Finally, James spoke up. “I heard your sister sing it to you in the utility room.”
But who else knew—and who else could have had the knowledge base, the resources, and the skill to send that message?
The memory washed over him with fresh meaning: “Alright, well, if you do crack that thing—and don’t get your assino caught—try and get me an early discharge,” Cam had said.
Blue eyes, a bright smile, shone back at him. “Haha, okay.”
He remembered Jahx’s warm touch as he reached out and closed his hand over Cam’s, lingering for a moment. “Thanks, Cam.”
“Jahx…”
He’d given Reppen’s datapad to him. With only a 5% charge, Jahx would have had to work fast, with intent—for whatever he deemed most important.
My rescue.
He could have saved himself, his sisters—he could have spared himself the pain of what was to come, of Rogman’s vicious intentions, of whatever wicked plans the Dominion Core had for him.
But he saved me.
A nothing kid, a boy who would never command armies or lead worlds. Why?
“Who’s Jahx?” James asked.
Cam cleared his throat, finding his voice unreliable. But as he dared speak the truth, a feeling, one that he’d all but forgotten, gushed forth, putting a smile on his face. “My friend.”
“That’s a good friend,” James said, pointing to the schematics. “And a smart one. Knew exactly what to send us on a limited file so he wouldn’t get caught.”
“Yeah, he’s pretty smart,” Cam said. “But we have to help him—we can’t let him stay there. Him and his sisters. Bad things are happening in the Academy.”
“Like what?” Niks asked.
As he told them of the disappearing cadets, of the tags on certain kids’ profiles, none of them reacted. Not until he mentioned one name.
“…and Dr. Naum—he was the worst. He put this thing inside my forearm,” he said, holding up his left arm and tapping on the rectangular implant beneath his skin.
“Naum?” Rex and Niks exclaimed in unison.
James stood up abruptly and walked over to Cam. At first, he thought he did something wrong, but James got down on one knee and took him by the hands. “This Dr. Naum—what did he look like?”
Cam described the surgeon in detail, including the description of his burn scars.
“Jida’da,” Rex cursed in her native tongue, running her hand through her blue hair.
“Was a nurse there—beaked nose, stout, named Maio Kull?” Niks asked, joining James’ side.
Cam nodded.
“What about an officer named Rogman?” Rex asked.
“The Commandant,” Cam nodded. “Yeah.”
“Jesus—they all survived,” James muttered, putting a palm to his forehead.
“No. Naum and nurse Kull are dead,” he said, hanging his head.
“Dead? Are you sure?”
“Yes,” he whispered. “I… I killed them.”
Silence fell over the room.
“In self-defense?” Niks asked, as if she wanted to believe his response before he answered.
“Y-yes.”
James regripped his arms and looked him dead in the eye. “Naum and Kull were bad people.”
“Naum was chakking evil,” Rex chimed in.
“I can guarantee that Naum was behind all those terrible things you describe,” James said. “What you did probably averted a bigger crisis.”
“Yes,” Niks added, taking Cam’s left arm and running her finger over the implant hiding beneath his skin, “nothing could be worse than what he planned.”
No, there’s something worse than Naum…
Thinking of the machine monster, Cam’s heart raced, his tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth. As much as he wanted to tell them about his nightmares, about the terrible visions in the infirmary, he feared sounding insane, that his truth would be dismissed, that he would be labeled a liar. Worse yet, that he could be right.
And Jahx stayed behind.
“Can we go back?” he asked, trying to run up to the cockpit. James held him fast, not letting him go. “We have to go back. We have to help the others—”
“We can’t, Cam,” James said. “We used up this ship’s ID in that rescue. We can’t pull the same trick twice.”
“But we have to go back,” he begged. “I can’t leave Jahx—I can’t leave my friend—”
“Shhh,” Niks said, holding him with James. “It will be okay. This isn’t over. We’ve still got a lot of fight left in all of us.”
Cam wiggled his way out of their hold as he realized something new, something frightening. “If you’re with the USC—and my sister was with the USC…” He sucked in his breath, body shaking. “Then…?”
“The Dominion told you about the ‘laws of retaliation, didn’t they?” James said, discerning his train of thought.
Cam nodded.
“The Dominion lies. I thought you figured that out,” Rex interjected.
“Some things are too important to believe are possible,” he said, breath hitching.
“Well, Camzen Ferros,” James said, standing and leading him to the table. Switching over the holographic projector, he pulled up the nav chart. From what little Cam understood of the lighted projection, one more jump would put them within orbit of a blue and green planet. “It’s time for you to go home.”
Epilogue
Cam knew. He saw it in the light of each of his rescuers’ eyes, in the way they withheld the most wonderful secret so that he would experience the surprise and joy in full. But as Azzi landed their stolen Dominion transport on the Cerkan launch pad, he doubted himself, in the fragile hope that held up his heart, as he stood at the top of the ramp, waiting for it to descend.
She’s dead. She’s gone. It can’t be real. Kara is—
“Cam!”
Early morning light flooded up the ramp, stinging his eyes. But he forced them open, to see her beaming face as she crutched up the ramp and took him in her arms.
“Cam-Cam!” Kara cried, squeezing him tight. He didn’t care how much it hurt, how his ribs and shoulders ached, how his skin tingled.
“You’re alive?” he said as she backed off for a second to take him in.
“Of course I am,” she said, touching his cheek, tears in her eyes.
Will she see my scars? Would she see the monster he’d become?
“You’re just as handsome as ever, sweet boy,” she said, kissing his forehead. “I love you so much.”
“Kara,” he said, holding her tight. “I’m so sorry…”
“For what, my love?”
“For not being strong enough,” he whispered, not wanting the others, even as they descended the ramp to give them their privacy, to hear his admission. “I couldn’t save Mom or the twins—I couldn’t help you—I—”
She picked up his chin with her fingers. “You’re the bravest, strongest person I know.”
“What happened to you?” he said, pointing to her bruised eyes, the cuts on her face, and her injured leg.
“Just a couple scratches from my last mission,” she said, standing on one leg and waving her crutch. “Though everyone made a bigger deal out of it than necessary. I should have been able to get you myself.”
“But you’re here,” he said, wrapping his arms around her neck again.
“And so are you.”
Kara lead him back down the ramp, to the USC base camp set up in the Cerkan countryside. Temporary housing units constructed of wood, rocks and military supplies, tented command centers, and mobile communications units poked out from the grasslands and swaying oakleaf trees.
“Where are we?” he asked, watching as USC vipers streaked the cloud-studded sky.
“Safe. Halfway around the world,” she explained. “We’re still fighting to take back our city. But don’t worry, we’ll win.”
Niks, Rex, and a man in a doctor’s coat intercepted them, taking Kara aside for a moment.
<
br /> “He needs to be tested—at the very least screened,” the man said, adjusting his spectacles. “Who knows what the Dominion did to him.”
“No tests,” she said, turning away. Niks and Rex tried to reason with her, but she took Cam by the hand and directed him inside a tent at the end of a long row.
“Kara?” he said, taking a seat on the cot.
“Don’t worry,” she said, sitting next to him and cupping his cheek. “I won’t let anyone harm you ever again.”
As they caught up, talking back and forth so fast that Cam would have to start over, or Kara would have to interrupt him to ask for more details, the early morning hours turned to the late afternoon. After the second soldier asked for Kara’s presence in the command center for a debriefing, she put a hold on their conversation.
“Look, I gotta go. But I have to know one thing,” she said, studying his face. “Why’d you protect him?”
“Jahx?”
“Yes. You didn’t hurt him in the lavatory—and you lied to Rogman.”
Cam nodded.
“…And you really hated telepaths. What changed your mind?”
Embarrassed, but not knowing why, he rubbed his neck with one of his hands and stared at his knees. “He never hurt me. He could have, but he never did, even when I lashed out. I don’t think Jahx could ever harm another person, not even when it meant his life. I had to protect him. He’s… good.”
Kara smiled. “Sounds like it. Especially if he risked everything to save you.”
“That’s just it,” Cam said, fighting for each word. “Why did he do that? I’m nothing. I’m just a rub.”
“Just a rub?” Kara exclaimed. “You scored in the top 30% of the academy cadets—most of whom are elitist, privileged brats from the interior. And from what Jahx sent in your profile, you got an 86% on your biochem final. That’s pretty chakking impressive for a kid with no biochem background at all.”
“What?”
“What do you mean ‘what’?”
“But Rogman told me—I thought I failed—I wasn’t good enough—”
“Stop it.” Kara grabbed hold of his head with both hands and looked into his eyes. “All of that is crap anyway. You’re Cam. Don’t you understand that? Your life has meaning, and your every action, however small you may think it is, reaches out across the stars. You must have been very special to Jahx for him to do what he did. I think you have a bigger effect on him than you think.”
“Have?” he said, holding on to her arm as she tried to get up.
“Well, this isn’t over,” she said, pointing out to the tankers rolling across the yellow grasses. “The USC will fight until all telepaths are freed. We can still help Jahx.”
We can still help Jahx.
Kara kissed the top of his head. “Stay here—don’t leave the tent. I’ll be back in an hour.”
Half-listening, he muttered an “okay.”
“Seriously, Cam. Stay here,” she said, wagging a finger as she tucked the crutch underneath her armpit. “For real this time.”
I can still help Jahx.
Waiting an agonizing five minutes, he peeked outside of the tent flap to make sure his sister was nowhere in sight before sneaking off down one of the hills, to a quiet spot near a cluster of boulders. Climbing to the top of one of the flattened rocks, he laid down, and looked to the sky. He thought of all the times he felt helpless, that his life had no meaning, no impact, realizing how short-sighted he’d been.
Jahx, he said, letting his mind go, reaching out across the stars. Staring out into the open skies, to the infinite beyond, he thought of his favorite memories, of Kara’s song, of the love in his life, of all that he treasured, and projected it outward. For his friend. For all the moments Jahx might need something to hold on to, to believe in, in his darkest hours. For blue sky tomorrows…
***
The adventure continues in: Triorion: Awakening (Book One)
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Acknowledgements
This is my ninth novel, and by far the hardest book I’ve written. From personal health challenges to the dark content of this story, I had a difficult time telling Cam’s truths, and exploring his reality in a war-torn universe. Many of my own struggles came out in this work, and even though I feel each book I’ve written is an extension of my heart and mind, this really exhumed old demons from long past, and revealed the gravity some of my current, more acute trials.
I could not have finished this book if it weren’t for my some of my favorite fans: Derek, Ericka, Kellie, Regan, David Christopher, Elle, Cory, Justin, Steve, Steph, Gina, Will, Miya, Kaci—you all are freakin’ amazing. And of course, big thanks to my family, my dearest, most patient and supporting wife, my author and artist community—especially R. R. Virdi and D. J. Butler—my work family and work wife, my Chicago friends, my soccer family, my martial arts family, my music buddies—all the wonderful and lovely people in my life that have held me up and kept me going during this tough 2017-2018 stretch.
But I need to mention two people in particular that made this book possible. Their acts of kindness, though they perceive them as small, meant so much to me, and truly shaped the outcome of more than this book. Noelle—thanks for being there for me no matter what the hour, even when I’m being stubborn and ridiculous. Yuko—I don’t know how you are so amazing all the time. You have no idea what a wonderful impact you’ve had both me and my wife. You both have my loyalty and friendship for life.
And finally, to “the real” Cam: Thank you for being brave enough to tell me your story, and to share your secrets.
About the Author
Author L.J Hachmeister writes and fights—though she tries to avoid doing them at the same time. The WEKAF world champion stick-fighter is best known in the literary world for her epic science fiction series, Triorion, and her equally epic love of sweets. Connect with her at: www.triorion.com
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