by Nick Webb
The note. He turned to look for it and crawled over to where it had fallen on the floor.
I know what it would do to her to lose you. I can’t let that happen. Not again. Please take care of her. Please be everything she deserves.
Pike slumped back against the wall. The note fluttered out of his hands and slipped silently onto the floor. The note wasn’t signed, but he knew very well who had written it.
To his shame, he felt his eyes stinging. He bent his face into one hand and clenched the other, breathing hard to try to drive the lump in his throat away. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go, and the magnitude of the change was too much for him to understand.
There was a beeping, and he raised his head reflexively.
“Proximity alert,” the computer informed him. “You are within one hundred thousand kilometers of Earth. Pursuant to the Treaty of Exodus, please adjust your course. Proximity alert, you are approaching Earth. Pursuant to the Treat of Exodus, please adjust your course. Proximity alert…”
CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
Inside Mercury’s Orbit
VSF Arianna King
Marine Staging Area
And right on schedule, the Arianna King’s long-range sensors detected a ship racing in at ungodly speeds from the direction of Earth. It was Ka’sagra. It must be, thought Nhean. She had finished setting up the battle at Earth, ensuring Tel’rabim would be sufficiently distracted, at least for long enough to finish her plan, decades in the making.
It had been a tricky maneuver to come alongside Ka’sagra’s ship as it decelerated from such high speeds, but destroyer helmsmen, trained for quick combat and maneuverability above all, were some of the best of the best. They did it, and the docking clamps were coming down now onto the other ship, drilling in viciously into the hull and latching in.
“Unreciprocated docking” was the military term for what they were doing, and it was a move usually confined to pirates. While the techniques were crude enough, it was something most Exile Fleet members knew about, as they’d had to defend against it before.
Larsen inspected his assault rifle. He looked like he knew what he was doing, but Nhean couldn’t help but wonder how much close quarters combat experience a fleet officer had. Nhean fiddled with his own firearm, which he’d grabbed last minute as they left the Arianna King. It seemed like a futile gesture to arm himself given the circumstances, but he was glad for the distraction. Nhean felt like he now had learned the main thing about military operations: there was a lot of waiting involved. Parees, curled up in one corner with his arms wrapped around his knees, did not seem to be taking the waiting very well. His knees were bouncing urgently.
“I assume she can’t see us,” Larsen said finally.
It was Parees who answered. “I don’t think so. The Dawning is doing what she can. She knows we’re here, she knows we’re latching onto her ship, but she can’t even fathom that the Dawning knows how to stop her. The Dawning has….” His eyes blazed. “Considerable power now. We shall see if it’s enough.”
It should sound dehumanizing, Nhean thought, to talk about the girl that way—but when Parees said it, it sounded reverent.
It sounded like a title.
There was another silence, and Nhean looked over at Larsen again. “It was a good thing, what you did.” He’d seen what it cost the other man to go to his death and know that his rival would reap the rewards. He remembered Larsen’s quiet words as he stood over Pike’s prone form: his arm was in a sling, he would only have slowed us down.
But that wasn’t why he’d done it, and they all knew that.
Larsen fixed his eyes on the docking portal. “I’d rather not talk about it.”
A hollow metal screech indicated that the docking portal on the other ship was opening, willing or not, and both men peered into the window at the end of the docking tube.
“Are you ready?” Larsen asked Nhean. His eyes flicked critically over Nhean’s suit, and lingered on the bruises that dotted Parees’s pale arms.
“I’m ready.” He was hardly going to take the time to change at this juncture.
“Can Dawn tell how many Telestines are over there?”
Parees closed his eyes. “Three. Ka’sagra, and two assistants.”
Larsen swung the door of the docking capsule open and climbed inside, and Nhean climbed in after him and pulled the door shut. There was a shudder before the capsule started to move down the docking tube.
The docking pod reached the other end of the tube and the pressure changed slightly to equalize. Larsen scanned the hallway outside and opened the door without another word or ready check. He stood guard as Nhean climbed down behind him and helped Parees into the ship.
“You know where you’re going?” Larsen didn’t look back at the two of them.
Parees nodded.
“Yes. I’ll see you later, I hope….” Nhean broke off at the absurdity. He likely wouldn’t see Larsen again. There would hardly be time before the ship was consumed in heat. “Good luck,” he said finally. He was strangely calm now. He reviewed the plan in his mind. While Larsen took Parees to the computer core that would allow him—and Dawn—into the control system that would enable them to redirect or destroy the other eleven ships, he would go in search of the bomb itself and disable it. Hopefully, the schematic Dawn had found was the right one, and hopefully, he could disable it in time.
But disabling the bomb wasn’t strictly necessary. His primary role was to lure the two assistants away from the bridge. With any luck, his distraction would then induce Ka’sagra herself to go down there. And if she didn’t fall for it, well, that’s what Larsen’s other role was: get to the bridge and distract her long enough to let Parees and Dawn do their thing.
Larsen turned to look at him at last, and there was an answering smile on his face. It was an odd thing, sharing this moment. “You, too,” he said, with real warmth.
Nhean turned, and followed Parees down the halls. It wasn’t far to the computer terminals, and it seemed like only a few seconds before Parees was kneeling on the ground, hands pressed against the computer, lips moving silently. Whether he was repeating Dawn’s commands, or actually talking with her, Nhean didn’t know. He felt a terrible sense of frustration build in his blood.
Come on. The Dawning. Whatever she’d been made to be, she had to be more than that now. Come on, come on, come on.
He settled down into a crouch, his hands sweaty on the stock of his rifle, and scanned the hallways outside.
If Ka’sagra had even the faintest idea that they were here … she would throw everything she had at them.
CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
Earth, High Orbit
EFS Santa Maria
Bridge
Walker strode onto a scene of battle chaos on the bridge. The mood immediately calmed somewhat when she stood next to the command station—her people automatically saw her as a calming, authoritative presence—but the tension was palpable.
“What’s our status, Mr. Delan—” She caught herself. Good Lord. Rest in peace, my friend, she thought. “My apologies, Mr. Min. What’s our status?”
Min squinted slightly, a look of pain and regret at Delaney’s memory, but he focused on his duty. “All remaining Exile Fleet ships under our control are standing by. The Funders’ fleet, under the command of Captain George, is engaging with the main body of the Telestine military. Both sides taking heavy damage.” He glanced up again. “But, ma’am, I don’t see how they stand a chance in this alone.”
She wanted to pound the command console. It was all so unnecessary. The fate of both races was now being decided aboard a little ship just a few million kilometers from the sun. And it was all completely out of her control. Well, not completely. Her eyes drifted to a certain little button on her keyboard, one that was linked to something far down below, under kilometers of ocean. “Open a channel to Tel’rabim.”
After a few moments, Min nodded towards her. “You’re on, ma’am.”
“Tel’rabim, we’ve got to stop this. Stand down, or you will be destroyed.” She grit her teeth, thinking of the bomb she had hidden away in the Marianas trench. The massive water pressure—and thus hydrogen—at that depth would ensure a blast at least ten times larger than the Io explosion. “Trust me on this one, Tel’rabim. Cease fire, or I will rain down fire and horror on your cities the likes of which you’ve never seen.”
His face finally appeared on the screen.
Even through the alien visage, she could see the hate.
“Walker. I’ve been listening in on transmissions among your fleet’s ships. I know now that your upper leadership has been collaborating with Ka’sagra. They helped her. They’ve aided and abetted her. Two of our cities are destroyed because of her, and your so-called Funders Circle.” He shook his head as if in heavy regret. “No. I think not. I think I will destroy this fleet and Ka’sagra with it. And after that, I will come after you.”
He cut the transmission before she could respond.
And her finger edged ever closer to that certain key on her console’s keyboard. She’d already typed in the initiation code, and now it just had to be sent. All their problems, all solved, all at once.
Dawn, through Parees, had adjusted the settings of the Aggy II’s anti-gravity projectors, and coupled them directly into the engines. Somehow, seemingly magically, this enabled FTL.
And her team of engineers had discretely watched every step.
She had FTL. There, on her ship. On every ship of the Exile Fleet. They could ditch this battle, head off to the colonies, grab every single person they could fit onto the ships, and get the hell out, leaving the Telestines to their doom.
All with a tap of a button.
“Ma’am? The Telestine fleet has split the Neptune fleet’s formation in half. The lower portion is in a crossfire between two wings of Tel’rabim’s forces. And … there goes Captain George’s ship.”
Explosions ripped through the Pius, and seconds later, it was glowing slag expanding into a dissipating cloud.
So now the Funders’ stolen fleet was without a leader.
Those were her people, mostly. Without a leader. Her people, getting slaughtered.
She looked down at the green and blue siren call of Earth. She remembered those impossibly green hills that she’d walked with Pike. Those trees and bushes, and … that smell. The smell of … freshness. Of leaves and grass. Damn you, Pike, for taking me there. Damn you, Nhean.
Her thoughts shifted to Pike and Nhean, now engaged in a deadly fight to save them all. On a trip that was likely one-way. Heroes, the both of them.
“All hands, prepare for battle. We’re not going to let those assholes take it on the nose. They may be traitors, but their our traitors. And they’ll face justice where it belongs. In a courtroom on Mars at the UN. Mr. Min, I’d like a whole lot of guns to shoot right now, if you please.”
The bridge electrified with activity. Captain Min shouted orders to the gunnery crews while the comm station officers scattered the orders to the rest of the fleet.
Walker stayed at the command post and sketched out a quick battle plan for her commanders. “Exile Fleet, this is Admiral Walker. Our civilization stands or falls on our actions today.” She glanced down at the button that was hot-keyed to initiate the Marianas Trench bomb. There was still the fall-back. She could liberate them once and for all. “Do your duty. Do it like you’ve never done it before, and we will prevail.”
Min glanced up at her in what looked like mild surprise at her firm assurance of victory. “I promise,” she added.
CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
Near Sun
VSF Svalbard
Bridge
Larsen found Ka’sagra on the bridge of her ship, alone. He caught himself—it wasn’t her ship, it was their ship. The Venus Sovereign Fleet ship Svalbard, stolen from under his nose just days ago.
She had set the screens to display the sun as her ship glided towards its yellow glow, and the blaze of light put her figure in silhouette: tall and graceful, dressed in ornamental robes.
She turned to look at him as he raised his gun. “Why have you come?”
“To stop you.” He saw no reason to lie about that part, even if the more accurate phrase would be, to distract you.
She regarded him with those flat eyes, and he felt a chill creep down his spine. “Do you not want to ascend, soldier? Are the heavens not preferable to the dreary world that exists now?” She smiled. “By the way, my technician will be taking care of your friend in the missile bay. What do you think of that?”
Good. She thought their main target was the bomb itself. He acted on instinct. She was getting into his head. Rather than answer, he shot her. Or rather, he tried.
The gun clicked. He pulled the trigger again. Another click.
Shit, shit, shit. He was beginning to think they were walking into a trap.
“Fear of death is the ultimate test of any species, do you not see it? Humans and Telestines are not so different in that way.”
He lifted the gun up and examined it. “What the hell…?”
She took a step towards him. “Electrodynamics is a wonderful, beautiful thing, my dear brother. Did you know that an electromagnetic pulse, at the appropriate frequency, phase, and amplitude can disable even these crude weapons?” Before he could even react, her hand lashed out and knocked the gun out of his.
He took a step back. She advanced.
“A sentient species has one purpose, soldier: to achieve enlightenment.” Her voice rose and fell, imitating the cadence of human speech, but it was a flawed imitation; underneath, he could hear an eerie, alien smoothness that froze the blood pounding in his ears. “And what is enlightenment but leaving behind the bonds of our lives? To be free of want and desire? Be born, live, breed, die. Do you think this is all there is?”
He wouldn’t listen to this. He dove behind a console near the back of the bridge and rolled, grabbing the gun she’d knocked out of his hands. Maybe it would work after cooling off a few minutes….
She slammed into him from behind and his gun went clattering away again. The force of the blow sent him reeling and he tried to lash out at her, but he only caught her with a glancing blow. He looked back up, blood running from the corner of his mouth, and she was staring down at him like a statue.
“I mourned my failure in our home system.” Her voice hardened momentarily. “It was years of your time before we found you and my purpose again became clear. Do you know what it is like to live in doubt for so long, soldier?”
He drove forward, and this time the impact held more force. He managed to disrupt her equilibrium and knock her over. She was up and out of reach within a moment, though, grabbing his throat and twisting as she walked forward, lifting him in the air, glancing dismissively at his flailing legs.
She dropped him. He doubled over on the floor, wheezing for air. The ground shuddered beneath him again and then went quiet.
“You left your soldiers on your ship,” she observed. “You thought to spare them, but instead you doom them. Enlightenment only comes to those species who together forgo the bonds of mortal life and rise to the heavens. When I found humanity, I realized that my first attempt at ascension had been denied for just this purpose. So that we could ascend … together.”
Larsen spat blood onto the metal floor. “You’re insane.” The ship shook and he looked up at her, still standing there with that infuriating smirk. “You’re insane,” he told her again.
“I would save you all,” Ka’sagra said, even louder this time. Her voice was rising to a crescendo. Good Lord, he thought. She actually believes this shit. “When we are in the heavens together, when this plane of existence has melted away, you will see the kindness I have done you.”
“I like this plane of existence just fine.” He pulled out his utility knife, snapped the blade out, and hurled it with all his strength.
It dug deep into her abdomen. Excellent. First blood might not be his,
but that didn’t mean he couldn’t do some damage. She fell back as he pressed closer.
“You think you enjoy this life,” she coughed as she spat a wad of deep red blood onto the floor—it unnerved him that Telestine blood was red too, though why it would be different he had no idea. She was panting in pain. “It is your fear that tells you that. Fear keeps you captive in your body, a slave to desire in all its forms. Existence is the ultimate test of a species. Can you give it up? Are you willing to do what must be done to gain everything?”
“No! For the love of God, no!” He put his hands up to stop her assault, but even with the blood seeping out from her abdominal wound, she was inhumanly fast. And inhumanly strong.
He was pinned the next moment, with her alien face snarling down into his.
Suddenly, she fell silent. She froze, Larsen pinned beneath her alien arms for what seemed like an eternity. And then her face changed.
“Oh. I see,” she said quietly. “She’s here, isn’t she? That little abomination. You were sent to keep me from noticing her.”
Larsen couldn’t help but smile. “Surprise.”
A smile spread on her face. “You have no idea what you are playing with,” she breathed. “None.” Her fist lashed out onto the side of his head, and he blacked out.
CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
Earth
London
The London Library
The problem wasn’t the program itself that Ka’sagra had designed to control her twelve ships, though that was finicky enough that she wanted to scream. It was keyed to Ka’sagra’s mind as well as her bioscans, but it was possible to see, at least, the command she had been prepared to send. It was possible to understand how the High Priestess planned to control the ships, should their Daughters of Ascension pilots have last minute crises of faith. That wasn’t the problem.