“Get me Fayle,” Tom barked, and her image emerged on the screen. She looked tired, her skin a pallid eggshell.
“Admiral,” she said.
“Don’t ‘Admiral’ me. What are you doing?” he asked.
“I was leaving. We have important business to attend to,” Fayle said, straight-faced.
“Who are we?”
Someone moved closer from the shadows of the shuttle’s cockpit.
“Jalin?” Tom asked.
“That is correct, Baldwin. You’ve done well, but there are far more moving pieces than you are aware of,” Admiral Benitor said.
The shuttle flew toward the giant replica flagship. “What are you playing at? I’d recommend leaving them alone, unless you want one hell of a headache,” Tom quipped.
Elder Fayle shook her head slowly. “If I do this, you cannot fear my position any longer, understand?”
“Do what?” Rene asked, arms crossed at her chest.
“I’ll take their ship. We’re going to need all the defenses we can get soon, and this is a great asset,” Fayle said.
The hair on Tom’s arms rose up at her words. “Fine. You bring me that ship, and I’ll trust you. But by the end of today, I want to know exactly what’s happening. If you want me to have faith in you… both”—he glanced at Benitor—“I want the same courtesy in return.”
Fayle looked at her peer, who nodded in response. “Very well, Baldwin. You’ve earned that.”
The shuttle was growing closer, and he heard Fayle advise the ship’s captain of who she was, and that she was entering the hangar. It didn’t seem like she was going to face any resistance. “Until we meet in the Vastness,” he whispered, and the screen went dark.
Rene bumped into him gently. “She could be playing both sides.”
“I fully expect her to,” he told her.
“And we’re okay with that?”
“As long as she’s really on ours… yes.” Tom wondered how Fayle could possibly take over the entire ship so easily.
Eighteen
Ven felt uneasy in the red uniform, pretending to be one of the local Invaders. Cleo had been tweaked to match the colorings of Earth’s vessels, and Reeve had done a wonderful job duplicating the ID codes from the Invaders’ fleet. No one had questioned them as the expedition ship landed on the moon.
Not one person had asked them to stop as they walked through security, the Ugna woman at the desk nodding in deference to Ven despite him lacking any sort of rank on his garb. He’d reached out as they’d passed her, but he’d felt nothing but emptiness from her emotions. Either she was dead inside or she was adept at barricading her mood internally.
“I don’t like it,” Brax said, his voice muffled by the mask over his face. He wore a dark hood, and so did Cassandra. There was an atmosphere, allowing them to breathe, as well as a gravitational generator. He’d witnessed them in action a few times over his life, but mostly on video feeds at the Academy. It wasn’t something often used in the Concord.
The entire place was dusty, and he spotted a plume of dirt rising into the air a couple of kilometers to his left. The rover looked to be heading toward the giant crater where the locals were growing food. It was no small feat to develop a lifeless rock like this moon, and he was impressed with the Invaders’ dedication to their mission.
He supposed taking over the human race and turning them into slaves was just the tip of the iceberg for these cousins of his. There weren’t many people out and about, but the few they spotted as they entered the town wore masks and headgear like Brax and Cass, making Ven the only one out of place. His red uniform was a beacon amidst the grays and browns of the landscape, and each human they passed glanced at him, some with trepidation, others with contempt. He couldn’t blame them, not after hearing how oppressed they were as a result of the Invaders.
Cass was a kind soul, a smart woman, and despite the risk and dangers, he was glad to see one of the colonies the humans lived on. He glanced up, admiring the gorgeous blue sphere in the distance. Cass had told them tales of a distant war, a near world-ending event that had left their people in ruin. These were the descendants of those survivors, the ones that hadn’t departed with the initial outgoing group of humans that eventually settled on Earon and became a Founder of the Concord.
It was impressive that they’d managed to survive their plight, and countless years later, it had been taken from them by these Ugna. He wondered if the Invaders were aware of the Concord, or if they were only another piece on High Elder Wylen’s game board.
“Follow me,” Cass told them, guiding their group to the edge of the uneven street. A few drones hovered overhead, and Ven assumed they were security. His gaze caught a larger craft lifting in the distance, and he saw it was hauling a massive hunk of rock under it.
“What’s that?” he asked Cass.
“They use pieces of the moon to build the structures. They’re very proficient. The Invaders are as resourceful as they are repressive.” Cass walked ahead, and Brax trailed after her, his gun concealed beneath his robes.
Ven wore an earpiece, and the message from Constantine came through with some heavy interference. “There’s a vessel approaching. It’s one of the Protectors, and it appears to be sending a lander to the surface.” It was Darl, and he sounded concerned.
Brax would have heard the same communication, and he grunted, waving Ven forward. He leaned in, his voice gravelly. “Ven, we have to hurry. That might be someone coming to check on us. The moment they get a visual on Cleo, they’ll see it’s not one of theirs.”
“Then we hurry,” Ven said, loud enough for Cass to hear him. “Where are they?”
She shook her head. “It’s been four years since I was able to visit. So much has changed.” She scanned the area, her eyes crinkling as she pointed to a building’s peak a kilometer away. “There. That was where my sister worked. She operates on the energy fields, ensuring the solar panels are in order and that the atmospheric pressure remains steady.”
“Smart family,” Brax said, making Cass grin beneath her mask. It reached her eyes.
Ven tensed as they neared the workplace. There were five armed human soldiers stalking around the complex, and Cass raised a hand, motioning for them to hide in the shadows. “This isn’t good. They know we’re here.”
“We need to leave,” Brax suggested.
“We can’t. You promised you’d help extract my family,” she pleaded.
Ven watched the soldiers combing the streets. “I don’t think they are searching for us.”
“What do you mean?” Brax asked.
Ven pointed further down the street. There were more armed humans, moving from a residential apartment block. It was utilitarian, bland stone and few windows. “We just arrived. They seek someone from that direction.”
Brax’s hand instantly reached for his gun, but Ven caught his wrist, stopping him.
“Let’s find out what this is about. It might be a good distraction for our plan.” Ven started forward, staying in the alley between the buildings. He suddenly wished he’d dressed in a mask and robe too, instead of standing out like a flame in the desert. He had an idea. “Follow my lead.”
“You’re not seriously going to walk up to them, are you?” Cass asked.
“I will merely ask what is occurring. You two, sneak off to your sister’s workplace,” Ven advised.
Brax grabbed hold of him by the shoulders. “Stay vigilant.”
“Until we meet in the Vastness,” Ven replied.
Ven stayed where he was while his two counterparts jogged off, and he stepped from the shadows, stepping in the middle of the stone walkway. A soldier instantly recognized Ven’s uniform and assumed he was one of the Invaders.
“Sir, we’ve managed to track them to this quadrant. They stole a rover, and we have reason to believe they killed the Invader sent with it.” The male soldier was tall, standing nearly as high as Ven.
Ven tried not to act surprised. So there was a
fugitive human. It would be a good distraction, although it also meant there were a lot of active soldiers. He needed to divert their attention elsewhere. “These humans. How would they ever manage to defeat one of the Invaders?”
“We haven’t been given that information, sir. But we do know one thing,” the man said, his face contorted in anger.
“What?” Ven asked.
“Dissenters. The group that went missing a decade ago. I guess they were hiding out on Mars, and they’ve returned. But they aren’t going to get very far without a ship.” The guy laughed gruffly as a female soldier arrived. She glanced at Ven nervously and pointed toward the farmland.
“Plant called it in. A group sighted near the crater,” she said.
“Move out, soldiers!” the lead man said. “You coming, sir? I’m sure you have a few questions for them.”
Ven nodded, beginning to follow behind the regiment. He peered at the building Brax had left for and hoped his friend could find Cass’s family, and quickly.
____________
Brandon watched through the window as the soldiers ran by, continuing as they headed for the false lead. Elya breathed a sigh of relief, meeting his gaze. She was older than he’d remembered, but he had been gone an entire decade. He was sure his own face was barely recognizable.
“It worked,” Carl muttered. “Brandon, I’ve tried to reach Kristen and Jun.”
Brandon’s stomach sank. “And?”
“They aren’t responding.”
“They’ve taken over your vessel,” Elya said. “How else did they know to search for you?”
“We took too long!” Brandon slammed a hand against the wall. “How do we solve this?”
Carl glowered. “Better yet, how do we save our friends?”
Shame flushed Brandon. He couldn’t leave Kristen behind. He could only imagine what the Invaders would do to the recently captured human Dissenters.
“You don’t…” Elya averted her eyes, looking to the ground.
“There has to be a way,” Carl said.
“There isn’t.”
Something buzzed in Elya’s pocket and she pulled a tablet free, tapping the screen. “Someone’s at the plant.” The woman smiled widely and pulled her mask over her mouth and nose, rushing for the door.
“Someone?” Brandon asked.
“She’s here… she found Jason.” Elya was a speed racer, darting through the hall and down the stone steps. Brandon chased after her, Carl at his heels, and a minute later, they were pressing through the apartment’s main exit, cautiously scanning around. Elya checked her tablet, which was linked into the surveillance drones. “Coast is clear. Two soldiers.” She pointed through the alley to their left. “We go right.”
“Elya, who is it?” Brandon asked, and she slowed enough for him to hear the answer.
“Cassandra. My sister, and she wants to take me with her.”
Brandon’s mind raced a mile a minute as they crossed the few blocks, ending at Elya’s workplace.
They crept around the corner of an outbuilding, Carl holding a gun as if expecting trouble around every bend.
“Elya,” a voice said, and Brandon relaxed when he spotted Cass.
The sisters embraced, and Brandon noticed the huge man behind the mechanic.
“Hi. I’m Brax, and I’m here to extract you.”
____________
Elder Fayle guided the shuttle through the energy field onto the strange replica vessel. She’d known about the manufacturing facility nearby, Obilina Six, but hadn’t pressed High Elder Wylen on it. She’d tried to bring it up once, and he’d threatened her in the same mild manner he always had. With Wylen it was “blindly do my bidding, or you and everything you love will die.”
For years, she’d obliged, but since arriving at Driun F49, she couldn’t continue on that path any longer. He’d been working on this for ages, as had his predecessors, but Fayle also had her own plans, which involved getting her people to a colony and out of hiding. But now was the time to thwart the next stage of Wylen’s mission.
The Concord could not fall. Instead of being the enemy, Fayle wanted to go in the other direction. To save the Concord from Wylen, while keeping their planet and standing within the Concord. The first step had been convincing Jalin Benitor of her motivations, and that had allowed Shu to be sent to defend Aruto. To ensure they didn’t let Aruto be destroyed as the High Elder wanted, Fayle had to have Baldwin involved.
From the past year, Fayle had been confident Thomas Baldwin was the most capable human she’d ever met. Tom had a skill of making others around him better. Whether he was an officer, captaining his own ship, or hitching a ride on Shu, people stepped up when he was near. It was impressive, and she wished she could have seen him grow up as an Ugna. There were techniques to force it into someone, contrary to what they’d told the Concord, but it was impossible to know who would eventually grow to become great.
Ven Ittix had that potential. She’d seen it in the boy the moment she’d met him so many years ago. He’d never comprehended how high she ranked within the Ugna hierarchy, and Fayle was glad for it. Their village had been one of the most remote and rudimentary, modeled after the old world.
As the shuttle’s engines turned off, Elder Fayle stood, her knees protesting at the action. Her back was beginning to stoop, her neck in a state of perpetual aching. She couldn’t kid herself any longer. Even though the En’or extended their lives, she was far too old to be traipsing around stopping centuries-old diabolic schemes like this.
“Are you ready, Elder?” First Officer Hanli said, offering her arm. This one was astute. She could tell Fayle was suffering and wanted to assist her. That was good, because where they were about to go, Hanli would need to be strong at her side.
“I am always prepared, Hanli. The better question is, are you ready?” Fayle turned to face the young woman, and her eyes flickered with uncertainty. Hanli’s expression changed, her masseter muscles clenching tightly along her jaw.
“I would do anything for my people, Elder Fayle.” She lowered her voice. “I’d do anything for you.”
Fayle patted the back of the woman’s hand three times and moved for the exit. “Then stay close.” She took a deep breath, sealing her eyes shut. This was it. The En’or vials were in her deep pockets one second; the next, they hovered in front of the pair of Ugna women. “Don’t use it yet. We want the element of surprise.”
Hanli nodded, reaching for one of the vials. She tucked it inside her gray jumpsuit and clicked a gun onto her wide black belt.
Admiral Benitor had watched all of this without expression, and she rose finally, staying at least six feet from them. “Take care. To rule absolute is an atrocity, to rule with care is a kingdom that will endure.”
Fayle smiled at the old adage and pursed her lips. It was time to go.
She exited the shuttle first, leaving Hanli to trail behind her. She’d been expecting to be welcomed, but not by the sole captain himself.
“Greetings, Elder,” the Tekol man said.
Fayle grinned in return. “You did well to scare them off. I apologize for intruding during such a battle, but the High Elder thought we might be of assistance.” Emergency lights lit the hangar, one in each corner, casting strange shadows of the captain over the floor.
“It appears you’re right on time. They’ve been more effort than we were told to expect. We had no idea the Concord would be present with one of their flagships.”
I did, Fayle thought. Jalin was the reason Tom had been sent, knowing what they’d be facing. Their relationship had started out rocky, but soon they’d become fast friends, especially after she’d spilled the entire Ugna plan to the head admiral.
Fayle had also managed to utilize someone’s assistance in reprogramming the Nek drive on Constantine. She wished she could have seen Starling’s face when they’d found the Ugna village. Ven was with them, and she knew for a fact he would recognize it.
She’d expected Constantine to us
e the Nek drive to return to Concord space immediately, and it worried her thinking they may have actually traveled to Earth. If they were caught, the Invaders would use them as an example.
“Follow me, Elder.”
“Captain Gunale, how many crew members do you have?” Fayle asked as they walked toward the hangar’s exit.
“Basically a skeleton crew. Twenty-three. As you know, the ship is mostly empty rooms built on the flagship schematics, but only engineering and the weapons systems are built to spec,” Gunale told her.
Twenty-three. That should be simple enough. This man worked for High Elder Wylen, as did so many others, and Fayle couldn’t let herself feel remorse for what they were about to do. This was war. The Ugna could not win. Not with everything at stake. Sacrifice your own kind so that the rest can survive. It was an ancient problem, as old as the cosmos itself.
Fayle smiled at the man, and he turned to press the hangar door open. Fayle gave Hanli the signal, and they each pressed the vials to their skin. The En’or shot in, streaming through their blood. Fayle’s eyes felt like they’d exploded, her fingertips alive again. Her aches melted away, and her cumbersome concerns for life dwindled like flames on a doused fire.
She didn’t need Hanli, not yet.
Fayle floated from the ground, her eyes burning with power. A sickening sound emerged from Captain Gunale’s throat, and he sank to the ground, dead.
“Hide him,” Fayle ordered, and she could see that Hanli was in a similar euphoric state. Normally the death of an Ugna would affect them deeply, but they were one with the Vastness, swimming in the current of the universe.
Gunale’s body lifted as Hanli used her telekinesis to move him to the edge of the room. She opened a locker, shoving the corpse inside. The door closed loudly, and Hanli’s eyes snapped toward Fayle apologetically.
“There are twenty-two more, and we are only two Ugna. Remain vigilant.” Elder Fayle stepped into the hall, her feet landing softly. She had one kill today, and she wished that would be enough.
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