Sacrifice:The Shenkar War (21 page)

             
“
Standby for fold sequence . . . ten . . . nine . . . eight . . . seven . . . six . . . five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . one . . . fold sequence engage,” came Lieutenant Sukita’s voice.

             
And then that familiar pulling feeling at his navel came, and the world went blurry.

EDF
Sacrifice
, Hangar Bay

              Standing next to his fighter, Liam watched Evan and Crystal as they hurried into the hangar bay, each jogging to their respective fighters.

             
“
Lieutenant Maxis!” shouted Liam.

             
When Evan looked over, Liam waved him to come closer. As Evan jogged up, he spoke.
“
I’m sorry--we kinda lost track of time.”

             
“
Yeah, I gathered that. I also remember telling you two and half hours. I am your friend, but I am also your commanding officer,” said Liam sternly.

             
Evan looked rather ashamed at hearing this. Liam stared at Evan for several long moments, purposely taking his time as he watched him become increasingly uncomfortable. Evan was the first to break the silence.
“
I have no excuse. I am sorry that--”

             
Liam held up a hand, causing Evan to cut off his babbling suddenly.
“
I think my point is made. Don’t let it happen again.”

As Evan saluted and began to turn away, Liam reached out and stopped him.

              “
I’m happy for you, Evan. It’s nice to see you smiling again. I just need you to understand that I am responsible for all of you and need you to remember that we are a team.”

             
“
I know we are a team--”

             
Liam once again cut him off as he spoke.

             
“
People who care for someone more than just a friend can sometimes forget they have other responsibilities when the one they love is in danger. You have already lost people you loved to the bird flu, and now you’ve found love again. What will happen when Crystal’s life is in danger? What if you need to sacrifice her for the greater good? Will you be able to do it? So now you see my dilemma. I have to do everything to keep this squadron alive as long as possible.”

             
Evan looked ashamed at Liam’s words.

             
“
I know, Liam. I have thought about these things and the predicament I am putting you in. I have wondered what would happen if I saw her in trouble, what I would do. The only good thing I have thought of is that Crystal is my wingmate. So during battles, I know she will always be near me, which will reduce situations that could cause me such a conflict. It scares me that I could end up making a decision that costs one of the squadron their lives. I know you are under a lot of pressure, and I will try not to let you down.”

             
Liam smiled as he reached out and placed a hand on Evan’s shoulder.

             
“
I know you won’t. I just had to make sure you understood where I’m coming from. Now get in your fighter--we are about to fold again.”

             
As he turned back to climb up into his fighter, the female voice sounded across the hangar bay.

             
“
Attention, all hands. Two minutes until fold sequence. All stations, ready for fold sequence.”

             
Liam jumped down into his cockpit and strapped himself in. Closing the cockpit, he activated the flight board and keyed his comm unit.
“
Okay, Necro Squadron: here we go again. Everyone kicked your tires before you strapped yourselves in?”

             
A collection of laughter returned through the comm unit from the rest of Necro Squadron. And then the female voice spoke again.

“
Standby for fold sequence . . . ten . . . nine . . . eight . . . seven . . . six . . . five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . one . . . fold sequence engage.”

The tugging at his navel came and then his vision blurred. But before long, the tugging subsided and his vision cleared.

              “
Fold sequence complete.”

             
And then there was the waiting for the scan. Liam seriously doubted anything would be found, but better safe than sorry. After a few moments, the female voice sounded.

             
“
Scan complete--green alert. No enemy contacts. Stand-down to green levels.”

EDF
Sacrifice
, Hangar Bay

              Evan let out his breath. Every time they folded, he had a feeling it would be the same for him--the same until that moment they finally meet the Shenkar Federation. Thoughts of Crystal and what Liam had said kept coming back to him. Could he sacrifice her for a greater good? When he had lost his wife and family, he hadn’t had any control over it. Even so, in the heat of battle, he might have control over it. A tapping at his canopy brought him out of his reverie. Turning, he saw a member of the deck crew. He hit the release on the canopy and it slid open.

             
“
You staying in your fighter, sir?” asked the deck member.

             
“
Uh . . . oh, sorry, was just lost in thought,” said Evan.

             
Evan then unlocked his flight harness and climbed from his cockpit. Crystal was waiting at the bottom of the ladder for him, wearing a look of concern.

             
“
Is everything all right? You’re not having regrets about what we did, are you?” asked Crystal hesitantly.

             
“
What? Oh . . . no, definitely not. It’s the best thing that has happened to me in a long time,” he said, smiling in the end.

             
Crystal looked long into his face, then smiled as she pinched his arm.

             
“
Well, then, what’s wrong? You had me worried, you know.”

             
“
Oh, you know, just worried about what’s to come and . . . about you.”

             
“
Oh, flyboy, this is war. We are all going to die. Why are you allowing yourself to worry about it? We should just be enjoying the time we have together now, because we never know if we will see tomorrow,” she said seriously yet with a slight smile on her lips.

             
Looking down at her--something he had to do seeing as he stood a foot taller than her--he studied her face. Finally, he smiled down at her as he enfolded her in his arms.

             
“
Well, I can’t promise anything, but I will try anyway.”

             
As they hugged each other, Tim and Dimitri walked up.

             
“
Should we come back later?” asked Dimitri.

             
Breaking apart, Crystal turned to him and gave a sarcastic smile.
              “
And deprive a pervert like you of a good show?” she said, then broke out laughing.

             
“
So anyone want to play poker while we wait?” asked Tim.

             
“
Well, that sounds good, but I think I am going to go lie down, seeing as we haven’t got much sleep lately,” said Evan.

             
“
I’ll play--I am full of energy,” said Crystal.

             
So Tim, Dimitri, and Crystal joined the rest of Necro Squadron while Evan made his way over to a group of pallets that had been set up for the pilots. As he walked up, he noticed Liam lying on one of them, his arm across his eyes.

             
“
I see you had the same idea as me,” said Evan.

             
Pulling back his arm, he looked over at Evan.

             
“
Yeah, it’s been a long day, so I figured I would try and catch a few minutes of sleep before our last fold. Who knows what we might run into over the next few days, so I plan to get as much sleep as I can now while it’s available.”

             
“
Yeah, I know what you mean. Why are we folding in and out anyway?” asked Evan.

             
“
Because the Meshtrell are not positive of where the Shenkar will mass their fleet, only that they will pass close enough to our system to pick off remnants of old radio waves. So we continue folding to probable locations until we locate some Shenkar and hope what we find isn’t too large already for us to handle,” said Liam.

             
“
Well, that’s just an oh-so-pleasant thought,” Evan said as he lay back on the pallet.

             
Within seconds after his head hit the pillow, Evan was fast asleep.

EDF
Sacrifice
, Hangar Bay

              “
Evan, wake up, Evan . . . move your ass, this is our last jump,” said a male’s voice.

             
Evan came awake at someone’s hand on his shoulder shaking him. Turning his head, he saw Liam standing over him.

             
“
Move it . . . we fold in about ten minutes,” said Liam.

             
As if to confirm what Liam just stated, the ships comm system came to life with the all-too-familiar female voice:
“
Attention, all hands. Fold sequence in ten minutes; I repeat, fold sequence in ten minutes. All stations report in with station readiness.”

             
Evan pushed himself up with one hand as he rubbed his eyes with the other. He felt like he had just laid his head down on the pillow. His tiredness shouldn’t come as a surprise. The past few days hadn’t relinquished much in the way of time for rest. True enough, he hadn’t exactly spent that time wisely, as most of it he had spent with Crystal and sleep wasn’t what they had in mind. But from the first day, it had been an early rise to prepare for the day’s events and pack all his belongings for his final departure from Earth.

             
How life had changed so much over the past few years. Two years previously, he had been married. Now his wife and family were lost to the bird flu, the Earth was threatened by an impending invasion of an alien race, and he was on his way to sacrifice his life--the last in hope to slow the alien invasion force to give the Earth time to build its defense fleet.

             
Standing, he walked tiredly over to his awaiting fighter and climbed mechanically up the ladder. Seating himself in the cockpit, he strapped himself in as he yawned. Donning his helmet, he then activated his flight board and ran through his preflight checklist. Just as he finished, the
Sacrifice
’s comm unit spoke.

             
“
Standby for fold sequence . . . ten . . . nine . . . eight . . . seven . . . six . . . five . . . four . . . three . . . two . . . one . . . fold sequence engage.”

             
Evan felt the same odd tugging feel at the navel as his vision blurred. Then, moments later, it was over, and he sat and waited for the green alert he expected. These drills, he felt, had been unnecessary, as they had yet to find anything. True enough, as he looked around the hangar bay, several pilots were already raising their canopies and removing their flight harnesses. Looking around more closely, he noticed with growing annoyance that three-quarters of the hangar were standing down before the order came. Looking over at Liam, he was about to key his ship-to-ship comm unit when Evan’s channel came to life.

             
“
Liam, do you see what I am seeing?”

             
“
Yes . . . I think people are getting a bit too comfortable with these drills.”

             
Keying the open channel to his squadron, Liam then addressed them.

             
“
Attention, Necro Squadron. No one is to stand down until we get the all clear. I repeat, no one is to stand down until we get the green alert.”

             
“
Speaking of green alert, what’s taking so long? We usually get the okay to stand down by now,” said Darren.