Rouhr

by Elin Wyn

  “We agreed the Vengeance wasn’t viable for this plan.”

  I knew where she was going with this, but for a moment, just a moment, didn’t want to accept it.

  “For a fight, but not as a trap,” Axtin jumped in. “Look, I hate the idea as much as any one of us would, but you have to admit, it’s a solid plan.”

  “The Xathi would never expect us to blow up our own ship,” Tu’ver added.

  “The Vengeance is half-buried in the ground,” Vrehx added. “There’s no way she’ll ever fly again.”

  “You’re right,” I let out a deep sigh. I couldn’t think of an argument against it, nor think of a better plan.

  “We’ll blow up the Vengeance.”

  22

  Vidia

  “I’m not sure how comfortable I am with this,” I said for the fifth time that hour.

  Rouhr gave me an indulgent look, but I could tell he was trying not to roll his eyes.

  “Nothing is going to happen to me,” he assured me. “Unless, of course, I drop one of the explosives and detonate it by mistake.”

  “That’s not funny!” I gently shoved his shoulder, hiding my own laughter.

  “I know. I’m sorry! I couldn’t resist.” He raised his hands in surrender.

  “It’s not unreasonable for me to be worried after what happened on the last cure strike,” I replied. “You were gone for almost two days!”

  “That’s a fair point,” Rouhr nodded. “But, this time, a Xathi won’t destroy my comm, you’ll be able to see me the whole time on the Vengeance’s surveillance cameras, and Strike Team One will be with me.”

  “I’m glad they’ll be there to keep you in line.” I smiled wryly.

  “Me, too,” Rouhr chuckled. “Speaking of them, Vrehx and Tu’ver should be just about done prepping the explosives.”

  “I’ll go to the control room, and make sure everything works properly,” I offered. Rouhr smiled and kissed my forehead before leaving to meet up with Strike Team One. The moment he was out of sight, a hard lump formed in my stomach.

  Logically, I knew this mission was far less risky than the cure strikes. But I’d already felt the cold, heart-stopping terror of thinking I’d lost him once.

  It had felt like my heart had been cleaved right out of my chest.

  I never wanted to feel anything like that ever again.

  Not until… I pushed the thought away and made my way to the control room, where Fen was already waiting with the Gateway.

  The monitors on the wall were tapped into the cameras mounted all over the Vengeance. It looked like most of the screens had survived the last Xathi attack, though some flickered to static every so often.

  Fen had gone ahead and fetched a comm for me to use. I placed the cuff over my ear to test it.

  “Rouhr, can you hear me?” I asked.

  “Loud and clear.” I could hear the smile in his voice. When Fen clicked onto our frequency, Rouhr asked her to open a rift. From where she was in the control room, Fen opened a rift a few feet in front of Rouhr and Strike Team One leading to the docking bay on the Vengeance.

  “You’re getting really good at that,” I marveled. “It must be cool to be the gatekeeper of all space.”

  “I had not thought of it that way.” I saw the humor in Fen’s eyes. “Perhaps I should have a new title.”

  Once Rouhr and the strike team were through, Fen closed the rift and I turned my attention to the monitors to see where they now stood in the destroyed docking bay.

  “Let’s split up, and grab anything useful,” Rouhr ordered.

  “If the Xathi left anything good behind, that is,” Sakev added.

  Axtin went to the armory, Tu’ver stayed in the docking bay and started picking through the overturned equipment. Vrehx and Daxion went down to the engineering room and repair stations. Sakev decided to go to the med bay, likely at Evie’s suggestion.

  “Clipping an explosive to the power core will make a bigger explosion,” Vrehx said through the comm.

  “And one on the engine, too,” Daxion added.

  “Clip one anywhere on major gas lines, as well,” Rouhr instructed.

  Rouhr had gone to the main common areas of the ship, hunting for any useful everyday supplies to take back.

  “I’ll handle planting the explosives,” Axtin offered. “There’s nothing good left in the armory.”

  “Noted,” Rouhr replied.

  “The Xathi took most of our ammo,” Vrehx called in. “It looks like they tried to take pieces of the ship, too, but stopped halfway through dismantling it.”

  Rouhr made his way to the bridge and central communication station. The Xathi had done a number on the ship’s control panels.

  “The Xathi really wanted to make sure we couldn’t leave,” Rouhr chuckled dryly. “As if being a quarter-buried in the center of a forest of walking death traps wasn’t enough to stop us.”

  I took a closer look at the communication center on my monitor.

  “Something’s off about what they did,” I murmured to myself.

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  The cameras gave me an aerial view of the room. “They’ve destroyed every panel and board, but one.” Near the front, opposite where Rouhr was positioned, one of the control panels looked like it’d been left untouched.

  Rouhr approached, and carefully examined it.

  “It’s the local communication panel,” he explained. “It’s how I used to receive reports, help signals, and updates from other locations on the same planet.”

  “Why would they leave that untouched?” I asked.

  “I don’t know.” Rouhr rubbed the back of his neck. “Unless…” he trailed off as he bent down to look underneath the tabletop, where everything connected. “Figures,” he huffed after a few moments of silence.

  “What?” I asked.

  “The Xathi have tapped into our local communication lines.” He straightened back up. “There’s a crystal node right at the base of the transmitter.”

  “I guess that proves the theory of why they set up a hybrid camp so close to the ship,” I replied. “But I wonder if we can make this work to our advantage.”

  “Tell me more, my clever girl,” Rouhr bent down to examine the node once more while I was thankful the rest of his team couldn’t see me blush.

  “If it’s on the transmitter, I assume they could hear all outgoing messages?” I ventured.

  “Yes,” Rouhr confirmed.

  “And it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume they could also hear any incoming messages?”

  “Most likely,” Rouhr replied.

  “Fen was originally going to attempt to breach their communication center to plant a false message about the Gateway,” I continued. “But it looks like the Xathi have left a breach for us.”

  “Using their own tech against them? I like it,” Sakev laughed.

  “There’s a chance this Xathi ship’s communication system could be entirely unfamiliar to me.” Fen added. “They change their tech frequently, depending on which races they’ve overtaken. We can record the conversation over the comms, then I can release it to the compromised communications board. The Xathi will do the hard work for us.”

  “That settles that!” I said cheerfully. “Rouhr, are you ready to do a little acting?”

  “Excuse me?” Rouhr blurted.

  “Make sure to deliver a quality performance, General,” Sakev quipped.

  Rouhr rolled his eyes so hard I could see it on the monitor.

  “Just try to sound natural,” I laughed. “I’ll start, and you can just follow my lead.”

  “General, the Gateway and the refugees are ready to be transported back to the Vengeance. Is everything all set on your end?” It felt strange calling Rouhr “General”, but other than that, I did my best to sound as natural and professional as possible.

  “The Xathi did some real damage,” Rouhr sighed. “But the refugee bay is still mostly intact. How many are you sending over?” Rouhr
was better at this than I’d expected him to be.

  “A few hundred refugees, plus half the crew,” I continued. “I want to move some of the cured humans to the Vengeance, as well. We’ve just got too many people to handle.”

  “Noted. We’re ready when you are,” Rouhr concluded.

  “Opening a rift and sending them through now,” I finished.

  Fen stopped recording.

  “Looks like we know what Rouhr’s going to do when the war is over,” Dax joked.

  “Very convincing, General,” Vrehx added.

  “Don’t bother sucking up to me. Flattery will get you nowhere,” Rouhr chuckled.

  “It was worth a shot,” Dax replied.

  “I think it’ll work,” I chimed in. “Fen and I will clean it up and prepare it for transmission while you finish planting the explosives.”

  “Right,” Rouhr agreed. “How’s it coming, Axtin?”

  “Just planted the last one on the main gas pipe,” he replied.

  “Excellent,” Rouhr said. “Is anyone near the power core?”

  “I am,” Vrehx replied.

  “Go ahead and power up the Vengeance,” Rouhr ordered. A few seconds later, I heard the Vengeance hum to life through the comm.

  “If we change this strip of code right here,” Fen pointed to a row of unintelligible characters on her personal monitor, “it will look like Rouhr’s parts came from the Vengeance instead of the comms.”

  “That’s amazing,” I gasped then watched Fen make rapid adjustments to the audio files.

  “That should do it,” she said after a few moments.

  “Perfect,” I beamed. “Rouhr, as soon as the explosives are set up, you can come back to the Aurora. The transmission is ready when you are.”

  Rouhr didn’t answer me right away. He’d moved from where I last saw him in the communication center. He was now on the bridge, gazing at everything with a faraway look in his eyes.

  Of course.

  That was his ship.

  I put my comm to the side to let Rouhr say his goodbye.

  23

  Rouhr

  Vidia was on standby, ready to send the message to the Xathi that we had returned to the Vengeance.

  Time was of the essence, but I needed a moment to say goodbye to my ship.

  “Just give me a few minutes,” I asked Vidia.

  “Of course,” she replied.

  I don’t know if she understood anything about the bond between a general and his ship, but she was trying to.

  That meant a great deal to me.

  Truth be told, I’d never thought I would make it to general. I assumed I would be a rank and file soldier for the duration of my career on the force. I’d stayed in the ranks for fifteen years, longer than many of my people spent in service before the Xathi came.

  I found being a soldier easy. All I needed to do was trust my leaders and follow orders, and that’s exactly what I did.

  I was the standard every soldier wanted to meet, but few did. There were others more skilled in battle than I, but I had an endless supply of resilience.

  No matter how difficult the battle was, no matter how many of our crew were cut down, I pushed on. I would follow orders, and complete the objective no matter the cost.

  I rose in rank quickly after becoming a commanding officer. The higher-ups realized early on that I was more qualified than most due to my long stint in the force.

  Within four years, I had become a general, one of the youngest to do so. And when the hostilities with the Xathi boiled over, I was given command of my own ship, the Vengeance.

  She wasn’t the prettiest ship out there, but she was mine. I was given the freedom to govern my crew how I saw fit.

  Up until recently, I would have given anything to go back in time and stop the experimental weapon that caused all this from ever getting put on my ship.

  Now, despite all the death, destruction, and sacrifices that had already happened and were still to come, I wouldn’t go back.

  I wouldn’t trade my time with Vidia for anything.

  Not even my beloved ship.

  “It was an honor flying with you.” I rested my hand against the main control panel where I had so often stood.

  It took doing the right thing to acquire this honor.

  Now, doing the right thing would cost me my ship, the command I’d fought hard to be worthy of.

  The older I got, the more I noticed how funny life was.

  “Rouhr? Are you okay?” Vidia’s soft voice crackled through my comm.

  “Yes,” I replied. “I’ll gather the men and call for a rift.”

  “Okay.” I could hear the concern in her voice. I knew if there was any other option, Vidia would help find it.

  But there wasn’t.

  “Meet back in the old docking bay for departure,” I ordered. The men echoed their confirmations as I walked out of the bridge for the last time.

  “I hope you’ve all said your goodbyes.”

  They nodded solemnly. The Vengeance had been their home, too. With a heavy hand, I lifted my comm and called for Fen to open a rift. When it opened, I was the last to go through.

  The last to leave, as it should be.

  Vidia and Fen waited in the control room of the Aurora.

  “Hey,” Vidia said with a soft smile as I walked in the door. I tried to smile back, but I don’t think she was convinced. She slipped her arm through mine when I stepped up to the control panel and leaned her head against my shoulder. I kissed her hair, breathing in the sweet, clean smell of her.

  “Are we ready to send the transmission?” Fen asked.

  I nodded, then listened to the recording, my mind still far away, on the bridge of the Vengeance.

  Vidia did excellent work. Her voice sounded calm, casual, and official. The Xathi would have no reason to suspect it was all a fabrication.

  “Now we wait,” I said.

  There was nothing more to do except watch the monitors for signs of Xathi movement. Fen programmed one of her satellites to scan for living things of similar size and body temperature as the Xathi.

  Almost immediately, there was activity around the Xathi ship.

  “Looks like they got the message.” A satisfied smile appeared on Vidia’s face. “That’s what they get for trying to listen in on our conversations.”

  “So, that’s your breaking point?” I laughed. “Not the hybridism, not the destruction of your planet, but eavesdropping?”

  “It’s rude!”

  We watched swarms of Xathi move from their ship in the direction of the Vengeance. As we’d hoped, the queen appeared to have directed a large portion of her remaining forces to investigate.

  It showed how much they wanted us wiped off the face of this planet.

  Good. That made it even.

  It took them less than an hour to make the journey. Fen toggled on the surveillance cameras inside and around the Vengeance. The Xathi tore through the ship, demolishing everything that wasn’t already destroyed.

  I hated watching the Xathi defile my ship, but I would get my revenge soon enough.

  “You should do it,” Vidia said, handing me the remote to activate the bombs.

  “Thank you,” I acknowledged. If anyone was going to destroy the Vengeance, it would be me.

  The Xathi continued to tear apart the ship searching for us, for the refugees. I watched, waiting for the perfect moment. I wanted as many as possible to be inside the ship when I activated the bomb.

  At one point, there was a shift in their demeanor.

  They realized the ship was empty.

  On each of their faces, I saw the Xathi queen scramble to figure out what was going on.

  The clicks of confusion turned into shrieks of outrage when they figured out they’d been tricked.

  Good.

  I wanted the queen to know she was stupid and arrogant enough to walk right into our trap. When she saw her minions get blasted to pieces, I wanted her to know that it was us wh
o had done it to them.

  I pressed the button.

  There was a single beat where time seemed to stop entirely.

  Then, there was nothing but blinding light. The Vengeance blasted apart from the inside. Fire swirled through the corridors, knocking out the surveillance cameras one by one.

  I didn’t need to see the Xathi writhing and burning to know we’d won.

  I pressed the intercom button on the control panel.

  “Attention, everyone.” I heard my own voice echoing through the speakers around me. “The mission was a success.” From farther down the halls of the Aurora, I could hear cheering. Vidia stood beside me, smiling up at me. I tucked her under my arm and pulled her close, but I couldn’t bring myself to smile just yet.

  24

  Vidia

  After destroying the Vengeance, Rouhr wanted to go back to his office and get some work done. I let him go, knowing the loss of the Vengeance had taken a toll on him.

  He kept to himself for the rest of the day. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he stayed up all night in his office.

  The following morning, I still hadn’t heard from Rouhr, but I decided it was best not to push him. He would seek me out when he was ready.

  While I waited, I decided to visit the labs to see Leena and Evie. Since the final cure strike, they’d been working on refining the production of the cure and documenting everything, so their work could be officially published.

  When I entered the lab, I expected to see both of them working hard in a state of deep concentration.

  Instead, I found them giggling over a lab table that looked like a painting project gone horribly wrong.

  “What’s going on?” I couldn’t help but laugh. Evie had a huge blue splotch on her lab coat, and yellow splattered across her face.

  Leena didn’t look any better, with a red smear on her cheek and what looked like purple dust covering her front.

  “We’re trying to make makeup!” Evie declared through her laughter.

  “What?” I exclaimed. “What for?”

  “Mariella is throwing a party tonight,” Leena explained. “Now that the hybrids are cured, and the Xathi’s army has been crippled, we all figured the last stage is the final Xathi takedown. Mariella thought we should have a last hurrah.”