Childhoods Lost (Sentinels Saga Book 2)

by Linn Schwab

  She scrambled to catch up with Commander Eldridge, hoping to receive an explanation.

  “Commander,” Major Richards asked, “are you even aware of what Captain Starling just managed to accomplish?”

  “Yes, Major Richards, I’ve seen the video. By now I’m sure half the fleet has seen it. One of your controllers, a miss Veronica Marlowe, leaked it to some of the other stations.” The commander spoke in a tone of disapproval, as if Veronica had done something terribly wrong. And since Major Richards was her commanding officer at the moment, some of that scathing disapproval was likely aimed at her as well, as an indictment of her leadership skills. This essentially put her on the defensive, but she was still determined to stand up for Robin.

  “But if you’ve seen the video, how can you—”

  “Major,” the commander interrupted her, “Captain Starling made decisions that needlessly endangered the lives of her crew. Such actions are subject to investigation and review, according to the charter of the Sentinel forces, are they not?”

  The major sighed and nodded in acceptance. “Yes, they are,” she reluctantly agreed.

  “Good,” the commander said. “Now that we have that settled, I’ll need you to provide me with a secure location where I can conduct my investigation.” She turned to the woman with the black card key. “Janine,” she said to her, “go ahead and start working on your data collection. I’ll get started with the interrogations.”

  As Janine turned and walked away, Major Richards once again found herself wondering what the black card key signified. The color of a Sentinel officer’s card key was the only visible indication of her rank. Captains were issued white card keys, while majors were identified by bright red. Commanders’ keys were either blue or bright green, with blue being by far the more prevalent of the two. Black, as far as the major knew, was nowhere to be found on the list at all. This left her completely in the dark as to whether she outranked Janine or not. And since the commander had neglected to formally introduce her, the major was beginning to wonder now if perhaps she really didn’t want her to know.

  “Now, Major,” the commander said to her, “I need to have a word with Captain Starling.”

  * * * *

  Walking through the interior of Volaris, Janine was struck by how empty it felt. Compared to the other stations she’d been on, this one seemed almost abandoned to her. She knew there were pilots somewhere on Volaris, as evidenced by the number of fighters in the hangar. But where were the technicians and maintenance crews? A station like this should be crawling with them. What are we asking of these people here? she wondered. It looks like they are way understaffed. If this station ever comes under attack, their chances of defending it are almost nonexistent.

  She found the station’s repair crews on the spur level, working feverishly to repair the damaged destroyers. Clouds of smoke and dust wafted through the corridors, and sparks leapt out at her from welding equipment. Workers scrambled in and out through the airlocks, lugging a variety of tools or replacement parts along with them. Janine coughed as the first of the fumes hit her lungs. She winced from the heat and pressed forward into the chaos. After locating who she thought to be the head technician, she approached her from behind and tapped her on the shoulder.

  “Excuse me,” she yelled to get over the noise, “can you tell me where I can find the Wallaby?”

  The technician pointed toward the far end of the spur. “That ship is in dock number four,” she replied.

  Janine looked along the length of the spur and braced herself to run through the gauntlet of chaos. There was so much welding and cutting going on that she feared her dress would be singed beyond repair, not to mention what might happen to her skin and hair. She cringed and took a hesitant step forward, then quickened her pace as she darted through onslaught, ducking her head as she passed through showers of sparks and choking on the smoke and the fumes as she ran. When she reached the safety of dock number four, she paused inside the airlock to catch her breath. She glanced down at her dress to make sure it wasn’t smoldering, but her attention was immediately drawn toward movement in the Wallaby’s cargo bay. Several workers wielding saws and cutting torches were hacking away at the remains of Captain McNeil’s fighter.

  “What are you doing!” Janine yelled at them.

  They stopped what they were doing and stared at her. “We’re trying to extract this fighter,” one of them said, “so we can get this destroyer ready for battle.”

  Janine glared at her in irritation. “A directive was issued declaring this ship off limits! All of you are in direct violation of that order!”

  “But there are enemy forces in the area,” the girl pleaded. “We need every ship we can get right now.”

  “That’s not your decision to make,” Janine informed her. “This ship is off limits until further notice. Everyone get out now!” she ordered, pointing emphatically toward the airlock.

  The workers hesitated for a moment as they tried to decide if they should follow her orders. They seemed confused as to the level of authority she possessed, and glanced at each other for a hint of reassurance. The only clue they had to go on was the uniform dress, which was only issued to senior officers. One by one, they relented and gave in to her demands, dragging their tools back out through the airlock as they left. Janine waited until the last of them had stepped out of sight, then made her way up to the Wallaby’s bridge.

  The forward window pane was scarred and cracked. Scattered pipes and cables hung down from the ceiling. Residue from the emergency seal lingered on the surface of everything in sight. “What a mess,” Janine muttered to herself, cautiously stepping into the bridge. From the appearance of the ship’s instrument panels, it looked as if a serious challenge lay ahead of her.

  Stepping directly to the captain’s console, she slid her key into the ignition slot. The ship began to power up as expected, and a familiar, pleasant sounding female voice announced, “Welcome, Forensics Inspector Caruto.”

  “Well,” Janine said, seeming pleasantly surprised, “at least I know your voice is still working.” She made her way over to Sheri’s console and paused to look down at the blood on the floor. “Poor kid,” she said, shaking her head in sympathy. She pulled a small device from the satchel at her side and attached it to a data port on the console. “Come on,” she pleaded, “give me your secrets. Please don’t make me do this the hard way.”

  A blinking message appeared on the display:

  DATA CORRUPT

  Janine crossed her arms and sighed in disappointment. “Of course it is. Why wouldn’t it be, after everything this ship has been through.” She walked across the bridge to Michelle’s station and prepared herself for a lengthy ordeal. “Well,” she said, looking at the navigation console, “looks like it’s gonna be just you and me.” She fastened a clip to the terminal and began the process of extracting raw data.

  “Transfer commencing,” the ship’s voice announced. “Estimated time to completion, fourteen hours and twenty–‌six minutes.”

  Janine plopped down in the navigator’s chair and promptly buried her forehead in her hands. “Wonderful,” she said, shaking her head. “Can you sing me a song while I’m waiting?”

  * * * *

  Robin’s eyes focused on a snow–‌capped mountain peak, glistening in the brightness of the midday sun. The scene enveloped her with feelings of peace and tranquility, and evoked a sense of rapture inside her. She felt a cool breeze against her face, blowing strands of her hair at the edges of her vision. But she sensed a wave of harrowing upheaval approaching — and she realized she’d been in this predicament before.

  Panic suddenly overwhelmed Robin as she readied herself to be plunged into darkness again. But instead, she awoke to a sea of bright light and an unfamiliar voice ordering her to stand up.

  Gasping for breath, yet still half asleep, Robin struggled to get to her feet. The lights in the infirmary had been turned up to full brightness, and someone in a black dress w
as standing before her, though she couldn’t quite make out who it was. A pair of hands reached for Robin’s shoulders and held her steady while her eyes adjusted. Seconds later, one of the hands reached toward her chest and snatched her card key out of her pocket.

  “Captain Starling,” the woman in front of her said, “I’m sorry we have to meet under these circumstances. As a result of your decision to engage in combat, I’ve been assigned to evaluate your actions, and determine if you may be unfit for command.” She held Robin’s key up in front of her to indicate she was taking possession of it. “Pending the results of my investigation, you are hereby suspended until further notice.”

  Robin felt like she was drowning in an ocean of despair. The suspension was a devastating blow to her right now. She turned her eyes toward Sheri’s bed and saw an unfamiliar nurse examining her. She summoned the courage to ask a question, but suspected she knew what the answer would be. “Does this mean—”

  “Your presence in the infirmary is no longer needed. I’ve brought along a specialist to look after Sheri. You’re free to return to your own quarters now. I’ll summon you if and when I need you.”

  Commander Eldridge gestured toward the exit, indicating Robin should leave the room. Dejected, disillusioned and heartbroken, Robin lowered her head and obeyed. Her footsteps clearly echoed the sadness in her heart as she walked away from her wounded companion.

  As soon as Robin was out of sight, Major Richards stepped out from behind a storage cabinet. “That was harsher than it needed to be,” she said.

  The commander elected not to face her directly. “You disapprove of the way I handled that?” she asked.

  “I think it could have been handled differently.”

  “Perhaps,” Commander Eldridge said. She looked down at her hand and scrutinized the confiscated white plastic key with Robin’s name printed along one edge. At this point, the key was still hampered by restrictions encoded in its firmware by Commander Jeffries. After a few seconds of contemplation, she handed the key to Major Richards. “I want you to remove all restrictions from this key and return it to me as soon as you’re finished.”

  “All?” the major asked in surprise.

  Commander Eldridge stepped away from her and headed for the exit. “You heard me, Major,” she called over her shoulder. “Let me know as soon as it’s done.”

  Major Richards stared at the key in unease and found herself questioning the commander’s motives. Obeying this order could lead to serious repercussions. In the absence of any restrictions, whoever ended up wielding the key would essentially possess Captain Starling’s identity, but the full authority of a commander. They could conceivably perform actions Robin was unauthorized to, and any resulting blame would fall squarely on her shoulders. They’re using this investigation as a cover, she decided. But Why? Are they planning to use Robin as a scapegoat for something? What could they possibly be hoping to achieve? A host of concerns swept through the major’s mind, confronting her with seemingly endless implications.

  * * * *

  Returning to her battalion’s quarters, Robin walked between her sleeping comrades and quietly slipped into her bed for the night. In addition to her concern for Sheri, she now had to deal with the uncertainty of what would happen to her squad if she were permanently relieved of her command. How would they react to the news? How would the rest of her battalion react? How might their daily interactions be different if Robin no longer held the rank of captain? Who would be assigned to take her place? Or would her squad end up being disbanded? And as if those questions weren’t troubling enough, the prospect of being evaluated felt like a crushing weight hanging over her. It felt like she was under attack from all sides, and every attempt was being made to smother her. Don’t care if I ever wake up, she decided. I just want to see that mountain again. For some reason, it feels like that’s where I belong. Maybe that’s why it keeps showing up in my dreams.

  * * * *

  Rows of bean plants stretched across the agrisphere’s interior, positioned in a variety of differing heights. The arrangement made harvesting by hand fairly easy, since everything was well within reach of the workers. As Peter walked along a narrow path through the beans, his eyes scanned the room for a certain individual. “Her name is Rebecca,” Commander Parks had told him. “She’ll be wearing a bright red scarf around her hair. She always wears it when she’s tending to the crops.” It didn’t take long for him to locate her. The red scarf was easy enough to pick out from the surrounding ocean of leafy green.

  He observed her from a distance for a while before approaching. She looked to be barely in her early twenties — a little younger than he’d expected her to be. Very pretty, he thought, admiring the curves of her face. But she looked worn down. Broken. Defeated. For a moment, he considered just leaving her be, rather than confronting her with his question. But he wanted an explanation from her, and his curiosity wouldn’t be quelled until he got one.

  He decided it was best to approach her from the front in order to avoid startling her. She noticed him coming and looked up from her work. The two of them stared at each other in silence — each of them wondering what the other was thinking. After a moment, Peter took the initiative and forced himself to speak to her. “You’re Katie’s mother?” he asked.

  Rebecca closed her eyes and nodded. Her expression conveyed shame, and grief, and guilt. But more than anything, it suggested a state of prolonged weariness, the reason for which was quite obvious to Peter. Her daughter’s fate was no doubt weighing heavily on her.

  “Look,” Peter said, “I’m not here to chastise you. I can see the regret in your eyes already. I just wanted to ask you one question. What could you possibly have been thinking?”

  Rebecca struggled to look him in the eyes. “I wanted to go home,” she explained with remorse. “I was convinced that if I got pregnant, they’d find some way to send me back to Earth. I had no idea this place even existed. They never told any of us about it.”

  Peter nodded in understanding. “But no one ever goes back to Earth,” he said. “Once you get out here, you’re here to stay.”

  “No one?” she asked. “Not ever?”

  Peter paused to think it over in depth for a moment. Once again, he found himself wondering if Admiral Sands had actually returned to Earth. And if he had returned to Earth, could he possibly be back in the war zone right now?

  “I don’t think so,” he finally answered. “I’ve never heard of it happening before.”

  “But why?” Rebecca pleaded with him. “Is there some reason we can’t go back?”

  “I don’t really know,” he said. “If there is a reason we can’t go back, no one’s ever mentioned it to me.”

  “There must be someone who knows, right?”

  “I suppose there probably is,” he said. “I’ve just never cared enough to ask anyone.”

  She shook her head and said, “Why not?”

  Peter looked out through the agrisphere’s windows and fixed his gaze on the enemy home world. “I guess it’s probably because getting back to Earth has never been my concern.”

  DECISIONS 054

  Jay sat down at a table in the mess deck and reached for the fork at the side of his tray. Before he could take a bite of his meal, though, a call came over the loudspeakers for him.

  “Captain Beauregard, report to the bridge.”

  He laughed to himself and shook his head. I’ll never get used to people calling me that.

  Thomas and Angelo joined him at the table. “What do you think?” Thomas asked, referring to the announcement. “Think they found Captain Straydel?”

  “Doubt it,” Jay said, getting up to leave. “They probably just want to brief me on our upcoming mission.”

  “Upcoming catastrophe is more like it,” Thomas said. “Have you seen what some of those ships out there look like? They might as well call us the swiss cheese navy.”

  “Yeah,” Angelo agreed, “we’re toast if they send us into action
like this. Do us all a favor, Jay, and try to talk some sense into them.”

  Jay chuckled as he turned to walk away. “Oh sure,” he joked, “I’ll get right on that. Maybe they’ll even listen to me now that I’ve been promoted to captain.”

  * * * *

  Commander Ingman met Jay at the door and ushered him to a vacant control console.

  “What’s this about?” Jay asked, staring at a blank monitor.

  The commander pressed a button on the console, and an image appeared on the monitor. “The carrier Belfast was involved in yesterday’s battle,” he explained. “Commander Douglas just sent me the combat footage from one of his pilots who saw some action.” He directed Jay’s attention to the monitor. “I think you’re going to want to see this, Jay. And I’m interested to hear what you have to say about it.”

  As the video progressed, it followed the actions of a squadron of elites as they searched for targets in the melee. As per their instructions, they were searching specifically for enemy destroyers, and it didn’t take long for them to locate one. But just as they set up to begin their attack, one of them was suddenly struck by a rocket. His fighter turned into a brilliant fireball, and the other three pilots were thrown from the formation. One of them perished in a cloud of bullets before he even had a chance to recover. A frantic engagement then ensued as the two remaining pilots battled their attacker. The chase finally ended when the squadron leader died and his companion decided to break off the encounter. At this point, Commander Ingman paused the video and waited for Jay to share his thoughts.

  Unsure what the commander was expecting to hear, Jay looked at him and said, “So?”

  “So?” Commander Ingman responded. “Aren’t you even the least bit concerned that a single enemy fighter pilot nearly managed to wipe out a full squadron of elites?”

  Jay shrugged as if it was nothing to be concerned about. “She got the jump on them, Commander. It would have been different if they’d seen her coming.”