And she recognized the shape and magnitude of the structure at once.
“That's it then,” she said aloud. “That's the Eon Gate. And we're inside of it.”
THEIR REINFORCEMENTS ARRIVED A DAY LATER, though by that time there was precious little they could do. Teams scoured the surrounding rocks, looking for any survivors that might have made it through the breakup of the asteroid, but they found none. Anyone unfortunate enough to be standing outside when the gate deployed had probably been either crushed or flung into the void.
Nina counted her team lucky. Through some miracle Elsner was still alive and in the sickbay, though he remained in critical condition. Kei was badly injured as well, and Lauren needed medical examinations after her ordeal.
And then there was Rowen Hammond. The thought of him living through this after sacrificing hundreds of his own and the horrors he had inflicted on Lauren was almost too much to bear. Nina wanted to put a magazine of bullets through his skull, but at this point he was in the brig aboard another ship, outside of her reach.
She felt completely drained after it all. They were all alive, but just barely. Even the unwounded showed signs of severe fatigue, and their heavy stimulant use over the last few days didn't help that. Nina wanted nothing more than to take a shower and collapse into bed, and her desire wasn't just based on her physical needs. She felt dirty about the whole affair.
Lauren. The image of her floating in the tank and the knowledge of what she had suffered through enraged Nina, and yet they were about to let the perpetrator walk out of here with his life. She didn't care if he was arrested, thrown in prison or put on trial. Nina wanted him dead for what he had done to her crew.
But he was out of her reach now, and she had other things to worry about. Before heading to her quarters on the Starlight she made her way into the sickbay to see the others.
“How are you doing?” she asked.
“Probably better than you,” Kei said, lying flat on his medical bed. “You look like you're about to drop.”
“Yeah, I feel like it.” She turned her attention to Lauren. “What about you.”
“I told you, I feel fine,” she insisted. “The surgery was painful, yes, but I healed before I came out of the tank. And I feel fine now.”
“That's all well and good, but we want to make sure,” Nina said. “You have a medical emergency, and there's no hiding what happened to you. I want to keep you away from the labs and the scientists, if at all possible.”
“If Hammond says anything…,” Kei said.
“Then I'll tell them that he's lying. Or I might confide in a few people I trust. Whatever happens, the goal is to keep you out of harm's way. You're not a lab rat, and I'm not going to let anyone treat you like that.”
“But we're not just going to leave the gate as it is, are we?” Lauren asked. “There's something on the other side.”
“I know. But now's not the time for it. First we have to get everyone to safety and restock. We lost most of our drones when the gate deployed and the asteroid broke up. And then we have to make sure that you're all healthy. That's not all, either.”
“What else is there to do?”
“First we have to figure out what's on this side,” she said. “After that we can figure out how to get through the gate and what's waiting there for us.”
“YOU LOOK LIKE A WRECK,” Cheryl commented.
“Some of us haven't slept in days and are drugged up to keep us awake,” Mirko said as he sat down in the copilot's chair. “Don't mind me if I fall asleep.”
“Shouldn't you be in your bed, then?”
He grunted. “We need a duty officer, and Sasha just ended her shift. We have three of the others in the sickbay, and everyone else is exhausted.”
“So you don't trust the AI to cover for you, is that it?” IVIN said.
Mirko exhaled. “I might be tired, but I don't think I can sleep right now. Too many things happened. Too many things are going on.”
“We're heading back to Goethe Prime as soon as the orders come down,” Cheryl said. “Too bad, too. I would have liked to see more of the gate, especially from the inside.”
Mirko looked out at the ring floating in the void. So much danger and so much bloodshed for such a simple-looking object, but one that might hold untold power and secrets within.
“I don't think you'll have to worry too much about that,” he said. “We'll be back here soon enough.”
EPILOGUE
Eight Months Later
It felt like years had passed. The wounds and injuries had faded with time, but the scars in his mind hadn't faded. Kei had been through a lot during his time in the military and during his service with Skare Interstellar, but his last trip here had left its mark.
He had no idea what happened to Rowen Hammond after they returned to Goethe Prime. For all he knew the doctor could be rotting in a cell somewhere, or he might have walked free.
After everything he had done, to walk free without any repercussions, or even just being allowed to live…
But that was all in the past now. After taking the time to rest, refit and go over the data that they had acquired one thing had become very clear: they needed to explore what was on the other side of the gate. The probes sent through indicated that there was something on the other side, but only a manned mission would be able to fully discover what lay inside the area.
And that meant diving into the unknown, much like the sailors of old back on Earth, or the astronauts that first left the planet. As the gate loomed before them Kei felt a bit of worry. Would they survive the trip? And even if they did, what was on the other side?
He looked around the table at the others, waiting for the order to go back to their cabins and prepare for a wormhole space jump. Griz, Salim, Gilroy, Rappa. Soko and Bradley were on the bridge preparing the ship for their next adventure.
“Attention all crew. Attention all crew. We will be preparing to make a wormhole space jump in five minutes. Please return to your cabins and strap yourselves in.”
“That's out signal,” Griz said. “See you all on the other side.”
Kei hesitated as the rest of the rest of the squad filed out of the observation deck. The last person in the room seemed to rise slowly.
“Are you OK?” he asked.
Lauren stood up and nodded. “Yeah, I'm fine. Just, being back here… it brings back a lot of memories.”
“Yeah. Yeah it does.”
“But I'm not going to let that stop me,” she said. “I'm here instead of being cooped up in a lab. I'm going to make the most of it. And it's not just me. I have someone's legacy to carry on.”
Kei smiled. “Yeah. It's good to have you with us.”
“CENTAUR AND GRIFFON have reported in. They're ready to make the jump,” Bradley said.
“Good. Have them stand by and prepare to jump on our signal,” Nina said.
“Copy that.”
“Glad we're taking more than one ship with us,” Soko said. “After that last near-disaster.”
Nina shrugged. “Hey, I was wrong about that. And I can learn from my mistakes.”
“Make a note of that, IVIN,” he grinned. “She just admitted she was wrong. Never thought I'd see the day.”
Nina tried not to smile. He was right, though. They were jumping into the unknown, and the more hands and weapons they could bring to bear on a problem the better.
Elsner had made it through his ordeal alive, but he was still trying to rehabilitate the grievous injuries he had suffered while searching for the Eon Gate. It would take him several more months before he could operate normally again, and he was confined to Goethe Prime for the duration.
Nina didn't want to subject any of the others to a similar fate or worse, and that meant bringing more troops and more ships along. She'd deal with it. This expedition was her baby, and she'd do everything she could to make sure it succeeded.
The Eon Gate loomed before them. How long had it been since someone had acti
vated it, let alone used it? Skare Interstellar was still trying to discover the mysteries held within the complex. Machinery, medical technology, computers, all of it could help humanity advance even further.
She didn't envy her father or her brothers either, trying to fend off nations and alliances who might want to claim the gate for themselves. Skare Interstellar had poured significant resources into defenses around the Eon Gate, but there was always the chance that someone would try to claim it by force. Even if they didn't there was the army of bureaucrats trying to undermine everything. Given the choice, Nina preferred to venture into the unknown reaches of space.
Or, as Dr. Hammond had put it, a new universe, built by the Ulics through some unknown, almost magical means. The thought of that astounded her. Even with all their advances, humanity was just a tiny speck in the grand scheme of the cosmos.
But they didn't have to stay that way. Bit by bit, day by day, they could push at the boundaries of their knowledge and understanding, learning about the universe around them and slowly becoming more and more capable. This was just one more step on that path.
“We're ready to make the jump on your signal,” IVIN said. “What are your orders, Miss Skare?”
Nina took a deep breath and paused for a moment. This was it. The next words she spoke would be the fateful orders. Once they jumped there was no going back.
“Let's go.”
NEW RELEASES
Want to know when the next book comes out? Sign up to receive alerts straight to your inbox.
Sign Up
*Xiphos Press will never spam, sell, give away or share your e-mail address with anyone. If you wish to unsubscribe at any time follow the instructions listed at the bottom of every newsletter.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
@mitchelltjacobs
www.xiphospress.com
ALSO BY MITCHELL T. JACOBS
World at War Online
1 Black Wolf: A World at War Novel
2 Howl: A World at War Novel
3 Fang: A World at War Novel
4 Werewolf: A World at War Novel
5 Deception City: A World at War Novel
6 Carnage City: A World at War Novel
7 Commando City: A World at War Novel
8 Dead City: A World at War Novel
9 Victory City: A World at War Novel
Table of Contents
Copyright
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Epilogue
New Releases
About the Author
Also by Mitchell T. Jacobs
Eon Gate (The Eon Pentalogy Book 1) Page 25