Proxima

by Chase Hildenbrand

  “Activate jammers,” Liam commanded.

  Prior to the mission, Zale passed out miniature jamming devices that would block the ESPD from taking over the crafts remotely like they did in the docking bay of The Hawking. Liam pressed the button activating his that he kept hidden in his pants pocket.

  Zale warned them that if the EPSD failed to remotely take over their ships, the next thing they tried would be EMP bombs. No direct hit required, these small bombs were attached to missiles that they fired from their pursuit vehicles and would detonate nearby their targets emitting a short electro-magnetic pulse that disabled anything electronic in its range.

  “Evade!” came Debra’s voice as the first missile launched, rocketing toward her. She banked right and spun upside down and away as the missile detonated. A visible surge of electricity shot out thirty feet in all directions barely missing her Z56.

  “Break formation. Get to the atmo-dome’s gate,” Liam said.

  More missiles filled the sky as the Z56s dispersed in all directions. The EPSD was greatly outnumbered and many of the pilots got away. One of the six pursuit vehicles, however, targeted Liam. The gap between them shrunk by the second. It was flying straight to him, following him as he went left then right. Instinctively, Liam’s hand found the Z56’s trigger and was ready to fire at the approaching vehicle.

  No. They agreed to kill only if absolutely necessary. Plus, if he missed his target his shot would fire right into a nearby building possibly killing innocents.

  The flashy, wingless pursuit vehicle fired an EMP bomb and the missile raced ahead to meet Liam. He banked left and up, flying high until he reached the top of the atmo-dome and spun upside down, the bottom of his craft coming within inches of the top of the glass. As he hoped, the missile detonated just before hitting the glass safely behind him.

  He saw it near the top of the dome, a large gateway in the glass. The atmo-dome’s entrance and exit point was essentially a massive air lock system. The glass would slide out of the way and in its place an energy shield filled the gap that separated the two atmospheres. The largest vessels in the solar system could seamlessly penetrate the shield with no air leaks. But the shield required an incredible amount of power which was why the glass took its place whenever it was not in use. A safety design kept the glass from sliding back into place while a ship remained inside the energy shield—which explained why Dyran’s dropship hovered midway through it to keep the glass open and thus not allowing the EPSD to manually close it.

  The pursuit vehicle that fired the missile at Liam still trailed behind him, but the gate was within reach. He watched several of the Z56s make it out. But a missile was coming up fast, launched from one of the EPSD vehicles. It was a race to make it out between the missile and one of their Z56s.

  “Go!” Liam screamed.

  The Z56 climbed fast, but the missile was faster. Its EMP detonated and the Z56 slowed, stopped, and fell.

  Liam cursed, but there was nothing he could do except watch as the Z56 tumbled down to the Martian ground below and exploded on a bustling street scattering the nearby pedestrians. He pounded his fist on the ceiling of the cockpit as he turned himself up and went through the energy shield. His pursuer did not follow since their vehicles couldn’t fly in the much thinner Martian atmosphere.

  The dropship ascended out of the energy shield and the glass began sliding back in place. The dropship along with the nineteen Z56s that made it out took to the upper atmosphere and then out to space toward Dyran’s vessel.

  They didn’t have long before one of the larger EPSD ships would be on them. The dropship reconnected to the airlock while Liam, Debra, and the other pilots flew into the open docking bay that was protected by a similar energy shield as the atmo-dome’s gate.

  Liam climbed out of his Z56 and sprinted to the bay’s intercom system.

  “Dyran, we’re here. Time to go!”

  “Prepping now. Stand by.”

  Stacy Rednour jogged to meet him. “Liam, we’re one short.”

  “I know. It was hit. There was nothing we could do.”

  “Damn it.”

  “Here we go,” Dyran announced on the intercom. “Proxima in three...two...one...”

  The vessel hummed a low droning vibration. Through the docking bay’s energy shield the red planet of Mars was majestic in its beauty, but in a flash of white it disappeared.

  Chapter 27

  THE ODYSSEY FROM Earth to Proxima b was a trip originally planned to last a millennium. Dyran’s vessel crossed the ocean of space in mere seconds.

  Liam wanted to vomit.

  The gravitational dispersion of travelling through the wormhole was nearly too much for a human body to handle. He and the other humans on board collapsed to their hands and knees heaving. Nausea swept through them. Some lost the battle and their lunch on the deck of the docking bay.

  The vessel itself was straining—steel groaned in protest to the unnatural maneuver. Lights flickered and an alarm sounded from somewhere deep in the ship.

  “Everyone alright back there?” Dyran asked over the intercom system.

  “Fuck you, Dyran,” Liam said, though Dyran couldn’t hear him without the intercom button pressed. He took several deep breaths and unsteadily climbed to his feet. “You good, Stacy?”

  She was on her knees and looking woozy. “I’ll live. Seriously, a damn warning would’ve been nice.”

  Liam looked out the energy shield into space and saw nothing but stars amid the blackness. Still dizzy, he stumbled to the intercom. “Dyran, that was terrible.”

  “I know. Sorry about that. To be fair no one has travelled this way in a thousand years. You guys okay?”

  “Yeah, we’ll pull through. Did it work?”

  “It looks like it. Get up here and see for yourself.”

  Liam helped Stacy to her feet then checked on Debra who had regrettably vomited on the platform’s floor. She laid on her back looking up at the ceiling, the vomit a foot away.

  “Don’t look at me,” she said as he approached.

  “I’ve seen worse. Come on, let’s see where Dyran brought us.”

  He extended his hand and pulled her up. She shook her head and said, “I’m fine. Let’s go.”

  She told the pilots to stay in the docking bay and check on the Z56s to make sure all were in working order, then she, Liam, and Stacy went to join Dyran, Percy, and Jon on the bridge.

  Dyran’s corporate vessel, roughly half the size of an STS ship, was operating with a skeleton crew of individuals friendly to the cause that Dyran personally vouched for prior to leaving Columbus. In the hallways they passed no one on the way to the bridge—the three hundred others ready to fight were stationed in the barracks likely recovering from the wormhole effects.

  Zale had already arrived by the time Liam and the others reached the bridge. The occupants ignored the newcomers—too distracted by the foreign planet outside the front window. The blue and purple orb was still a distance away, but quite recognizable with the red Proxima Centauri sun shining behind it.

  “Wow,” Liam said, joining the others at the window.

  “Indeed, Liam,” Zale said. She put her hand on his shoulder. “We made it.”

  “How’s the ship holding up, Dyran?” Liam asked. The distant alarm still rang as they made their way from the docking bay.

  “Diagnostics are running, but I’d be a fool if I wasn’t worried. According to the story of Unity Day, the last time this technology was used to enter your solar system, the ships were heavily damaged. Their communications went down of course, but also other systems as well, like speed capabilities, hence why they had to put themselves to sleep for the remainder of the journey.”

  “It never made sense to me why they didn’t do another wormhole jump after they realized communication was down and just come right up to Earth.”

  “It’s dangerous that’s why. Yes, we never used the technology since, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t try to analyze what went wron
g and improve on it since then and still, look at this ship now. If they had jumped again who knows what would’ve happened.”

  “One did jump, though. It jumped to us as we were trying to get away. One second it was with the other two then in a blink it was behind us. The shockwave of it coming out of the jump rattled our ship.”

  “Why do you think they didn’t pursue you? Just because you knocked out a couple of thrusters? Pushing the ship would’ve crippled it beyond repair. They had no choice but to turn around.”

  Liam conceded. “Makes sense.”

  “Is there any sign of the four ships?” Percy asked.

  Dyran began working on a nearby computer panel. Moments later, he answered. “We’re still too far out—maybe half a million miles. The scanners, thankfully, are functioning. We’ll know soon.”

  “Jon and Stacy, can you two check on our people in the barracks? Report any possible injuries caused by the wormhole jump. Zale’s dropship is loaded with PL-6 rifles. If there’s not enough for everyone, prioritize by who among them has previous combat experience, but be sure to save a few for us. If our friends are in trouble we aren’t wasting any time.”

  “Yes, sir,” they said in unison.

  Liam watched them leave before turning to the woman on his left.

  “Zale, I appreciate everything you have done and sacrificed for me—for us. I can’t ask you to go any further.”

  “You don’t have to ask. I’ve been a peacekeeping officer the majority of my life. I may not have the same combat experience as that of your people, but I can’t sit back and ignore wrongdoing. Give me a damn gun.”

  Liam grinned. “I knew I liked you.”

  “Not at first you didn’t.”

  “I think that went both ways.”

  “Too right. All that matters is now.”

  “Exactly.”

  “I’m so glad we came all this way to rescue your girlfriend only for you two to start making out in front of me,” Percy said, laughing. He came between them and put his arms around both.

  “Funny man we’ve got here. A comedian on board!” Liam said. He pushed his friend back playfully.

  “Don’t make me kick your ass before we get down there,” joked Percy.

  Zale rolled her eyes and asked Dyran how much longer until they’d arrive at the planet.

  “Our engines came out relatively unscathed. Two hours should put us in range to use our dropships.”

  “Still nothing from the scanners?” Liam asked.

  “Not yet. I have a stocked kitchen downstairs. Perhaps it would be best to eat something?” Dyran suggested.

  “Fucking excellent idea, Dyran,” Percy said, taking off toward the exit.

  “Thank you, that sounds great,” Liam said.

  “I’m not hungry—different physiology and all. I’ll keep monitoring the scans and the ship’s diagnostics. I’ll send for you when I know anything,” Dyran said.

  Conditions in the camps increasingly deteriorated. The people were poorly fed and grew more tired every day, unable to sleep under the chronic bright lights. Some fell ill due to malnutrition and poor hygiene. They tried to convince the Proximian guards to let them eat and sleep inside the ships, but they were not allowed.

  Work continued around the clock exchanging parts on the ships. The EmDrives had all been replaced by now and whatever they were installing to the engines was nearly done—or at least they thought—they had no idea what it actually was. At least one group in each of the four camps tried to lead an insurrection and not one was successful in creating any difference besides their own deaths.

  Ann feared what would happen to them when the work ran out. As for herself, she and some others worked in rotation assisting the engineers as they swapped out parts in the engines and other areas throughout the ship. Her ten hour rotation recently ended and she sat on the ground outside, leaning against a light pole, eating her meal ration in silence.

  After the last bite of food was gone, she wasn’t surprised to realize she still felt hungry.

  She curled into herself in an attempt to keep warm. The temperature dropped into the low forties today. She found herself missing the extreme heat of Earth. They were given no blankets or allowed to start fires. Many people huddled together for warmth when trying to sleep. She and Blaire did so several times.

  Ann’s spot was quiet for now, only the buzzing of insects provided noise. Occasionally someone would cough or cry for a moment. Ann shed some tears over the past few days as well. It seemed like yesterday she was with Adam celebrating the results of the probe informing them the planet was habitable. No one could have predicted this hell.

  Her eyes closed in a vain attempt at sleeping. She’d worked hard that day helping an English-speaking Russian native reroute power from the hibernation chambers to the new engine parts and was hoping sleep would find her easily. In minutes she felt herself drifting, but just as she was about to slip away into unconsciousness, screams startled her awake. Three guards were dragging a young teenager through the crowd, her parents shrieking in terror, pleading with the guards to let their child go. Ann wanted to run and help, but knew there was nothing she could do. The guards were armed and they were not. At some point while she was inside the mountain, the Proximians emptied out the four ships’ armories, storing their arsenal in a separate fenced off area near the base of the mountain. Ann wanted her hands on one of their rifles. Let her get a few shots in and then those guards wouldn’t bully children.

  Two of the guards held on to each of the teenager’s arms. Her mother and father begged for mercy. The third guard motioned with its gun for them to take a cart full of equipment and roll it up the ramp into the ship. The father relented and grabbed the cart. Once he was halfway up the ramp they released the teen who ran into her mother’s arms.

  It was all so senseless, Ann thought.

  She’d been keeping up with her workout routine whenever possible. She and Blaire stole time away to train in abandoned rooms inside The Linwood. She almost wished one of the guards would harass her like that. She eyed the locked-up armory at the mountain’s base.

  After everything settled down with the family and the guards resumed their patrol, she tried once more to fall asleep. More screaming. Not again, she thought. This time it came from further away, much further—perhaps in the back of one of the other camps. She tried ignoring it, but it wasn’t going away. In fact, it seemed to be growing louder.

  She begrudgingly stood to her feet to try and get a better look. As the volume increased she was able to pinpoint the direction it was originating from. It wasn’t coming from a camp, it came from the empty plains behind the ships. But from whom? She realized it sounded like more than one person—possibly even a large group.

  Through the crowd, she saw Blaire about fifty yards away carrying her meal ration from the food queue to sit near the fence line, completely oblivious to the faint-sounding screams in the distance. She wanted to join her. Something felt wrong.

  She walked through the crowd and with every step the yelling grew louder. Eventually others noticed as well and started looking in the direction it came from. Nothing to see but the vast, dark fields.

  It wasn’t long before even the guards started to take notice and grip their weapons tighter. By the time Ann caught up with Blaire, everyone was trying to find the source of the screams.

  “What is it?” Blaire asked.

  Ann was about to say she had no idea, but before she could intake her breath, the light of fire appeared on the horizon. A blazing torch several hundred yards out. It spread high and wide in seconds—a bonfire, she realized.

  Abruptly the screaming stopped all at once.

  Seconds ticked by and nobody made a sound, their eyes transfixed on the raging inferno—flames reached thirty feet high.

  Suddenly, hundreds of torches lit at once fanning out to either side of the bonfire.

  “This is it,” Ann whispered.

  The screaming returned, but it wasn�
��t screaming exactly—now it was clear. It was a war cry. The torches charged ahead looking like bouncing balls of flame. Some of the torches moved much more rapidly than if the torchbearers were running on foot.

  A guard lifted its weapon and was about to fire into the oncoming line of flames, but before it could get a shot off, a three-foot long projectile rained down from the sky and impaled it right through its midsection.

  Other guards did manage to fire. Blasts shot through the fence and into the charging foes who were nearly upon the camps. A roaring moan of pain echoed through the air.

  “Oh no. Blaire get back!”

  A beast with the ring of horns charged through the fence with two Proximian tribe members riding on its back. One had a bow and arrow, the other a sack. From the sack it pulled bulky stones and threw them at the guards’ heads. Two more horned beasts followed the first and then arrows were flying.

  “We have to run!” Blaire shouted, grabbing on to Ann and pulling her away.

  They found a cart near one of the loading ramps and ducked behind it. Hundreds of Proximian tribe members stormed the fences of not just their camp, but the three others as well. Their long and slender bodies skillfully evaded much of the fire from the guards’ weapons. The ones not riding the backs of the beasts wielded bows, knives, and even slingshots.

  Ann knew that even though the tribes had greater numbers, their primitive weapons wouldn’t be enough in the long run. They needed all the help they could get.

  “Everyone grab something! Help!”

  She looked around for anything she could use as a weapon only to settle on a long steel pipe in the cart in front of her. She grabbed it and held it like a baseball bat. To Blaire she said: “Fight!” and ran into the fray.

  Chapter 28

  “I FOUND THEM,” came the voice of Dyran on the intercom system.

  Liam and Percy sat in the dining hall sharing war stories with Zale. The African Water War was only a footnote in her history so she was gripped by their tales. They each polished off a plate of whatever they could find in the kitchen as themselves and another hundred of their fighting force waited for Dyran’s announcement.