The Battle for the Solar System (Complete Trilogy)

by Sweeney, Stephen

  “Ah,” Enrique nodded.

  “The thought of teaching children, sharpening their minds and helping them to achieve their goals in life has a real appeal to me right now. There’s going to be a lot of children and people out there who’ll need tuition. Earth will be packed out with orphans, too, I bet.”

  “So, you’re going to quit the navy?”

  “As soon as this is all over.” Kelly sighed. “We’ve been doing this for nearly sixteen years. There are other things I want to do with my life.”

  “How long have you been planning all this?”

  “Just in the past day or so,” Kelly said.

  “Anything else you were planning on doing?”

  Kelly sensed that he still might not be taking her too seriously. “I was just trying to think of where I’d like to live; for the moment, anyway. Earth’s going to be overcrowded for years, possibly even decades. So, I’m not sure we could settle there. Then again, there might be some spots that wouldn’t be overcrowded.” Her mind flitted over places she knew of – but could only recall the names of some of the capital cities. She couldn’t imagine they would be any good – people would’ve gravitated to them, hoping that they would somehow be safer than in the smaller towns and cities.

  “Is this your first time to Sol?” she asked.

  “It is, yes.”

  “Same as Estelle, then. I took her to Leviathan’s bar when we jumped in and showed her all the continents, where her family were staying at the Dodds’ place and things like that.”

  “You never showed me,” Enrique said.

  “Sorry,” Kelly giggled, “I was keen to do other things.”

  “Show me in a bit,” Enrique said, squeezing her tighter, “just in case we don’t get a chance later on.”

  “There’ll be plenty of time later on,” Kelly said. She refused to be diverted from that. Despite everything that Enrique, Dodds, Chaz and Parks had discovered on Kethlan, it seemed to Kelly that they were still unwilling to accept that victory could be within their grasp. Sure, maybe she was being a little optimistic. There was still the matter of dealing with Dragon … No, they could stop it. They had to stop it.

  “We could all go and live in the Dodds’ orchard?” Enrique suggested. “All of us together, as one big happy family. We’ve all spent so much of our lives together already, why break it up now?”

  “We could,” Kelly said, pondering the thought. Enrique had made a good point. They were the White Knights, the ATAF pilots and the ones who had been through – oh, so much together. When everything was wrapped up, should they relocate to separate places? Would anyone really understand them? Would they really understand anyone else? They would need each other then, at least for the first few years after the conclusion of the war. Working together on an orchard, harvesting apples together in the peaceful surroundings of the countryside … “That would be really nice,” she murmured. Then, “Okay, so you’ve heard what I want to do after all this is over, now it’s your turn.”

  “What I’ll do after all this is over?”

  Kelly nodded. “You’re not going to stay with the CSN, are you?”

  “I don’t know – I’ve not really had much of a chance to think about it.”

  “Sure,” Kelly said. “Think carefully. I want you to tell me the one thing you’d like to do.”

  Enrique seemed to struggle with the demand. “I … er … I don’t know. I guess maybe own a bar?”

  “That was Dodds’ dream,” Kelly smiled.

  “I don’t know? Maybe move into training of some kind?”

  “I chose that one,” she smiled. “Just one thing, Enrique. Think of one thing that you’d like to do after all of this is over. And moving in with Dodds doesn’t count,” she added.

  Enrique lay silent for a time, before he allowed himself to be defeated by the task. “I don’t know,” he shrugged.

  “Okay,” Kelly said. She wasn’t disappointed, just eager to know what Enrique might do when the life he had known for so long came to an end and forced him to start over with a new one.

  “Maybe we should get back to analysing how we can take down Dragon,” Enrique said.

  “Maybe we should,” Kelly agreed. “But remember that none of the senior command want us to stress ourselves out. Tell you what,” she said, putting her head back on her pillow. “We’ll nap on it. I’ll think about what to do about Dragon and you can think about what you want to do when it’s all over.”

  *

  Kelly couldn’t remember how she had come to be seated in this rather elegant-looking restaurant. It seemed as though she was in a private area – there were no other tables or patrons around. In one corner, a man was playing a charming yet unobtrusive tune on a grand piano. He seemed oblivious of her. Kelly studied her surroundings further, but saw no one except for the pianist. What she had first thought to be another patron turned out to be simply a white marble statue of a young woman, dressed in a Grecian robe and carrying what appeared to be a cornucopia in her hands. Other than that there was no one. Uncertain whether she was meant to be there, she made to leave.

  “Oh please, madam,” came a man’s voice and a gentle hand on her shoulder encouraged her to sit down again. “The other guests will be joining us in a moment. They just called to say that they are running a bit late.”

  Dressed in a white shirt and black bow tie, with a red waistcoat and also sporting a thin moustache, the man reminded Kelly of some of the snooty waiters who had served her at restaurants many years ago – with her family.

  “If you would remain seated, I shall bring you the wine list,” the waiter offered. “Again, I’m sorry for the delay.”

  Kelly sat down, a little confused. She noticed that there were now four extra place settings at the table, whereas before there had just been her own. The waiter was back immediately, with the wine list. It was extensive, featuring well-chosen wines from across the entire galaxy. She had never been a wine buff; only Velda Vodka and Imperial White Label on the back page caught her eye. She would stick to the house red.

  “Sorry we’re late,” a voice came, as several figures moved around the table, taking their places. “Traffic was a nightmare.”

  Kelly’s eyes grew wide. “Dad!” she exclaimed.

  “Hello, Mouse,” Aaron Taylor said, seeming unsurprised to see his daughter. “Ah, you’ve already got the wine list. Good, good. Any of those take your fancy?”

  Kelly could hardly respond. She felt herself welling up, her words caught in her throat. She looked at the rest of the table’s occupants. Her mother and both her two twin sisters, Susan and Gemma, were there, all of them dressed for an evening of fine dining, with jewellery and watches gleaming in the light. Kelly herself seemed to be wearing her everyday uniform. At the sight of her family, Kelly was unable to help herself and leapt from her seat, moving to each one in turn, hugging them tightly and kissing them. They reciprocated, but no one said anything apart from her father.

  “Good to see you again,” he said, squeezing her tight. Kelly didn’t want to let go, but suddenly found herself in her seat again. She couldn’t say how it had happened. The others, too, were in their seats, silent as ever, but still with warm smiles for her.

  “Just family tonight,” Aaron said, as Kelly’s gaze fell upon the two beautiful engagement rings that adorned her sisters’ fingers. Aaron ordered two bottles of red wine and some water for the table.

  Kelly finally found her voice, the words having been lodged in the back of her throat. “I thought you were all dead,” she said.

  Aaron smiled, a little sadly. “We are,” he said, taking her hand gently.

  “So …” she struggled, looking again at her surroundings. The pianist continued to play, occasionally sipping from a glass of water. The statue continued to stand in its place, its expression quite serene. “What’s happening, Dad?”

  “We’re here having dinner, sweetheart,” Aaron chuckled, taking the menu the waiter presented him with. He gave it a cur
sory once-over before closing it, apparently already sure of what he wanted. Barbara, Susan and Gemma did likewise.

  Kelly opened her menu, seeing the parts of the menu that usually detailed starters, meat and vegetable dishes simply divided into sections with each of their names. It was as though the chef had known ahead of time what was to be served to each member of the family; the menus were merely a courtesy. The food materialized as fast as everything else had, and they all began to eat. Yet, aside from her father, none of the other members of the family spoke.

  “Is … is it time for me to join you now, Dad?” Kelly asked eventually, feeling a tear gathering in the corner of her eye. After all, isn’t that why they were here, to prepare to take her to the next life or whatever happened?

  Her father shook his head. “No, Mouse. We all just wanted to see you and tell you that we’re proud of everything that you’ve done. For ourselves and everybody else.”

  That started the tears, and they rolled freely down Kelly’s cheeks as her family placed their hands on hers. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save you,” she blubbed to them, looking into the eyes of each of them pleadingly. “I tried so hard, but I couldn’t stop them.”

  “Shhh,” Aaron said. “We know, darling, we know. We don’t blame you for that, you did everything that you could.”

  “I didn’t want to lose you …”

  “You didn’t. We’re still here with you. Just a little harder to see, that’s all.”

  “I love you,” Kelly dabbed away at the tears with her napkin, before taking their hands again.

  “And we love you, too,” Aaron said.

  “It’s been so hard these last few months. I’ve done everything to be positive and put on a brave face, but it’s becoming harder and harder. Everyone else has given up and I’m trying to be their rock, but they must know that I’m faking it. I can’t keep pretending to be someone I’m not, but I don’t know what else to do. The Pandorans are almost at Earth now, and it looks like they’re going to win. I know they’re going to win. They can’t be stopped …”

  “We don’t want you to give up, Kelly,” Aaron said. “Remember this – it’s always darkest before the dawn, and even though the box may seem empty, you’ll still find the smallest and most important thing of all at the very bottom.”

  “What?” Kelly sniffed. “What’s at the bottom?”

  “Hope, Kelly,” Aaron smiled. “Hope.”

  “Hope,” her mother said.

  “Hope,” said Susan.

  “Hope,” said Gemma.

  The four then glanced over in the direction of the statue, drawing Kelly’s attention to it. She now noticed a plaque at the base. There was an inscription there, though it was hard to make out. Spes, ultima dea, it appeared to read. She suddenly felt that it was of great importance. Who was that woman?

  “It’s closer than you think, Kelly,” Aaron continued. “You wrote about hope in your journals, to give inspiration to everyone that read them, to help them to find that which they were looking for, to help them reach their full potentials, to help them through the difficult times.

  “Some will tell you that hope is an extension of suffering, to make people yearn for something unobtainable and only torment themselves. Hope is anything but that. It is what drives us to march on, that which gives us the will we need to survive, and the ability to look inside ourselves and find the strength to triumph in the face of adversity.

  “Hope is your most powerful weapon in this war, Kelly. You’ll find hope written down,” Aaron smiled. “Go and find hope and take it to everyone else.”

  Just then, Kelly felt herself moving away from the table. The chair was carrying her backwards. Her family released her hands, still smiling at her. “No! Wait!” she called. She tried to prevent herself from leaving them, but found herself bound to her seat. “Mum! Dad!” Kelly cried, trying frantically to free herself from the chair. “Susan, Gemma! Help!”

  But for all her efforts she couldn’t move, and the scene of the restaurant began to fade, the sound of the piano player quietening. The last thing she caught before the restaurant disappeared completely was the statue of the woman in the corner. It was winking at her.

  *

  Elpis. Hope. Elpis’ Gift. Hope.

  Hope.

  Kelly’s eyes flew open. How long had she been asleep? How much time had she wasted? She leapt from the bed with speed she hadn’t known in years and began frankly digging through her belongings that were scattered about the room. Enrique had hardly moved. Couldn’t he sense her sudden desperation?!

  “Enrique!” she cried, looking up at him as she came up empty-handed from her search. “Enrique, get up!”

  “Mmmph?” he murmured, rolling over.

  “Enrique, come on!” she urged.

  Enrique shook his head, rubbed the sleep from his eyes and hauled himself upright. He looked around for a moment, apparently searching for the reason for the commotion. No red alert, no alarm. “What’s going on?” he asked. “Are we under attack? Are they here?”

  “No,” Kelly said.

  “Then what? Does Jenkins need us?”

  “I need my journal!” Kelly said desperately. That seemed to focus him quicker than her shouts.

  “You want to write now?” he asked, somewhat incredulously.

  “No! I know where the prototype TSB is!”

  “The what?”

  “The bomb we were talking about in the meeting! I know where it is! I wrote it down in my journal!” she said. Where the hell was her journal? She normally kept it somewhere near her bed, or within the slip of a pillow, or, if she was too tired and wasn’t leaving her quarters, under a pile of clothes. The quarters were far less messy than usual, and the bunk bed had moved … Oh!

  “Did you bring it with you?” Enrique asked, at the same time that Kelly remembered that she wasn’t on Leviathan.

  No, she hadn’t! It was still on the ship, hidden in her quarters. She wondered if anyone had picked it up? Had she locked their quarters before taking Estelle to see Earth? Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! No, it was probably still there, tucked into the tight, narrow gap between the wall and the bed. “We need to get over to Leviathan!” she said, grabbing Enrique.

  “We can’t,” he said. “The admiral’s locked down all movement around the station, except for express authorisation from herself.”

  Kelly racked her brains. They had to get to her journal.

  “Why do you need your journal?” Enrique said. “What exactly did you write in there?”

  “Before he died, my dad told me that they had put something special on the Elpis’ Gift and he told me that they were moving it to a safe location and he was telling me because one day we might need it and if we can get over to Leviathan and get to my quarters then we can get my journals and find out where it’s gone!” she said in one breath.

  “There’s no way that Jenkins is going to allow that,” Enrique said, “not for your journal.”

  No, they had to get it, there had to be a way. Kelly’s mind ticked over for a few seconds as she worked out a plan. “Okay, this is what we’re going to do – they’re going to be loading supplies and munitions onto the carriers, so we’re going to wait until one of the food-carrying shuttles is going over and get into one of the dry food crates. Then, once we’re aboard, we’ll break out, knock out two of the cooks, use their identities to get to my quarters, get my journal and then simply sneak aboard one of the returning munitions shuttles, in empty torpedo casings.”

  “Or we could just hook into my personal storage space on Griffin’s file server,” Enrique grinned.

  Kelly gaped.

  “After all,” Enrique continued, “you always sent copies of your journals to me for safe keeping.”

  Of course! “Where’s your Kyllini?” she demanded, her hands squeezing his arms tighter. “Give me your Kyllini so that we can use your authentication credentials to hook into the system.”

  “I left it on Griffin,” he said.

/>   “Why?! Why would you do that?!” She realised she must’ve sounded crazy by now.

  “Well, because I was going to be seeing you in person, so I didn’t need it any more,” Enrique explained. “Besides, that thing can only access Griffin’s file servers from within the ship itself. It’s not authorized for remote access.”

  Kelly almost screamed.

  “Not that it matters,” Enrique shrugged, “we only need to get to a comms room and we would have access to all the journal entries you’ve ever sent me.”

  Kelly said no more, words suddenly too hard to come by. There was no time to lose. Who knew how soon the Pandoran army would arrive at Sol? She moved with speed to the door.

  “Kelly!” Enrique shouted, as she started out.

  “What?” she cried back at him.

  “Put some clothes on!”

  *

  She knew they must’ve looked a sight, sprinting through the corridors of the orbital station in the bare minimum of clothes – Enrique in boxer shorts, herself in a pair of knickers and a t-shirt that did little to conserve her modesty. Not that she cared in the least.

  The comms rooms were busy, scores of people queuing to send and receive messages to loved ones, the very sort of queues and waiting times that the five Knights had bought their Kyllinis to avoid. After attempting to negotiate a way to the front for a few minutes, the two resorted to making a scene, one that quickly turned into an uproar as people shouted back at them, Kelly and Enrique somehow managing to make themselves heard over the noise coming back at them. Eventually, people started to hear them out, Kelly emphasising the urgency of the task they needed to undertake and that, should they succeed, no one would need to be saying goodbyes. They’d only be ten minutes at most, Kelly promised.

  Their queue jumping was permitted.

  *

  “Absolutely not,” Jenkins said, after reading through the evidence of Kelly’s relevant journal entries. “This is the most tenuous and unfounded lead I’ve ever seen,” she added, looking up at the group incredulously.

  After getting the data, Kelly and Enrique had rounded up Dodds, Estelle, Chaz and Parks, before heading to Jenkins’ office to present her with their findings. It was clear, however, that Jenkins was far from impressed. She looked weary, both mentally and physically exhausted from the many hours of attempting to hash out a plan to counteract the Pandoran fleet’s imminent arrival at Sol. Kelly wondered just how much sleep she’d had. A bowl of cereal had long since gone mushy by the side of her desk, a cup of what appeared to be tea or coffee having turned cold.