Revolution: The Ship Series // Book Two

by Jerry Aubin

  “Wait,” whined Aleron, “what about us? Are we supposed to just sit here and wait for the Captain to vent us out into space?”

  The sergeant looked like he desperately wanted to punch Aleron again. It was amazing how the cadet brought out that reaction in so many people. “I can’t bring the three of you with us because I bet they would never let all of you get near the Boss—especially a Marine. I’m betting that if Zax shows up and appears to be by himself, there’s a chance they let him get near the man. Corporal—can you take my blaster and escort these two cadets to a Marine garrison?”

  “Yes, Sergeant. I’ll get them there.”

  “OK, it’s settled then. Once I’m suited up Zax and I will head to Engineering, and you three will head to a garrison. Hopefully, you can get there before the Captain vents the Ship, but if we don’t manage to kill the Boss, you might actually be better off if you don’t.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  The fate of the Ship is in your hands right now.

  The three cadets watched as the corporal helped with the final steps required to get Bailee into the ChamWare. Trying to suit up with a nearly useless arm proved challenging for the older Marine, but he accepted the assistance only begrudgingly. Aleron reached for the kit bag at one point in an effort to be useful, but a withering look from the sergeant made the boy retreat a few paces down the passageway to observe from a safer distance. Kalare pulled Zax aside and leaned in close for a quiet chat.

  “How do you feel about all of this, Zax?”

  “Sick. Just sick.”

  “Do you think you can really pull the trigger and kill the Boss?”

  Zax closed his eyes and sucked in a couple of calming breaths. His comment about feeling sick was not entirely figurative, but the emptiness of his stomach thankfully kept Puke Boy from visiting. Zax opened his eyes, but he looked down at the deck rather than make eye contact with Kalare. “Hopefully it never comes to that. I think the plan is that I’m a decoy and just need to get the sergeant into position. He’ll be the one that takes the shot.”

  “I know that’s the plan, but you have to be sure you’re prepared to do it too. Killing someone is not easy. I was lucky earlier. I had no time to think about what I was doing with that civilian who was guarding us. It was an obvious choice between watching you die or stabbing him, and thankfully my training took over in the moment and made it easy.”

  Kalare paused for a moment and took a deep breath before continuing. “But I’ve been reliving it ever since, and I’m completely nauseous about it. That makes me even more worried about you. I know how you obsess over things, and I’m sure you’re already looking at this from ten different angles. If you let too many doubts creep in, your subconscious is going to get in the way when it comes time to shoot and either make you hesitate or make you miss. You can’t let that happen. You heard what’s at stake. The fate of the Ship is in your hands right now. You must take that shot. You must kill the Boss if you get the chance.”

  Zax wanted to assure Kalare that he could do what was being asked of him but knew he’d be lying. He hoped he would pull the trigger if needed, but he had absolutely no idea whether or not he really could. He was trying to figure out the best way to explain how conflicted he felt when suddenly Bailee’s face floated next to Kalare’s. She was startled and Zax laughed. The Marine cracked the slightest smile and then addressed Zax.

  “Cadet—we need to move out. There isn’t much time left before the Captain puts her plan into motion. If we get delayed and aren’t in Engineering before that happens, the Ship is lost.”

  The Marine’s head bounced away for a few final words with the corporal. Zax looked at Kalare to say goodbye and saw how her brilliant blue eyes shimmered with tears. He wanted to reassure her that everything would be fine, but opening his mouth might unleash his own emotions. He gave her a quick hug instead and immediately turned to walk down the passageway.

  As Zax passed Aleron, the bigger boy reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. He spun towards the bully expecting one last torment but instead found that the boy wore a gentle smile.

  “I wanted to say thanks, Zax, for what you did earlier. I realize now how you and Kalare saved me from getting vented by convincing the Boss to keep me around. Thank you. Good luck.”

  Zax was still unable to speak, so he simply nodded in reply and resumed walking. A moment later he saw the Marine’s head bobbing along beside him out of the corner of his eye. They turned a corner and Bailee ordered a stop a few meters later.

  “Let’s discuss the plan, cadet. How are you going to get us back into Engineering?”

  “A couple hundred meters ahead is a series of tunnels which will connect with the ones we used earlier and eventually get us there, Sergeant.”

  “What happens when we arrive? What options do we have for accessing the area around the main Engineering Control compartment?”

  “Not many, Sergeant. There are a couple of different hatches that will put us into the various smaller rooms like the ones where we were held earlier. There’s also an access port about 50 meters away from the main entrance. Of course there’s also the hatch inside the main compartment which we used when you took care of the Chief Engineer earlier.”

  Zax had intentionally softened his language about the fate of the Chief Engineer having heard the rationale from the Marine, but he feared his tone still likely betrayed his distaste about what had happened to the woman. The sergeant had no reaction other than to stare ahead for a moment as he considered their options.

  “I think tackling this head on is probably our best bet. Let’s drop straight into the main compartment again unless something happens between now and then to suggest a better plan.” The Marine’s face disappeared as he lowered the visor of his suit. “I’m going to walk 5 meters ahead and to your right, cadet. Do your best to not shoot me in the back if we encounter any civilians before we reach the tunnels.”

  Zax started walking and found himself immediately brooding about what would happen once they reached Engineering Control. He needed to mentally prepare for the scenario where he got the Boss in his sights and had to pull the trigger. Every time he envisioned that outcome, however, his mind flashed back to memories of how the Chief looked once Bailee shot her. His memory of that moment played back on a slow-motion loop of blood and gore. Could he do that to anyone, much less someone he knew well like the Boss?

  He was so deep into a trance of worry that Zax didn’t immediately notice the two civilians who approached from the other end of the passageway as he turned a corner. They were ten meters away and raised their blasters in response to his appearance. Zax still had the mini blaster in his hand and instinctually raised it to point at the civilians. He realized he should shoot immediately given the element of surprise provided by the invisible blaster, but he couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger. His mind spun uselessly and he kept waiting to hear Bailee open fire. The invisible Marine’s blaster remained silent for some reason as Zax thought, “Where the hell did Bailee go?”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Don’t let her get away!

  The male civilian held his blaster ready and appeared apprehensive as they approached Zax, but the female lowered hers and started to laugh.

  “Look, how cute. The cadet’s going to pretend to shoot us with his make believe blaster. I might almost feel bad about killing this one.” She raised her free hand and made a blaster shape with her thumb and forefinger which she pointed at Zax as she advanced. “Looks like we have a standoff,” she said and then chuckled.

  Zax’s heart pounded in his throat. He knew he needed to pull the trigger, but his finger seemed a million klicks away and refused to respond to his commands. Nine meters. Eight meters. The civilians marched closer and closer, and the woman’s mocking laughter became more and more raucous.

  Two blaster shots rang out in quick succession. They came from 5 meters ahead and to Zax’s right—exactly where Sergeant Bailee had said he would be. The f
irst blast killed the male civilian instantly and he crumbled to the deck. The second blew the woman’s blaster apart and shattered her leg in the process. She screamed in a combination of shock and pain as she spun away and collapsed. She furiously clawed with her arms and kicked with her uninjured leg to scramble down the passage away from them.

  “Cadet—shoot her! Don’t let her get away!”

  The Marine’s words bounced around the passageway, but Zax quickly realized the echo effect was being created by his own mind and its distorted perception of time passing. His invisible blaster remained perfectly aimed as his vision tunneled and he focused on the center of the fleeing woman’s back. His finger tightened on the trigger, but each gram of pressure required ever increasing willpower. The woman approached the far corner where she would escape out of sight. Zax closed his eyes and pleaded with his body to shoot, but his finger would move no further.

  A moment later his eyes popped opened involuntarily at the roar of the Marine’s blaster. The woman collapsed face down on the deck—lifeless. Zax was still standing with his unused blaster pointed down the passageway and his mouth agape when he felt an invisible palm strike his face. The force of the slap sent him sprawling to the ground. Zax dropped the weapon and some small part of his mind appreciated how its invisibility function automatically switched off as it hit the deck and bounced away. The majority of his brain focused on the pain that reverberated through his body. His cheek felt like it was on fire, and Zax noticed a coppery taste which signaled his lip had been split by the blow.

  “What is your malfunction, boy?” The Marine lifted his visor and the scarlet flush which accompanied the sergeant’s rage was even more impressive than usual as his face hovered disembodied only a few inches away. “You let those two practically walk right up and grab you! You couldn’t even be bothered to take the shot when I served the woman up to you on a platter! I wouldn’t expect anything better out of a typical Flight puke, but you’ve been through Marine training! Did we not beat it into you strongly enough?”

  Zax flashed back to his weeks of training at the hands of the Marines prior to his planetary expedition. They had indeed beaten their ethos and many essential capabilities into him fairly well. Zax excelled at battling other cadets with non-lethal ammunition and performed even better during his live fire exercise against a series of hostile bots. Those weren’t nearly the same thing as this, however. He had never been faced with the challenge of killing a living being. Even during Landfall he never had an opportunity to shoot at the hostile aliens. The ability that most separated the Marines from Flight was how they looked at an enemy up close and took direct action to snuff out a life. Yes—Zax may have been trained by the Marines and trained well, but he had never practiced their most crucial skill.

  He opened his mouth to explain this to the enraged Marine, but no words came out. Zax was instead overwhelmed by emotion and started to sob. It wasn’t the pain from the slap, the shame of failure, or his residual fear, but a toxic stew of all three.

  The Marine backed away, though it appeared to be out of disgust more than compassion. It was almost as if the man worried the emotion might be contagious. He allowed Zax to choke out the tears for a min but spoke again before they had a chance to subside.

  “I know this is hard, cadet, but I don’t have time to nurse you along and help you process all of it. The fate of the Ship will be decided by our actions right now. The plan is that I will take the shot and kill the Boss, but you must get your head right and be prepared to do it as well. The civilians in Engineering will be watching for anything out of the ordinary. If you hesitate for a moment once you lift your blaster, you’ll be dead and the Ship will be lost. Do you understand me?”

  Zax managed to get his weeping under control while the Marine spoke. He knew he was capable of making any shot and nailing any target. In fact, he might even be a better marksman than the sergeant. The only thing that could get in his way would be his mind, and he resolved that he would not allow it to get the better of him again. Zax would do whatever needed to be done. Period.

  He looked up at the Marine and nodded agreement. Zax used his fingers to brush the tears off his cheeks and the back of his sleeve to wipe the copious snot from under his nose. He stood and dusted himself off before walking over to where the blaster had come to rest against the bulkhead. It switched back to invisible mode once he firmly gripped it. Zax stared at the Marine with budding determination and declared, “Let’s move.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  Will you actually shoot this time?

  Sergeant Bailee drove a punishing pace once they entered the maintenance tunnels and no longer had to fear encountering any civilians. The Marine’s preferred method of pushing Zax ever faster was jamming the blaster muzzle into his back with a few sharp barks of “Move your ass!” sprinkled in for good measure. Zax was amazed how quickly the man moved up and down ladders with his arm as damaged as it was. He had to imagine the Marine was in excruciating pain, but the man’s ChamWare allowed him to keep any outward expressions of it hidden. He drew inspiration from the Marine’s fortitude and endeavored to match him stride for invisible stride.

  Zax used the time throughout their journey to focus on getting ready for the challenge ahead. One task he knew would be critical was keeping the blaster hidden from the civilians in Engineering Control once he was back in their grasp. It seemed ironic to worry about hiding an invisible weapon, but it wasn’t quite as simple as it might sound. Zax would certainly be thoroughly frisked and, invisible or not, the weapon would be easily felt if it was hidden anywhere on his person.

  The best approach seemed to be keeping the weapon in his grip at all times. If his hands appeared to be empty, then the civilians would most likely believe they were. Zax had never known the Ship carried such small weapons with the power of invisibility and believed the civilians wouldn’t possess that knowledge either. He practiced holding the weapon while keeping his hand in a relaxed, neutral position that would not give away what it was actually doing.

  The fidgeting with his blaster also served a completely different purpose. It gave Zax an outlet for the nervous energy which built up as they got closer and closer to their destination. His failure to shoot at the two civilians when he should have done so weighed heavily on him. It was a solid foundation of nerves upon which ever greater levels of fear were being layered.

  Zax fully understood now how his earlier worries about career enhancement were ludicrous. He was marching to a certain death. If either he or Bailee somehow managed to get a shot off and kill the Boss, their success would certainly be met with immediate execution at the hands of enraged civilians. If they failed, then they would suffer the same fate for having made the attempt in the first place.

  What kept Zax going was the knowledge that if they succeeded it would give Kalare and the rest of the Crew a chance for a fresh start. Once the Captain vented the Ship, it would be easy enough for the Marines to mop up the remaining resistance. They would quickly thaw out some previously Culled Crew and enough civilians to repopulate the vessel, and they could proceed as if the whole nightmare had never happened.

  If they failed, Zax was convinced things would end poorly for the Crew under civilian control. Their leader had announced not much would change as a result of their mutiny, but Zax had zero faith in those words. His dealings with civilians during the day’s events had shown how ruthless and cruel they were at their core. From the pile of corpses in Engineering Control to the way Imair killed Nolly to cover her escape, it was clear the insurgents would stop at nothing to achieve their goals. Yes, lots of Crew would die when the Ship was vented, but Zax felt they were better off than they would be if the civilians were allowed to take command. Who knew how the rebels might choose to pay back generations of perceived grudges once they had the power to mercilessly do so. At least the Crew who perished as a result of the venting were guaranteed a reasonably quick and relatively painless death.

  They approac
hed the Engineering section and Sergeant Bailee called a halt.

  “I still believe dropping into the main compartment is our best bet, but I want to take a few mins to scout out the nearby area. Let’s make sure the civilians haven’t done anything too tricky and are holding the Boss elsewhere.”

  “Yes, Sergeant.”

  At the first compartment they encountered they stopped to listen at the access hatch and heard a maelstrom of voices. There must have been a couple dozen civilians yammering away down below. It was impossible to tell If the Boss was in there among them all without giving themselves away by opening the hatch and taking a peek.

  They moved to the second compartment and discovered the same. And the third as well. At each successive hatch, they eavesdropped with the final conclusion being that Engineering had been positively overrun with insurgents in the hours since they had been there earlier. Sergeant Bailee had predicted the civilians would do everything they could to maintain their grip on the critical compartment, and it appeared he had been correct. Hundreds if not thousands of civilians were amassed in an attempt to prevent the Crew from regaining control.

  Zax’s legs wobbled more and more the higher and higher his silent tally of insurgents climbed. He knew it should make no difference given that he and Sergeant Bailee would bypass them all by dropping directly into Engineering Control, but there was still something about discovering all of the hostiles nearby that made him woozy. An armed, angry mob of civilians was prepared to wreak havoc on the Ship. Thank goodness the Captain would soon dispatch many of them with the push of a few buttons.