later Ella felt her thoughts becoming energy once again and was sent spirally across the galaxy, but into her body aboard the Winston Churchill. Avearan’s and Ella’s minds returned to normal.
The ordeal felt like a bizarre lucid dream, only she now retained the ability to speak, read, and write Hashmedaian. A few personal memories that weren’t there before infected her mind, painful ones at that—being locked away inside some kind of boarding school, built into a frozen mountain on a far-off world, and abused by the staff only to be exploited by the Hashmedai Empire after graduation.
Uprising of the Exiled (Splintered Galaxy Book 2) Page 8