The fleet formation was starting to collapse as the Zenith pressed its offensive. The point defence guns punching through the reactor power distribution nodes of the nearby frigates, leaving them floating in space like the scrap metal they were.
The scene was almost beautiful to behold, like a fireworks show: caused by the exploding reactor cores that had been ejected from the frigates.
With most of the frigates subdued the Zenith headed straight for the Carriers’ support cruisers. Its guns punching clean through the cruisers’ armour and hitting the carriers they had been shielding, causing the atmosphere to vent from the ships and their crews to jettison in escape pods in fear of the Zenith’s overwhelming fire-power.
Meanwhile, the Icarus had finally managed to reach a safe departure point and was charging its Vortex drive.
The sisters could see the light from the stars shifting and scattering randomly. The surrounding space was becoming warped by whatever field the ship was emanating as the drive approached full charge. And Zen hammered violently on Kade’s leg, pleading for her to go back. But the sequence was locked; there was no going back anymore.
Drake looked on in relief as the Icarus vanished from sensors, the pain he had been suppressing all this time hitting him like a ton of bricks as he let his guard down; causing the Zenith’s systems to begin shutting down… the guns going silent.
What remained of the fleet didn’t know what had just happened, but they weren’t about to waste this opportunity. Every single remaining ship opening up with everything they had left on the now silent behemoth as it drifted out of control. What remained of the Zenith’s armour was being ripped away as the enemy fire finally started to make contact with the inner hull. Causing violent decompressions as it punched holes in the superstructure.
Drake’s mind had lost all control over the ship and he couldn’t feel anything anymore. The only thing keeping him from falling to the ground was his harness, which was holding him to the chair. He could feel his life draining away from him as his body grew cold, finding it curious that there was little pain.
His life was coming to an end, of that there was no doubt, but it was a good end. Zen and the sisters were safe, his friends would carry on and he would die with his ship… a strangely comforting thought. Given the choice he would rather not die at all, but if he had to go anyway then this was the place to do it. In the only place left he could call home.
As Drake began to lose consciousness he saw the Zenith’s auto destruct warning suddenly shut down. Something had gone wrong with the countdown, but he no longer had any strength left to do anything about it. He watched in a confused state as all the probes in the Zenith’s hangar began auto launching and started taking position around the ship.
“Not the damned probes,” Drake said, his voice trailing off into a whisper as he lost consciousness, “Do you have any idea how much those things cost…”
The fleet was continuing its onslaught as the probes formed a tight sphere around the Zenith and then started emitting a warning over all the comms frequencies.
“WARNING: Self-destruct sequence initiated, all ships are advised to clear the area immediately,” the cold computerised voices from more than 300 probes all announced repeatedly.
In the bridge of the Zenith, Drake’s unconscious body sat vigil over the ship’s last moments, as the surrounding space began warping and all the probes simultaneously detonated their reactor cores. Filling the area with an intense bright light and blinding all sensors in the system.
As the light subsided and the fleet conducted scans of the region, cheers could be heard throughout the Regent’s bridge and coming over the intercoms from the remaining ships, for there was no trace left of the Zenith. The fleet had been victorious.
Meanwhile the Icarus was traversing Vortex space as it headed towards the Lux system at full speed.
It was a new experience for the sisters, to put it lightly, since neither of them had known what to expect from the Vortex drive activation.
Kade had assumed that the name was some kind of reference to whatever optical phenomenon was observed from outside the ship. Though in retrospect the idea of a swirling vortex of energy, like some weird cosmic drain, did seem kind of silly now. And Jude had assumed that the name was just an acronym and that it was nothing more than a modified Burst drive. Neither of them could have been more wrong if they tried however.
The Vortex drive had actually shifted the Icarus and anything unlucky enough to have been in its immediate vicinity, into what the ship’s database was referring to as ‘Vortex space’: which was actually the gravity layer, one of the four fundamental layers of the universe, which theory had predicted to exist at the beginning of the first era; the very same theory which had made the Burst drive a reality.
The sisters looked on in amazement as they saw the universe in a whole new light. For this ‘space’ was insubstantial and what they were seeing was gravity in its purest form, before it was merged with the other fundamental layers in order to give rise to the universe they knew.
Kade couldn’t understand how any of what she was seeing was even remotely possible, but that didn’t make the display any less beautiful to her.
“I think I just figured out why they call this Vortex space,” Jude said with an astonished expression.
“Why?” Kade asked, and then Jude put the starboard camera feed on the main view-screen.
“What the hell is that?” Kade asked with a stunned expression as she looked at a massive swirling void of darkness, which sent a chill running down her spine.
“It’s the Vortex,” Zen said in a low and sad tone as she sat on the floor, leaning against the wall as she stared absent-mindedly at the deck. Like a broken doll that had lost all reason for living.
“What… is it?” Kade asked as she stared at the almost hypnotic sight.
“We don’t know… we can’t even be certain how far away it is. Even at the Zenith’s top speed it would probably take thousands…” Zen was saying when she went quiet, her sad eyes betraying her thoughts.
Kade didn’t know what she could possibly say to Zen that would help in this situation; or even if she should say anything at all. All the platitudes in the galaxy would sound meaningless and hollow. And there was a good chance that Zen would never forgive her for having taken her from the Zenith, regardless of whatever its final fate had been.
As Kade pondered how best to handle the situation at hand her screen suddenly began counting down, calling her attention as the ship started decelerating. They were about to drop out of Vortex space.
Kade felt sick to her stomach as the Icarus started phasing back into normal space, her vision going blurry and momentarily losing her sense of hearing. It had only lasted a few seconds but as she regained her senses she saw warnings going off all over the place. The Icarus was taking severe damage.
Energy which had unevenly built up in the ship’s frame, while in Vortex space, was now trying to achieve balance. Causing arcs of electricity to jump between the different sections of the outer hull’s structure and violently ripping apart any insulating ceramic armour which happened to be standing in the way of the energy discharges. The scene inside the ship was even more intense, as bolts of lightning energised passageways and destroyed any equipment in their path. The only thing keeping the crew alive, being the fact that the bridge was actually part of the original ship, the Phoenix, that had been designed to safely traverse Vortex space. The Icarus’ outer frame, however, was now paying the ultimate price for having trespassed into the Vortex domain.
The Icarus floated quietly through space, the energy imbalance having finally corrected itself; though not before having torn apart over 60% of the ship’s armour plates and damaged most of the critical equipment on board, including the engine and reactor control systems. The ship had been left completely adrift.
The sisters sat in the dark, wondering what would happen next; whether they had actually arrived at their destination, or if
the guidance system had dropped them in the middle of some uncharted system. There was simply no way to tell.
To make matters worse, Zen had also seemingly shut down. Whether from grief or a systems failure caused by the re-entry, Kade couldn’t say. She held Zen’s small body as the sisters waited for whatever was to come next and wondered what had been the point of it all if this was how things were supposed to end.
Minutes turned to hours as exhaustion took hold of Kade, who was finding it increasingly harder to stay awake. Causing her to naturally doze off.
“Was this really our fate all along?” Kade asked as she stood on the overlook glade, as a gentle breeze caressed her skin on a perfect crystal clear day.
“You’re asking me? You know I’m not actually here, right?” Drake replied as he leaned back against the fence and enjoyed the fresh air.
“Humour me!” Kade ordered.
“Fate huh? That’s an interesting concept. We are all thrown into this universe without knowledge or ability. And we work all our lives to attain that which we need to survive and prosper, only to eventually die. So, does fate really exist in this system, or is it just an illusion your mind creates in order to give you solace?” Drake smiled.
“I… I don’t know,” Kade said, looking conflicted.
“Of course you do!” Toby said, sitting on the wooden fence next to Drake.
“I do?” Kade asked somewhat confused.
“Deep down you have always believed that fate is an illusion created by the passage of time,” Toby said, causing Kade’s mood to drop even more.
“You choose to believe that you are in full control over what path your life will take. Though you may not be able to control the events that unfold around you, it is still up to you to decide if you will participate in them. Changing the flow of events which will unfold over time and in turn shaping the unwritten future that is to come,” Drake said.
“Is that what you did? You chose to sacrifice yourself? For what?” Kade asked angrily as she stared at Drake’s smiling face.
“For you, for Jude and for Zen. I decided that your survival was more important than my own, and I acted on that decision. My only regret is that I never got to know you better. Or maybe that’s your regret, I am a figment of your imagination after all… hmm, this is getting confusing.” Drake grinned, lifting Kade’s mood.
“Now what?” Kade asked.
“Now… you wake up.” Toby smiled.
“What?”
“Wake up!” Kade heard a forceful voice say as if it was coming from everywhere around her.
“Wake up!!” The voice said again, causing Kade to open her eyes and start laughing at the sight of the rescue crew which was standing in front of her.
“Are you OK?” Asked the man in the black space suit with the shadow insignia on the shoulders.
“I’ve had better days.” Kade smiled.
The Icarus had been retrieved by the Demeter, one of the many patrol ships that protected the planet Calder and was now being taken to the orbital shipyards.
The council was waiting for answers as to what, exactly, had happened in Sol and how the Icarus had managed to reach the Lux system.
A week passed and the universe moved on, with most of the colonies completely unaware of what had transpired in the Sol system.
Even the inhabitants of Sol didn’t really know what had happened. The military had suppressed most of the information, so the public had been left with yet another mystery and plenty of speculations.
Somewhere in one of the many bars of the lunar shipyard, two dock-hands were enjoying their time off as they watched the news over a few drinks.
The news anchor woman reported on the hot topics of the day, “And that was the scene late last week when the Union’s new defence platform suffered a cataclysmic systems failure during a test fire exercise. Luckily the First Forward Fleet, which was conducting training exercises in the area, managed to destroy the platform in time, saving outpost 56-beta. No civilian casualties were recorded. But sadly, the fleet lost two frigates and sustained severe damage to over two thirds of its…”
“That’s a load of crap,” Mick said angrily as he held his half-drunk beer glass.
“Which part?” Dave asked with a melancholic look as he contemplated the bottom of his empty glass.
Mick said confidently, “All of it! I hear it was the Shadows that destroyed the platform.”
Dave said dismissively, “Just how much have you had to drink? The Shadows are a myth, everyone knows that!”
Mick said angrily, “They are not! My wife’s second cousin’s friend’s sister’s boyfriend said that there was some strange message picked up all over the system that day. And a picture from the monitoring grid showed a ship with the Shadow insignia on its hull. It was them!” He said, spilling some of his drink over his friend.
“Your wife’s… second sister’s… what?” Dave asked, finding it hard to keep up in his inebriated state.
“I need another drink!” Mick said as he started getting up, having completely lost his train of thought and then almost losing his balance, grabbing his chair so as to not fall flat on his face.
“That’s it, you’ve had enough! I need to go back before my wife comes looking for me anyway,” Dave said as he got up. The two of them leaving the bar as the news report carried on.
“In other news, the strange malfunctions which had been plaguing the Galactic Artificial Intelligence Ark network for the past year were finally resolved last week. Independent sources claiming that the issues eventually corrected themselves, after repair crews repeatedly failed to fix the system. The GAIA maintenance corporation could not be reached for comment…”
The Epilogue
Planet Calder was not at all like Kade had been expecting. She had pictured an industrialised world, with technology as far as the eye could see, for that was the kind of world her former occupation would generally take her to. Cold places with no soul and incessant noise which threatened to drive visitors insane if they stayed for too long.
But this planet seemed perfect, or at least as close to perfect as Kade’s imagination could dream up.
A garden world not unlike old Earth, with large blue oceans covering most of the surface and extensive landmasses filled with plant and animal life.
The main colony settlement was located in the tropical region, with an expansive view of the nearby ocean and its crystal clear blue waters. And the bluest sky Kade had ever seen in her entire life. It all seemed so perfect from her new apartment’s balcony window, up on the 77th floor of one of the three main arcology buildings of the primary settlement. It was easy to understand why the Council was so adamant about protecting this place.
Kade was sat by the balcony, looking out to the sea in her shorts and tank-top as she enjoyed a perfect summer’s day. The peace and quiet she was experiencing right now seeming almost unreal.
So much had happened; so much had been left unresolved. Had the outcome really been worth all the sacrifices, Kade wondered in silence.
Zen’s body had been taken away from her by the Council, though they had let her keep her ship. And she still didn’t know what had been the final fate of the Zenith. She had far too many questions and not nearly enough answers, but right now she needed a well-deserved rest.
“Ah! I needed that!” Jude said as she stepped out of the shower room wrapped in a white towel.
“You live right next door sis, why use my shower?” Kade asked without turning around.
“I like yours better.” Jude smiled and then asked in a concerned tone, “Are you saying you don’t want me around anymore?”
“You know very well I didn’t mean it that way,” Kade said warmly as she stared absent-mindedly into the sky, wondering what was to come.
“Good!” Jude said in a chipper mood as she headed to the room in order to get dressed.
“Are you really ready for tomorrow?” Kade asked, wondering how her sister could be in such a happy m
ood after all that had happened.
“Aren’t you? After nearly a month here I thought you’d be itching to get back into space,” Jude replied.
“That I am! I’ve had about as much questioning from the Council as I can stand. As if we would know what it was they were trying to accomplish when they went to Sol. We barely got to know any of them!” Kade said with a heavy heart as she stared absent-mindedly at the pristine blue sky.
“At least they repaired our ship,” Jude said, trying to cheer up her sister.
“After putting us through two weeks of interrogation it’s the least they could do. I had never realised just how many different ways a person can ask the same stupid questions until we came here. And after two weeks they just stop without explanation and give us these places, even offer to repair and refit the Icarus free of charge. Can these people get any more random?” Kade asked as her sister walked up and sat next to her.
“Probably,” Jude said as she opened a can of soda.
“Is that one of mine?” Kade asked as her sister started drinking her soda.
“Definitely.” Jude grinned as she gave her sister another can.
“Anyway…” Kade opened the can. “The real question is what to do now. The Icarus is probably gonna be on the colonies most wanted list for the rest of eternity, so we can’t go back to our old lives. And I can’t see there’s much need for smuggling in this place.” Kade took a sip of her soda, looking depressed.
“I’ve got a smuggling job for you if you want it.” Kade heard a familiar voice say in her mind, as the sisters Cores started receiving a message.
“Zen!” Kade said happily as Jude nearly choked on her drink from the surprise.
Zen asked happily, “So you want the job?”
“Of course we do!” Jude replied without giving her smiling sister a chance to speak.
The following day…
Shadow Core - The Legacy Page 25