The Ninth: Invasion

by Benjamin Schramm

  “And the assassin?”

  “That wasn’t my doing,” Alden said nervously, unsure if the boy would believe him. “Rita had standing orders that all exceptional young recruits needed to be neutralized. She had agents stationed at most academies.”

  “You knew about it though,” Brent said slowly, probing the man’s emotions. “Why didn’t you do anything to stop the attempt on my life?”

  “I was worried about what the military was turning you into. I had to know what you were capable of. How you would react.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s hard to explain with words. Let me show you instead.”

  Alden’s emotions seemed genuine. Brent nodded. Letting out a large sigh of relief, Alden gestured to unseen spectators. Instantly the room came to life. A familiar green energy pulsed through the grooves in the walls and floor. Brent recognized the patterns and the green light as the same kind used by the Shard during the fifth exam. Large floating images came to life overhead. Slashers overrunning settlements and other gruesome sights filled the floating containers.

  “Is that happening right now?” Angela asked, watching the floating screens.

  “Thankfully, no,” Alden said, watching as well. “This moon was constructed by the Shards, and those images are from the distant past. Core Industries stumbled across this moon centuries ago by complete accident. Turns out that nebula out there isn’t a natural phenomenon.”

  “What?” Tyra asked.

  “Toward the end of the Great War both sides saw the writing on the wall. They knew things were coming to a head. Our ancestors desperately searched for anything that would give them an edge in the endgame.”

  “The planet killers?” Dante asked.

  “Precisely. However, we naively assumed the Shards were ignorant of the coming end. Turns out they were preparing for the end game as well.”

  “Then this moon is . . .” Cain said looking around.

  “One of the final weapons developed by our ancient foe,” Alden said with a smirk. “The Shard called it Helios after the Greek god of the sun. They planned to cover the entire Commonwealth with that nebula like the rising sun covers a world with light. Once the nebula had us, we would be cut off from jump travel. Without that, the planets of the Commonwealth would be cut off from one another. It would only be a matter of time before starvation and barbarism destroyed the isolated worlds. However, before they could put their plan into action we destroyed their homeworld. So, the moon sat dormant until we finally figured out what it really was.”

  “How long ago was that?” Rhea asked.

  “Long enough. Core Industries has been studying this relic for generations. Most of what we learned was meaningless. Statistics and countless useless facts we can’t believe the Shard bothered to collect.”

  “Most, but not all,” Brent said, understanding. “You found out the Shards weren’t as dead as the Commonwealth thought. They were still out there, and you knew they were coming back.”

  “Perceptive as always. The Hooten family has been the sole keepers of this dark secret. We built up Core Industries as a secret army to fight off the ancient enemy. Although, even with our army we knew it was hopeless. It had taken the sum total of humanity to hold back the Shard the last time; a single secret army would never be enough to stop them. When I found out about you, I let myself hope and dream. That we’d received the weapon that could save us from our grisly fate.”

  “Brent?” Erin asked. “A weapon?”

  “Well, maybe that’s the wrong word for it,” Alden said with a shrug. “A child from the past. Far enough back that he had an understanding of the Shards we can’t match, but close enough that he understands most of our technology. It’s my theory he was born during the Great War.”

  “Is that true?” Humphrey mumbled at Brent.

  “I don’t know,” he said, rubbing his temple. “I don’t remember anything from before I stepped foot on the academy. A few flashes of some kind of hospital but nothing else.”

  “Maybe that’s to be expected,” Ronald said with a kind smile. “After all, you are the first time traveler. It’s not like we have any kind of guidelines for this kind of thing.”

  “If he can’t remember anything,” Tyra asked, “how exactly did you plan on using him?”

  “I didn’t,” Alden said with a smile.

  “What?” Kindra asked.

  “I don’t plan on using him. I plan on letting Brent use us.”

  The troopers eyed Alden, then Brent. Alden pushed his fear aside and approached him.

  “I know you’ve lost a lot. People you’ve cared deeply about.” Alden put his hands on Brent’s shoulders. “And you probably blame me for everything, justifiably so. I can live with that and am prepared to accept whatever punishment you want to inflict on me. But for now, I beg you to lend us your strength.”

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “You’ve never lost. You are a master strategist with knowledge of the Shard we can’t hope to reproduce. I’ve seen you use the Shards in the simulations with the skill of a master. You know them in and out. Before today, we hadn’t seen one in a thousand years. You are the only one who can guide us to victory against them.”

  “How bad is it out there?” Brent asked.

  “Pretty bad,” Cain said rubbing his arm. “Over the last week they’ve entrenched themselves on every world except this one.”

  “A week? I’ve been out for that long?”

  “It’s actually been a lot longer than that,” Penny said nervously. “You were unconscious when we found the forward half of the Harbinger. That was sixteen days ago,” she said, counting in her head.

  “How many ships survived?” Brent asked.

  “So, you’ll do it?” Alden asked hopefully.

  “No regrets . . .”

  “Sir?” Dante asked, not understanding.

  Brent quickly turned on Alden. He backed away, trying to gain some distance between them.

  “You’ve lied to me, the Commonwealth, and even your own son,” h said to the retreating Alden. “You could have warned everyone about the ITU and the Shards. You could have done countless things differently. My own decisions have led to this path as well. However, our choices let me spend as much time with her as I did. For that, I am thankful. I have no regrets.”

  With that, Brent marched back toward the small room that had taken them to the moon. Alden and the others watched him walk away.

  “I’m guessing that means he’ll do it,” Sanderson said.

  “That was close,” Angela said, collapsing to her knees.

  “I suppose I owe you my life,” Alden said with a weak smile.

  “Don’t thank me. I couldn’t do anything. He could have tossed aside my influence easily. He chose not to wring your neck on his own.

  “Do you think he’s really from the past?” Liz asked weakly.

  “Does it matter?” Marie asked comfortingly. “He’s still Brent.”

  “Marie is right,” Cain said with a grin. “He’s still the same guy. I for one plan to tag along for the rest of this ride.”

  Tyra smiled as she nodded in agreement. The troopers gave chase after Brent. Cain helped Angela to her feet. After she steadied herself, she gave him a quick kiss on his cheek.

  “What was that for?” Cain asked as the two of them chased after the others.

  “You were really worried about me. You risked your life to protect me.”

  “How uncharacteristically noble of me,” he said with a grin. “You must be a bad influence.”

  Once Alden joined the troopers, they all headed back to Eos. Armed security personnel were waiting for them.

  “More tricks?” Tyra asked Alden.

  “Not at all. I just thought Brent would like a little freshening up before we continued. He has been laying in the same bed for quite some time.”

  The armed men escorted Brent to a private room equipped with a stall. Tyra was going to protest, but he stopped her.
While he wouldn’t say so aloud, he desperately needed a few moments alone. Once he was sure the others were far enough away, he made use of the stall. As the water rained over him he finally let go of his control. In the solitude of the stall, the clean water mixed with his salty tears.

  Galen rubbed his arms as his mind wandered.

  “Would you cut that out,” Klaus said over his shoulder. “I’ve told you it makes me nervous when you fidget like that.”

  “And I’ve told you I can’t help it,” he said irritably. “You weren’t there. You didn’t see what she . . . it did.”

  “Ripped directors limb from limb, crawled around the walls like a spider, you’ve told me all of this before.”

  “And the fact you can say it so calmly means you still don’t believe me.”

  “What I believe doesn’t matter. The facts speak for themselves. I might not have seen the battle itself, but I saw the aftermath. That boardroom looked like an explosive had gone off.”

  “One sort of did. . .”

  “Was Rita really one of those,” Klaus paused as the word got stuck in his throat, “things?”

  “I don’t know what to think.” Galen hid his head in his hands. “One moment she was the Grand Executive. Standing as tall and lovely as she always did. Then Alden jumped those metal sphere things into orbit and she started to . . . change.”

  “Change? How?”

  “It’s hard to express. It was obvious she was scared out of her mind. She retreated from the monitor and wrapped her arms around herself. None of us had any idea what the things in orbit were, so we could only stare. Then she started screaming at Alden, and her arms . . .”

  “Yes?” Klaus pressed.

  “They grew,” Galen said with a shudder. “Her fingers stretched out into claws. Her legs grew too. In only moments she was half again taller and ranting at the monitor. I couldn’t think straight. Thankfully, I remember that phrase of yours. She . . . it went ballistic after that. Leaping around the room, clinging to walls, ripping the other directors in half. I hid under the desk until . . .”

  “Until I showed up with a dozen PSF,” Klaus said, slightly annoyed.

  “She seemed to know you were coming . . .”

  “I guess I’m glad for that. From the sounds of it she would have killed me and my mercs in short order if she had bothered to stick around.”

  “What happened to the other directors?” Galen asked in a sudden panic.

  “It’s been a week and you’re just now thinking about them?” Klaus asked with a grin.

  “I’ve been working for a Shard for years, one that killed some of my dearest friends in front of my eyes. That’s a lot to deal with. Pardon me for not being a heartless stone like you.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment,” Klaus said with a dark grin. “I wouldn’t worry about them. The directors fled like rats. Made getting off Reloas that much easier. Seems the directors had a wealth of private ships hidden around the complex. I bet the Shard were pretty surprised to find the world mostly empty.”

  “Mostly?” Galen repeated in disgust. “I doubt the directors had the presence of mind to take the working staff with them. I dread to think how many we left behind.”

  “True,” Klaus said. “Couldn’t get everyone out, but more made it than you might think.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Didn’t the speed of the CI assault surprise you?”

  “I’m a businessman, not a warrior.”

  “Here I was under the impression those were the same thing in the ITU.”

  “Cute.”

  “I thought so.” Klaus grinned to himself. “Remember how I promised to keep an eye on that girl of yours?”

  “Rhea? Is she alright?”

  “She’s fine, but she didn’t stay on Eos as I thought.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Not long after she arrived, she and a small group of Navy ships left Eos and headed right for Reloas.”

  “You knew about the assault?” Galen shouted.

  “Sure did,” he said with a wide grin. “I knew Alden was a bright one, so I asked myself how I’d take down the ITU. Didn’t take me long to find the vulnerability. I just so happened to make a surprise inspection of a certain power plant the day before the invasion. Left a squad of my mercs behind with orders to clear the whole place out the moment CI arrived.”

  “You betrayed the ITU?”

  “See, I kind of blame you for putting the notion in my head.”

  “Me?” Galen shouted.

  “When I approached you to give my mercs the warning, I had already made peace with the idea I’d be dead by then. When you mentioned staging a coup-de-taut it got me thinking. I knew I couldn’t really trust anyone inside of the ITU – too many lose screws. But Alden was a wildcard. Best case he’d take out Rita for me, then my mercs and I could disappear with our double hazard pay. Worst case he’d make enough noise for me to sneak off unnoticed.”

  “If it wasn’t for the fact we were all tricked by the Shard, I’d be upset with you.”

  “I’d bet.” Klaus took a long puff of his cigar.

  “So what does any of that have to do with the working staff?”

  “See, Alden had plans for a decently long invasion,” Klaus said as he blew smoke rings. “When he found only light resistance and most of my mercs already off-world looking for new sources of employment, he started gathering up as many work staff as he could. Guy’s got a heart, even for his enemies it seems.”

  “And my assistant?” Galen asked nervously.

  “I might have given him a helping hand,” Klaus said as he shook his head, “but there is no way he made it that far north. My guess is the Shard decimated anyone who didn’t snag a trip on one of the directors’ private ships. Sorry for your loss.”

  “He was a good boy. Deserved better.”

  “We all did.”

  Galen stared at his shoes for a long while. He wondered if there was anything he could have done differently to prevent the whole thing. With the Grand Executive being a Shard, he doubted he could have prevented the war, but there must have been something more he could have done.

  “Snap out of it,” Klaus called over his shoulder. “We’re here.”

  “Where is here?”

  “Freeport Thirteen.”

  “Have you gone insane?” Galen demanded as he bolted to his feet. “You are taking us to den of pirates?”

  “Not like we’ve got a wealth of options. Your boss was one of the greatest threats to humanity.”

  “Her signature was on your pay too,” Galen said in annoyance.

  “But I betrayed her,” he said with a grin.

  “You didn’t know she was a monster at that point.”

  “Details, details. Point is we aren’t exactly popular anywhere at this point, and pirates are one of the few groups out there that will look the other way if we pay the right price.”

  “Let’s just hope that price is our credits, not our heads.”

  The small ship shook slightly as the docking clamps sealed, it was too late to go back out now. When the hatch opened a breeze of strange smells assaulted their noses. Reloas was a perfect world, with pleasant sights and smells to comfort the senses as the sales division talked visiting dignitaries out of their hard earned credits. This place smelled of poor hygiene and old model air scrubbers. They emerged from the ship to find a waiting pack of armed pirates.

  Galen’s sector didn’t really have to deal with pirates much so he had never bothered to learn about them. All he knew was the Freeports were the most dangerous places in the galaxy. The Navy had tried on several occasions to track down all the Freeports and cleanse the pirates that had taken up residence. He didn’t know the details, but from what he had heard from the other directors, it never ended well.

  Galen’s nose wrinkled as a new, fouler, odor covered the others. He glanced around but couldn’t discern what was causing the odor. The foul sent grew stronger. I
t was all Galen could do not to vomit at the pungent stench. A fat man pressed through the other pirates. He was obviously the source the horrid smell.

  “Duda,” Klaus said, seemingly immune to the odor. “Been a while.”

  “You’ve got a lot of nerve showing your face around here, Mr. Schweitzer,” The fat pirate said.

  “Please, call me Klaus. I didn’t come here to cause trouble.”

  “I’ll remember to add that to your obituary.”

  “And miss a chance to make a killing? Figuratively speaking.”

  “I’m listening,” the fat pirate rubbed the folds of flesh under his chin.

  “As I see it, you’ve got two options,” Klaus said, eyeing the armed pirates. “On the one hand, you could have these fine pirates put a bunch of holes in me and my friend here. Maybe you could get rid of my ship for a few credits and get a nice pat on the head from the Circle for getting rid of me. But that’s about it. There’s too much chaos in the Commonwealth for you to really get much out of my hide.”

  “And the other hand?” Duda asked.

  “I pay you a large chunk of my hazard pay as a, let’s call it a toll for entering your fine Freeport. Beyond that, my friend here is a director of the ITU with a good reputation.”

  “That means nothing to me.” Duda spat toward Galen.

  “Right now, sure. But think about the future. Once this whole war thing settles down, the ITU is still going to be rolling in credits. It would be a shock if a businessman such as yourself couldn’t arrange a nice little . . . transportation fee when they want him back.”

  Duda smiled and started nodding as he thought about it.

  “One thing though, he stays with me,” Klaus said flatly.

  “And why would I agree to that?” Duda asked as he narrowed his eyes.

  “These fine associates of yours look a little trigger happy. Do you honestly think they could watch either of us for the duration of this war without accidentally putting a hole or two in us? Holes decrease ransom amounts, you know that.”

  Duda turned to look at the armed pirates around him, and laughed after kicking one over.

  “Fine, but I’m charging you two rent,” the fat pirate said as he started to saunter off.