When the Stars Fade (The Gray Wars)
Page 63
“Listen to me,”he said.“This isn’t the time to sit and weep. This isn’t the time to run home. We are the Fleet, home is out there. If these fuckers want to send a message, then I say we send one of our own.”
Slowly, he saw their faces change. Fear turned to anger. Sorrow became resolve. Admiral Fawks stood, his lined face hardened. More pilots and crew filed in from outside the bridge to hear. The weeping ensign, her tears drying, opened a comm channel so Cameron’s words could reach the armada.
“It doesn’t matter how many of us they threaten, how many they kill. We will never stop. You all stood in front of the flags at one point or another. How many of you remember the words sewn below the emblem?”A few people whispered the phrase.“We don’t give up. We don’t run away. We are the goddamn FLEET! Let them hear you.”He stomped on the deck, his face red.“Let them know we’re coming.”
At first no one spoke. Then someone started.“Until the stars fade.”Cameron turned to see Kaileen leading the chant.
More voices joined in, louder.“Until the stars fade!”
Admiral Fawks, in his commanding timber, spoke up.“Until the stars fade!”
Now the crew cried out as one, and the ships-of-the-line stood with them. Aboard Midway, Admiral Walker and Commodore Osaka shouted to their men and women, rallying every last soldier back from the brink. Their chant grew louder, until it echoed down the corridors and gangways. As one, the soldiers of Fleet turned their gaze upon the enemy, their wrath focused.
Cameron swelled with emotion. His heart pounded in his ears and his throat felt dry as a bone, but it was a moment he would never forget.“It’s time they realized they came to the wrong system. They’ve controlled the game until now. From today until every last trace is blasted from our skies, this is our fight. If we want to survive, we have to win.”He faced the crowd, his eyes set and full of fire.“We are the Fleet. And they just made one big goddamn mistake.”
Epilogue
Poor Lazarus
The MCU rested. It had been a short but furious amount of work. Now it was time to see if its programs had been successful. It pulled in all the resources it could, utilizing power from units deemed unnecessary, all to power a single charge. This was do or die time, and every watt counted. It ran a final check, deciding that 200 milliamps would have to suffice.
It waited for the precise moment, when the timing was perfect, and fired the jolt.
* * * * *
The Archangels stood in silence in the empty hangar. Dax had pulled off most of his gear and Alexa was patching up his myriad of scrapes and bruises. She wrapped a thick bandage around his midsection to keep him from injuring his broken ribs. It must have hurt something awful, but he didn’t make a sound. His torso was covered in gashes and multicolored welts from his bout with the alien leader. There was another souvenir he carried from that fight: a notch in the butt of his Ragnarok. Next to him, eyes red and puffy, were Cameron and Kaileen. As happy as the pilot had been to see Dax, everything changed when he’d been told the news.
At the center of the cabin, laid on a pile of seat cushions, Josh’s body remained motionless. His armor had been carefully pulled off so that it wouldn’t remain on him when rigor mortis set. It was a gruesome job, but Alexa and Dax had insisted it be them to do it. The big man had been close to tears the entire time, but held it together for his friend. When they’d removed the chest plate, the biofoam had obscured the wound to Josh’s body. That was a blessing. As they sat in their seats, each soldier tried not to look over, but found their gaze drawn to the fallen officer constantly. He looked just like he was sleeping.
Leaning against the bulkhead, Alexa rubbing ointment into his shoulder, Dax held Josh’s helmet in his hands. He turned it around and around absently, his face a mask of sorrow too deep to be expressed. Dax had never been one to make a lot of friends. Even when he played for New Freeman, his fellow teammates had been coworkers, nothing more. As he sat in thought something broke his concentration. A small beep caused him to look around, but he couldn’t find the source. It sounded again, this time louder. After a moment he realized it came from the face mask. Looking inside, Dax could see letters on the screen, but couldn’t make out what they said.
“What is it?”Alexa asked.
Dax held the cover out.“It’s making noises.”
“Let me see.”Alexa pulled the helmet away and peered at the HUD.
“What does it say?”
She tried to get her face at the right angle to read the rest of the words.“System check?”
By now the other soldiers had begun to crowd around, wanting nothing more than some form of distraction to take their minds off the mission. Fares leaned on Cho’s shoulders and Liane rested her head on Dax. As they stared down at Josh’s gear, the message changed.
Alexa read the lines.“Reboot successful. MCU reports repairs complete.”She looked up at her squad, confused.
Cameron stepped forward. His voice cracked when he spoke.“What does that mean?”
“Shit,”Cho spat out.“These things didn’t come with an instruction manual.”
But Alexa wasn’t listening anymore. She stared past her friends to the back of the compartment. Her eyes grew and she pushed through the crowd, hobbling over to Josh’s body. She knelt down by his side, pressing a hand against his neck. Her gloves were too thick so she tore them off with her teeth and searched for the carteroid artery. When her finger found the thick cord they stopped. Alexa held her breath as a single pulse passed underneath her hand, followed by another. And another.
At her touch his eyes popped open, dry and red. Alexa shouted, falling back against the chairs, as her dead friend rose to a sitting position and smiled at her. No one moved as Josh stretched out his arms and yawned. His expression turned worried when he saw their faces.
“Jesus, guys. What happened?”He looked around, counting his soldiers.“Did someone die?”
* * * * *
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Adam was born in Fort Worth, Texas on a blisteringly hot summer’s morning. He spent most of his life fighting dragons and monsters and saving damsels in distress, and things only got crazier as he got older.
The Gray Wars has been kicked around in his head for 10 years, and it’s finally out on paper in some shape or form. Now he hopes to finish the series and finally move on with his life, maybe write about something sweet and innocent for a change.
Adam is an officer with the National Guard, and he explodes things with tanks on the weekends.
Adam lives in Los Angeles with his roommate and an estranged sandwich maker.
www.whenthestarsfade.com