“Captain, this is the bridge.” Ven’s voice entered his earpiece.
“Go ahead,” Tom said.
His elation was short-lived. “Tubers on the way. Twenty of them.”
“From the warships?” Tom asked.
“Yes, sir. Estimated time of arrival is thirty-seven minutes,” Ven said.
Tom clenched his jaw. “If they arrive, you blast them into the Vastness, do you hear me?”
“Yes, sir.”
Constantine was looking through video feeds from around the ship, and Tom saw something in the corner of his eye. “Con, what was that?”
The AI scrolled back, and there it was again. “I think that’s the Bacal boy Tarlen, sir.”
Tarlen was underneath the warship. “Here’s as good a time as ever to test that Mover, Reeve.”
She smiled at him and fired it up. He watched as the lines on the screen before her glowed green, the device powering up.
Constantine loomed over her shoulder, giving her suggestions. “Make sure you have the destination set, and activate.”
When the lights flashed, Reeve tapped the screen, and Constantine switched the feed to Deck Sixty. Tarlen and a girl appeared, and from the looks of things, they were whole. It was a good start.
“Reeve, we’re good to go. All that’s left for us is gathering the hiding Bacal and flying away from this planet,” Tom said.
The entire warship vibrated slightly as his chief engineer controlled the vessel, lifting it away from its docking position.
Tom grinned. They were really going to pull this off, and with all the ore the Statu had been so desperate to gather. Without it, their enemy wouldn’t be able to create huge and powerful wormholes. The battle would be over before it began, and the rest of the Concord would remain clueless to the entire series of events that had almost led to an all-out second Concord War with the Statu.
He left the AI and Reeve on the bridge, and hurried up to Deck Sixty, where he found a bewildered Tarlen.
“Captain Baldwin, I’m sorry for running off like that…”
“I can see the resemblance,” Tom told the boy. The girl beside him was pretty, with bushy dark eyebrows like Tarlen’s; long hair like his was clumped in greasy strands, and her posture was straight, her eyes pale, the iris color wiped from them. There was a line of drool dripping from the left corner of her lips, and Tarlen leaned over, wiping it with his sleeve.
“We’ll be able to help her. I know Doctor Nee can,” Tarlen said, but even his words were without conviction.
“Be cautious around her, son. She’s not the same girl you knew. Not any longer,” Tom told him, and led them from the open room toward the lift. It smelled like penned animals inside the space, and Tom guessed this was one of the areas the Bacal were transported to this planet in. The walls were grimy; moisture dripped from the rusty ceiling.
“Let’s head to the hangar. We have some work to do,” Tom said, putting his arm over Tarlen’s shoulders. The sister walked behind them, each step slow and methodical. He kept his eye on her as they emerged from the room and onto the lift taking them to the hangar bay.
Tom peered at the Tuber sitting quietly across the floor and saw how much bigger the enemy ship was than their expedition vessel. It was twice as high and longer by half. Cleo sat waiting, the door still open, and Tom rushed on board, hopping into the pilot’s seat.
He activated the ship with the press of a few keys, and eased it from the hangar, seeing the warship was nearly in position over the hiding spot in the underground city. The entire region was torn up; bodies and pieces of Statu armor were burning in the aftermath of the fighter attack.
“What a waste,” Tom whispered to himself.
Tarlen stared out the viewscreen with a blank look on his face. He’d been down there. Those were his people, and Tom was positive the boy would never be the same after this experience. None of the survivors would.
Tom had a few moving pieces to attend, and he glanced to the dark skies directly above him. The Tubers were still a distance away, and he was confident that Constantine and Cecilia would take care of those enemy vessels before they broke atmosphere.
It was quiet. A few fighters made their rounds, ensuring any trace of enemy was extinguished, and six were parked on the ground near the city entrance. That was where Tom led Cleo.
“There weren’t many Statu here. Why?” Tarlen asked, and Tom glanced over to see his sister standing as she faced the wall near the ship’s exit hatch.
“In my opinion, they were too arrogant. They spent the last five decades gathering enough material to stabilize a wormhole to accommodate their fleet to travel through it, but that wasn’t all they wanted,” Tom said.
“The ore from Greblok,” Tarlen said.
“That’s right.”
“How did they know about it? We barely did,” Tarlen said.
Tom maneuvered the expedition ship to settle near the city entrance, and already a rush of Bacal were emerging into the rain. “I imagine your Regent knew for some time, as did our Concord. I think there’s been a leak in the Concord, one that’s been there for decades.”
“That means…”
“That’s right. It’s time for a regime change,” Tom said, unsure why he was telling the Bacal boy so much information.
They exited the ship, and Tom barked orders. Tarlen led his white-eyed sister from the ship and shouted into the crowd, “Penter! You made it!”
The Bacal man that Tom had briefly seen when Brax had been taken was there, limping slightly, a bandage covering a head wound. “I’m fine, kid. Glad to see you did too.” He looked at Belna with a frown. “Is this…?”
Tarlen nodded, and Tom left them to it, stepping aside. Lieutenant Basker was near one of the grounded fighters, and he waved Thomas Baldwin over. “Sir, we have half of them out, and as you can tell, the warship is nearly in position.”
Tom’s gaze fell on the monstrosity, and he prayed to the Vastness that this worked. “Keep it up. We’ll have company very soon.”
“Understood. Once the Mover picks the Bacal up, we’ll escort the warship into space,” Basker said. “Sir, I’m sorry about your ship.”
Tom ran a hand through his wet hair, the rain falling incessantly. “At least I’m alive. I might have been a little rusty.”
“Better planetside than in space, sir.”
Tom grinned and clapped Basker on the shoulder. “Touché.”
They watched as the warship arrived, and the few Concord crew members struggled to keep the Bacal people together. It was clear they were frightened of the vessel and didn’t want to be returned to it.
Tom spotted Tarlen walking through the crowds, his sister in tow, talking among his people, calming them as he went.
They were almost done. Then they could leave, pass through the wormhole, and never look back.
Tom’s gaze settled on the enemy ship, and he shivered.
____________
Brax moved through the decks, one by one, with Starling at his side. He still couldn’t believe she wasn’t human. He’d thought something was off about her, but this was next level. There were different versions of controlled android bodies out there, but the Concord was quite strict when it came to their uses. For them to have given one a commander role was shocking, but now wasn’t the time to quiz Starling on it.
They’d moved through half the decks and had found a total of four Statu so far. They’d managed to kill each of them before being attacked. It seemed the Statu were aware they’d been taken over, but Brax wasn’t going to give them enough time to gather a resistance.
“You okay, Starling?” he asked the woman. She hadn’t said two words in the last ten minutes.
“I’m fine. It’s… that room of Bacal… we killed them.”
“We had no choice. They were brainwashed, wearing Statu armor. They fired on us,” Brax told her, but it did little to ease his own guilt. An old Code saying entered his mind: The universe isn’t always black and white;
sometimes it’s red.
“That doesn’t make it right… let’s get this over with.” Treena moved ahead, clearing the room.
Brax led her into the next deck and recognized the room when they lowered into it. “This is where I was held.” The notches in the walls, the mismatched ceiling panels he’d counted before falling asleep. He struggled to step inside, and Treena seemed to understand.
“I’ll take this one,” she said, walking into the open space. It stank of fear and death. The bodies they’d piled in the corner of the room were revolting, and Brax jammed his eyes closed at the sight.
The warship jarred, sending Brax stumbling forward. He saw the form along the wall before he could shout out, and it fired at Treena, striking her in the leg. She moved faster than humanly possible and returned fire, shooting the unarmored Statu five times. He smoked and sizzled as he slid down the wall, falling with a thud.
“You hurt?” Brax asked, rushing to her side.
Her leg was singed, but she was able to walk on it. She grinned at him and patted her wound. “One of the many advantages of being on board Constantine right now.”
“Where… never mind. I think the ship rocking means Reeve is in position. Let’s keep moving,” Brax said, and they continued on their sweep of the ship.
____________
Tom watched as the giant Mover plucked people from their groups of one hundred. Each section took around a minute; Constantine and Reeve Daak were using that time to relocate the destination for each group they were beaming aboard the warship. This was amazing technology, and the Concord was going to be thrilled to obtain it.
The rain slowed, the clouds thinning slightly as it passed by the area. Tom walked around the gathered Bacal, many of them finally feeling like they might make it home. There were reunions, tears, and smiles among the hijacked race. Tom was confident now that they’d return to Greblok, but they’d have a hard life rebuilding. He’d try to ensure the Concord did everything possible to assist the rebuild, but as it stood, he’d wait to see what the Concord was going to look like when everything came to light.
Tom nearly tripped on uneven rubble from the fighter’s destruction of the Bacal slaves, and he pushed aside his disgust at what they’d had to do. This was war, and war was never fair.
“Captain, we’re moving the last five groups. Are you going to join the last one?” Basker asked him.
Tom shook his head. “I’ll take Cleo.”
“Captain Baldwin,” a voice said into his earpiece.
“Go ahead, Starling.”
“Wait for me. I’m coming with you,” Starling said. “We’ve cleared each deck. Killed another twenty-three. That’s it.”
Tom was shocked at how few of the Statu were on the warship or planetside, but with the fleet arriving soon, there’d be plenty more if they didn’t hurry. “Very well. Meet me at Cleo. Where’s Brax?”
“He’s with Reeve on the bridge. He’s staying with her,” Treena said through his communicator.
Tom smiled at Basker as the man began climbing into his fighter. The rest of the pilots were already in the air, circling the warship, and Tom entered his expedition ship. “Constantine,” he said, forgetting that the Link needed to bring the AI on board was with Reeve on the bridge of the enemy vessel.
The last group of Bacal stood waiting on the ground when Tom heard a message from Ven come through. “Sir, we thought we had them all. It appears a single Tuber evaded us. It’s heading for you now.”
Basker was inside his ship, and Tom waved toward him, pointing at the speck in the sky moving with purpose. He tapped his earpiece. “Concord Fighters, this is Captain Baldwin. There’s a rogue Tuber bearing down on us as we speak. Do not let it…”
The blasts shook the ground, and Tom watched as half of the Bacal group was incinerated just as the Mover beam spread over them. The deceased were taken onto the warship along with the living, and seconds later, two fighters approached the coming Tuber in a dogfight.
Even from the ground, Tom sensed the Tuber didn’t want to engage. It did everything in its power to evade them. “It wants to hit the warship…” Realization struck Tom, and he reached out to Reeve as he connected with her. “Daak, time to scram. The Tuber’s coming for you.”
The warship responded instantly, the hot thrusters pushing out hard from below, pulverizing the ground. The field was bereft of life now, Tom the only one still grounded. Treena Starling ran toward Cleo from the warship, her uniform barely clinging to her android body. He could tell she’d been through a lot and had multiple scorch marks. As she approached, he saw her left eye was useless, half her hair peeled away from her head.
“Nothing a little make-up won’t solve.” Treena dusted herself off and grinned at him as she hopped into the ship. “I have a feeling you’re going to need me, Captain.”
Tom wasn’t one to argue with his commander’s gut and shut the door, climbing into the pilot’s seat.
The Tuber continued avoiding hits from the entire regiment of pilots, and Tom lifted Cleo, seeing the Tuber flying closer and closer to the warship.
“This isn’t good,” Tom whispered.
____________
Brax’s hands shook as he powered up the Tuber inside the hangar. “You can do this, you can do this.” He muttered his new mantra to himself as he directed the cylindrical ship from the bay. Reeve and Constantine hadn’t had time to learn the warship’s weapon system, and that left one vessel that could help.
The Tuber exited the giant vessel the Bacal people occupied, and he spotted the enemy nearing them. Part of him hoped the Tuber would see one of its own vessels and it would startle the pilot, leaving room for error. Whoever was piloting the thing had already evaded two Concord cruise ships and some great fighter pilots.
Brax wasn’t one of those, but he had something else working for him. Unpredictability.
He kicked the thrusters harder, moving directly for the Tuber. His alien consoles beeped and flashed, probably warning him of impact, but he stayed the course, tapping at buttons and flicking switches. One had to be a blaster of some kind.
Blue energy flicked around his viewscreen and shot out, striking the Tuber precisely before impact. The enemy ship died suddenly, the engines cutting off entirely. It continued to move toward him before gravity took over and the Tuber began its descent.
Brax let out a whoop and pumped his fist in the air, looping the cylinder around clumsily. The warship was already pushing out of the atmosphere, and Brax saw two fighters dropping artillery on the downed Tuber, causing it to explode.
Brax screamed happily, almost forgetting he needed to follow his people off-planet. Pulling the yoke, he pressed the thrusters, trailing after the warship. When ten fighters pulled up to surround him, he hoped someone had informed them Constantine’s chief of security was piloting it, not a rogue Statu.
Twenty-Six
They’d done it. The warship passed by Cecilia, and Tom beamed with pride at the efforts of his people, his crew. They’d been thrown together by a corrupt leadership, but Tom couldn’t have selected a better bunch if it had been his call.
The last of the fighters were arriving behind the Statu vessel piloted by Reeve Daak, and Tom smiled as the Tuber joined the group. He hadn’t had much time with Brax Daak so far, but anyone that could hop into a Tuber after clearing a warship of Statu was someone he wanted at his side.
Treena tapped away at the consoles and spoke animatedly. “Sir, the warships are close. We need to run, now.”
“Bridge to Cleo,” Ven’s voice said. “Welcome home. The dock has been prepared.”
“Thank you, Ven.” Tom guided their expedition vessel toward Constantine. After staring at the warship for the better part of an hour, the sight of his sleek state-of-the-art vessel warmed his blood. It truly was like he was coming home.
“They should be within firing range in five minutes, sir,” Treena told him.
Cleo settled on top of his ship, clicking into place easily. He
let out a sigh of relief as they exited the smaller ship and raced down the steps to the bridge below. Zare let out a scream at the sight of Treena, and Tom cringed. It appeared they’d both forgotten what a terrible condition she was in.
“I guess the Booli is out of the sack,” Treena said quietly, taking her position beside Tom’s captain’s chair.
“Bridge, thank you for your diligent work. We’re up against something huge here and have to leave now,” Tom ordered.
Ven turned in his seat. “Captain, we’re advanced, and from all the reports, the Statu haven’t added any high-tech weaponry in the last fifty years.”
“Be that as it may, we’re better off leaving them. They still have six warships about to intercept us,” Tom said.
“What about the wormhole?” Treena asked. “Won’t they just follow us?”
“I hope so… some of them, anyway,” Tom mumbled.
“What? Why?” Treena gripped the arms of the chair, and Tom thought she might tear them off the frame.
He leaned closer to her, fighting the urge to break his stare at her disfigured robotic face. “Because we’re going to destabilize it with them inside.” The hair on the back of his hands stood on end as he said it out loud.
Treena smiled. The effect was alarming.
Ven guided the ship away from the planet, and Tom saw it shrinking from the rearview corner of the viewer.
“Ven, we’ll be right back. Stay the course. Make it to the wormhole.” Tom stood, motioning for Treena to join him.
____________
Treena accepted the stares as they walked from the bridge and onto the elevator, before entering the private room near the hangar where the Statu guests were waiting inside. She was aware of her appearance, and at this point, was over worrying about it.
Doctor Nee rose as they entered, and he smiled at them. “Captain, Commander, so good to see you both.” His yellow eyes bored into her.
Baldwin's Legacy: The Complete Series Page 28