by Ken Lozito
Toro locked the door.
Connor glanced at Sean and then up at the Vigilant’s head of security.
“It was you,” Connor said and started to rise.
“Stay down, General,” Captain Toro warned.
Connor stayed on the floor and leaned back against the wall. He fingered the side of his head and felt a small trickle of blood. “So, what’s your plan here? You kill me and then what?”
Toro’s eyes became more intense. “I don’t know. You screwed everything up.”
“I screwed everything up? You poisoned Ian Howe. You were supposed to be his friend.”
Toro charged forward and came to a stop. “I am his friend.”
Connor glanced at the gun. “Oh, really? I’m sure he appreciated suffering from radiation poisoning right before he died. The doctor had him in a medically induced coma so he wouldn’t feel the pain, so who knows if he had any last thoughts at all. That’s what you did to your friend.”
“It was supposed to be you. It should have been you, but you kept changing things. Always changing things. Testing. Constant drills. Updating your schedule. I thought I had you . . . I did have you,” Toro said.
“What did you do to Sean?” Connor asked, wondering if the security detail had heard the commotion.
“He found me out. Traced the polonium to me. Here in this room, in fact,” Toro said and gave a lazy gesture with his other hand.
“Here? Why would you come back here?”
“To take one more stab at you,” Toro said.
Connor leaned against the wall and brought one leg up toward his chest while extending the other.
“We’re being attacked by the Vemus and you still want to kill me. What the hell for?”
Toro shook his head. “I had everything thought out. I knew the way investigations were conducted. You were supposed to be at the mess hall after meeting with the engineer. And then Ian and Nathan were there. I tried to stop them, but it was too late. I knew Ian had ingested the poison and it was already too late,” he said, glaring at Connor. “I thought I’d gotten you after that.”
Connor frowned. He’d only spoken to Toro here in this room. “The coffee,” he said, finally remembering. “You laced it with poison.”
Toro nodded his beefy head. “Yup, and you took it onto the bridge with you. I thought for sure you would have reported to Dr. Allen, but you didn’t.”
Connor shuddered. He remembered losing his appetite and handing the coffee off to the soldier. No one else drank it either.
“Who ordered you to kill me?” Connor asked.
“How do you know I’m not working alone?” Toro asked. The head of security lowered his gun to his side, and his hand shook as it held the hand cannon.
“Because you’re too damn stupid to have cooked this up for yourself,” Connor said.
Toro’s nostrils flared and he brought the hand-cannon up, pointing it at Connor’s face.
Connor stared up at him grimly. “You’re a coward,” he sneered.
Toro cried out and lunged forward, his eyes narrowed menacingly.
Connor kicked out with his foot and caught Toro by surprise. The hand-cannon went off but missed him. Connor sprang to his feet and grabbed onto Toro. The head of security was so strong that Connor might as well have been wrestling a tree. He slammed his fist into Toro’s head and tried to hold onto the wrist holding the gun, but his grip slipped. After several long seconds during which Toro didn’t take the shot, Connor tore his eyes away from the hand-cannon. Sweat poured from Toro and his face was pale.
“You’re dying. You’ve exposed yourself to too much polonium,” Connor said.
Toro seemed to weaken right where he stood and then stumbled backward. He fell, landing near the unconscious Sean. Connor stepped toward Sean, but Toro pointed his gun at Sean’s head.
“Haven’t you caused enough death? We have an enemy that wants to kill us and we’re here killing each other. It’s over,” Connor said.
“They weren’t supposed to find us. The experts made such compelling arguments. Parish said it was impossible. No one was supposed to find us here,” Toro said.
“Was it Parish? Is that who ordered you to kill me?” Connor asked.
He didn’t glance at the door but he heard the two CDF soldiers outside. Any second now, they were going to open that door. He had to keep Toro’s attention on him or Sean would get shot.
“You changed things again. Instead of keeping the investigation quiet, you broadcast it to the whole damn ship. Everyone knew Colonel Howe had been murdered,” Toro said.
The door to Connor’s ready room burst open. Connor held up his hand. “Hold!”
The two soldiers glanced at him and then down at Alec Toro, who was pointing a gun at Sean’s head.
Toro glanced at the soldiers, his eyes seeming to linger on their uniforms.
“Look at me,” Connor said.
Toro swung his gaze toward Connor. “I know this kid is your friend. He’s good. Really good. I can see why you keep him around. If I hadn’t blindsided him, he would have caught me.”
Toro pressed the hand cannon against Sean’s head.
“You don’t have to do this. It’s over,” Connor said.
“You’re right; it is over. I’m dying. Either you or those soldiers are going to kill me—all because we wanted to believe a lie, that there was no invading force coming to the colony and that everyone we left behind on Earth was okay. None of this was supposed to happen,” Toro said, and his lips pressed together.
“Don’t. He’s a good kid and deserves a chance to die fighting for something he believes in,” Connor said.
Toro looked at him with red-rimmed eyes and winced in pain. “That’s all I wanted,” he said and then raised the hand-cannon to the side of his own head and squeezed the trigger. Blood and brain matter splattered onto the wall as Toro’s dead body slumped into its final rest.
Connor went over to Sean and glanced up at one of the soldiers. “Get a medic in here, now!”
The other soldier went over to Toro’s body.
“Get a decontamination team here. He had radiation poisoning and I can’t be sure he doesn’t have the substance on him,” Connor said.
“Sir, you need to step away from him then,” the CDF soldier said.
They cut the bonds that held Sean’s wrists together and carried him over to the couch. A medic came and started to examine Sean. A few moments later he used smelling salts and Sean woke up.
Connor blew out a breath and rubbed his face. Toro had been right: he did care for Sean like a son—like the son he’d left behind on Earth who bore the same name. He wouldn’t have been able to forgive himself if something had happened to Sean.
“Sir, are you alright?” the medic asked him.
“I’m fine,” Connor said in a strained voice.
Sean looked over at Toro’s body and then looked at Connor. “We found traces of polonium in his quarters and his locker. After I found traces of it on the bridge, I checked everywhere you’d been. It was on your desk, so I knew someone who’d met with you had to be the killer. He must have figured out that I was on his trail. I caught up with him here and he got me.”
Connor nodded. “Don’t beat yourself up about it. We should be hunting the Vemus, not each other.”
Sean sat up but stayed on the couch. “Did he tell you who else was involved?”
“Not directly, but I have a strong suspicion,” Connor said.
Sean frowned. “Who?”
“Let’s say his orders came from the top, or at least someone close to Parish,” Connor said.
Sean shook his head slowly. “What do we do now? We can’t let them get away with this.”
“Stanton Parish is the least of our concerns. We can worry about it if we make it back to the colony,” Connor said.
“What about Titan Space Station?” Sean asked.
Connor’s throat became thick. “It’s gone.”
Sean’s eyes widened in
shock.
“They called for an evacuation and then Colonel Douglass ordered the self-destruct,” Connor said.
Sean swallowed hard. “Did it . . . stop them?”
“I don’t know. I’m going back to the bridge. Want to join me?” Connor asked.
“Always, sir. You know that.”
Connor did know that and was thankful Sean hadn’t been killed, but how many more would he fail to save? He had to get back to the bridge. The self-destruction of Titan Space Station might have struck a crippling blow, but this battle was far from over. They had to activate the missile-defense platforms they had positioned throughout the star system. Perhaps they would be enough to weaken the remaining Vemus ships even further.
21
The escape pods carrying Noah and other survivors from Titan Space Station were actually part of the Ark, humanity’s first interstellar ship that had ferried three hundred thousand men, women, and children out among the stars. Although anything but comfortable, the pods were equipped so that the people inside could survive for weeks.
Noah glanced at the holoscreen that showed them closing in on the Chmiel. The cargo carrier had become a lifeboat to hundreds of personnel aboard the life pods that were lucky enough to escape from Titan Space Station before the Vemus made that all but impossible. They’d used the pod’s limited thrust capabilities to take them to the cargo ship, reserving just enough fuel so they could perform emergency maneuvers to slow down. Kara had reminded him of that little necessity when he’d suggested they reach the Chmiel as quickly as possible.
“The drone is almost here,” Noah said.
Kara bobbed her blonde head once and remained focused on her personal holoscreen. Noah had disabled the distress beacon for their life pod. He wasn’t sure whether the Vemus could track them, but he felt safer without the broadcast signal going out. The pod’s short-range communications worked, so they could speak to other survivors, as well as Captain Benson of the Chmiel. The cargo carrier was equipped with a small army of drones that were designed to retrieve smaller asteroids but were now guiding the life pods into the main cargo bay. They would keep as many of the life pods as they could. One thing that had been drilled into the colonists of New Earth was the need to not waste anything that could be useful. In this case, the life pods themselves were made from high-grade materials. Noah had even done some calculations and determined that the cargo vessel should have just enough room to store them all.
Noah brought up the video feed on his own holoscreen. The Chmiel was a short distance away, and if there had been any windows on the pod, the only thing they’d have seen was the cargo carrier. There were several lines of circular objects heading toward the ship in steady succession. Although there were hundreds of escape pods, Noah knew that many CDF personnel had stayed behind to fight the Vemus.
He heard a clang as a drone made contact with their pod and propelled them toward the ship. Noah noticed that they were being guided to one of the shorter lines of pods.
He glanced at Kara, considering.
Kara noticed him looking at her. “What’s the matter?” she asked and looked briefly at his holoscreen.
“Nothing. They’re just lining us up, is all,” Noah said.
“Oh, good. We’re lucky Captain Benson decided to stick around,” Kara said.
“It would have been a much longer trip home,” Noah replied.
He felt foolish. Titan Space Station had been attacked. They’d evacuated and here they were talking about how lucky they were. He was immensely grateful to be alive and ashamed all at the same time.
“Before all this happened, I was going to ask you something,” Noah said.
Kara closed down her holoscreen and stretched her hands out in front of her before bringing them to rest in her lap. “About what?”
“I was reassigned back to New Earth, and I was going to ask if you wanted to come back with me,” Noah said.
There, he’d finally said it.
Kara stiffened next to him. “I knew you were going to ask,” she said quietly.
Noah’s eyes widened. “You did? Is that why you’ve been avoiding me? Because you didn’t want to come?”
Kara looked away from him and Noah felt a flush of embarrassment redden his face. He shouldn’t have brought this up here in this cramped life pod. Of course she didn’t want to come back with him. This thing between them was just a fling, something to pass the time during a particularly long rotation at the station.
“No,” Kara said softly. “I was ashamed because I wanted to go with you. More than anything.”
Noah looked at her. “You did? Then why did you avoid me?”
Kara swallowed hard. “Because I thought I’d be abandoning my post, shirking my duty. We were handpicked to be assigned to Titan Space Station because we were the best the Colonial Defense Force had to offer for defending the colony against the threat of invasion. I loved the work I was doing and the people I worked with. It was a close-knit community there. There’s very little choice on the space station to be otherwise. Sure, we were way out on the edge of the star system, but we had each other. Then you showed up all those months ago. The legendary Noah Barker, renowned engineer and integral part of the early colonial effort, a personal friend of General Gates.”
Noah snorted. He knew he had a reputation but didn’t think much of it. Certainly not among his peers. “Being Connor’s friend isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. We often get the most dangerous assignments.”
“It was General Gates and Colonel Douglass who approached me to be part of the CDF brigade serving on Titan. It was a tremendous honor even to be asked,” Kara said.
Noah’s eyebrows pulled together in understanding. “I didn’t realize what I was asking you to give up. I’m sorry. We seemed to hit it off. We go together. Knowing the general, he wouldn’t have viewed your request to return to New Earth with me as an abandonment of your post. The man may drive himself like a robot, but he understands people.”
They were silent for a few moments and Noah heard Kara sigh.
“I would have said yes,” Kara said, finally.
Noah smiled widely and he saw Kara doing the same. He took her hand in his and held it, and she gave his hand a gentle squeeze. Noah felt as if a great weight had shifted off of his shoulders, and a renewed determination swept over him. They had to get home. They had to find a way to thwart the Vemus invasion. For the first time since entering the life pod, he felt free despite everything that was going on around him. Then fear threatened to creep back into his thoughts. The Vemus. Why did they come? What did they want? How’d they even get here? But he didn’t want to focus on that now and pushed those thoughts out of his mind so he could take this moment with Kara and remember it for however long his life would be.
A comlink opened to the pod. “Life pod 707, execute reverse thrust for final approach,” the comms officer of the Chmiel said.
Noah looked at the life pod controls and hit the button to slow the pod down.
“Perfect. We’ll have you aboard in just a few moments.”
“Acknowledged, and thank you,” Noah said.
The drone guided their pod to the cargo area, where they were handed off to the robotic loading arms. The arms brought the pod safely inside the cargo bay area. The pod was then shifted to the interior of the ship through a massive airlock. A few minutes later there was a knock on the hatch, and Noah pulled on the release.
“Welcome aboard the Chmiel. My name is Jim.”
Noah gestured for Kara to go first and followed her out of the pod. Kara told Jim their names and ranks. Noah saw other pods being opened and their occupants coming out.
Jim’s eyes widened. “Captain Benson has been waiting for both of you. Please, if you’ll follow me to the bridge.”
Noah glanced at Kara and then back at Jim. “Of course,” he said.
Jim led them out of the cargo area and called out to the deck chief that he was taking them to the bridge. There were a lot of lif
e pods that had made it already, and Noah thought about all those waiting to get on board. He wondered why the captain had seen fit to single out both of them.
“Do you know what this is about?” Noah asked.
Jim looked back at him. “I have no idea, but I have my instructions. We’re scooping you guys up and then we’re supposed to hightail it out of here as quickly as possible.”
The Chmiel was a large ship, so it took them almost fifteen minutes to reach the bridge. As they entered the bridge, there was none of the formality Noah had gotten used to on the CDF military ships he’d been on.
Captain Benson was an older, dark-skinned man whose gray hair and beard made him look like a sage. He glanced over at them with a deeply furrowed brow. “Major Roberts and Captain Barker?”
“Yes, sir,” Noah said.
Officially, Benson wasn’t part of the Colonial Defense Force, but the man was the captain of this ship and had just saved their lives.
Captain Benson eyed him for a moment. “I appreciate the sentiment, son, but though I’m captain of this ship I’m very much at the CDF’s service. Regardless, I don’t need someone to tell me the right thing to do.”
“We appreciate it all the same, Captain,” Noah said, and Kara nodded.
“I have orders for you, Captain Barker, and I need your expertise, Major,” Captain Benson said.
“How can I help?” Kara said.
“We have to beat the enemy fleet back to New Earth. To do that I need better speed from the engines,” Captain Benson said.
“Understood. I can help with that, but I must warn you that there’s a significant risk of permanently damaging the engine pods,” Kara said.
“I suspected as much,” Captain Benson replied.
“I’ll head down to Main Engineering and see what we’re dealing with,” Kara said.
“Look for Marcin. He keeps things running down there,” Captain Benson said.
Noah watched Kara leave the bridge and turned back to the captain. “You have orders for me?”
Captain Benson nodded. “I have new encryption protocols you’re to use to contact General Gates. You can use my comms station over there.”