CHAPTER 2

2237

Titan II Space Station

Earth’s Orbit

Bethany was unsure how long she had been sitting on the cold steel floor. She had been dragged there immediately after being saved from falling into the breach and the entire station was still in a panic. She imagined it had been about four hours before she succumbed to the torturous sound of the blaring alarm and flashing orange light. Her lips were cracked, her throat so dry it hurt to try and swallow. Every breath took more strength from her. Despite that, she maintained a clear mind. Anger would only drain more of the little energy she had remaining.

Bethany had her arms crossed over her knees, with her head resting on her wrist. She wondered what sort of punishment would be deemed appropriate for her crimes. In the past twenty-seven years on the station, there had been no serious crime, only petty squabbles among civilians, generally stemming from romantic issues. The punishment for those incidents was usually simple: a few days in the brig or sometimes, a couple of weeks of undesirable labor such as waste management. Chief of Station, Captain Jimmy Anderson, had done a good job of keeping people in line, at least until today.

Back on earth, attempting unauthorized access to information above one’s clearance level was deemed serious enough to land the offender decades of jail time. As she sat there, face resting on her arms, the thought filled her with dread. Still, it wasn’t her punishment that weighed most heavily on her. It was the Vindex in Machina mechanized armor. Bethany had not seen that armor in almost three decades, but she had spent enough time with Riley to immediately recognize it.

Bethany pulled Riley’s journal out of her back pocket. She flipped through and stopped on the page with a sketch of the Vindex mech. Judging by the sketch, Riley knew the suit inside and out, despite not being an engineer or scientist. He understood the workings of every part of the suit. It was one of the reasons Bethany had a hard time believing the journal was the product of a fractured mind. Time travel seemed the only thing that made sense. She dropped the journal and rested her back against the wall. It was far from comfortable. She gathered saliva in her mouth and swallowed; anything to ease her thirst. Contracting her throat muscles made them burn like fire. She winced, then she sat up. She was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she didn’t notice the alarm stopping.

Two more hours passed. Bethany wondered if they had already forgotten about her. She hadn’t been interrogated, which usually was the first stage before being placed in the brig. She had expected Ethan to be the one to question her, under the supervision of the Chief of Station himself. She understood the gravity of the crime she committed. She also knew the breach was of far greater concern than her offense. The breach was unlike any she had ever seen before. It opened on its own, without a receiver. In every other case, there was a device to receive the quantum signature of the incoming transmission. This one appeared to have opened spontaneously. Bethany wondered where the energy that held the breach open on this end originated. Where was the place on the other side of the breach? She saw grass, which meant it had to be a planetary surface. But Earth had gone dark, surrounded by a black cocoon of unknown origin. Where was the Vindex in Machina mechanized armor, and was Riley truly inside it?

Bethany was taken away from her thoughts by the sound of two muffled knocks on the detention cell door. It was six inches of solid steel. She heard the knock due to the gap between the blast door and the floor, which allowed for air circulation as Titan’s cells didn’t have a dedicated air supply. Bethany lowered her head toward the floor.

“Bethy, you okay in there?” a soft female voice said on the other side.

Bethany’s brows raised as she gave a labored response. “Lily, is that you?”

“Aye aye, missy. Heard you got yourself in quite a pickle. What happened?”

Bethany couldn’t maintain her posture for more than a minute before a heavy pain shot up her head. She curled up again, then rested her back against the door.

“You can’t get caught doing this, Lily. They’ll lock you up too.”

“Don’t worry about me, old-timer.”

Bethany managed a painful chuckle. “What’s happening out there?”

“No one knows yet; they’re keeping things under wraps. They said someone tried to break into the server room. I’m guessing that was you.”

Bethany already knew that part. “That’s all they said?”

Lily paused before responding. “Is there more to it?”

“Lily, I need to get out of here. I need to speak with the captain.”

“Way ahead of you,” said Lily.

The door clicked four times, clanked, then clicked again. Bethany dragged herself away from the door. As she turned around, it slid open. Lily, a soft-faced girl with cropped blonde hair and facial tattoos, stood at the entrance. Sayeed towered behind her with a crooked smile on his face. Lily stepped aside for Sayeed to enter the brig. He held out his hand to Bethany and she took it. As soon as she stood up, she fell back to the floor. Sayeed caught her, threw her arm over his shoulder, and effortlessly lifted her to her feet. Bethany groaned and bit her lip, but she didn’t say a word. It was all too sudden for her weakened body. As she struggled to get her feet under her, another agonizing headache struck and she groaned loudly. Her vision was blurred and she fell again. Sayeed held her more firmly.

“Tell me I won’t have to drag your ass all the way out of here, doc,” Sayeed complained.

“Just give me a minute,” said Bethany, her eyes still closed.

Lily hurried into the brig and threw Bethany’s other hand over her shoulder. As they stepped out through the door, another alarm sounded, blaring throughout the space station. This time, the light was red. Bethany opened her eyes, took her hands from Sayeed and Lily’s shoulders, and pressed her palms over her face. Without support, she fell again. Sayeed caught her and, frustrated, held her arm more firmly.

“Did we cause that?” Sayeed asked, looking at the flashing red light.

“I don’t think so. The door isn’t connected to the alarm system. I checked,” Lily answered.

Sayeed dragged Bethany along the hallway, while Lily scouted ahead to ensure no guards were in their way. They made it into the elevator without incident. Lily pressed the ‘LF’ button and the elevator started moving. She took Sayeed’s canteen from his belt, opened it, and held it to Bethany’s mouth. Bethany snatched the bottle from her hand. Even in her weakened state, her thirst granted her a burst of energy. She impatiently poured the water into her mouth, spilling some down her chest.

Lily took the canteen from Bethany. “Easy tiger. You can recover properly when we reach Isaac’s quarters.”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The elevator stopped and hissed open on Residential Level F. Lily peeped out, then signaled them to follow her. Bethany was now fully awake and moving on her own, but Sayeed still offered some extra support. They crept along the hallway. Suddenly, Sayeed grabbed Lily with his hand over her mouth and dragged all three of them into the mess hall. Lily gasped, but Sayeed’s hand muffled the sound. The mess hall was dimly lit by the flashing red light, an ideal hiding place. A group of armed soldiers ran along the hallway, feet stomping heavily on the floor. In a moment, they passed by the doorway. Sayeed removed his hand from Lily’s mouth. She turned to face him and stuck her tongue out. Sayeed glared at her and pointed at his ear.

Lily rolled her eyes. “They’re gone.”

Bethany took a deep breath. “Did the breach open again?”

Lily was confused. “What breach?”

“Back in the server room, I saw one.”

“Wait,” Lily held her hands up. “You’re telling me they have a spatial ring set up in the server room?”

Bethany shook her head. “No. It opened on its own, without a ring. That’s not all. I saw Riley on the other side of the breach.”

“Riley?” Sayeed raised an eyebrow. “The guy we served with during Doomsday? The one with the journal you won’t shut up about?”

Bethany nodded.

Lily took Bethany’s hand and looked into her eyes. “Are you sure?”

“Not exactly. I saw his mech; I don’t know if he was inside.”

“You saw the Vindex armor?” Lily smiled. “Intact? Where was it?”

Bethany felt faint. She had been standing for too long. She staggered toward the nearest chair and sat down.

Lily joined her. “Is that even possible? A breach without a receiver? How would that even work? You need the energy to activate the breach. It has to come from somewhere, right? Without a ring to stabilize it… it sounds farfetched, to me.”

“I know it does but I also know what I saw. I can’t explain it.” Bethany shook her head again. “I believe Riley’s somewhere out there.”

Sayeed laughed. “Out there where? Earth died. The cocoon is absorbing whatever’s left alive down there. There’s nowhere for him or anyone to be.”

Bethany looked down, biting her lower lip. She decided to keep the rest of the information to herself. She could tell they already suspected she was crazy. If she told them that she saw the armor on a planet with organic life, they would stop believing completely.

Lily stood up and paced around the room. “I’m not supposed to tell this to either of you, but they have us working on a ship that’s supposed to be capable of FTL.”

“FTL? You’re developing a faster-than-light ship?” Bethany asked.

“Yeah. It has a quantum drive, and it should be capable of superluminal speeds.”

“Superluminal?” Bethany tried to stand up but quickly fell back into the chair. “Isaac and I developed a quantum drive a few years before the invasion. Even our most advanced model only achieved ten percent of light speed. That’s what they used to launch this station into orbit, and it couldn’t get close to light speed. It’s just not possible. The reactor core can’t withstand that amount of energy.”

“I know, right?” said Lily. “It’s like they’re trying to blow us up or something.”

Sayeed rubbed his forehead. “Titan was secretly improving your drive, even before we left earth. On my last mission, before they locked me up, we discovered intel on a terrorist ring that bought a quantum bomb from Titan Corporation. They intended to test it out in the desert, on a town of five hundred people. We intercepted the terrorists, acquired the bomb, and I flew it into Eagle Eye, the floating eye in the sky.”

Bethany swallowed hard as she listened to Sayeed. She joined Titan’s science division straight out of college, about the same time as Isaac, and they spent years developing a quantum reactor to power ships and space stations. Nobody ever mentioned using it as a weapon. It was naïve to expect any less from a corporation as gigantic as Titan, especially one with a military division as sophisticated as the United Titan Force.

“Wait a minute,” Lily raised her hand. “You’re saying you blew up the Eagle Eye? Dude, that was like the biggest, baddest strike against the big guys in history.”

A smirk appeared on Sayeed’s face, but he did his best to conceal it.

Bethany exhaled. “You’re telling me there’s an FTL capable ship at this station?”

Lily shrugged. “They kept information locked down pretty tight, but I figured it out. I don’t know if it’s finished though, of it’s viable. They only ever gave us the work in sections, so we wouldn’t be able to see the whole picture.”

Sayeed walked to the doorway and looked outside. He returned and looked down at Bethany. “Can you walk now?”

Bethany pushed herself to her feet with a gasp. “I can manage.”

“Good,” said Sayeed. “Let’s get out of here.”

Lily took Bethany’s hand and helped her to her feet. Once she was standing on both legs, Bethany pulled her hands away, preferring to walk by herself. She generally liked doing things alone. It was why she always turned down Isaac when he offered to help her with anything. Isaac initially thought Bethany simply didn’t like him. After working together for years, he came to know her better than anybody else left alive.

Lily again grabbed Bethany. “Just let me help you, please,” she whispered.

Bethany nodded. As they started walking toward the door, they heard footsteps outside. Sayeed ducked and signaled for the other two to copy him. The mess hall’s door slid open and someone walked in. As the figure approached, it slowed down and raised its hand, showing that it had a gun. A bright flashlight under the barrel illuminated the trio in their hiding place. The figure stopped, sighed, and lowered the light away from their faces.

“I keep asking myself, why is it always you two when something goes wrong?”

They recognized the voice. It was Ethan.

“This area is currently off-limits to civilians. Who the hell did you drag along this time?” He pointed his light at Lily’s face, then Bethany’s. Lily held both her hands up, with a blank expression on her face.

“It’s rude to assume I was dragged along, sir,” Lily responded with a smirk. “I’m big enough to make my own decisions.”

Sayeed interrupted Ethan before he could speak. “Get that thing off her face, before you blind her. She’s still recovering.”

Ethan turned off the flashlight but continued aiming his gun at them. “Recovering from what?” he demanded.

Lily’s eyes narrowed. “Wait. You don’t know?”

“Know what?” Ethan replied. “What’s wrong with her?”

“We just broke Bethy out of the brig,” said Lily, “sir.”

Ethan took a few steps back and shook his head. “You did what?”

All three of them stared at Ethan in silence, waiting for whatever he decided to do with them.

Ethan tightened his lips and snorted his breaths through his nose. “Why? What did you do, Bethany?”

Bethany looked into his cold, hard stare. She was trembling and it was apparent that she was about to cry. Lily took Bethany by her shoulders. She pulled her head toward her chest and patted her back. Ethan paced around the room, impatiently.

“So, sir, are you arresting us or what?” asked Lily.

“Where are you headed?”

“Isaac’s quarters.”

“Isaac’s been taken for questioning on suspicion of accessing unauthorized data.”

“What?” Bethany gasped. “It was only me; Isaac had nothing to do with it!”.

“Quiet!” Ethan raised his hand. “Keep it down.”

Sayeed stepped closer to Ethan. “What’s with the alarm?”

“We’re still trying to figure that out,” Ethan replied. “You need to get out of sight. Tell me where and I’ll come to you.” Ethan turned around and walked out of the mess hall.

Lily bent over, hands on her thighs, and took a few deep breaths. “For a moment there, I thought Captain Titan was going to take us in,” she said with a chuckle.

Bethany was less amused. “I need to speak with Captain Anderson.”

Lily sighed. “Don’t you think we should lie low for a minute?”

“I hear you,” Sayeed told Bethany, “but the only way you get an audience with the Chief is via Ethan. We should do what he says, for now.”

Bethany nodded in agreement.

Lily gulped down some water from Sayeed’s canteen. “I know just the place.” She led them back to the elevator and pressed the button for the engine room. The door opened and they moved along a narrow path with numerous hatches, then came to another door. The door was thick, red, and had a wheel handle. Lily stepped aside and Sayeed grabbed the wheel. With a few grunts, he was able to turn it and the door opened. They stepped into a small room with large pipes running along the walls. Lily dropped to her knees and moved a group of cables aside, revealing a hatch. She lifted the hatch and revealed a hole about two feet wide. A ladder descended into it. Sayeed and Bethany both stared at Lily.

“What, the big man is afraid of small spaces?” Lily joked. She stepped down onto the ladder and descended out of sight. “I’m waiting!” she called, her voice a muffled echo.

Bethany went next, helped onto the ladder by Sayeed. He immediately followed her to ensure she wouldn’t fall off on the way down. A few minutes later, they stepped off the ladder into a large area with no light. Lily wandered away from them and disappeared into the darkness. Sayeed called after her, but no response came. Eventually, the lights turned on, revealing a large empty room, again with cables on the walls.

Lily took a bow. “Welcome to my favorite spot in Titan Country,” she said. She turned toward Bethany and Sayeed, then she froze. Her eyes widened with horror.

“Lily, what’s wrong?” asked Bethany.

Lily was looking straight past them, trying to speak but too shocked to find the words. Bethany and Sayeed turned around to see what had affected her so greatly. When they looked back, neither of them could believe their eyes. Bethany screamed and fell to the floor.

Sayeed stepped back and stumbled. “Oh, shit!”