by Matt Verish
Harper arched an eyebrow. “And what do you think my allowing you aboard this space station was? Your improbable return was impressive. Before you signed your death warrant in failing to murder me, I had considered extending to you an invitation. The same Commander Emmerich, wisely accepted.”
Cole scratched his nose with a blunt finger. “What, like, to a wedding?”
Harper’s scowled deepened.
“Nah, that’s okay, Mom. I’ve seen the sort of men you court, and I think I’ll pass on that shitshow.” He made an apologetic face. “Besides, I didn’t come here to catch up on old times. I already did that back on planet no-name. Thankfully, you erased all traces of that encounter from my memory.” He gestured the butt of his rifle at Emmerich. “I came here to relieve your commander of her duty.”
Harper stopped her advance, her brow creased. She waved Emmerich to her side. “Did you, now?”
Cole nodded, feigning impatience. “Someone’s gotta keep me in line and co-pilot my ship. What’s she gonna do here with you? Watch you prove me right?” He sighed and turned. “C’mon, Chrys. We’re done here.”
“That’s where you’re right, Cole,” Harper said, her tone dark. “Commander. I order you to kill my son.”
Uh oh... Cole tried not to turn around too quickly for fear of breaking character. Emmerich appeared conflicted with the order, though she was making her way over to him. Knocking her out, slinging her over his shoulder, and making a break for it did not seem a viable option. Talking her over to his side might fare slightly better, but there was still his mother to contend with. And if a supercharged plastol shot to her brain could not stop her, what would? There’s always option B, but no one’s going to like that one. Especially me.
“We can take her, Chrys,” Cole began, moving in the opposite direction. “You and me. Your back’s already turned to her. Just make it official.”
“Shut your mouth, Musgrave,” Emmerich snapped. “There’s no more ‘us’.”
“Well, we never were an item in that sense,” Cole said, eyeing the Colossus collider behind Harper’s statuesque form. “I was thinking more like a tag-team effort. No, that came out wrong. Lin wouldn’t approve.”
“You can’t talk yourself out of this,” Chrys said, closing the gap. “You’re a reckless liability, and you have no ambition other than to survive. What is happening on this station is more important than running away.”
“That’s if you believe something important is actually transpiring on this donut. What you want is not what she wants.” He gestured his rifle at Harper. His magboots and the space suit were cumbersome, hindering his evasion. He had seconds before she was finally upon him. “But you already know that. Don’t you.”
Emmerich’s expression intensified. Though his comment had been a shot in the dark, Cole knew he had touched a nerve. He doubled down on the approach.
“She’s raised the stakes. We both heard it. It’s what she does—what she’s always done.”
Emmerich slowed her advance, and Cole took advantage of her hesitation. “Sure, she claims to be saving humanity from the likes of this place—This ‘Fog’ nonsense. But as you just learned, stopping the evil empire isn’t enough. CAIN revealed the purpose of this station and showed me the names of the dead—those she butchered—all in the name of peace.
“Terracom’s all but finished, and now she wants to foist upon the System her delusional iron fist? Alter us to be more like her? Exact some pointless revenge? Why? It’s all moot now that she’s foiled a plan she never fully understood. There never was any mind control.”
The pending silence was palpable.
“Commander?”
Cole scowled at Harper. “Ignore her,” he barked at Emmerich. “You’re not in Starforce anymore. She’s not your superior. There are no more orders to be given. You’re a free woman. Forget everything she’s told you, and think about this mess. Had there actually been any mind control, how would she have ever had the notion to seek this place out? Why would Terracom have ever let anyone see through their veil of domination if secrecy was their aim? Think!”
Emmerich’s clenched hands were trembling, her gaze upon the floor. “Why did you abandon us?”
Cole shook his head, confused. “What?”
“You boarded that vessel without a word as to your intentions,” Emmerich said, looking up.” You just left us there to fend for ourselves.”
Deserved or not, Cole felt both guilt and regret. “I did notify everyone before I left. No, it wasn’t my brightest idea to leave, but the cause was unexplainable.”
Emmerich was shaking her head. “None of us received any confirmation.”
“Our communication was disrupted,” Cole returned. “Chrys, we were suddenly in another universe on the Daedalus. And to make matters more bizarre, a mysterious ship had just located us—one with was connection to my mother, in case you forgot. Who knows what sort of interference it—she—caused.”
Emmerich continued to shake her head. His reason was not reaching her. He held out a pleading hand. “What do you want from me?”
The question was apparently the one for which Emmerich had been waiting. “I want you reap the consequences of your reckless behavior. You’re a danger to all those around you, and everywhere you travel, you leave a trail of destruction in your wake.”
Cole let his arm drop to his side. And the vicious circle continues. “So that’s what this is all about. Your distrust in my leadership.”
Emmerich did not a nod or reply; she only stared.
“If you’re looking for an apology for the way I’ve handled my captainship, then you won’t get one from me. Not now. Not ever.”
“You stubborn son of a bitch.”
“Yes!” Cole shouted back. “I am stubborn, and my mother is a bitch.” He stared her down, not willing to bend over this issue, no matter the consequences that would certainly follow. “I’m a selfish, arrogant, foul-mouthed, unpredictable, ex-Military colonel, and I haven’t the slightest clue as to what I’m doing!” He slammed the butt of his rifle on the floor in a fit of rage. “And despite my glaringly obvious shortcomings, you and the others continued to follow my lead. Should I blame you for stroking my ego?”
“Stop it.”
“You don’t know what you want, do you? How can you just stand there, throwing accusations my way, when you’re every bit as guilty as I am for all that’s happened since you drew me into this twisted game.”
“Shut up!”
“That’s right, you’re responsible for me, and I’m really starting to question my sanity coming back here to save you. I should’ve dropped you into the abyss when I had the chance. Save you... ‘Save you’ from what? You sure seem content to defend your precious admiral, on whom you turned your back a lifetime ago. Well, go ahead! Kill me!” He slapped his chest. “Murder the one and only person who gives a shit about your pathetic existence. Do it! Then join her side and rule the galaxy from the inside of a lie.”
A deafening siren sounded at the conclusion of Cole’s rant, and he seized the opportunity to strike. He lunged forward and drove the butt of his rifle into Emmerich’s face and waited for her to drop. He flipped the weapon so it was barrel-first to unleash his attack, only Emmerich did not drop. She grabbed the end of the rifle before he could get a clear shot. Momentum and instinct fell out of sync, and he opened fire before he could stop himself.
...and blasted a hole through Emmerich’s chest.
Their gazes met, both in shock, but it was Cole who continued to hold the connection, watching as the life bled out of her eyes. Her hand slipped from the rifle, and he failed to catch her. Everything forgotten, he clutched her close, knowing there was nothing to be done but watch her die.
“Chrys? Chrys?” He shook her, feeling a slickness collect on his arm and around her back. “I didn’t... This...” Words would not string together properly. A dizzying buzz was throbbing in his head.
Emmerich’s lower lip quivered, and her body shud
dered violently. Her eyes opened wide as she gulped the air and clawed at his space suit. When she exhaled, so, too went her life.
Cole laid her down and stared, terrified, into her empty eyes—eyes bereft of the anger he’d grown accustomed to seeing.
As he collected his rifle, a powerful force grabbed him from behind. His feet left the ground, and the world around him blurred as he soared across the reactor room. He slapped closed his solar shield barely a second before he crashed head-first into a wall. The suit’s helmet saved his neck from snapping, though it would not save him from Harper’s wrath.
Cole was slow to rise, aware that his rifle was at his mother’s feet. She picked it up, and he knew his end was at hand. She didn’t fire the weapon, but she did use it—just not as he anticipated.
Harper struck with a speed against which he could not defend, driving the rifle’s stock into his gut. He collapsed to his knees, convinced that even with his suit’s protection, all his internal organs had burst. She grabbed him by the base of his helmet and dragged him across the floor.
“Did you really believe stalling for time would allow your AI the opportunity to override my hold on this station?” Harper asked as she pulled him along. “That foolishness, along with luring Jaworski to your cause, were the best solutions you could come up with to defeat me?”
Huh. I wonder if I should tell her they’re both one in the same, Cole thought. He opened his mouth to spew the first bit of nonsense that came to mind, but only blood came out, spattering the inside of his helmet.
Harper slammed him into a sitting position and with her vice-like hands, directed his head toward Lin’s collider with vice-like hands. Without provocation, his Ocunet VR activated, and a live shot video feed of the Daedalus appeared. The decrepit warship had undocked from the station and was navigating the debris field. CAIN was aboard, preparing to receive the Icarus and her crew. Cole knew that would never happen.
Dozens of nukes descended upon the unsuspecting Daedalus, though only a few of them were needed to disintegrate the infamous battlecrusier. The rest of the missiles exploded within range of the scattering pieces, in what Cole assumed was his mother’s way of making sure her old vessel was decommissioned for good.
It was a silent, horrifically surreal experience for Cole—one that he wasn’t certain he believed, despite the obvious footage.
“I. Am. In. Command.”
Cole was too grief-stricken to acknowledge his mother’s statement. He would have rather she tore off his head than forcing him to witness his friend’s demise.
“Despite what you believe, Cole,” she continued in her authoritative voice, “my intentions have not strayed far from the original goal. Terracom may have suffered a fatal blow, but there will always be another corrupt faction just like them. I will be waiting.” She pointed to the collider. “This tool will bring the people of the United System into the new age—unite us all under one collective mind. Mine.”
What is she blabbering about? Cole thought. How does that even make sense?
“Kingston Dartmouth created the collider, and his daughter assisted by amplifying the device, which will project an energy burst clear across the System. Unfortunately for you, you won’t be receiving the benefits of their work.”
“I think you got that last part backwards,” Cole grumbled. “You’ll be doing me a big favor by committing filicide. I’m better off going out as one hundred percent prime beef.”
Harper let go his shoulder and stepped around to crouch in front of him. Rather than the madness he had expected to see, he discovered a familiar look of motherly disappointment.
“You were the greatest mistake of my professional career,” she said in a gentle tone he had not known she possessed. “You have your late father, Connor, to thank for your short, miserable existence. While we continued to meet in secret, he often threatened to expose my relationship with him if I went through with terminating the pregnancy. I had no choice but to heed him.” She gestured toward Cole. “Here you are.”
Cole wondered if he was hallucinating hearing his mother reminisce about her forbidden lover. He never did get a straight answer as to why someone of her ilk would fraternize with a man of complete opposite upbringing.
“I despised him for blackmailing me and stonewalling my chance at advancement,” Harper continued. “In spite of it all, I lusted after that man. Seems he always had a way of—”
“Making a complete ass of you?” Cole interrupted. And before he could stop himself, he finished with, “I mean, wow! He must’ve been one hell of a lady’s man for you to throw away your chances at becoming Fleet Admiral.” He cringed and reached both hands behind his back to unhook two items. Maybe she’s right about me being a disappointment.
All hints of pleasantry vanished from Harper’s face, and the steely glare returned. “Insolent to the end. Are you prepared to die?”
Cole sighed long and loud. “Don’t worry, Mom. I came prepared.” He reached forward and adhered two small explosives to either side of her rib cage. Even as she turned her curious regard to the affixed items, Cole was engaging his suit’s arm and leg thrusters, rocketing away from his mother and across the floor like a stone skipped across a pond. He detonated the explosives well before he should have—before Harper could remove them.
The force of the blast felt like a hundred Harper-wielded rifles pummeling his body all at once, sending him tumbling through the reactor room. The explosion itself was small and contained, though it was loud enough to penetrate the helmet and leave a ringing in his ears. He deactivated the thrusters as the edges of his vision dimmed. He lay in an awkward heap, staring up at the ceiling, watching as the dark tunnel continued to swallow his vision. Breathing hurt, let alone trying to move a single digit on his hand. Fortunately, Ocunet required only his thoughts and eye movements to activate. He permitted outside access for the others waiting back on the Icarus, knowing it was an invitation for emotional drama.
Lin was immediately in his ear, panicked from having witnessed everything that he had experienced. He smiled at her concern. “Hey, Doc.”
“Cole, you have to get back to the ship. UniSys has arrived.”
Unable to move, Cole replied with, “Thinking I might take a nap.”
Lin’s expression changed to one of horror. “What? No... Cole, you have to stay with me. We’re in grave danger.”
Both her voice and visage were becoming fuzzy. Or perhaps it had something to do with the figure looming just beyond Lin’s translucent, AR face. He could’ve sworn the engineer had taken on his mother’s features. He switched off his Ocunet and stared up at Harper’s ruined form.
The admiral was a charred and bloody mess, though she was still very much alive. Her left arm was gone at the elbow, smoke still wafting from the smoldering stump. Nearly all of her hair had been singed away, and the bottom of her jaw up to her ears was melted, revealing the bone beneath. Parts of her torso were missing, leaving little more than half her ribs and exposed spine and pelvis.
It was impossible to tell if any organs had survived, though plainly it didn’t matter. Already her upgraded body was repairing the damage. Like an internal 3D organic printer, bone, sinew, and flesh were quickly reforming overtop of destroyed matter.
Cole watched in fascination, the spectacle keeping him from drifting off or considering the massacre to come. Harper’s attention, however, had drifted from his defenseless form, to staring out at nothing in particular.
Then he recalled what Lin had said prior to him switching her off. UniSys has arrived....
Opening all communication frequencies, Cole locked in on an incoming transmission from just outside the station. He opened it in time to hear a bone-chilling statement from a familiar voice: Admiral Arturo Preston.
“...lack of response has been noted. Your assault upon and destruction of the USS Daedalus has been deemed an act of war, and you have left us with no choice but to open fire. Prepare yourselves.”
The eyes of mothe
r and son met, and for the first time in their tumultuous relationship, they shared a singular emotion: fear. Cole watched Harper make for the collider. The mysterious project known as the “Cosmic Particle” began to hum, a deep thrumming vibration he felt through the floor. Of all the thoughts he could have at that moment, only one manifested. I guess my limited future will benefit from the energy blast.
The first assault began, sounding distant and insignificant. But the longer Cole lay there, he began to realize that something was wrong. The collider was struggling. He was no expert in the field of particle physics, but something inside his head told him that whatever Lin had done to the her father’s brainchild, it was not what his mother had asked.
Then it hit him. Lin made a bomb.
Terror had a way of tapping reserves of adrenaline thought to be absent. Cole drank deep of the hormone and allowed it to numb his pain and give him the strength to sit up.
And face the wrath of his approaching mother.
“You did this!” she shrieked, murder blazing in her alien eyes.
Cole might’ve been able to summon the energy to stand, but running was not an option. Neither was crawling, which was about the only thing he could do. So he sat and watched the surreal scene slowly unfold before him.
His grotesque mother reached out to grab at his face, but her skeletal hand never acquired its target.
“Chrys....”
The former inspector had risen from the dead and wrapped her powerful arms around Harper’s regenerating form. She held his mother at bay with unnatural strength, pulling her away from him and closer to the collider. He saw her lips move, and her voice came through loud and clear in his comm. She only said one word.
“Go.”
Needing no further prompting, Cole fought his way his feet. Not only did his body object, but by the increasing sounds and vibrations, Starforce’s assault was eradicating the station.
As he made his way to where the Icarus was waiting, he witnessed such a sight that would haunt him for the rest of his life. As Emmerich struggled to restrain Harper, their bodies appeared to merge into one. Flesh fused into flesh, though it was impossible to tell who was assimilating who. He turned away for the last time. Shortly thereafter, his feet left the ground.