by Nick Braker
“Need a few seconds. Getting into position. Jules, you ready?”
“Yes, in position but barely,” Jules said. “Oh my God. I cannot hold... this long... hurry.”
“Forcefield engaged,” Seph yelled.
The bulkhead door started to open. It moved aggravatingly slow. The chaos he expected on the other side was gone, replaced with calm and quiet. All that remained was the sound of the door stopping and then starting to close again.
“Grep, the door is closing,” Magnus yelled, alarmed.
There was no room to slip through so he put his strength into stopping it but it was futile. His left arm was useless and the door was way beyond his strength to stop.
“On it. Someone overrode my controls. I got it back. Door opening again,” he said, yelling into the EP device.
The bulkhead door opened, this time enough for him to squeeze through. The generator room was to the left. He could see it down the corridor in front of him. Magnus grabbed for his blaster but his hand never made it.
“Forcefield down,” Seph screamed.
Then all hell really broke loose.
Earth - Wormhole Research Facility
Magnus felt the instant tug from behind. He lost his footing when the wind lifted him and shot him back toward the portal. The pressure around him dropped, causing his ears to pop painfully. His breathing was labored as if he were suffocating. He flailed wildly trying to grab hold of something, anything. His right hand found purchase on a pipe along the wall. The pipe was secure but his grip was not. His whole body ached from fatigue and exertion. The pain in his injured shoulder only grew and his right hand slipped enough that the wind dragged him several feet further down the corridor before he could gain purchase again. The wind’s strength kept him from getting his feet back underneath him, blowing him like a flag at full mast.
“Grep, close the door,” he managed through gritted teeth, squeezing the last bit of air from his lungs.
The pipe was horizontal to the floor and he slipped further toward the opening at the end of the hallway which led out into the open and ultimately through the portal. If Grep didn’t get that door shut, they were all dead.
“You will not stop me,” a female voice said over their EP devices.
“We’re going down! No power. Impact in four seconds! Hold on!” Seph screamed.
“Your ship is going to crash and you’re all going to die,” the voice continued.
“Oh my God. It really is over,” Jules said, no emotion in her voice at all.
He could hear them breathing through the EP. They were still working to stop the ship from crashing.
Four seconds?! We’re all dead in four seconds?
The wind slammed Zara into the far wall, her body going limp. It then whipped her further, pushing her out of the corridor and through the portal. Brock followed her seconds later. He tried to reach out for Magnus but Magnus’ injured left arm wouldn’t move. Magnus hung there helplessly watching his friend fly past and then into the blackness of space.
He heard a loud explosion above as his ship crashed into something outside. He tightened his grip on the pipe as the shockwave hit the facility. He screamed out, desperately holding on as the sound wave blasted through him.
“Magnus!” Grep screamed but it cut out instantly.
They were gone.
“Six down, Magnus,” the voice taunted in a sing-song voice. “Your friend Warren is--”
Warren shot past him. He screamed for Magnus, trying vainly to grab hold of him. Magnus watched him get sucked out like the others, up and into the void. Warren’s voice screamed in his EP device and then Warren was gone.
Magnus wanted to scream, too. He wanted to cry out, No! He wanted to fight just a little longer, hold out, hope for a miracle.
“Seven down and you are the only one left. Even you, the mighty Magnus, cannot hold on forever. Your strength will fade, your lungs will give out. Maybe you’ll die before the blackness of space rips your body apart. At least you will die quickly. Your friends though will live much longer, floating in space, suffering in agony as their oxygen supply dwindles, knowing they are about to die and that you failed them.”
“Who. Are. You?” he managed.
“You don’t remember me? I first met you when I took over Beth and then later Angelina. I am Satirra, an Omarii for the people of Kron. I am your destroyer.”
Her. It was her! The one who killed Beth. It was them... the ones trying to kill humanity.
“It’s. Not. Over,” he said.
His lungs rasped with each breath. He could feel it in his mouth - the salty, iron taste of blood. It dribbled out of his mouth and the wind reminded him again what was next. The blood was taken, blown down the hallway and sucked into a vortex of nothingness. He’d been close to death before but never with this much certainty. It was over. His grip slipped further. The wind pulled him closer to the end. Someone had to intervene. A miracle was the only way.
“Yes it is. Your species is stubborn, I’ll give you that. In the end, though, the Kron have always won. Even the Loxaron people, who tried to destroy us, failed. We lived on, fighting the plague they inflicted upon our planet. You and your species, though, will not. Do you know it will all be over very soon? Every human being in the universe, dead. Extinct. It gives me great pleasure to strike your species down before you even have a chance to destroy ours. I will be revered on Kron. For whatever it’s worth, I’ll follow you to your grave, Magnus. I’m stuck here on Earth, my connection to home broken. I, too, will die but I martyr myself for my people. I win.”
This was the alien that had killed Beth. One of the very creatures he wanted to kill, everything he had focused on since her murder and the alien thought it had won.
She was dead wrong.
“It’s not over,” he said, steeling himself.
Magnus released his grip. The wind caught him, yanking him violently down the corridor. He pulled his blaster from its holster with his right hand. The wind spun him around uncontrollably toward the open end of the corridor. He pointed the gun, caught the generator in his sights, and fired, holding his trigger on the weapon. The blaster’s discharge sent a barrage of laser bolts down the corridor, through the open doorway and into the electrical generator. The blasts hit. The generator groaned as moving parts slammed into the bits Magnus’ blaster had dislodged. In an instant, the generator exploded. The force sent fragments flying all around him. Several hit him, ripping large gashes into his flesh. His ribs were hit and he felt the fragments break several of them. Another hit him in his leg, creating a vicious gash. With a flash of light and sound, the world exploded around him. The wind and the blast shot him out of the corridor like a bullet from a gun. The portal was still active. It pulled him into its blackness. He had an instant of life left as the portal shimmered and distorted. The black vacuum of space dominated his field of vision, growing closer as it pulled him into its depths. The portal blurred in front of him, distorting again, still trying to cling to life. His legs reached its surface first and he instinctively pulled them into himself, trying to get even an instant more of life. The portal vanished in silence. His momentum carried him through the air but gravity won and he fell. Like the circus act where the man is shot from a cannon, Magnus came back to Earth, only there was no net. He slammed into the ground. The impact sent unbearable pain throughout his body as he felt more bones break and splinter. Magnus rolled helplessly down the slope of the crater, finally coming to a stop. He lay there feeling his life fade. He labored to breathe. Blackness engulfed his vision as he fought to stay conscious.
The alien female was wrong about one thing, he mused through the pain.
He would live a little longer than she claimed. He raised his right hand, palm up. His arm shook with the effort and pain surged through his shoulder and elbow. Shaking, he managed to get his middle finger into the air. His vision could only see his hand in front of him. It was drenched in blood.
He mouthed the words fuck
you, bitch.
He closed his eyes and felt his life leave him.
Chapter 28
BACK TO EARTH
Earth - Spaceship
“Forcefield down,” Seph screamed.
The ship lost all power and was now free-falling to Earth as the engines quickly used the last of their reserves. Grep computed six and a half seconds left before impact. The gravity well had collapsed, forcing all of them to grab hold of their chairs.
“We are going down!” Seph screamed. “No power. Impact in four seconds! Hold on!”
She had panicked, trying in vain to stop the ship from falling. Her hands were a blur across her console, tapping frantically but it would not respond. She slammed her fists into the controls.
“Your ship is going to crash and you’re all are going to die,” the voice said.
Earth’s gravity pulled them down into their seats, trying to push them backward at the same time. The ship’s fall was changing trajectory. They were being pulled down by gravity and pushed forward by the atmosphere into the portal.
The portal!
“Oh my god, it really is over,” Jules said, with no sign of emotion in her voice.
They watched helplessly on the view screen as Zara was whisked away by the portal into space. Seconds later, Brock followed her. The view screen’s stored power faded and went black, completely used up.
Impact.
The ship slammed into the angled ground, hitting the corridor sticking out from it.
“Magnus!” Grep screamed.
He was thrown from his chair, landing on the other side of the command section. The force had slammed him into the forward main view screen. He twisted around getting his feet under him but the force had knocked the wind from him, leaving him momentarily immobile.
The portal has us.
As if on cue, their acceleration ended and the kinetic tension in Grep’s leg muscles sent him sailing back across the command deck. He stopped himself easily this time. It wasn’t gravity, it was the pull of the portal. He looked around for the girls, finding only Mira. The impact and inertia changes had sent them all flying.
Seph. He screamed inwardly, scanning the room again. Please be okay.
She was on the ramp to the lower section, working to get herself back up top.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
She nodded at him, slowly sailing through the air and climbing back into her chair.
“We’re in space. Mira. Jules. I need you back at your stations,” Grep ordered.
“Working on it,” Mira told him but Jules didn’t answer.
“Jules?” Grep ventured but she still didn’t respond. “Find her. Everyone.”
They floated around the outer edge of the command section, searching. Mira was the first to find her. Jules lay on the floor, wedged between a bulkhead and one of the monitoring stations.
“Over here,” Mira yelled.
Mira helped Jules up, her head covered in blood.
“Are you okay, dear? Give me an assessment--” Mira asked, examining her.
“I am hurt, Mira. Not badly. Ribs and head. I am bleeding, correct?”
“Yes, the blood makes it look worse. You have a half-inch cut on your scalp.”
“Jules, if you can function, I need you to fly this ship. Zara and Brock are out there. We have to find them fast,” Grep said, unable to hide the concern or urgency in his voice.
“I can pilot the ship,” she said. “Help me get back to my station.”
“Grep, we do not have power to--” Mira told him.
“Seph told me about the navigational shields on our first flight,” he countered. “I was so curious about them that Seph and I talked--”
“The shields cannot...” Mira interjected. “Wait, I see--”
“No time to explain but I see you’ve already grasped what I’m going for. Seph, route the power from those shields to engines and short-range sensors only. We will have enough to maneuver, right?” Grep asked.
Seph grabbed Grep and kissed him. It sent them both slowly spinning in place.
“You are the bomb,” she blurted, then stopped herself. “Sorry. I should not stop worrying about Zara and Brock. I was not thinking.”
“I understand, Seph,” he said.
She returned to her station, pulling the panel off from underneath and burying the upper half of her body within. Mira helped Jules return to her station before returning to hers. Grep counted twelve seconds.
“Power transferred,” she said, relief in her voice.
“How much drive do we have?” he asked.
“Three minutes, depending on the power draw,” she answered. “But it will be enough if we apply short bursts to change our heading and speed.”
“I have Zara on sensors,” Mira said excitedly. “She is still out of range of our EPs, though.”
He nodded at Mira. Jules, however was a concern. He could see her desperately trying to focus on the controls. She was struggling with them.
“Jules, are you sure you’re okay?” Grep asked.
Her eyes spoke volumes.
“I can do this,” she told him but he wasn’t convinced.
The ship began to move, slowly. Jules conserved power by applying short thrusts. The pace was slow but it brought them closer to Zara.
“This is Zara. Anybody out there?”
“Zara, we are coming. Hold on, dear,” Mira exclaimed.
“Hurry, Brock is getting out of range of me. He is moving faster than I am. He is already breaking up,” Zara said.
“Hold tight, Zara, we’re almost there,” Grep said, hoping to reassure her.
“No problem. I will just hang around here, twiddling my thumbs, counting stars around me,” she chuckled.
He could hear the nervous tension in her voice. She was hiding it behind her wit. Grep admired that strength in her, finding humor in life-threatening circumstances.
“Grep,” Mira continued, “the power to activate the ramp and--”
“Aye, I know. We’re not going to use the ramp entrance. We’re going to use the airlock. Both of those doors will open manually,” he said. “Seph, we’ll need to burn some power to pressurize the airlock chamber both ways but that is negligible compared to opening that ramp.”
“My pleasure,” she said with relief.
He knew Seph hated making life and death decisions and that she was glad to know he was in charge. He reached the airlock when Zara came into view of the door’s exterior window.
“Grep, airlock is depressurized,” Seph told him.
Zara removed the panel and began cranking the exterior door open. The crank should be easy enough to turn. It was designed for the aliens before them who were much weaker.
“I am in. Give me a moment to close it,” she said.
A minute later, she floated through the interior airlock door, removed her helmet and put her arms around Grep. She tapped her right ear and then his, deactivating their EP devices.
“What--” Grep started to say more but she drew him in quickly and kissed him, holding him there.
“If you ever decide to leave Seph,” she said, breathlessly. “Look me up. I owe you.”
She pushed herself down the corridor, floating through it, stripping her suit off as she went. Grep floated in place, mouth agape. His EP device beeped.
“Uh... here. Sorry about that. Do you have Brock yet?” he asked.
“Yes, we have him. He should be coming into view in three... two... one...,” Mira told him.
They repeated the procedure for Brock and he was soon onboard.
“Damn, what a ride. Dude, I was floating in space singing Highway to Hell when I heard Zara--” Brock s said, but Grep cut him off.
“Things are bad. Jules is hurt. Warren is missing. Earth could be a void right now and Magnus could be dead. No time for crap.”
“Right, sorry. We’re alive at least, that means we get to repopulate the Earth, dude. I got dibs on Jules and Zara. Warren can have Mira.”
Grep shook his head.
“Brother, you are unbelievable.”
They headed back up to the command deck. The four girls were back in place, working over their respective stations.
“Jules, feeling any better?” Grep asked.
“No, but I will make it,” she answered him weakly.
Grep nodded. She hurt more emotionally than physically. The possibility that Magnus could be dead weighed more heavily on her than her injuries. As far as Grep was concerned, Magnus and Earth were still intact and he would act as if that was a fact until he received evidence to the contrary.
Somewhere in Space - Spaceship
Days from Earth
Grep sat down in the captain’s chair, buckling himself in.
“This spot is temporary for me. Magnus is still alive and so is Earth. Therefore, we have no choice but to conserve power and coast back to Earth. Once there, we use all remaining power in a free-fall landing over the D.C. facility, repeating the procedure that Jules and Seph designed.” Grep reasoned. “Frankly, that will be all the power we have.”
“What about rescuing Warren? He might be out here, too.” Mira asked.
Grep considered the right words. Seph would be better at this right now but it was his job.
“If Magnus was able to save Earth, then Warren is likely okay. If not, Seph and I have calculated that our current power levels will be just enough to safely land us on Earth. If we try--” Grep stopped when he heard Warren’s voice interrupt them over their EP devices.
“Warren here. Anyone out there? Dear God, I hope so.”
Warren was alive!
A small part of him wanted to cheer but the rest of him knew things had just become a lot more complicated. He could very likely get Warren onboard but the energy expense though might doom them all.
“Warren. Grep here. What... is...?” Grep’s voice caught.
“Yes,” he exclaimed. “I knew you’d make it through. Damn, I actually started to worry. You guys are the greatest. Have you heard anything from Earth or Magnus?”
No one responded. Grep couldn’t get the words out. If he opened his mouth, he would break down. Warren was dead, he just didn’t know it yet. Mira and Seph were already crying.