‘I thought that…’
‘I know what you thought,’ Andaim cut her off. ‘I’m not going to stand here and blow sunshine at you and pretend that everything’s fine, but I get why you and the captain did what you did and it’s history. Right now we’ve got bigger problems and I’d rather have you out there with the squadron than stuck on the bridge with tactical.’
‘I haven’t finished my training,’ she said.
‘By the time this sortie is over,’ Andaim replied as he donned his flight helmet, ‘you’ll have either passed or failed.’
Evelyn turned and marched toward her Raython as it was pushed into the secondary launch slot and sank to the deck alongside Andaim’s fighter. Evelyn hurried around the craft, completing her walk–around checks as she fastened her helmet in place and watched the launch–crews swarming over the undercarriage.
She was about to board the Raython when a familiar face appeared, escorted by two ground–crew who guided her through the complex tangle of electrical and fuel cables snaking between the parked Raythons.
Meyanna Sansin hurried to Evelyn’s side and gripped her shoulder. The doctor looked tired but sufficiently recovered to have concern for others once more.
‘When did you last sleep, Evelyn?’ she asked again.
Evelyn blinked. She realised not only that she could not remember exactly when she had last slept, but that her addled mind would not allow her to begin to calculate even an approximation. Meyanna saw the momentary confusion on Evelyn’s face.
‘That’s what I thought,’ she said. ‘Put out your wrist.’
Evelyn held out her wrist and Meyanna folded down the cuff of her fireproof gloves to expose her skin. In a flash she pressed a small vial of a ruby–coloured liquid against Evelyn’s skin and depressed a plunger. Evelyn felt a tingling sensation in her wrist as the small vial emptied into her bloodstream.
‘You’ve been running on empty for weeks and now you’re going into combat on no sleep,’ Meyanna said. ‘You’ll need this to prevent you from getting blown to pieces.’
‘You’re giving me this now, after all those weeks of tests?’
‘It’s Verenium,’ Meyanna explained.
Evelyn’s mind whirled. An exotic stimulant, highly illegal except in specific medical emergencies when it was used to prevent patients from slipping into irreversible comas. Rumours abounded that the military’s Special Forces units used the drug to enhance their performance in stressful combat situations. A street version,
Vertigo
, had often been peddled by gangs on Ethera and Caneeron. Countless addicts had lost their lives by overdosing and hurling themselves from skyscrapers or even aircraft in mid–flight, believing themselves to be utterly invincible.
‘It’ll help get you through this,’ Meyanna added. ‘I would never usually administer it but we need every pilot we have.’
‘There are three pilots without airframes on tactical,’ Evelyn said. ‘Why hasn’t Andaim switched me out with one of them?’
‘Because although Andaim won’t admit it, he knows that you’re better than they are,’ Meyanna replied. ‘You’ve almost passed your training despite being under constant medical examination and reduced blood flow, and that’s something he’s aware of now. Think about what you can do when you’re at full capacity. This will help you, now go, quickly!’
Meyanna turned and hurried away as Evelyn climbed aboard, saw the cockpit instruments already switched on via power delivered by ground cables attached to the Raython.
She strapped into her seat and plugged in her intercom, instantly hearing Lael’s voice broadcasting from the bridge.
‘… sub–luminal velocity in ninety seconds. Prepare for deceleration.’
Evelyn shook her head in an attempt to clear her mind as she began activating the Raython’s engines. The ground crews pulled the power lines from the fuselage and backed away as the whine of dozens of powerful ion engines began to fill the launch bay. Evelyn closed her canopy, letting her flight notes hover in the air before her as she finished her checks and then she stowed the notes in a slot alongside the cockpit wall.
‘All Reapers call in,’
Andaim called.
‘Reaper Two, flight ready,’ Evelyn replied.
‘Reaper Three, flight ready.’
‘Reaper Four…’
Evelyn forced herself to relax. She was woefully tired but the anticipation of imminent, life–threatening combat injected adrenaline into her bloodstream as though she was supercharged. Colours suddenly seemed sharper, sounds clearer, her senses heightened to supernatural levels as she actually began to relish engaging the enemy. She realised that the Verenium was taking effect. Her drowsiness slipped away like an old skin and she sucked in a deep breath of cool, clean air as she realised that she was smiling.
Damn
, why couldn’t she have had a shot of that stuff for every flight?
‘All call–signs, sub–luminal velocity in thirty seconds. Prepare for deceleration.’
The ground crew dashed from sight outside Evelyn’s cockpit, hauling fuel lines and power cables behind them as they hurried into armoured and pressurised bunkers that lined the edges of the flight deck. Her Raython’s nose sank slightly as the magnetic catapult engaged, ready to fling the fighter out into the void of space. Evelyn checked that her engines were running smoothly and checked over her shoulders to ensure all groundcrew were clear of her fighter and the catapults.
‘Reapers One and Two, prepare for launch!’
Evelyn checked her harnesses one last time and then rested her handle on the throttle, ready to open it wide when the catapults fired and the bay doors opened. She realised that she could hear every whisper of the ion engines behind her, the rustle of the fabric of her flight suit against her skin and her heartbeat pulsing inside her chest.
‘Sub–luminal in ten seconds.’
Evelyn mentally counted down as she stared at the still–closed bay doors, a dense barrier that her Raython would be blasted into if the launch sequence was not activated with absolute precision. She eased the throttle up to fifty per cent power, the Raython straining at the magnetic clamps restraining it, running them up so that full power was ready at a moment’s notice.
Lael’s voice reached her as though from a distance in her headphones.
‘…four, three, two, one, sub–luminal!’
The light in the bay blurred and polarised as the Atlantia dropped out of faster–than–light travel, her mass–drive disengaging. Evelyn felt herself pressed against her harnesses with the deceleration and then suddenly her intercom came alive.
‘Reaper One and Two, launch sequence now!’
Evelyn threw her throttles wide open as the catapult engaged and her fighter surged forward under terrific acceleration. The lights of the launch bay flashed past in a blurred stream as the bay doors opened before her, a cloud of vaporised moisture and oxygen billowing around her Raython as it flashed through the narrow gap and out into space.
Evelyn retracted her undercarriage as a flare of starlight seared the cockpit and a deep shadow loomed before her. She jinked left instinctively as a huge asteroid tumbled past, saw Andaim’s Raython jerk right to avoid it as they raced into the depths of a massive asteroid field, the glow from a distant red dwarf star illuminating his fighter.
‘What the hell?’ Evelyn uttered.
‘Levelling the playing field,’ Andaim echoed the captain’s words as they flitted through the endless cloud of asteroids. ‘He’s taken us back to quadrant Delta–Four–Seven. The Veng’en cruiser won’t be able to follow us through this, it’s hull plating isn’t strong enough and the ray shielding only protects against plasma shots.’
Evel shook her head as she heard the rest of the Reapers launching behind them.
‘The Atlantia can’t stay in here for long either, it’ll get pulverised.’
‘I guess he’s got that covered too,’ Andaim replied. ‘Stay sharp. The Veng’en will be here any minute.’
***
‘Jump complete, mass–drive disengaged.’
Captain Idris Sansin stared at the main viewing screen and the vast asteroid field dominating it. The cloud of dense black rocks extended into a distance so vast that it took on the appearance of dust clouds before the immense flare of the young star blazing at its heart. One day, countless billions of years from now, that star might cast its warmth upon planets forged from the disc of rocky debris orbiting it that might harbour intelligent and even space–faring life with their own problems.
More than ever, as he surveyed the asteroid field, Idris felt sure that he was doing the right thing. What future would those planets and life forms have if the Word expanded its insidious reach to every system in the galaxy? Would life even be allowed to evolve?
‘Captain?’
Mikhain’s voice snapped the captain from his reverie and he ordered his thoughts. ‘Orbital velocity of the asteroid belt?’
‘Point oh six four,’ the helmsman replied, ‘clockwise.’
‘Match the orbital velocity and take us in,’ Sansin replied.
‘Aye sir,’ the helmsman replied.
‘This is a hell of a gamble,’ Mikhain whispered from beside his console. ‘There are asteroids in that field with far greater mass than this ship. If we get caught up between two of them…’
‘Then we’ll be well shielded from the Veng’en cruiser,’ Idris replied.
‘We don’t know what they’ll do.’
‘We know that they won’t stop pursuing us,’ Idris insisted. ‘We’ve already spent two years running from the Word. I’m not going to start running from the Veng’en too. Besides, I have some inside knowledge of what they might do.’
Mikhain raised his eyebrows in surprise. ‘You have?’
In reply, Idris turned to the bridge doors. The two Marine guards there opened the doors and onto the bridge walked a further two Marines either side of the Veng’en, Kordaz, who walked with steel manacles on his ankles and wrists.
‘Are you insane?’ Mikhain uttered. ‘You’re bringing that
thing
onto the bridge?’
The captain did not reply as Kordaz was led up onto the command platform. Idris stood tall before the enormous reptilian soldier, forced himself to hold the Veng’en’s oddly soul– less gaze as he spoke.
‘When I fought the Veng’en during the fleet action at Mal’Oora,’ he said, ‘two of our ships were captured. One was destroyed when it decided to fight to the death rather than be captured, an action that is still revered in Colonial lore to this day. The other was boarded by Veng’en soldiers and overcome.’
Kordaz did not move as the captain went on, loudly enough for the entire bridge to hear.
‘The captured Marines and crew were taken by the Veng’en and strapped naked to a wall in their vessel’s landing bay,’ he said. ‘One by one they were flayed alive using plasma whips until they died of shock brought on by hours of being effectively burned alive, one little bit at a time.’ The captain fell silent for a moment, the Atlantia’s bridge deathly quiet. ‘That is what your people are. That is how we see you. That is what we have come to expect from you.’
Idris held the Veng’en’s gaze for a moment longer and then he held out his hand. One of the Marines handed him an electronic key. The captain knelt down in front of Kordaz and personally unlocked the manacles at his feet, and then he stood and unlocked the manacles on his wrists. The opened steel cuffs fell away to hover in the air between them as Idris handed the Marine back his key and looked up at Kordaz.
‘We will not become what you are,’ he said, and then turned his back on the Veng’en. ‘Where are they?’ he asked Lael.
Lael glanced down at her instruments.
‘I’m detecting a gravitational bow–wave at quadrant two point four, elevation plus three five, range fourteen thousand cubits.’
Idris glanced at the holographic tactical display as Mikhain gestured to a spot high off the starboard bow.
‘They’ll appear about here,’ he said, ‘any time in the next couple of minutes.’
Idris turned back to Kordaz, who was standing silently behind them.
‘You have a choice,’ Idris said. ‘When the Veng’en cruiser returns, if you wish you may to travel across to join them before battle commences.’
Kordaz’s voice was deep as he replied. ‘Why? If I joined them, I would fight you and share everything that I have learned.’
Idris smiled without warmth. ‘Or you would be killed on sight by your own brethren. And even if you were not, you would tell them that we have found a way to prevent infection by the Word. Once we have formulated and distributed a vaccine our people will equally be immune as the Veng’en. The Word will now seek to destroy us completely before that vaccine can be modified and shared with other species. We can either face the Word together or we can face it alone. The choice is yours.’
Kordaz remained silent for a few seconds.
‘Quarantine and elimination is the only safe way to prevent the spread of the horror that you have created.’
‘If that were true,’ Idris replied, ‘then my wife would be dead and my compliment of fighters not led by the Commander of the Air Group. Elimination is
not
the only option and whether you decide to stay or go, I would appreciate it if you would impart that to Ty’ek and his crew.’
Idris turned his back again to Kordaz, insulting the warrior once more. Mikhain stood tense, one hand hovering close to his sidearm, but the big Veng’en did not move.
‘Sixty seconds and they’ll be here,’ Lael called.
Idris did not reply. Instead, he kept his gaze on the viewing screen as he awaited the Veng’en’s reply.
‘I will return to my people,’ Kordaz said finally.
Idris sighed quietly enough not to let anybody hear him. ‘As is your wish.’
‘Only if they agree to return their hostages,’ Kordaz added. He reached out and plucked the manacles from where they hovered before him, and then fastened them about his wrists once more.
Idris turned slowly. ‘The Sylph’s crew?’
‘They are victims of this as much as we are, as you say,’ Kordaz replied. ‘They deserve the chance to return here if they are still alive.’