BETH

Lisa Rands. Why had it to be her? Beth could not let it go. Why would Saif recruit the most uncanny type of people? The thought struck her, maybe that was the idea. To phase her off balance by bringing in her old rival into the game. It had affected her, it really had, so the strategy was justified.

Beth decided. She had spent too much time pent up alone. The attack by Carl had taught her things, if she had been under Saif’s influence she would not have been able to strike down his soldiers, but she was able to. This was evidence, something she could trust. It felt good to have been able to help, to have saved her brother and even the short discussions later. She had felt normal. But then it became too much, too many voices speaking and she had needed to retreat back to safety: her private quarters, to her thoughts. To calm down again. It was time to break the cycle of her behavior.

The axe leaned against the seat’s armrest, she grabbed it and left. The door slid closed behind her.

Dr. Birgitta’s lab was not new to her, but she had never visited it in person, only watched the feeds when studying the scientist’s research. She was not noticed at first, Birgitta was engulfed in her work. Completely sucked into it. It almost felt rude to interrupt her flow.

“Doctor! Dr. Birgitta!” Beth said, holding the axe on her side.

Birgitta turned and her smile widened. “Beth! Hi! If I knew you were coming I would have prepared something. You brought the axe, how did the field test go? Tell me everything”

“Not too great. I have been thinking about some improvements,” Beth said. “It’s too light, way too light. Carl caught it in mid air without trouble or consequence. I didn’t like that.”

Dr. Birgitta nodded. “Yes, yes. I can fix that. I think I will need the assistance of Miss Williams to solve the joints, but other than that I think it will be a minor issue. More, do you have more ideas? Don’t hold anything back.”

This moment brought back memories from their shared time at the Au-delà. Their discussions about the aliens and her power. The synergistic effect of their back-and-forth, they really were competent together.

“There is little reason to make the blade sharp. After Carl deflected it, the axe embedded itself into the ship’s bulkhead. I also believe that its edge will lose its sharpness quickly. My strength is all about blunt force, what if we put a lump of rock or a ball of metal on the end instead?”

“Why not?” Birgitta said. “I will construct this new iteration of the weapon and get back to you. Are you going to the bridge?”

Beth noticed the rack of tubes on the workbench, the flesh creature’s samples. “Yeah. I want to know the plan and our route.”

“Good luck,” Birgitta said. “And Beth, it is good to have you back.”

Beth smiled.

-

The Final Sight’s design was distinct compared to the Au-delà and really all the ship she had traveled on in the past. Everywhere you looked, design decisions were made to increase efficiency and lean into practical solutions rather than elegant ones; easier to maintain, easier to switch out parts. She could only imagine all the redundancy built into the vessel. How much damage could the ship withstood and still function? What if the ship was cut in half?

The name was ridiculous! Final Sight, as if this ship would be the last thing its enemy saw before being obliterated. A childish name. The Au-delà’s name had a symbolic value and a deeper meaning, whereas the Final Sight was all about warfare.

Because she had navigated through a handful of ships before, learning her ways around a new one was instinctive. Most segments were connected to each other in the same manner. There was a reason you placed the fusion reactor in one place and nukes far away from it. The bridge was roughly located at the same location. Why not place it in the center of the ship? The view screen would function anyway. It might be a legacy decision.

The bridge’s bulkhead door was already open. Captain Samuels observed her approach.

“Beth Shepherd,” Captain Samuels said. “You are up and about. I like that. Please, feel free to roam the ship at your leisure.”

The Captain’s first thought had not been to ask how she felt. That had to be intentional. There was more than brawns to this man. She had not thought about that before, but the Captain watched her as if he calculated the threat she posed. She didn’t blame him, she could tear this ship in half if she wanted to.

“Captain,” Beth greeted him.

Milo noticed her arrival, getting up from his seat. “Beth! I knew it.”

“You knew what?” Beth asked.

Milo stepped forward to her, he was not afraid of her strength. “If you stepped out from that room just one time, you would feel incited to do so again. The explorer in your heart compels you to. You even have your metal skin pulled away and you seem in a good mood.”

How could this innocent man be able to fuel his power with blood and adrenaline when she couldn’t? Was his connection to his power that much better? It was strange.

“Maybe so,” Beth said.

Diego brought a scanner towards her. “You are still suffering from a mild case of dehydration. The fight cost you quite a bit of water. You should drink more water.”

“I will, Doc,” Beth replied. 

“Milo, you said you transformed into a lightning bolt. Can you be more specific?” Diego asked. “I need to understand the details, in order to be able to support you.”

“I fueled with adrenaline to transform into the form and once more to transform back. The amount was equal on the two transitions. There was a small cost of fuel when I held the form, but it was nothing compared to the transitions,” Milo said. “I really became a bolt of lightning. Flying through the ship at light speed without eyes, without tactile feeling. It. It was out of this world. As if I steered intuitively. My body reached the goal I have intended, or the one it thought I wanted to. I don’t know.”

“Right. So, adrenaline is the new deposit, its depletion has other consequences to your body than blood and water. For example, adrenal depletion can cause body aches and fatigue. It doesn’t sound as bad as if you suffer from dehydration, but still be careful. And what would happen if the adrenaline deposit is depleted but you are still in your lightning form? You might get stuck.”

Milo glanced across the room, everyone waited for his analysis. “Well, previously I have been able to give myself a boost of energy by draining an external source of electricity. I guess it works the same. If I ever get stuck I just need a small boost. But by being careful, it will not happen. Trust me, Doc, I am always careful. I know you would miss me too much if I died.” Milo winked at him.

Diego sighed. “You don’t have to say it like that, I want everyone to be safe and that’s all. We are in deep space, separated from the rest of humanity. I cannot treat all injuries here.”

Beth stepped forward, back into the conversation. “I came here to ask: Our game plan is still to follow the alien sphere?”

“Yes. We are still right behind its tail. But there is something,” Leo said. “Capt’n and everybody, look at these charts.”

A star chart mapping their current location and what lay ahead of them was plotted across the main view screen. Stars and planets. The orb’s radioactive trail dotted out.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Yeah, what?” Captain Samuels asked. “I see nothing weird, Leo. Get to the point.”

Leo stood up and pointed at the view screen. “It stops right there. Look.”

The view screen zoomed into the sector Leo marked out. A single sun with three orbiting planets, a handful of moons and lesser asteroids flying about. None were inside the habitable zone, i.e. the goldilock ribbon, like Earth was. What a shame. But why would the orb stop here? It didn’t look like a nice place to live. But they were a mysterious species, with technology far more advanced than theirs. It would be difficult to make an accurate guess.

Captain Samuels came to his feet. “Any ships?”

“No,” Leo said.

“Electrical emissions?” Captain Samuels asked.

“No,” Leo said.

But the aliens were able to suppress electricity, so it would be natural that they were able to mask such emissions.

“Radioactive emissions?” Captain Samuels asked.

“Nothing out of the ordinary stuff you would find in space and especially in the proximity of a star,” Leo said.

“What about the star?” Captain Samuels asked.

“Pretty much the same as the Solar System’s sun,” Leo said.

“Light signatures of the planets?” Beth interjected, the Captain was taking too long.

Leo turned his console around and queried the computer. “A moment. We have readings. But the results are weird.”

“They are aliens. If they are not weird, I would be suspicious,” Beth said.

Milo chuckled by her side.

Captain Samuels leaned forward. “You and Birgitta are more alike than I thought. You share the same frame of mind. But these are just dead planets. The orb has spent its fuel and is looking for resources. It is marooned. That is my idea.”

“Capt’n, please. We cannot possibly know its intent or methods to achieve said intent,” Beth. “Well, at least we can be pretty sure it is going home.”

Captain Samuels frowned. “Isn’t that a little contradicting, Miss Shepard? First you state that we could not know its intent and then you blurt out that it is probably on its way home. It might not even have a home and is making us chase it around half the galaxy. It might be the last of its kind. Or the alien orb is its own home with trillions of beings existing within it. We can’t know. Speculation feeds into assumptions and that will get you killed. We don’t do that Miss Shepard.”

A rude man. Straight to the point, stubborn and full of himself, very alike Admiral Harris. Speculations didn’t lead to assumptions. Speculations helped you develop concepts before you faced them. It made jumping to the right conclusions so much easier. Her first impression of Captain Samuels Adam had been that of brutish strength and forward moving will, but there was some stuff behind that forehead of his and she didn’t like what it shaped up to be. He called her ‘Miss Shepard’, but she didn’t have the care to correct him, it was not worth the effort.

“Should I respond with ayay, Capt’n? Are opinions that conflict with yours even allowed on this boat?” Beth asked.

What would he do? Shove his shotgun to her face and pull the trigger? Would it even tingle underneath her metal skin?

Milo stepped forward. “Please, be civil towards each other. We don’t need this right now. We fight our enemies, not ourselves.”

Captain Samuels sighed, making his way back to the Captain’s seat. “You are not crew, you do whatever you feel is right.”

And that was that. The briefest debate she would ever have. Even the participants three years younger than her back at Callisto would be able put up a proper argument. The great Captain of the Final Sight turned tail. But what did that tell her about the man? That he would not commit to a fight that could not be won. Like his behavior back at Europe13, when he had wanted to leave her behind and use her struggling as a distraction.

The game changed.

“Wow!” Leo said, his fingers tapping across the console. “Wow, wow! Captain! Cap! Look, look!”

Beth forgot their small fight and turned to the screen again. Wow, indeed.

“What happened?” Captain Samuels said.

“The star,” Beth said. “It shrunk, it became a white dwarf in the blink of an eye.”

That was madness. She had expected the aliens to awe her, but this was so far beyond her wildest speculations, that it was difficult to grasp. What had they done? How did stars age? By consuming its fuel. Could the aliens harness the power of stars so absolute that they aged them? What in the world would require that much energy?

The game changed.

The start blinked out. And that was not the most remarkable thing that happened.

“Oh fucking hell,” Leo said. “The solar system. The star, its planets with moons and all just vanished.”

Beth swallowed. “Vanished? That can’t be correct. The sensors must be wrong. The ship must have taken a hit from the dreadnought, which screwed with the sensors.”

“Our ship is never wrong,” Captain Samuels said.

“No, wait. It looks like something is encapsulating it,” Leo said. “You see these readings? That thing around the solar system, it is made out of metal. They encased the entire system with a structure.”

It was just too big, too much. How could this have been hidden from them? An object this large could not have been cloaked and have its emissions masked. Or could it?

“Gather the crew. We need a new plan.” Captain Samuels sank deep into his seat.

CARL

Carl fell out of the portal, his hands saving his face from smashing into the floor. There was still a sliver of blood trickling into his mouth, still a little more juice left. The layer of molten rock that flowed across his body was slowed down and its heat turned down, but it was still active. To fuel with blood was power itself.

A shadow towered over him. Decha’s back slicked white hair sat atop Decha’s skinny frame. Bastard.

“You, bastard,” Carl said, coughing. “You and your fucking wormholes. This is my mission. I am leading it.”

Carl stood up, but Decha was still half a head taller than him. But Carl had lava, blood and his anger turned calm. But where was Amanda? She had followed him to the enemy ship, but she was nowhere in sight. A sick feeling bubbled in his stomach.

Decha stepped to the side, a new portal opened where he had stood. Carl landed on his back on the floor as something heavy and cold crashed into him.

“Hey! What the hell!” Lisa said.

“How difficult can it be?” Decha said. “The reactor chamber’s seal needed to be cracked and their ship would have blown up and we won. You stood by it. How difficult can it be?”

The goddamn arrogance of this bastard. Carl shook his arms, shoved Lisa off him and took a step closer.

“You value your own life, is that it? Ah, pathetic. If Saif would have asked you to dive into an icy lake you should not have hesitated,” Decha said. “This hunt could have been over.”

“Fuck you,” Carl said.

“Well, I could have dived into it, instead of him,” Lisa said.

“Your heat is warmer than before and that blood trickling from your mouth, you fueled with blood, didn’t you?” Decha asked.

Both of Decha’s hands were closed into fists still, there would be little delay if he decided to rip open new wormholes and not the heat of any volcano could counter that. Carl bent his knees and closed his own hands into fists. If he was to have any chance he would need to act fast and distinctively.

“Yeah, I did,” Carl said. “Where is Amanda?”

Decha stepped forward, the fool gave him the opportunity. “Tell me. How did you fuel with blood? I need the specifics.”

“Where is Amanda?” Carl said. The molten rock acting at his barrier slouched across his body agitated. “Where is she?”

“Right there.” Decha pointing behind him.

Carl turned.

Amanda’s upper half, her torso and head lay in a pile of blood and gore.

Decha held the cold gaze. “She had trouble getting through, got caught in something. My portal closed on her, slicing her in half.”

“No! You bastard!” Carl yelled, leaping forward, streams of liquid fire shooting out from his palms. The portal enveloped him and his ass landed on the hard floor. Shaken, he looked around and rubbed his bottom. He had landed smack down inside one of the cells in the brig. The cell was stark and grey, the door transparent but too strong for his heat. He let the blood retreat and the molten rock dissipated. A headache bloomed in the place of the power. Was that normal when fueling with blood? Fueling with water had never given him a headache.

Lisa fell through a different portal, landing in the cell besides him. She said something, but he ignored her.

Carl slumped down into the corner. Amanda was dead. She had always been the stronger one, she could not die, and not like that. Decha had murdered her.

“Give me the details,” Decha said as he entered the brig.

Rage burnt hot in Carl. Seeing the man that had doomed their mission and left Amanda behind. His power would be difficult to summon with this rage, but turning rage into calm was his thing.

“Tell me, or I will portal you into space,” Decha said, brandishing a fist in clear view.

Carl recognized the distinct sound when one of Decha’s portals came to life, but before they expanded. Behind him, there was that dark spot floating in mid air.

Decha leaned forward. “Tell me.”

What were his options?

“Lean into your hook. Really, really lean into it. You will know if the blood deposit grows distinct or not. When it’s tangible, tear into it,” Carl said, knowing how simply the explanation was. But there was not really more to it.

The dark spot expanded into the size of his head and view of space became distinct inside the swirls of darkness. Stars twinkled in the distance and cold dripped through, but there was no change in pressure.

“Is that all you can say?” Decha said.

There was no way he could convince him, Carl would die here. “Lean into it.”