Crossroads of Fate (Cadicle #5): An Epic Space Opera Series (4 page)

“We know we’re prepared,” Ian said. “It’s just a lot to take in.”

Michael looked around the table, and everyone nodded. “Tell us what you need and we’re there.”

Wil flashed a heartfelt smile, his nerves beginning to settle. “Thank you. I’m grateful to have all of you by my side.”

Beneath the dedication, though, he could tell they were still on edge. They needed some time to decompress, and he did, too. There was no knowing when they might get another break. “Let’s cancel practice for the next two days. You deserve some R&R.”
Besides, there’s nothing we can go over now that will make any difference.

Curtis and several others looked shocked. “No practice for two whole days? What are we supposed to do?”

“I don’t care,” Wil replied. “Sleep, get drunk, get laid. Whatever you want. We leave here with no regrets.”

“What about you?” asked Michael.

“I’m going to focus on being an attentive husband, for once. I trust you’ll be able to fend for yourselves.”

Ian, for one, was having no difficulty getting behind the prospect of free-time. “Maybe,” he said with a devious glint in his eyes.

As much as I want to think we’ll get through the war just fine, there’s no knowing what sacrifices we might need to make.
“All joking aside, make this time count. These are the last two days of freedom we may get.”

“—For a few months, or even years,” Michael clarified. “Then we can have all the free-time we want. No more war hanging over our heads.”

He’s right, I can’t show any doubts that we’ll win
. “We just have to commit and get through this. All of us. Together.”

There were determined smiles and nods around the room.

“Now, go relax and have some fun. Just try not to go too
crazy.”

“Us? Never,” Ethan said with a playful smile.

There were more than a few other mischievous grins, but Wil had no real concerns.
Their sense of duty is as strong as mine. They’ll be rested and ready when I need them
. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a beautiful woman waiting for me with a bottle of Tararia’s finest liqueur.”

Curtis exchanged glances with Ethan. “How do we get in on that?”

Wil cracked a slight smile. “I thought you might ask. I’m afraid you’re on your own with the women. But, the high-class booze I stashed in the supply closet down the hall might help with that. Locker P-0187.” That prospect perked up even the most serious men in the group. “It’s so good that it might just be illegal on a few planets. Enjoy.”

“Oh, we will!” Ethan exclaimed.

“Let it never be said that I don’t take good care of you.”

“We’d never think of it,” Michael said.

Now I just have to take care of you when it matters most.

*       *       *

Most of the Primus Elites had retreated to their own personal corner of Headquarters to process the transition—some following Wil’s advice, and others contemplating their own thoughts and their place in the fight to come. For Michael, it was a time of quiet reflection.

After ensuring the equitable distribution of the pomoliqueur, he’d headed for the spaceport on the surface of the moon. Though he couldn’t look down on Earth, he enjoyed taking in the familiar star constellations.

The presence of someone approaching pulled him from his thoughts. He glanced over and was surprised to see Saera’s former roommate and longtime friend, Elise, heading over. He had rarely spoken to her since Wil and Saera’s wedding, but she had a combination of self-confidence and humility that Michael found to be good company.

“I thought I might find you up here,” she greeted after a moment.

“Looking for me?” Michael asked.

“Saera told me about the deployment,” Elise replied, casting her dark eyes down. “I doubt I’m far behind you.”

“We’ll need everyone in their own way.”

Elise came to stand next to him, placing her arms on the railing in front of the panoramic window. “We’re living in crazy times.”

“I’ll say.”

They stood in silence for a few minutes.

“Are you scared?” Elise asked at last.

“I’m not sure,” Michael replied truthfully. “On the one hand, I’m apprehensive about heading into a dark unknown and know that we’ll be putting our lives on the line every moment we’re out there. On the other hand, I’ll still be with my best friends. I have complete faith in them and know we’ll be successful.”

“I wish I felt so confident.”

“Oh, you’ll be fine.” Michael gave her a playful nudge.

“Yeah, yeah.” She cracked a smile, keeping her eyes on the starscape.

Michael examined her profile, finding her quite striking in the starlight. “Really, why did you come find me up here?”

Elise took a slow breath, finally glancing up at him. “You’ll look after Saera, won’t you? She’s my best friend. I’m going to miss her like crazy, but it’d be easier knowing that someone has her back.”

“I think that’s Wil’s job as her husband.”

“I know, but he’ll be busy leading everything. You and Saera knew each other from before, right?”

Michael tensed. “Yeah, since we were little kids.”

“So you care about her, too. You know where I’m coming from.”

“I do, but things are a little more complicated when it comes to us.” Michael returned his attention out the window.

“She’s always dodged my questions when I’ve asked about you two,” Elise said slowly.

“That doesn’t surprise me.”

“Did you have a falling out?”

Michael let out a short breath through his teeth. “Not exactly.”

“What then?”

“She was going through a rough time. I wanted to be there for her, but instead she ran away. It took me a long time to come to terms with why she did that,” he admitted.

Elise nodded. “So you cared about her as more than just a friend.”

“We were kids,” Michael said with a shrug.

“And now?”

“Now I have a lot more important things to worry about than my childhood crush.”

“I guess we all do,” Elise murmured.

“Don’t worry,” Michael continued. “I’ll be looking out for her, just like I’ll be looking out for the rest of my friends.”

Elise relaxed against the railing and smiled. “Thanks.”

“Who’s going to be looking after you?”

Elise flushed. “I guess I’m on my own.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“Well, apparently hanging out as the sidekick to a secret dynastic heir isn’t a great way to get noticed as an individual.”

“Tell me about it.”

She laughed. “Oh, right! I guess you’ve been down that road, too.”

“I knew who Wil was from the start. He told all the Primus Elites on our first day.”

“Lucky you, being in the inner circle.”

“I’m far from that.”
Who knows what it is Wil and Saera are keeping from us.

“Well, regardless, Wil is lucky to have you as a friend. Based on what Saera has relayed to me, he counts on you.”

“We’re a team. We try not to let each other down.”

“For what it’s worth, I don’t think the Bakzen stand a chance.” She grinned.

He smiled back. “Thanks.”

Elise pushed off from the railing. “Now, if you don’t have anything better to do, I heard they were going to open up a special dessert buffet. No better send-off to a deployment than a proper sugar high, right?”

“Was that an invitation to join you?”

She gave him a sheepish shrug. “I figure us sidekicks should stick together.”

“Okay, deal.”

*       *       *

“Can you believe we head out in two days?” Cris asked his wife. The news from Wil and Banks about the expeditious deployment was more of a harsh reality than a shock.

Kate linked her arm around his as they situated themselves on the couch in their quarters. “It’s all so surreal.”

Leaving their familiar and comfortable home was going to be difficult, despite the time they’d spent on the Vanquish over the years. This trip was different.

“How’s Wil holding up?” Kate asked after a pause.

“Well enough. He wants all this to be over.”

“I can relate.”

Cris leaned back. “But I wonder if it really will be over once the Bakzen are gone.”

Kate brought her head to his chest. “There’ll still be another enemy out there. It won’t truly be over until they’re gone, too.”

The Priesthood will bury evidence of the war and then move on to their next scheme to perpetuate their control. We’ll never be truly at peace until they no longer rule Tararia.
“I’ll do everything I can to accomplish that in my lifetime. After what everyone has been through with the war, we need to look toward a better future.”

“I’ll be right there alongside you through it all.”

Cris held his wife close. “I couldn’t do any of this without you.”

She smiled up at him. “You lucked out, then, because you don’t have to.”

*       *       *

“I have to say, the liquor stash was a great idea,” Saera commented as she took another sip of her pomoliqueur.

Wil smiled back at her. “You can thank my dad for that one.”

“Best in-laws ever! Sorry you got stuck with my family.”

“It’s not all bad.”

Saera sighed and patted his leg. “That’s nice of you to say. At least we don’t have to see them often.”
It helps that we’re literally not living on the same planet.

“Do you ever miss Earth?” Wil asked.

“I may have lived there, but it was never a real home—at least not with that family.”

“Then the TSS came along…”

“At that moment, my entire perspective changed. I
really
didn’t know what I was getting into!” Saera chuckled to herself, thinking back on how out-of-place she’d been in the TSS at first, when things that she now took for granted had seemed like magic. “But, this is where I found the family I always wanted. I wouldn’t have done anything differently.”

Wil wrapped his arm around her. “I can’t believe how far we’ve come.”

Saera snuggled up to him. “I know, right? It’s hard to believe there was a time before we knew each other.”

“Not just that,” Wil clarified, “but how things were for the first few years. Sneak around just to see each other…”

“That was exhausting!” Saera exclaimed. “And for
years
! How did we manage to keep it secret for so long?”

“We’re just that good.”

She laughed. “I guess we are.”

Wil disentangled from Saera just long enough to top off their glasses with more pomoliqueur. He handed her glass back to her.

“To better times,” Saera said, raising the drink for a toast.

“To better times.” Wil clinked his glass against hers and they both took a sip.

She sat in quiet contemplation for a few moments. “How long do you think it will take before we can get back to this?”

Wil slumped back on the couch. “I have no idea.”

“I guess we don’t even rightly know what we’re walking into, huh?”

“No, we really don’t.”

Saera felt him tense next to her, and she took his hand.
That wasn’t the right thing to bring up.
“We need to enjoy these times while we can.”

The anxious worry evaporated from Wil under her gentle touch. “Thank you for keeping me grounded.”

“Always. I’d do anything for you.”

“And I you.”

Saera polished off her drink and set down the empty glass. “No more heavy talk.” She climbed onto Wil’s lap, straddling him. “We have two days to ourselves. We need to make the most of it.”

Wil placed his hands on her hips. “How do you propose we do that?”

“For starters, I’m going to consume an inadvisable amount of chocolate.”

“Your phrasing makes me hesitant to endorse that plan, but okay.”

“Also, no checking email or anything work-related for the next two days.”

“Agreed.”

“Good. Now, I believe we have a backlog of terrible movies to watch.” Saera pressed herself closer to Wil, drawing him in for a kiss.

“Do I have to pay close attention?” He slid his hand up the back of her shirt.

“Absolutely not.”

It was time.

Wil looked out over the empty TSS spacedock above the moon. Only the Vanquish and a handful of shuttles remained. The fleet was deployed, committed to the war. His fleet.
I can’t believe we’re leaving.

But, the reality was sinking in. A place that was once so filled with life was now barren, grim. When Wil and Saera had been married on that same spacedock two years before, the war had still seemed so far off. Even with the TSS backdrop and Banks as the officiant to serve as reminders for his other duties, the wedding had highlighted a commitment in Wil’s life that transcended anything to do with the Bakzen and impending war. Yet, as much as he wanted that love to be the driving force in his life, he had to focus on his responsibility to the TSS—a purpose he was born to fulfill.

“Ready?” Saera’s voice pulled Wil back to the present.

He turned to see that all the Primus Elites had gathered behind him at the dock. Saera was standing a few paces in front of the group.

“Yes, let’s go.” Wil led his team up the gangway onto the Vanquish, with Saera by his side.

Cris, as captain of the Vanquish, met them at the top of the gangway. “Welcome aboard,” he said as Wil crossed over the threshold.

“Reporting for duty, sir.”

“You and Saera can accompany me in the Command Center. We have the officers’ lounge reserved for your men during the trip over.” Cris gestured down the hallway.

Wil nodded. “Thank you. Michael, make sure everyone gets settled in.”

“Yes, sir. See you on the other side.” Michael led the Primus Elite trainees away.

Wil, Saera, and Cris were left alone in the hallway. “How are you doing?” his father asked.

“Ready to get to work,” Wil replied.

Cris smiled. “I know that feeling.”

Wil glanced in the direction of the Command Center. “We should get going.”

“Right.” Cris led the way down the hall.

Saera grabbed Wil’s hand and gave it a squeeze.
“I’m here for you,”
she said telepathically.

“Partners, just like always.”

The Command Center was abuzz with final systems checks in preparation for departure. Wil’s mother, Kate, was in the First Officer’s chair directing the cross-checks. She smiled at Wil and Saera when they entered, but quickly resumed her duties as Cris made his way to the Captain’s chair next to her.

Wil and Saera took seats at the back of the Command Center by the main door. The spherical room curved overhead and below the transparent floor, wrapped in a massive viewscreen that gave a 360-degree view of the surrounding space. The two command chairs were in the center of the room, and the pair of consoles in front were occupied by the ship’s pilot, Alec, and the tactical officer, Kari. They had been a part of the crew for almost Wil’s entire life, and he couldn’t imagine the Vanquish without them.

After a few minutes, Kate nodded to Cris. “Everything is in order.”

Cris took a deep breath. “Okay. Alec, lay in a course for the Prisaris rift gate to H2.”

“Aye.” Alec made the necessary inputs on his console. “Ready.”

“Take us out,” Cris commanded.

Wil felt a wave of anxiety as the Vanquish pulled away from the dock. A knot started forming in his chest.
Stars! Keep it together.
He reached over the armrest and took Saera’s hand. Her soft touch gave him the reassurance he needed.
I’m not in this alone
.

The Vanquish pulled away from the spacedock and into open space beyond the moon.

“Make the jump to subspace when ready,” Cris instructed Alec.

“Initiating jump sequence.” Alec made the final inputs.

A low vibration emanated from the floor and soon filled the air. The space surrounding the vessel changed to shifting blue-green as it made the jump to subspace. The Vanquish followed the set course through the SiNavTech navigation beacons. Wil held Saera’s hand and sat in silence for the duration of the travel, trying to keep his mind from wandering too far into thoughts of what would come next. 

The Vanquish dropped out of subspace near the Prisaris shipyard. As a key production facility for TSS ships, it was a familiar location for Wil. Five years ago, he and his father had brokered the arrangement that allowed the TSS full use of the shipyard in exchange for licensing his independent jump drive design to SiNavTech. The shipyard had enormous production capacity, but lack of TSS resources had caused production to begin winding down several months prior, and most of the finished ships had already been sent through the rift gate.

On the far side of the shipyard, the rift gate was suspended in open space. The ring dwarfed even the largest of the vessels at the shipyard, designed to accommodate several carriers in one transfer to the other dimensional plane. It had replaced the smaller rift gate located several star systems closer to Bakzen territory, which had previously linked H2 with the rest of the Taran worlds. Traditional rift gate designs required the entry and exit points to be at an identical place relative to normal space, but Wil had consulted with some of the TSS’ other engineers to successfully link the new gate to the existing gate at H2, despite the relative physical distance in corresponding normal space. The innovation had enabled more effective transportation of the new vessels from the Prisaris shipyard, and had also allowed for a greater buffer between the vulnerable mid-production vessels and the encroaching enemy.

Wil surveyed the remaining ships throughout the production yard as they passed through.
If these are the only reserves, then I need to make sure to limit losses. We couldn’t begin to replenish the fleet with so few.

As the Vanquish neared the giant ring, Alec initiated the start-up sequence for the rift jump. The ring lit up, and components along the inner track began rotating around the ring’s circumference. The rotation accelerated until the movement was soon a complete blur. The space at the center of the ring began to take on the familiar blue-green hue of subspace. With a flash, the subspace portal became a fully formed tunnel to the other dimensional plane. It was difficult to see the portal, but Wil’s trained eye detected the bending of light around the surface of the event horizon where light was being reflected back.

“Gate is stable,” Alec announced.

“Take us through,” commanded Cris.

The Vanquish slipped through the event horizon at the center of the ring. A shudder ran the length of the ship as it made the transition to subspace. For a moment, everything was still. Then, the ship dropped into the rift on the other side of the gate.

Wil shifted in his chair. The energy on the other side of the rift felt different from his home plane, and it always took a minute or two to adjust. Looking around the Command Center, it was apparent that the other Agents felt uneasy, as well.
Better get used to it. We’ll be here for a while.

Gazing out the front of the spherical viewscreen, Wil was struck by the changes around the headquarters structure. When he had last visited H2 five years before, to test the prototype IT-1 jet, the cylindrical structure and rift gate ring were the dominant features in the echoed starscape. To his relief, Wil saw new spacedocks branching in all directions from the core H2 structure, hosting several massive carriers and fleet support vessels for medical, food, and repairs. In his limited view, the combat fleet had multiplied by at least twenty-fold.
This is more than I was expecting.

“They’ve been busy!” Cris commented from the captain’s chair.

“I can’t believe this is all here, just out of view,” Saera said with audible awe.

“There’s a lot we can’t normally see.” Wil rose from his seat at the back of the Command Center and stepped forward to stand next to his father’s command position. “I wonder where they want us to dock.”

“I already sent out a docking request,” Alec said. “It looks like we’re being directed to one of the outer platforms. They’re full up.”

Cris frowned, his brow knit with confusion. “Bomax.”

They knew we were coming, right?
“I’ll take one of the shuttles over. That way, I can begin getting oriented as soon as possible. I hope it’s okay if my men remain here for a few hours, until I know where we’re staying.”

Cris nodded. “Yes, of course.”

“Thanks. Saera, want to come along with me?”

“Sure.” She rose from her seat.
“Where is it we’re going?”
she asked him telepathically.

“I’m working on that.”
At the door, Wil turned back to give a parting wave to his parents and the rest of the Command Center crew. “See you soon.”

“Good luck!” Kate called out as Wil led Saera from the Command Center.

They made their way to the shuttle hangar several decks below, and Wil selected one of the smallest transport vessels.
They better find room for this.

Wil initiated the start-up sequence. “This is ridiculous. How could they not have berthing set aside for the Vanquish?”

Saera buckled into the passenger seat next to Wil. “No kidding. I thought they were expecting us.”

“Me too. Banks made it sound like they’re pretty desperate for backup.” Wil completed the pre-flight check and pointed the shuttle toward the shuttle bay exit.

Saera smiled playfully. “I don’t blame them for wanting you here. I mean, you
are
pretty great—not that I’m biased, or anything. I’m not surprised you’re so in demand.”

Wil’s heart warmed.
She always knows just what to say.
The shuttle passed through the force field, and Wil swung it around toward H2. “Thanks for coming with me.”

“Thank
you
for taking me! I’ve been curious to see this Taelis guy in action.”

“He is amazingly dedicated to his job, that’s for sure.”
Knowing what I know now, his matter-of-factness makes a lot more sense. I definitely misjudged him when we first met.

The command console chirped with an incoming message. Wil opened the audio channel.

“This is fleet command,” said a weary female voice. “What is your destination?”

“This is Agent Wil Sietinen. I’m en route to see High Commander Taelis.”

A pause. “One moment.” The comm channel muted.

Wil rolled his eyes.

Saera’s brow knit with exaggerated sympathy. “They need your logistical skills more desperately than we ever imagined,” she joked.

The comm channel reconnected. “So sorry, sir. The docking coordinates have been sent to your nav computer. The High Commander will meet you at the gangway.”

“Thank you.” Wil ended the transmission. “I wonder what all that was about.”
They should be far more organized than this—something is definitely off.

“We’ll find out soon enough.”

Wil piloted the shuttle to the designated docking coordinates. They passed by dozens of vessels of various classifications. Some looked brand new, but others had charred sections, or were even missing components. He suppressed a wave of anxiety.
We’re in a war zone now. This will be a common sight.

When the clamps were securely on the hull, Wil powered down the shuttle and exited with Saera.

They had walked half the distance down the gangway when Wil spotted Taelis and some of his officers coming to greet them. He recognized the Lead Agent, Connor Ramsen, and several of the other officers from his previous visits, but there were also some new faces. They all looked tired and distraught, but they smiled with genuine happiness at the sight of Wil.

“Hi, Wil. It’s good to see you again,” Taelis said as they approached. 

“Hello, sir. You, as well.” Wil placed his hand on the small of Saera’s back. “This is my wife, Saera.”

“Yes, of course. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Taelis raised his hand in greeting, in the traditional Tararian custom. “You’re even lovelier in person.”

Saera bobbed her head. “Thank you, sir.”

Taelis sighed, deflating a little. “Please forgive the modest welcome for you and your men.”

“Well, my men are still on the Vanquish,” Wil replied. “There didn’t seem to be a docking space for anything larger than our transport shuttle.”

“Yes, sorry about that.” Taelis sighed again. “It’s been a tough few days.”

Looking closer at the faces of Taelis and his officers, Wil noticed a deep weariness.
Something definitely happened
. “What’s going on?”

Taelis hesitated and looked to Ramsen.

“I’m here now. For you,” Wil reminded them.

Taelis nodded. “Four days ago, there was an uprising on Kaldern, one of the border worlds we use as a TSS outpost. The planetary shield was disabled by the time the Bakzen attacked. We were completely outnumbered and had to retreat. A quarter of the vessels here are those that survived the attack, and we can barely accommodate the influx. We’ve been trying to reestablish our position, but resources are limited.”

They didn’t want to reassign anything they had set aside for me
, Wil realized. “I’ll assess the situation as soon as I’m briefed on the details.”