Symphonies of Valor Page 13

  “No.” Raven held Nume’s arm and jabbed her with the hyper syringe.

  Spiderwebs of purple veins formed on her arms as the liquid flowed inside. Nume convulsed.

  Raven laid her on the table. “It wasn’t happenstance you were in the same system as the Guardian egg. That was a test, and you passed. Soon you will be the first Entrent to be in control of a Guardian. History will remember this moment.”

  Gurgling sounds came from Nume as she tried to speak. Her fingers contorted at odd angles while her eyes rolled back into her head.

  “The pain you’re experiencing is temporary,” Raven said. “Be thankful for that.” He pressed against Nume’s shoulder until she stopped shaking. “Sleep now. This might be the last time you’ll be able to.”

  A Katok entered the med bay. He had to duck down to walk through the doors.

  “Hello, Kalick,” Raven said.

  With his blue hands and gangly fingers, Kalick held out his palm for Raven to take.

  “Almost,” Raven said, holding the Katok’s arm.

  Kalick stared at him.

  “A deal is a deal,” Raven said. “You can have your brother back when this is all finished.”

  Meomi struggled to breathe inside the furnace, trapped with Whisper and an unconscious Ori. With the door sealed, the inside was pitch black. She could feel Whisper’s leg. It comforted her to know she would not die alone. Though, it meant her comrades would die with her. She’d rather nobody died. “Does it feel like bugs are crawling up your skin?”

  “No,” Whisper said.

  “How are you so calm? Raven’s men could turn on the oven at any moment.”

  “I doubt he can.”

  “Why can’t he? He seems like the sadistic type to enjoy the suffering of others.”

  “That was a bluff.” Whisper sighed. “One you fell for when you gave away the fact Nume was on Lunar. There are no major power sources to the shipyard. We checked before arriving.”

  Meomi clenched her jaw. She would never intentionally betray Nume or the mission by giving away her location. Had Whisper mentioned the detail about the power source earlier, perhaps she might have said nothing to Raven. But arguing about the past won’t help now. At least they would not be cooked alive, just suffocate slowly in the dark. Her thoughts shifted to escaping. “Do you have a plan?”

  “Working on it,” said Whisper nonchalantly.

  The itching on Meomi’s skin intensified, especially around the wrist and forearm area where the magnetic cuffs touched. Migraines erupted behind her eyes. Her heart felt ready to burst as did her lungs. Breathing was both difficult and painful. It was not like her to have a panic attack. She’d been close to death too many times for that. The itching intensified. If she could pick one condition to relieve, she wanted the itching to stop, more than anything else.

  Then, as if by magic, her hands freed themselves from the cuffs, allowing her to scratch. A clanking sound reverberated as they dropped to the floor. The itching disappeared immediately after.

  “You OK there, Meomi?”

  “Wait a minute…” Meomi rubbed her wrists. “The cuffs…”

  “What about them?”

  Her hands groped the ground in the darkness until she found them. “They’re not on my wrist anymore.”

  “You were able to free yourself?”

  “Yes…” Meomi stood. “Somehow…”

  “Great! Free me too.” Whisper shoved her hands into Meomi’s ribs.

  “I… I don’t know what I did.”

  Whisper groaned. “On the underside of my left wrist, there is a needle-like device embedded in my skin. It’s a universal key for mag cuffs. Feel for it and remove it. Then use it to release me.”

  Meomi did as instructed, freeing Whisper. “Can you get us out of here?”

  “Not without my Obscura suit.”

  “Maybe Alyana will find us. We’ve been gone for a long time now.”

  “Possible… She would have to get past the Arachne and the small army of droids out there. We might be best served to find our own solution.”

  “Aren’t Whispers masters of escaping any situation, no matter how dire?” Meomi leaned into Whisper. “You must have some secret skill or neuromod that can get us out of here.”

  “No.” Whisper sighed. “I do not. But tell me, how did you escape your cuffs?”

  “I don’t know myself.” Meomi shrugged. “I had this intense desire to scratch, and suddenly my hands were free.”

  “How odd,” Whisper said. “Does your Aorgarian implants also include quantum tunneling? After learning of your encounter with the Aorgarian cube, I searched all of Fleet’s database for anything related to the Aorgarians. They were an impressive technological society. While our database information is limited, I came across quantum tunneling as one of their proposed research projects.”

  “I don’t know what that is.” Meomi rubbed the back of her neck. She had been a soldier all her life. Science was never a priority.

  “Quantum tunneling is the ability to go through solid objects, like walls. So you’re saying you have no control over how the Aorgarian technology inside you is expressed?”

  “You don’t know how many times I wanted to control when, where, and what the Aorgarian tech in my body could do.” Meomi scoffed.

  “If I were to speculate, it would seem your itchy sensations is an indicator of the embedded Aorgarian technology manifesting. Do you know what triggers that sensation?”

  “My guess…” Meomi paused for a long exhale. “… is stressful, life-threatening situations. I seem to be a magnet for those lately.”

  “Well, know that if we don’t get out of here soon and somehow rescue Nume, we will die. As well as the rest of humanity. I hope you can see how most people would consider that stressful.”

  “Yes…” Meomi let out a curt laugh. “Trust me, I am stressed. I don’t think you can make me more stressed right now.”

  “Stand next to the furnace door.” Whisper pulled Meomi toward the furnace entrance. “Picture yourself going through the door.”

  Meomi resisted. “Do you have any idea how silly that sounds?”

  21

  Jonas sat in the pilot seat of the Devi, Quip’s two-person spacecraft capable of cloaking and high warp speed. Quip slept soundly next to him in the tactical station. They left the Valor while the others were asleep. The crew wouldn’t understand why he had to leave them for Earth.

  According to the Destiny’s Edge intel, Nolan Barick was alive. The photo of Nolan attached to the dossier looked recent, taken somewhere near Fleet Headquarters in the heart of Chicago. Giving Jonas a small matter of hope was that Nolan appeared normal in the photo, not someone who was turned by Mimics.

  The tactical console beeped, waking Quip from her slumber. She yawned and stretched as she woke. After a quick glance at Jonas, she placed her feet up on the control panel and smoothed out her flight suit. “Before we continue any further, there’s something I need to know.”

  “What?” Jonas darted his eyes back and forth between navigation and tactical.

  “Have you been with any other woman beside me?” Quip sat up straight.

  He raised his eyebrows. “You mean, ever?”

  “No, since we started….” She grinned. “… satisfying each other’s carnal desires.”

  “Since when did you care about being monogamous?” Jonas sighed.

  “I don’t.” Quip pointed her eyes forward.

  “Why are we talking about this?” Jonas reached across her seat to adjust a thruster setting.

  She nuzzled his arm. “It‘s a measure to see how much you’ve changed.” Quip held onto his bicep. “There was a time when you lost yourself.” She gently stroked his arm. “I wonder if you’ve found your way.”

  Jonas never made eye contact, desperate to change the subject. “We’re approaching Earth. Stealth still engaged. The Devi is a good ship.”

  “Best money can buy!” Quip checked the comm panels. “
No hails. No sensor pings. They haven’t detected us. No one knows we’re here.”

  The cabin stayed silent as they pierced into Earth’s atmosphere.

  “We should see Eurasia soon,” Jonas said as the ship descended west toward Chicago.

  “Let’s say on the slim chance your informant was correct — great!” She said with a note of sarcasm. “Nolan is still alive. But there’s little point in saving him if Mimics kill everyone later.”

  “I know.” Jonas shook his head.

  “What if Mimics changed him?” Quip raised her voice slightly. “I’ve seen the unedited video. There were dozens if not hundreds of Reapers surrounding him. It’s hard to believe they would let him walk away. Not without…” She said the next part softly, “changing him…”

  Jonas glared at her, unsure how to respond. Quip was right. It wasn’t logical or the best course of action. He understood this on a high-level. But there was a non-zero chance Nolan, his only brother, could return to him safe and sound. He would rather chance failure than live with not trying.

  “What if he is a Mimic?” She continued. “They… You know… transformed him. What would you do then?”

  He took a deep breath before answering. “Kill him… I guess.”

  “Interesting.” Quip tapped her chin.

  “What is?” Jonas raised his voice. “Isn’t that what you want me to say? That I’d be willing to kill Nolan? My own brother…”

  “It’s not about what I want.” She rubbed his shoulder. “It’s what you’re willing to do. He is your brother after all.”

  It defied odds and explanations how Nolan could still be alive. Yet the Destiny’s Edge photo existed. Jonas stared at it for hours looking for signs of deception. It didn’t seem doctored, and the source was reliable. From the moment Jonas read the Destiny’s Edge dossier, he knew it was a chance he had to take. Nolan was the last family member he had left in the universe. Somehow that meant something to Jonas even though he thought part of him, the part that cared about sentimental things, had died.

  There was a dark reality hidden between the notes of the dossier. Something Jonas had yet to process because it was easier to ignore: Nolan may be gone. He may have been changed by Mimics. At which point, Jonas hoped he had the strength of conviction to kill what was once his brother when the time came and not someone else. It seemed like a silly notion, but to Jonas, it was something that had to be done. He would want the same if the situation was reversed and Nolan was in his shoes.

  “Reading a massive energy surge at the planet,” Jonas said as they flew over the Eurasian League.

  “What? Where?” She leaned forward in her seat.

  “Everywhere,” Jonas updated the viewscreen to show a three-dimensional wireframe of Earth. “31 targets. Wait…” He shook his head. “Over a hundred now…”

  Quip furiously tapped the comm station console. “There’s an emergency broadcast repeating on a loop.”

  “What does it say?” Jonas frowned, expecting the worst.

  “It’s just one word over and over.” She tightened her shoulders as her face turned ashen. “Evacuate…”

  Jonas changed course to fly over Paris, the capital of the Eurasian League, for a closer look at one of the energy surges. The entire city resembled a war zone with crumbled buildings, flaming rivers, and a mob of people running away from something in the streets.

  Quip launched a drone over the city, instructing it to fly toward the energy source. She fed the video into the ship’s viewscreen. “Look at this, Jonas.”

  A massive blue and white sphere, pulsating near the Arc de Triomphe took up most of the screen. After zooming out, they witnessed hundreds of soldiers pouring out of the light — the new Mimic and human hybrids that attacked them on Mars.

  “Kels,” Jonas said in a breath.

  Quip’s mouth gaped open as the drone showed people vanishing in a bubble of light. “What is happening down there?”

  Red lasers from Kel weapons disintegrated the less fortunate that could not escape.

  “We need to get out of here,” Jonas said while changing course.

  “What about those people?” Quip asked in a frantic voice.

  “We have to leave. There’s nothing we can do.” Jonas tapped Quip’s thigh. “Send more drones toward the other major Earth cities. Have them record as much as they can. Get everything on camera.”

  Quip tapped on her terminal, launching all their drones. “Done. But…” She peered over Jonas’ navigation console. “It doesn’t look like we’re heading back to space.”

  “The mission continues,” he said matter-of-factly.

  “Do I get a say in this, Captain?” She said in a mocking tone.

  “No!” Jonas yelled at her.

  “Hey, be reasonable here…” She placed a hand on his wrist. “We need to head back to the Valor and relay this to the rest of our team.”

  “We came here for my brother!” Jonas squeezed his hands into a fist. “He could still be alive. I’m going to find him.”

  “Jonas, sweetie.” Quip stroked his shoulder. “Someone has to tell you this, and I hate that it’s me.” She sighed. “But maybe it has to be me. You’re not the type to really listen to people sometimes. I need you to listen right now, right here.” Quip pressed into his arm. “You need to let your brother go.” She paused as if waiting for Jonas to reply, but he remained silent. “It’s unlikely Nolan is still alive. Deep down, you know this. With what we just saw, the odds are even lower than they were before we started this mission.”

  Jonas sat frozen after Quip finished her arguments. Streams of doubt bubbled up into his consciousness, bringing with them haunted visions of Nolan. One memory kept him up at night — the fight he had with Nolan when his sister, Saera, disappeared. They were both teenagers then. Nolan 18, Jonas 13. Nolan had signed up for Fleet before she vanished and was obligated to leave the family for basic training. Jonas was too engaged in finding Saera to care about Fleet obligations and too young to understand the consequences of Nolan not following through on his commitment. He only wanted his sister back. Nothing else in the universe mattered. Jonas never forgave Nolan for leaving.

  That fight was nearly two decades ago. The exact words between the brothers were lost to time, but the raw emotions still existed as scars in his heart. It was the last time Jonas and Nolan ever saw each other. When Saera disappeared, so did Nolan.

  Before this inflection point in Jonas’ life, before the fight, Nolan and Jonas were inseparable — as close as any two brothers could be. Saera idolized her brothers and envied the bond between the two, often upset she couldn’t be part of their games and laughter. This period of Jonas’ life was the last happiest he could remember. He wanted nothing more than to go back to a time when joy was still possible for him. Jonas needed Nolan for that to happen.

  Somehow, in thinking about Nolan, the memories of Saera seemed the most vivid. Like a lighthouse in a stormy night. Jonas couldn’t understand why. He remembered a distant time when he and Saera were playing in the woods behind their house. Saera tripped and sprained her ankle badly enough she couldn’t walk. Jonas had to carry her six kilometers on his back, returning her home and to safety. Warm tears dripped down Jonas’ neck as Saera shivered with fear. From that moment, he promised to never leave her and to always protect his sister.

  Broken promises and regrets seemed to be the story of Jonas’ life. He hated himself for being the only one alive among his siblings. It wasn’t fair. Not after the horrible acts he committed. Like the lives he so easily took without so much as a second thought.

  The Devi reached the shores of North America.

  “Jonas? Hey baby…” Quip tried to wrestle the navigational controls away.

  Jonas shoved her.

  She landed hard against the ship’s cabin. “One time.” Quip snarled. “That is the one and only time you get to do that. Next time, I will kill you.”

  Knots formed in Jonas’ stomach. “I’m sorry,” he said
after a deep breath.

  “Have you been listening?” Quip softened her voice. “We need to leave. Now!”

  Fleet Headquarters was less than 600 kilometers away.

  Quip spoke again, but her words floated around Jonas without entering his ears. He built a wall around himself, not to keep the world out, but to keep what few happy memories he had left. He wasn’t ready to let go. No matter the cost.

  22

  Jonas docked the Devi inside the hangar of the Valor.

  Alyana ran to him as he exited the shuttle. “Jonas! Quip! Voids, where were you guys? Everything that could have gone wrong has gone wrong!”

  “Explain!” Jonas commanded with a thunderous voice.

  Quip placed a hand on his back. “Calm down, Jonas. Let her talk.”

  “It all happened so fast… It started when I lost contact with Lunar team…” Alyana moved toward the hangar exit. “We need to get back to the bridge. I’ll go over everything along the way.”

  After Alyana finished her briefing, Jonas asked, “When exactly did this happen?”

  “I lost comms 12 hours ago,” Alyana said. “Just before you landed, sensors picked up a blip and a Fleet ion signature, then nothing. It just disappeared.”

  “Could be a ship decloaking,” Quip said while tapping her chin.

  “Were external cameras recording at the time?” Jonas asked.

  Alyana nodded. “Yes, but I haven’t searched the timestamps.”

  Jonas groaned. “Well, do it now!” He pointed at the main viewscreen. “Put it up for all of us to see.”

  The aft camera showed a shimmering mirage of a ship just as it decloaked and entered space.

  “I was right!” Quip beamed a smile.

  “Freeze that!” Jonas raised his eyebrows. “Is that what I think it is?”

  “The Endurance…” Alyana trailed.

  Tightness crept up Jonas’ chest. The Endurance was his first and only Fleet assignment before he learned of the Mimic infiltration and subsequent Fleet coverup — before they branded him a traitor. Last he heard, the Endurance was slated to be dismantled, its parts recycled for newer ships. Jonas still remembered all the names and faces of every crew member. Their haunting visages visited him nightly while he slept. Sourness filled his mouth and stomach. His hands shook.