Reclaim: Books 1-3

by J. A. Scorch

  "What the fuck was I supposed to think? You had me locked in a cell while you took away my brother for experimentation. Did you think I wouldn't try and find you the first second I could?"

  Garcia stood from her chair, still clutching the container. She slowly moved over to Porter, not answering a word he said. Porter glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw that Nicole had lowered her weapon.

  The commodore came right up to Porter and held her steel gaze on him without a single flinch. "Do you think I give a shit about your feelings? We are on the brink of destruction and need all the help we can receive to beat the aliens headed our way. Your brother here sees that better than anyone else. We didn't need to force him to cooperate; he willingly chose to help us despite the pain the process causes him."

  Porter glanced to Teve and could recognize that look in his eyes that said he was disappointed in him. "I'm sorry, Teve. I thought she was ... " He didn't bother finishing his thought.

  Garcia brushed past the captain as she moved toward the machine Teve was connected to. She picked up a tablet that had been sitting on top of the system and tapped a few commands. "Up until your little interruption, we had been receiving some astounding data. And not just any data, but insight on the new Zeal fleet that we could never have found on our own."

  "What kind of insight?" Nicole asked as she stepped into the conversation.

  Garcia shot her a stern look, no doubt for the rifle that had been trained on her only a few moments ago. "Anything we want, Captain. If Teve is given enough space between himself and the device, he can focus on what he is allowing us to access. From what I can understand here, we have reliable intelligence on a few of their ships."

  "You can't be serious?" Nicole asked.

  "I am," the commodore replied. "We now know everything there is to know about these few ships Teve has targeted. We just need the scientists on the Zeal carrier to convert his findings, and we'll have the strategic advantage we need."

  "How can they convert the data?" Porter asked.

  Nicole answered him. "Using the program they've been developing over the last year to understand how the Zeal communicates data. They've been reverse engineering the Zeal systems as best they can on what was left of the carrier."

  "That's amazing," Porter said not knowing how else to respond. It was at that moment he realized Nicole had been keeping secrets from him. He understood the need to contain such information. She had a huge responsibility on her hands, one that Porter knew all too well.

  "So if you don't mind, we need to get back to work if we are to have any hope of defeating the Zeal. Seeing as you both took out my men with such swift hands, I think you two just volunteered for the job."

  Porter didn't say a word. He didn't know if he was destined for the brig or not. He figured Garcia didn't have time to waste, so he got to work helping wherever he could.

  Over the next few hours, he watched on as Teve continued to access the Zeal network. The strain on his face seemed unbearable at times, but Teve didn't stop. The nanites coursing through his body were probably working hard to block out the pain while they also interfaced with the device on Garcia's lap. No one understood the how or the why, but the alien object seemed to be beyond any technology humanity could dream up. Every piece of data Teve allowed through was instantly relayed to the scientists on the dead Zeal carrier via a quantum transmitter for them to convert into information that could be understood by all.

  After a long session, Teve needed to take a break from it all. Porter undid his restraints so he could get up and stretch his legs.

  "This is crazy," Porter said. "I still don't get how any of this is possible."

  "Best not to think about it. We may never understand that thing or why it's letting us do this."

  Porter lowered his voice to a whisper. "But that's just it, only you have been able to connect with this thing. All I felt was a pain."

  Teve dipped his head as he paced around. He muttered something to himself before he directed his eyes to Porter. "I think I know why this is all possible, but I doubt you would believe a word of it."

  Porter stepped toward Teve while he shook his head. "Right now, I'd believe pretty much anything."

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Teve sat Porter down and told him about the recon mission on Earth when he and Mish infiltrated the Zeal base in Atlanta. He skipped over how they got inside and moved on to the critical moment when he and Mish were surrounded by a pack of hybrids as the Orb of the base popped up and rendered them unconscious.

  "We should have been eaten alive by those things, but something else happened. Back when I was first exposed to the nanites, I found myself inside another Zeal base in Los Angeles with a hybrid who could talk as clear as I am speaking to you right now. He called himself X and acted as the leader of the base despite being half human. The thing was, every Stilt in the place obeyed his orders as if they could read his thoughts. For whatever reason, he was in control.

  "I escaped X that day when you destroyed the first Zeal carrier above Earth. The destruction of that ship's Orb temporarily disabled the base and every Zeal Stilt or hybrid around. I don't understand how I got so lucky, but I swear I could see through your eyes when you were inside the carrier moments before you set off the nuke."

  "I knew it," Bradley said. "I could see through your eyes for a moment as well. It was the weirdest thing, but I saw the base. It even delayed me setting off the nuke and consequently saved my life."

  Teve nodded. "I believe we were able to establish a connection across the two Orbs. Don't ask me how, but I can't think of any other possibility. Now, back to what I'm rambling about: During the first mission in Atlanta, Mish and I were told to infiltrate the Zeal base to try and prevent the mass execution of the human prisoners inside. We failed the mission when the hybrids found us. But these weren't any old hybrids; they belonged to X."

  "Was this X hybrid there with them?" Bradley asked.

  "I don't know. I thought I saw him before passing out, but I couldn't be sure. It didn't matter, though. When I was out cold, I had strange visions and found myself in our parents' lake cabin with Mish and X. It seemed so real like I could reach out and touch the blades on his face. Now, I don't recall much, but I remember he was spouting something crazy about our species ascending to greatness. He told me it was time for me to learn the truth."

  Bradley's eyes were wide open and eager. "What truth?"

  "Not sure. I woke up after that. But there was a giant gap in time, and when I got to my feet, I could hear his voice in my head. Mish regained consciousness a few minutes before me. I thought she was okay at first, but during our belated attempt to escape the city, she started to hear the voices, too."

  Bradley let out a long whistle as he stumbled back with crossed arms. "What do you suppose it all means?"

  "I can't be sure," Teve said, "but I'm starting to think X was more than a hybrid. Like he did something to me that allowed me to interact with the device."

  A scoff came out of Bradley's mouth. "Come on; you can't seriously think this X guy would know you would come across the device at some point in time. The thing has been floating around in space for four years."

  "It sounds crazy, but it's all I have to go by. Maybe there are more of these things out there. Maybe X knew it was heading to Mars and that I would be sent up here."

  Bradley shook his head again. "Insane coincidental theories aside, why would he betray the Zeal? What's in it for him?"

  Teve let out a breath of frustration as he paced around. "I don't know, but he kept hinting to me that there were others above the Zeal."

  "Others? What do you mean?"

  "Like the Zeal we comprehend are nothing but the lower ranks of whatever it was that sent them here in the first place. These things first had us marked down for extinction, but we wouldn't allow the Zeal to wipe us out. Maybe we passed their test. Maybe we've been given an opportunity to—"

  Teve stopped mid-sentence when he noti
ced the look on Bradley's face. His twisted brow and closed-off body language said more than enough to stop him from continuing. "I told you this would sound crazy. You don't believe me, do you?"

  Dropping his crossed arms, Bradley sighed. "It's not that I don't believe you, it's just up until now, you didn't say a word about this."

  "That's because I didn't have clarity. My head's been stuck in a cloud of bullshit until that thing opened up my mind."

  Garcia strolled over and butted in. "I hate to interrupt this private conversation you two are having, but we need to keep going. There are too many ships headed this way we've never seen before."

  "I'm on it, ma'am" Teve said. "Just give me a minute, and we'll continue." Garcia threw up her hands in defeat as she walked away.

  "I understand why you don't believe me," Teve said, "but soon everything will be clear. I'll show you." He smiled as he sat back down in the seat. Garcia clicked his restraints tight and prepared him for the next session.

  "I hope you are right about everything," Bradley said. "Otherwise we are all completely screwed.".

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Porter decided to leave the session Garcia was conducting with Teve once the last of the commodore's men woke up. Each had to be briefed on Porter and Nicole's status. Currently, neither one of them were in trouble. Garcia dismissed any wrongdoing and let the pair head off for some private time. Porter kept expecting the whole thing to be a game Garcia was playing, but they managed to reach Nicole's quarters in one piece without any harassment.

  "Bad day?" she asked when they landed on her fold-down bed.

  "You could say that," he replied. "One minute I'm on Earth getting my ass kicked, the next I'm in space in the brig."

  "Fun times. But you're here now. You made it back to me in time." Nicole rotated herself around in the bed. Her face lined up perfectly with his.

  Porter stared back into her eyes and couldn't help but smile. Despite everything that had happened recently, he managed to get back to her in one piece. She kissed him, not waiting another moment for Porter to make a move on her. He sensed the rush of life hitting his body that only she could initiate. Launching out of the side of the Andromeda at 500 meters per second didn't excite him as much as their time alone together.

  Before the situation moved beyond kissing, Porter felt the urge to tell her something. "Wait. You need to hear this first." With a heavy sigh, he explained to Nicole about the small level of nanites running through his system and how they were exactly like the ones within Teve's body that were progressively killing him.

  "I'm so sorry, Porter," Nicole said. She never called him by his first name, not even when things got rough. Her eyes darted around the room. "Are you—"

  "Dying? No idea. I can only guess that I'd have longer to live than Teve considering there's less of the tiny things running through my body. Why they haven't replicated to the same level beats me, but in a way, I'm glad. I'd rather be mostly myself than to transform into one of the Special Forces soldiers."

  "Isn't that what Teve is now?"

  "Yeah, but I can see in his eyes that he'd give up all the enhanced abilities to go back to normal."

  Nicole glanced away for a moment. "I don't know what I'd do. Have you felt different since you found out?"

  "Different?"

  "You know, as in a better pilot. Do your senses feel sharper or anything like that?"

  Porter thought about her question for the moment. He would have had the nanites in his system for the last year. He'd spent most of that time training cadets. Before then, his daily life consisted of fighting against overwhelming numbers of Zeal Tritons that spilled out of the alien carriers whenever the MAF tried to make a delivery to Earth.

  "I can't tell. Maybe the amount I have isn't enough to notice. I guess we'll find out soon when we defend the system from the new fleet. Anyway, I wanted you to know about all this so I could give you the opportunity to get the hell away from me."

  "What?" Nicole asked as she half sat up. "Do you want me to go?"

  "No. Of course not. I'm only saying that I'd understand if you no longer wanted to be with me after finding out I have alien nanites inside me doing strange things."

  Nicole dropped back down and rested her head on the single pillow they shared. "Are they contagious?"

  "Apparently not."

  "Then shut the hell up and come here." She pulled him close and made out with him for several minutes before things got hot and heavy in the small quarters Nicole shared with another officer. Her roommate wouldn't be back for a few hours, so they made love on the bed like they were never going to see each other again. For all either of them knew, the idea was quite possible.

  When they finished expressing their goodbyes to one another, Nicole snuggled up to Porter once he had thrown his fatigues back on. She ran a finger over his chest in rhythmic patterns as she stared at nothing in particular on the wall.

  "What do you think is going to happen?" she asked.

  It was a loaded question Porter didn't want to face, but the time for denial was running out fast. "I don't know. All we can hope for is that this weird business Garcia has discovered with Teve pays off in time. Otherwise ... " He trailed off without wanting to.

  "Promise me one thing," Nicole said. "When the time comes that you know it's all over and that we are finished, please think of me. I know my last thought will be of you." A few tears streamed down her face. Porter had rarely seen her vulnerable side during their entire relationship. It had only been a year since things got serious.

  "I'll be thinking of you the whole time I'm out there. I promise. Even if Garcia refuses to let me fly and shoves me back in the brig, I'll only think of you."

  She kissed him again with a smile. Porter kissed her back as he held her tight. "Where has this Cannon been the whole time I've been on this boat, huh? Think of all the time we wasted in the past."

  "I know," she said. "I was stupid."

  "No, you weren't. You were trying to protect yourself. I get that now." Porter thought about the struggles of always having the threat of death hovering over you, waiting for that moment you let your guard down to strike. Having to worry about someone else going through the same risks on top of everything else was a lot to take on board. He pushed the past to the back of his mind and kissed her again.

  The two spent the next hour talking about whatever thought popped into their heads. Porter felt like he could escape the world they lived in and exist entirely in the small room with her forever.

  He felt himself drifting off to sleep when an alarm sounded overhead. "What's happening?" he asked Nicole as she reached for her tablet.

  "It's nothing immediate, but the Andromeda just began its acceleration to the belt along with every other ship Mars has available. We're on our way to the front."

  Porter nodded. He had nothing else to say. The plans to hit the Zeal head on were still going ahead. All he could think about was Teve and what he must be going through with Garcia while every soldier on board an MAF ship prepared for the last big fight humanity would ever put up.

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  "Let's take a break," Garcia said as she closed the box that contained the strange device currently interfacing with Teve's nanites. She set the case down and took off his restraints. Garcia stepped back before stretching her legs, pointing her real one out to the side while her prosthetic limb held her upright. "You've done some excellent work, Sergeant."

  Teve let his brain realign itself as he glanced around the core control room. The guards had left a while ago after they regained consciousness. "Thank you, ma’am. Just doing what I can in all the madness."

  "You're doing more than that. You're giving us all a chance to win this thing or at least to level the playing field."

  "I hope so," he replied as his eyes wandered around. "Otherwise this isn't exactly how I pictured my last days of existence."

  "I'm sorry," she said. "It isn't really how I wanted things to end, either, but he
re we are. We each have our part to play in this fight. Let's just pray we kick enough ass to save the people back on Earth as well as Mars."

  Teve smiled for a moment. His grin soon faded with the thought of Mish down on Earth. She was all alone and slowly dying. If the new Zeal fleet broke through and invaded Earth with more vigor than before, he wondered how long she would survive. A month? Three months? It wasn't a nice thought to have as he once again regretted his decision. Before a wave of despair washed over him, a realization made him question everything he had known up until this moment in time. Had his choice to come to Mars been his own? Had X and the nanites forced him to make that judgment when all he wanted to do was to be with Mish? There was no point thinking about such things. What was done could not be reversed.

  "You're a bit different to your brother, I've noticed," Garcia said.

  "Different? How?"

  "Not in a bad way. Now that I think about it, you are different in a way that suits me. You see, Porter is an elite pilot. One of the best on board this ship. He's also a strong leader, but he falls short in one critical area that has almost cost him everything in the past."

  "Let me guess," Teve said. "He questions your every order?"

  "Bingo," Garcia said. "He always has ever since I first met him and trained him up. It was the one trait in him that both inspired me and filled me with doubt at the same time."

  "I guess it could be worse. He is only ever motivated by what he thinks is the greater good. Sometimes it's not the right feeling to back."

  "Couldn't agree with you more. There is a lot to be said about loyalty when fighting an intelligent alien race. You can't have your people second guessing your every order. Otherwise, you end up doubting yourself into a corner. That's when people die."

  Teve nodded away as he thought about all the soldiers who had died under his command. Before the nanites were allowing him to best the Stiltz so easily, he had to give orders that he knew had a high chance of killing the soldiers on the receiving end of his words. It was part of the job, one he despised.