Conspiracy Unleashed

by L. Danvers

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  The slingshot maneuver propelled them right in the line of fire of a guided kinetic cannon, taking out the tail end of the Stellix and spinning the spacecraft right into another of Earth’s fleet.

  “What is the damage, O’Boyle?” Commander Ahmadi called out.

  He examined the holographic three-dimensional layout of the ship hovering above the control panel. “It hit one of our fuel tanks.”

  “How much fuel does that leave us with?”

  “Uh. Let’s see here,” Flynn said. “Based on the levels in the other tank, that leaves us at thirty percent.”

  “That doesn’t sound like much,” Cal said.

  “It is enough, though,” Commander Ahmadi replied. “Shut down the power to any part of the ship that is not essential.”

  Flynn did as he instructed. Commander Ahmadi spun the Stellix around, and on his orders, Flynn deployed the Stellix’s lasers at the Creatian warship, though it had little effect.

  “There has to be a way to get past their deflector shield,” Commander Ahmadi said.

  A blue light shone from Cal’s wristband. There was an incoming call from Sue.

  “Is it ready?” Cal asked. There was no time for niceties.

  “We think so,” Sue replied.

  “Is what ready?” Commander Ahmadi interrupted.

  While Cal went over things with Sue, Flynn told the commander about how Cal had contacted her former co-worker and inquired about a weapon system when much of the world was under the hypnotic control of Caelifera.

  “What do you mean you can’t activate it?” Cal asked, her voice raised over her two comrades.

  “Harold says it will explode within seconds of being activated. By his calculations, based on your location, it will take three seconds too long by the time it reaches that sector.”

  Cal let out a grunt of frustration.

  “There’s another option, though,” Sue added.

  “I’m listening.”

  “We can send it to you, and you can activate it yourself. There should be plenty of time for it to get from your ship to theirs before detonating.”

  “I don’t know how to activate a rad-bomb,” Cal said.

  “We’ll talk you through it.”

  Cal raised her head and caught Commander Ahmadi’s stare. She paused. She could tell by his furrowed brow he was weighing the options. “Commander, what do you think?”

  “Let’s do it. Flynn, turn on the power to the telepad room.”

  “Aren’t you coming with me?” Cal asked the two of them.

  “I need Flynn’s help here to defend the Stellix,” Commander Ahmadi answered. “The last thing we need is to risk getting hit and the weapon detonating before you have time to teleport it.”

  “You can do this,” Flynn said.

  There was a lump in her throat. She looked down at her feet and exhaled. She took a second to compose herself, raised her head and marched out of the main cabin and down the hall to the room which housed the telepad.

  “You there?” Sue asked.

  “Yeah, I’m here. Send it over.”

  A few moments passed, and a small object the size of a shoebox appeared on the telepad base.

  “Do you see it?” Sue asked.

  “Yes, it’s here,” Cal answered, kneeling down to examine the rad-bomb. She was afraid to get too close even though she knew it wasn’t yet activated. “Now, what do I do?”

  “First, get the warship’s coordinates entered into the keypad, but don’t send it yet. Once it’s activated, you’ll have enough time to press the button before it explodes.”

  “And what happens if I don’t press it in time?”

  “Let’s hope that doesn’t happen,” Sue said. “I’m going to put Harold on the line so he can talk you through what to do, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “Hi, Cal. This is Harold. Sue’s told me a lot about you.”

  “I don’t mean to be rude, but can we get to it?”

  “Oh, uh sure. Sorry. You should see four wires sticking up from the top of the box. They’re red, blue, green and yellow.”

  “I see them.”

  “You’re going to want to take the red wire and connect it t—”

  The Stellix shook so hard Cal fell onto the telepad base, which she had been crouching over. There was rattling overhead. The ceiling was crumbling. She ducked and covered her head as large chunks of the Stellix crashed on top of her. She cried out in pain while they hailed upon her back.

  When the dust settled, she crawled out from the rubble. “I’m okay,” she said to Sue and Harold.

  There was no reply.

  Her wristband had shattered into a thousand tiny pieces.

  No problem, Cal thought. I’ll borrow Flynn’s.

  Before she could get to her feet, the Stellix took another hit. Everything went dark. Cal blinked, trying to get her eyes to readjust. The lights flickered on. Then off. Then on again. The ship was losing power, and she was running out of time. She hurled the remaining debris from the telepad base until only the rad-bomb remained. She was going to have to guess which wires to connect.

  The floor quaked. The Stellix had been struck again.

  Red and blue, she thought. No, no. Red and yellow. Wait, no.

  She dug her nails into her scalp. The lights flickered once more.

  She connected the red and green wires, and the rad-bomb ticked. She jumped to her feet. She reached out to press the button to teleport the rad-bomb to the Creatian ship.

  The Stellix shook once more, knocking Cal to the floor and sending another chunk of the ceiling tumbling down. A piece crashed into her right arm before falling to her other side amidst the piling rubble. She heard a crack. She felt a snap. Her right arm was broken, and her left arm was caught under a pile of debris.

  Tick, tick, tick.

  She tried pulling her left arm out, but the debris was too heavy.

  She bit her lip and screamed at the top of her lungs.

  The ticks were getting faster. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.

  Using every ounce of willpower she had, she flung her broken right arm upward and slammed her fist against the keypad.

  Tick, tick, THREE, tick, tick, tick, TWO, tick, tick, tick, tick, ONE.

  The rad-bomb was gone.

  The gold screen projection flashed as Flynn rushed through it. He tossed chunks of the rubble aside as he forced his way to Cal.

  “My arm!” she cried.

  He lifted the heavy piece off her left arm and tossed it to the side. He scooped her up and carried her into the main cabin. The Creatian ship had burst into millions of pieces, an odd sight pitted against the silence of space. Shards hit the main window of the Stellix. The lights aboard the ship flickered.

  “We are at ten percent power,” Commander Ahmadi said. “We need to teleport home while we can.”

  “And leave the ship?” Flynn asked, holding Cal in his arms.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  “Your father and I were so worried. Why didn’t you tell us?”

  “To disappear like that on us,” Howard chimed in, “right after we lost, er, uh, thought we had lost Quinn. How could you do that to us? How is she, anyway? Have you heard anything yet?”

  Cal avoided eye contact while her parents interrogated her. She barely registered a word they were saying anyway. She stared at her red cast, signed by her fellow crewmembers.

  “Cal, aren’t you listening?” Janet prodded.

  “What? Oh, sorry. Uh, you’re right. I should have told you where I was going. I’m sure you can understand why I didn’t tell you anything, though. I wasn’t trying to hurt you. You know what...” She let out a sigh as she looked down at her cast. “Forget it.”

  “What is it?” her mother asked, resting her hand on Cal’s knee, which was covered by a thin white hospital sheet.

  Cal looked to the ceiling, avoiding her mother’s gaze. “I don’t understand,” she said. “I’m here in a hos
pital bed after having saved the necks of, well, everyone on the planet—plus finding Quinn and bringing her home—and you haven’t even asked me how I am, let alone thanked me. Instead you’re sitting here criticizing me.”

  “But—”

  “Did you ever love me?” she asked, looking her mother right in the eye before shifting her gaze over to her father. “Did you even want me? I don’t understand how you can favor one of your daughters so much over the other one.”

  “Of course we love you, Cal,” her father said, arms folded.

  “How could you even ask such a thing?” Janet gasped.

  Cal didn’t bother acknowledging their reactions. She told them she was tired and needed to rest. They said an awkward goodbye and left her alone in the hospital room.

  Her parents didn’t get it. They wouldn’t ever get it. The sooner she accepted that, the happier she would be.

  The door handle squeaked, and there were footsteps. Flynn popped his head out from behind the corner. His expression softened upon seeing her. He held out a bouquet of a colorful assortment of wildflowers, Cal’s favorite, and he walked to her bedside. He placed the bouquet on the windowsill along with the other flowers he had brought for her each of the four days she had been there recovering.

  “Thank you,” she said, and she tilted her chin up as Flynn leaned in for a kiss.

  “How are you feeling? I saw your parents down the hall.”

  Cal let out an uncomfortable laugh.

  “I’m guessing it didn’t go well.”

  Cal shrugged. “Same as always.”

  “Deep down, I do think they love you. I wish they were better at showing it, though.”

  “Me, too.”

  Flynn crawled up onto the bed next to her. She rested her head on his chest.

  “It’s their burden to carry,” he added. “Not yours. I feel bad for them.”

  “Yeah.” Her jaw was clenched, and she had a glazed look in her eye. Flynn picked up that Cal was done talking about her parents. He checked the time on his wristband.

  “Hey. I have a surprise for you.” On cue, there was another knock at the door. “Come in!” Flynn called out.

  The knob squeaked, and Britt stepped out from behind the corner. Flynn stood and greeted her with a hug.

  “Britt,” Cal said, a huge smile plastered across her face.

  “They released me a little while ago,” Britt said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

  “How are you doing?” Cal asked.

  Britt pulled down the collar of her plum-colored turtleneck sweater to reveal the scars across her neck left by Caelifera’s whip. “It’s bad, isn’t it?” she said. “Ugh. I feel so ugly, and I hate myself for feeling that way. I always thought of myself as being above that, but I guess I’m vainer than I thought.”

  “You are not vain, Britt,” Cal said. “Everyone has scars. That’s nothing to be ashamed of. They’re reminders of what we accomplished. Think of it as a badge.”

  “I like that.” Britt smiled.

  Outside the window, the sun peeked through the clouds, filling the hospital room with its light and warmth. Cal thought of how she’d missed the sun and the clouds, and Earth’s one moon and the stars that twinkled in the night. She longed for the days the stars’ secrets were kept hidden, yet at the same time she was grateful for them having been revealed. She was grateful to have found her sister.

  It occurred to her that she hadn’t heard from Commander Ahmadi or Aes in a couple days, so she asked what they were up to.

  “Commander Ahmadi is spending time with his wife and kids,” Flynn said. “It’s his daughter’s seventh birthday. He asked me to send his regards.”

  “And Aes is fast asleep,” Britt said. “He didn’t leave my side while I was in recovery. Aside from when he was interpreting for Iliana, that is. She’s doing much better, by the way. She had been deprived of food for some time. In fact, it’s shocking that she is alive after everything she’s been through.” Cal scrunched her eyebrows. Britt leaned in closer, like she was about to let her in on a secret. “Do you remember when we were on Creatius and Aes was telling us about the Moon Sisters?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Remember how he spoke of a prophecy of a child? From what Iliana has told us, Caelifera believed her to be the child that was prophesized. She was so fearful of being overthrown by her daughter that she sought to have her killed. She tried poison, beatings and weapons. Somehow, Iliana was immune. Sure, they’d take their toll on her, but none would finish her off. Caelifera wasn’t looking for a cure for her sick child. She was searching for something that could kill her.”

  “Oh my God.”

  “I know. It’s terrible. She was searching for a disease Iliana wouldn’t be immune to. That’s why she was harvesting bodies. Nothing could touch her, though. So Caelifera kept Iliana trapped in that room for years without food or water. But she lived. She lived. Can you believe that?”

  “That’s insane.”

  “No kidding. After being pumped with fluids, getting fed and getting some rest, she is feeling much better. Once she’s well, she plans to return to Creatius and restore order.”

  “Wow,” Cal said. “That’s amazing.”

  Britt leaned over and gave Cal a hug. “I’m sorry I have to run, but I have a lot of work to do if I’m going to help figure out how to reanimate Caelifera’s victims.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  “It’s ready,” Britt said coolly. “I think you should be here for this.”

  “I’m on my way.” Cal ended the call and slid her arms through the sleeves of her jacket while Flynn held the door open.

  They stood on the sidewalk, getting pounded by heavy sheets of rain while Flynn hailed a hovercab. Flynn held the door open for her as she climbed inside the backseat and scooted over so he could fit. She wiped her wet hair away from her forehead and rested her head against the seat. Her skin crawled and her heart felt like it kept skipping a beat. The more she tried to ignore the peculiar sensations, the more aware of them she became.

  She had no reason to be nervous, she told herself. This was a good thing. Quinn waking up was a good thing. Nevertheless, she couldn’t shake these weird feelings.

  “Exciting day, isn’t it?” Flynn asked.

  “Uh huh,” Cal replied, managing to curl her lips into a smile while the rest of her face remained void of expression.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” She shrugged. “I’m anxious to see my sister, I guess.”

  It felt like the hovercab flew in slow motion while they soared high above the street, eye level with Level 5. Cal passed the time by trying to catch glimpses inside people’s windows. It amazed her how much a difference there was between the lavish homes on Level 5 and her childhood home at 19 Cambridge Place, Level 2.

  Some of the homes had knobs and knockers made of glimmering gold. Behind the glass windows of others, there were luxurious draperies worth more than her own life. Through an open window, she spotted an elderly couple slow dancing, and in the home next door, there was a young couple in the middle of a heated screaming match. She wondered what anyone living on Level 5 could have to fight about.

  How wonderful it would be to live in a place like that, she thought. Of course, money didn’t solve people's problems. In fact, it magnified them, or at least allowed them to be manifested in different ways. Everyone had their own struggles, but Cal would have much preferred struggling in a fancy home than in her parents’ humble place.

  Thinking about her parents’ place got her thinking about her parents and how she hadn’t spoken to them since the last time they came to visit her in the hospital. Flynn had encouraged her to talk to them. He said the longer she waited, the more awkward things would get, but she wasn’t ready.

  She knew she was worthy of love. She didn’t understand why her parents were so willing to shower Quinn with affection, but not her. But that was okay. Because she had Flynn. And Britt. And Commander Ahmadi and Aes.
They may not be related by blood, and in Aes’s case he wasn’t even the same species. But that didn’t matter. They were family—more family to her than her own parents had ever been. They loved her despite, even because of her flaws. And she loved them the same.

  And soon, she would get her sister back. She would be able to apologize for their stupid fight and tell her how much Quinn meant to her. She hoped Quinn would find it in her heart to forgive her.

  Her seatbelt caught her as her body jerked forward, and the hovercab came to an abrupt halt. Flynn scanned his credittat to pay the fare, and they hopped out and stepped onto the sidewalk leading up to Pierce’s estate.

  Thousands of thin green lasers scanned their bodies as Cal and Flynn stood on the front porch. The knob turned, and Agent Taylor was on the other side of the door. She greeted them both with firm handshakes and a cautious smile. “It’s good to see you. Come, follow me. I’ll take you downstairs.”

  There was a comforting familiarity that Cal embraced as she strode down the hall with Flynn and Agent Taylor by her side. This was where it began. There was a warm feeling in Cal’s chest. This place felt like home.

  The three of them stood in silence as they took the elevator to the lowest level of the estate. The room which had once housed the underwater simulations was now home to hundreds of capsules positioned so that the victim’s bodies were horizontal. Cal’s chest tightened as she caught glimpses of the victims’ frozen, blue-tinted faces. Flynn squeezed her shoulder.

  “I didn’t hear you come in,” Britt said, standing up from where she’d been crouching by the capsules a few rows over. She walked at a brisk pace to meet them. “Agent Taylor, would you mind letting Commander Ahmadi and Aes know they’re here?”

  “Of course.”

  Britt gave Cal a hug, and Cal gave her a big squeeze back.

  “I can’t imagine what you must be feeling,” Britt said with a sympathetic look in her eyes.

  It was strange seeing Britt in a white coat. She looked so professional and authoritative. Cal noticed, too, that Britt wasn’t hiding her scars. They were visible, peeking out above her collar.