“Come with me to my room. Let me love you, Gracie.” Chance murmured against her lips.
Gracie was torn between wanting to push Chance away from the hurt she knew he was going to feel when she was gone and her own selfish desire to grab what little life she had left. The feel of Chance’s hand on her breast made the decision for her. She would be selfish and take what little happiness she could with her.
Chance squeezed Gracie’s hand as he pulled her after him out of the alcove set up as a computer room. He hated he could not give Gracie a real bed for her first time or even the promise of a full night. Instead, all he could give her was a small pallet on a cold, stone floor and a few hours at best. He resolved to make it the most beautiful experience he could for her. She deserved that and more.
They had almost reached the area he claimed as his own when Adrian came running up to them. He was breathing hard and looked pissed as hell. Chance instinctively pulled Gracie closer as his stomach knotted. Something had happened and it wasn’t going to be good.
“Fighters are headed this way.” Adrian blurted out. “Word is they are going to level this part of the city, including the holding camps.”
Gracie gasped. Her parents and sister, if they were still alive, were in the holding camp. If the Alluthans took out the warehouse down by the river then their chance at bringing down the mother ship would take much longer and more lives would be lost.
“I have to leave…now.” Gracie said. “When are the fighters expected?” She asked as she pulled away from Chance.
“A couple hours at most.” Adrian responded grimly.
Gracie nodded and looked back at Chance one last time before turning to follow Adrian. “Gracie.” Chance said hoarsely knowing his time with her was coming to an end.
“I love you, Chance.” Gracie said softly letting one of her hands run up and over his cheek as a single tear coursed down hers. “I always will.”
The next hour was a blur as the teams worked together to get everything in place. All those that could be evacuated were to areas outside of the attack zone. Gracie reviewed the instrument panel of the supply ship and hooked up her laptop to the control panel. The software program she developed quickly uploaded. She designed a type of dump upload so the program uploaded immediately than unpackaged. This made it easier to get all the files on the system as fast as possible.
Gracie nodded to the men from Team Two as they began filing out of the supply ship. Crocker looked at Gracie for a long moment before saying anything. Gracie waited patiently for him to say what he had to say.
“You know if you succeed you’ll be a hero. If your program does what it is supposed to do, you’ll have saved the Earth and millions of lives.” Crocker said gruffly.
Gracie smiled at the big man with the gruff voice. “I don’t want to be known as a hero…just as another human who refused to give up or give in. I couldn’t have done this alone. It took everyone…” Gracie’s voice faltered as her throat thickened with tears at the thought of all the senseless deaths. “…everyone who has lived and died over the past five years to get to this point. I just hope it works. I’m tired of being afraid.” Gracie ended softly.
Crocker leaned down and brushed a kiss across Gracie’s forehead. “It was Gracie’s Touch that has given all of us the hope of seeing that day. Take care, little girl, and come back home.”
Gracie nodded as she watched the big, gruff man walk off the ship. She turned all the way around and watched as the four guys who she considered her closest family walked onto the ship. Adam was first, followed by Adrian and Mark with Chance coming up in the rear.
“You stick with the plan. If you have any problems, if you get even the weirdest feeling, you abort and get your ass back planet side, do you understand?” Adam said sternly.
Gracie smiled as she watched his Adam’s apple move up and down. It was the only way to tell when Adam was upset about anything. “I understand. I will. I promise.”
Adam hugged Gracie tightly to him and kissed the top of her head. The thought of never seeing her again and being the one to give the order for her to complete this mission was killing him inside. His arms tightened for just a moment before he released her and walked out without a backwards glance.
Adrian cleared his throat. He was the quietest one of the group and held his emotions close to his heart, never letting on he felt anything. “Come back.” He ground out before brushing a kiss across her cheek and turning to follow his brother.
Mark looked down into Gracie’s eyes and smiled. “Come home to us, little britches.” Mark said gently as he pulled Gracie into his arms and rocked her gently back and forth for a moment before kissing her on the lips. “Come home for Chance.”
Gracie’s eyes filled with tears as she felt Chance’s arms come around her and pull her away from Mark. She turned and buried her face in his strong chest. She wanted to remember what he felt like, what he smelled like, everything about him. She wanted…needed…this memory to give her the strength to turn away from him and leave. Gracie bit back a sob that threatened to escape. It wasn’t fair! She should be looking forward to having a future with Chance, not leaving him. She loved him so much.
“Gracie…” Chance choked out. “I…Don’t do this. Stay. We can find another way to defeat them.” Chance said hoarsely.
Gracie was about to respond when the ground shook from an explosion several miles away. The attack had begun. Gracie forced herself to pull away from Chance and looked up into his eyes one last time.
“I have to do this. Go. Go while I still can. Go, Chance, please.” Gracie begged.
“Chance…” Adam called out from the platform. “Let her go. We need to move now.”
Chance growled out his frustration as he crushed his lips to Gracie’s in a brief, hard, passionate kiss filled with love, anger, and pain. “Come back to me, Gracie. You fucking come back to me.” Chance bit out harshly before he turned and walked down the platform.
Gracie pushed the control to close the platform door watching as Chance slowly disappeared from her sight. She blew one last kiss to all the guys and smiled before the door closed sealing her fate forever.
Chapter 3
Gracie moved into the pilot’s seat and strapped herself in. She could feel the vibrations from explosions but ignored them as she set the supply ship's course for the mother ship. She opened the front view screen panel so she could watch what was happening as she left the Earth’s atmosphere.
The supply ship lifted off smoothly and moved rapidly upward following pre-programmed coordinates Gracie programmed in. Gracie looked in dismay at all the destruction to New York. She could see the fighters to the northwest highlighted against the fires burning from their attack. She prayed everyone was able to evacuate in time. In moments, she was thrust back against the seat as the supply ship went through the Earth’s atmosphere. As the blackness of space engulfed the small ship, Gracie got her first look at the mother ship. She stared at it in a combination of awe and despair as she saw how enormous it was. It had to cover at least the size of Manhattan alone! Gracie knew if larger ships were coming the Earth would never stand a chance. She needed to destroy this one. If she could take down the mother ship it would not send for additional ones. From what she was able to learn from the files she had accessed, these ships traveled great distances alone…one mother ship and its ‘offspring’, meaning the fighters, supply ships, and ground forces. If a planet was found to contain an abundant amount of resources, then the mother ship would send for more. If not, it would use what it needed before destroying the planet and moving on to the next one. Gracie needed to destroy it before it decided either option.
She listened as the supply ship gave the needed code for admittance to the mother ship for refueling. As soon as the large panel doors opened on the outer edge of the ship, Gracie patched into the computer system through a backdoor she discovered a couple of months ago. The Alluthans were getting better at closing the doors but they were still a
rrogant enough to think the human’s too primitive to learn their language much less their computer codes. Gracie left a digital copy of her notes on deciphering both for Adam. She wanted to make sure all her work the last five years was not wasted. That was one nice thing about having parents who were researchers, they believed in taking notes and showed their children how to do it also.
Gracie smiled as the virus she uploaded finished. It was a simple one that grew every time it was uploaded to another system, changing its signature to make it more difficult to detect and it would wipe their system clean once finished. The Alluthans would lose control of everything. Gracie watched as the supply ship connected to a docking port and an arm extended recharging the fuel cells. Gracie monitored the activity, frowning when she heard a disembodied voice on one channel giving directions for the attack on specific sites around the world. They were pinpointing some of the major areas where the rebels were. Gracie patched into the channel the voice said and watched as programmed instructions flooded her screen. She frowned again as she focused on the rush of data scrolling down it. Her breath caught as she picked out keywords. Typing quickly, she began redirecting the fighters to other areas away from the original commands. Most of the areas were over open water and shouldn't pose a threat to the humans. A warning flashed at the bottom showing a probe flash as the intrusion was detected. Gracie glanced at her other screen. The program to disarm the Alluthans defense systems was almost complete. It was spreading but not as quickly as she wished. Gracie quickly typed in a few commands and watched as the warning faded.
Gracie continued uploading one code after another, determined if the Alluthans found and stopped one virus they would not be able to stop them all. She uploaded the last one and looked at the power cell indicator. Refueling was done and it was time to leave before they opened the platform to begin loading and found her. Gracie punched in the release code and waited anxiously until she heard the sound of the fuel arm disengaging. She hit the program that would take her home with a sigh of relief. Maybe, just maybe, she would have a chance to be with her Chance, she thought as a wave of hope swept through her.
Gracie felt the thrusters kick in as she started to return the same way as she had come. She was almost to the open panel doors leading out into space when a voice came on over her audio com. She listened as it gave a command for her ship to return to the docking port.
Gracie punched in a command to override the auto-command when the operator tried to take over her controls. She listened as the voice came over again.
"Supply ship 100982 return to docking port 2-225." The disembodied voice commanded.
Gracie smiled as she saw her programs kick in. She had an ace up her sleeve if she needed it but she needed to be far enough away when she dealt it not to get caught in it. Gracie flipped the audio and gave her announcement to the millions of resistance fighters on the Earth far below. Grace's eyes gleamed with tears as she gave the command that would hopefully bring this war to an end.
"Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening. This is Gracie reaching out to touch you with love and hope. Today the people of Earth are ending the seige of the Alluthans. Rise up and fight, for freedom is ours. This is Gracie's Touch saying FREEDOM FOR ALL!" Gracie's husky voice called out to all the millions on the beautiful blue and white ball below her.
Gracie watched as lights flared all over the globe as the united governments and rebel forces joined together and gave a decisive assault against the aliens who thought them too weak to win. Gracie was about to hit the button that would speed her way home when the supply ship shuddered violently, throwing her to the side. Gracie's eyes frantically flew to the cause. She punched in the command to silence the alarms as she fought for control. No fighters followed her as they were unresponsive due to the command to shut everything down. Gracie could see multiple failures occurring on the mother ship but it would take longer for each system to completely shut down. The mother ship was turning to follow her. It sent out several bursts from its pulse cannons. Her shields immediately came online but the bursts took a toll on them and they were reading eighty-five percent. Grace felt dread seep through her. If the mother ship followed her and the self-destruct program activated, Earth would be in peril from the fallout. The only way to ensure the mother ship did not endanger the Earth was to lead them away. Gracie quickly programmed a new route into the navigation system. Tears blurred her vision as she sent the command and felt the supply ship turning. She increased the speed knowing it would not be long before the mother ship lost all power and the self-destruct initated. Gracie braced her palm against the front console as another jarring jolt hit the supply ship. She was moving as fast as the supply ship could go without sending it into hyperdrive. The navigation panel said they were nearing Mars.
Gracie didn't know if the signal she sent would make it to Earth or not but she had to try to send one last message. She had to tell them she was sorry and say goodbye. Gracie opened the communications program and typed in the password for one of the satellites she used to send her transmissions.
"This...this is Gracie." Gracie waited a moment. She trembled as she continued. "Chance, this is Gracie saying I'm so sorry. I won't be coming home after all." Gracie drew in a shaky breath and forced herself to continue softly. "I hope you get this message. I wanted to tell you I love you. I want...need to thank all of you for saving me so long ago. Chance, you and Adam, Adrian, and Mark will always be with me. Please keep up the fight for freedom knowing I'll always be with you every time you think of me. Th..this is Gracie saying goodnight and goodbye, my love." Gracie ended the transmission as tears choked her and her vision blurred so badly she couldn't see anything.
Gracie impatiently brushed the tears away. If she was going to die, she was going to take those pissant aliens with her. Gracie programmed the supply ship to enter hyperdrive and set the mother ships navigation system to follow. She also set the self-destruct to half the time. Both ships would explode during the light jump making sure nothing else was damaged. Gracie watched out of the front view as the stars seemed to blur together. Within seconds, she was pushed back against the back of her seat. She closed her eyes and waited for the end. Everything seemed to slow as she felt the push from the mother ship as it exploded. The shockwave threw her forward with such force the shoulder strap on the harness broke throwing her forward. As darkness descended Gracie drew a picture of Chance holding her in his arms and smiled.
Grand Admiral Kordon Jefe strode into the conference room with a grim expression darkening his mood but none of that showed on his face. He just finished reading the report sent in on the latest attack by a new alien species on one of their remote mining planets. Everyone was dead and the planet strip of most of its resources. The last message received from the mining colony was two weeks before. Some imbecile captain on the remote station of Atphlon didn't think it important enough to investigate the emergency signals being sent out until two days before. That captain was now washing floors on Atphlon as a private. Kordon didn't tolerate idiots under his command. He didn't bother to nod to the other officers standing around the table waiting for him to sit first. He moved to the chair at the head of the conference table and sat pulling the data grid closer and pulling up the information the frigate sent to the sight looking for survivors had reported. He already knew every detail in the report, now he wanted answers.
"What have you to report?" Kordon looked at his head of security.
Chief Bran Markus cleared his throat before answering calmly. “Two hundred and fifty-eight colonists dead or missing, any resource worth having gone, the colony destroyed. Source appears to be the same as before. We were able to get a brief glimpse of some of the attackers and one of their vehicles before communications was terminated.” Bran nodded to a center screen displaying the mining foreman as he sent the distress signal.
“We are under attack by an unknown force. They…they have captured most of the men as they came out of the mines. All women and child
ren have been killed.” The man wiped his face as sweat dripped down it. “Those bastards have some type of shield we can’t get through. We need immediate assistance.” A loud explosion could be heard in the background. “The….they’ve breached the complex headquarters. Th…” The transmission ended as screams filled the air.
Captain Leila Toolas, his chief medical officer responded. “From the details I’ve been able to retrieve from the bodies left whoever was there killed any female not able to reproduce and young children immediately. From the list there were fifteen females within a breeding range unaccounted for. The men…” Captain Toolas paled as she continued. “The remains of the men show body parts missing. Limbs and internal organs were removed with surgical precision.”
Kordon kept his expression blank as he took each report. He finally came to his communications officer, a Ta’nee. The Ta’nee were known for their language and communication skills. The rich red hair down the center of Lieutenant Mohan’s flared with different colors as she spoke.
“I have never encountered the language or signals recorded by the mining foreman. It was very perceptive of him to record the communications being transmitted. It will take time to decipher it as there is no known base to compare it to.” Mohan said softly. The fur along her cheeks changing to a slightly darker color as all eyes turned towards her.