Omega Rising (26 page)

Authors: Joshua Dalzelle

BOOK: Omega Rising

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"Well, I can't leave you lunatics to your own devices, that much is certain... I'm in," he said to cheers and wide smiles.

"I am happy you've decided to continue leading us,
Captain
," Crusher said as he squeezed Jason's shoulder hard enough to make him grit his teeth. Kage smiled and edged over to the cargo bay computer terminal and started flying through menus and commands. Doc walked over and grabbed five more bottles of a local ale they had been drinking while the others began to discuss the details of their new arrangement. The computer's voice halted their conversation.

"Crew manifest update confirmed. Captain Jason Burke, commanding officer." They all looked over at Kage, who just smiled.

"Now it's official," he said, accepting a bottle of beer from Doc as he rejoined the group.

"You know," Twingo said, "we really should name her." He gestured around him at the ship. The others nodded their ascent.

"Captain?" Doc asked. "What do you think?" In truth, Jason had already been thinking about it for the last few days, afraid to say it out loud.

"In my world's mythology there's a creature, a bird actually, that is reborn in fire. It rises up from its own ashes. In a very real way, it's the same with all of us, and even the ship herself; we've all burned away our previous lives and have been reborn new. It's called the Phoenix," Jason said.

"A powerful name," Crusher approved. The others nodded as well.

"Am I to be included in this new unit?" Lucky asked suddenly, silent up to that point.

"You've earned a spot here, if you want it," Jason said. "But it's up to you. You're welcome to stay here as a crewmate and a friend for as long as you wish, and later if you decide you want to leave, we'll drop you off anywhere you want with your cut from the ship's treasury. The same goes for all of you, this is a strictly voluntary force."

"Thank you, Captain," Lucky said. "I would indeed like to stay and serve with you. All of you."

"Glad to have you," Jason said with a smile. He resisted the urge to try and shake the synth's hand; he wasn't sure Lucky's grip wouldn't accidentally crush all the bones in his own hand.

"So what are we going to be called? It's a little clunky to introduce ourselves as 'The Group of Guys Who Help People and Then Break Their Things,'" Kage said with a grin. They again deferred to Jason, watching him expectantly.

"You guys don't want to vote on any of this stuff?" He asked jokingly.

"While we're all friends, you're our commanding officer. Whatever this becomes will be molded by you, and the choices you make," Doc said seriously. Jason stared out at the heavy rain and took a long pull off his beer.

"Everything has a beginning and an end, an alpha and an omega," he said as he stared out over the spaceport, voicing a line of thought that had been in his head since they had landed. "By the time we have to get involved, it will be as a last resort for most, at the very end of hope for the people that we'll encounter. Who we are should speak to that, both for the people we’ll be helping and those we’ll be helping them against." Captain Burke paused and looked his crew over again, this wasn't going to be an easy life they'd just signed up for, but it could be hugely rewarding if they had the dedication and mental toughness for it.

"Gentlemen, we are now Omega Force."

Epilogue:

Jason Burke shuffled out onto the back porch of his cabin and took in the view. It was late summer and the sun was just setting over the Rocky Mountains, splashing the sky with muted oranges and pinks. Beautiful. Being back on Earth had a surreal feel after what he had been through, it was as if he was now a stranger on his own world and he began to feel anxious to leave again. He had come back to get his personal belongings, but once he was back he realized that he didn’t really have anything he wanted to take with him. He’d been hiding here for so long, just going through the motions of living... he’d not realized how empty his existence had become while wallowing in self-pity.

He felt like he’d been given a second chance with Omega Force. He had the ability to make a real difference again, but this time on his own terms. The same drive to serve that had made him enlist in the Air Force, and then volunteer for special forces in basic training, was pushing him again to embrace this new role. This time would be different though; as Captain of the Phoenix he would decide who and what he would fight for. He would no longer be grist for the mill, risking his life for causes that weren’t his own and a government that didn’t care.

He sighed and turned to walk back inside, closing the door behind him. He had also come home to tie up any and all loose ends, and was mildly depressed to find that he didn’t really have all that many. The rest of the crew was doing the same, spread out among the stars, each closing out what remained of their former lives. They had flown to Pinnacle Station a couple weeks ago and the others had taken commercial flights to where they needed to go. Since Earth obviously had no flights available to it, Jason flew the Phoenix home.

He had no living family save for an aunt and uncle that lived in southern Oklahoma, but he hadn’t spoken to them in years. The only thing he had in the world (at least this one) was a little bit of cash saved up from his active duty days, a beat up truck that wasn’t worth much, and the cabin his parents had left him long ago. He had written a letter to the only person left on the planet he cared about and left instructions on how to get to the property the cabin was on and how to go about legally claiming it. After debating on how much to say, he had settled on a simple goodbye and good luck.

He eyed the two military duffle bags that were sitting on the living room floor, the sum of his worldly possessions, and then checked his watch. The Phoenix was sitting in high orbit waiting to hear from him, he hadn’t wanted to risk it being discovered by leaving it grounded while he took care of his business. When it was dark enough he’d access the ship via his neural implant and have it come and get him. He would be a few days early to Pinnacle by leaving that night, but he didn’t have any reason to hang around on Earth.

He heard the front door to the cabin open on squeaky hinges and, expecting the worse, spun around to face whatever was coming in. When he saw who it was his heart began to hammer in his chest almost painfully, but not from fear. Standing in the doorway, blonde hair framed by the fading light of day, was her. She stood there, as beautiful as ever, his one true regret.

“Hi, Jason,” she said softly. “I got your letter.”

Maybe the guys will be waiting at Pinnacle for me instead.