“So am I,” he replied. “Who’s in the other fighter?”
“It’s Serina.”
What? Serina? “Patch me through,” Ace said, since he didn’t have her private ship’s line.
He heard a click, and breathing. “Serina! What are you doing?”
“Ace. Stay back. There’s only one way to deal with this thing.”
Ace wasn’t sure what that meant, but her words sounded ominous.
“Adams,” he heard Serina say, talking to her carrier, “it’s going to attack. Everyone, give it all you have!”
He was closer now, only a thousand kilometers away, and he saw the pulses and projectiles flying toward the huge target. Its shield glowed bright blue as it defended against all of the Fleet’s bombardment. He noticed a section of the ship pushing the blue barrier out. That had to be where it was originating from. The vessel was clunky, built for a powerful purpose rather than space travel or esthetics.
“Watch out, it’s going to retaliate,” Ace said as the ring pulsed from dark to light green.
A beam shot out from its underbelly, blasting a Fleet corvette. The ship didn’t stand a chance against the immense energy discharge, and the beam didn’t stop there. It hit another, destroying it in seconds.
“Move away. Get out of range!” Serina shouted.
Ace saw the Eureka engage from far away. Did they have any Destroyers left? When none fired at the Watchers, Ace assumed the answer was no. They fired pulse cannons from far away, but the shields held.
Ace assessed the vessel and his own lander. He remembered how the lander didn’t use any backup energy when they’d crashed on Domum with Jarden and Bree. He also recalled the training when he first joined the Fleet at the moon’s base, which still sat on the rocky surface. The shields were there to protect against energy blasts. If you were concerned about things like asteroids or space junk, you had to use a second layer of defense.
When both layers were used in conjunction, it used a lot of power, so much that it might disable other systems, like weapons. If the Watcher ship was built on the same principle, they’d only have their energy shield activated.
“Serina, I have a plan, but you’re not going to like it,” Ace said, already feeling the sweat form on his palms.
Serina
Serina couldn’t believe her ears. He really was something.
She was going to argue with Ace, but she was interrupted by Barkley. “We don’t think they’re after us. They want to destroy the moon. The Watchers are charging a weapon.”
Serina considered this as she watched the pulsing green band around the behemoth. They were right. The Watchers had lost and, as a last resort, they’d decided to terminate Earth. What better way than to destroy the moon, which would cause devastation below?
“I think you’re correct. Ace has a plan to take the shields down. He saw the shields’ origin. You tell them, Ace,” Serina said, patching Ace in to the communication.
He sounded so young as his nervous voice cut through. “The shields! They’re probably only set up to stop energy blasts. Otherwise, they’d draw too much power to charge whatever they’re doing. I’m going to go in, cut my engines, and power the lander down. Then I can use the rudimentary weapons on this thing to destroy the shield drive.”
“This sounds crazy, Ace,” Barkley said, and Serina couldn’t agree more. But he had a good point. This might be their only shot, especially if failure meant the destruction of the moon. She looked around the cockpit, knowing this was going to be the last thing she ever saw. She would never talk face to face with another person, would never know what real love felt like. She’d never see what was next for their race. It was all going to be over soon.
She’d been planning on detonating at their shields in the hope it would destroy them and the ship in the process, but it might not be enough. If they could get the shields down, it would open her up for a free ride to the ship’s edge, and her black matter bomb would be enough to save them all.
Except her.
Jish Karn had done her best, but her sacrifice hadn’t done much more than take out a small number of ships as the Invaders entered the Rift. This was different. This was for Earth. Still, her hands trembled as she moved the throttle.
Flint’s voice shook her from her inner thoughts. “Kid, it won’t work. That lander has no more firepower than a single stunner. You need something bigger. Something with some kick to it.”
“What are you proposing? We don’t have a lot of time,” Serina said.
“The Perdita. It has a kill switch on it. Shuts down every amp of energy to avoid detection when needed. I only used it a few times, but it should still do the trick. I’ll go to it now,” Flint said.
“Flint, you can’t. It’s a one-way mission. The Fleet needs you,” Ace said, and Serina’s heart melted. The boy was going to sacrifice himself just like she was. They were kindred spirits, but Serina couldn’t let Ace die along with her.
Serina heard arguing on the bridge of the Eureka. It was clear they didn’t want Flint to go either.
“It’s settled. I’m going. Wait, where’s Charles?” Flint asked.
Serina grinned to herself, watching the pulses on the Invader’s ship speed up.
Charles
Charles ran faster than he’d ever pushed himself before. This was his chance to help one last time. As he reached the hangar and ran through the containment field and onto the Perdita, he thought about his short life, if it could be called that.
He ran, feet clanging through the cargo bay, down the hall and onto Perdita’s confined bridge. With fluid motions, he activated the ship, released it from the larger vessel they were attached to, and started for the moon.
Charles had asked about the specific switch earlier, and Flint had shown him where it was. Now he touched the lever with a metal finger, careful not to hit it yet.
The Watcher ship was immense, and Charles could see now they were all right. The moon was the target, and he hypothesized the ship would fire at the ball of rock in only a few minutes’ time. The freighter raced toward the vessel, and Charles watched as the Shift drive charged. It was going to be close.
He reached out on the communicator. “Grand Admiral. Are you ready?” He understood what she was going to do, and since he had no better option, he had to side with her sacrifice. He was doing the same thing.
“I’m ready, Charles,” Serina said, and Charles saw his Shift timer blink. It was ready. He hit it, gave the engines a tiny push, and flipped the switch. The ship went dark just as he was heading straight into the shields. He had no visual through the viewscreen, and he hoped he’d pass through the barrier. When he felt no resistance, he counted to ten.
There was no communication, no sight, so he sat there, the ten seconds feeling like an eternity. He snapped the switch back on, and everything came to life. It had worked! He was within the shield. The Watcher ship was so large, he was staring at a dark wall of metal. The glowing green ring pulsed fast now as something emanated from it, rocking the Perdita as if it were a boat in the middle of the ocean during a storm.
“Charles, are you there?” Ace’s voice asked.
“Ace, I’m in. Heading for the shield drive momentarily.” Charles raced the fast freighter toward the location Ace had prompted, and random pulses began shooting from the edge of the ship, hitting his own shields. He accepted them without preamble, continuing to move for his target.
Charles was close, and brought up the weapons on the console. Once the drive was in his crosshairs, he fired the projectiles, and used the pulse cannons at the same time. The shield drive exploded in seconds.
“You did it! Now get out of there!” Serina shouted through the speakers. He saw her ship on his radar, moving toward the Watcher ship with haste.
“It’s firing!” Flint yelled from the Eureka, and Charles saw the pulsing ring turn solid as light exploded from beneath the vessel. He was still being shot at, and the shields went down as he wished silent success
for his new friends. As the ship tore apart, he found himself floating in space, the wall of the Watcher ship covering his view before… nothing.
Ace
Ace was already moving for the edge of the shield when it went down. He was only in a feeble lander, but he couldn’t let Charles go down like this, not without trying, at least. He’d given so much to them all, his android fingerprints were on almost all aspects of their resistance against the Watchers. Ace had to save him.
The shield drive exploded as the Perdita unleashed hell on it, and Ace was able to cross the barrier. Everything was happening so quickly. The ring stopped pulsing, and the energy started to push to the underbelly of the deadly ship. There wasn’t much time.
“Ace, you better get out of there,” Serina warned him, and he saw the Perdita burst open.
He was too late.
Ace was about to head away from the wreckage, knowing his chances at avoiding the incoming blast were minimal, when he saw Charles in space. The android was floating there, unmoving. Ace activated the lander’s tiny tractor beam, meant to cling to the edge of a larger vessel to pull into a hangar if there were mechanical issues.
He raced over Charles and picked his body up in the beam, dragging him along under the lander as he sped away from the enemy ship.
“Goodbye, Ace,” Serina said calmly, and he saw her ship disappear from the radar before appearing right beside the huge enemy. His rear camera showed the beam starting to move toward the moon; then, a massive explosion of the brightest white Ace had ever seen. It flashed in his eyes as he tried to blink it away. The Watcher ship exploded in the middle, the reaction shooting through it. The lander’s radiation alert went off, and he hoped the shield and his flight suit were enough to protect him.
The ship was gone, Serina Trone along with it.
Flint
Flint leaned into his seat, unable to peel his eyes off the exploding vessel. The Grand Admiral had made the ultimate sacrifice, and he saluted her in his chair. He was so tired, and he glanced over to see the awestruck faces of the rest of the bridge crew.
Wren sat in the commander’s seat, a single tear dripping down her cheek. He went to her, kneeling at her feet. He took her face in his hands and kissed her.
“It’s over, Wren. It’s all over.” Flint couldn’t believe he was saying that.
“Fleet, be on alert. Where there’s one of those ships, usually, others aren’t far behind,” Barkley ordered, taking charge from her bridge.
Wren nodded and gave Flint a sad smile. “How about that house in the mountains? It’s sounding better every minute.”
Flint wanted so badly to give her that wish. “Anything you want.”
“Good work today, everyone. I’m proud to serve with you all,” Captain Barkley said. They were all coming together in the middle of the bridge, taking turns hugging and laughing through the tears.
Flint knew there could be more, but his gut told him that was the Watchers’ final attempt. The threat was over, at least for the time being.
“Charles?” Wren asked him as they stood there, staring out the viewscreen at the moon.
“He couldn’t have survived that.”
“I’m sorry about your ship,” Wren said.
“It’s just a ship. Plus, after the Watchers used it, it was tainted.” Flint tried to laugh about it but found he couldn’t. Not when so many good people had died today. Their Fleet was decimated, the bases on Earth all destroyed, and the hierarchy was in disarray. Their leader, Grand Admiral Serina Trone, was dead, leaving a huge gap in the entire Fleet. She was the Fleet, from what Flint could tell.
Benson approached them. “We have to watch the Shadow ships closely. When we notify them that their leader’s dead, we don’t know how they’ll respond.”
Flint didn’t even want to think about that. He just wanted it to be done with.
“I’ll talk with them,” Wren offered.
“You?” Benson asked.
Wren’s fist clenched, and Flint was sure she was going to deck the man once and for all. “Would you rather we let you talk to them? You’d probably try to convince them to make you their new leader and sneak off to wherever the hell they were holed up for so many years.”
Benson looked shocked, but Flint assumed it was an act. “By all means, you take charge. I’m pulling myself from the game. I’m going to enjoy retirement.”
“I’m getting a notification,” Tsang said. “It’s from Ace. He’s in our hangar, and he has Charles with him.”
Ace
The room was stuffy. Ace tugged at his collar as ten sets of eyes moved around the table, everyone avoiding eye contact. The tension was high. Benson was the only one inside looking people in the eye.
“You expect us to work with you?” the woman said. She was wearing the black cloak of Shadow, the hood off her head, exposing a nondescript face: one you wouldn’t remember two minutes after seeing it.
“Why wouldn’t you? The invasion threat is over, but they might come back. They could be on the other side of the Rift in thirty years, bigger than ever. Did you see that last vessel? If they have more of those, we’re doomed as it stands,” Grand Admiral Barkley said.
Ace was proud of her. The two surviving admirals had stepped aside in her favor, and Barkley, after a week of deliberating, had accepted the role.
“What does that mean for the population? Will they be secondary to the Fleet, like they’ve been for so long?” the new Shadow asked.
“No, they won’t. Things are going to be different,” Wren said. “I’ve accepted a seat on the Council, and changes are already being implemented.”
This seemed to impress Shadow. “The great Doctor Wren Sando is on board. Okay, you have my interest. Let’s call it on this subject for today, and I’ll give you my word we’re not here to cause any trouble. This entire experience nearly ended us all, and we do need to work together.”
Wren smiled, and Ace could see her true nature coming through. She was caring and strong. Oliv glanced at him in his periphery, and he tried to avoid her gaze because she’d just distract him.
“That’s why we want to offer you a seat on the Council too, Shadow,” Barkley said.
The woman looked shocked. “I… Ah, screw it. I’m in. What of him?” She jutted a thumb toward Benson. The man was infamous on the Shadow organization’s side as well, it seemed.
“Benson’s… part of the team too,” Barkley answered. Ace knew the decision had been tough, but at the end of the day, they couldn’t have pulled off the victory without the man. Benson grinned widely from his seat at the table. The room’s energy spiked and they were all clapping, happy another monumental achievement had occurred.
Flint was beside Wren, and he seemed a little more uptight than Ace had seen him before. It must have something to do with his new title. Never in a million years had the guy expected to become an Earth Fleet Admiral, but Ace thought it suited the rogue pilot.
“If this is all done with, how about we get to the real reason we’re here?” Flint asked, and Charles raised a hand, about to ask a question.
“Don’t worry, buddy. It’s for the booze,” Flint answered the unasked query, and pulled a bottle of brown liquid from under the desk, along with ten glasses. He’d obviously forgotten that androids didn’t drink.
“Lieutenant Ace Sotiras, would you mind doing me the honor of helping me pass these glasses around?” Flint asked, and Ace felt his collar get tighter. Not only was he promoted to Lieutenant, but they’d also bestowed a surname on him without his permission or input. It was Greek for savior, and the entire thing made him uncomfortable.
“Go with it, Ace. It suits you,” Oliv whispered in his ear, kissing his cheek. He stood proudly and went to Flint’s side.
“Anything for the Fleet’s newest Admiral. Now who needs a drink?” Ace rolled with it, laughing and smiling with the others in the room. It was the best day of his life. He was with his girl and the closest friends he had in the world. As he thought
about Serina and her sacrifice, she was the real savior. She’d given it all up to save them, and he’d never forget her. Not from the moment she made fun of him in line at Old Chicago, and not to the last second, when she’d shouted out to him before she died.
They all raised their glasses, and Ace said it before anyone could toast to anything else. “To Serina.”
“To Serina!” they all chorused.
Wren
Wren’s leg was feeling much better already, only a week later. So far, there were no signs of any enemy ships near Earth. A few would have Shifted away and were probably regrouping, but the Fleet would stay vigilant in defending their people and property.
She was grateful for the painkiller as she made her way across the open floor of Serina’s carrier. She knew what she would find there, and even though Adams had offered for someone else to do the task, Wren wouldn’t let them. It was her virus, and she would release it.
The lights were dim, the ceilings high on this floor of the carrier. Cameras lined the walls, and the soft blue glow of the energy barrier emanated in the middle of the room, from wall to wall. Behind were the dozen Watchers Ace had told them about. They couldn’t leave them alive.
It was as if they sensed her presence meant death, because a female dropped to her knees, arms at her sides. The others followed suit. Wren felt terrible for the wretched aliens, but she had no choice. There was no mercy in this war, from either side. There couldn’t be.
She found the slot opening in the energy barrier where Adams said it would be, and she dropped the compressed air canister inside their containment field. It would kill them within a day. That was her mercy. They could finally die. The timer on the canister counted down from five, and the virus released in a hiss. Wren walked away quickly, her pace picking up until she was near the door; then she ran. She clenched her fists as she left the floor, her pulse racing.
The Resistance- The Complete Series Page 73