“The satellite is going down!” she announced. “We just clipped it, but it was enough!” A wave of relief passed over the crew. Caitlin exhaled. Lance finally eased up on the trigger. Seth sat up straight and let himself smile.
“The stars are with us,” he said. He walked towards the front of the command center. “The orbital relay on Europa goes quiet at least once a day thanks to electrical storms on Jupiter. When it does, they reboot the entire sensor system to get it back online. That takes about twenty minutes. They’re going to think that’s what happened. We have twenty minutes to get into the atmosphere and down on the surface.” He put his hand on Lance’s shoulder. “We can do that, right?”
“If we can leap through an orbital sensor array,” Lance said, “We can do anything.”
*
The Europa research station had a single spaceport, a large paved lot just outside of the main facility. It was not atmosphere-controlled, and anyone going between a ship and the station had to travel either in a shuttle or, if no shuttles were available, a lifesuit.
The spaceport was designed for Heilmann Drive starships and intra-stellar fighters and transports. It was built centuries after the last sublight ramscoop starship was decommissioned, and thus hardly had the space to accommodate the U.S.S. Ragnar. The massive ancient vessel took up most of the landing area and blocked the view from the station across the lot.
No one even noticed as a small gray ship, glowing ever so slightly with a purple hue, floated down from the upper atmosphere and settled right next to the U.S.S. Ragnar. With the sensors offline, the Fenghuang was practically invisible. Once it landed, and the Heilmann Drive powered off, it looked like nothing more than another errant part of the ancient sublight ship.
Perhaps when the shuttle launched, a guard should have noticed something. Perhaps an entire research station should not have taken a sensor outage for granted. Perhaps they should have been more prepared. Centuries of peace had weakened them, and that was just what Seth Garland was banking on. They did not know what it was to be at war. He would show them.
*
“Do you think I am a sin-blood fool?” Commissar Absalom growled. “Of all the ridiculous stories he could have given you, he chose this?” He sat in a folding chair across from Alena Heilmann and her crew, boring into them with his pale blue eyes. He wore the dark red uniform of the People’s Republic, immaculate on every inch of his body except his left leg. It was covered in leather straps and held together with a brutal metal framework.
Absalom could not fold his leg, and had to stretch it out before him. It was broken, probably beyond ever properly healing, and he refused to let it go. Even in Alena’s time, bionic limbs were readily available, and she could not understand why he would withstand the agony and disability of the shattered extremity.
“It’s not a story!” exclaimed Sam el Titanian, one of the two men in the holding cell with Alena. He was the Ragnar’s navigator. “This is the Goddess! This is Alena Heilmann! And you cannot speak to her like this!”
Absalom shook his head. “This is deeply humiliating. I believed that Mr. Garland and I had a certain… mutual respect for each other. But clearly he does not think very highly of me. And, perhaps, if this is the best he could do, I should not think so highly of him.”
“Let me out of here,” Alena hissed. “I have done nothing wrong. I have not violated your pathetic Spatial Preservation Act. Allow me to go, allow me to fix this mess you’ve made. Let me work on improving the compression drive instead of wasting time in this cell. What could you possibly want from me?”
“I want Seth Garland!” Absalom roared. He almost came out of his chair, and might have jumped across the room at Alena. But he stopped as he put weight on his leg, grimaced in pain, and returned to his seat. “I want his ship.”
Alena shrugged. “I only knew him for a few minutes, but I know that he’ll never let you have that ship,” she said. “If he has any sense, you’ll never see him again. He’ll stay just out of your grasp.”
Suddenly, the room shook violently as an explosion ripped through the research station. Absalom was nearly thrown to the ground from his chair. He steadied himself and looked up at Alena. “I guess you don’t know him as well as I do.” He quickly scrambled to his feet and limped over to an intercom near the door. He pressed a button beneath the speaker. “Status report! What was that?” he growled.
“Some kind of blast in the western hull,” a deep voice replied through bursts of static. “Near the supply depot. We have a breach, approximately a meter in width.”
Absalom grinned. “We’re being attacked,” he said. “I will be in the command center momentarily. In the meanwhile, send down a security squad to the supply depot in lifesuits. And most importantly, scramble fighters. Somewhere in Earthspace there is a starship and I want it.”
He let go of the button on the intercom. He looked back at Alena Heilmann, who was rather upset about this turn of events. “What of your savior now?” Absalom asked. “He’s an arrogant fool. Always was. Always will be.”
Alena glared at him. “At least he tried. Someday history will look upon you as a monster. You are about to destroy everything we have spent our existence working for.”
“I’m going to save our existence,” Absalom said. “But you’re like him. You wouldn’t understand anything like that. Too blinded by ambition to see that reality hangs by a thread.” He turned away from her and limped out of the holding cell.
Alena and her crew were alone and they were despondent. They were trapped. They had no way of verifying their identities, either historically or with the Linarian government. And now it looked like their sacrifice was for nothing. Seth Garland had not taken the last Heilmann Drive and run. He came back for them, straight into the trap Absalom set.
“We should have taken the ship from him,” Sam said. “We should have known that a thief could not be trusted.”
“Then we would have been thieves,” Alena replied. “No, if this is going to be the end… It is not our fault. It is not his fault. At least he tried to—”
The doors to the holding cells slid open again. Alena and her crew immediately went silent. Four men in lifesuits charged into the room. They carried heavy laser rifles. The lifesuits were pure black, stretching from the sharp tips of the toes to the subtle curve of the skull. From the neck to the mid-thigh, they were covered in circuits and small tubes. These suits provided the pressure and atmosphere required to survive on most uninhabitable worlds. They were skin tight, but revealed little of their wearer.
“What now?” Alena asked. “Do you want to use me as bait?”
One of the men reached up and grabbed the top of his lifesuit, pulling it down over his face. First Alena saw the unkempt dark hair, then the almond-shaped eyes, and finally the wispy goatee. It was Seth Garland.
“Of course not. I’m going to get you out of here.”
*
“They have sent soldiers down to the hull breach to find you,” Alena said as they left the holding cells. Seth was back inside the lifesuit, knowing full well that everyone on the station had seen his picture. “If you go back there, they’ll be waiting.”
“Good thing that’s not where we’re going. You really think I’m stupid enough to break into this station by blowing a hole in the hull?”
“I didn’t think you were stupid enough to come back for me.”
“It’s not stupid if we escape,” Seth replied.
“So how did you break in?”
Seth stopped and looked back at her, through the mesh of the lifesuit. “I docked at the airlock. My shuttle has a Republic callsign.” He motioned forward with his hand. “Now let’s get going before they realize that the breach is just a distraction.” The rest of the crew rushed down the hall. They held their rifles haphazardly. It was obvious, even to Alena and the Linarians, that they were not soldiers or even remotely acquainted with warfare. Nevertheless, they were the only way out.
Lance, as the o
nly one among them who had ever even handled a weapon before, led them forward through the halls of the Europa base. Most of the crew were either working on restoring the sensors or securing the supply depot near the hull beach. Most likely, there were very few people between the holding cells and the airlock.
Suddenly, Lance heard footsteps as they approached a corner near the airlocks. Someone was coming towards them. He immediately signaled back at Seth, Alena, and the rest.
At first, the escapees rushed to hide in the adjacent doorways. As they scattered, Seth spun around and motioned to everyone, including Alena and the Linarians. He twirled his index finger in the air. “Act natural,” he said. “Act like we’re supposed to be here.”
Seth’s crew quickly gathered around him again. Alena and her two men followed behind him and kept their heads down. The footsteps grew louder and louder. Shadows peeked around the corner. Three soldiers in Republic uniform emerged. Alena felt her heart race as they looked up. First they glanced at Seth and the others, hidden in their Republic-issue lifesuits. Nothing suspicious there. Then they started to turn towards her and—
“Shoot them,” Seth hissed.
Lance and Leah hoisted their laser rifles up and fired upon the soldiers. They didn’t see it coming. They couldn’t. The lifesuits hid not only their identity, but their allegiance. Before the soldiers could even react, before they could even consider that the men in front of them were enemies, blue energy lit up the hallway in pulsing flashes. The laser rifles made no sound. They just left burning holes in the uniforms of the soldiers, and killed them instantly.
“Good work,” Seth said. He turned to face the one member of his crew who did not raise her rifle. “Except you, Governor. You have to be faster.”
Caitlin stopped. “Those men did nothing wrong. I didn’t want to hurt them.”
“Good thing you were alone in that, or else we’d all be dead. The only thing we have is the element of surprise. Next time, don’t hesitate.” He twirled his finger again and pointed forward, towards the airlock. “Move out. The longer we stand here, the more innocent people we have to shoot.”
No one, not even Caitlin, hesitated this time.
*
Seth pulled off the hood of his lifesuit. The airlock between the Europa station and the shuttle closed behind the escapees. All of his crew was aboard, along with Alena and her two Linarians. “We’re all alive,” he said. “Which means that we’re beating my projections. Fantastic.”
“What projections?” Lance snarled. “You had projections about this mission? About who would survive?”
“If I told you, none of you would have agreed to this. Now look at us.”
“Don’t get cocky yet,” Leah said. She was at the nose of the shuttle, steadying the controls as they departed from the station. “Their terrestrial sensors have rebooted. Once we’re a few meters away from the base, we’re going to light up their boards.”
“They’re going to launch every fighter they have,” Seth said. “But that’s not important. We just need to get to the Fenghuang and leap.” He ran his fingers through his hair as he considered the timing of their escape. “Factoring in the time it will take to warm up the Heilmann Drive and plot the leap, that will take twenty minutes. We have fifteen.” He sighed. “You want to know my projections? We’ll be shot out of the sky.”
Alena stepped forward in front of the crew. “Unacceptable. If we route the power from life support to the compression drive we can cut that down a few minutes. Then we just need a distraction.”
“I’ll be the distraction,” one of the Linarians said. It was Sam el Titanian, the navigator of the Ragnar. “We have weapons aboard the Ragnar. You go with them, I’ll take off and fight them while you get the leap ready.”
“You won’t be alone,” the other Linarian added. “It would be my honor to fight to save you, Goddess.”
“If you take the Ragnar, you’ll never outrun them,” Seth said. “The ramscoop drive can’t accelerate fast enough.”
Sam nodded. “I know. I wasn’t planning on escaping.” The shuttle was quiet. Even Alena was shocked by their devotion. The others, who had only just been introduced to the depth of the Linarian faith, were blown away.
“You shouldn’t do that for me,” Alena told them. “I’m just another person. You know how my engine works. You can be just as helpful to—”
Sam shook his head. “You are our goddess.”
“I’m no goddess!” Alena exclaimed. “You don’t have to sacrifice yourselves for me. We can figure something else out. We can—”
“Don’t be so quick to turn down their help,” Seth said. “If we have the support of the Ragnar, we will have enough time to leap.”
Alena looked at the two Linarians. They stood tall. They stood ready to fight for her, to die for her in what was certain to be a suicide mission. “Are you sure about this?” she asked.
“In the history of our people, there has never been a man asked to give his life for you,” Sam said. “We shall be the first.”
She wanted to discourage them. She wanted to tell them that it wasn’t worth it. She wanted to prove to them that she was human, that she was not divine. “There has to be another way.”
“They want to destroy everything you have worked for,” Sam said. “They want to make your engine, your life’s work, illegal. They want to make your divinity a crime.”
The two Linarians were more than ready to martyr themselves. She turned away, turned towards Seth and looked down at the ground. Could she really ask them to do this? Could she really endorse this?
“They already gave up their lives for you,” Seth told her, quietly, in the hopes that the Linarians could not hear. “How far is Earth from Linaria? Forty light-years? Even if they returned with you, everyone and everything they knew would be gone. They want to do this.”
Alena clenched her fists and had to resist lashing out at something. “All because the Republic is afraid. They want to destroy me. How could they have forgotten? The compression drive changed everything. It saved our species.”
“That was two thousand years ago,” Seth said. “It might have seemed like a short time to you, but everything has changed. While you were gone, you became a goddess and a demon.”
“I’m neither. I’m just a person.”
“You brought us the stars,” Seth told her. “Like it or not, you’re not just a person. And, like it or not, we need you again. If anyone can rebuild the Heilmann Drive, it’s you. These people worship you with good cause. Their sacrifice doesn’t just save you, it saves everything you created.”
Alena nodded. “It… It should have never come to this.” She turned and approached the two Linarians. They lowered their heads as she placed a hand on each man’s shoulder. “I truly appreciate your sacrifice. When I return to Linaria, I will tell everyone of your heroism.”
The shuttle shook as it docked with the Fenghuang. A loud grinding noise filled the air as the airlock began to open. Leah jumped up from the controls. She grabbed Sam and looked him in the eye. “Are you sure about this?”
“Generations of Linarians have lived and died without such an opportunity,” Sam said. “This is the greatest honor our people have ever known.”
“Then take the shuttle, dock with the Ragnar… And Goddess be with you.”
The airlock opened. Seth looked out of the window of the shuttle before disembarking. The fighters were already scrambling. This was going to be a close call, no matter what the Linarians did.
*
“We’ve got fighters coming in hot!” Lance yelled, almost as soon as he took his station in the Fenghuang command center. “They’re readying their weapons. They’re going to be within range in—”
Caitlin interrupted him. “The U.S.S. Ragnar has sent a message. They said that they are in the air… and to stay behind them.”
“Sublight engines online,” Lance said. “We can begin takeoff.”
“Do it,” Seth said. “And turn on th
e viewscreen.”
The front of the command center lit up, displaying the surface of Europa and the dock. The massive Ragnar floated up from the paved ground. It started to turn and face the fighters launching from the research station when two explosions rocked its starboard hull. The fighters had launched faster than expected and hit the Ragnar with a volley before it was ready.
The Ragnar reeled as it continued to ascend, tipping towards the port side. The engines pulsed, almost as if the Linarians were sending a sign that they were still alive and in control.
Seth didn’t panic. Based on his calculations, there was still a window in which they could escape. “Don’t worry about them,” he said. “And get us off the ground before we’re exposed!”
Lance stared at his control panel. He waited just a second, just long enough for it to glow a dim green, and then responded. “Initializing takeoff.”
The command center shuddered as the sublight drive engaged and the Fenghuang lifted off from the surface of Europa. Lance deftly piloted them behind the Ragnar and tapped a few buttons on his console. The ship stopped ascending and hovered in mid-air behind their Linarian protectors.