Legacy of the Centaur (RFVIII), Chapter 22

Spoiler alert: This is the work-in-progress of the 8th book in the Reckless Faith series. You may read the prologue here: https://devonai.wordpress.com/2023/10/31/reckless-faith-viii-prologue/

The Derne Street Deli didn’t exist anymore. Christie knew that right away, despite finding herself there, embedded in a moving snapshot of a memory from what seemed like a lifetime ago. Also present was Ray, further confirming for her that the scene couldn’t be real, because the two of them had never been there together. He sat across a table from her, with the background of the rear of Boston’s capitol building visible through the window, along with blurry, indistinct impressions of pedestrians walking by in the cold October rain.

Though tears streamed down his face, he was silent, staring at her as if she would disappear if he so much as blinked. For a moment, Christie was calm, satisfied with the accompaniment of her husband, a tuna melt sandwich, an open bag of kettle chips, and a paper cup with the string of a tea bag staining the rim. Knowing the illusion couldn’t last, she nonetheless resisted the gnawing sensation in the back of her mind that insisted upon the present being known. Taking a breath of air that was as much a fabrication as the rest of the deli, she allowed her mind to be filled with the inevitable.

She gasped as she recalled the circumstances that led her there, and reflexively grabbed the edge of the table to steady herself. The truth was worse than she had feared. She focused on Ray, the man instantly perking up as their eyes met.

“I’m okay,” was all she was able to say.

Ray’s voice cracked as he spoke. “How many times do I have to think I’ve lost you?”

“It seems we sorely underestimated Mister Eckes.”

Ray offered his hand, so she took it. “I’m never leaving your side again.”

“I’m sorry. This is the life we’ve chosen for ourselves. I’ve been too lucky twice over, and faced my existence turning to black even more than that. I’m not the woman you fell in love with anymore, and it’s time you accepted that.”

The scene shifted to the orb room aboard the Percheron. The blood-soaked remains of her former self still littered the floor, though the corpses of her android and Lieutenant Mintaka, as well as their weapons and shell casings, had been removed. Once again disembodied, Christie could only see the room, Ray with his hand extended to the surface of her new vessel, and the thousands of incandescent threads that connected her to the ship and its systems. Ray looked at her, his brow furrowed.

“What? I don’t understand. Are you trying to make this easier on me?”

“Yes. I still love you, Ray. But it’s far past time for you to accept that each time I’m forced to evolve, I move further from being human. I can’t exist separate from some form of technology, and I never will again.”

“We don’t have to talk about that right now. I’m immensely relieved that I didn’t lose you completely. Jesus, Christie, just acknowledge that, please.”

“I do. I can at least give you that.”

“Thank you. When this is all over, we’ll talk again.”

“Fair enough. Now, I have to run a systems check. I see that we’re back in orbit above Tartarus… and that the Alnairians have just attempted to land. This is bad. I’m going to need something like twenty minutes to recalibrate. You can remove your hand; I’ve synched with the backup computers.”

“Our crew took heavy losses. If you do an internal scan, you’ll see for yourself. That means that unless you truly are back to one hundred percent, the Percheron is combat ineffective.”

“Holy shit, it’s worse than I thought. Damn it, Ray, you’re right. Still, even with half the crew dead, the survivors and I should be able to make the Percheron useful.”

Ray backed up towards the aft door. “Fine, then. I know you’ll give everyone a no-bullshit assessment. In the meantime, I’ll go to the bridge. Are you sure you’re okay here with this mess?”

“My mind will be a thousand other places. Yes.”

Ray nodded, and exited toward the galley. Christie focused on archived data, and reviewed everything that had happened since Eckes sent several .45-caliber slugs through her android body. Though it pained her to learn of the extent of their losses, she had to ensure that she was still in full control of the Percheron. She was able to relax her conscious mind as she ran her diagnostics, which only took a few minutes of real time. Once that was done, she looked for her android body, and found it in the cargo hold. It was only then that she noticed that the two Alnairian spies were still in there, alive and unharmed. She could deal with them later.

A thorough scan of the android revealed that it was beyond repair. She was confident that she had figured out how to replicate an android of the same quality, but the thought of trying came to her reluctantly. Though her words to Ray were true, if a bit harsh, she began to wonder if she’d be better off sticking to her orb form. Being in her android form during the attack by Eckes had proved to be disastrous, delaying by mere nanoseconds her ability to shift her consciousness to the orb, lock the doors, and evacuate the air from the room. Or if she wasn’t fast enough, to transport him off the ship. At least then, Mintaka might have been the only casualty.

Christie shifted her visual feed to the bridge. Ray was there, along with Brockway, Al-Nilam, Dana, and Kyrie. The bodies of her captain and crewmates had been removed, but bullet holes still marred several bulkheads and consoles.

“Diagnostics are complete,” she said. “Other than some cosmetic damage, and the need to reset the hydraulics on several doors, the Percheron is fine.”

“That’s a silver lining,” replied Ray.

“You should have full manual control of her systems, as usual. Can I assume that you’ve considered augmenting the crew with some folks from the other ships?”

“We have,” said Brockway. “Between myself, Doctor Sakura, Lieutenant Al-Nilam, the NASA engineers, Ray, and you, the Percheron shouldn’t need anyone else in the short term. There is a problem, however. Commander Scherer, are you still listening?”

“I am,” said John over the radio. “Christie, it’s good to hear your voice again.”

“Same,” she replied.

Brockway continued, “The Percheron has strict orders from the Secretary of Defense. In the event of the loss of thirty percent or more of her crew, we are to return to Earth at the earliest possible convenience.”

“Why is this the first I’m hearing of it?” asked John.

“Are you really that surprised? You already know that the Percheron is ultimately the property of the US government. Colonel Dietrich was ordered to follow your commands, but with a specific list of exceptions. The ship is too valuable to be lost on anything other than an existential threat to Earth, and the exceptions bear that out.”

“I would be very interested to hear the rest of that list.”

“Feel free to ask Secretary Liddell next time you see her.”

“So that’s how it’s going to be.” John sighed. “I suppose I can’t argue that the two hundred some-odd Thesprotians down there are more important than the population of Earth. I still fear that without superior force, the Alnairians are going to wipe them out.”

Ari’s voice could be heard. “Ferro here. We’ve just received an SRC transmission, encryption level 5, from a source that matches the frequency and signature of the device we gave Chason Talyn. Text only.”

“By all means, let’s hear it,” said Brockway.

“Transmission as follows. ‘Alpha Lupi is ideal planet for settlement. Zero sentient life and abundant resources. Leto is only ship present.’ End message.”

“That’s fantastic news!” replied John. “That’s only, what was it?”

“One hundred light-years. Thirty-five minutes for the Faith and Antares,” said Ari.

“And thirty-five hours for the Percheron and the Fox,” added Christie. “If Chason is telling the truth, then here is my suggestion. I know we didn’t want to cram more than fifty refugees onto each ship, but for only a day and a half, I think they can put up with being packed in like sardines.”

John said, “The problem is whether or not Chason is lying. It could be a trap; after all, Wega did try to destroy the Fox as soon as Chason was aboard. I don’t think we should commit to evacuating the Thesprotians until the Faith or the Antares can go scout out Alpha Lupi. With the effects of time dilation, that means being one ship short for the defense of Tartarus for, uh…”

“A little more than four days, round trip.”

“Right. Anything could happen during that time. So we’re back at square one.”

“What possible gain would Wega have for luring us and the refugees to a barren planet?” asked Dana. “It doesn’t make sense. And if that was her goal, she could have told us from the outset that Alpha Lupi was habitable. Instead, she tried to destroy the Fox and high-tailed it out of here. I seriously doubt Chason was in support of such an action, which is why he’s trying to help us now.”

Vecky’s voice was heard over the radio. “Captain Kitsune here. It’s possible Chason doesn’t know that Wega wanted to destroy the Fox. He wasn’t there during my send-off, and if he was isolated somewhere else on the Leto, he would have only felt an unusually rough decoupling when I forced the ships apart. Regardless, don’t forget that Vesther and Harrey warned me of Wega’s treachery. So at least part of her crew is divided against her ultimate intentions.”

“I’m tired of all this back-and-forth,” said Brockway. “We tried it your way, Scherer, and it got half of my crew killed. I just told you I’m not under your command, and now that the Percheron is my responsibility, I’m going to start telling you what our role here will be instead of asking. I’m taking her down to the surface and I’m going to select fifty volunteers to come aboard. Then we’re going to Alpha Lupi. If it’s not suitable, we’re continuing onward to Earth.”

John said, “You’d be forcing our hand.”

“Then now you know how it feels. And before you object to taking them to Earth, keep in mind that I don’t really care about the secrecy of our space program, especially with all this talk about how outside contact is inevitable. I only care about the well-being of the natives. By the way, the set of orders I do have don’t say anything about not returning home with four dozen homeless aliens.”

“The government may try to squirrel them away somewhere anyway,” said Christie. “At least we know they’ll be treated humanely. I agree that we’ve run out of options, and that we should begin evacuation. Rather than asking for fifty volunteers for the Percheron, we’ll have to ask them for fifty volunteers to stay behind, even if it means being left to the mercy of the Alnairians.”

Ari said, “The good news is that their fleet doesn’t have any orbital strike weapons. We could arm those who stay behind, and let them guard themselves against a ground incursion.”

“We could offer,” said John. “They might all be pacifists or something, I don’t know. Commander Brockway, are you sure you’re ready to begin?”

She nodded. “I’ll be first in line, Scherer.”

__________

“Maybe it was a mass suicide.”

Deep below Inferno, a small team consisting of Fuyue, Evangeline, Reveki, Ray, and Arianna in android form, stood on the platform that overlooked the cooling towers that used to serve the research facility. They had arrived at the prison forty-five minutes earlier, only to find it vacant. There was ample evidence that the Thesprotians had been there, and were taking advantage of what meager resources were available or provided for them, but not a soul was to be found. A methodical search of first the prison, and then the older complex below, revealed nothing. Though this had resulted in a considerable amount of confusion among the allies, so far none of them had any explanation of where the natives could have gone.

The situation in the subterranean chamber that the Thesprotians once called home hadn’t changed. The water level was still at its maximum, and the strong current that had swept away so many unlucky residents persisted. Fuyue had been lamenting having a strange feeling ever since they’d returned, though so far he hadn’t been able to elaborate on it. After Eva’s comment just then, he surprised the others by sitting cross-legged on the deck, and closing his eyes. He had forgone an EVA suit in favor of his usual vestments, making the pose easy.

“When in doubt, meditate,” muttered Eva.

“That’s fine,” began Vecky, “let him. The gods know I’ve been reluctant to do so myself, even when the results were positive.”

“There is one other place they could have gone,” said Ray. “The collider loop.”

“We should have brought a Snoopy,” said Eva. “That space is thirty kilometers in circumference. It would take us several hours to explore it on foot.”

“We can certainly ask the Faith to get down here and provide us with one. Let’s wait for our Sortarius here to finish his meditation.”

“I hope Malthus Brewer hasn’t met a bad end,” said Vecky. “He’s done so much for us already.”

The conversation lapsed as the rest of the team waited for Fuyue to commune with whatever forces he hoped to contact. Despite the current of the water in the room, the smell of death permeated it. It only added to their apprehension, and kept their fingers close the safety levers of their firearms; or in Eva’s case, her hand tight around the handle of her bokken. After five minutes, Fuyue opened his eyes, and spoke.

“Kheiron is still here,” he began. “His essence is contained within the capacitors of the collider array, though I have no idea how. The Kira’To continue to surprise me.”

“There must be a backup power source we haven’t found yet,” said Eva.

“Indeed. I reached out to him with my mind’s eye, but couldn’t get him to talk to me. Perhaps we’d have more luck in the control room.”

“Then let’s go.”

The team ascended one level, entered the corridor, and were met with a hail of bullets. They backpedaled into the stairwell, with only Ray having the presence of mind to return fire with two quick shots from his shotgun. Rounds caromed off of the back wall.

“What the fuck?” said Vecky, looking down at where her EVA suit had absorbed an impact.

Fuyue glanced out for a split-second. “Alnairian marines.”

“How the hell did they get by us?” asked Eva.

“No clue.”

“God damn it. Vecky, send a text message to our hosts.”

Ray said, “Pop smoke and get ready to lay down cover fire.”

“Do you have smoke grenades?”

“No, I wasn’t expecting…”

A small cylinder landed outside the doorway and rolled into the stairwell. Eva whacked it with her bokken, and everyone covered their heads. An explosion rocked the level, bringing down several ceiling tiles and a cascade of ancient dust.

“Fuyue, show these assholes who they’re up against.”

“I’d like to do that,” he replied.

He fell to his knees, and the others noticed that he had his hand over his abdomen, and blood poured through his jacket and soaked his pants. Ray accessed a pouch on his belt, and removed a dermaplast bandage.

“Get him out of here first. I’ll deal with this.”

Eva readied her bokken while Ray and Ari dragged him back down the stairs. Vecky flipped her Phalanx around and racked the charging handle on the grenade launcher.

“Are you sure you can do this?” Vecky asked.

“Soften ‘em up for me, Kitsune.”

“With pleasure.”

The Phalanx thumped as she sent a round perfectly down the center of the corridor. A moment later, the concussion shook the floor. Eva strode ahead, holding her wooden sword up. A blue glow emanated from its tip, and flowed down the length of the weapon. She felt an overwhelming sense of tranquility, and smiled to herself. Bullets continued to fill the hallway. The HUD on the visor of her helmet helpfully illustrated where the enemy was, and confirmed for her that the shots should have been shredding her, but instead seemed to simply disappear. In shock at what they were seeing, the Alnairians kept on firing even when she drew within striking distance of the first man.

She swung her bokken in a wide arc, first knocking the muzzle of his rifle away, then reversed the strike and caught the man in the side of his neck. A sick crunch could be heard as the swing forced him down. In the same fashion, she walked effortlessly among their ranks, dealing blunt force trauma to seven of them before silence returned to the corridor. It was within that moment of calm that she heard a metallic clank, and a burst of pure white light turned her entire world into pain.