The Battle of the Void (The Ember War Saga Book 6) (22 page)

Rangers in gleaming black armor burst onto the
Midway
’s bridge. Snub-nosed gauss carbines swept across the silent bridge with precision. They looked through every tear the Xaros drones used to gain access to the ship’s command center and made a hasty exam of every sailor they came across.

“Clear,” the team leader said.

Admiral Garret entered the bridge a few seconds later. Drops of black blood floated in the void, staining his vac suit with each impact. A custom gauss pistol hung above the wrecked holo table. The admiral grabbed it gently, turning it over in his hands.

“Have you found her?” he asked a Ranger.

The soldier pointed to a vac suit caught under a command chair. Garret cradled the empty suit in both hands and wiped red dust off the nameplate just above an ugly burnt hole. Makarov.

“Rest of the teams report no survivors, sir,” the Ranger said. “Lafayette says the jump engines are a total loss.”

“That’s…to be expected.” Garret let the empty suit go and walked to the forward section of the bridge. The armor around the bridge was gone. He looked up and saw Earth, Luna and Ceres. The sun glinted off debris stretching from each celestial body.

The shipyards on the moon were wrecked. Titan Station badly damaged. Both were victims of a few drones that combined and burned themselves to oblivion with one massive blast from an energy cannon.

Eighth Fleet was gone, and with it some of his best ships and crews. Garret hit his knuckles against a dead control panel. Assuming Makarov’s fleet even had a chance to send back word of what they encountered, it would be years before the message even reached Earth.

Even with the Crucible still largely intact and the omnium reactor safe, every last human being would know exactly what this day meant. Defeat. He’d struggled to keep the military’s and civilians’ hopes up through the despair of losing their families and homes…now this.

“Sir, found something.” A Ranger held up a clear, void-safe case. Inside was a notebook with a tea-stained cover and Makarov’s name on it. Handwritten notes, printouts and pics jutted out from between the pages.

Garret took the case and gave it a pat. This was something, at least. Maybe he could forge a narrative out of the admiral’s log, paint a picture of heroism and some kind of a victory from her loss and give hope to humanity.

“Good work, son. Have the recovery teams sweep the ship for remains,” Garret said. “Escort me back to my shuttle…the planet needs to know what happened.”

Torni walked through the ranks of frozen crewmembers. She’d come here several times during the years it took to reach the rogue star passing by Malal’s vault. They were little more than statues, more perfect than the wax figures she remembered from a museum she visited in Stockholm as a little girl.

She stopped next to her old squad. Cortaro had a vice grip on Standish’s arm, Gunney’s face frozen in anger, Standish’s in amusement. She touched Standish’s face, with a hand that looked perfectly normal, and gave him a quick pat.

“Let’s hope things go well for you,” she said.

She’d learned to control her omnium body, adopt a form that resembled herself from before her death, even down to loose hair and the illusion of breathing.

Torni reached out with her mind and felt a broken lump of metal in a trash bin. The metal rose into the air and floated to her waiting hand. Tendrils of light reached from her fingertips and caressed the garbage until it melded into a sphere of pulsating omnium. The sphere morphed into a silver and gold emblem the size of her palm. An eagle, a globe an anchor. The symbol of the Atlantic Union Marine Corps in precious metals.

Transmuting matter from one form to another was child’s play for her. Malal had proven to be a capable mentor during their long isolation in deep space.

Torni slipped the emblem into Standish’s pocket.

+Malal. I’m ready.+

+Activating jump engines. One minute to translation.+

Learning to transmute matter into omnium and back again had taken time, and Malal was anything but a kind and patient teacher. Torni had repaired the ship’s engines long before the
Breitenfeld
got close enough to the rogue star to recharge the dark-energy stores. She’d spent the rest of the time working on the ship. Being a drone meant no need for sleep or sustenance.

The only break she’d had from isolation were the infrequent visits from Stacey, always to quiz Malal on data obtained from his vault, never to chitchat.

As for Malal…

Torni went to the edge of the open flight deck, stepping around the three Iron Hearts. A deep red star burned in the distance, the rogue star that proved to be the ship’s salvation. The
Breitenfeld
would have been in deep space for centuries without this celestial rogue’s passing.

“Farewell,” she said.

A white disk opened before the ship, growing wider until it enveloped the ship. Torni felt none of the queasiness from her previous wormhole jumps. Granted, she no longer had a digestive system to agitate.

The white abyss faded away. Earth and Luna. A smile spread across Torni’s face. They were finally home.  She focused on the night side of Earth; her “eyes” were as sensitive as any spotter’s telescope on the ship. Japan and Korea were alive with light. She could see the gridlines of urban areas on Okinawa and Taiwan. Mountain ranges along Australia’s east coast were riven with light, same with much of New Zealand.

“What the hell?”

“The humans have been busy,” Malal said as he walked up to her. His face was as still as a mannequin’s.

“The cities…they’re built into mountains,” she said.

“Easier to defend. I will release the crew. They remember you in your old form. In the brig,” Malal said.

“They will accept me this way and I am done being a prisoner,” she said.

“As you like.” Malal lifted a hand and snapped his fingers.

“—will use the quadrium shells…” Captain Valdar took a half step to the empty ammunition dolly. His face knit in confusion. “Where did it go? Ibarra?” Valdar turned back to the equally confused group of senior officers on the stage with him.

A murmur rose through the ship’s crew. Many pointed to the open bay doors.

Valdar saw his home world, and Torni and Malal at the edge of the flight deck. The captain pointed a finger at the two.

“You cut me off, didn’t you?” Valdar demanded.

“You wanted to return to Earth. Here you are. I believe your customs demand you express some gratitude.” Malal held up a hand as if he wanted Valdar to kiss it.

Valdar jumped off the stage and went straight for Malal.

“This is not the emotional response I anticipated,” Malal said to Torni.

“This is
his
ship, Malal. He decides what happens and how it gets done. You stepped on his toes,” Torni said.

“Another of your euphemisms,” Malal said.

“My crew deserved to know what you were—” Valdar stopped his advance as Elias cut in front of him.

Elias reached high over his head and swept an armored fist into Malal’s head. Malal bounced off the deck and careened into an empty lifter suit against the bulkhead. Elias jammed his arm into the wrecked suit and pulled Malal out, the ancient being’s head deformed from the blow.

Elias slapped his hands against Malal’s chest. The pneumatic servos whined in protest as Elias tried to crush the governor inside Malal.

“Elias! Stop! You’re going to kill him!” Torni ran across the deck.

“This thing is a monster!” Elias thundered through his armor’s speakers. “We saw what it did to the Jinn. It will do the exact same to us once it has the chance.” His arms shook with effort.

Stacey reached into a pouch and took out a control crystal. With a flick of a finger, she could lessen the governor’s restraint on Malal. She didn’t have to free him to save him, but she could give him enough wiggle room to defend himself from Elias.

The crystal floated between her fingertips. Elias had saved her on Earth. The soldier was the hero of numerous battles…but if she let Malal loose, there was no telling what he would do to Elias. The creature was not one for restraint or mercy.

She cursed Elias for backing her into this decision. She waved her fingers over the crystal. It flared to life as Malal’s control protocols came to the fore.

“No you don’t.” Hale grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms behind her back. Hale slapped the crystal away before she could do anything to help Malal.

“Damn you, we need—” Hale covered her mouth, muzzling her protests.

Torni pushed past Valdar as the captain ordered Elias to stand down. Kallen and Bodel ignored the captain’s commands to intervene.

One of the governor’s hoops broke, popping through Malal’s surface like a compound fracture.

“Destroy me and your species is doomed,” Malal said. “The Xaros are nearly infinite. Without me, you are nothing.”

“
Gott mit uns
, not you,” Elias said. Another hoop snapped and steam rose from Malal’s body.

Torni’s body morphed out of her human shape and into a Xaros drone. She heard the screams and panic from the crew as she rose into the air and stretched stalks from her body. A ruby point of light grew from a stalk. She slashed a disintegration beam through Elias’ arms, severing them at the elbow.

Malal, still in the grip of Elias’ hands, fell to the deck.

Bodel and Kallen charged at her, spikes ready to crack her shell like an egg.

Torni scooped Malal into the air and shot through the force field, leaving the Iron Hearts and a chaotic flight deck behind.

Torni worked stalk tips into Malal’s chest and began repairing the governor.

+Not what I expected,+ Malal sent.

+The Iron Hearts are pure. Better than the rest of us. They waited until the ship was safe to make their move.+ Torni bent the broken band back to its original shape and morphed the omnium back into its original shape, feeling for the resonance frequency Stacey gave her to ensure Malal’s containment held true.

+A level of cunning I didn’t anticipate. Humans deserve some respect.+

With the governor repaired, Torni touched a stalk to Malal’s body and shifted his malformed head and chest back to normal.

+We will not return to the ship,+ he sent.

+Neither of us are welcome now.+ Even as a drone, Torni could still feel. Sadness welled up inside her as she tried to make out her old team on the ever more distant ship. She’d waited years, anticipating the day she could speak with her old friends, trade jokes and learn what they’d done since Takeni. Now, the chance of that happening was slim to none.

+I’m not surprised you intervened, but you could have done so sooner,+ Malal sent.

+We need you, Malal. Need you to finish our Crucible, help us strike the Apex. That is why I saved you. I did it for Earth, the rest of the galaxy that’s fighting the Xaros. Don’t ever think that I care about you.+

+You are growing. Moving away from your flesh-bound morality. There’s hope for you yet.+

An Osprey flew over them. Torni felt targeting lasers sweep over her body as manned turrets swung to bear on her and Malal.

“Torni, this is Stacey. Can you read me?”
came over an IR frequency. 

“I hear you,” Torni sent back. “Where are you?”

“The Breitenfeld, I just came through the conduit. The gunship will take you to our Crucible, and my grandfather will meet you. I’ll head over as soon as I’ve cleaned up the incredible mess you left for me. What did you do to Elias?”

“We’ll see you there,” Torni said. The Osprey rotated its tail toward them and opened its cargo bay door.

****

Hale released Stacey. She stumbled a step forward, then turned and swung a punch at Hale.

The Marine swayed back, her fist missing his nose by inches.

“You son of a bitch!” Stacey’s fists shook with anger, but she didn’t attack Hale again. “What the hell do you think you were doing?”

“Trying to save us,” Hale said. “Malal’s price, whoever you promised to sacrifice to him, isn’t worth the cost. We’re better than that, Stacey. I won’t just stand by and let you—”

“You have no idea. None. You don’t know what we’re up against. What’s coming for us.” Stacey’s head cocked to the side. The blood flushed through her face. “You’re lucky—damned lucky—Malal is alive and this ended well.”

“We should destroy that thing while we have a chance,” Hale said.

“You just don’t get it. Malal
is
our only chance.”

****

Stacey had never seen Valdar so angry. The captain’s face had been flushed since he joined her on the flight deck. He snapped terse commands to the bridge crew through the gauntlet of his void suit in between scans of the void just outside the ship.

Stacey fidgeted against the ill-fitting EVA suit she’d borrowed from a locker and touched the box with the data crystal mag-locked to her utility belt. Valdar had completely ignored her since their rendezvous on the flight deck. Stacey kept her mouth shut, not wanting to draw his ire.

She turned her attention to the construction on Luna. Glowing rings radiated out of Lovell Crater. Running lights from orbital weapon platforms blinked against the void, forming a phalanx of energy cannons, rail guns and fighter bays around Earth’s original natural satellite.

“How long?” Valdar asked her.

“Admiral Garret wants to—”

“How long!”

“Four years. The
Breitenfeld
was in deep space for that long. You and the rest of the crew were in stasis the whole time,” she said.

“Not you?”

“I spent most of the time on Bastion. I came back to the ship when needed. Good thing, too. The defenses on the Crucible would have blown the ship to bits when it came through if I hadn’t warned them what to expect,” she said.

“So you know what they did to my ship? Why didn’t you stop them? Tell me?”

“Malal and Torni repaired the jump engines with fragments of the Crucible you destroyed. That kept them busy for two weeks. They had plenty of omnium and time on their hands to do something constructive and…here he comes.” Stacey pointed to an approaching shuttle and donned her helmet.

The shuttle set down and lowered its ramp. A pair of black-armored Rangers jumped from the sides and scanned the flight deck. Each held a rifle with a glowing crystal built into the weapon just above the handgrip.

“Clear, Admiral,” came from one of the Rangers.

Admiral Garret descended down the ramp. He looked older than Stacey remembered. His hair was grayer and he had more lines on his face. The rank stenciled onto the shoulders of his void armor had the five stars of a fleet admiral.

Garret looked at the burnt line where Torni’s disintegration beam cut into the bulkhead.

“Looks like you had some trouble,” Garret said.

“Disciplinary matter. I’ll handle it,” Valdar said.

“Stacey,” Garret touched her on the shoulder, “nice to see you in person again. Going through Pa’lon to talk to Bastion hasn’t been easy. Not that I didn’t like your holo messages. Come on, your grandfather’s waiting.”

They boarded the shuttle and were in the void moments later.

The Ranger bodyguards kept their weapons in hand. Neither took their eyes off Valdar and Stacey as the shuttle accelerated.