Children of the Void: Book One of the Aionian Saga

by Jack Halls

  The orange glow of dying fires grew denser as Gideon moved his way in from the perimeter. It seemed that no one wanted to be the one at the edge of camp. The wavering light danced on the gun-smoke gray surface of one of the shuttles. Gideon found that his feet impulsively led him toward it, and he didn’t stop them.

  At the back of the shuttle, Gideon spotted the dark figure of a person slumped against the bulkhead next to the rear door. As he approached, the figure stirred, then sat up.

  Gavin McLeod’s faint Scottish accent gave away his identity. “Gideon?” he said, then immediately yawned. “That you?”

  Gideon waved as he continued to approach. “Hey, Gavin. You’re not sleeping on the job, are you?”

  “Huh,” said Gavin, stretching. “I woke up, din’ I? When you’ve pulled as much guard duty as I have over the last hundred and fifty years, you learn to sleep with one eye open.” He stood, scratching his ribs with both hands. “What you doing out and about at this hour?”

  Gideon put his hands on his hips and looked around. “Can’t sleep. Guess I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

  Gavin rubbed his arms, trying to chase off the chill. “I hear you there. There’s a lot to think about. It’s enough to drive me mad.”

  Crossing his arms, Gideon leaned against the hull across from Gavin. “So why do they have you guarding a shuttle anyway?”

  Gavin matched his pose. “Beats me. Commander Devereux had some poor fellow in full Sentinel Armor guarding the thing, but Major Uritumbo came by and said it’d be better to have the armor out on the perimeter, said I’d do fine watching this bird, even with me bad leg.”

  Gideon glanced over at Gavin, weighing his next words carefully. “Did they tell you what you’re guarding against?”

  Gavin shrugged. “Not a clue. Seems like a poor excuse to rob an injured man of a good night’s sleep, if you ask me.”

  “Well,” said Gideon, doing his best to sound casual, “I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight. Why don’t I take over for you? I’m sure there’s a nice fire nearby you can curl up next to.”

  Gavin looked over at him. “You sure about that, Gid? Guard duty’s pretty dull work.”

  “I can lie awake on the ground somewhere else, or I can lie awake here. Makes no difference to me. Besides,” he said, patting his chest, “with my Sentinel Armor on, I don’t need a fire to keep warm. Just makes more sense to me.”

  Gavin scratched at the stubble on his cheek. “You have a point, lad. I don’t see no harm in it, if you’re sure you don’t mind.”

  Gideon gave him what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “Not at all. You need the rest more than me.”

  “Well, I won’t argue with you,” said Gavin. “Heaven knows I’m as tired as a dog, and I’m freezing my balls off to boot.” He patted Gideon’s shoulder as he walked by. “Thanks, Gid. If you change your mind, come and wake me.”

  Gideon nodded. “I’m sure I’ll be fine. Have a good night.”

  “G’night, my boy. I’ll talk to you later, then.”

  Gideon made a show of settling in for the night as Gavin hobbled off in search of a campfire. Once he was certain Gavin wouldn’t be back, Gideon stood and slipped silently into the shuttle.

  The console booted up automatically as he approached, and soon the cockpit was filled with a soft blue glow. If anyone looked in this direction, they would know someone was inside at the controls. With a few quick commands at the console, Gideon had the shutters slide down over the windows. They made a bit of noise as the motors rolled them into place, but once they were closed, no light got in or out. Hopefully nobody paid any attention to the sound.

  Within a few moments, Gideon found that the drone network was completely down, as if it had never existed. His gloves made a soft clinking sound as he manipulated the controls, searching deeper and deeper into the programing that should have linked to it. Yet no matter how many times he looked it over, he could not find any clue as to the fate of the network.

  He sat back in his chair and closed his eyes, trying to think about what he would do if he was the saboteur trying to hide a whole network within the system. He leaned back into the console, exiting the program he had been searching.

  The moment the program was closed, he had a revelation. He couldn’t find the drone network through that program because it wasn’t the real program. It was a dummy file, made to look like the real thing. The actual file would be hidden away somewhere, under an inconspicuous title. The saboteur wouldn’t have had a lot of time to write an entirely new program, and likely copied the real thing.

  His instinct paid off. It didn’t take long to find another program hidden deep within the system that was nearly identical to the dummy program. It came as no surprise that the file was encrypted when he tried to open it. With enough time, he might have been able to crack it, but that wasn’t an option right now. If he wanted to open this file tonight, he needed help.

  Gideon shut down the console and moved to the back door. Outside the camp was still exactly as he’d left it. As quietly as he could, he pulled on his helmet and visor.

  “Pauline, can you locate Vincent Uritumbo?”

  The calm voice of his AI spoke softly into his ear. “Major Uritumbo is sixty-five meters away.”

  A glowing beacon appeared on his visor, and he snuck away in its direction. Weaving through a dozen sleeping figures, Gideon soon came upon a familiar giant in Sentinel Armor leaning against a rock. Vincent appeared to be asleep, but as Gideon approached, he saw that the big man was staring right at him.

  “What is it, Gideon?” The voice was deceptively soft coming from Vincent. It carried just far enough to reach Gideon’s ears, and not an inch farther.

  Gideon paused, looked around, then went down on one knee close to Vincent. “I need Alexia’s help. I found a hidden file on the shuttle—I think it’s from the saboteur.”

  Vincent nodded, then slowly stood. Without a word, he crept over to a person sleeping nearby. In the faint moonlight, Gideon could see that it was Alexia, also in her Sentinel Armor. Vincent gently shook her awake, placing his finger to his lips as her eyes flickered open.

  Alexia looked puzzled, but didn’t make a sound as she stood, rubbing her eyes. She winced as she pulled on her boots, either from the cold or from sore feet, or both. Vincent and Alexia followed Gideon back to the shuttle.

  “I should have a word with Gavin,” said Vincent as they slipped through the door. “He was all too willing to give up his post.”

  A twinge of guilt struck Gideon. It was never his intention to get Gavin into trouble. He didn’t have time to worry about it, however, and Gideon got to work under the blue glow of the console.

  To her credit, Alexia had followed the two of them back to the shuttle without question. Now that they were alone, she stood next to Gideon and watched as he pulled up the files he’d discovered. “I assume you woke me up for a good reason,” she said, covering a yawn with her hand.

  Gideon moved over to allow her a better view. “Sorry about that. I think it’s safe to say it’s a good reason.” A moment later, he had the dummy file pulled up, and explained to Alexia what he had found.

  While Gideon worked at the console, Alexia watched with her chin resting in her hand, eyes looking tired but intense. “Mind if I take a look?” she asked, and Gideon moved out of her way. By the way she flew through menus and lines of code, you would have never guessed she’d just been rudely awoken. Despite Gideon’s aptitude for computer programing, he soon found he couldn’t keep up.

  “There it is,” she said, leaning in close to the monitor. “It’s buried deep, but it’s right there. Someone knew what they were doing.” Alexia turned and looked up at her husband. “Either Devereux’s lost his touch, or he lied to you.”

  Gideon looked back and forth between the two while Vincent contemplated her last statement. “Did I miss something?” Gideon asked.

  Vincent looked at him sideways and let out a long sigh. “After you left the t
ent, the rest of us went with Devereux into another shuttle. He checked the systems for a while and told us that the drone network hadn’t been severed from our end, and was likely jammed by the aliens that attacked us.”

  Gideon blinked. “But... couldn’t he have made a mistake?”

  Alexia leaned her head at him with a sad expression. “No offense, Gideon, but you’re nowhere close to Devereux when it comes to coding. If you found a dummy file that easily, then he would have found it.”

  “Well, he’s got a lot on his mind right now,” continued Gideon. “He was probably distracted.”

  “There’s one way to find out,” said Alexia, and she spun around in her chair and typed away. It only took her a second to find what she was looking for. “I knew it. Take a look at this.” She turned sideways in her chair, pointing at some figures on the screen. Vincent and Gideon leaned in.

  “The computer says this bird is about out of fuel,” she said, “but take a look at her payload weight.”

  Vincent grunted. “Either the three of us weigh seven hundred kilos”—he stood and took a deep breath—“or Devereux’s betrayed us.”

  The full implication of that last statement hit Gideon like a gust of foul wind. It took the oxygen right out of his lungs, and his legs shook beneath him. He fell into the chair next to Alexia as hot blood rushed to his face. “Devereux killed her?”

  Vincent went to place a hand on his shoulder, but Gideon threw up his arms. Cold sweat trailed down his back, and he fought to breathe. He stood and walked to the back of the shuttle, but Vincent blocked his path.

  “Where do you think you’re going, Gideon?”

  Besides Joseph, Vincent was probably the only person who could have stopped Gideon at that moment. “I’m going to find him, and I’m going to...”

  “You’re going to what?” said Vincent, in his controlled, commanding tone. “Fight him? Kill him? He’s surrounded by guards in Sentinel Armor right now. He’s probably wearing it himself.”

  Gideon glared at Vincent. He couldn’t believe the big man wasn’t racing him to Devereux’s tent. “So? We have armor too. We’ll wake up Connor, and Padre, and the rest and take them all down. He killed my mother.”

  Alexia moved between the two of them and placed a gentle hand on Gideon’s shoulder. “Sweetie, stop and think for a moment. Who patched all the armor after we found out it was compromised?”

  Gideon’s eyes went wide, and his knees became weak. If Devereux was smart, and he was, his patch was just as fake as the drone network controls. With a touch of a button or a simple voice command, he could trap Gideon in his own armor. “Holy crap. How did I forget about that?”

  “You let your emotions get the best of you, and didn’t stop to think,” said Vincent. “It happens to everyone at some point, but you’ve got to learn to stay in control, or you’re going to get yourself killed.”

  Gideon steadied himself against the bulkhead. “So what do we do?”

  “First, we’ve got to get out of these suits.” Vincent put his head in his hand and sighed. “After you left, Devereux insisted all members of the Order wear Sentinel Armor from now on. I hate to admit it, but it’s a brilliant plan. First, he makes us feel safe in our armor, sending us all on a mission to find the admiral. When we’re far enough from camp, he freezes us where we stand, takes us out one by one, and returns to camp with whatever story he wants.” He turned to Alexia. “Is it possible we’re being tracked right now?”

  She folded her arms across her chest. “It’s practically guaranteed. He’d be stupid not to keep tabs on us.”

  Vincent nodded. “Any possibility someone is listening in on us?”

  Alexia furrowed her brow. “Without our helmets, the suits don’t have any microphones.” She pointed back at the cockpit. “It’s possible they could tap into the mic in there. Though if they were listening right now, we’d probably already have company.”

  Vincent ducked down to walk back into the cockpit. “Can you block this microphone?”

  She shrugged. “I could try, but there’s no way to guarantee...”

  Before Gideon could blink, Vincent yanked the microphone right out of the console. With uncanny speed, he had his knife in his hand and sliced through the cord, tossing the useless mic aside.

  One eyebrow rose on Alexia’s face. “Not the most elegant solution, Vince.”

  “But it’s a solution.” Vincent crouched and walked back out of the cockpit. “Lex, can you rig these suits to look like we’re still wearing them after we take them off?”

  “Yeah, I think so. Once you pull it off, you can open up the control panel inside the chest plate and have it play back the vital signs for the past few hours in real time. Anybody watching would think we went back to sleep, and unless they’re abnormally thorough, they won’t realize what’s going on until the cycle stops.”

  Vincent nodded pensively. “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. Gideon, you take off your suit and set it up on repeat. Once it looks like it’s working, you’ll go back and wake up Takomi. Have her leave her suit where she was sleeping and set it up too, then meet back here. We’ll get the others. If anyone is watching, it’ll look like Alexia and I went back to sleep and Gideon stayed here to watch the shuttle. With any luck, Devereux is asleep. For now, let’s assume he’s not working alone.”

  “But Vincent,” said Alexia, “how will we know if we can trust the rest of the Order?”

  “There’s no other choice. If we leave someone behind and they aren’t in league with Devereux, he’ll kill them.”

  Alexia frowned, but nodded. “So you’re planning on leaving tonight?”

  “You’d rather stay and find out what Devereux’s planning?”

  She sighed. “Good point. We better get moving.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Flight

  “GIDEON, WHAT DO you want?” said Takomi, much more loudly than Gideon was comfortable with.

  He shushed her and leaned in close to her ear. “Quiet,” he whispered. “Don’t say anything, just do exactly what I tell you. I’ll explain in a minute.”

  He was absolutely freezing. The clothes he’d worn under his armor were not meant to keep him warm, and he’d walked back from the shuttle without shoes on. Before waking Takomi, he’d pulled shoes and warmer clothes from his gear and put them on, but his body hadn’t warmed up yet.

  Takomi glared at him, but followed his instructions in silence, even when he told her to get out of her armor. After setting up the suit the way Alexia had showed him, they gathered their gear and headed back to the shuttle.

  “Now will you tell me what’s going on?” said Takomi once they were inside the shuttle. Thankfully, Alexia had had the foresight to turn on the heat inside before they’d left.

  Gideon sat in one of the chairs near a heat vent. “Once everybody gets here.”

  She sat next to him and held out her hands to the warm air. “Once who gets here?”

  Before he could answer, the door swung open and Connor stepped in. Once he realized what they were doing, he moved to join them near the heat. “I don’t suppose you two know what’s going on?”

  Takomi jerked a thumb at Gideon. “Supposedly he does, but he’s not saying.”

  “Vincent will fill you in when he gets here. The rest of the Order should be here soon.”

  They didn’t have to wait long. One by one, the remaining members of the Order of the Luzariai stepped into the shuttle. Each one asked the same question, and each time Gideon told them the same thing. Finally, Alexia opened the door and came in, followed a few seconds later by Padre and Vincent.

  However, Vincent was not the last person to come through the door. A sleepy and confused-looking Joseph followed behind him. Once they were inside, Vincent looked around at the others. “Looks like we’re all here.” He turned and sealed the door.

  “We’re still missing... one more,” said Sophia, looking warily at Joseph.

  Vincent’s eyes turned sad, and he let out
a long breath. “That’s what we’re here to talk about. Once you hear what’s happening, you’ll understand why I’ve brought Joseph along. Joe,” he said, turning to his son, “you’re going to be completely lost for a while, so for now just be quiet.”

  With the help of Alexia and Gideon, Vincent did his best to explain the situation while addressing everyone’s doubts and fears. When he finished, the group sat in stunned silence for several seconds. Joseph blinked and stared ahead with his mouth wide open, but didn’t say anything.

  Finally, Padre cleared his throat. “So what’s the plan, Vincent?”

  Vincent scanned the group. “Any moment, Devereux may decide to play his hand. If he does, we’re dead. Right now, he has all the cards, so our only option is to run.”

  “Run where?” said Tawny.

  Vincent smiled. “That’s the good news. A few hours ago, Gideon picked up a signal that is likely coming from Admiral Killdeer’s Sentinel Armor.”

  Tawny, Sophia, and Joseph were the only ones who hadn’t heard this already, and the three of them nearly hit the roof as they jumped out of their chairs.

  “We’ve lost the signal,” said Vincent, silencing their questions. “And we can’t get the drones back online to find it again, thanks to Devereux. The only way we’re going to beat him is with the help of the entire crew, and the only way we can get them to side with us before Devereux catches on is if the admiral tells them to. So instead of wasting more time, I suggest we take off now and continue this conversation in the air.”

  Sophia snorted. “In the air? You honestly think Devereux left the shuttles wide open to anyone?”

  For the first time in his life, Gideon saw Vincent thrown off his guard. They all looked around at each other as Alexia moved into the cockpit, manipulating the controls. They waited in silence.

  Alexia cursed, turning to face them again. “She’s right, he’s locked us out. There’s no way we’re taking this bird any time soon.” She swore again and pounded a fist on the console.