“Nope,” Orbital replied as Hijinks and Hammer kicked out the grill covering the air vent. The two floated downward and reunited with their partner. “No way are we getting out of here.”
“Unless,” Hammer said, swimming his way to his escape pod, which was still locked in place to the flight deck. As he arrived at it, he inputted a few commands into the small terminal on the inside of it. “I reactivated its distress beacon.”
“Nice one,” Hijinks said. “Let’s hope someone out there realizes something doesn’t add up.”
“They will,” Orbital added. “I saw Earth when the doors opened. The Winston Churchill should still be here.”
… … …
Delakirnei and Cartwright welcomed Whigli, Fiesei, and Kasidey aboard the John F. Kennedy’s bridge. Delakirnei’s psionics generated gravity, which was a welcome feeling for Fiesei; the fedora now could stay put.
“Whigli, welcome back to the order,” Delakirnei said. Whigli replied with a short grunt.
Fiesei grinned as he saw Earth from the bridge’s windows. The Winston Churchill could be seen farther off in the distance and the Radiance fleet in a higher orbit around the North Pole. His hand rose up, holding his data pad to his face to confirm the status of the defense platform. “The defense platform mind shield is disabled,” Fiesei said.
“Really?” Cartwright asked.
“Whigli, you should do the honors,” Kasidey said as her fingers reached to stroke the side of his cybernetic arms. “Connect your mind with them and shoot down the Radiance fleet.” Fiesei could sense there was some hesitation in Whigli. Kasidey could too. Whigli simply stepped closer toward the window, his orange eyes reflecting back. “Punish the union; punish them for playing a role in Chidorli’s death,” Kasidey whispered into his ears.
That did it.
Whigli’s eyes shut, and his arms extended toward the windows. The cybernetics on his body started to glow a deep blue. There was silence generated by the anticipation of everyone on the bridge as they glimpsed across the void of space, waiting for the light show.
Hundreds of armed satellites around Earth repositioned their cannons, acquired their targets as directed by Whigli’s psionic mind. And fired. The explosions that followed were bright enough to light up the skies of Earth that were under the cover night. Two ships started to catch on to what was happening. However, it was too late for them. Their engines fired up and then exploded before they could enter sublight speeds.
Those aboard the bridge of the John F. Kennedy shouted and cheered, praising the gods for allowing them to get this far as the charred remains of the Radiance fleet protecting Earth rained down toward Earth’s surface, burning up in the atmosphere. Neither Whigli nor Fiesei partook in any chanting or cheering. The two simply stood shoulder to shoulder watching more chaos blanket Earth. Their loyalties weren’t with the gods and the Celestial Order after all; they were with vengeance.
“Half those ships didn’t even have their shields up,” Delakirnei said with excitement.
… … …
►► ESV Winston Churchill, Earth Orbit
► Sol System
The reaction of the bridge crew aboard the Winston Churchill was a different one in the aftermath of the Radiance fleet’s demise.
Shock, horror, sadness…and fear.
Xavier watched as sweat floated off his forehead and then shifted his attention to the central hologram. New data came in and updated the projection in front of him. The ESV John F. Kennedy and ESV Winston Churchill were the only ships in orbit. The rest of the fleet was still traveling in via sublight speeds, but a trip from the outer gas giants and the kuiper belt to Earth was still a few hours.
“Captain,” Sterling slowly said.
It’s up to us now! “Bloody hell…is the JFK still unresponsive?” Xavier asked.
“Aye, sir, she’s basically sitting in orbit,” Ensign Lu said. “And I’m picking up a distress beacon, an escape pod.”
“Must have been from one of our pilots. They were recovered by the JFK after all,” said Commander Benally.
“It’s weird, though,” Lu added. “It wasn’t active earlier, sir.”
“I think the JFK has been comprised, sir,” Benally said.
“Agreed, but…we have our orders,” Xavier said. “All fighters scramble to the defense of Geneva.”
… … …
Aura was one of the last pilots who was not deployed to Geneva. Her fighter still wasn’t finished being checked off for combat or its missiles reloaded, unlike the rest, as her fighter saw some combat not long ago. She was in a rage upon learning she’d have to wait a few minutes longer for the crew to hurry up with her fighter.
She was floating in the briefing room for the flight crew before a holographic window displaying Captain Xavier’s face getting an update on the situation. “If the JFK has been compromised, we should split our forces: one group deal with the shit on Earth and the other deal with the JFK,” she said.
“Negative, we have direct orders to leave the JFK for the time being,” Xavier transmitted.
“Ah bollocks, what if they start firing at us? At Earth? Then what?”
“I don’t agree with this either, but our orders are orders. Now get to your fighter.”
“I’m not gonna watch that ship blow us out of the—”
“I’m not going to debate this matter with you! Get your arse down to the fighter bay now; that’s an order!”
Her hands slammed against the wall as her head lowered. Words weren’t going to get her what she wanted, what she felt was the right thing to do. “Yes, Daddy,” she said with a conceited grin and then shut off the hologram before he could say anything else. She quickly suited up, and as she went to grab her helmet, she saw where Gavin had left his suit and helmet before being grounded and smiled.
Aura made a long detour to the flight deck, traveling up the habitat ring instead, and slammed her fist on the door to Gavin’s quarters repeatedly after ordering the guard sanding watch to leave. The doors slid open, and Gavin stepped out, surprised to see Aura and even more surprised to see her toss a flight suit and helmet at him.
“What do you want?” Gavin asked.
“Suit up, Penetrator,” she said.
“Really?”
“You friend Chloe has inspired me tonight,” she said and began walking toward the elevator. “Let’s go save the Earth, and the rest of our team.”
Aura and Gavin floated onto the flight deck in unison, fully dressed in their suits and propelling toward their respective fighters. Lieutenant Lee saw the two enter and smiled at Aura. “’Bout time, Colonel,” he said and then made a double take at Gavin. “Whoa, hold on, who had him pulled out of mothballs?”
“I did,” Aura said, floating into the chair of her fighter.
“Do you even have the authority?” asked Lee.
“Look, we can debate this, waste time and lives, or you can let me…let us…do our job.” Aura’s voice was stern, and Gavin loved every second of it, smirking as he climbed into his fighter.
“I have to call this in still.”
“Go right ahead,” Aura said, putting on her helmet. “After we leave.”
The glow from their fighters rear jets flared up, and Aura maneuvered toward the hangar bay doors, looking at the stars of space. Her head turned toward Gavin’s fighter, which was rolling out next to her. She saw his hands lift a thumbs-up gesture; she did the same, and their two Solaris fighters launched outward in defiance of their orders.
After clearing the Winston Churchill, her hands steered the craft, and it shifted, bringing the John F. Kennedy in visual range. Gavin’s remained by her side as the two fired booster jets, propelling them toward their target faster.
“So what’s your game plan?” Gavin transmitted to her.
“We make a flyby past the bridge window,” she said. “If we see people who shouldn’t be there, it’s a hijack; if we see dead bodies, it’s a ghost ship.”
“And if it’s business as usual
?”
“Then they went full retard.”
Xavier’s voice transmitted through her radio, “You two are off mission—”
“Escape pod beacons don’t reactivate for no reason,” she said, cutting him off.
“Goddamn it, Jessica! We have our orders!”
“And I have a duty to protect my team! You can write me up for charges later, after you’re done with Major Vaughan, that is.”
… … …
►► ESV John F. Kennedy, Earth Orbit
► Sol System
Delakirnei’s head jerked slightly as his ESP pinged the presence of two fighters. They weren’t traveling to the surface like the rest were. “Two fighters from the Winston Churchill are approaching,” he informed his followers.
“Tell them to get lost by the most aggressive means possible,” Cartwright said.
“What about our cover?” Delakirnei asked.
“Fuck it, we’re done here,” Kasidey said. “Kill them.”
Fiesei’s fingers continued to interact with a data pad, watching random camera shots of the drone network turning Geneva into a war zone. And then one particular drone transmitted a video that caught his attention to the point he had to zoom in several times.
“Well, well, well,” Fiesei grumbled to himself. The cam footage depicted Chloe on the Lake Geneva bridge with her rifle drawn. “Kasidey, find out what channel she is using. I want to formally invite her to the party up here.”
… … …
►► Earth Orbit
► Sol System
Eight fighters launched one by one out from the John F. Kennedy flight deck. All eight set their course to intercept Gavin and Aura. Their weapons were armed, and targeting scanners acquired a lock on the two.
“Winston Churchill, I hope you’re watching this,” Aura said as her eyes looked at the targets locking on to her and Gavin. “Because it means I’m right.”
Chapter 30
►► Geneva, Earth
► Sol System
Michei guided his and Chloe’s transport to circle around the bridge while Chloe looked down from the opened entrance. Her brown hair was blowing in the winds while her eyes looked down at what was going on below, seconds before she leaped out of the transport.
She dropped toward the bridge, and her suit’s mass-reduction systems activated slowing her decent into the chaos, only to regain her mass when it was safe for her to hit the ground. She stood at Jazz’s last known location with the crash site behind her. With her rifle drawn and thermal vision active, she twisted her head from left to right, scanning for a heat signature that wasn’t supposed to be there, like the one two meters in front of her. Two rounds released from the barrel of her rifle, grazing the side of Jazz’s body. It was a repeat of their encounter in Vancouver; she hoped the results wouldn’t be the same.
Jazz got the message, dropped his cloak, and halted his advance. His plasma katana, however, was firmly held in his hands and started to glow.
“Outta the way!” Jazz yelled.
She aimed her rifle toward his head as she said, “Johnson, I know you’re here to remove the president.”
“Don’t make me repeat myself!”
He wasn’t listening to her at all—typical man. “You need to listen to me! You do this and you’ll be playing a part of the Celestial Order’s plans! The attack against the empress was the work of the order!”
His teeth started to grind, and his fist wrapped tighter around the hilt of his weapon. “This ain’t something I can walk away from!”
“Yes, you can!” Chloe pleaded, hoping she was making progress. “Phylarlie certainly thinks you can, if you plan on having another Rabuabin citrus tea again.”
“How do you know her?”
“I can’t explain it all now, but you must believe me!”
His facial expression remained unchanged, much like his stance for combat. Good intel or not, if he ignored her, she wouldn’t hesitate to put him down for good. The targeting crosshair of her rifle was still superimposed over his head; she brought her finger back toward the trigger and waited for his move.
An explosion overhead sent a shockwave that tossed the two of them to the ground. Looking up, Chloe saw the transport she rode in on burning and spiraling out of control, a drone behind it aggressively shooting at it with its rail cannons. She rapidly got to her feet and ran toward the crash site of Earth Ship One in a rush, running past burning cars. Flames from behind her erupted as a secondary explosion lifted her off the ground; the transport had crashed. She landed eight meters away, slamming her head on the pavement, and felt the thick warmness of blood seeping out of a gash on her forehead.
Her rifle had left her hands and spiraled out of control ahead of her during the blast. As her head rose up from the surface of the road, she saw her rifle fall back toward her, tumbling in fact. The pull of gravity shifted as it began to tug on her legs. Looking back, she found out why: the bridge was collapsing slowly. Her reflexes led her to catch the rifle before it tumbled into the lake below, and her suit started to reduce her mass once again to slow her fall. A burning car fell toward her, forcing her to roll her body away to avoid getting crushed and burned at the same time. Too bad there was another car coming at her. Fuck!
She performed another roll, one that got her to her feet, and then she leaped off the falling section of the bridge. Her jets propelled her body across the newly formed gap and onto the northern section of the bridge, which was still partly intact. During her extended leap, she looked down, hoping to see a sign of Michei, but there was nothing other than the burning remains of the transport. The crash and following explosion had ripped the transport in half.
Her mass once again returned to normal, she landed perfectly on the roadway and began to search for Michei’s body, if there was one. There was, however, no sign of him…or Jazz, for that matter. Not good. Oddly enough, the blood dripping down her face had stopped. Her hand patted down the area of her most recent wound, but it was dry and perfectly fine. Not possible for a person who got tossed in the air by an explosion like that.
Two cars later, she found Michei’s body sitting and resting against the side of it. He was covered in soot, had a dozen bruises on his body, but was otherwise fine, just exhausted. She quickly offered her hand to help him up and then spun around and looked back at the devastation she had just escaped from. The section that held the crash site was slowly falling into the river, and the pillars that held up the bridge were cracked and continued to give away with each passing second. If the president was still stuck on that side, she wasn’t going to last very long. Jazz wouldn’t have to do anything.
Two people pointed toward her and then leaped across the missing section of the bridge. Like Chloe, they glided through the air. Chris and Sarah. The only other two people with protect suits like hers. The two landed side by side and raised their rifles toward Michei and Chloe; she did the same…then paused to process what she had just done. Aim a weapon at her sister and boyfriend. Only point a weapon at someone you have no problems killing. Words Chloe and Sarah’s father had told them many years ago.
“Chloe!” Sarah shouted. “Stand down!”
Chloe’s rifle remained pointed at the two as she slowly stepped backward away from them. “You gotta be fucking kidding me,” Chloe said and then addressed her lover. “Chris.”
“Don’t make this any harder,” he said. “Please, Chloe, don’t.”
“We have our orders,” said Sarah.
Their Mexican standoff continued, three fingers on triggers, three people hoping they wouldn’t have to pull them. “Blindly following orders is going to get the human race fucked over!” Chloe shouted.
“Oh, Vaish, by now you’ve probably heard about the commotion aboard the JFK,” Fiesei’s voice transmitted to Chloe. “Come join me. I’ve made some interesting command changes to the crew.”
“Fiesei!” Chloe yelled as her head looked toward the carnage in the skies and the inferno on the o
ther side of the bridge. “You fucking asshole…you are tearing this world apart!”
“All ships, the JFK has been compromised!” a UNE officer yelled over the radio seconds later.
The announcement had all three stop to think about the current fiasco in orbit, as if the one on Earth wasn’t enough to deal with. Fiesei contacting Chloe all but confirmed he now had command of a ship.
“Do hurry and make up your mind,” Fiesei added. “We won’t be sticking around very long.”
“Michei,” Chloe said, “let’s not keep Fiesei waiting.” Chloe then addressed Sarah and Chris. “I’m giving you two new orders: help me save the human race from this madness.”
Michei’s battered body walked between the three, and released teleportation light from his body that enveloped the area.
He and the conflicting EDF soldiers vanished.
… … …
►► ESV John F. Kennedy, Earth Orbit
► Sol System
Chloe felt her body become weightless as she, Sarah, Chris, and Michei materialized aboard one of the corridors of the John F. Kennedy. Several bodies ripped apart by bullets floated and spiraled all throughout the narrow corridor. A huge ball of blood flew past Chloe’s face, missing it by inches.
“Any word about the president?” Michei asked.
“We did what we could,” Chloe said. “It’s all up to Jazz now, and the only other option was to kill him.”
“And we can’t do that.”
“The hell we can’t!”
“Jacob’s team has the present secured,” Chris said.
His reveal helped put her mind at ease. Plus, there was a chance Jazz didn’t survive the bridge breaking apart to start with. “Now what?” Sarah asked.
“Now we find out what’s going on here. A battleship in enemy hands in orbit around Earth, there’s no telling what kind of damage they could do,” Chloe said, peeking further up the corridor. “Fiesei’s plan was all about bringing fear to the human race.”
“Who?” Chris asked.
“I’ll explain later,” Chloe said. “Let’s find out what we’re up against!”
… … …
Uprising of the Exiled (Splintered Galaxy Book 2) Page 43