by Colin Weldon
I love you too, dad the voice sauntered into his mind.
He was confused, sleepy, swirling away somewhere else. There was a flickering of light in his eye. He focused in on Carrie. He smiled at her as his lips and jaw began to freeze in place. There was a faint crack as his eye implant shattered in its socket and then the world drifted away.
***
“Bridge, this is the engine room,” came Tosh’s shaking voice over the comm system.
Boyett was still in the flight chair watching a now cascading series of explosions on the exterior cameras. Tosh’s voice sounded distressed. Something bad had just happened. She could feel it in her gut.
“FTL r-restored, Charly, you can jump the ship,” Tosh stuttered.
Boyett could have sworn he was crying. She pushed it out of her head. She reached up, pulled out the control cylinders, and brought the ring speed back up to jump rotation speeds. She focused on the ship, the crew. The ring’s speed increased until it again became a blur on the screen and the interior of hell was replaced by the close proximity of the planet. The ship began to shake.
“Shit, we’re too close, Lieutenant. She’s skimming the atmosphere,” said Ripley from her console.
Boyett struggled against the vibrations as she began trying to regain control of the ship.
“Got it, hold on, this may get a little bumpy,” she said as she pitched up the nose by twenty degrees and applied full power.
The ship began to shake. Something behind Boyett exploded.
“It’s the FTL ring,” Ripley said, “hull temperature at critical levels.”
The rotation was causing too much friction. It wasn’t meant for atmospheric entry and at this rate, it would burn up.
“Shutting it down,” Boyett replied, grabbing the two handles and pressing them back in place initiating an emergency shut down.
She maintained her pitch angle and held on. It was in the hands of the gods. After several terrifying seconds, the vibration began to smooth out. The ring stopped spinning and she locked it in place.
“Altitude increasing, I think you got it,” Ripley said.
The ship rose to a geo synchronous orbit but before Boyett could take a breath a bright flash of light lit up all the view screens simultaneously.
“What the hell was that?” she said looking at Ripley.
“I don’t know, hang on,” Ripley replied, “holy shit.”
“What is it?” Boyett said.
“The star,” Ripley said looking at her, “it’s going nova.”
“It’s what?” Boyett said.
“All nuclear fusion is breaking down. It’s collapsing,” Ripley said.
All eyes rose to the view screens. Boyett saw ships engaged in battle, explosions, fireballs, energy weapons discharging. She watched as both stars imploded in on themselves.
“Shock wave approaching,” Ripley shouted.
“Time to impact?” Boyett said.
“Eleven minutes,” Ripley responded.
Boyett tried to think.
“Find Chavel’s shuttle,” she said to Ripley not taking her eyes off the star.
She could now see a spherical wave, as it made its way outwards. Nothing could survive a nova. She thought about what the captain had said and wondered what the hell he was talking about. She had no idea what to do. She could jump the ship out of the system, but then what? She looked at the armada of Targlagdu vessels spread out all over the system.
“Sir, part of the shock wave just intercepted with one of those machine planets,” Ripley said.
“On screen,” Boyett said.
Ripley obeyed, displaying the impact on the centre screen. They watched as the huge sphere was torn asunder before erupting from the inside out.
“That’s what they were doing,” she said to herself, “a self-destruct button for the whole planet. Jesus.”
“Ten minutes,” Ripley called out, “what do we do?”
“Find David’s shuttle,” Boyett replied.
Ripley moved fast.
“Got him,” Ripley replied.
“Hail him, Kevin,” Boyett shouted without looking behind her.
There was a light bleeping noise.
“Agathon, where the hell have you been all my life?” Chavel said.
“David, get your ass back on board. We need to make a run for it,” Boyett said.
“Already en route,” Chavel replied.
“Make it fast,” Boyett said.
She turned and looked at the empty centre seat and did what came naturally. She hit her comm panel.
“Captain to the bridge,” she said.
She was met with silence.
ENGINE ROOM
Her heart was broken. Everything was moving in slow motion. Sounds were dulled, her body felt weightless. She leaned against the coolant tank with her forehead resting on the glass as she watched her father’s frozen body drift quietly to the bottom. She heard a light clink as it touched down and shifted slowly so that he was resting face down. She gently lowered her body to her knees, sliding her hands down the glass. She had felt him die, had seen the image he had projected into her mind before it winked out of existence. It was an image of her as a child, resting on his knee in his office back on Mars. She could feel the strength of his hand pressed against her back, steadying her. Her body shook as the uncontrollable tears crept down her face. He was gone. She was alone. She had failed. She turned her body and looked away, resting her back against the glass. In the distance, she heard Boyett’s voice over the comm system. She didn’t know what she was saying. She looked up and saw a small group of crewmen staring at her. Faces full of despair, shock, disbelief. She saw Tosh roll his chair over to her, turning his back to the tank, the pair now facing out towards the rest of the crewmen like an honour guard.
“Get back to work,” she said softly to them, “this isn’t over yet. I won’t have him die for nothing.”
The crewmen waited for a moment, not knowing what to do, before turning slowly and returning to their stations. Carrie felt a hand on her shoulder.
“Carrie,” Tosh said softly to her.
She didn’t have the strength to respond.
“Carrie,” he said again more forcefully.
She dragged her head up and gazed at him, numb.
“He saved our lives. You should be proud of him. Don’t mourn him, not yet,” he said, “we need you, help us finish this.”
Carrie looked at Tosh’s endearing face. He was smiling at her, but she could sense how broken up the man was inside. She felt his strength though, the strength of a man who had lived through life’s devastations and moved on. She made a note to get to know him better if they survived this.
“There’s a few thousand new faces on board who are depending on us,” he said, “use his strength, feed on it. Now get the hell off my deck and back to work.”
His face had changed to one of authority. He meant it. Carrie felt cold. She missed her father and the pain of his loss was almost more than she could bear, but she knew that he was right. She inhaled, closed her fists, and obeyed him, getting slowly to her feet. Her legs felt weak as she wiped away the tears from her cheeks. She laid a hand on Tosh’s shoulder and squeezed it. She took one last glance at her father’s body, placed a hand on the glass, and said goodbye before turning back to Tosh.
“What do I do?” she said to him.
“Get up to the bridge and tell Charly she’s the captain now,” he said.
36:
MAIN HANGER DECK
Aron took Maya’s hand and looked around the cargo bay of yet another ship. This one was different. There were actual humans in uniform staring at them like they were ghosts or something. He was in a group of roughly a hundred, all of whom were huddled together, some sitting on the floor. A man in uniform approached him. He brought Maya c
loser to him made eye contact. He wondered where Carrie was. He could see Ollie talking with a small group, but he couldn’t find India or Tyrell. He figured they had transported to another area of the ship. The man in uniform made his way over to Aron and extended a hand. He was young, with neatly combed hair and light stubble.
“Welcome aboard,” he said with a look of wonder in his eye.
Aron extended his hand and met his light but firm handshake.
“You’re Aron? The person in charge?” he asked.
“If they say so,” Aron replied cautiously.
“My name is crewman Thomas. You have no idea how good it is to see you,” Thomas said, “we have so many questions.”
“It’s probably not the time for answers,” Aron said shortly.
“And who is this?” said Thomas bending down to Maya unperturbed.
“This is my daughter, Maya,” Aron said.
“Hello, Maya, welcome aboard The Agathon,” Thomas said as the ship shook for a moment.
Aron looked around and heard a short scream from one of his people at the far end of the cargo bay. They were scared. They had had enough.
“What’s happening?” Aron said.
“I really don’t know,” Thomas said, “but the captain has things in hand. He’ll get us out of this, he always does. Just sit tight,” Thomas said.
“Does this ship have a control centre?” Aron said.
“Yes, but the bridge is off limits to non- essential personnel,” Thomas said.
“Thomas,” Aron said, “these people are scared. They need to see me taking action. I’m not going to sit in this cargo bay doing nothing, so here’s what you’re going to do … you’re going to take me up to the bridge so that I can see exactly what’s going on,” Aron said.
“I’m sorry, Aron, I can’t do that,” Thomas said.
“Hi there,” came Ollie’s voice from behind the pair.
Ollie was a big guy, and his bearded face, which made him look imposing even at the best of times. Thomas turned and had to look up to meet his gaze.
“Ollie, meet crewman Thomas, he was just about to let me go up to the bridge and find out the current situation, but there seems to be a slight issue with allowing me to do that,” Aron said in a menacing tone so that Ollie would pick up on it straight away.
Ollie made himself look larger by crossing his huge arms and gritting his teeth. He glared at crewman Thomas and made it very clear that he was in serious trouble if he didn’t comply.
“Crewman Thomas looks like an obliging sort of fellow, doesn’t he? I’m sure that he can accommodate you, sir,” Ollie said taking a slow threatening step towards Thomas.
Thomas looked up at Ollie and then back at Aron before clearing his throat.
“I, uh ... I’m sure the captain would be pleased to meet you,” he said.
“See? I told you,” said Ollie.
“If you’ll come with me, sir,” said Thomas to Aron.
Aron turned to Maya.
“You stay here with Ollie, you’ll be safe. As soon as we get to a new home, you and I are going to have to have a little talk,” Aron said leaning down and kissing her.
“I have to go with you, Carrie needs me,” Maya replied staring at him, “something bad just happened to her,” she whispered in his ear, “she’s in pain.”
Aron pulled back and glanced at her before turning to Thomas.
“Okay Maya,” he said, “let’s go.”
BRIDGE
“Agathon I’ve been hit by weapons fire, life support going offline,” said Chavel’s voice over the comm system.
“Hold on Chavel, we’re coming for you,” Boyett said watching the scanners.
“I’m out of time here, Charly, I’m evacuating the shuttle,” he replied
Shit, thought Charly.
It was chaos out there and there was only six minutes left before the star’s shock wave reached the planet. It was already consuming and destroying the Targlagdu vessels in its path. Fireball upon fireball rocketed across the sky in a procession of light and flame so bright the entire planetary system seemed to glow orange and white. The porthole, or whatever it was, was now the epicentre of the firefight. What was left of the Ruthenium fleet, which appeared to be less than twenty or so ships, were clustered together in a tight formation and focusing all their energy weapons fire in one localised burst. They were no longer on the offensive. Three massive Targlagdu ships were converging on their location with another two, their equators wide open, heading straight for the porthole. Boyett still gave serious thought to firing up the FTL and just jumping the hell out of there, but looking at the sheer scale of the Targlagdu ships, their sizes, their ferocity, and the fact that the captain had said they were spread out all over the galaxy, she knew she had to get through that blue ring.
She heard the door at the rear of the bridge open with a swish and glanced quickly to see Carrie walk out onto the bridge. She turned back to her flight controls.
“Five minutes to impact,” Ripley said.
“Chavel? Can you hear me?” Boyett said into the comm.
“Agathon, I’m EVA,” came the response, “shuttle is destroyed. Forget about me Charly, get the ship through, I think I’m done here.”
She saw Carrie beside her suddenly, looking at her. She looked wrecked, like she had been crying, but more than that she looked at her in a way that told her something serious had just happened.
“Where’s the captain?” she said already knowing that he was dead but needing to hear it out loud.
“You’re the captain,” Carrie said unable to hold the tear that escaped.
She wiped it away quickly and tried to regain her composure. Boyett’s heart sank so far into her chest she thought it might disappear entirely. The bridge went deathly quiet.
“What?” Boyett replied not knowing what else to say.
A huge weight began to push down on her chest with the weight of all those people on board. The uncertainty of her own ability. The fear of it. The panic. And then something else. Somewhere, deep down, there was a strength. Almost like a piece of programming her training had suddenly activated.
“The coolant tank, he went in, he...” Carrie said looking past Boyett to Ripley who had both of her hands up to her mouth.
She looked back at Boyett.
“Take command, Charly, right now,” Carrie said to her in an unexpected tone of forcefulness that told Boyett there was no time to think about it, “get the ship to Chavel, I’ll go get him,” she said suddenly moving towards the back of the bridge.
***
The lift doors swished open again breaking the moment. Aron met Carrie’s gaze, he saw there was something wrong. Carrie looked down at Maya who walked towards her and wrapped her arms around Carrie’s waist. Carrie reciprocated. She was about to say something to Maya when she felt something strange inside her. Maya pulled back and gave her a long lingering stare.
“It’s here Carrie, the dark thing, it’s going to…” Maya started.
Carrie felt her muscles move, she lost control, felt a surge of power in her mind as she grabbed Maya by the throat and lifted her cleanly off the ground.
“No!” Carrie screamed as Aron lurched forwards, grabbing her by the arm. Maya began choking, her eyes turning red.
Watch Carrie, watch as I blow this ship to small pieces, if I can’t have your mind, then your body will do, shouted the growling dark voice in her head.
“Somebody shoot me!” Carrie screamed as Aron began pulling at her arms.
She tried to focus, as Ferrate ran towards her.
“What are you doing?” shouted Boyett.
She felt another presence in her mind as Maya continued gasp for air.
Leave her alone! shouted Maya in her mind.
She felt another strength, not her own. She felt like she w
as being torn in half. Maya’s presence was powerful, she felt it take over, suppressing the control the Black over her muscles. She felt control return in her arms. Maya dropped to the ground. Aron pushed Carrie back and then knelt beside her. Carrie collapsed on the deck. She was shaking; she still felt Maya’s strength inside her. Maya turned to her, taking long deep breaths.
I’ll kill you all, shouted the growling voice of The Black inside Carrie’s mind.
“No you won’t,” replied Maya’s out load
Carrie had to get off this ship. She couldn’t get it out of her, it wouldn’t leave. She was now the biggest threat to all of them.
She looked at Maya.
“I can hold it Carrie, but not for long,” she said gasping for breath.
“I’m sorry,” Carrie said to Aron.
She turned to Boyett, “I’m sorry Captain.”
Boyett looked lost. Carrie got to her feet and rushed to the lift entrance, she turned back to the bridge crew, they were staring at her.
“Help me Maya, just for a little while longer,” she said to Maya who nodded and smiled at her.
“Charly, I’m going for Chavel, wait for him, I’ll get you out of this,” She turned to Aron, “take care of her,” she said, the lift doors closing before he could respond.
***
“Sir, we’ve another ship coming in off our starboard bow,” Ripley said.
Boyett watched the exterior view of the ship as a battle cruiser, not unlike The Praxis, come bolstering over their hull, slowing down and taking a position directly overhead.
“Now what,” she whispered to herself.
“Agathon, this is Chavel, I’ve got a transmission from that ship that’s shadowing you, it’s Tark’An, he wants you to follow them.”
“Well tell him to hold on, Carrie’s going out to get you,” Boyett said.
“There’s no time for that Charly,” Chavel replied
“Shut up, David,” said Boyett trying to keep her head clear.