The Resistance- The Complete Series

by Nathan Hystad

  Serina wondered what it was about the newcomers that had her thinking such superficial thoughts. When was the last time she’d been envious of someone’s appearance, or had the time to consider such trivial things? It was their youth she yearned for; the war had taken away every ounce of hers.

  “Grand Admiral?” Wren asked after a moment of silence.

  “Sorry. Call me Serina. I know of the Shadow. I know only too well.” She thought back to those early days of fighting for power. The Shadow had had the nerve to attack the Moon, taking supplies while they were defending Earth from the Watchers’ attack.

  “What do you think? Do we cut a deal?” Wren was leaning forward, clearly invested in the outcome of the conversation. Serina liked having these people around.

  “We tell him there’s a deal, and see what he has. I’m not sure how he can contact them after all these years,” Serina said, wondering if there was any real chance this could work.

  “All I know is Benson can’t be trusted,” Wren said. She really hated the man; that much was clear. Serina didn’t know much about him. She’d asked her crew, and some of the older ones remembered him being around Jarden Fairbanks, but not much more than that.

  “You really did it, didn’t you?” Serina asked.

  “Did what?” Wren looked nervous.

  “Created the virus. How many do you think you killed?” Serina’s foot tapped on the floor as she awaited the reply.

  “We have no way of knowing. Benson tipped them off, but likely a couple billion, if we’re lucky. We didn’t stick around to find out,” Wren said.

  “How does it feel?” Serina asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You created something that killed billions. How very godlike.”

  “I wouldn’t… it didn’t feel good, if that’s what you’re asking. I only did what needed to happen.” Wren was frowning now, and Serina felt it was time to slow the thrusters.

  “I didn’t mean to offend you, Doctor. Do you think the Invaders would feel badly if they killed billions of us?” Serina asked, trying to keep her voice light and innocent.

  “I’m not here for a morality lesson. I brought an offer from the man imprisoned on our ship. Do you want to cut the deal?” Wren asked.

  So the woman had a spine. Serina liked that.

  “Make the deal. But no promises. Tell him he’ll be freed when negotiations with Shadow are over,” she said, and Wren departed the office without another word.

  Serina wished it had gone a little smoother, but she didn’t have time for friends. She had a war to win.

  Flint

  “We’re sending backup. Stay put,” Tony ordered.

  Flint was happy to obey that order. Nance, as it turned out, wasn’t content with waiting there.

  “Where are you going?” he asked the Marine. She pointed further down the wide room with the barrel of her gun.

  “They couldn’t have gone far.” She stalked off, and Flint let out a string of colorful phrases as he followed her.

  “We should have stayed,” he muttered. The blood from Banks was smeared in a line, but after a short way, it ended. There was no sign of either human or any more blood. Flint was turned around, unfamiliar with where he was on the ship as he followed Nance in a moderate jog. He chased after her, holding his gun to his chest, his breaths coming quick and shallow.

  “I see a light. It’s moving!” Nance shouted.

  They twisted and turned down a corridor, and Flint saw the light she was talking about. It jostled up and down as the alien ran from them. Flint spotted Banks’ body tossed carelessly to the side, and he didn’t need to stop and check to know the man wasn’t alive. His head was nearly ripped off his body.

  Where was Tim? Had they taken him down too?

  Flint got his answer. Gunfire erupted at the end of the hall, some of it coming toward him and Nance. He ducked and pressed his body against a doorway; Nance did the same across the hallway. When the fire ceased, she pointed to herself, then down the corridor. She was going first. He’d give her cover.

  She ran, and Flint kept close, sticking to the left wall. They received no enemy fire as they neared a tall entrance. It was familiar.

  “This is the docking bay we were in,” Nance said, and Flint nodded his agreement. As turned around as he was, there was no mistaking the room full of Recon fighters.

  “Where are they?” he whispered, his gaze covering the room while aiming his gun.

  “Over there!” Nance took off again, and Flint let out a sigh, following the woman as she sprinted toward the far corner of the dark room. Flint’s night vision caught sight of a body thrown back at them as they approached. It was Tim, his lifeless form clanging to the floor. Nance went down in a heap as something detonated in front of her, and Flint was tossed to the ground on impact.

  He shook his head to clear the ringing in his ears, and the two Watchers approached. One spoke to the other, both holding huge guns, each pointing at his chest. Flint fumbled for his weapon but found it wasn’t in his grip. It had fallen loose when he hit the ground.

  Flint gritted his teeth and knew this was his end.

  6

  Ace

  Ace waited impatiently for the return of Flint and the others. He tried everything from working out to training to reading a book. Somehow, trying to distract himself with reading didn’t have the same appeal it once did. When he was a few years younger, it had been one of his favorite pastimes. The old library had let anyone in, and he’d spent hours there, tucked away in a corner, reading countless different things on his borrowed tablet.

  Ace was fond of classics, books from centuries ago, before humans had started colonies. Back then, they’d been so fascinated with the idea of space travel. They’d often ask, ‘What’s out there?’, but if they knew the answer was a terrible alien race hell-bent on destroying humanity, they might not have been so anxious to leave Earth behind.

  He sat in his room aboard the Eureka, tapping through the tablet, searching for anything to read that didn’t involve alien contact, and settled on something light from the early days on the Mars colony. It was a bleak setting centered on the power of community in dire times. He read only half of the words as his brain kept pulling him out of concentration. Where was Flint? He should have been in contact by now.

  His thoughts trickled over to Oliv, as they often did. She was only a few doors down. He considered going to visit and seeing what she was up to. She’d been a little colder with him lately, and he wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was the distance she’d put between herself and her family, or maybe it was something he’d said or done. That was more likely the case.

  Another hour passed and Ace found himself dozing fitfully, the tablet set down on his chest. His lights dimmed after a few minutes of not moving, and he finally fell into a slumber.

  He woke to an alert, sitting up straight, his tablet flying to the side and off the bed. What was it? What time was it? A red light flashed near his door and he got up, running to the corridor.

  “What’s happening?” he asked a crew member hurrying by.

  “They’re back. The Marines are back with the enemy ship,” the woman said, and Ace ran for the bridge.

  Finally. They’d done it! If that was the case, why were the alarms still ringing out?

  He arrived on the bridge, the guard letting him through on sight. Oliv was there too, and he smiled in her direction. Her expression turned the blood coursing through him to ice.

  “What happened?” he asked, his mouth suddenly dry.

  “Flint’s gone. They took him,” Oliv said, but Ace hardly heard the words.

  Flint

  Flint’s eyes sprang open, and he instantly regretted being alive. His chest ached, and his head felt like it had been used as a piñata at a kid’s birthday party. He was still wearing his armored suit, but the seals were cracked, and he couldn’t feel the familiar flow of the air mixture blowing into his face. He struggled to breathe with his sore ribs pre
ssing against his lungs. This was not good.

  For a few seconds, he tried to recollect how he’d gotten there, and he attempted to sit up, only to find his hands were bound behind his back. This was going from bad to worse. They’d been ambushed. Actually, they’d walked right into the bastards’ trap. Nance had run straight for them, chasing after Tim, and it had gotten both of them killed, as well as Flint himself captured.

  This wouldn’t end well. Flint searched around for anything of use and realized they were inside one of the Recon fighters. The Watchers had used one of the Fleet ships to escape. They probably flew right by the sentries, the Marines unaware they were letting the enemy through with a hostage. They would have charged the Shift drive and flashed out of the region, leaving their warship behind to be taken.

  Flint tried to think but found it hard with his pounding headache, and the pain throughout the rest of his body matching it. The warship had come through the Rift at the same time as them, so it wouldn’t have known what was going on with the war on this side of the Rift. If that was the case, they wouldn’t know where the rest of their kind were holed up. With that same logic, how were they able to fly a Recon ship with ease if they’d never seen one before?

  Something wasn’t adding up.

  He searched around for anything useful to help him escape, but came up empty. He tried to calm his breathing and listened. He was in the rear cargo bay of the Recon fighter, one just like the ship he’d been boarded by on his way to Europa. He’d killed three Fleet Marines that day, and he tried to forget the look on the last woman’s face as Kat shot her in cold blood.

  Sounds of the Watchers talking to one another finally carried to him when he concentrated. He heard them speak in their groans and barks. If he wasn’t mistaken, they were arguing with each other.

  Good. Anything to disrupt the happy trip.

  They spoke louder now, and Flint made out the sound of another Watcher speaking to them through the console’s speakers. Damn it. They were near more Watchers. Somehow, they could tell where to find the others.

  Ten silent minutes dragged by before he felt the ship rumble and shake through a light atmosphere. What had Serina told them? The Watchers had taken Titan by Saturn, and Jupiter’s moons, including Europa. Judging by the entrance, he was putting his money on them being on Europa now.

  The ship eventually settled down, and Flint felt it land, the hum of the moving vessel stopping as the engines were killed. Heavy footsteps clomped through the ship, getting louder as they moved toward him.

  One of them bent over his face, its ugly, upside-down bald head staring at him for a moment, before he was grabbed and thrust onto his feet. Flint swayed as the blood drained from his head, but the Watcher kept him upright. Pain erupted through his body as they pushed him for the exit.

  Wren

  “And just what are we going to do to get him back?” Wren asked, noticing how loud her voice was. She was trying to keep her anger contained but was finding it an impossible task. Flint was gone because of this woman’s insatiable need for that stupid warship, the same ship they could have just destroyed five days ago. They’d be halfway to Mars by now, the Pilgrim closer to being repaired so they could get on with the fight. Now they were delayed, and her… and Flint was gone.

  “You know we can’t do that,” Serina said.

  They were back on the carrier, and Wren hated having to concede home field advantage to the Grand Admiral.

  “And why is that, exactly?” Wren asked. She looked over at Charles and Ace before letting her eyes linger on Captain Hawk and Captain Barkley.

  “Because there’s no means to save them. Believe me. We’ve tried rescue missions in the past, and all they did was get more people killed,” Serina said. “He knew the risks of the mission.”

  Captain Hawk spoke now, surprising Wren, since she’d been so quiet up until this point. “Kep shouldn’t have been there.” She was referring to her first officer, Commander Banks, who’d been paired with Flint on the excursion. “I was too hasty to let him go… or make him go, I should say.”

  “We’re down good people, and for what? A ship,” Wren accused.

  This fact wasn’t lost on Serina, who stared angrily at Wren. “Listen, Science Officer Sando” – the words dripped out of Serina’s mouth with contempt – “we’ve been doing this a long time. It isn’t often there’s a play on our chess board where someone isn’t captured or killed.”

  “I want to know where they’re taking him,” Wren said.

  Serina shook her head. “We’re going to bring the Pilgrim in-system as promised, and then we’re heading back to Earth. You’ll be joining us with the Eureka.” The Grand Admiral looked past Wren, her gaze settling on Captain Barkley.

  Wren glanced at Heather, and her head nodded slightly. She was easily falling under the rule of the Fleet, not wanting to upset the clearly ruthless new leader.

  “This isn’t over, Serina.” Wren was about to leave, when the other woman slammed her palm down on the table.

  “It’s Grand Admiral Trone to you, and if you don’t like the way I run things, feel free to step off on Mars and live with the rats under the dome.” The words were full of malice, and Wren felt every inch of the words.

  Ace set a hand on Wren’s arm, sending a calming current through her body. He looked tired. She had to remember he’d lost a friend and mentor when Flint was taken. They’d all lost someone close to them.

  “Don’t worry, Wren. We’ll find him,” Ace said softly, but loud enough for Serina to overhear.

  “Ace, there’s no way to get him back.” Serina was relaxed in her chair, but the vein in her forehead still throbbed.

  “Why not? You keep talking about this being a chess game, about being strategic, and you’re always preaching patience. You each seem to be doing the same things. Copying one another, playing this cat and mouse game, as you’ve said. Then I suspect Flint will be kept alive,” Ace said thoughtfully.

  “What makes you say that, Ace?” Wren asked, too fearful to let her believe his words.

  “Because on this very ship, Serina has a couple dozen captives of her own,” Ace said, and the left side of the room filled with collective gasps.

  “Ace, you don’t know what you’re saying!” Serina shouted, but Wren raised a hand. The guards behind the Grand Admiral stepped forward.

  “What are you saying?” Wren asked.

  “They have a bunch of Watchers near the top deck. Jonesy brought me there to see them. He said I could watch them torture one if I wanted. All I had to do was ask, and he’d make it happen.” Ace paled as he spoke the words, and Wren noted how the boy didn’t once switch his gaze to his old friend Serina.

  Captain Hawk was the first to speak. “Is this true, Grand Admiral?”

  Serina looked like a cat caught with a canary in its mouth. “We need them. For research. Surely you can understand that. Wren, as a scientist, don’t you see the value in knowing our enemy?”

  Wren couldn’t argue that. She’d had her own Watcher held captive before she used it to create a virus set to destroy them. She’d even administered the deadly pathogen and observed the prisoner die. “I do understand, but there’s a difference between research and what I’m hearing.”

  “Who started this game?” Barkley asked. “Was it us or them?”

  Serina sat straight, her resolve not breaking. “You all know Jish Karn held one.”

  Wren peered over at Charles, who’d stolen that exact Watcher from Karn’s clutches.

  “Yes,” Barkley answered.

  “That was the first one that we know of. When they came over, during that first year or two, we calculated that they took at least two hundred captives,” Serina said, the fire now absent from her voice.

  “Two hundred…” Barkley whispered.

  “That’s when we started to collect them. Up until then, we’d kill them on sight when we could. It started as a big idea. We’d save as many as possible and use them as a bartering chip. Y
ear three, we had a hundred and seven in our Fleet’s possession. We made contact and offered a trade.

  “They didn’t go for it. They actually ended up attacking the vessel we kept them on, and destroyed it as a show of Ober’s bidding. I don’t know what you think of these creatures, but they aren’t like us. They’re monsters.” Serina rested her arms on the table and the room seemed to relax, Wren included.

  “Humans are monsters too. That much is clear. If they don’t want their own captives returned, we shouldn’t still be collecting them,” Wren said.

  “You’d rather we kill them?” Serina asked, and Wren didn’t respond. Would she rather that?

  “Do they keep the humans alive?” Ace asked, and Wren saw a glimmer of hope in the boy’s eyes.

  “We don’t know. We think so,” Serina said.

  “Then we’ll find him, bring him home, and end this war, once and for all,” Barkley said, surprising Wren. It was good having the captain of the Eureka backing them up. Wren gave her a slight smile, letting the other woman know she appreciated the support.

  Serina didn’t reply to the comment one way or another. “We leave today. The trip will take two weeks, traveling at the Pilgrim’s pace. We have a functional outpost still set up at Mars that will see to the repairs, then it’s off to Earth. Everyone good with this?”

  The room said their agreement, but Wren stayed quiet.

  “Where are we with this Benson?” Serina asked as everyone stood to leave the meeting.

  Wren stopped and turned to the Grand Admiral. “We’re going to see him now.”

  “Good. Make sure you get what we need. I have a feeling we can finally see this thing through,” Serina said.

  The doors closed, and it was just the two of them, along with Serina’s brawny guards.