by Charles Nall
Riko aimed the weapon down at Raj. “Now it seems something will be penetrating you...”
Riko tried to make the joke to take her mind off what just happened. However, she did not gain any joy from it.
“Put the weapon down,” Raj pleaded. “I’ll let you go. Just don’t do anything stupid.”
Riko stared at Raj. The gun started to shake in her hand. Her finger rested on the trigger.
“I’m sorry, okay? Just put the gun down! You know how it is here. Can’t you understand what I’ve been through? I can change! People can change!”
“Yes, they can.” Riko pulled the trigger.
Blood streamed out of exit wound behind Raj’s head.
Riko had never killed anybody before. Even during her military career as a Confederate pilot, she never actually had any confirmed kills in the few combat missions she had flown.
It felt strange. To know she ended this life. There was nothing. No sense of accomplishment. No horror. No sadness. Just nothing.
Did he deserve it? Of course, he did. Of course. She was just raped.
She stood there, naked, staring at the corpse.
Zebediah had raped as well, if he was the Slicer. Did he deserve death as well? He actually did change. Raj very well could have changed at one point if she had just let him try. What was the difference? Her mind boiled. Did she do what was right? Was she as despicable as the dead man?
You had to. You had to do it. She tried to tell herself that, but she struggled to accept it.
She put her clothes back on as the blood coalesced under the broken table.
Riko investigated the pile of machinery. She recognized a busted Confederate console. She pulled a circuit board out of the side of the console and looked it over.
This could work.
Riko looked around for some sort of escape. She couldn’t go out the door with Raj’s men standing just outside.
Riko glanced up. The building had a roof made of metal plates. She wondered how sturdy these were.
She climbed up some of the salvage and beat on the metal plates with her hand. She managed to pop out one of the plates.
She threw the pistol and the circuit board out of the room. She then climbed out of the building and landed on the dirt and gathered her supplies.
Riko snuck around the buildings until she found the airlock leading out of the dome. One prisoner stood next to it with an automatic rifle.
She aimed her weapon at the man.
“Open it. Let me out.”
The man was entirely confused seeing the armed woman.
“OPEN IT!”
The man stumbled over to the access panel and opened the airlock.
Riko ran into the airlock and grabbed one of the spare space suits that were resting on the side of the quarantine between the harsh environment of Mars and the dome. The airlock doors to the dome shut behind her. She scrambled to get the suit on.
She heard people beating on the airlock doors into the dome.
She had been discovered. The prisoners would definitely try to capture her.
The doors to Mars opened.
She had no idea where she was but she ran out into the Martian wilderness.
Riko didn’t look back. She placed the circuit board between her arm and her chest.
A spray of bullets impacted a rock near Riko.
The inmates were after her.
She dodged between rocks and ran for her life.
A stray bullet grazed her lower arm.
She yelped in pain.
She tripped and fell behind a large stone. She dropped her pistol.
She looked at her wound. Blood was pooling up into a dome over the wound. She placed her hand on it and applied pressure.
An armed prisoner in a space suit peeked around the corner of the stone. “There you are. You are coming back with us.” He moved behind the stone and reached out for Riko.
Riko kept her hand on her arm and tried to scurry away.
“Stop!” The man aimed his rifle at Riko.
She stopped and turned to face him. She accepted her fate.
A loud noise echoed in the darkness. Thoom!
The prisoner’s head disappeared. Blood gushed into large bubbles where his head used to be. The body collapsed. Riko looked behind her. Two other prisoners were approaching her.
Thoom! The two men were flung in opposite directions from an impact between them.
Riko walked in the direction of the noise. Perched on a small ridge she saw the mass driver from her Kitsune. Zebediah, in space suit, held the trigger device that was connected to the weapon. She ran to him.
“You came for me.” Riko hugged Zebediah.
“Of course. We gotta get out of here,” Zebediah said.
Weapon fire impacts danced around the mass driver and the two friends. They ducked behind their weapon. Three prisoners with automatic weapons were approaching and firing upon them.
A missile crashed out of the sky into the group of prisoners, blasting them into pieces.
An Orbital Guard Raven fighter streaked across the sky.
“Why did they just do that?” Riko asked.
“We’re not supposed to try to kill each other. If we do, they kill us instead. It doesn’t make too much sense, I agree. Prisoners aren’t allowed to have weapons.”
Riko eyed the mass driver next to them.
Zebediah sighed. “...Dammit.”
Riko yelled, “Run!”
Riko was still clutching her arm as they both ran away from the mass driver.
The Raven flew back over and fired a missile into the mass driver, destroying it. The explosion knocked both Riko and Zebediah to the ground.
They struggled back to their feet.
“Are you okay?” Riko asked.
“Yeah, yeah. I don’t have much oxygen left, let’s get back to our dome. What’s wrong with your arm?” he asked.
“Nothing. My arm isn’t what’s bothering me. Let’s go.”
May 15, 0271 AC – 15:15
Bridge, Madcat-2
Former Site of Silver Cove
“They blew it up?!” Teresa Day fell back into her captain’s chair. Tears rained down her cheeks. “Sid, oh Sid, you bastard. I’ll miss you. I’ll miss everyone. God dammit. Why would they do this?”
The rest of her crew stared dumbfounded at was left of the Silver Cove mercenary space station. Shattered debris floated in silence. A metallic graveyard.
Knave knelt beside Teresa’s chair. Teresa slumped out of her chair and fell into his arms. She bawled. Knave held her close.
Tear drops flowed down the scar going down Teresa’s right side of her face.
Teresa regained her composure and stood up. She straightened out the brown jacket she was wearing. She looked toward where Silver Cove once was.
Teresa looked back toward her crew. “That shit right there. That SHIT right there!”
“Uh, yes?” Edwin White said.
“They just signed their effing death certificates.”
“Who, dear?” Rylan Ter asked.
“Whatever this new effing alliance is calling themselves. I was fine, fine, not picking sides, you know? They forced my hand. Reports say that this... ‘Interstellar Federation’ destroyed our home. We’re gonna tear the effing Federation a new asshole. Are you guys with me? Are we going to help rid this disease from our galaxy?”
“Hell yes,” Russell Jackman said.
Knave looked uneasy.
Edwin sheepishly asked, “Well, are we joining the Resistance?”
“Eff that, we aren’t joining anybody,” Teresa said.
“Well, then what?” Rylan asked.
“We’re mercenaries, we’re going our own way. We’re going to go straight into the lion’s den.”
“What do you mean?” Knave asked.
“This mission won’t pay well. We’re going to be getting something much, much better. We’re going to destroy them,” Teresa said.
Edwin shifted i
n his seat. “One corvette against an entire military?”
“One corvette with one effing pissed off bitch at its helm,” Teresa replied.
Rylan laughed. “Yeah, I think we may have a chance.”
“I’ll figure something out. I think it’s better if we don’t raise the Resistance flag. We can easily slip into ISF controlled areas as mercenaries. Ask for work, the usual. We’ll infiltrate and destroy them.”
Knave sighed. “Infiltrate and destroy.”
“For better or worse, that was my home. I loved that place,” Teresa said. “They made a huge mistake.”
Teresa sat down at a console and began flipping through data on the hard drive. “Switch sent me something. Technical specifications of countless warships. There was something special at the end...”
Teresa pulled up a file and sent it to the holographic projector. “That’s an Apocalypse,” she said. “The enemy is building them. These things can destroy planets.”
Teresa stared at the Apocalypse. Finally she uttered, “We’re going to Euphrates.”
“Euphrates?” Knave asked.
“Euphrates,” Teresa repeated. “The Apocalypse code named Black is being built over that planet at the Tigris Shipyards. We’re going to destroy it.”
“How?” Edwin asked.
“We’ll figure something out. Set a course for Euphrates,” Teresa commanded. “We’re going to raise some hell.”
9
June 7, 0271 AC – 15:50
Main Sickbay, USS Empyrean
Edge of Galactic Union Space
Jacob Carpenter entered into the main sickbay of Empyrean. The warship had many medical stations, but this one, located on the fore section of the ship, was the largest. This main sickbay also housed a large medical laboratory.
The room was furnished with many beds and medical equipment. Computer equipment in the room hummed. The room was well lit by square light fixtures that were spaced out every few feet on the curved steel walls. There was an occasional monitor embedded into the wall displaying various medical information. A doorway led off to other wards and the laboratory.
“Ah, Lieutenant, how are you?” Captain John Devereaux asked.
Devereaux was standing next to Lieutenant Ashara Cinderflake, Chief Medical Officer of Empyrean. The sunken rings under her eyes showed a lack of sleep. She was generally a happy person. Jacob had never seen her so sad. She tried her best to smile when she saw Jacob.
The sunken rings did little to diminish Ash’s beauty. Her olive skin glowed in the well-lit sickbay. Her black hair was tied into a braided ponytail that nearly went all the way to her buttocks. Jacob guessed that she was in her 30s.
“I’m fine,” Jacob said. “I can come back later, if I need to.”
Ashara Cinderflake shook her head. “No, no. It’s okay. We were just chatting, how can I help you, Lieutenant Carpenter? I don’t see you too much in here.”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I was in the area and Sharon asked me to pick up some of her allergy medicine. She’s allergic to something on this ship, and we still can’t figure out what!”
“I’ll need to do some more tests. Are you sure she’s not allergic to you?” Cinderflake laughed.
“I hope not. That could put a strain on our relationship!” Jacob replied.
Cinderflake smiled. “Of course. In actuality, I have been getting more reports of allergies lately. I think it has something to do with the water reclamation system. I’m sure you heard about the accident there.”
“Oh? No, I didn’t,” Jacob said.
“It’s nothing,” Devereaux said. “An engineer accidentally set some values wrong and the filter systems were not tuned properly. We suspect trace amounts of byproducts from the refinery system got into our drinking water. Don’t worry, it’s nothing serious.”
“Oh, okay,” Jacob said.
“There are serious matters occurring on this warship, however.” Devereaux sighed.
“I’m sorry, Captain,” Jacob said. “The memorial was beautiful. I know Commander Skyrift served with you a long time.”
“Six years,” Devereaux said.
Ashara Cinderflake placed her hand on Devereaux’s shoulder.
“She was a great woman,” Devereaux said. “My last two XOs were both great women. They were both taken away from me. It’s not fair. I certainly hope choosing the next XO isn’t some sort of death sentence for them.”
“I’m sure your choice will be the right one. Isn’t there a line of command to pick the next XO?” Jacob asked.
“Sort of, yes. However, I have to make arrangements with Galactic Command. There certainly may be someone out there on another ship that could be a good fit. I wonder... Jacob, if you were called on to be my next XO... would you accept that responsibility?”
Jacob chuckled. “Oh, sir. I’m not ready for that. I would have to decline.”
“You know, I have heard that the greatest leaders do not want to lead,” Devereaux said.
Cinderflake smiled. “Let me go get Sharon’s medication.”
Jacob thought a moment. “Sir, do you think someone would kill the XO to try to gain that position?”
Devereaux shrugged. “It’s not completely out of the question, but we do not have a clear promotion structure on this vessel. We do not have a lieutenant commander currently, for example. They would typically be promoted first. The only person with that rank on our ship is Shepherd, and he has his hands pretty full with being the wing leader. It’s not unprecedented, but it is rare for the wing leader to become the XO or CO.”
“Who has the best chance to be promoted in this instance? Assuming Command doesn’t assign someone else to this warship?”
“The line officers eligible would consist of Aiden Alexander, Jaxon Knight, Lance Hydrus, and possibly Atticus Thunder. They are all great officers, but none of them are strictly better than the other. We’d have to look at a lot of factors to figure out which one of them would be promoted.”
“What about me? And the other new lieutenants?”
“You all are far too new to be considered. It would have to be something I personally request, and something Galactic Command would have to approve. You would have to figure that the other lieutenants that have been here longer may resent that sort of decision.”
“I understand.”
“I’ve learned, however, that sometimes even though your colleagues may resent a decision, it doesn’t mean it’s the wrong decision,” Devereaux said.
“Well, I doubt any of the people you mentioned would truly kill Skyrift to become XO,” Jacob said.
Devereaux nodded. “I agree. Besides, we believe it is connected to several other murders. I don’t believe the motive had anything to do with Ember’s rank.”
“Are we getting any closer to figuring out who did it?”
Devereaux thought a moment.“It’s someone that has high level security access. It’s someone that stalks their prey; we think he may get to know people before the murder. He seems to know his victim’s schedules. He is a good shot, according to Corporal Salzman. Unfortunately, that’s all we have.”
“I’ll be on the lookout for anything suspicious,” Jacob said. “We have to catch this guy, we can’t let it happen again. I just think the next one could be Sharon and that horrifies me.”
“We will catch this monster. He will pay for what he has done.”
June 7, 0271 AC – 19:11
Hangar 4, USS Empyrean
Edge of Galactic Union Space
Arnold “Grizzly” Lawrence ran his hand down the Peregrine’s wing. It was such a beautiful, sleek craft. He still sometimes had regrets in the back of his mind. Perhaps he should have stayed on the bridge, but he truly did feel free out in a fighter.
Still, he didn’t feel like he belonged in Alpha Squadron. He was intimidated by his squadron mates. They were the best of the best. They were getting groomed for squadron command, perhaps even wing command.
His squadron mates were Lieutenan
ts Liz “Jinx” Bellatrix, Jared “Striker” Johnson, Arthur “Juke” Perez and Baryn “Ox” Reil. They were amazing fighter pilots.
Jinx had a short temper and had quite the mouth on her. Some of the things she said made Arnold blush.
Striker used to be a professional athlete. He was an extremely popular soccer player but a leg injury sidelined him. A leg injury that did not generally bother him while piloting starfighters. Even though he was relatively famous, he was extremely modest.
Juke was a deeply spiritual individual. He was also probably one of the best pilots in the entire Fleet.
Ox was built like, well, an Ox. Arnold swore Ox’s muscles had muscles. He wasn’t the stereotypical meathead, though, he was extremely smart and articulate.
From what Arnold understood, Skids and Mouse were doing very well in Delta Squadron. Although Skids was still having difficulties with landing.
Elijah “Ghost” Shepherd called out to Arnold. “Ready for our patrol?”
“Yes sir! Wait, what’s going on?” Arnold pointed at a black corvette that was flying into the hangar.
The corvette landed nearby in the hangar. The thrusters steamed.
Arnold and Elijah went to investigate the new arrival. They noticed President Trachis and Captain Devereaux walking toward the corvette. Many crew members were crowding around the two men. Arnold and Elijah tried to find a vantage point to figure out what was going on.
President Trachis pat Captain Devereaux on the back. “I know I have been hard on you, Captain, but you do have a wonderful ship and crew. I hope to fight the enemy alongside you one day.”
Captain Devereaux sighed. “Of course, sir... Thank you.”
The corvette’s loading bay opened. Trachis and Devereaux walked towards the corvette.
Trachis glanced around the hangar. “Empyrean is one fine ship, but I miss Ajax badly. It will be good to be home.”
“Safe travels, Mr. President,” Devereaux said.
“And I know I said it once before, but my deepest condolences for your former XO. Commander Skyrift was an exceptional officer. The Fleet lost a marvelous woman.”