“I hope so,” Wren said.
“And Wren?” Serina started.
“Yes?”
“You don’t want to side against me. I’ve done a lot of bad things, things that would make you sick, but don’t for a second think they weren’t done for the good of our people. You’d have done the same in my shoes. I can see it.”
Wren couldn’t deny it, so she just nodded along and left the leader of the Earth Fleet to her own thoughts.
Flint
Flint had never seen so many bodies inside a docking bay. It was pandemonium as the Recon fighter’s cargo doors opened. His body temperature began to rise, sweat dripping down every part of his skin as he saw the hordes of Watchers hooting and hollering outside the ship.
There were at least a hundred of them, bald heads gleaming, massive guns thrust into the air. This was a victory for them somehow. Then it snapped into place. These Watchers were from the other side. The rowdy aliens had been waiting for backup for thirty years, and they thought it was coming. As Flint stood there taking it all in, he wondered if they’d be so happy when they learned there was no support coming from beyond the Rift.
Flint was pushed forward, and he plodded each step as he was forced through the crowd of enemies. He’d seen the captive up close in Wren’s lab, but it looked nothing like these ones. It had been in captivity for so long, it had only been a reflection of its former glory. These were animals in their prime. Their skin was shiny, their eyes blinked, membranes sliding in front of their eyelids. Flint could smell their musk through his broken helmet, and it made him gag.
Females and males alike were together; both were warriors, each stronger than most humans could ever dream. He hoped they’d just kill him, even as the thought sent panic through his aching body. He didn’t want to be tortured or held as a prisoner of war. He had no clue why they’d bothered taking him when they’d killed the three Marines he was with.
A chant started, and he realized it was only one word being repeated over and over. He’d heard it many times as they’d studied the speech from their captive aboard the Eureka. They were shouting Ober repeatedly.
A chill ran down Flint’s spine as he walked through the throng of Watchers, heading toward the entrance to the Europa dome.
7
Wren
Wren walked briskly, Charles tailing behind her. She was full of energy and wanted to hit the ship’s gym after her impromptu drop-in on Benson.
“Charles, we need to find out the location of their main bases. Cross-reference it to any location where humans have been spotted among the Watchers. I have more of the virus, and we can sneak in to one of the domes and kill them while rescuing Flint.” Wren spoke quietly as they moved toward the brig, and Charles stayed silent as she spoke. “Did you get all of that?” she asked, knowing he would have.
“Yes, Wren. I must tell you, I find it unlikely we can find Flint,” Charles said.
Wren wouldn’t let herself agree with her android friend, no matter how accurate his words were. “Charles, do you think Flint would try to find us if we were taken?” She asked the simple question and stopped in the middle of the corridor.
Her companion’s eyes glowed and dimmed. “I do think he would attempt a rescue, yes.”
“Good. That’s all we need to say on the subject.” Wren started walking again, and another five minutes found them below, stalking past the prison guards and toward Benson’s cell.
He was sitting on his bed this time, not on the floor like an animal. He was also wearing clothing like a human, and Wren instantly saw a fire in his good eye that had been gone since they’d rescued him from the Watchers’ world.
“I’ve been expecting you,” he said without inflection.
Wren wasn’t going to be put off by the man any longer. He was at their mercy, and he knew it. “We spoke with Serina. She’s willing to talk.”
“Then where is she?” Benson asked. His left eye was still closed, but less puffy than it had been. Maybe it would heal after all.
“She has more important things to do than negotiate with the likes of you,” Wren said, unable to hide the distaste from her voice.
“So she sent her lackey, the great Dr. Wren Sando.” Benson crossed his arms smugly, and for the tenth time in the last few months, Wren wanted to hit the man.
To Wren’s surprise, Charles took over. “I’d watch the way I spoke with Dr. Sando, if I were you. The Grand Admiral suggested we extract the information from you, but the doctor here said you’d been through enough.”
Benson’s calm veneer finally shattered. “And just how were they planning on extracting the information from me?”
Charles kept speaking. “Do you remember how you broke for the Watchers so easily? They expected the same result with far less effort.”
Benson turned red. “You try going through what I did and come out clean as a whistle! Why am I talking to a damned android?”
“Because he holds your fate in his hands just as much as I do,” Wren answered. “It’s up to you. Work with us and live free, or die while they tear the details of this Shadow from your broken mind.”
Benson was visibly shocked. He’d obviously expected to hold the power in this negotiation, but that had vanished. “Where do we start?” he asked, his posture loosening.
“Start? We started long ago. Tell us how to reach this Shadow, and when he agrees to work with us and actually shows up, then you walk free,” Wren said.
“She.”
“What?” Wren asked.
“Shadow. He’s a she.”
“Fine. How do we contact her?” Wren didn’t know why she’d just assumed the leader of the terrorist group was a man, especially when he’d mentioned that Shadow was a woman the other day.
“She’s smarter than I ever gave her credit for. I hired her for a few jobs,” Benson started, but Wren cut him off.
“We heard about the one during the Rift opening. Serina wasn’t pleased. We were under invasion, and you had the nerve to set the terrorist group against the Fleet?” Wren couldn’t believe the gall of the man.
“We needed to escape through the Rift unscathed. I did it at Jarden’s behest.”
“Jarden ordered it?” she asked.
Benson shook his head. “Not directly. That’s how things worked between us. He said he needed the Fleet distracted, and I took it from there.”
Wren was beginning to see Benson’s lies. Jarden may not have been an angel, but he wouldn’t have started a war with the Fleet just to get away through the Rift. Would he?
“Fine. Let’s move on. How do we reach Shadow?” Wren asked.
“Android, take down these coordinates.” Benson let out a string of numbers, which Wren knew Charles would be recording. “Send a probe there with a message. Tell her it’s from Nosneb. Tell her I’ve got a proposal.”
“Nosneb. Your name backwards. How original.” Wren turned and started walking away. “Come on, Charles, let’s leave him to his own miserable company.”
“Wait! Can you get me something to read? Anything! I can’t stand it any longer!” Benson shouted as they exited the corridor and made their way to the elevator.
“I wonder if they’ll heed the call,” Charles said.
“So do I,” Wren said, trying not to think about what Flint was going through at that moment.
Flint
He was forced through the dome entrance and ushered into a large man-made vehicle. The Watchers sat in the rear of the transport bus with him, ducking to keep from hitting their heads on the ceiling. It drove them down the streets, which looked far worse off than they had the last time Flint had been here. Thirty years of neglect had done a number on Europa, and from what he’d seen on the last world where their enemy had lived, they didn’t care much for maintenance or esthetics.
“Any chance either of you speak English?” he asked, and received the butt end of the closest Watcher’s gun in the stomach for his trouble.
Air burst from his lips as he doubled over. He
needed to learn to shut up if he was going to survive the day. If they intended to kill him, Flint suspected he’d already be dead. They had some reason for going to all the effort of bringing him to Europa. He wanted to find out why before they ended him.
The bus went on for an hour, each jostling bump they sped over sending pain coursing through his many injuries. He watched out the cloudy windows as they passed the hotel area, the downtown restaurants and bars sitting destitute amidst the quiet colony, until they entered a Fleet district. Flint had almost forgotten that each colony had a region set up for the Fleet, and it made perfect sense that the Watchers would be drawn to using it as their living space.
It was better fortified and had weapons and vessels stored outside on the moon’s surface. The Fleet section lined the far edges of the major dome on Europa, and that was where the bus took them. Flint had been at this exact base more than once during his stint with the Earth Fleet, and he remembered it as well as anyone could recall a place they’d spent a couple of weeks at over a decade prior.
The bus stopped after passing a few squat buildings of Fleet barracks, and the doors opened to reveal an exceptionally large and ugly Watcher. He grinned at Flint, baring sharp yellow teeth. His long arms were exposed, and Flint felt the suction cups on the alien’s arms stick to the outside of his suit, pulling him from the bus and to the ground. He fell in a heap, and the Watcher pointed at his helmet and grunted.
They wanted him to take the suit off. He fumbled for the helmet’s release and found it with sore fingers. It came undone, and he shoved it to the dirt parking lot he lay on.
The other two escorts helped him to his feet and motioned for the rest of the armor to come off. Flint obliged them and, in minutes, stood there in nothing but his jumpsuit, which was soaked through with blood and sweat. He must have seemed like a pitiful creature to the gigantic enemies around him.
He worried his ribs were cracked, but he didn’t think they’d broken, or he’d be having an even harder time breathing. There were a few Watchers around, but nothing like the spectacle at Europa’s docking area. He saw the familiar Fleet symbol above the entrance to a building down the block. That was their head office on Europa. Ahead were two of the aliens guarding the door. They were either keeping something in or out, and Flint wasn’t sure which one it was yet.
He was shoved forward and he stumbled, falling to his knees. The aliens made a noise akin to laughter as Flint found his way to his feet. He started walking in the direction they were pointing. The sidewalks were cracked, rubble from lack of repair spread out before him, and Flint wished he was wearing his lucky boots. They were back on the Eureka with his other meager possessions.
He tried to avoid the sharp bits of concrete with his socked feet, but every few steps, something would dig into his soles. There was an enormous round building at the edge of the Fleet sector, and the second he spotted it, he knew that was their destination. It had an open gymnasium, meant for training soldiers, and only two points of entry. It would be a good spot to keep someone. No. Not someone. Some people. Flint suddenly guessed that he wasn’t the only human here.
He kept moving, trying to avoid the casual shoves from behind, and soon they were at the training facility. There were four guards outside at the double-wide entrance: two of them leaning against the wall, and the other two holding guns at chest height, scanning the distance.
They briefly spoke, and one of the Watchers who was standing and doing nothing stared Flint in the eyes, grimacing in disgust as he watched the puny human enter the facility. Flint wanted to tell him the feeling was mutual but kept it to himself.
They entered the space, and Flint could taste the terror in the air. There was a glass wall separating the lobby and the training grounds. That was a new addition. Flint remembered it as a normal wall, with great open doors between the spaces.
Beyond the glass were humans, at least a hundred of them. They wore clothes that weren’t much more than rags at this point. A few came to the glass to see what was happening. Flint met a woman’s gaze, and her eyes spilled fear. Her mouth was turned down, as if she didn’t have the muscle memory for a smile. Despite everything, Flint grinned at her and lifted his hand in a wave. She didn’t seem to notice either action.
He was pushed again, and a Watcher slapped a metal band around his wrist before ushering him through an energy barrier set into the glass. Flint’s pulse quickened, and his mouth went dry as he passed through the field into his new home.
Ace
“Ace, we can’t trust her.” Wren was trying to keep her voice low, but Ace could tell she was having trouble with it.
“Maybe we should speak somewhere more private?” Charles asked from beside Ace.
“No, this is fine. Ace needs to understand the situation, and he doesn’t seem to get it,” Wren said.
“You’re acting like I’m not even here, Wren. Stop it.” Ace glanced across the table at Oliv. Of course Wren had brought the person he was closest to. He felt the move was a little underhanded.
Oliv spoke now, reminding him they were all on the same side at that table: the side against Serina Trone. "She’s bad news, Ace. I know you… you used to have a crush on her, but things have changed.”
Ace’s fists clenched. He wanted to tell them to mind their own business and leave Serina out of this. “I don’t know what you think, but I don’t have feelings for the woman. She’s almost fifty, and I’m still a kid. Plus I don’t even know her. Even then, I hardly knew her. I wish everyone would get off my back about this.”
The most frustrating part about it all was the fact that they were right. He was giving Serina too much leeway because he still cared about her. Not in the way he used to think he did, but in the way of someone who wanted to protect an old friend. Serina was the first person in his life who’d been nice to him. She’d tried to protect Ace since the moment she’d laid eyes on him in line at the recruitment office, and he wasn’t going to forget that. He couldn’t.
“All we’re saying is to face the facts. She keeps prisoners aboard her ship and does God knows what with them. You told us how creepy that Jonesy was about it all. Then she risks our lives and our friends’ lives for what? A single ship,” Wren said.
“A ship that can help us win a war, Wren. If the roles were reversed, do you honestly think you’d do differently?” Ace asked.
Her eyes went dark, and she frowned. But she kept going as if he hadn’t cut in. “How have they been at this so long?” Wren leaned her elbows on the table and ran her hands over her face.
Ace reached over and tapped her on the forearm. “Wren, we need to work with her. We’re never going to win this if we’re second-guessing everything she does. Do you think she’d still be in charge of the Fleet if she wasn’t capable?” He was proud of his point. Maybe he could get them to see Serina’s perspective. “She’s been at this a long time. Sure, she’s not the exact same person I knew, but she still has a big heart. I can see it.”
“Maybe he’s right, Wren,” Oliv said. “Why fight her? We need to join her side, but get her to concede a few points. They need the Eureka and our pilots. We also have the virus.”
Wren sat upright. “They’ll want that. I’m surprised she hasn’t asked for it yet. It must be part of her plan.”
Ace had enough. “Not everything is a plot or a plan, Wren. Give her a chance. Let’s join her and see what happens. We’ll still work on finding Flint, and believe me, I’m in on that rescue, but for everything else, let’s be a team. Like it or not, we need the Fleet.”
Wren’s frown softened as her mind churned away. “Very well. I’ll stop being so vocal about this. I just wanted to make sure we still had your loyalty.”
Ace hated her use of the word. It wasn’t as though he had to choose between them or Serina. It wasn’t like that. Oliv’s head tilted to one side, like she was trying to get a read on him. Great, now even Oliv was questioning his reliability.
“Thanks for the coffee. I have somewhere
to be,” Ace said, walking out of the cafeteria before anyone could say another word.
8
Serina
Serina motioned Wren to her side. The woman was being extra agreeable today, and she didn’t trust it. Still, it was nice to be civil with Wren Sando. She was a smart, passionate woman, which Serina could admire. If she was reading the deck properly, Wren was quite attached to the pilot they’d lost on the warship. She could understand that feeling well.
Her own heart had been ripped from her chest during the second Earth invasion. Since the moment she’d heard that Dair had been killed in the assault, she’d built a wall around her heart, not letting anyone get close to the pulsing organ. Love was for another time, another her. Serina’s life was there for the cause. She was going to end this war or die trying. Most days, she felt like it would be the latter.
“Adams, is the probe ready?” Serina asked the weapons officer.
“It’s loaded and ready for the Shift,” Lieutenant Adams said, his gaze remaining on the console.
“Send it.” Serina watched as the green thrusters pushed the tiny probe away from the ship. Moments later, it was gone, vanished with a micro-Shift.
“How will they get back to us?” Wren asked her.
Serina shrugged. “I expect they’ll find a way. We gave them coordinates to return an answer to, where we’ll send a fighter to meet at the specified time.” She was annoyed they couldn’t just communicate like normal. It was coded probes or nothing, which meant more of a delay.
“We’re going to have to be cautious when meeting with her,” Wren said.
“So Shadow’s a woman? How curious,” Serina said. This was information she’d never come across. “Did Benson tell you that?”
The other woman nodded to her question.
“Good. Does this mean you want to be there when we meet her?” Serina asked.
“I’d like to be,” Wren answered.
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