by Finn Gray
Vera and Hunter exchanged glances. “Who are you?”
“Jude and Magda Vatcher,” the man said. “For the gods’ sakes! The Memnons are probably searching for us as we speak. There’s no time.”
Vatcher? Hunter mouthed. “All right. Toss your weapon out.”
“It’s not even a weapon; it’s a plasma welder, but here it is.”
A pistol-shaped object clanged on the ground. Hunter retrieved it. “I wish I’d had this when we landed.” He pocketed the tool. “All right, come out slowly with your hands up.”
Vera kept her weapon at the ready, though she now doubted she could actually hit anything with it.
A man and woman came out. Both were of late middle years, but the woman had the youthful aura of someone who could afford pampering. Vera wanted to punch her on general principle.
When the two of them emerged into the daylight, Hunter looked them up and down.
“I assume you’re Commander Vatcher’s parents. I can see some of him in each of you.”
Standing behind them, out of sight, Vera made a show of rolling her eyes. Simon Vatcher was a douche nozzle who had inherited his mother’s punchable face.
“Simon?” the woman said. “Is he all right?”
“He was last I heard,” Hunter said, “which was only a few hours ago.”
“Please, can you take us to him?” she asked.
“I’ll have to take you back to my ship, Dragonfly, but we’ll see to it that you’re reunited with the commander.”
The woman lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Hunter. “Thank you,” she whispered.
Hunter gently separated himself from Mrs. Vatcher. “We need to move. Like you said, the Memnons could be here any moment. And Vera and I have a mission to complete before we return to the ship.”
As the Vatchers boarded the Mongoose, Hunter stepped close to Vera and said quietly, “Good thing you fired a warning shot.”
Vera grinned, embarrassed. “Warning shot? Apparently I’m just shit with a handgun.”
Hunter laughed. “That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in a long time.”
They clambered into the Mongoose and made ready to launch. As they began to lift off, movement caught Vera’s eye.
“Drones!”
Winging down from above came two defense drones. They opened fire.
“Those aren’t drones,” Hunter said as he took the Mongoose out over the water, leaving the pesky defenders behind. “Those are mosquitoes.”
“My apologies, Sir. I didn’t realize there was a minimum threshold of drone size before it merits your attention.”
Jude Vatcher leaned forward. “Do you people actually talk like this in the middle of a war?”
“She’s very dry,” Hunter said.
“How are we going to do this without drawing attention to ourselves?” Vera asked.
“We only have to get close, but considering the state of things on Crab Island at our last flyover, I’m betting that the Memnons are in control and they believe the battle is over. And if we’re very lucky, they’ve dispatched their ships to other hot spots.”
“Leaving the back door wide open,” Vera said. “I like your way of thinking, Captain.”
“Pardon me.” This time it was Mrs. Vatcher. “But what is it, exactly, we are going to do?”
“We’re going to nuke Crab Island,” Hunter said.
The woman’s eyebrows jumped like startled spiders. “You mean there is a nuke on board this ship?”
“You’re sitting on it.” Vera glanced back, expecting to see shock or even fear on the spoiled rich woman’s face.
Instead, she turned to her husband and whispered, “What does it say about me that I find myself strangely aroused?”
Vera choked down a laugh and turned back around.
“There she is.” Hunter said.
Up ahead, wreathed in smoke, loomed the dark outline of Crab Island. Vera checked the RADS.
“No bogeys, no bandits. My gods, you are a prophet.”
Hunter smiled. “Fire at will, Ensign.”
Vera gasped. “What if I miss?”
“You won’t miss. Besides, we’re actually equipped with two nukes.”
“Good enough for me.”
She held her breath.
She fired.
Chapter 37
Stone Mountain Base, Hyperion
Rory racked his brain, trying to figure out what he could do to get them out of this, but Collins had them completely at his mercy. Rory couldn’t let it end like this. Too much depended on him–depended on their mission.
“Where are you taking these subjects?” Collins demanded. “Is there another base? Another program?”
That was interesting. Apparently there was secrecy among the ranks of the Memnons. Then again, they were human in spite of their enhancements, and humans were a suspicious, fractious lot.
“I didn’t have anywhere in particular in mind,” Becca said. “I only wanted to get them somewhere safe.”
“But the alarm wasn’t raised until you were already down here, was it?” Collins leaned down so he could stare directly into her eyes. “I think you’re a traitor who deserves to die. What do you think of that?”
As Collins bent over, the back of his uniform jacket shifted. Rory could see his shirt was untucked, exposing the spot where the electrodes that controlled his enhanced leg braces connected with his spinal column. The inflamed tissue showed that the procedure had been done very recently.
Then Rory remembered the gift Jemma had given him. What had she said? “Be careful. It can deliver quite the shock.”
Would it work? He’d witnessed enough malfunctioning braces to know it was possible. He had to try.
“Time to die, Becca.” Collins pointed with his weaponized arm. “I’m going to enjoy this. You’ve acted like you’re one of us, but you hate us as much as I hate you.”
Becca gritted her teeth. “I never bothered to hate you. You’re too insignificant.”
Collins let out a cold laugh. His body tensed. The moment was at hand.
Rory sprang to his feet, ripped the stiletto free, and jammed it between Collins’ flesh and the titanium disc that had not yet fully melded with his body.
Collins let out a shriek of pain and then his leg braces, acting seemingly of their own accord, extended with maximum force. He had been hunched over Becca when the braces released. He went flying, crown of his head first, into the nearby wall. He struck with a sickening thud, and his skull split like an overripe cantaloupe.
“Let’s go! We’ve got to get the others out of the cargo ship.” He hauled Becca to her feet, and while she gathered the items she had dropped, he scooped up his sidearm and ran for the cargo ship.
The ramp underneath that led up to the bay was open, and one of the patients stood there waiting.
“Where have you been?”
“Everybody out of the ship right now!” he barked.
The man stiffened. He was skinny, his hair unkempt and his face covered in stubble. There was a haunted look in his eyes. “But why?”
“The cargo ship is booby trapped! Tell Park that we need to take the transport instead.”
“Are you sure?”
“Go, you stupid son of a goat!” Rory shouted.
“Do you know who I am?” the man shouted. “I’m a senator!”
“Forget it. I’ll do it myself.” Rory shouldered past him and sprinted up the ramp, shouting orders. “Everybody out! The Memnons have rigged the ship to blow. Out! Out! Move to the transport.”
With agonizing slowness, the others obeyed, bringing with them the items they’d retrieved from the lab.
Park appeared a few seconds later, followed by Peyton.
“What the hells is going on?” Park asked.
“The Memnons knew you might try to escape in your ship. It’s been rigged to explode if you leave the base.”
“How do you know?” Park demanded.
“He told me.” Rory
pointed to Collins’ body, lying in a pool of blood and gore.
“If you say so.”
“If Plowboy says the ship’s going to blow, listen to him.” Marson appeared beside them. “He’s an asshole, but he’s mostly reliable.”
“Whereas Marson is reliably assholeish,” Rory said with a smirk.
“What’s the play?” Marson asked.
“We’ve got to take the transport.”
“I’ve flown plenty,” Peyton said, “but we’ll be packed in like sardines once we retrieve your friends.”
“No other option,” Rory said. “Now get your asses onboard that ship and get us the hells out of here.”
He was mildly surprised that the two pilots obeyed him without further objection.
“You’re barely out of training and already giving orders like a veteran,” Marson said. “Not bad for a farmer. You might get us out of this alive yet.”
Rory let out a huff of breath that was almost a chuckle.
“Are we going to be friends, Marson?”
Marson turned and gaped at him. “I wouldn’t be your friend if the world were flooded in piss and you owned the only life raft.”
“That’s more like it. To your post, asshat.”
They made a dash for the transport. They no longer worried about being spotted. Everything was going to the hells and their primary concern now was getting out as fast as possible. The engineers who had been working at the far end of the hangar had disappeared. Rory didn’t know where they had gone, but their absence was fine with him.
From inside the transport, Becca called out to him over the whine of the engines as they warmed up.
“Are you coming?”
“I suppose. I don’t see any Memnons.” As if in response to this statement, two drones came to life, rising into the air only meters away from where he stood.
“Of course,” Rory muttered. He took aim with his sidearm, trying to select a vulnerable spot. Without a high-powered rifle, he’d have to hit them in just the right spot in order to disable them. “Marson! Two o’clock!”
“Roger!” Marson shouted.
And then, the gods decided to smile on them, or more likely the Memnons had other priorities, because before shots could be fired, the drones rotated, and then zoomed out of the hangar.
“Thank the gods,” Rory said. “Maybe we actually will get out of here.”
Chapter 38
The HUB, somewhere in the Aquarian resolve
“Everyone’s ready to go, Captain,” Teddy said. Their Cobras, refueled and armed to the gills, were lined up in the launch bays, ready to deploy. George had been hard at work on the jump drive, with an assist from Stine, who had proved himself adept. Now, there was nothing to do but wait until the ship was ready to jump.
“Good, everybody gather around.” Sherr waved the pilots over and they circled up, tense but eager.
“Since we don’t have a sitrep from home, we can’t risk jumping into close proximity of either planet. Instead, George has plotted a course for a location just beyond the orbit of Thetis. Far enough away that we hopefully won’t pop up in the middle of a battle, close enough that we can join in quickly.”
Everyone nodded.
Teddy swallowed hard. They were doing the right thing, but the prospect of jumping with such outdated tech was unsettling.
“What happens when a jump goes wrong halfway through?” he whispered to Gwen. “Do you think you split into two or something?”
“Shut up,” Gwen said out of the side of her mouth.
“It really depends on what goes wrong,” Stine said from behind them. “If it’s a nav failure, you just pop up again in the wrong spot. If the drain on power causes the core to fail…”
Gwen rounded on him, glaring. “You can shut up, too.”
“On the off chance that we do encounter hostiles, I want everyone ready to make a run for your birds. In that event, George will mind the bridge and be the last off the HUB.” Sherr turned and glared at George, who winked. The captain would have preferred to be the last to abandon ship, but George’s technical prowess far outstripped anyone else’s in the squadron, with the possible exception of Stine.
“Want me to say a prayer?” Shepherd said.
“You can do whatever you want, but I’m starting the countdown, so make it quick.” George said. “Ifbu I wait any longer I’ll change my mind.”
“Hold on to your butts,” Gwen said as the whine of the jump drive filled the bridge.
As the sound grew louder, so did Shepherd’s prayer. He implored the gods of Aquaria to get them safely to their destination, and to keep the civilians safe. The whine grew louder, higher in pitch, and the deck began to tremble.
Teddy’s heart was in his throat. He’d experienced his share of jumps, but not like this. It was always smoother.
“Counting down from ten,” George began.
Shapiro’s ever-present grin had vanished. He braced himself against the bulkhead.
“Nine.”
Shepherd’s prayer ended with a firm “Amen.”
“Eight.”
The overhead lights flickered.
“Seven.”
Gwen dropped to one knee and clutched her stomach.
“Six.”
A low vibrating sound filled Teddy’s ears.
“Five.”
“Can’t you just skip to one?” Ferenchick said.
“Four.”
“I’ll take that as a no.”
“Three.”
Teddy closed his eyes and said a prayer of his own. The first time he could remember doing so since he had enlisted.
“Two.” George could not keep the tremor from his voice.
“One.”
The overhead lights went dark.
“Jumping!”
Teddy felt as if the entire world were pressing in on him. The air felt thicker, heavier. A sharp pain stabbed his temples.
And then it was gone.
“Jump…complete,” George said heavily.
Teddy opened his eyes to see all of his squadmates either on the floor or clinging to something solid for support.
“If that’s how they jumped back in the old days, I don’t want to hear an old vet wax nostalgic ever again,” Shapiro said.
“I don’t think any vets are alive today who jumped like this,” Shepherd said, rubbing his stomach like he’d eaten a bad clam.
“Can’t imagine why,” Shapiro said.
“So, we’re definitely alive?” Gwen asked, eyes darting from side to side.
“Seems that way,” Teddy said.
Gwen whooped, sprang to her feet, and grabbed Teddy in a bear hug. She came to her senses almost instantly, dropped him, and took a step back.
“Hands off,” she said.
“You grabbed me.”
“Everyone shut up!” Sherr’s voice boomed. “George, what’s our status?”
George checked the vids and swore. “Son of a dead goat! We’re way off course. The nav chewed up my coordinates and spat out something entirely different.”
“Where are we?” Sherr said.
“Just a stone’s throw from Ligten.”
Now it was Sherr’s turn to curse. “We were off by a whole planet?”
“Be an optimist,” Shapiro said. “George came within one planet of getting us where we want to go.”
Sherr flashed a middle finger then turned back to George. “Can we jump again?”
“Not right away in any case. Like I’ve told you, this old tech really drains the core. It’ll need to replenish. In the meantime, I need everyone to make a visual inspection of the entire HUB. We need to know if it’s still structurally sound. Zach and I will check to see if any parts of the jump drive have fried.”
Teddy rubbed his eyes. What if they were too late? What if they couldn’t jump again? He couldn’t sit her and stare at a vidscreen while the Memnons destroyed his home.
“Gods, just give us a shot at those bastards.”
&nbs
p; Chapter 39
Among the Aquarian fleet
Sabre cursed, screamed, and pounded the cockpit wall. Try as she might, she could not get the image out of her head. The pontiff’s ship, gleaming white, suddenly making a beeline for the approaching missile. Sabre trying to get off a shot without striking the civilian vessel. She’d been so close to shooting it down.
“Why did you do that, you stupid bastard?” she screamed at the darkness as she circled the civilian fleet. “If you’d just stayed where you were, I’d have caught up to it!”
Maybe.
Tears trickling down her cheeks, she pegged it and zipped forward. She hated this cease-fire. She wanted to fight. Wanted revenge.
“Sabre, this is Dragonfly,” Cassier said. “You are ordered to keep out of range of the satellite defense network.”
“Roger that. What about the civilian ships?”
“Issuing the order now.”
“We’re moving them closer to the Memnons?” As she continued her circuit around the fleet, her eyes were drawn to the waiting Memnon ships. They were so close now!
“Close enough to give them a big, wet kiss on the lips,” Cassier said. “No choice. The satellites are arming their weapons.”
Sabre’s throat clenched as if she were being garroted. She couldn’t breathe. If the satellites were still active… Hunter! No, he wasn’t dead. She wouldn’t even consider the possibility.
“You are to continue to guard the civilian fleet until further notice.”
“Roger, Dragonfly.” She opened the com link to her remaining squad and issued instructions to coordinate their defenses. She continued to fly without a wingman for the time being. She wasn’t in the mood to communicate any more than absolutely necessary, and Recess loved to chat.
Speaking of Recess, there he was on RADS, zipping toward her. Directly toward her! What was he doing?
“Recess, what are you…”
But his Cobra was right on top of her.
He opened fire.
Sabre took her craft into a dive, knowing it was already too late.
Something erupted behind her! Her engine?