Symphonies of Valor Page 15

“Jonas…” Whisper tried to reach for him.

  He brushed her away and inhaled a long breath through his nostrils. “It wasn’t Fleet. I know that now. Mimics and traitors corrupted Fleet. I will deal with them later. I also know the rest of humanity must survive long enough for that to happen.”

  “In my experience, an angry Jonas is our best weapon.” Alyana smirked.

  “No one doubts your argument regarding the embedded Aorgarian technology within you.” Whisper stepped between Meomi and Jonas. “It has helped us in the past. But like you said before, you can’t control it, and you have no idea how to activate it. Look, Earth is,” her eyes darted toward Jonas, “probably lost. We neither have the resources nor the soldiers to save it. I hope people are able to evacuate. The only thing we can do now is to save as many people as we can. And the best way to do so is with Nume and her connection to the Guardians.”

  “We’re wasting time,” Jonas said in a measured tone. “Meomi… Captain Hana. You and I may share the same rank, but I am the Captain of this ship. You can follow my orders, or you can get off. Then you can pursue whatever fantasy you wish to pursue.”

  A flash of white light traveled up Meomi’s neck, condensing around her irises, causing her eyes to glow with a striking intensity. She levitated, lifting a couple centimeters off the ground, then dropped when the flash in her eyes faded.

  “What was that?” Alyana asked, shielding her face with her hands.

  Jonas took a step toward Meomi. “Captain? Are you alright?”

  “Calm down, Meomi,” Whisper said. “We’re all on the same team. We cannot fracture here.”

  “I… I don’t know what’s happening to me,” Meomi said as she tried to get up from the bridge floor.

  “I’ll take her to the med bay for evaluation.” Whisper helped Meomi to her feet. “You’re OK. You’ll be OK.” They exited the bridge.

  “That was one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen, but I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve seen strange things.” Alyana chuckled to herself. “How can something be strange if strange is now normal, you know?”

  “It didn’t occur to me before…” Jonas rubbed his chin.

  “What didn’t occur to you?” Alyana asked.

  “That Captain Hana could be a threat to this mission.”

  “That’s…” she furiously shook her head. “Sure, she’s opinionated, but I seriously doubt she would do anything to hurt us.”

  “You’re probably right. She’s more likely to be a wildcard. But let’s not get into that right now. We have one focus: to get Nume back. Whatever it takes.”

  An alert beeped on the navigation console.

  “We’re nearing our destination in the asteroid belt…” Alyana swallowed hard. “Do you remember the last time we chased Raven into an asteroid belt?”

  Images of massive parasite-like creatures swimming in space from one asteroid to another floated into Jonas’ mind. “It’s not something you can easily forget.”

  “You don’t think they might have brought those Leviathan things with them?” Alyana shuddered. “To this solar system?”

  “No, I don’t believe so,” Jonas said.

  “How can you be so sure?” Alyana raised her eyebrows.

  “I think the Leviathans were just a trial run. I believe the main goal was always the manipulation and control of Guardians. If my hunch is correct, it’s likely they brought the Guardian egg from Telmund here. Which is why they’ve stationed themselves inside the asteroid belt. Where better to hide an asteroid-shaped, asteroid-colored, asteroid-sized thing than an enormous field full of them?”

  “Huh…” Alyana smiled. “That makes sense, actually.”

  Proximity alerts sounded.

  “I guess Meomi was right about the location…” Alyana updated the viewscreen to show Raven’s ship. “You have to wonder how she knew or how the Aorgarian tech actually worked.”

  “One mystery at a time,” Jonas said. “Cloak us as soon as we drop out of warp.”

  “Acknowledged.” Alyana tapped on her console.

  “Let’s keep our distance. Hold the Valor here. Turn on long-range scanners. Passive only. We don’t want to alert them of our presence.”

  Alyana sighed. “How many times does Raven need to die before Nume is safe? Outside Whisper, every Fleet experiment on genetic manipulation has been a terrible decision for humankind.”

  “Science is a tool, a means to an end. What we do with those tools reflects upon our society as a whole, not the scientist that created them.”

  “Well, that reflection has been pretty ugly.”

  “No argument there,” Jonas muttered under his breath. He opened a comm to Whisper. “How is Captain Hana? Is she capable of joining a boarding mission?”

  “More than capable, Captain Barick,” Meomi answered for herself.

  “Whisper?” Jonas asked for confirmation.

  “Whatever happened to her on the bridge seems to have passed,” Whisper said.

  “Fine, gear up then,” Jonas ordered. “We leave in five.”

  “Jonas!” Alyana yelped. “Look!” She pointed at the viewscreen.

  “Maximum magnification,” Jonas said.

  Puffs of white mist sprouted from several punctures in the hole of Raven’s ship.

  “No energy signatures and it’s venting atmosphere,” Alyana said. “Sensors showing multiple internal explosions."

  “Any life signs?” Jonas’ voice broke. “Is Nume still alive?”

  24

  Jonas joined Whisper and Meomi in the weapons’ locker of the Valor. “Are we ready? Three minutes ‘til go time.”

  Whisper pointed her chin at Meomi who seemed preoccupied with scratching herself through her flight suit.

  “What’s wrong Meomi?” Jonas asked. “Is it the Aorgarian tech again?”

  “Tell us what’s wrong, and maybe we can help you,” Whisper said.

  “Help me?” Meomi scoffed. “The only way to help me is to cut out whatever is inside me. Who knows if that is even possible.”

  “You don’t have to come with us,” Jonas said. “You can stay and help Alyana defend the Valor in case anyone shows up.”

  “No, I’m fine,” Meomi said. “I’ve been dealing with this for a while now.” She squeezed her hands into a fist. “Again, I’m fine.”

  “Jonas,” Alyana said over voice comm. “Shuttle is prepped and ready to go.”

  “Understood,” Jonas replied. “We don’t have time for this. We have to go.”

  Whisper watched Jonas leave before grabbing Meomi’s arm. “You’re sweating, I don’t think…”

  Meomi bared her teeth. “How many times do I have to say I’m fine? We have to go, Jonas is waiting for us.”

  Jonas piloted the shuttle while Whisper and Meomi sat in the transport section. The shuttle exited the hangar of the Valor without issue and made an intercept course with Raven’s ship.

  “Valor to boarding team,” Alyana’s voice said over the speakers.

  “Go ahead, Valor,” Jonas said.

  “I ran multiple scans of the ship. Minimal power readings. The ship is dead in space. Hull breaches on every deck.”

  “Acknowledged, Valor.” Jonas slowed the shuttle. “We’ll be docking in 60 seconds. Let us know if any more uninvited guests show up.”

  “I have a bad feeling, Jonas,” Alyana said. “Be careful boarding team.”

  “My instincts tell me it’s not a trap,” Whisper said. “It’s more likely something went wrong.”

  “Do you think they were attacked?” Alyana asked.

  “No,” Meomi said. “No one else is here.”

  “How do you….” Alyana said.

  “Docking in 10 seconds,” Jonas interrupted. “Comm silence unless it’s mission critical.” Jonas positioned the shuttle parallel to Raven’s ship. When the vacuum seal slid into place, he used a specialized hull-cutting flare to carve a hole into the side of the distressed vessel.

  “Be ready for anyth
ing,” Whisper said, taking point. She pulled out her torch blades and ignited them. The light from her weapons outshined the Obscura suit lights and caused eerie shadows to dance and flicker on the bulkheads.

  “Let’s hope Nume is still alive,” Jonas said. Pain flared in his abdomen as he crossed the threshold onto Raven’s ship — the same spot where Raven tortured him with a masunog worm that burrowed deep into his bowels. Some days, he would wake up in excruciating pain, as if the worm was still inside him. Jonas leaned against a bulkhead until the agony passed.

  “Are you alright?” Meomi asked.

  Jonas scoffed. “You’re right, it is annoying to be constantly asked that question.” He activated a combat stim and waited a few seconds for it to circulate through his veins. “Whisper, you scout ahead. I’ll guard the rear.”

  Most of the ship was without power. The hallways were completely shrouded in darkness. The team moved quickly and silently, treating every step as a potential trap. After searching the lower decks, the team took a maintenance shaft up one floor onto a corridor with flickering ceiling lights.

  Two dots appeared on Jonas’ HUD. “I’m reading two life signs.”

  “Me too,” Whisper said. “Strange how they didn’t appear during the initial sweep. Do you think they could be Mimics, masking their bio-signs?”

  “It’s possible,” Meomi said. “Mimics can mask their bio-signatures at will.”

  “Could be Nume plus a guard,” Jonas said. “It looks like they’re one floor above us.”

  Whisper projected a three-dimensional wireframe of the ship using her wrist guard. Three blue dots on the port side of the second deck represented their locations. Two red dots one floor up on the starboard side belonged to the new life signs.

  “This ship’s layout is exactly like the Endurance,” Jonas said.

  “Mind games,” Whisper said. “That’s how Raven operates. He’s using your old demons to haunt you.”

  “I know,” Jonas scoffed. “I don’t fear my demons anymore.”

  “Looks like we can’t use the decktrams,” Meomi said pointing at the breech where the decktram should be.

  “Generating a route.” A yellow line appeared over the holographic wireframe projection connecting them to the med bay.

  “We don’t need a map,” Jonas said. “I know another way there. Follow me.” He led the team to the other side of the ship and into another maintenance shaft. Other than the eerie quiet, they met little resistance as they advanced through the dimly lit hallways. “The next floor up is the science deck. The unknowns will be 20 meters from us on the bow side.”

  Meomi tried to pry the maintenance door open. “It won’t budge.”

  “There’s a manual release,” Jonas said. “Just have to remove this panel.” He dropped to one knee.

  Suddenly a flash of blue light appeared behind them. It started off as a marble-sized, glowing orb that quickly swelled, growing into the height and width of the corridor.

  “Portal!” Meomi yelled.

  Whisper reached for her anti-grav spheres just as the first Kel came through the hole. She tossed them on the ground next to the Kel. It immediately lifted into the air and shifted on its back. With her torch blade, she sliced the Kel in half, cutting through its abdomen. “One down.”

  “Get that door open!” Meomi yelled as eight more Kels advanced through the portal.

  “Aim for the head!” Whisper shouted.

  “Do you have more of those anti-grav spheres?” Meomi asked.

  “Not enough,” she replied. “I tend to avoid outnumbered fights.” Whisper charged at the Kels as they came through. Her lightning-fast attacks brought down three more before the fourth one adapted. They met her slashes with a force field that deflected her torch blades.

  Meomi switched her hand cannon to arc ammunition and sprayed the remaining Kels with mini balls of lightning.

  Three more Kels went down in a span of five seconds. Once again, the fourth one adapted, leaving two still standing.

  Jonas used his strength neuromod to punch through the plating hiding the manual release level. “Doors opening! Everyone inside!” Jonas jumped into the maintenance tube first.

  “Time to go,” Whisper said, following Jonas.

  Meomi held her position, continuing to fire at the remaining Kels. While her shots did not seem to penetrate their shield, the force of her projectiles pushed them backward.

  “Captain Hana!” Jonas shouted. “Move it!”

  “On my way!” As Meomi turned around a new portal opened, forming a bright blue wall between her and the maintenance tube.

  “Voids…” Meomi’s eyes opened wide.

  “What?” Jonas screamed over voice comm.

  “She’s blocked!” Whisper yelled.

  “Go on without me!” Meomi said in a commanding voice. “Close the door. I’ll buy you time.”

  “No!” Jonas vehemently shook his head. “I’m not leaving anyone behind.” He was about to re-enter the corridor before Whisper stopped him.

  “You heard her,” she said. “We can’t save her. We have our priorities,” Whisper pulled the lever to seal the maintenance door. It dropped with a thud cutting Meomi off from the team.

  Jonas froze in place as he ran through different scenarios in his mind. The Earth Defense Force was running out of time. His team had even less to find Nume. Contrary to what others believed of him, he had never left behind a team member. He didn’t want to start now, not if he could help it.

  “I know what you’re thinking but there’s nothing you can do for her,” Whisper said. “Believe me, I don’t want to leave her. We have to keep going forward. Meomi is a fighter who has survived death more than once. She’ll find a way. I know it...”

  “Good luck, Captain Hana,” Jonas said.

  Meomi’s comm went dark as they climbed the maintenance ladder.

  Both Jonas and Whisper exhaled a deep sigh.

  “It was the right call,” Jonas said — words meant to comfort himself as much as Whisper.

  “I know,” she said. “War is about making the least bad choice.”

  An explosion from below shook the ship, almost knocking Jonas off the ladder.

  “They must have broken through the seal,” Whisper said.

  “We have to hurry.” Jonas scurried up to the next floor. Using his strength neuromod, he punched through the metal plating and pulled the manual override, opening the doors.

  Whisper climbed over Jonas and peaked into the hallway. “Clear! I’ll scout further down.” She streaked into the corridor, leaving a trail of wavy, crimson light as she moved, stopping at the entrance to the med bay. “Come, Jonas. No hostiles.”

  “Shoot anything that isn’t Nume,” Jonas said as he ripped the med bay doors off its hinges.

  “Impossible…” Whisper breathed. Her eyes gazed at the Katok standing over Nume in the regeneration chamber. “Kovat?”

  “What?” Jonas entered first. “No, Kovat died on Nergal Prime… That has to be his brother, Kalick.”

  “Kalick…” Whisper shook her head and approached the Katok.

  The Katok ignored her. His body seemed frozen stiff.

  “I’m not sure he’s still alive…” She reached for Kalick’s hand. “But there are two other life signs in this room beside us…”

  “Wait!” Jonas yelled. “Something doesn’t feel right. We haven’t seen one body belonging to Raven’s crew or Raven himself.” Jonas surveyed the room. “Not one human.” He switched comm channels. “Boarding team to Valor.”

  No response, not even static.

  “There’s some interference here,” Whisper said, looking at her wrist guard. “It’s blocking me from a doing a full bio-scan.”

  “Check on Nume,” Jonas ordered. “What are her vitals?” He moved to the med bay entrance, making sure they weren’t followed.

  “She looks stable.” Whisper tapped on the glass top of the chamber. “Just sleeping would be my guess.”

  “Can
we safely interrupt her regeneration and move her?”

  “I don’t see why not?” She shrugged. “Then again, I’m not an expert on Entrents.”

  “Do it!” Jonas exited the med bay to clear a path back to the shuttle. “We can’t stay here.”

  Whisper tapped on the chamber’s controls.

  Suddenly Kalick grabbed Whisper’s hand, startling her.

  “Hey!” She tried to pull her wrist free. “Why are you trying to stop me?”

  “What’s wrong?” Jonas yelled. “I’m coming back! Is Nume OK?”

  Raven flashed in behind Whisper. He had his hand cannon out, aimed directly behind her skull. “Goodbye, sister.”

  Before Whisper could use stealth, streak, or any of her utilities, Raven pulled the trigger. A single, high-impact velocity round left his weapon and bore a six-centimeter hole in Whisper’s head.

  Her body fell limp, lifeless to the floor. Crimson pooled around her body.

  “What was that sound?” Jonas’s asked in a frantic voice. “Whisper! Report!”

  25

  Jonas rushed into the med bay. His eyes immediately went to Whisper’s body lying on the gunmetal gray floor.

  Lifeless.

  Helpless.

  The only motion around her was the slowly expanding pool of crimson creeping away from the back of her head. His limbs felt like stone. Emotions exploded within his chest, overwhelming him to the point of numbness.

  Disbelief.

  Sorrow.

  Guilt.

  Anger.

  Fear.

  All churning together to form a tidal wave of pain. Seconds passed without a breath. His lungs refused to inflate. As if it was he who died.

  Whisper was a fierce, proud warrior, capable of surviving impossible situations against overwhelming odds. In his mind, she was unkillable. Yet, there she was. Seeing someone he cared so deeply for, someone who was immensely important to him, someone he may have even loved, lying broken, in an inglorious fashion, changed something in Jonas.

  Everywhere Jonas looked, he saw shades of red. The color of Whisper’s uniform. The richness of her blood around her body. The tint to the artificial light in the room. Red dominated his life, bleeding into rage.