Aurora Rising: The Complete Collection (163 page)

Gianno bit back a rare curse. So much for bluffing.

Miriam continued on as if she hadn’t just called Eleni to task in fine fashion. “And of course
were
I to send any ships, the Krysk orbital arrays would fire on them upon their arrival. I understand why—it’s the choice you had to make and one you require to still be in effect when O’Connell attacks. But the fact remains.”

Regrettably, it did. If Miriam couldn’t track the renegades, the only option was for the Alliance to engage them at Krysk. And with the arrays in the mix there was no scenario in which that wasn’t suicide for anything less than a brigade-sized force.

“Since you brought up the arrays—they’ll hold him off for a time and at a minimum inflict damage. It’s possible they’ll defeat his ships, though considering the varied underhanded tactics your general has employed thus far I won’t hold out hope for that eventuality. But perhaps they will hold him off long enough.” Long enough for them to win the day at Seneca and dispatch what ships were left to eliminate him—or else long enough for it not to matter.

“You’re going to leave the fate of some three hundred million people to three defense arrays.”

It wasn’t a question, and Miriam had not phrased it as such. Clearly that was what she was going to do.

For a passing instant the weight on her shoulders threatened to send Eleni to her knees. The second largest colony in the Federation facing an assault by a madman wielding multiple fifty+MN weapons—and nukes. Seneca facing an assault by an alien force vast and powerful enough to wipe humanity from the galaxy. Their Hail Mary plan for victory was handing over control of their strongest weapons and the entirety of their fleets to a couple of unshackled Artificials and ‘altered’ humans, hoping they deigned to return the keys to the castles once the battle was won. If the battle was won.

These were the choices upon which the fate of humanity would hinge.
So be it.

“It will take O’Connell weeks to kill a fraction of the population. I am leaving the temporary fate of a small portion of Krysk’s citizens and a slightly less small portion of its infrastructure in and around the capital city to three defense arrays. I have no other choice, for I must think of the billions before the thousands. Before even the millions. You above all people know everything depends on us defeating the aliens.”

Miriam’s nod of agreement, though unnecessary, was welcome. “We win the day, and I will do whatever is in my power to help you take him down.”

34

EARTH

EASC
H
EADQUARTERS

T
HE ENTIRETY OF
C
ALEB’S ATTENTION
had diverted to her mother’s discussion with Marshal Gianno the instant the word ‘Krysk’ was uttered, and thus Alex’s did as well. By the time the conference ended he was pacing furiously around the room.

Such tension and coiled violence. Interesting how human emotion manifests in physicality—the body serves the mind but not always the conscious one.

Alex had begun to be able to filter out the zettabytes of data and calculation threads streaming through Valkyrie’s mind, leaving solely the Artificial’s intentional thoughts on the edges of her perception. Together they were learning to separate their respective musings and impose a more conversational structure on their interaction. It was still a work in progress, however.

You can fill me in on your analysis of human behavior later. This is important.

I understand.

“They are seriously leaving Krysk defenseless?”

Miriam glanced up in surprise, as if she had forgotten they were there—understandable as they hadn’t planned to be for long. Caleb had met her at the workroom following the Council meeting, intending for them to seize a moment together ahead of the coming chaos.

“Marshal Gianno doesn’t see how they have any options other than to rely on the colony’s orbital arrays for defense. The entirety of her forces are committed to either slowing the aliens’ advancement or defending Seneca itself. The risk is too great that the aliens will arrive at Seneca before ships can get to Krysk, take out O’Connell and return—in which case those ships should stay at Seneca.”

Caleb acknowledged the information. “I need to talk to Isabela and tell her to get out.”

“Of course. I’ll be here.”

He stepped into the hallway, and she found her mother regarding her curiously. “His sister and niece live on Krysk. He’s close to his sister, but he’d want to protect them regardless.”

“Naturally.” Miriam frowned. “I am sorry. But objectively I can’t disagree with the Marshal’s decision. I’m sure Krysk’s arrays will hold O’Connell off. My understanding is they’re rather robust.”

“Maybe.” She suspected her mother knew the firepower specifications of the Krysk arrays down to the kilojoule but declined to call her on it.
I don’t yet have access to this information, but I surmise she is correct as Krysk’s location and population make it an important colony for the Federation.
She watched the door for his return. She wasn’t—

The door opened, and she instantly sensed the news wasn’t good. “What did she say?”

“That it’s impossible to leave. The spaceport is swamped by incoming flights and all ships have been devoted to evacuations from eastern colonies.” Abruptly he slammed a fist into the wall, leaving behind a dent and a streak of blood.

She jerked instinctively, but tried to recover as he pivoted to her.
Coiled violence becomes actual violence—I wonder if—

She shut off the connection to Valkyrie. The silence was deafening, but she was growing more accustomed to the switch each time. She needed to be herself, real and whole and here for him now.

“This son of a bitch is going to be allowed to destroy the colony unopposed? To bomb civilians at will?”

“The defense arrays—”

“Screw the arrays! He found a way around them on Ogham, didn’t he?”

She stared at him mutely, for she didn’t have a response. The desperation in his countenance lay beneath the frustration and outrage, but she could see it just the same…and it was breaking her heart.

He didn’t deserve this, not now. It wasn’t fair. Isabela was the one part of his family and his past that remained untouched and unmarred. He had risked his life repeatedly in bids to save others, and now they were abandoning his family to suffer at the hands of a lunatic?

It wasn’t fair.

She wrapped her arms around him, halting his movement. He looked down and those beautiful, devastated eyes met hers.

“Alex, I don’t want to leave you to fight this battle alone—god how I don’t want to. But…” a hand came up to cup her cheek, and his thumb ran tenderly over her lips “…you’ll be okay. I believe in you. Listen, I need to try to save her. I need to find a way to get to her somehow. I’ll rent or borrow or steal a ship, and while I won’t beat O’Connell there, hopefully I can reach Krysk before he does too much damage and—”

The answer was startling, unquestionable and crystal clear in her mind. All the reasons it was also
unthinkable
rose up in a tsunami to carry it away, but she halted their advance. They represented another time, another life, a person she no longer was. Even so, she was a little surprised at the level of certainty she felt; there was no hesitation in her resolve.

The only thing he had ever asked of her was her trust, knowing it was perhaps the most difficult thing for her to give. He had earned it tenfold, risked it to ensure she lived and earned it a thousand-fold once more. She had given it to him in words; here was her opportunity to give it to him in deed.

She pressed a finger to his mouth, quieting his tirade. “Take my ship.”

His expression contorted through several stages of shock before a response made its way out of his throat.
“What?”

“Take the
Siyane
.”

“Alex….” He swallowed hard. “Is this truly you? Or is this Valkyrie forcing the logical choice on you? I won’t take advantage of your lack of free will.”

She smiled softly. There had been no chance to get him alone since she awoke with an Artificial in her head, not so much as a few stolen minutes. There had been no opportunity to explain to him how it worked and all the parts she didn’t yet understand. And now she wouldn’t be able to do so unless…until they made it out the other side.

“Look at me, Caleb. Look at my eyes—it’s me. Only me. This is completely my decision. Take the
Siyane.
I’ll be traveling with the military so I won’t be using it. It’s by far the fastest ship you can put your hands on and your best chance at getting to Krysk in time. Plus, it’s invisible. You can sneak through, land, pick up your sister and her daughter, sneak back out and get them to safety.”

The corners of his mouth quirked up despite the struggle raging inside him. “Simple as that, huh?”

“Maybe not, but…you’re an astoundingly clever man, remember? You’ll make it happen. Just don’t…” her head shook the admonition aside “…you know what, no. Do anything you need to and everything you can. Caleb, you said you wanted to show me what I am to you. Let me show you what you are to me.”

He regarded her with such unbounded gratitude and, she’d daresay, love. Her heart thrummed against her breastbone, brimming with pain, fear and compassion. “Alex, I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you’ll come back alive.”

“And with your ship?”

“Say you’ll come back alive. It’s all I want, and everything I want.” Her skin felt flush—she had become increasingly attuned to such things even when Valkyrie wasn’t in her head—but she was not going to cry, dammit. She’d already cried twice in the last month, which exceeded her quota for the entire damn decade.

“I will. Will you?”

“No doubt about it. I—” His lips were on hers, fierce and impassioned and eloquently saying all the things there was no longer time to say.

She reveled in the sensations overwhelming her until another second and she would no longer be able to let him go, then wrenched away.

“Go! You’re wasting time. And why don’t you take Noah with you? He’s miserable here and you need someone to watch your back.”

He exhaled raggedly as he began retreating toward the door, drawing his hand along her arm until only their fingertips touched. “I’ll see you soon? After you remind these aliens why they were right to fear you by grinding them to dust under your oddly-buckled boot, baby.”

She laughed, praying for it not to devolve into a sob. “It’s a date.”

Then she watched him leave.

She had thought he’d be with her during the clashes to come, because with him at her side she had always believed they stood a chance. But she didn’t begrudge him this choice, for she recognized he could have made no other choice.

Finally she blinked away the blurriness mucking up her vision and turned from the door—and found her mother staring at her in outright disbelief. “Yes?”

“You gave him your ship.”

“I know I did. Let’s not make a big deal out of it, all right? It’ll be fine. He’ll be fine.”

“Not a big deal. Understood.”

She faked a glare. “Oh, shut up.”

“I didn’t—”

Kennedy burst into the room. “How could you tell Caleb to take Noah? Dammit, he’s not a soldier or a super-spy, and they will get themselves killed!”

Oops. Probably should have considered Kennedy’s feelings on the matter before suggesting it. “I thought he might want the help?”

Her mother had activated a new display but apparently felt the need to contribute. “She didn’t merely give him Noah—she gave him the
Siyane
.”

Kennedy’s eyes widened; her jaw dropped until her chin dallied on her chest. “You….”

She grimaced and offered a weak shrug. “I did, I really did.”

Kennedy’s face scrunched up she tried to absorb the information. “Well, I guess you must think they’ll be safe or you never would have let them take your ship, right?”

Alex nodded with professed conviction. “Absolutely.”

My god I have no idea please let him be safe and I can’t do anything to influence his fate and now I have to concentrate on defeating a metric fuckton of alien machines and saving the damn galaxy and I honestly didn’t see any of this coming when I decided to visit Metis and now I’m thinking like Valkyrie all on my own….

35

SCYTHIA

E
ARTH
A
LLIANCE
C
OLONY

C
OLONEL
J
ENNER:
 
C
OPELAND,
F
AHRION
, I’m tracking a superdreadnought pulling off the cluster in the southwest corner of Quadrant Two, probably going for the approaching array node. We need to protect it.

Lt. Colonel Duan (
EAS Copeland
):  We’ll distract it for you while the
Orion
gets in position.

“Helmsman Paena, as soon as the
Copeland
and
Fahrion
initiate firing on target designated X17, slip us beneath and into a synchronous orbit with array node B8. Comms, request targeting lock by node B8 on X17. Firing to commence on my order.”

The strategy worked well when it was able to be executed, which was rarely. Too many ships, too many active engagements. But he’d caught this one and did not intend on letting it go.

Malcolm worked diligently to keep a realistic outlook in all matters—one always on the watch for prospects for hopefulness but informed by logic and the facts available to him at any given time.

As he examined the situation out the viewport and considered the state of affairs…he thought they were winning.

The Alliance had seen some victories to the south, particularly at Sagan and Xanadu. But despite being widely considered the strongest regional command, the NE forces had yet to beat the aliens into submission. They needed a victory here today—and perhaps they would have one.