The Planetsider Trilogy

by G J Ogden

  “Ethan, that was a long time ago,” Diana cut in. “I want to end this stupid war, but they only want to kill us!”

  Maria continued to glare at Diana, anger swelling in her gut, “You are far from blameless!” she shouted. “It doesn’t matter that it wasn’t your order, or even that it was your ignorant, idiot father’s order that got my parent’s killed, both sides have done terrible things. I had to stop you! I had to try.”

  “My father was as stupid as your pompous fool of a governor, Thomas Archer,” said Diana, savagely.

  “That doesn’t excuse what he did,” said Maria, with matching venom. “Or what his predecessors did!”

  “I don’t make excuses for him!” Diana hit back. “It’s because of what he did - who he was - that I’m trying to change things, for the better. I am not my father, but you people, you just want to continue down the same path, making the same foolish mistakes, again and again, until you destroy us, or force us to destroy you!”

  “You try to blame us, but the truth is that both sides are responsible for continuing this war,” countered Maria.

  “In the past, yes. But this is now, and I want to end it, without any more killing,” asserted Diana, “and we still can. The question is, what do you want, Captain Maria Salus?”

  “I want an end to this too!” said Maria, desperately. “But we’ve no reason to trust you, just as you have no reason to trust us. For all I know, you captured that warship just so you could blow up the moon base! You even sent a pilot on a suicide mission to recover it!”

  “That’s Archer talking!” Diana replied, scornfully. “His paranoia, prejudice and hateful ignorance pollutes and blinds you, and all the UEC. I have tried to reason with him, tried to make him see that we can end this peacefully, but he will not listen. He does not want to!”

  Maria appeared to be taken aback by this last statement. She turned to face Diana, slowly so as to not alarm her, and then peered into her green eyes. “You two are in contact?”

  “Yes,” said Diana firmly, lowering her weapon. “Clearly, there is much he doesn’t trust you to know. He has twisted your mind, made you believe there is no other option but war, no choice but to destroy your enemy. Well here I stand, Captain Salus. Am I what you expected?”

  Maria’s eyes remained locked on Diana’s, probing for any hint of a lie, any suggestion of deceit, but there was none. From Diana she felt a purity of purpose that she had once felt too, but the Planetsider mission, and the web of lies it had required her to weave, and the sacrifices it had forced her to make, had begun to erode her conviction. And now, confronted again by Ethan, who was standing alongside the woman who was supposed to be her enemy, she felt the last of this conviction crumble to nothing. Everything she believed was now called into question.

  “Say I believe you,” Maria said, cautiously, “say I want to help you end this. How do we do it? What happens next?”

  Diana’s eyes lit up and she was about to respond, but Ethan spoke first, catching both of them by surprise.

  “Send me back to the planet,” he said, calmly, climbing confidently back to his feet and standing between them. Diana and Maria both looked at him, confused.

  “Send me back, alone,” he continued, “then you two can work together to settle your differences, without resorting to mass murder. Without that warship, you’ll have no choice.”

  Diana raced across to Ethan. “No, let me come with you, please!” she begged.

  Ethan, reached out and held her shoulders. “You will only bring the war down to the planet,” he said. “Your people need you here. They need your compassion, and your foolish dreams. The planet will still be there for you.”

  “It’s true,” said Maria. “Archer will never stop till he’s won. He’ll follow you down to the planet if he has to.”

  Diana backed away from Ethan shaking her head. “No, please, I have had enough of fighting.”

  “They need your strength, Diana, and your conviction,” said Ethan. He looked at Maria. “And yours too. If you truly mean what you say, you can find another way to end this war, together. Then perhaps, one day, you can all return planetside. You can all come home.”

  Maria stared into Ethan’s soft brown eyes and smiled. There was so much she wanted to tell him, but the sound of gunfire from the lower level drew her attention back to the danger they were all still in. As it died away they stood, silently, listening for an indication of approaching soldiers.

  “I will help you,” said Maria, breaking the silence.

  “How?” asked Ethan.

  “I will help you take the ship back to the planet. I will help send you home.” Then she turned to Diana and again locked on to her intense green eyes. “And then, if I’m still alive, I will help you to end this war, without any more bloodshed.”

  Diana held Maria’s eyes for a moment and then nodded. She glanced across to Ethan and recognized the conviction in his eyes too. There was silent agreement.

  “We have very little time,” said Diana. “Can you get him onto the ship?”

  “Yes,” said Maria, resolutely.

  “Then go,” said Diana. “I will update the launch program from here, and send you back to the planet.”

  Maria ran over to the console that Diana had been working on. “I can input the co-ordinates and flight plan from my planetside mission, as best as I can remember them,” said Maria, hastily entering commands into the console. Then she removed the jacking cable from her PVSM and connected it to the console. “I have some of the flight data still stored in my PVSM. That warship is very different to the combat shuttle I piloted, so it won’t be perfect, but it will get you close.”

  Ethan didn’t understand. “Close to what?” he asked.

  “To your settlement, of course,” said Maria, glancing at Ethan over the top of the console screen. “To your home.”

  Diana joined Maria at the console and then held out the sidearm to her. Maria looked surprised to be offered it so freely, but unplugged the jacking cable from the console and then took it from her. She checked it and reloaded it with a magazine from her webbing. “Good luck,” Diana said.

  “To both of us,” replied Maria. And then she turned to Ethan. “Are you ready?”

  Ethan reached down and picked up the metal bar from the floor. “I’m ready.”

  Maria looked again at Diana. “Perhaps one day, we’ll meet on better terms.”

  Diana smiled. “I hope so, though I did not expect such foolish dreams from the UEC.”

  Maria glanced at Ethan. “I’ve had some help in that regard.”

  Diana then turned to Ethan and said, “Till we meet again, planetsider.”

  “Till we meet again, Diana,” he repeated, warmly, and they shook hands.

  Maria made her way to the doorway and crept outside, checking the walkway. “Clear,” she said, and Ethan closed in behind. “The ship is docked in quadrant two,” said Maria. “We have to get down those stairs, and across to the umbilical airlock, there.” She pointed to a circular, dark red doorway on the lower level. “There’s a second airlock at the other end of the tunnel,” she continued. “I get you inside, close the hatch, and your friend up there does the rest. Understood?”

  Ethan nodded, “Let’s go.”

  Maria stepped outside, staying as low as possible, and Ethan followed. There was still fighting on the lower level, and Ethan could see that some soldiers were also working room-to-room on the opposite side of the upper levels. They reached the stairs and descended carefully. At the bottom, Maria held up her arm, hand clenched into a fist. Ethan stopped.

  “There are two soldiers at the dock controls,” she whispered to him. “Their mission is to bypass the launch controls.”

  “What do we do?” asked Ethan, spotting the soldiers. Both had their visors raised, and Ethan could see that the soldier working on the console was a man, while the one covering him was a woman. Both looked composed and alert.

  “I’ll walk you over to them at gunpoint a
nd tell them you’re my prisoner,” Maria said, confidently.

  “I wish I hadn’t asked,” Ethan replied.

  Maria smiled again, and looked into his eyes. “I missed you,” she said, softly.

  “Sal, let’s not do this now,” said Ethan, looking away.

  “We won’t have another chance,” said Maria. “I didn’t know you were still alive. They told me you were killed.”

  “Your friends are skillful liars,” said Ethan, “as are you.”

  Maria turned away. She thought about saying more, but Ethan was right, now was not the time. “When I tell you, step out in front of me,” she said. “And look scared, look like you’ve been roughed-up or something.”

  “I’ll do my part,” said Ethan.

  Maria waited for a few seconds and then said, “Go!”

  Ethan stood up and stepped in front of Maria, holding the metal bar behind his back. He felt the barrel of the pistol between his shoulders, pressing him forward, and started walking towards the soldiers. His heart started to race as they noticed their approach, and raised their weapons at him. Then they noticed Maria.

  “Captain, sorry, I didn’t see you,” said the man.

  “Prisoner,” she said. “It’s the planetsider. Take him back there and bind him, ready for transport to the base.”

  “Yes sir,” the soldier replied, smartly. He took something from his belt and advanced towards them. Ethan waited until the soldier was in range and then swung the bar solidly into his knees. He fell heavily and Ethan struck him again in the head, knocking him out cold. At the same time Maria raised her weapon and shot the female soldier twice in the chest, and despite her vibrant blue armor stopping the rounds from penetrating fully, the force was still enough to knock the soldier down. She lay on the floor, groaning and holding her ribs, as Maria casually stepped beside her and delivered a swift kick to her head. It was all over in seconds.

  Maria looked around to see if their actions had drawn any attention, and from across the other side of the deck, she saw Major Kurren looking directly at them, weapon still held at the low-ready position. There was a pause of only a fraction of a second – though to Maria it felt like hours – before she saw him raise the weapon and charge towards them. “Let’s move!” she said, pushing Ethan roughly towards the doorway. The panel turned green almost as soon as they reached it, and the door slid open. “Your friend is still alive, it seems,” said Maria. “Come on!” They ran through the door, which closed automatically behind them, just as bullets ricocheted off it with piercing, metallic chimes. Moments later, Kurren reached the door and hammered on it with his armored fist. “Cutting team, on me, now!” he shouted, enraged, and soldiers responded instantly, rallying on his position. One ignited a cutting torch and started to slice through the metal hinges that held the door in place, while Kurren impatiently watched on, his eyes burning hotter than the flame of the torch.

  Ethan and Maria ran down the curved, umbilical tunnel that led to the warship. At the end of the tunnel was the hatch into the ship, which was closed. “Come on, Diana, come on!” said Maria, impatiently. Then she heard the thunderous hiss of the cutting torch, reverberating through the tunnel, and she knew time was short. Maria aimed her weapon down the tunnel and took a few steps towards the door that led back into the docking quadrant. She could see metal melting and dripping onto the deck.

  At that moment, the second umbilical hatch hissed and opened outwards, followed by the ship’s docking hatch, which swung inward. “Quickly, inside!” shouted Maria. Ethan almost fell through the opening. He recognized the huge central cavity of the vessel, and knew where to go. He ran up ahead, to the control area at the front of the vessel, with Maria close behind.

  A light was flashing on one of the panels. Maria flipped a switch near to it and a distant-sounding voice filled the cabin.

  “This is Diana. Is Ethan on board?”

  Maria responded. “Confirmed. Is the nav package loaded?”

  “Yes. Select ‘nav package, planetside one’. Thanks to your flight data, the ship should do the rest.”

  “Understood, selecting ‘nav package, planetside one’ now,” Maria handled the controls swiftly and expertly. The ship began to vibrate as the engine power started to increase. “It’s done,” said Maria. “The ship is ready to launch.”

  The commlink crackled back on. There was shouting in the background. “Good luck, both of you,” said Diana, and then the sound of gunfire crackled sharply through the cabin speakers, and the commlink went dead.

  Ethan looked at Maria, his face white, a sudden coldness creeping across his skin.

  “They will be coming, I have to stop them!” said Maria, and she started running back down the central walkway of the ship.

  “Sal, wait!” Ethan shouted after her, but she did not stop. Ethan ran down the walkway after her, catching her at the docking hatch.

  “What are you doing?” she said, crossly. “You have to strap yourself in, now!”

  “Come with me!” said Ethan, holding out his hand to her.

  “What?” Maria said. “No, Ethan, you know I can’t…”

  “We can work it out, Sal!” Ethan pleaded. “We can start again, on the planet!”

  A violent mechanical buzz resonated down the umbilical, and an alarm sounded. Maria knew that the UEC soldiers would soon have cut through the first hatch, but she did not tell Ethan. She realized this would be her last chance to speak to him, before he left her forever.

  “Ethan, I’m sorry I lied to you!” Maria said, tears welling in her eyes. “When I met you, it was just a mission, I was just doing what I believed was right. I didn’t want to lie to you, but everything moved so fast!” Maria choked back tears, and Ethan instinctively moved closer to offer comfort, but Maria held her arm outstretched to hold him away. “I wish I could change what I did, but I can’t. I wish things could be different, but they can’t. All I can do is get you home, to where you belong.”

  Ethan shook his head. “But what if I belong with you, Sal? We can start over, if you’d come back with me!” he begged, his eyes wet. He reached for her, and this time caught her by the waist and pulled her against him. Their lips met and they kissed, deeply and passionately. When their lips eventually parted, they rested against each other, foreheads touching.

  “I love you,” said Maria, tenderly, “which is why I have to do this.” She put her hands on Ethan’s chest and pushed with all her strength. He fell backwards into the ship, and landed heavily. Winded, it took him several seconds to get back to his feet, and by that time, Maria was on the other side of the hatch, and the hatch door was swinging shut.

  “Sal, no!” Ethan yelled. He ran to the hatch and tried to pull it open, but it was impossible. It slid shut with a heavy thud and he heard the bolts hammer into place – thud, thud, thud. The outer hatch closed next. He could see Maria through the glass porthole, looking at him from the other side. She reached across to something out of view and Ethan heard a commlink crackle open.

  “I got you into this mess and I have to make it right,” she said, her voice strained. “Forgive me, Ethan.”

  “Maria, open the door, there’s still time!” implored Ethan, hammering on the hatch with his fists.

  Maria stood calmly, eyes locked on Ethan’s. “Tell Elijah I said hello,” she said softly. Then the commlink crackled off. Ethan screamed at Maria through the porthole, but she could not hear him.

  She moved over to the glass panel next to the commlink and smashed it with the butt of her pistol. Inside was a red lever, marked ‘Emergency Docking Detach’. She pulled hard on it and a succession of tiny explosions severed the connection between the warship and the umbilical. She moved back to the window and looked out as the hulk of metal slowly pulled away under its own power. Behind her, she heard, and felt, the heavy crash of the inner airlock door smashing into the deck, and knew she had only a few seconds. She pressed a hand to the window. “Goodbye, Ethan.”

  The giant warship’s engin
es burned brightly, accelerating the arrow-shaped craft through space, aimed directly towards the planet, with one passenger on board.

  Chapter 27

  For a long time after the warship had detached from the dock and started its automatic course back to the planet, Ethan had sat, slumped against the hatchway. The throb of the engines resonating through his bones was the only sensation he felt; every other sense was numb and cold. Time had stopped for him, and in his mind, all he could see was the hatch closing with Maria on the other side, and himself unable to reach her in time, as if some invisible force was holding him back. It was like a nightmare, only he wasn’t asleep.

  Eventually, he forced himself to stand, but he felt unsteady and weak. A deep sadness overwhelmed him. Not only sorrow at the loss of Maria, though this pre-occupied his mind the most, but also a sadness at leaving, knowing that nothing had changed between GPS and the UEC. His naive hopes of a benevolent and wise pre-Fall civilization that had simply met with some unfortunate, but ultimately non-malicious end had been crushed by Maria back on the planet. But there had still been the hope that by helping Maria, he could also do some good; that he could make a difference. But it had all been lies.

  He had seen a glimmer of the hope he sought in Diana and Maria’s choice to throw aside their differences and work with common purpose. It was as a sign that perhaps these two old enemies could move beyond the hate of the past; that deliverance was possible. But Diana too may also now have been lost, and perhaps all hope of redemption faded with her. As for himself, he was saved, and for this he felt guilt and shame. The planetsider who, through his arrogance and selfish pursuit of his own desires, had been molded into a tool that almost brought forth the destruction of an entire civilization. He knew he wasn’t to blame, but his part in it was undeniable, and something he would have to live with, if he ever made it back alive.

  More time passed and the blue orb grew larger and brighter through the cockpit glass. Ethan could feel the increasing pressures on his body and the growing strain on the massive hulk that contained him, as it creaked and shuddered onward. Fear and the instinct for self-preservation overrode his grief, shaking him from his near catatonic state. He fought against the intensifying forces to reach the front of the ship and sat in one of the chairs, pulling the straps down and across his chest, buckling them just above his navel. In front of him was an array of dials, numbers and flashing lights. The control column moved by itself, as if controlled by an invisible pilot. Above the array of dials, the window was filled with the planet, and Ethan could now clearly make out huge continents and smaller islands. It was almost incomprehensibly vast, and Ethan appreciated for the first time just how small and precious their tiny pocket of civilization was, and how little of this world he actually knew. Were there other settlements in other parts of this planet, like his, he wondered? Or was Forest Gate, and the small network of neighboring settlements, really all that remained of the planetside population?