Sentinels: Children of Valhalla (Sentinels Saga Book 1)

by Linn Schwab

  Virginia and Suzanne were both out in space now, racing toward the coordinates where the Wallaby was assumed to have performed her last maneuver.

  “Standing by,” Virginia said into her intercom. She glanced to her right to make sure Suzanne was ready. Both pilots steadied their hands on the controls as they waited for the order to come through from Nancy.

  Jenny anxiously paced back and forth as Zoe and Kelli double–‌checked their calculations. The two of them were kneeling together on the floor, with the Wallaby’s flight plan spread out in front of them.

  “That’s it!” Zoe yelled, jumping to her feet. She scrambled over to Nancy’s side and typed some numbers into her console.

  “Alright, Virginia,” Nancy said, “you’re going to bank left seventy–‌five degrees, on my command. Three, two, one, mark!”

  The two fighters suddenly banked hard to the left, pushed to the edge of their limits by their pilots. As soon as they leveled off from the maneuver, both girls checked their forward scanners. They were now lined up with the Wallaby’s presumed final trajectory. If the ship was still out there, their scanners should detect it.

  Both of them were left devastated by the readings. There was nothing ahead of them but empty space. Virginia toggled her scanner to maximum magnification, looking for signs of ship fragments or wreckage. Again, the display came up empty. She looked over at Suzanne in the hope that her scanner might have picked up something. Suzanne simply shook her head, indicating her readings had come up empty as well.

  Virginia tried radioing ECHO 5 in the hope that they might still be in range. “This is Virginia Scot, calling the Wallaby. Come in, Wallaby. Please respond.” She listened, but there was no reply. Only the subtle background noise of the universe.

  Nancy’s voice broke in over the intercom. “Can you see anything out there, Virginia?”

  “No,” she replied. “There’s nothing out here. Nothing but empty space in front of us.”

  Hearing Virginia’s reply on the speakers, Jenny crossed her arms and sighed in disappointment. “Alright,” she said, “call them back in. But tell them to keep their eyes and ears open. Maybe they’ll spot something on the way back.”

  Nancy relayed the message to Virginia, then leaned back and lowered her head in despair.

  Commander Jeffries turned around and called across the room to Major Richards. “Maryanne,” she said, “any luck yet?”

  “There’s nothing,” Major Richards replied. “There was no call for help, and no distress signal. I’ve got every ship in the sector looking for them, but so far they haven’t found a trace. The Wallaby seems to have simply disappeared.”

  “They can’t have just simply disappeared,” Jenny argued. “That ship has to be out there somewhere.”

  “Maryanne,” the commander said, “begin a full investigation at once. I want to know what happened to that ship. No more training flights until we have an answer. And place the whole sector on full alert. This may not be just a random occurrence.”

  Major Richards nodded in confirmation. “What about the other squads?” she asked. “They’re going to be returning soon. What do you want us to tell them?”

  The commander remained deep in thought for a moment. This could be a very delicate situation. “Keep each squad separated from the others for now. Make sure no one says a word about this to them. I’ll decide what to tell them myself. Let’s do our best not to upset them just yet.”

  “Yes, Commander,” the major said. She then headed off to make arrangements for their arrivals.

  “It just doesn’t make any sense,” Jenny said, shaking her head in frustration.

  “Do you have any suggestions?” the commander asked her.

  “No,” she said, “but I have a request.”

  “Yes?”

  Jenny looked away from her and focused on the console Veronica was using. “I’d like to take part in the investigation. Let me help find out what happened.”

  The commander took a moment to consider her request. A full investigation could take several days. If it came to that, she might be forced to delay the Hornets’ departure. But if there turned out to be a threat to the station in that time, their presence could prove to be a valuable asset. Anything that could augment the station’s defenses would be a welcome addition in the event of an attack. “Very well,” she agreed. “I’ll make sure Major Richards includes you.”

  “Thank you, Commander. I will find out what happened to them.”

  QUESTIONS 032

  “Six hours and counting,” Ariel announced, reading off the time since the Wallaby’s last transmission. Not one of the controllers said a word in response, but she could sense what they were thinking from the looks on their faces. Their empty expressions only served to reinforce just how serious the current situation was.

  Several hours into their investigation now, Major Richards and Captain McNeil turned their attention to the console used for the christening flights. Multiple assessments of the Wallaby’s flight plan had so far failed to turn up anything significant. But when they played back the station’s voice recordings, both of them noticed a potential concern. When they compared the recording to the Wallaby’s flight plan, the signs of a tragic mistake became apparent. Major Richards summoned Commander Jeffries to the control room, and greeted her with the words, “Communications error.”

  The commander looked at her in surprise. “A communications error?”

  “That’s right,” Jenny confirmed. “After searching through the data on the station recorders, we were able to pinpoint where the failure occurred.”

  Veronica and Ariel overheard the exchange and stepped closer to listen in on the discussion. If there had truly been a communications failure, then one of them was likely responsible for it.

  Jenny began her explanation, “At approximately two one six plus thirty on the mission chronometer, Lieutenant Marlowe places a call to ECHO 5. In that transmission, she specifies a thirty degree turn to port, to occur at mission time two one seven plus twenty. There is no response from ECHO 5. No confirmation that they received the transmission.”

  Veronica glanced around herself uncomfortably. The indications seemed to be pointing to her.

  “Now,” Jenny continued, “at exactly this same point in time, the station’s meteorological sensors registered a brief spike in radio interference. The spike only lasted for a matter of seconds, but it was strong enough to disrupt communications.”

  Veronica began to squirm a little. That burst of static was still fresh and clear in her mind.

  “Still waiting on confirmation from the Wallaby,” Jenny explained, “Lieutenant Marlowe initiates another transmission, requesting confirmation of a thirty degree turn to port. However, at this point she doesn’t attach a specific time to the maneuver, and this is where we believe the breakdown occurred.”

  Veronica looked at Jenny in confusion, seemingly puzzled by the explanation.

  “You see,” Jenny said, “the Wallaby’s flight plan called for two consecutive identical maneuvers, approximately sixteen minutes apart. When Mindy responded to Lieutenant Marlowe’s query, there was no clear indication given as to which one of these maneuvers she was actually confirming.”

  The realization suddenly hit Veronica. She gasped and cupped her hands over her mouth. “It’s my fault!” she whimpered through her tears, then spun toward the door and ran out of the room.

  “Maryanne,” the commander said to Major Richards, gesturing for her to go comfort Veronica.

  The major nodded and ran after Lieutenant Marlowe.

  Commander Jeffries returned her attention to Jenny. “Have you determined what their final trajectory was?”

  Jenny nodded grimly. “It doesn’t look good, Commander. If they continued to follow that heading, it would’ve put them on a collision course with Pangea.”

  “Oh no!” the commander responded. “Miranda!” she called to the nearest controller, “who have we got out near the perimeter?”
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  Miranda ran a quick sweep of the area, then promptly responded, “Just the Calypso.”

  Prowling the outer edge of Sentinel–‌controlled space, the Calypso remained on a heightened state of alert in the wake of the Wallaby’s disappearance. Her crew was on the lookout for signs of enemy incursions while still hoping to make contact with the missing destroyer. Near the edge of a cluster of old warship remains, Delia slowed her ship to a virtual crawl. It was the site of a battle that had taken place long ago — a familiar marker at the outer reaches of her patrol zone. She had long suspected that if an attack were to occur in her sector, this would be the area it was most likely to come from.

  “Any movement out there?” Delia asked.

  Her navigator checked the scanner. “Nothing,” she said.

  Delia walked to the front of the bridge and scrutinized the drifting fragments of warships. There was something about the view that was bothering her — something that just didn’t seem quite right. She’d been patrolling this area for a couple of years now, and was somewhat familiar with many of its features. There had not previously been a great deal of change, but for some reason it just seemed different today.

  “Something’s wrong here,” Delia insisted. “Something’s not right. Does anyone see anything different out there?”

  She looked around at each member of her crew as they carefully studied the wreckage outside. They all shook their heads. None of them seemed to have an answer.

  Delia sighed in frustration and looked out again at the twisted lumps of metal. She searched through her memories for a hint of what might be troubling her, and suddenly realized exactly what was wrong.

  “Wait a minute!” she exclaimed, training her eyes on a specific location. “Where’s the Ticonderoga?”

  Her crew members looked at each other in confusion.

  “There should be a burnt–‌out battleship here!” she insisted. “Where is it?” Her eyes continued to scan the surrounding area, searching for a trace of the missing vessel. If something unusual was going on here, she needed to find out what it was.

  “Captain,” Audrey informed her, “I’m getting a call from Volaris.” She listened to the earpiece on her headset. “They’re sending us the Wallaby’s final trajectory. They want us to go check it out.”

  Delia nodded and returned to her seat as her navigator entered course corrections in the console. For now, the Ticonderoga would have to wait. There were more pressing issues at hand.

  As the Calypso came up on the first outlying rocks, Delia ordered her pilot to stop. There were no apparent visual signs of the Wallaby. They would have to rely on their instruments. “Scan the area,” she ordered.

  “Not picking up any wreckage or ship debris,” Tammy said. “There’s nothing but rocks around us.”

  “You suppose they went in there?” Audrey asked, looking out into the sea of rocks.

  Delia frowned and shook her head in remorse. “If they went in there, it’s over for them.”

  An uneasy silence gripped the bridge as the other girls dwelled on Delia’s words.

  “What do you mean?” Audrey asked. “Couldn’t we go in after them? They might still be alive in there. Maybe all those rocks are just blocking their transmissions.”

  “Listen,” Delia tried to explain, “those rocks block out more than just radio transmissions. It’s suicide to go in there, Audrey. Once you go in, you’ll never find your way out.”

  Audrey stared back at her in silence with unmistakable disappointment in her eyes. “If anyone could do it, you could,” she said, expressing faith in her captain’s abilities.

  Delia glanced around at her crew, feeling intense pressure from the looks on their faces. It was clear to her that all of them sided with Audrey and were anxious to rescue the lost training squad. She sighed and looked out the window again, at the billions of rocks in all shapes and sizes. They were the remains of a destroyed planet or moon, torn apart by some kind of catastrophic collision. The field had been given the name “Pangea” due to the sheer amount of material that had collected in that area. It now formed a sort of natural barrier between friendly–‌controlled space and enemy territory. Both sides had tried unsuccessfully to cross it, and both sides had lost several ships in the process before ultimately giving up on the idea.

  “We’re not going in there,” she said, adamantly. “We’d never find them anyway. The best thing we can do for them is to sit right here and try to make contact with them. Maybe if we can reach them by radio, we can help guide them back out somehow.” She turned around and looked at Audrey. “Call Volaris and tell them what we’ve found. Ask them what they want us to do.”

  “Commander!” Miranda called out from her station, “I just received a call from the Calypso. They’re searching along the edge of Pangea, and so far they haven’t found any wreckage.”

  Commander Jeffries sighed in relief and exchanged a hopeful glance with Jenny. “Well, that at least is some good news. At this point we can still hope for the best. Lindsey!” she called to another controller.

  “Yes, Commander?” the girl responded.

  “Form a search field centered around the Calypso’s coordinates and initiate a long range optical search.”

  “That could take weeks to complete,” the girl informed her.

  “Concentrate on the debris field first. If we don’t find them there, we probably aren’t going to find them at all.”

  “Yes, Commander.”

  The commander took a deep breath and headed for the elevator.

  “Where are you going?” Jenny asked her.

  “I need to have a talk with Robin’s battalion. And believe me, it’s not something I’m looking forward to.”

  Standing just outside the assembly room, Commander Jeffries watched the young Sentinels chatting excitedly about their experience. She’d kept the squads separated as they returned, to keep them from suspecting that anything was wrong. By all appearances, the attempt had been successful. The girls still seemed cheerful and happy at the moment. But she knew all of that was going to change when she broke the news to them about ECHO 5’s disappearance.

  “Formation, please!” the commander ordered, stepping into the center of the room. The talking ceased immediately, and the three squads scrambled to line up in their positions. In a few seconds’ time, the room fell silent, with the girls standing rigidly at attention, waiting for Commander Jeffries to address them. She stood before them expressionless for a moment, allowing her silence to generate concern in their minds. They were still charged with the excitement of their christening flights, and were no doubt expecting her to praise their accomplishments. It seemed prudent to bring them down a little before she apprised them of the situation.

  She kept her eyes on the girls of ECHO 6, whose positions were closest to Robin’s squad. They were clearly the first to sense something was wrong — tipped off by the empty stillness to their left. When Brooke and Paulina began to show signs of concern, the commander decided it was time to break the news.

  “First of all,” she began in a melancholy tone, “I’d like to congratulate you all on the successful completion of your christening flights. It says a lot about the caliber of your battalion that none of you required any major adjustments before docking. Each of you performed your duties admirably, and you should all be very proud of yourselves.”

  She studied the faces of Brooke and Paulina. Both of them appeared to be breathing heavily, as if anticipating what was to come.

  “As you know,” she continued, “traveling through space is inherently dangerous. And although christening flights are relatively safe, they are not entirely free from risk.” She paused briefly to draw in a deep breath. “Today, I have the regrettable task of informing you that one of our flights may not be returning. I don’t know what else to say at this moment. All we can do is hope for the best.”

  Christy felt her heart begin to race. What is she saying? Aren’t we all here? Suddenly it occurred to her t
hat she hadn’t seen any of Robin’s girls in the room prior to lining up in formation. Oh no! she fretted. Don’t let it be! She tried to lean back and glance to her left without the commander noticing, but the emptiness she saw at the end of the line proved to be too overwhelming for her. All concern for protocol was lost in an instant. Her legs gave out and she collapsed to her knees.

  As soon as Christy hit the floor, the commander turned her back to the girls, leaving them free to abandon discipline. “Dismissed,” she somberly informed them, then walked out of the room with her head turned away so none of them would see the tears running down her cheeks.

  GHOSTS 033

  Michelle stared blankly at the mission chronometer as it registered hour number seven of the flight. “Something’s wrong,” she said. “Something is really wrong. This flight was only supposed to last four hours. We should have been back to Volaris by now.”

  “Maybe they’re evaluating us,” Robin suggested. “Maybe this is all just some kind of test. It wouldn’t be the first time they’ve done something like this to us.”

  “I hope so,” Phoebe said. “I’m starting to get a little scared.”

  “Don’t worry,” Robin told her. “Everything is going to be alright.”

  Michelle shook her head. “No it isn’t. We’re lost.”

  Robin cast a harsh glance at her. “We’re not lost!” she insisted.

  “Yes we are,” Michelle argued. “We should have been back three hours ago. We must have done something wrong somewhere. It’s the only explanation there can be.”

  Robin sighed in frustration. “We’ve been over the log three times, Michelle. We did everything they told us to do. Besides, if we really are lost, they’ll send someone out to look for us. It’s not like they’re just going to forget about us, you know. They’re probably out looking for us already.”

  “Proximity alert!” the computer announced.

  Robin stepped forward and looked out the front window. The debris was becoming much more dense. It was time to abandon the computer–‌controlled helm. “Caroline,” she said with reluctance, “switch off the helm and take the flight controls. You’re going to have to fly us through this. We’ll never make it in push–‌button mode.”