Logos (Link Book Three), page 23
“This allows you to move faster within a wormhole?” Joanna didn’t know that was possible.
“According to the math, we can actually arrive in two days,” Gar said.
“Ten ships.”
“Yes.”
Joanna watched Kennedy. “What do you think?”
“Me?” Kennedy didn’t hesitate. “We have no choice.”
“Okay. One Zen-Class cruiser will join us. Connect the ore to nine of our warships. Cadre Chief Khar and Gar can bring a crew of Hiphol that you trust. The rest stay at Pluto until the war is over. Understood?”
“Yes,” Khar agreed. “It would be my honor to escort you to Ethos.”
“You’re coming?” Kennedy asked.
Gaines had done enough sitting behind a desk. With Black gone, she needed to act, not be an idle participant. “I’ll go to Ethos with you.”
“Cool.” Kennedy turned to Gar. “You heard the boss. Prepare the ships. We’re leaving today!”
____________
Jane waited by the Starline, eager to visit the Oniri Band.
There was some commotion in the colony, but Henry wouldn’t delay their departure. Jane wondered what they’d find when they arrived at their destination.
Primum and Ambassador Cunningham wore armored suits, and Jane locked her helmet on, then connected the HUD to her Slab.
Henry motioned to the Starline, ordering Primum to touch the surface. The clone did as commanded, and Jane’s breath caught in her lungs while they were transported off Ethos. The moment she landed, a message passed to her Slab and scrolled down her HUD.
Luke showed up with the human captives and Valentina. The fleet will be here sooner than anticipated. Tomorrow, maybe the next. I know you’re away, but… I love you, Jane Vanderbilt. I had to tell you… before… Good luck.
Jane reread it, and by Henry’s expression, he’d gotten a similar message, without the last part.
The Starline near the Band was illuminated by lights within a cavern on an asteroid. The dropship Henry had originally flown there lingered outside, parked on the surface of a remote planetoid.
“Shouldn’t we go back?” Jane asked.
Cunningham shook his head. “All the more reason to gain control of the Link. Perhaps we can modify it in time, trapping the enemy.”
“The ambassador is correct,” Henry said. “Our job is here. Minister Black and Calvin will defend Ethos.”
“Where is it?” Cunningham gazed beyond the cavern they found themselves in. The symbol on the Starline dimmed when Primum stepped to the exit.
“Follow me.” Henry walked outside, and Jane gasped at the view. They stood on an asteroid in a field of hundreds. One moved so closely, Jane flinched as it floated by. The dropship remained a hundred meters from the Starline.
“It’s marvelous,” Cunningham whispered, and it took Jane a moment to understand what he referred to.
A lumpy rock drifted away, giving her a clear shot of the Oniri Band in the distance. The gigantic black ring of Oniri was impressive, but her gaze fell on the sphere in the middle. This far out, it was barely visible, but Jane sensed the latent power within. Watching Ambassador Cunningham, she questioned if he felt it too.
Henry opened the dropship’s hatch, and they crammed into the tight quarters as the air cycled. Primum spilled into the vessel first, and Henry hurried to the cockpit, where he turned the engines on.
“Maybe we can close it before the Hiphol arrive,” Jane said.
“That would be ideal.” Henry guided the craft off the surface and cautiously maneuvered through the cluttered field, avoiding the rest of the asteroids.
The flight was quick, and soon Jane faced the Oniri Band’s control sphere. It was hazy within, but Henry had promised there was nothing to fear. He’d explored it only days before and found it completely empty.
“Check again,” Cunningham ordered.
“There’s no need—”
“Henry, send the drones in.”
The power struggle was short-lived, and Henry relented, shooting a trio of drones into the sphere. Instead of having color, the surface was pure black, like the light of the distant star wasn’t permitted within the Link.
Henry played the feeds on the viewscreen. “I’ll be damned.”
A platform sat in the precise center of the kilometer-wide sphere, large enough for a person to stand on. As Henry had explained before, symbols shone in the air, and Cunningham gazed at his arms, which were covered by the protective suit.
“This is what I was born to do,” he said. “Bring us in.”
Henry didn’t delay. The blackness surrounding the sphere encompassed them, then broke away after a moment. Markings flew by the dropship, remnants of an ancient civilization who’d constructed the Band, and subsequently, the Link. The Locus had found this ages ago and mined the Oniri in order to construct Link generators on their planets. When they fought, then separated, the Locus stayed on Yezon, and the Hiphol harnessed the powerful tool.
But the Oniri Band was meant for more than giving the Hiphol a military advantage over the galaxy.
“What happened to the creators?” Jane asked.
“My guess is…time happened.” Henry flew to the epicenter, slowing near the platform. It was shaped in a hexagon, completely black and smooth, not unlike the Locus Control Rooms. A second energy field surrounded the dais.
“Is the air compatible?” Ambassador Cunningham already had his helmet off.
“That’s not a wise idea,” Henry said.
“I have a feeling my tattoos should be exposed,” the leader of the Sun Colonies advised.
Jane swallowed as he started to undress from the spacesuit.
“The field is impenetrable by the drones.” Henry tried to breach the sphere with the device, but it failed and floated away uselessly.
“I’ll go.” Primum was on his feet, marching to the airlock.
“You can’t,” Henry ordered. “You’re our ticket home, Primum. None of us can use the Starline.”
The clone halted.
“Let me.” Jane stared at the anomaly, curious what it would feel like to stand in the middle of the Oniri Band controls.
“I’ll do it.” Henry locked the pilot dash, and before Jane could convince him otherwise, he was in the airlock.
“Henry always was rash,” Cunningham said when the seal beeped and a tethered Dr. Abimbola pushed off the dropship’s hull, then hovered to the energy shield. It didn’t stop him as it had with the drone. Henry vanished into the sphere, but his voice carried through the speakers.
“I’ve made it,” he assured them. “The HUD claims the air is compatible, though there’s a compound I am unfamiliar with. Perhaps I should…”
“Get back to the ship, Henry. I won’t have you risking your life too.” Cunningham finished removing the suit and set it aside in a neatly folded pile. Without the robes he constantly wore, Cunningham looked frail. He was older than she’d thought, and it showed as he shivered in the cockpit.
Primum gathered his robes, offering them to the ambassador, and Cunningham quickly dressed.
When Henry returned, their leader stood at the edge of the airlock, preparing for what came next.
“What did you see?” Jane asked him.
“Nothing.”
She’d expected something revolutionary, perhaps a vision like she’d had in the Thinking Chamber. “Nothing at all?”
“I was shrouded in darkness.” Henry paused by Ambassador Cunningham. “I’ll bring you to the edge. Just step through.” Cunningham clipped a tether to one of the loops in the robe. “Where’s the earpiece?”
“I…”
Primum slid a palm out, passing the ambassador their point of contact. He slipped it into his ear and touched it until they were linked.
“Do you know what to do?” Jane asked him.
Cunningham shook his head. “I’m hoping that becomes evident. I was only instructed to wear the markings by my predecessor.”
Jane worried it had been too long since instructions had been given to the leader of the Sun Colonies over three hundred years ago. Like any game of telephone played by children in her classes, the narrative was drastically changed by the end.
“Good luck.”
The weight of the moment hung over them in the dropship, and Cunningham stood at the hatch, touching the metal for a quiet minute.
“I’m in position,” Henry said from the cockpit.
The secondary hatch slammed closed, and their only hope opened the ship to the interior of the sphere. Cunningham glanced at Jane, and she’d never seen such a terrified expression. He stepped off, and onto the platform beyond.
“Is he okay?” Jane ran to the cockpit.
“Ambassador, come in!” Henry called, but the link with his earpiece was cut off. “I knew this was a bad idea.”
“We don’t have a choice,” Jane reminded him.
“Cunningham, are you—”
They faced the dais where the ten-foot-wide energy field surrounded it. Ambassador Cunningham was in the center, his toes dragging on the black material as he floated with his arms extended toward a cluster of flickering symbols. They spread out, enveloping him.
His mouth hung open, and even from that distance, Jane saw his eyes were rolled into his head. Her stomach knotted while the man in charge of twenty billion humans was suspended in stillness, the tattoos on his arms, wrists, and hands burning brightly, smoke rising off his flesh.
Ambassador Cunningham’s voice crackled in the speakers, and Jane had to strain to hear what it was he repeated.
“…we made a mistake…mistake…take…”
He lifted higher, the flashing icons accelerating. His words became unintelligible.
Then he was gone. Not transported. Bits of Cunningham floated in the sphere and flew past the barrier, some coming to land on the dropship’s cameras.
Jane screamed in horror.
TWO
“I like what you’ve done with the place.” Luke walked into the colony with Lilly and the rest of the survivors.
“You made it!” Lois barreled into him, hugging him for longer than was necessary.
Lilly raised an eyebrow. “Who’s this?”
Luke cleared his throat. “A friend. Lilly, I’d like you to meet Lois.”
“Pleasure is all mine. Luke wouldn’t stop talking about you,” she said.
“Is that so?”
“Not really. Luke is a man of few words,” Lois told her.
“I wish you were the same,” he muttered.
The original domes were still there, but that was where the similarities ended. Dozens of large buildings had been set up around the town, and construction continued on the far side of the community. There was a massive tower nearby, finished in the style he’d seen on Pathos. With fifty thousand to house, Luke guessed they had nearly enough space, but the colony ships gave them room for expansion in the future.
If no one eradicated them in the next couple of days.
“Come on, the gang wants to say hi.” Lois waved them to follow her into a dome, finding the crew of Excursion Two.
“Hey, pal.” Kendrick clapped him on the shoulder. “Glad you didn’t die.”
“Likewise.”
Cleo hugged him, and Jas bumped fists with Luke.
“Is my son here?” Seye Abimbola asked.
“Not at the moment,” Clea told him.
“I’ll bring your new friends to their quarters. We have a level on Passage prepared for them,” Kathy Nightingale said.
Lilly frowned. “Is that a ship?”
“Yes.”
“Would it be all right if we stayed in town? I think we’ve had enough of starships for the rest of our lives,” Lilly said.
“I can arrange that. Follow me.”
“You go ahead. I have to talk shop,” Luke said.
Lilly kissed his cheek. “They need you, but so do I.”
“I’ll be careful.” He kissed her again, and watched while the group wandered after Kathy, who eagerly described the city surrounding them.
“I can’t believe you actually did it,” Kendrick said.
“Next time, bring some backup, Dalton.” Jas shoved him in the shoulder.
“Where’s Val?” Cleo gazed to the ship they’d landed in minutes earlier.
“With the fleet.”
“Is it true the Hiphol might be here as early as tomorrow?” Lois asked.
“That’s what we think.”
“Damn.” Kendrick sipped a beer.
“Maybe you should wait until we’re done kicking the Hiphol’s asses to celebrate.” Lois grabbed the beer and dumped it in the laboratory sink.
“I wasn’t done with that!”
“I’d like to say I missed you guys, but…” Luke noticed someone walking toward the dome and grimaced. “Give me a second.”
“Don’t take too long. We need to discuss the ground assault!” Lois called as the dome’s door closed behind him.
Luke’s worlds were set on a crash course, and he couldn’t steer them apart. “How in the hell did you get here?”
Callie smirked, crossing her arms. “Was that her?”
He nodded.
“A little skinnier than I imagined.”
“You try living in an alien mine and see how you do,” he said.
“Don’t worry, Luke, I’m not here to split up the happy family. What we had is long gone. I’ve moved on,” she told him.
“Good.” Luke gazed at the night sky, where hundreds of blinking lights shone in orbit. Calvin was working overtime to get the defenses in place. He’d heard their plans, and had to admit they might stand a chance. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“Ambassador Cunningham selected me to join his team. I flew Passage to Ethos.”
“You?”
Callie gave him a smug look. “Me.”
“The ambassador let the leader of the Deniers pilot his colony ship.”
“Keep it down. These people will lynch me. Cunningham knew…and I was never the leader. You know that.”
“What do you want?”
Callie pursed her lips. “Luke, I’m sorry.”
He didn’t know how to respond.
“I was wrong.”
“Seriously? What are you up to? If you try anything, I swear—”
“I won’t. I struggled back then, blinded by rage.”
“What’s changed?”
“This.” She spun in a circle, gesturing at the city. “I understand that a warning was sent to Earth before Excursion One was even a glimmer in Linus’ eye. They had to unite everyone. Our ancestors knew that aliens existed and wanted to protect the Sun Colonies.”
Luke tried to assess her, wondering if she was telling the truth. He believed what she said, but that didn’t mean Callie did. “So?”
“I did something bad,” she said.
“Don’t I know it.”
“Not then… more recently.”
Luke had missed a lot since leaving Pathos for Ivoth. While he was gone, Earth had sent ten thousand colonists, and the other colony resided on Ethos. He’d learned how they’d captured a Cadre of Locus in the Zen-Class cruiser. Luke had been informed about their disappearance from the ship. “You didn’t…”
“It wasn’t like I helped them escape. I just didn’t divulge everything.”
“And you waited to tell me?”
Callie shrugged. “I guess you’ve always made me feel guilty.”
“What didn’t you share?”
She offered him a Slab with a map of Ethos. A dot glowed some distance from the colony site. “What is this?”
“I tagged their leader, Rallin.”
“You put a GPS tracker on him and didn’t tell Calvin?”
“I’m supposed to trust the guy who killed all my friends in the Solar War?”
“Yes!” Luke’s shout gathered some attention, and he faked a smile, hoping the colonists would move on. “Yes,” he hissed. “What are we supposed to do with this information?”
“Take a team and find them. I was weighing my decision, but believed there was time. Since you’re claiming the Hiphol fleet is scheduled to arrive soon, we’ve run out of options.”
“You want to pair up with me and ambush two hundred trained enemy soldiers in an alien forest?”
“In a nutshell.” Callie nodded at him. “We have to stop them. The colony is hidden by the trees, but Rallin knows where it is. What happens if the Hiphol send a Cadre to Ethos and destroy this place? Fifty thousand dead in minutes.”
“I have to report this to Brooks.”
“I get that.” Callie bit her lip, and he wished he’d never met the woman. “Will you help?”
Luke cracked his neck and glanced at the dome, where Jas, Kendrick, Cleo, and Lois tried not to be obvious as they spied on him. “I have just the team.”
____________
One day.
It wasn’t enough time.
The fleet had run their training sessions on repeat for a week, but nothing would prepare them for the real battles. Calvin’s own experience had proven all plans went out the window when the first bullet was fired.
He walked through the empty halls of Excursion, wishing they’d used a different vessel to set a trap in. The ship was unlike anything in the modern era, and he’d grown comfortable with the craft. They’d spent months traversing wormholes from Earth to Caelum, Caelum to Ethos, then on to Pathos and back. Calvin had been content to spend his days running patrols between Saturn and Link Station, but in that moment, he couldn’t even recognize the man he’d been during that hiatus.
Cal reached the bridge and read the engraved message above the entrance. Through the stars we find our home. It was true. He’d found it in Ethos, and with Jane Vanderbilt. Her ancestor was seated inside with Fred Wallace and William Trellis. Three assistant robots rounded out the group, but only Atticus remained offline.
“Glad you could make it,” Will said. “We waited on you.”
Jane was adamant Atticus might be able to help their cause, even if he wasn’t willing to give the information. They were under the assumption the Hiphol had reprogrammed Atti and didn’t want them to have whatever data that lay within.
