Resolute Glory (The War for Terra Book 8) Page 3

  Captain Farthing looked around the holographic room. Everyone seemed exhausted but hopeful now that there was a plan in motion. Farthing’s sensitive ears picked up murmurs of discontent as it sank in their next step was not going to be Earth, but even that was quelled when they discussed the possibility of a dock and repair facilities and a short period of rest.

  “You are all that’s left of the Alliance,” Chang said, his voice deeper and more solemn. “We are out here, adrift and alone again. I cannot thank you all enough for your sacrifices. I can only promise we will never stop until we have taken back what has been taken from us. Dismissed.”

  “The room began to fade as Telexo came back into view. The other captains disappeared, replaced by the empty chairs and consoles of the briefing room. Farthing took a deep breath and tried to calm himself before turning to his first officer. Instead of seeing the Tonal at the podium, the image of Admiral Chang was still standing at the front of the room.

  “Captain Farthing,” Chang began. “I have a … special request for you.”

  “Admiral, I am at your command as always,” Farthing replied calmly, even as he felt his crest rising again. “What can Kongo do for you in her present condition?”

  “It’s not Kongo I need, Farthing,” Chang replied. “I need you.”

  “Of course, a special mission?”

  “Not exactly,” Chang replied, looking to the ground for a moment. “Captain Pearce was one of the greatest men I ever knew, and his legacy aboard this ship is incredible. He also left … something else.”

  “Alice,” Farthing replied after a moment. “Is she okay?”

  “Alice Bennett has endured more than most of us,” Chang said. “She has lost everything so many times I don’t know if she can come back from this one. She’s become unstable. She refuses to stay aboard the ship. She’s flying almost constant patrols out there.”

  “What would you like me to do?” Farthing asked. “I am not trained in human psychology, and I must admit to a certain lack of stability myself.”

  “I just want to transfer her to Kongo for a short time. Just long enough to get her away from the memories and let her get her head clear.”

  “Admiral,” Farthing said, “I understand your request, but don’t you think taking her away from her friends and the people who can best support her is dangerous?”

  “That’s what I need you for. You have known her for as long as anyone, and you were close to Lee,” Chang said. “I need your help with this. Besides, I need to get her off this ship and away from me.”

  “Admiral?”

  “She’s … well … she’s threatened to tear my head off and …well, I don’t need that on this ship right now.”

  “Of course, sir,” Farthing replied.” She can dock on our starboard side. I will prepare quarters for her.”

  “Thank you,” Chang replied. “Thank you very much, Captain.”

  Farthing nodded as the image of the admiral faded from view. He couldn’t shake the feeling he had just agreed to take on board a loaded weapon. He also couldn’t shake the faint odor, but it probably wasn’t important anyway. He had more important things to think about now.

  4

  With Memory and identity came screaming and pain.

  “Get the hell outta my way.”

  Alice Bennett stepped through the airlock and into the narrow corridor of Kongo with an air of someone who didn’t want to be there. The yeoman who had greeted her stepped back, not sure of what to do next. Alice looked around the bare metal walls and tossed the bag to the floor. She crossed her arms and waited impatiently as the yeoman picked up the bag and stepped back.

  “Commander Bennett,” the blue-skinned girl replied with a cringe. “Captain Farthing has requested I take you to your—”

  “Then Farthing can come see me himself,” Alice replied. “I don’t need some lackey to tell me where I’m supposed to cool my jets. I need a job.”

  The yeoman stepped to the nearby wall panel and called the bridge. A short exchange later, the girl stepped back closer to Alice. The woman did not look like she had on the holo-vids she had seen. Her long blond hair had been cut short, apparently by a dull knife, and pulled close to her scalp by a piece of wire. Her flight suit was worn and stained by sweat and wear, but the duty uniform pulled up at the forearms was clean. The yeoman noticed, however, the uniform lacked the ship patch of Resolute and instead was adorned with a demon’s head patch.

  “The captain will be right with you,” the yeoman replied. “He had to help with a communications repair before our jump to M-space.”

  Bennett’s reply was a huff and a tightening of the lines around her mouth. The ship was in the last stages of repair and would be following Resolute through the M-space hyper corridor to the Octopod home world. The remainder of the fleet would wait the extra two hours until Zeus would be ready and take the slower route. All told, the two ships would have about seven hours to inspect the alien shipyards and determine if they would be suitable. If they weren’t, however, there were few options for the ships. Most of them would not make more than one or two more jumps before systems failure would make the dangerous journey impossible.

  “Alice?” A smooth voice with a hint of an Earth accent floated down the nearby corridor. “I recognize your scent from a kilometer away.”

  Alice turned to see the white-furred Vadne captain. Instead opening her arms for an embrace, however, Alice stood her ground and stared up into the deep eyes of Resolute’s former first officer. The faint lines of burnt fur around the sides of his face were barely visible, but Farthing felt as if she was tracing each one with her eyes. The new intensity of her stare took him aback as he neared the docking port. She stared back without uncrossing her arms.

  “Permission to come aboard,” Alice snapped.

  “Granted, Commander, although that seems an odd request considering your transport back to Resolute has already left,” Farthing said, trying to break the tension with a quick bit of levity. “I must say, I appreciate what you have done with your fur.”

  “This ship doesn’t have any fighters, does it?” Alice asked in an abrupt change of subject. “I’m a fighter pilot. What have you got for me to do?”

  “I thought perhaps we could start with getting you to your quarters and getting you cleaned up for duty,” Farthing replied, his whiskers twitching as he reached past and took her bag. “After that, a good meal and a good night’s sleep.”

  “Farthing, I—”

  “It is customary to call your captain by his title,” Farthing said, cutting her off with a sharp wave of a claw. “It is also customary not to argue with a captain.”

  “Are you serious?” Alice replied, stepping closer and looking the Vadne in the eye. “You are ordering me to take a shower?”

  “I realize you do not smell the odors coming off your body, but I do and I won’t have any more odors on my ship. Now I will show you to your room and maybe we can talk on the way.”

  Alice stood her ground before Farthing turned and walked down a corridor. She followed at a distance, glancing down one hallway and another as they travelled. Kongo was damaged far worse than she had realized, but the crew was hard at work getting the frigate back together. It made her realize how lucky they all were to have survived. It also reminded her of the ship she had just left and the captain she had lost. Her fists clenched as they entered the lift. Farthing tapped the key to take them to crew quarters and the little room shot upwards.

  “Alice, I haven’t had the opportunity to—”

  “Don’t do it,” Alice said. “Don’t you dare offer condolences, pity, or anything else. Lee made a decision that saved all of us,” she said. “Any of us would have done the same. It was a logical decision, and he took it to save my life.”

  “Still, I understand human pair bonding must make it difficult for you,” Farthing replied, looking down to her closely. “You had not married yet, but I know you lived as if you were. If you are having difficulty,
may I suggest speaking with our doctor?”

  “Doctor?” Alice said indignantly. “I’ve seen Demsiri and he wasn’t any more help than anyone else. I’m fine. Now can we talk about what job you’re going to give me on this heap?”

  “Humans experience sleep disorders and other reactions to loss and stress,” Farthing said as the lift slowed. “Have you experienced any symptoms of stress disorder?”

  “Farthing, I’m a fighter pilot. I’ve experienced loss on a grand scale and face to face. I can handle myself,” Alice said. “Don’t worry about me.”

  “You are my friend, as Captain Pearce was, and I worry about you because I consider you family.”

  “I work for you now,” Alice replied. “I am not anyone’s family.”

  Farthing watched as Alice stepped into the corridor outside. She turned her back and looked both ways. He moved out behind her as he saw several crew run past. The activity seemed concentrated on a crew recreation room at the end of the nearest hall. Farthing moved fast, following the nearest crew to the rec-room. A holo-vid channel was playing on the farthest wall, an image of Admiral Chang being projected. Alice’s expression, already angry and dangerous, turned even darker as they stepped into the rec-room.

  “...Chang has been accused of collusion before, but that time the plot was exposed as a ruse to draw out terrorist cells. It seems, however, that the former Admiral of the Alliance Fleet has indeed been working with the enemy to undermine the stability of the Ch’Tauk-Human alliance.”

  Farthing stared at the screen, not believing what he was seeing. He had been on board Resolute when Lee Pearce had run down the man and revealed the plot which had created the Ch’Tauk alliance. Admiral Chang had briefly been kept in prison before Pearce and Connor Jakes had broken the man out of a high security detention facility. Now it seemed he was actually being held to the earlier charges. The repercussions were immense. It meant the entire fleet he was travelling with was now renegade and would be hunted by the whatever fleet could be organized by the politicians on Vadne with the blessings of the government.

  “Our reporter on Vadne was able to acquire exclusive access to the Chancellor in his office at Alliance Central. The Chancellor agreed to give us this inner circle interview in exchange for our assistance in tracking down the fugitive fleet commanded by Admiral Chang. Here now is this exclusive interview with the Chancellor, brought to you by our on the spot reporter, Charnollet.”

  Alice stepped closer to the screen, her eyes narrowed. The Chancellor was resplendent in burgundy robes, standing next to the Ch’Tauk known as the Camerlingo. The reporter, a broad-shouldered Tonal with an oddly chiseled jaw for his species, appeared pleased with himself as he raised a small device to hear the Chancellor’s voice.

  “Chancellor, why do you believe Admiral—excuse me, former Admiral Chang—has chosen this time to betray the Alliance?”

  “Ronald Chang was instrumental in creating the Alliance,” the Chancellor replied with a purring sound. “I want everyone to understand that this man was a hero in the greatest sense of the word. Like many in his position, the stress of the job has just become too much for him. He has been seeing plots and schemes where none exist.”

  “So you believe Citizen Chang is suffering from some sort of stress delusion?”

  “Unfortunately, yes,” the Chancellor replied. “It is our belief that if our fleet can catch up with the man and reason with him, we can return him to his senses. If he doesn’t, well…”

  “Are you prepared to use deadly force against the renegade fleet?”

  “I don’t want to put our fleet into the position of firing on one of their own, Mister Charnollet. My colleague from the Ch’Tauk Empire has graciously agreed to lead a Ch’Tauk reconnaissance fleet to try and return our friend.”

  “Mister Camerlingo,” the reporter called to the imposing Ch’Tauk priest. “Any word on when the recon fleet might be leaving on the hunt?”

  “Mister Charnollet, Camerlingo is my title and you will address me with respect. I am a priest of my lord Ch’Tauk, Emperor of all.”

  “My apologies, Camerlingo, sir. The question stands though: when is the recon fleet leaving to hunt down the renegade fleet and its deranged admiral?”

  “The fleet is already on its way. It will find the terrorist fleet and end this rebellion. After, we will commence our containment of the Gizzeen.”

  “Of course, the Camerlingo cannot say exactly when the fleet is expected to engage Admiral Chang’s forces, but we can assure you the Galactic News Service will have exclusive rights to the interviews.”

  “We’re being set up,” Alice said aloud. “They’re going to wipe out the whole fleet as soon as they find us.”

  “I cannot believe one of my own people could engage in such betrayal,” Farthing said to himself. “Our people hold honor above our own lives.”

  “I guess deep down your people are just like mine,” Alice replied, looking back at the screen. “Cruel and deceitful. It’s kind of comforting to know your people are only human.”

  Farthing looked down at the fair-haired human. His crest had risen to full but the color had remained light. He wasn’t angry at the Chancellor, but confused. If one of his own kind could turn on the Alliance, what were his people capable of? The Barathists had claimed interaction with Humans and other races had polluted the Vadne way of life. If they were right, he had to re-think his assumptions about himself as well.

  “Well, there you have it,” the reporter said, his camera centering his image on the screen. “The former head of Alliance Fleet has been declared insane by the Alliance government and his fleet determined to be terrorists. We’ll stay on top of this story and—”

  The screen went blank as alarms sounded in the rec-room. Farthing was startled by the sudden klaxon. Crew members jumped from seats and rushed to the door. Alice stepped aside as the crew ran to their posts, abandoning food and entertainment alike in the face of the emergency alert. Farthing stepped to the wall panel and tapped a key. The sound of activity on the bridge was easy to hear even from Alice’s distant stance.

  “This is the captain,” Farthing called. “What is happening?”

  “Captain,” Telexo’s voice erupted from the speaker. “Admiral Chang just ordered us to general quarters. We’re moving out now.”

  “Chang must have seen the broadcast,” Alice said. “He’s jumping the gun a bit, but I see his point.”

  “I need to get to the bridge,” Farthing said, dropping Alice’s bag as he moved to the door. “I’m sorry, but my place is on the bridge.”

  Alice watched as her friend left the rec-room. She stood in the now cleared space, looking around at the clutter of dropped drinks and empty game boards. She felt the ship shudder as the massive M-space engines engaged, and knew the ship would be translating to the blue-brown interstitial space. After a few moments, she grabbed her bag and brought it to the nearby couch.

  “Your place is on the bridge, that’s true,” Alice said to the empty room. “But where’s mine?”

  5

  Pain and memory came at once, each reinforcing the other…

  Somewhere Else

  The hastily donned pressure suit pinched as Lee settled into the cockpit. Baron and his team had fastened the warhead with the living Engineer inside to the underside of the Silver Eagle and he now warmed up the engines. He watched the team, clad in their own working vacuum suits, steps away from the fighter. At ten meters, Baron waved his arms towards the open landing bay doors. Lee raised the ship from its cradle and turned the bow towards space. Another wave by the former pilot and Lee accelerated from the bay and into the raging battle. He was immediately struck by the carnage and the sense that if he completed this one mission, his friends could go home.

  Kama Yu’s voice crackled in his ear, relaying the signals from Admiral Chang to the other Demons through his earpiece. It had taken a solemn promise to get the man to agree to the misdirection. Lee knew if Alice thought he was in the ship,
she would not let him finish the mission in peace. There was no way back from this mission and there was so much he had left undone. Duty had bound him to this destiny, though, and he intended to fulfill it whether Alice knew or not…

  A quick survey of the battle showed Alice in trouble. Throttling up, Lee swung the ship around towards the battle. Alice was being pursued by a Gizzeen piloting like a madman. The vessel juked left and right, avoiding stray blasts from other fighters as well as fire from Alice. Lee turned the ship nose-on towards Alice. He opened fire, missing her canopy by centimeters but slamming into the alien fighter and blasting it to pieces. He pulled up and flipped the Silver Eagle around as Alice shot past underneath.

  “Lee? Lee, what are you doing?”

  Lee’s heart sunk as he heard her voice. He wanted to respond and tell her he was alright, but Chang ordered the Demons to form up on him and head towards the dimensional bridge. A chill swept up from Lee’s boots through his body. It was the order he knew would come … signaling the end of his own life. He could turn back, turn around and land the fighter and command Resolute away from the battle. He could, but he wouldn’t. As Demon Squadron formed up around him, he goosed the throttle back a little to allow them to catch up. Plasma and energy bolts flashed past from every direction while Chang and Alice exchanged spiky protests. Alice wanted Ronald to back off even though she knew he wouldn’t. Chang was trying to avoid giving away Lee’s presence in the fighter. After a brief exchange, Alice quieted down and the ships moved closer to the bridge.

  A pair of Gizzeen ships moved up from behind, prompting Aztec, one of Lee’s original wingmen, to move back and deal with the attack. Aztec finished the weakened ships off with a few blasts of high-energy plasma and then waggled his wings. It was an old maneuver to show victory and it reminded Lee of his days as a pilot and not a captain. Jackal’s voice chiding the man sounded almost like a schoolteacher he once had, reminding them they weren’t invulnerable. It filled him with pride in his team and the accomplishments they had achieved over the years.