Symphonies of Valor Read online

  Jonas scouted ahead, sending drone streams of the city back to the team. Nanjing laid in ruins. Giant craters littered the landscape. Mountains of rubble replaced buildings.

  The scene was reminiscent of Gosi Prime for Meomi. Mimics were all too skilled at erasing civilization, down to the foundation. A voice in her head screamed for her to run away, that something evil was on its way. But she pushed away the notion. The chances were too high that the Spec Ops agent could be Whisper. She could never leave another person behind. Not when there was a chance to save them.

  “No signs of Mimics,” Jonas said, returning to the team.

  “I’m not reading any human life signs either,” Rayfin said.

  “Hard to believe anything is alive here…” Alyana picked up a splintered bone fragment and tossed it away.

  “Can we trust the intel report?” Meomi asked. “Why would Mimics hide a valuable asset here?”

  Thunder flashed in the distance. Everyone immediately turned their heads, ignoring Meomi’s question.

  “Great…” Rayfin sighed. “That’s the last thing we need.”

  “Computer says the storm will arrive in 58 minutes,” Alyana said. “We need to find shelter before then. Our exo suits are basically giant lightning rods.”

  “All the more reason to get moving,” Jonas ordered. “I’ll take point.”

  Dragon Squad advanced at a brisk but careful pace through the devastated city of Nanjing. They kept to the shadows whenever possible, avoiding open roads.

  One klick into the city limits, Jonas held up his fist. “Look.” He pointed forward with his weapon.

  In the hollowed shell of a building, they stumbled upon a mass grave of human civilians and found dozens of desiccated corpses, adults and children huddled together. Their skin was blackened and taut with terror.

  “Those bastards.” Rayfin sneered. “I want to kill every last Mimic. All of them.”

  “I don’t want to stay here.” Alyana shuffled away. “I can’t…”

  Meomi recorded the moment with her suit camera. While gruesome to look at, this was the price of losing the war — of giving up. Considering the horrors of the Mimic invasion, Meomi wondered what kind of scarred future awaited humanity even if they could win against their aggressors.

  “There’s nothing we can do for these people,” Jonas said. “We need to keep moving.”

  Rayfin muttered a short prayer and gestured a Hashan blessing.

  “I never knew you were religious,” Meomi said to him. He mentioned nothing about his faith since he joined her crew. She liked this respectful, caring side of him. He didn’t show it often.

  “I’m not really. Just thought maybe it would give them a little peace.” Rayfin walked away without turning back. “I’m done.”

  It took another 20 minutes to reach the museum.

  Alyana operated a stealth drone, scanning the partially collapsed, three-story building. “Nothing with a heat signature inside.”

  “What about underground?” Rayfin asked. “Don’t most museums have an underground?”

  “There is.” Alyana used a holoprojector to show a three-dimensional wireframe of the building. “I can’t scan below the surface for some reason.”

  “Jammers?” Rayfin ask.

  “I don’t like this,” Meomi said.

  “Agreed,” Jonas finally spoke. “It’s been too easy. We’ve encountered zero resistance.”

  “Whoa!” Rayfin smirked. “The two Captains agree on something. We should mark this moment in history.”

  Meomi glared at Rayfin before saying to Jonas, “This doesn’t smell right. My gut is telling me we should leave. Now!”

  “Why is it so quiet here?” Alyana asked. “I could hear Rayfin mouth breathing over the external mics.”

  “Hey! What am I supposed to breathe with?” Rayfin scowled.

  “Enough!” Jonas yelled. “We’re not leaving until we complete the mission. Alyana and I will search the west side. Rayfin and Meomi, you guys search the east. We’ll meet back here in 20. Call for backup if you find anything.”

  Meomi watched as Jonas and Alyana headed west. “This is a mistake…” she whispered to Rayfin. “He doesn’t know Mimics like we do… How they like to trick and surprise you.”

  “Captain Barick has been right a lot,” Rayfin said. “He’s a good strategist. I’ve learned to trust in his command.”

  “It’s just…” Meomi sighed. “Nothing seems right. There’s something off about this mission, this place… Everything. I can’t put my finger on it.” She started walking east as ordered.

  “It’ll be fine, Captain.” Rayfin followed. “On the bright side, it looks like it’s me and you again.”

  Meomi envied that about Rayfin, being able to find moments of light in a timeline of darkness. Looking back, he hadn’t changed since the first time he boarded her ship as a “boot,” the nickname given to freshly graduated Fleet Cadets. Rayfin faced the same life-threating situations she had, all without any Aorgarian tech to aid him. She was glad to see him promoted to Lieutenant. He was deserving of a Distinguished Medal of Valor for all his contributions. She would've made the recommendation herself.

  “Slow down, Captain!” Rayfin motioned for her to come back. “I heard something over here.” He pointed to his right, ten meters away.

  The two moved slowly through a pile of wreckage, scanning every centimeter for signs of life, human or Mimic. Nothing.

  “I guess it was nothing...” He looked down.

  “It’s fine Ens... I mean Lieutenant,” Meomi patted his back. “When you want something bad enough, the mind plays tricks on you.” She resumed her search.

  “I’m so glad you’re feeling better, Captain,” Rayfin said.

  “Me too, Ray.”

  “They wanted to put you in stasis. Freeze you up like a piece of meat.”

  “Why didn’t they?” Meomi raised her eyebrows. “Did you stop them?”

  “Me? No.” Rayfin shook his head. “Fleet Command doesn’t listen to the words of a lowly junior officer. I told them about all the things you did, about the pocket universe stuff, and how you single-handedly killed the fake Fleet Marshall. Even showed them the video from my suit cam. It didn’t seem like they believed a word I said. Didn’t matter what they saw with their own eyes.”

  Meomi scoffed. “I get it though. Always easier to ignore the problem. It was incredible to see the citizens of Shanghai go about their day like the extinction of mankind wasn’t at their doorstep.” Her eyes glazed as she spoke. “Seems like an all too common thing these days, ignoring the truth even as it stares them in the face because it’s not a reality they want to live in.” Meomi rested a hand on Rayfin’s shoulder. “So how come I’m not a frozen piece of meat?”

  “According to Alyana, you had some Entrent speaking on your behalf.”

  “Who?” Her eyes widened. “Roni?”

  “No, this is before Roni. I don’t know who exactly. All I know is…”

  Snap.

  The ground below Rayfin gave way. Before he could react to the fall, his body was halfway through the hole of a 70-meter drop.

  Meomi moved with lightning speed, grabbing Rayfin’s forearm. “I’ve got you! Hang on!”

  “You’re the one who needs to hang on!” he yelled back, dangling through the hole. His hand slid out of Meomi’s grip.

  The combined weight of Rayfin and his Tempest suit threatened to pull Meomi in with Rayfin.

  “Let go, Captain,” he said. “I can survive a fall from this height with my joint locks.”

  “Not without some injuries.” Every muscle in her body strained to hold him steady. Meomi injected herself with a combat stim.

  “Better than you falling with me. Please let go, Captain!”

  The edges of the hole widened. Meomi had to pull Rayfin out soon or they would both fall into the breach. “Use your jetpack!” she screamed.

  “This will shock you, but I’m not very good with jetpacks yet,” Rayfi
n said. “Alyana wasn’t kidding when she said I slammed my face into the ground on my first few flights.”

  “I. Can’t. Pull. You…” Her breath hitched. “I. Have. Idea…”

  In a flash, the floor below Meomi gave way. As it did, her jetpacks popped out. She held onto Rayfin tightly while using her thrust to slow their descent. The pair landed with a thud instead of a crash at the bottom of the hole.

  “That was quick thinking, Captain.” Rayfin smiled. “How did you get so good at using them?”

  Meomi lay on her back as she spoke. “I don’t know. Just be glad I am,” she said in between puffs of air.

  “Are you two OK?” Jonas asked over suit comm. “I’m reading rapid heart rates from your suits.”

  “We’re fine,” Rayfin responded. “Just fell through a 100-meter hole.”

  “What?” Alyana shouted. “Why didn’t you call for help?”

  “It all happened really fast…” Rayfin sat up.

  “We’re heading to your position,” Jonas said. “ETA, 5 minutes.”

  “Copy that,” Meomi said.

  “Hey…” Rayfin stood. “Do you see what I see?”

  “What?” Meomi pushed herself up.

  “That!” He approached a circular, white hatch and leaned over it. “Captain! You have to see this!”

  Meomi rushed over. “What do you see?”

  “I think… there might be someone in it?”

  “Whisper?” Her mouth fell open. “You’re kidding… So the intel was right.” A knot formed in her stomach thinking it could be her lost friend. “Please be Whisper.” She desperately needed to see another familiar face.

  Banging sounds came from the hatch.

  Rayfin jumped back. “Um, Captain. Someone’s trying to get out…”

  “I can hear that, Lieutenant.”

  “Should we open it or wait for Captain Barick?”

  “Help!” shouted a male voice from within the hatch. “Get me out of here!”

  “Did Whisper’s voice get deeper?” Rayfin tilted his head.

  “Not Whisper…” Meomi mumbled to herself.

  “We should still probably get the guy out though, right?”

  “This could still be a trap, Ray,” Meomi said. “Ready your weapon.”

  He nodded and armed his rifle.

  “Meomi?” Asked the person inside the hatch. “Captain Hana is that you?”

  Rayfin stared at the man with his eyes bulging. “No way!”

  “No…” She gasped. “That’s not possible.”

  Rainwater poured in from above at an incredible rate.

  “Help me open it!” Meomi sloshed over to the hatch. “Now!”

  8

  Meomi was never the type to believe in miracles. Fortuitous events, should they happen, were by chance — a beautiful alignment in the cosmic strings spun from a chaotic universe. Miracles were not the byproducts of wellwishers, ardent prayers, or the best intentions of the hopeful. What she saw in the hatch not only made her question her stance on miracles, it made her question the nature of reality itself. This, coming from someone that had been to universes that no other human thought existed.

  “Khoan…” she uttered before confusion settled into her mind, freezing her thoughts in a loop of enigmatic questions.

  “Captain Thorne…” Rayfin whispered.

  “Rayfin… Meomi…” He reached his arm through the hatch. “I knew you wouldn’t give up on me.”

  “I thought…” Rayfin grabbed his hand and helped him out of the hole. “Is that really you? Or do you have a twin you never told us about?”

  Thorne smiled. “You haven’t changed, Ensign Manalo.”

  “I…” Meomi still could not bridge her thoughts to her tongue. She lost hundreds of people since the invasion started. Not once, had any of them returned. The person standing in front of her looked like Thorne but was keenly different. His skin was dusky, and his face was smaller. He appeared malnourished.

  “We thought you died.” Rayfin lowered his head. “Either back on Caelora or on the Harbinger. No way did we expect to see you here.”

  “This…” Meomi shook her head. “Not possible.” She quickly raised her gun at him. “How do we know you’re not infected? That Mimics aren’t tricking us right now?”

  “They didn’t leave much of me behind, Meomi.” Thorne held up his hands.

  “You could touch him, Captain,” Rayfin said.

  “What?” Meomi and Thorne said in unison. Her mind flashed the embrace they shared on Caelora.

  “Well, your touch kills Mimics, right?” Rayfin asked. “Like with the Fleet Marshall.”

  “I don’t know if that’s how it works,” Meomi said.

  “Couldn’t hurt, I guess.” Rayfin shrugged.

  “What is he talking about, Meomi?”

  “It’s not important,” she said.

  “That’s my Captain, always so modest,” Rayfin smiled. “Tell him about how you took down the Mimic Wraith that impersonated the Fleet Marshall.”

  “Mimic Wraith?” Thorne raised his eyebrows. “By the name alone, I’m guessing they’re far more dangerous than Reapers?”

  “Yes, Captain Thorne,” Rayfin said. “It was a miracle we survived and saved the 5th Navy.”

  There was that word again, “miracle.” Each utterance of the word had the effect of someone squeezing her heart dry of guilt. She left him behind to fend for himself against a horde of monsters just as formidable and cruel as Mimics. Meomi had looked back at the situation aboard the Harbinger hundreds of times. She knew she made the right calls. But the guilt for leaving Thorne behind still weighed on her heart.

  “Rayfin,” Meomi said.

  “Yes, Captain?”

  “Stop talking.”

  Light shined from above.

  “You guys OK down there?” Alyana asked.

  Jonas and Alyana lowered themselves using their jetpacks.

  “I see you’ve found our asset,” Jonas said. His eyes fixed on Meomi’s gun pointing at Thorne. “Is there something wrong?”

  “Look at him,” Meomi said. “He looks compromised.”

  “Meomi…” Thorne said.

  “You two know each other?” Alyana’s eyes darted back and forth.

  “Captain Hana, it’s Thorne.” Rayfin stood in her line of fire. “I know it…”

  “Thorne?” Jonas asked. “As in Captain Khoan Thorne?”

  Rayfin nodded.

  “You’ve been listed as killed in action.” Jonas narrowed his eyes. “I saw your name among the KIA’s. It’s not often you see a Specs Ops Captain listed KIA.”

  “Well, he’s the only other human here,” Alyana said. “He must be who Fleet Intel sent us to find.”

  “I’ve signaled for an EVAC,” Jonas said. “That was 10 minutes ago. They should be here soon.”

  “We should restrain him,” Meomi said.

  “Is that necessary, Captain?” Rayfin frowned.

  “Do it, Lieutenant,” Jonas ordered. “We’ll sort it out at headquarters.”

  “Sorry, Captain Thorne,” Rayfin said as he placed magnetic cuffs on him.

  “It’s fine, Ensign.”

  “I’m a Lieutenant now, by the way.” Rayfin smiled.

  “Kudos on the promotion,” Thorne said. “Well deserved.”

  One by one, the team opened their jetpacks and flew out of the hole. Rayfin carried Thorne in his arms as he made the short jump. The EVAC ship arrived just as the last person reached the surface. They boarded with no hostile encounters.

  “I can’t wait to take a shower,” Alyana said while winking at Rayfin who grinned in return.

  Jonas opened a private comm to Meomi. “Whoever you think he is, I need you to not kill him.”

  “I wasn’t going…” Meomi sighed. “You don’t understand…”

  “There’s something between you two,” Jonas said. “I can see it.”

  “I…” She widened her eyes. “There…” Jonas was mischaracterizing the situ
ation. “We never had a chance for there to be something.”

  Meomi sat across from Thorne toward the back of the shuttle. She studied him, looking to pierce through his illusion. Her eyes connected with his. Bright and blue, that much hadn’t changed about him. She remembered being lost in those eyes before, swimming in them. In those moments, she pictured a life outside Fleet, away from war. Those thoughts seemed distant to her, left behind in another universe. “What happened to you?”

  “I could ask the same of you,” he retorted.

  “Still as evasive as ever.” Meomi sighed.

  “There isn’t much to tell, actually. They kept me in the dark most of the time. When they spoke, it wasn’t to ask me about Fleet battle plans, ship locations, or resources we had. It was to ask questions about you.”

  “Me?” Meomi gasped. “Why?”

  “You know why. There’s something special about you, even if you can’t see it for yourself.”

  “You’re talking about the Aorgarian tech in my body?”

  “The Aorgarian technology was a catalyst. There was something special about you to begin with. I see it as clearly as your beauty.”

  Meomi looked away from the intensity of his stare, like a beam that penetrated to her soul. “That’s unlike you to say, Captain.”

  “Remember, the Aorgarians chose you to preserve their legacy. Not the billions of other humans in this universe.”

  “What answers did you give them?”

  “Nothing.” Thorne shook his head. “What could I have said? There was so much going on when you were inside the Anchor. I only saw you for a few moments when you exited. Before I knew it, you were gone again. And then I…” He swallowed a big gulp of air. “I wasn’t sure if I’d ever see another human …”

  “I’m sorry I left you behind,” Meomi said while looking away. “Had I known the Calfars were coming…” her voice trailed.

  “How could you have?” Thorne scoffed. “It’s OK, Meomi. You didn’t leave me behind intentionally.”

  Meomi closed her eyes as tears welled behind her eyelids.

  “Tell me about what happened on the Harbinger. Rayfin mentioned you killing a Wraith with just a touch of your finger.”

  “It wasn’t quite like that.” Meomi sighed. “I thought I was dead. I remember being ready to die. Sometimes, I can still feel it on my skin.” She shuddered. “When he breached my suit, I felt a hot, searing pain all over my skin. Like being cooked alive.”