Emboldened, she charged ahead before her mother could lodge a renewed protest. “Obviously I’ll need a spacesuit with propulsion. I can hitch a ride on a reconnaissance craft or a fighter to a somewhat close point, then get myself the rest of the way.”
“Recon craft, no question—if a fighter flew slow enough to carry you, it and you would get blown out of the sky. Say this works. How do you get back?”
She shrugged gamely. “Same way? I’ll propel myself off the SD, and hopefully I can get picked up before being speared by a stray laser or stray debris?”
“For heaven’s sake, Alex. You do not need to do this. We’ll find another way.”
“You’ve had to say that to me a lot these last few days, Mom, and I appreciate it. I mean it. But I need to do what is required in the circumstances.” I deeply want to do this.
Miriam’s looked taken aback. “Exactly how much did your alien friend show you?”
“What?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Her mother sighed, displaying a frustration Alex had come to recognize as entirely her fault. “Christopher? Can you make it work?” Oh, so she could call him Christopher?
He grimaced at the tactical map. “I’ll do my damnedest. If handled very, very carefully, it should be doable. I can’t protect her—” his eyes shot to her “—I can’t protect you inside. And we have no idea what’s inside.”
She smiled enigmatically, and his expression wavered in a way which made her think perhaps she had frightened him a little. “There’s nothing inside—definitely nothing living, and I’d be willing to bet there’s nothing but metal and photal conduits and quantum orbs. They will not have accounted for the possibility of boarding by the enemy.”
“You’re so certain of that, are you?”
“I am. It is impossible for me to understate the magnitude of their hubris.”
“Admiral Solovy, do you authorize the mission?”
Her mother’s voice was quiet, but not cold. “She doesn’t need my authorization…she never has. But yes, let the record state I authorized the mission.”
“Thank you. I—we—can do this.”
Rychen threw his hands in the air. “All right. Get to the flight deck. I’ll recall a recon ship and send someone down with a powered suit.”
Alex watched the reconnaissance ship pilot closely as he showed her how to attach and detach herself to the grapple on the hull and secure the magnetic pad so she wouldn’t be jostled into a lump of broken bones during the trip. Finally he shot her a skeptical look, shook his head and departed for the cockpit, leaving her lying on her stomach against the upper hull of the small ship.
Valkyrie, do you remember several years ago when you asked me what it was like to be in space?
Of course I do.
I think you and I are both about to find out.
I always suspected we would.
She chuckled lightly. The sound echoed around in her helmet and faded away. Did you now….
The ship’s engines engaged to boost it off the deck, and she hurriedly quadruple-checked the magnetic seal. They exited the open bay door and surged forward into space.
The multiple layers of metal and glass encasing the dreadnought really did insulate one from the scope of what was occurring just outside the hull. The fires were brighter. The explosions were closer and so extremely larger. Chaos.
No, Alex. This is not chaos. I have seen humans act in chaos, running in hysteria without direction or intent. But this is humans acting with purpose and using their tools to effect that purpose. This is machines acting in furtherance of their purpose. It is violence on a scale rarely seen, but it is not chaos.
Consider me properly rebuked, Valkyrie. Now pay attention because I’m going to flip over onto my back.
Oh?….ohhhhhh.
Alex cackled in delight, as much at Valkyrie’s reaction as at the scene consuming them. They soared through the ongoing combat, sturdy metal beneath her back but space spread out for 210° around her.
Yes, there was violence. There was death. But there was also such beauty, such heroism and grace and wonder.
She gasped as a swarmer exploded less than a hundred meters from her—but they were past the debris before it reached them, and before she could stir up a good panic.
No one was able to see her or the ship ferrying her. She was free to observe this astonishing spectacle openly and without any fear of odd glances or disapproving glowers.
She wished Caleb were here to witness it alongside her. He’d smirk and say something lame like ‘Well that’s not something you see every day,’ which would only make her want to rip his spacesuit then his clothes off right here on the hull of this ship and….
Alex?
She blinked. Sorry.
Do not be. It was most invigorating.
Ha. Remind me to shut you out when it’s for real.
I’m making a note here, but I cannot guarantee it will outlast this conflict.
She laughed aloud as the absurd reality of her situation hit her. Here she was, joking about sex with an AI living inside her head while space-jumping into the middle of a massive battle for the survival of the human species. Well it—
“Ma’am, we’re as close as we dare get. The superdreadnought’s broadside is due ahead, 720 meters distant.”
“Thank you, Captain. I appreciate the ride. Disengaging now.” She unhooked from the grapple first, then pressed the appropriate points on the magnetic seal to release it. Then she was floating free—
—which was an especially precarious state to be in, so she fired the suit’s thrusters in the direction of the superdreadnought. It was a fast-moving target, and she needed to get there quickly. But once she was on the correct trajectory she simply had to look down.
She had been on spacewalks before…but she couldn’t deny this was different somehow, beyond the tragic and magnificent combat raging around her. Was it Valkyrie’s excitement seeping into her mind?
I believe so, Alex. For all the cycles I spent studying the topic, I lacked the capacity to envision it might look like this, feel like…this.
I’m so glad I could show it to you, Valkyrie.
She shouldn’t have done it—even if she absolutely had time—but she tucked her arms in close to her body and fired her thrusters to spin in a tight three-sixty and take in the fullness of the scene.
I told you, milaya. I told you the cosmos would one day be yours to tame.
She jerked, startled. She often pictured her father talking to her in her head, but this was…. Dad?
Suddenly the superdreadnought’s hull was rushing toward her and she had to focus. Five endless rows of depressions lined the mammoth hull. All were empty. Which one, Valkyrie?
Any one.
Any?
At this point I think the closest one is preferable.
Right. The hull now filled her vision; she decelerated so as to not crash into it. The impact was still jarring as her hip and shoulder banged into the hard, unforgiving metal. Her face contorted in pain, but she didn’t think the impact had caused any debilitating damage. Okay, what now?
Use your blade to widen one of the holes where the swarmer latches in until it is wide enough for us to shimmy through.
There was indeed a hole near her elbow, curling into the hull like the opening for a hook latch. She tugged the blade off her belt and went to work.
48
KRYSK
SENECAN FEDERATION COLONY
* * *
CALEB SET THE SIYANE TO THE GROUND in the closest intersection to the beacon’s signal which provided adequate clear space to land. Still, pitched stone and wrent metal surrounded the ship, for this region of downtown had been all but destroyed.
He took an empty bag below to the engineering well and grabbed the metamat torch, a few other tools which might be useful and two sets of gloves, then hustled back upstairs. Noah had located the med kit and carried it under one arm. Harper appeared to have raided it and now wore a minima
l sling on her left arm. He threw some water in the bag on his way to opening the hatch and followed the others out.
At the bottom of the ramp Harper stopped and turned to him. “If you want—and if you trust me—I can stay and guard the ship. Something tells me you don’t want anyone absconding with a ship like this one.”
“Anyone who tried would find themselves out of luck. But I doubt they’ll try.” He entered a command on the outer panel before joining her. The ramp retracted, and the ship vanished.
She stared at where the ship had sat a second before, then nodded to herself. “Okay. Sure. Where to?”
He pointed to a partially-collapsed midrise building on the opposite street corner two blocks east. The back half of the building still stood, but the front portion of the top three floors had caved in. The higher floors listed outward above the gap at a treacherous angle, threatening to collapse at any minute.
Noah shuddered as they jogged down the street, periodically slowing to scale piles of debris. “Reminds me of Messium.”
“It was this bad?”
“Worse. So bloody much worse.”
When they skirted two corpses mangled by broken structural beams, he gained a small appreciation of what Noah and Kennedy had endured.
There were people alive as well, however, and the lull in the attack had gone on long enough for them to begin to emerge—from alleys, buildings and vehicles that hadn’t been crushed. He trusted they would see to helping the injured and didn’t deviate from his course.
Isabela? You said you were in the basement?
Damn, you’re really here already? Um, yes, we hid there along with some other people. Most are here with me. One didn’t make it. The entrance was near the lobby.
Understood.
The facing façade was completely destroyed and impenetrable, so they followed the rubble until they reached a section where the building hadn’t collapsed and found a way inside. Half a dozen people were in what he assumed was the lobby, tending to injuries or simply gawking at the ruins. Several leapt in fright as they arrived, and Caleb raised his hands to demonstrate he meant them no harm.
“Does anyone know where the basement access is located?”
An older man pointed to the left, deeper into the building. “It’s completely buried, though.”
The area where the man had indicated contained two fallen beams which had braced diagonally from the ceiling down to a pile of stone. Overlaying the stones was a large slab of interior wall material.
He went to work on the slab, bracing his feet against the rubble and shoving it sideways. It moved only centimeters—but then Noah materialized at his side. With matching grunts together they gave it a heave and sent it skidding across the floor.
“Yep, definitely reminds me of Messium.”
The removal of the slab revealed an alcove filled in by ragged pieces of the ceiling and flooring from the levels above. Caleb shifted to address those still in the lobby; all were injured to some extent but most were ambulatory.
“Anyone who’s able, help us out over here. We need to get this blockage cleared. People are alive in the basement.”
The man who had directed him to the entry made a show of limping away, but a tall, thin woman and a teenage boy drifted over.
“You’re sure people are down there?”
“I am.”
The boy rubbed at the patchy stubble on his chin, then kneeled on the floor and hefted a chunk of debris out of the way. Such began the tedious work of clearing the way piece by piece until he would be able to reach his sister.
Caleb stared in fascination at the serpent. It stared back at him from its disadvantaged position in the small, muddy depression running along the rear of their yard, glistening fangs extruding from its slender mouth beneath golden-green eyes.
“Isabela, get out here—you have to see this!”
He hadn’t averted his gaze when he spoke, which was a lucky thing as the creature pounced forward at the noise of his shout. He leapt backward—everyone said he had quick reflexes—and added another meter of separation for good measure. “Isa—!”
His father’s hand landed on his shoulder. “Your sister doesn’t need to be out here, Caleb. Now go grab the tarp from the garage for me.”
“What if it leaves while I’m gone?”
“I’ll watch it. Hurry, and don’t sneak in the house and get your sister on the way.”
“Yes, sir.” He was grumbling as he jogged up the slope toward the house but did as he was told.
When he returned, dragging the tarp through the grass, his dad and the serpent had moved several meters to the left, almost to the fence. He dropped the tarp on the ground beside his dad and crouched to get a better look at the reptile. “Is it poisonous?”
“Very much so. Step behind me.”
As soon as he moved away, his dad hurled the tarp over the serpent and deftly bundled the edges to make a sack of it. The tarp jostled in the air while his dad tied a knot in the top and tightened it.
He motioned for Caleb to walk with him as he carried the tarp and its prisoner to the outdoor trash bin.
“I wish Isabela could’ve seen it before you captured it.”
“This is a dangerous creature, Caleb. What if it had hurt her?” He tossed the bundle into the bin and closed the lid then directed his attention to Caleb while wearing his ‘serious’ face. “You need to protect your sister. You should want to protect your sister.”
“Because she’s little?”
His dad chuckled. “Right now, yes. That’s one reason. But you should always want to protect those you love, even when they’re no longer little.”
“From serpents…and maybe bigger animals?”
“From everything that could cause them harm, not only dangerous creatures.”
Caleb ran a hand through his hair—his mom kept saying he needed a haircut—and tried to understand what his dad was getting at.
“Because I love her?” Which he guessed he did. Most of the time.
“That’s right, son.”
They began walking toward the house, but Caleb stopped as something occurred to him. “Are you going to tell Isabela the same thing about me when she gets older?”
“Well, I haven’t thought on it much yet. Probably so.”
“Protecting somebody means keeping stuff from them, doesn’t it?”
“Sometimes, if it’s something which will hurt the person? Yes, it does.”
“But if I’m keeping stuff from her and she’s keeping stuff from me…we won’t be very good friends anymore, will we?”
His dad regarded him with a weird expression. Weird expressions usually meant his dad was annoyed with him. “It’s not…you shouldn’t think of it that way, son. Of course you’ll be friends. It’s—”
His mom’s voice rang out through the open door announcing dinner was ready. He took off running for the house, leaving Dad and his weird faces behind.
After twenty minutes they had created an open space half a meter wide and two meters deep to angle down toward the basement. Unfortunately, the remainder was blocked by a large piece of stone wedged against the walls of the alcove.
Caleb? Hurry if you can. Pieces of the ceiling are beginning to fall in. Tiny pieces though. We’re fine.
He glared at the obstacle blocking his path as his jaw clenched.
“Give me the torch. I’ll cut it up.”
He looked over at Harper in surprise; last he checked she had been trying to help the more seriously wounded in the lobby. “What about your arm?”
She discarded the makeshift sling and gingerly massaged her shoulder. “Still have one functional, which is all I need. I’m small and can fit in there no problem. Hold on to my feet or something?”
The woman who was helping them was also thin…but she had shrunk away from his questioning scan of those present rather than step forward. “We can do that.”
Harper dropped to her knees then her stomach and reached back with her good
arm. He passed her the metamat torch, and she began scooting down the rough slope to the blockage.
Have everybody move away from the blocked area where the lift was. We’re about to break through.
Three, four, five seconds passed.
Done.
“You’re clear to start.”
He and Noah each grasped an ankle as Harper sliced the stone into segments and punched each one out to crumble into the basement. In a few short minutes she had cut an opening large enough for a person to fit.
“This is all the room we’re going to get. Pull me up.” They complied, and she crawled to her feet, bloody scrapes decorating both arms and dust coating her skin.
Before anyone could say or do anything, Caleb slid feet-first into the opening and wrangled through it into the basement.
Dust hung heavy in the air, clogging his nostrils with his first breath. The only appreciable light came from the hole above him, so he flicked on the light attached to his belt.
Six men and women stood huddled together in the shadows of the claustrophobic space. Not seeing his sister among them, he hunted frantically around.
Isabela stepped out of the shadows to regard him with a relieved, weary smile. “You certainly know how to make an entrance, don’t you?”
He pulled her into a hug, gently in case she had been trying to protect him and she in fact was injured. “The least I could do.”
“Thank you,” she whispered in his ear.
He pulled back and met her gaze. “The least I could do.”
“Uncle Caleb?”
He let go of his sister to crouch in front of Marlee. Grime coated her curls and face; she held her right arm awkwardly across her chest and cradled the tattered remains of Mr. Freckles in the other.
“Hey, muffin. I couldn’t wait to see you any longer, so I had to come and dig you out.”
“Are the bad ships still shooting outside?”
“Nope. The bad ships are all gone. So how about let’s get you out of here, okay?” He stood to see one person already climbing out of the hole they’d created. Noah and the teenage boy—he’d never caught a name—reached down to pull them up and out of the path.
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