When the Stars Fade (The Gray Wars) (42 page)

             
Aboard the dreadnought, Eruk whispered the evensong of the Drova Waste and closed his four eyes. He was not known for patience, but for now he could endure.

*              *              *              *              *

              Charley was watching the monitor when the anomaly simply disappeared. One moment the large formation of muffled dots was on a course for New Eden, the next gone. The Room Leader waddled over, munching on a pastry. She spilled crumbs on his desk as she leaned over his shoulder. Her perfume was offensively strong, a flowery mixture of chemicals and compost.

             
“Chucky
,”
she said, spraying flakes of her dessert onto the back of his neck
.“
Wha
t’
s this I hear about you contacting SP? You know i
t’
s my call to make
.”
Her voice was sickly sweet, but Charley heard the malice underneath
.“
Are you trying to sneak into my job
?
”

             
Charles sighed
.“I’
m sorry, m
a’
am. I saw something that caught my attention and you were indisposed. I had to make a decision
.
”

             
“But tha
t’
s not your decision to make. Do you see why that would upset me
?
”

             
He placed his head in his hands
.“
Look, you were gone. If we did
n’
t get ahold of SP, the situation could have turned into something ugly. You would have done the same thing
.
”

             
She laughed, a horrid and wet sound
.“
Oh, I do
n’
t think so. I did
n’
t get where I am by crying wolf every time an Observer broke down
.”
She put her face close to his, blood red lipstick glistening as she clucked her tongue
.“
Honestly, Chucky, I just do
n’
t know what to do with you. You realize this is your second warning for overriding authority
?
”

             
Stacey stuck her head up, eyes wide
.“
M
a’
am, h
e’
s telling the truth. I checked the  satellite myself. It was
n’
t reporting anymore
.”
She handed the room leader a printed out report
.“
I
t’
s protocol to report any loss to the TSI network. With or without supervisory approval
.
”

             
The fat woman scowled, her beady eyes narrowing
.“
Is this a fucking democracy?
I’
m in charge here, and
I’
d appreciate it if you stopped taking these liberties with your job. If you do
n’
t like it,
I’
m sure you can find another line of work elsewhere
.”
She slammed her palm on the console and shuffled away, grumbling under her breath.

             
Charley looked over at Stacey, mouthin
g“
thank you
.”
She smiled and rolled her eyes, ducking back down to her terminal. When his boss was out of sight, Charley opened up the report on his computer. He could
n’
t understand what had happened. The Observer went down after reporting a spacial disturbance akin to a Blue Space exit. Then the dots had appeared on the radar. Everything pointed to an unidentified object, or many objects, traveling through the system. SP had
n’
t seemed at all surprised that h
e’
d found something worth looking into. So where had it gone?

             
He thought back to the short conversation with his wife, remembering the thoughts that had gone through his head when the
y’
d spoken. Now he felt like a fool, screaming the sky was falling. He shook his head. It was better to be cautious and he knew it. Now, because of his gut, he might be looking for another job. Figured the
y’
d shoot the messenger.

             
Something stuck in his head, a feeling he could
n’
t quite shake. Charley opened up the news report regarding Tallus, looking for the report made by the node crew. Somewhere in that file there was a similarity. He was sure of it. He just had to find out what to look for.

-                           
XIV                            -

              There was no more time to wait. Camero
n’
s filters were red lined, and he could sense the thinning oxygen in his darkening vision. If he activated the ship, h
e’
d had enough time to make a single maneuver, but the frigate would probably destroy him before he got anywhere. H
e’
d fixed his ejection lever, but the same problem existed.

             
It had seemed like the best course of action at the time. To the rest of the alien armada, he must have looked like a piece of debris. When the fleet broke off to hide behind the far orbiting gas giant, Camero
n’
s frigate had continued on until it was only a few thousand kilometers from the moon Kronos. From his cockpit, Cameron saw the winking lights of different stations and satellites, all within range of his radio. But if he sent a message, the alien ship might detect him and destroy him. It seemed that every choice would lead to him getting shot.

             
The catch-22 lasted until the blinking red warning light became a solid glow on the console. If he waited much longer, he would die anyway. Add to that his damaged wing and slowly overheating fuel rods, and the Phoenix was fast becoming a death trap.  Cameron sat in his canopy, sweat dripping down his face, and planned.

             
A shudder brought his attention to the Boxti frigate. From the far side, something flailed in the dim light of distant Eros. As Cameron watched on, jaw dropped in amazement, a strange creature emerged onto the hull. It crawled in zero gravity on five limbs, each both foot and arm in one. It wore a jumpsuit and mask to protect it from the harsh environment. For a moment, Cameron could
n’
t help but sit and stare. H
e’
d only seen the Nangolani on TV, but they at least were humanoid. This was...unreal.

             
It dawned on him that the creature must be conducting a routine inspection of the ship. With only so much ground to cover, it would
n’
t be long before the Boxti crewman saw the human fighter caught up underneath the belly of the frigate. His timeline, it seemed, had just been accelerated. Cameron squeezed his eyes shut, thinking back to a mechanical lesson regarding the Phoenix drive core.

             
While larger Terran ships utilized cold fusion systems, fighters operated with compressed hydrogen slush and powered fuel rods. The way these two sources reacted inside the sealed chamber only a few feet from his head could be described as volatile, but only if the word had a tamer meaning. Given the warnings that persisted even in auxiliary power, Cameron figured he did
n’
t have much time before the entire ship became somewhat less hospitable. And less not-on-fire.

             
He worked quickly, flipping switches that deactivated key safety features in the fighter. His fingers hit buttons that he had been expressly told never to touch, causing alarms to activate even in auxiliary power. The entire ship seemed to be asking what exactly he thought he was doing. Cameron paused to wipe sweat from his eyes, knowing how precious each breath was as the air turned warm and sour in his mouth. Finally, figuring h
e’
d done as much damage as possible, Cameron prepared to leave his perch.

             
A fighter pilot comes to see his ship as his home, and Cameron had come to love his battered old Phoenix. She was
n’
t his first, but this model had kept him safe for the last few years. It seemed a shame to leave, but the only thing left inside was death. He strapped into his seat, tugging each strap of the five-point harness to test the link. As he looked up and pulled his helmet on tight, the Boxti turned to face him. Its black eyes widened in a comical expression, and it pointed with a three-fingered hand/foot. He waved back and engaged the engine, stomping down on the afterburner.

             
Flames shot out the back of the Phoenix, scorching the alien hull. The journey had practically fused the two ships together, and instead of shooting away the human fighter began to rotate the jumbled vessels. Slowly but surely, the larger frigate began to turn. Holding on for dear life, the Boxti crewman screamed and shook its head. Cameron could only guess what it was saying, but figured it was the same as he would do if their roles had been reversed. The frigate shook violently, fighting the sudden movement caused by the Phoenix.

             
Another alarm sounded, this was even more dire than before. The engine compartment had reached a critical temperature. Ca
m’
s neck burned from the intense heat generated behind him, but he kept the afterburners rocking. He gritted his teeth, counting the rotations in his head and watching the moon spin past every fifteen seconds. His timing had to be perfect. He released the afterburner and tapped his foot against the canopy, finding the rhythm in the spin. At the last moment, as the moon began to rise into view, he gripped the yellow handle by his seat and pulled as hard as he could. The canopy exploded outward, rocketing past the frigate and out into space. Centrifugal force shot the pod at breakneck speed, pressing Cameron deep into his seat.

             
Cameron used small bursts of his control jets to spin around just in time to see the Phoeni
x’
s engines go critical. Heat from the fuel rods burnt into the hydrogen chamber, igniting what remained of the accelerant. When the chemicals mixed they sparked, blossoming into a bright white fireball. The explosion tore the frigate to shreds, sending chunks of the alien ship spiraling in all directions. He braced himself for the shockwave, which hit like a jackhammer moments later. Shoved by the force of the fireball, Camero
n’
s escape pod shot toward Kronos, trailing smoke.

*              *              *              *              *

              If he had
n’
t been waiting for the shuttle, he might have missed it. Overhead, clear in the night sky, a brilliant star appeared and disappeared in moments. Josh and Dax looked up and shouted, pointing to the other soldiers around them. Zev, who had been resting in the truck, peeked his head out and glared. But his face softened when he saw the brilliant display.

             
“What the heck was that
?”
Dax asked.

             
Josh shrugged
.“
Maybe a satellite
?
”

             
Zev shook his head, pulling himself from the vehicle. He still favored one leg as he hopped over to the two men
.“
Could
n’
t be. They do
n’
t carry enough fuel to make that big a boom
.”
He pulled out his night-vision goggles and turned them on, staring up into the dark
.“
Ther
e’
s a lot of debris. Jesus, must have been a collision or something
.
”

             
Josh frowned. Something had suddenly caught his eye that was significantly closer to home. A burning light, growing brighter every second. At first he thought he was imagining it, but there was definitely a sound as well. A roar that became louder and louder. By the time he realized what it was, he was already shouting
.“
Incoming
!
”

             
The burning ball of light roared just overhead before crashing down in the canyon nearby with a momentous BOOM. Soldiers struggled to hold their ground as the earth shook from the impact. Josh was moving before anyone even registered the sound, racing toward the smoking crater. Dax and Zev were right behind him, with Alexa sprinting to catch up.

             
“What the hell
,”
Dax called out
.“
Where are you going
?
”

             
Josh, leading the pack, ran as fast as he could, the wind rushing past his head.