BRYCE (Galactic Defenders Book 1)

by Jessica E. Subject

  Their laughter ended and they walked along as if the topic had never come up.

  The thought of chow made Bryce’s stomach rumble, the sound a little louder than he’d expected. Guess the protein bars failed to satisfy his hunger.

  The sound came again. Louder, and not from his stomach. Beads of mud bounced across the packed dirt. What in Gaspra?

  “They get quakes on this planet, Colonel?” Rebnaan asked.

  “I imagine they all do.” Though he’d never experienced them anywhere but on his home planet.

  A roar rose up from below their feet. Bryce teetered across the ground to keep his balance. Dropping to his knees, he waited out the shock wave. Best to be already down instead of getting knocked there.

  Trying to reach the base over his com unit, he received nothing but static in response. Had the quake knocked out the system?

  When he rose back to his feet, he pressed his WHM. They had to get back to base, see if the rest of the squadron had felt the same thing. But the wormhole didn’t open, not even a flicker of one forming.

  His stomach twisted. Without a wormhole, they had no other way back to base except on foot. And they had little time left before the temperature became too cold for their fatigues.

  He tried the button again. Same result. Nothing over the com unit, either.

  “Guess we’re running back to base camp, Echo. Last one there is on laundry duty.”

  His team raced ahead. When fighting Erebus, no one wanted to be stuck cleaning the waste-covered uniforms.

  The sun disappeared below the horizon, and the chill crept in. His squad slowed, but not one of them stopped, all keeping pace with him.

  A strange light appeared in the distance. According to his com unit, they headed in the right direction. Had his UNIPS, universal positioning system, stopped working? The same as all their other equipment?

  Racing ahead, he came to a sudden halt when he realized the source of the light. Instead of the metal alloy building they’d left in the morning, orange waves danced across blackness. Fornax, the camp was on fire. He ran even faster. What happened to this planet?

  Teram caught up to him, but before Bryce could react, the Defender slammed into him, knocking him to the ground.

  Bryce shoved the young Defender off him then stood, wiping dirt from his fatigues. He grabbed Teram by the front of his shirt and yanked him up, refusing to let go. “What in Gaspra were you thinking? We have to get back to base.” They had to help the injured, put out the fire.

  “We can’t, Colonel.” He nodded toward their intended path.

  Bryce turned around. Fifty meters ahead, the ground opened up in a wide chasm, a gap they’d have fallen into if not for Teram noticing it. Bryce had focused all his attention on the burning camp, not noticing how the land had changed with the quakes.

  He released the young Defender. “Sorry, I—”

  “We have to save the camp, I know.” Teram shook his head. “But, we can’t from the bottom of that hole.”

  Bryce and his squad moved closer to the chasm. They had no chance to get across the ground cut in half for as far as he could see in both directions. He focused beyond the gap to the burning camp. The building was engulfed in flames, and he couldn’t see anyone outside. Had everyone left behind at base camp perished in the fire?

  Lima squad met them at the open ground, Captain Gia arriving beside Bryce. “Cosmos, Colonel. What do we do now?”

  He had no clue. Except the food and water in their packs, they had nothing to eat or drink. And their only way of contacting the Alliance burned along with the Defenders left behind. Why had Kimba put him in charge? He could handle his squad, but never wanted to lead so many into battle, be responsible for their deaths. The guilt hung over him like a heavy blanket. If he’d remained at camp, he could have prevented the fire, the needless loss of Defender lives.

  Boom!

  Without warning, the camp exploded. Pieces of fiery debris shot off in every direction.

  “Get down!” Bryce dove in front of his squad, falling on top of Rebnaan and Teram.

  He tried to see the other Defenders, but his vision wavered. Trying to catch his breath, he sat up but couldn’t suck in much air, his breathing raspy. Fornax, some kind of gas had escaped from the camp. He shoved off his helmet and pulled on the gas mask. Too late. He began to cough, couldn’t stop. Coughing and wheezing. Mask useless, he shoved it off and put his hand on his chest. Wet. Sticky and wet. He looked down. Blood, not poison gas. He’d been hit by shrapnel. Another cough. Blood in his hand. Something had punctured his lung. His head spun.

  “Colonel? Bryce, are you okay?”

  No, he wasn’t. He was going to die. Far away from his family.

  Chapter Ten

  “Mom, you look fine. You’re just pressing a button, right?”

  Staring into the mirror, Lalia turned to the side. “It’s too much, isn’t it? I want to help my people, not set myself apart from them.” That’s what was wrong when her father and brother ruled, and she would do the same thing appearing in the gold-trimmed lehenga saree.

  “You look beautiful.” Katrina stood from the bed and swished around her beautiful lehenga. Her choli barely covered enough skin, showcasing how adult she’d become, especially since leaving Earth. “Besides, the woman who designed these for us would be insulted if you didn’t wear it. If only Bryce was here to see you now.”

  Lalia held back a reminder for Katrina to call him Dad. She wanted him there, too. The last she’d heard from him, he yearned to rejoin his squad for a simple mission instead of remaining at base camp. Too many days had passed since then. Though Kimba assured her Bryce was well, the gnawing in her stomach believed otherwise.

  As leader of her people, she had no time to dwell upon him except at night, when she lay alone in bed, yearning for his strong arms around her, for his love and assurance she could rule the planet. During the day, she’d busied herself working side by side with her people to rebuild homes, and install the stations and posts around their land erected to protect the surviving population from another Erebus attack. It had been Bryce’s sole demand before he’d sent them back to Hemera. He said a dome should have been installed after the attack that had killed her parents.

  Kimba granted them the resources, and, with the help of Lalia’s people and the remaining Defenders, they had posts all around their land, with four stations for entering and exiting the protective shield. No Erebus would be able to penetrate the electrified dome wall and survive. Lalia now had to press a button to raise the dome in a ceremony, which would be followed by her coronation. She’d hoped to become a short-term leader to be replaced by a new elected official in a few years, but the council preferred to keep some of the old traditions, and Queen Lalia would be her rightful title.

  At the creak of her door, Lalia glanced over to see Gwenodyn peeking inside. “Are you ready, Princess?”

  She pulled the dupatta over her shoulders. “Now I am. Are you?”

  “Uh-huh.” The little girl twirled into the room in her pale pink lehenga with gold embellishments matching her choli. The same color scheme as Katrina’s outfit, but designed for a younger wearer.

  Lalia took her hand and guided her over to where Katrina stood. “You both look beautiful. And I have something for you.”

  On her wardrobe, she had two containers of flowers she’d picked earlier in the day. In the one free moment she’d had, especially since leaving the wheelchair behind, she rolled them into hair pieces to match the girls’ outfits for the coronation.

  Lifting the first one out, she clipped it into Katrina’s hair. Then she did the same for Gwenodyn, the little girl she’d taken into her care. With no surviving family on Hemera, and her father having been killed on duty several years ago, she needed someone to take care of her. Katrina had quickly adopted the role of big sister, allowing Gwenodyn to tag along and teaching her about what life had been like on Earth. The only person missing was Bryce. Why hadn’t he contacted her? He
knew the date of the coronation.

  “Princess Lalia, we’re ready for you now.” Frotathia, the co-leader of the council, stood in the doorway, tablet in hand.

  Lalia nodded. She would soon become queen, a position she vowed to take if she could make positive changes to her planet. So far, the council had only agreed to her demand to build a dome around the population, a decision they’d refused to deliberate on until they consulted with the Alliance. Had it been as difficult for her father and brother to make changes? Perhaps the reason they’d never bothered. Or had no one challenged the old ways before, demanded more for her people? Regardless, she would become queen and lead to the best of her ability.

  After her daughter and Gwenodyn, Lalia followed Fro out of the room and down the hallway. The living quarters of the palace had been restored to the same extravagance and highly unnecessary splendor as in her childhood by the time she’d returned to the planet, but crews of skilled laborers and apprentices alike worked on the council chamber and rooms where she would entertain dignitaries from the Alliance and other planets. If she’d had any choice in the matter, she would live amongst her people, in a home the same as them rather than the palace. But, actual houses were being built for the Hemera to live in like on Earth, instead of the mud and stick homes they’d endured for so long like a primitive culture.

  Alliance members trained men and women alike to build, and to make their own clothing instead of basic rags. Little changes, and maybe she did have something to do with them. Not a revolution like she’d hoped for as a child, but tiny steps toward a better life for all.

  A smile formed across her lips as Lalia followed the procession out of the palace. Crowds of Hemera—a lot for the number of survivors—gathered on either side of the tethered path, cheering, shouting words of encouragement. People looked truly happy, despite everything they’d lost. Their joy overwhelmed her and helped her to ignore the security team at her side the moment she’d stepped outside. She could do it. She could be queen and give these people a better, more secure life. And she’d start by pressing the button ahead of her, activating the dome to keep out the Erebus and any other entity who might want to attack.

  Finally reaching the main station, Lalia stood on the platform behind the activation button and faced the awaiting Hemera. The council sat behind her, with Katrina and Gwenodyn standing right by her side.

  When the noise of the crowd leveled off, Lalia took a deep breath. “Thank you for gathering with me today, friends,” she began. “It has been sixty Galactic days since the devastating attack on our planet brought hardship and loss to us all.” Some had lost their entire family as Gwenodyn had.

  The crowd nodded, and a few wiped their eyes.

  “But we persevered. And we will carry on, stronger and safer than ever.”

  Hurrahs rose through the crowd, agreement from her people.

  “But, I cannot do this alone,” Lalia continued. “The cooperation and determination I have seen in rebuilding our land needs to continue. We all need to work together to keep it prosperous for us all.” She nodded at Gwenodyn, ready for the next stage of her leadership, one she hadn’t discussed with the council.

  The little girl surveyed the crowd then dashed into the sea of people. By the time security lunged after her, Gwenodyn already skipped her way back to the stage, hand-in-hand with a young boy a year or two older than her. “This is my friend, Scrym,” she whispered. “He wants to be a Defender when he grows up.”

  “Wonderful.” Lalia shooed away the guards ready to take the boy offstage.

  The members of the council buzzed behind her, but she ignored their murmurs and returned her attention to the audience. “I will work along with you.” She brought the two children and Katrina by her side, all of them with their hands over the button. “And you will work along with me.”

  Together, they brought their hands down, activating the dome. A buzzing surrounded them, like a giant swarm of flies on Earth. The air shimmered and crackled between each tower and station, rising up and over the land.

  Lalia gasped in awe, along with the rest of the crowd, as the hole in the dome became smaller and smaller until it had completely closed over them.

  “And now we will test its security,” Katrina spoke through the microphone.

  Lalia pointed to the Defenders stationed outside the dome. They fired their weapons, but the blasts and arrows simply bounced off, no threat to the shield. On the opposite side of the dome, a large boulder slammed against the security shield. Sparks flew, but the dome held, breaking the giant rock into smaller chunks as it slid down the side. An Alliance shuttle flew overhead. The door slid open, and a Defender jumped out.

  No! Lalia quickly gathered Gwenodyn and Scrym, turning them away from the falling being. The electrified dome would kill the Defender instantly. Why would the Alliance sacrifice one of their own?

  A heavy thud followed by crackling. The body sizzled above them.

  The crowd erupted in applause, but Lalia cringed. The test had gone too far.

  “Mom, it’s a dummy.”

  She glanced up at her daughter, annoyed by the smirk on her face. “What do you mean?”

  “A dummy, as in not real.” She pointed to the top of the dome. “I think it’s supposed to be an Erebus, but I’m not sure.”

  As Lalia focused on the prone body, her stomach sank. No one had told her about this test, and she’d made a fool of herself in front of everyone who’d put their trust in her. But, except for her daughter and the two children she’d protected from the sight, no one seemed to notice.

  Lalia stood straight and smoothed down her clothing before returning to the microphone. “Well, it looks like the dome works.”

  More cheers rang out. She’d never heard so much joy on her home planet. But now they could feel safe. Everything they’d built and rebuilt would be protected from the Erebus. Finally.

  Frotathia nudged her to the side, taking Lalia’s place in front of the crowd. “Since the dome is now in place, we have one more piece of business to attend to while you’re all gathered here.”

  “Long live Queen Lalia!” a voice shouted from the crowd, followed by the cheer echoed in unison.

  Lalia stood on stage and took in the hopeful faces of all her people. The time had come for her to take her rightful place as queen, a position she’d dreaded as a child, and even up until a few Galactic days ago. But the people of Hemera needed a leader who would consider the needs of the entire population rather than her own. Exactly what she’d wanted all along. Thanks to Bryce’s insistence she return to her planet, and the overwhelming encouragement from the Alliance and the people of Hemera to take the crown after her brother’s death, she finally had her chance.

  Fracknathan, the second co-leader of the council, joined them in front of the audience, holding the royal crown in its case. “After the Erebus attack of Galactic year 25,123, we believed Princess Lalia to have perished. But, nineteen Galactic years later, the Alliance found her and brought her back to claim her birthright.”

  As the crowd applauded and cheered, Lalia bit her tongue. Very few Hemera knew she’d been sent away, and even less if it had been up to her, she never would have returned.

  “And now,” Fracknathan continued. “Lalia Comosova is here to take her rightful place as Queen of Hemera.”

  More cheers rang out. Choruses of “Long live Queen Lalia” repeated over and over.

  Frotathia removed the crown from its case. The red gems set in the gold-like metal reflected the sun, reminding her of the times her father had left the castle for the Allorama ceremony. Using a wooden stool, Fro placed it on Lalia’s head. She hadn’t expected it to be so heavy, but shifted where it sat, so it didn’t feel like it would fall off.

  The crowd grew even louder. Lalia waved to her people, overwhelmed by their excitement. They wanted her as their leader, so she would serve them to the best of her abilities. Though, not in the fancy clothes and crown fitted to her head. She would continue to
work alongside the people of Hemera, her next priority to build a proper hospital and school.

  “My friends….” She moved to the front of the stage and waited for the noise to soften. “My friends, I thank you for your confidence in me as your leader. I hope we can work together to make this planet prosperous for us all.”

  The sound of support she expected never came. Instead, everyone stared at the sky above the dome. The Defender shuttle took off, not for a flyover, but into space. The Defenders weren’t supposed to leave for another few days. Why had they departed during her coronation?

  Lalia glanced across the crowd then behind her at the council. Did any of them know of the change in schedule?

  Fracknathan sidled up beside her and set a hand on her shoulder. “There’s been an incident on Niesgoo. A quake caused the base camp to blow up. The Defenders stationed there died in the explosion. The Alliance couldn’t spare those helping here any longer.”

  The news came like a punch to the gut. Lalia doubled over. Bryce. He hadn’t been in contact for many days. Kimba had assured her of his safety, but she had obviously done so to get her through the coronation. Now, Lalia’s support, her backbone lay dead in another solar system. She only had her daughter, who had grown up far away from this planet and this life, to depend on.

  Katrina. She’d just met her real father, and now she’d lost her chance to get to know him.

  Lalia glance around for her daughter. Where was she? Had Katrina learned about her father and taken off, upset? She’d been right by Lalia’s side a moment ago. “Fracknathan.” She fought for breath, to get the words out, but she had to know. “Where is…my daughter?”

  “She’s gone.” Gwenodyn stepped toward her, her face a tangled mess of regret. “I know I’m not supposed to read a mind without permission, but her thoughts were so strong, I couldn’t help it.”

  Fracknathan gripped the little girl by her shoulders. “So, where did she go?”