by Jay Allan
Destra grimaced, debating her options, but without fuel, she had no options, and it wouldn’t be long before the Sythians realized she hadn’t made it to the end of the space lane and began flying back from the gate looking for her.
That dark planet was her only chance—and it wasn’t a good one. Trying not to think about her odds of survival, Destra tilted the flight yoke up and pushed it forward to head in the direction of the planet. She silently wondered if she had enough fuel left to make it there. The answer which flashed up on the HUD was inscrutable, but when she wondered about setting an autopilot to land on the surface, the controls grew slack in her hands and her fighter drifted onto a more direct heading for the planet.
Hopefully that was a good sign.
Destra waited for what seemed like an eternity, wondering how she was going to survive. The atmosphere, if there even was one, was likely not breathable. The world was so dark that the temperature had to be well below zero. It was hard to imagine how dying in the cold, dark, and airless environment of that exoplanet would be any better than dying in the cold, dark, and airless environment of space.
By the time that dark world was all Destra could see in her forward view, her ship began to descend the last few hundred klicks to the surface. She saw the faint orange glow of an erupting volcano far below, and then she felt the slight vibration of an atmosphere tugging at her fighter. That much was a good sign, but the fact that the world was off the space lanes only confirmed its lack of habitability. The atmosphere was probably toxic.
Soon, dark wisps of cloud began drifting past the cockpit, and Destra saw a rugged mountain range appear below her. The mountains were riddled with glowing rivers of magma—yet another volcano was in the process of erupting there. It was strange to see a world so dark and cold belching fire and brimstone.
Lovely place, she thought.
Chapter 24
—THE YEAR 10 AE—
Alara noted Captain Reese’s absence from the briefing room as she, Gina, and Tenrik Fanton filed wearily inside and took their seats to be debriefed by Commander Caldin. The captain’s absence sent a stab of dread coursing through Alara. Had her own wingmate been killed and she hadn’t noticed? But no, she’d heard his voice on the comm several times since they’d reached the rendezvous. He was fine.
Alara sat down beside her bunk mate, Lieutenant Gina Giord, and gave the other woman a wan smile. Gina offered a weak smile in return and then looked away. It was a miracle that Alara could find even one friendly face left among the surviving pilots.
Once they were all seated, the commander proceeded to tell them the shocking news about the imposter overlord. But that wasn’t all. Caldin went on to explain Doctor Kurlin’s role in discovering the imposter and also in creating the virus which had killed the Valiant’s crew. Finally she got to the part about Captain Reese’s suspicious actions to cover up for the doctor.
They’d all stopped gasping and murmuring after hearing about the overlord. The rest fell on numb ears. Personally, Alara felt less shocked and horrified to hear about her father’s arrest than she was to hear about Captain Reese’s. All of it together was far too much for them to deal with after the long, exhausting mission with two trips through SLS and two back-to-back battles in which they’d lost almost the entire squadron.
Alara shook her head. It felt like she was trapped inside some horrible dream. The only good news was that it was over for now.
At least for them it was.
Commander Caldin told them that the Defiant would stay where it was. Parts and fuel would be scavenged from the cruiser to refit Brondi’s corvette for extended range, and then they’d send a skeleton crew and Tova on a straight jump to Obsidian Station to get help. Alara found herself wondering why they hadn’t just done that to begin with, but Caldin answered that question before anyone could ask.
“We’re now almost halfway to Obsidian Station. That’s just close enough for a heavily-modified corvette to make it there without using the space lanes. They’ll be safe—we’ll be safe until help arrives—a nice happy ending for everyone.” Caldin looked down at her lectern as if to read notes from a holo pad—but she hadn’t brought one. The commander was unable to meet their gaze.
Alara frowned. There was something she wasn’t telling them.
“Good job out there, pilots,” Caldin went on, still gazing at the lectern. “Go eat something from the mess and get some rack time. You all look like you need it!” Finally, she looked up, saluted them, and said, “Dismissed!”
As Alara rose from her seat, Caldin caught her eye and gestured for her to come down to the podium. Alara reached the base of the podium where the commander was standing and gave a tired salute. “You wanted to speak with me, ma’am?”
Caldin nodded. “At ease, Cadet. I need to know what you think of all this.”
“Of all what, ma’am?”
Caldin raised one eyebrow. “Your father is in prison awaiting trial for conspiracy and mass murder, and the leader of your squadron is also in prison, apparently an accomplice to those crimes. . . . None of that affects you?”
Alara hesitated, trying to decide what answer the commander was looking for.
“Don’t think too hard.”
“Well . . .” Alara trailed off. “I don’t remember Dr. Kurlin as my father. Everyone tells me he is, but that doesn’t make any sense to me.”
“Interesting,” Caldin mused. “And the captain?”
“I find it hard to believe him capable of those crimes, but he’s not a dear friend of mine.”
Caldin nodded. “All the same, I think it would be best if you went to the brig to say goodbye—at least to your father.”
Alara’s brow furrowed. “Goodbye?”
“They may not survive the trial, let alone their sentence. We’re going to subject them to a mind probe.”
Alara gasped.
“You’re dismissed, Cadet. My guards are waiting at the doors to escort you to the brig if you wish to go.”
* * *
Alara’s footsteps rang clearly down the corridor as she walked to the brig. Beside her walked one of Commander Caldin’s guards, and ahead, polished duranium walls and floors stretched endlessly. The brig was located in the far aft section of the lowermost of the cruiser’s 18 decks.
“So the Doc’s your father, hoi?” the guard asked.
Alara turned to him and gave a quick nod. “That’s what people tell me.”
“Tell you? Oh, right—you’re chipped. What’s that like?”
“It’s like being yourself, except that everyone around you is judging you for it.”
“Hoi, sounds like being regular to me.”
Alara laughed. “Well, it could be worse I suppose. What’s your name?” she asked, her eyes on the man.
“Corpsman Terl,” the guard said.
They reached the brig, and Terl stepped forward to present his wrist to the door scanner. The door slid open and they walked in. They passed the warden, sitting with his feet propped up on his desk, reading a holo pad while security holos from the brig played in a continuous, silent stream above the desk. The warden looked up to see who’d come in, and Terl turned to him as they walked, “She’s going to pay her respects to the Doc.”
The warden nodded and went back to reading.
They reached the next door and again Terl passed his wrist over the scanner. It swished open to reveal another corridor, this one lined with jail cells. Alara let the corpsman lead, and he stopped just inside the entrance and gestured to the second cell on the left. “Doc’s in there.”
Alara started forward; her gaze flicked left to see Captain Reese staring at her, and then right to see—
She froze—blinking, her mouth half open as if she were about to say something, but had the words stolen from her before she could. The man in that cell stared back at her grimly, but now he nodded and smiled, as if he understood what had shocked her. Alara gazed into those familiar green eyes and studied the man’s ruggedly
handsome face. Her gaze flicked up to his salt and pepper hair and she shook her head. She knew this man. A headache began encroaching at her temples, and abruptly Alara felt sick and dizzy. She squeezed her eyes shut to make the world stop spinning.
A scene flashed into her mind’s eye then. It was burned into her memory from recurring nightmares. In that scene the situation was reversed—she was inside the cell, and he was coming to see her.
“I’ll be back soon, Kiddie . . .”
“I love you!” she heard herself say.
“I love you, too, Alara.”
Suddenly she knew who he was. The memories came rushing back—countless hours spent by that man’s side, co-piloting the Atton in Dark Space. He was Ethan—her best friend, her partner, and . . . She opened her eyes slowly and shook her head. “You . . .”
Ethan’s gaze flicked to the guard standing beside her and then back.
“You two know each other?” Terl asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.
Alara recovered smoothly. She turned to Terl and shook her head. Looking back to Ethan with a disgusted scowl, she said, “No, it’s just shocking to see who the overlord really was.”
Terl nodded.
Alara started toward Kurlin’s cell once more, but then she turned back to the guard standing behind her. “Do you think I could have a moment alone with my father?”
“Uh . . .”
“It’s okay—” She looked up and nodded to the roving black eye of a holocorder. “—you’ll have a record there in case you’re worried.”
Terl frowned. “I guess it’s okay, but don’t be long.”
Alara nodded and covered a yawn with one hand. “I’ll pass out if I stay too long. Need to hit the rack soon.”
The corpsman turned and walked off the brig. Alara watched him go and waited until the doors had shut behind him before turning to Ethan once more. She walked up close to the bars of his cell, being careful to keep her back to the nearest camera.
“Kiddie . . .” he whispered.
Using her body to shield the gesture, Alara put a finger to her lips, and then she fished around in her pocket for a holo pad. Bringing it out, she typed in a message, and then turned it so Ethan could see.
I remember you. We used to fly together. You were the overlord all this time?
Ethan smiled and nodded.
She typed in something else and turned the pad once more.
You said you loved me. Is that true?
Ethan hesitated, but then he nodded again.
What were you doing impersonating the overlord?
Ethan gestured for her to pass the pad to him through the bars. She turned her body to shield the movement from the holocorder, and then passed the pad through the bars. He spent a long moment typing something and then he turned the pad so she could see.
It’s a long story. They’re going to use a probe on me when we get to Obsidian Station, so you’ll find out then—assuming the information isn’t classified.
Alara’s eyes flew wide, now remembering what Caldin had said about saying goodbye to her father. That meant she’d have to say goodbye to Ethan, too. Alara took the pad back from Ethan and typed.
I’m going to get you out.
He shook his head.
I love you, Ethan. I don’t remember much, but I do remember that. I can’t leave you here. I’ll find a way.
Ethan gestured for the pad again, and he wrote: You can’t help me now. I know you love me, Kiddie, but you want something I can’t give you. My heart still belongs to my wife.
Alara frowned and reached for the pad once more. Now she wrote, You’re married??
The door swished open once more and Alara hurried to tuck the pad back into her flight jacket before turning to see Corpsman Terl come bustling in with the warden. Neither of them looked amused.
“Hoi, get away from that prisoner!” Terl said. “You’re not authorized to speak with him.”
Alara shook her head. “I wasn’t speaking with him. I was just trying to decide if I recognized him from somewhere.”
“And?” Terl asked as he reached her side.
Alara shook her head and glanced back at Ethan. “It’s just déjà vu. Being chipped makes it hard to decide what’s real . . . and what isn’t.” She held Ethan’s gaze as she said that last part, and she saw his eyes flash with hurt and sympathy. How could I have been stupid enough to fall for a married man? Alara wondered. The more she learned about her previous life, the less she wanted to go on living it.
“Well hurry up and pay your respects to the doc. I’m not leaving you alone in here again.”
“Of course. I’ll just be a moment,” Alara said and walked up to Kurlin’s cell. She found him sleeping on his bunk, so she woke him by rattling the bars of his cell.
He looked up with tired, bloodshot eyes, and then his eyes flew wide and he jumped up from the bed. “Alara! You’re safe!”
“Yes,” she smiled.
He hurried to the bars of the cell and reached for her hand. Alara endured the old man’s clammy touch for a few seconds. She still didn’t remember Kurlin as her father.
“Now I can die in peace,” he sighed.
“Don’t say that . . . you’re not going to die.”
Kurlin smiled wanly and shook his head. “My dear, sweet little girl, if I don’t die when they probe my mind, they will kill me when they see what’s locked inside of it.”
“We’re all dead men,” Captain Reese interrupted from the cell adjacent to Kurlin’s. Alara turned to meet the captain’s blue eyes. He’d been watching her the whole time.
Alara shook her head, and Terl grabbed her by the arm. “That’s enough fraternizing. We need to go.”
“Goodbye, Alara!” Kurlin called.
Alara looked back over her shoulder and smiled at the old man. “Goodbye, Dad.”
Kurlin’s eyes grew moist with that acknowledgement. She didn’t feel the truth of those words, but he was on death row, so it was the least she could do. She caught Ethan’s eye as she left, but he looked away, and then so did she. There wasn’t anything further to say. He’d said it already: he was in love with someone else—his wife! Alara couldn’t and wouldn’t compete with that. She shook her head, still reeling from the revelation of who the green-eyed man from her dreams was, and how stupid she’d been in her previous life.
They walked off the brig, and the door swished shut behind them. The warden went back to his desk, and Corpsman Terl eyed the elderly warden as he put his feet up on the desk once more and went back to reading on his holo pad.
“You been watching the security feed?” Terl asked, his eyes narrowing once more.
The warden looked up and smiled. “Of course,” but he didn’t even glance at the holos rising out of his desk, and the sound was muted on all the feeds.
“I want to see your holo logs since the prisoners arrived.”
The warden’s brow furrowed. He was a petty officer, probably a career washout to be so old and still such a low-ranking officer. Under any other circumstances, the warden would have been a ranking officer, but there was no one else they could spare from the crew to nursemaid the brig. “Is something wrong?”
Terl frowned. “Just get me the logs on a holo card. I’ll be back for them soon.”
* * *
Commander Caldin sat in the Overlord’s office watching the security holos from the brig with Corpsman Terl standing over her shoulder. He fast-forwarded to a certain spot, and then played back the recording. “There—” he said, “listen.”
“What’s going on?” Kurlin asked, and then he turned to see the imposter overlord staring at him from the cell opposite his, and his jaw dropped. “You! Who . . .” The doctor trailed off, shaking his head. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m the imposter, Kurlin.” The doctor just gaped at him. “That’s right—shocking.”
“How . . . ?”
“It’s a long story—one which the mind probe will soon discover.”
“They’re going to probe us?” Kurlin asked, his eyes widening.
“Why, are you afraid they might turn you into a vegetable? Vegetables can’t be tried for their crimes. You’d be better off.”
“He’s right, Kurlin,” Captain Reese said.
Kurlin shut his mouth with a scowl and turned to look at the wall between him and the adjacent cell. “Who are you?”
“The one who saved your bony ass.”
“I don’t understand,” Kurlin said, shaking his head.
“Who do you think put those guards in stasis? They were the only ones who knew about you besides us.”
“Why . . . why would you do that?” Kurlin asked.
“Frekked if I know. Seems like I should have let them kill you.”
Kurlin looked away, back to the imposter overlord. “Who is he?”
“He’s my son.”
Terl froze the recording there and Commander Caldin turned to look up at him with wide, blinking eyes. “They’re related? Who is this man?” The recording was frozen on the imposter’s face, showing his features clearly.
Terl shook his head. “We don’t know who he is yet. Without access to the net in Dark Space, the databanks are skriffy. I thought Alara might’ve recognized him when she went to say goodbye to her father, but she said it was just her mind playin’ tricks on her.”
“Hmmm.”
“You think she’s lying?”
Caldin shrugged. “Maybe she does recognize him, or maybe she only thinks she does. In either case she won’t be a reliable witness. The doctor, however . . . clearly he does recognize our imposter, and he is still in his right mind. When we subject him to a mind probe we’ll get to the bottom of it.”
Terl nodded. “Yes.”
“Meanwhile, we have more pressing concerns.” Caldin pushed away from the desk and stood up with a sigh. “We need to finish refitting the corvette and get help before the Sythians find us and make all our power-squabbling pointless.”
Caldin walked up to room’s viewport and gazed out into the starry blackness of space. “This is the darkest things have ever been.”