Final Break: A Space Opera Adventure (Shades of Starlight Book 4), page 29
She tried to hold her welder loosely rather than white-knuckle it as she stashed it in her toolkit. Was that a good sign? Maybe Tai had reached Abernath?
Captain Wozniacki tapped her chin. “I suppose you’re right. It’s a shame we didn’t bring them along to watch. Especially the Neridian.”
What did that mean? Jules wasn’t about to ask. She put the panel into place and checked the screen. “This is done. Anything else I can help with?”
Wozniacki dismissed her, and Jules returned to engineering, but the woman’s words stuck with her. Especially the Neridian.
The pieces Jules had been pondering started to fit together. Attacking empire strongholds, taking over critical resources. And what was one of the most important resources in the galaxy?
She double-checked the maps.
They were heading for a wormhole to a fairly barren system that probably wasn’t worth defending. But one of the wormholes from that system?
Their next target was Neridia.
30
Jules couldn’t let the Obsidian Force anywhere near Alexei’s planet. Neridia had a military presence, but from what she’d seen the last few days, it wouldn’t be enough to protect them. And if a single Obsidian Force ship reached orbit, it would kill a lot of people. Alexei’s people.
Dwelling on the possibility made her sick, so instead, she focused on what to do next. She sat in engineering, staring at the stars out the window, twirling a socket wrench in one hand.
What could she do? She hadn’t heard from Tai, couldn’t count on help. Sabotaging this ship would be simple, but plenty of others could take its place—all well-armed enough to take on a warship waiting on the wormhole’s far side, though since this vessel had been going first, she suspected it was the strongest.
This vessel had been going through the wormholes first.
Because ships went one at a time.
Because a ship couldn’t go through a wormhole unless it was empty.
A flash of fear flooded her, like when she’d realized the ship she and Alexei stowed away on was stranded inside a wormhole. That terror of the unknown, of what might happen if they were stuck forever.
She’d pondered the same truth then, as well—as long as they were in that wormhole, no one else could enter.
A ship stuck in this one would prevent the rest of the Obsidian Force fleet from accessing Neridia. From this wormhole, anyway. It would take them days to go around to another, giving Tai and the others more time—and giving Neridia more warning.
But did Jules dare attempt something so deadly?
This would end many lives. Including Ezra’s.
Including her own.
But the idea had entered her head, and her brain was doing what it always did, running wild without her permission. Cataloguing ideas, possible problems, and solutions.
Recalling every person she’d seen on this ship, on the bridge, in the dining hall, the engineers.
Unless.
A ship this size should have escape pods, or lifeboats, or shuttles. When it had been a Cobalt destroyer, it would have carried two short-range shuttles. If they were still here, would they have prism cores? Some life pods, like the one on her old cargo ship, were built for a single system. They had enough thrust for you to reach the nearest planet and call for help. Many larger ships, though, had ones capable of going through a wormhole.
If this one did, and she could steal it, then the only life she’d be endangering was her own.
She’d gotten a second chance. These people deserved that opportunity, too. Unless there was no other way, she refused to take that choice from them.
So, how to check the lifeboats without raising suspicion?
When she entered engineering, two of the others were there.
“Everything okay?” the chief asked.
That was her opening. “Had to fix a console damaged in the wormhole passage. Made me think about the shield transmitter in the prism core drive. It’s functional, but I didn’t like some of the readouts. Does this ship have any wormhole-capable shuttles? It would be good to know if we have a backup we could raid.”
“Saw two in a shuttle bay when I came onboard, but I don’t know what shape they’re in.”
“Mind if I go check one out?”
The man shrugged.
“I’ll be back soon.”
She kept her pace normal as she descended to the shuttle bay. She passed three people and gave them nods. And found the two small ships. They were identical, so she entered the one on her right.
She didn’t know what she hoped to find. If it didn’t have a prism core, would she really doom this entire ship and its crew? If it did, would she have the courage to go through with her plan and doom herself?
Gather info first, figure out a plan later. That was how she operated.
Inside, she found a prism core drive. She plugged in a comp-pad. The shielding was functional. The shuttle hadn’t been used recently, but power levels were good.
She rocked on her heels. Now she knew—it was possible.
The plan came to mind easily. Steal the shuttle, enter the wormhole before the warship could, and stay in there and keep the shuttle intact as long as she could so no one could get to Neridia.
Then what, though? Fly out at the last second? If that was even possible.
Ice slithered down her spine.
Was she truly contemplating sacrificing herself?
She wished Alexei were here to tell her if this idea was noble or idiotic.
Possibly both?
He would tell her she didn’t have to accomplish a grand, heroic act to balance the scale for the bad things she’d done. He believed choosing a new path and starting down it was proof enough that a person had changed.
But she wanted her first steps to count.
If this gave Tai and the others time to stop the Obsidian Force fleet, prevent a war, and save millions of lives, the risk was worth it. The sacrifice was worth it.
Wasn’t that war? Sacrificing some to save others?
She’d just never imagined she’d be in a position to make a decision like that.
And Alexei wasn’t here, which meant the decision was hers.
Something stirred inside her, a sense of the vastness of the galaxy and her small place in it that had led her to this. Maybe there was a reason she was here, and this was it. If she failed to act, could she live with herself if Alexei’s home, if any more planets, were attacked, now that she had a possible way to stop it?
When she officially settled in her mind that she was going to do it, peaceful determination swept through her. The act didn’t seem heroic or grand. It just seemed necessary. If she could get out at the last second, great.
If not, she was okay with that.
She marched out of the shuttle with her head high. Then stopped her march and darted into the second shuttle. Never hurt to have a spare prism core. After opening the drive, plucking it out, and pocketing it, she continued on.
Now to make sure she didn’t get caught. She’d have to be more careful than ever before. The timing would have to be exactly right.
They had a few hours before they reached the next wormhole. She needed to begin. First, though, she called Ezra and asked him to meet her in the galley.
It was a terrible idea. But he was family, and she needed to see him once more—even if he had been willing to let her get blown up, reported all her crimes, and discouraged her from leaving the Obsidian Force in the first place.
“What’s up, Ju-Ju?” he asked as they took seats with mugs of melted chocolate that she hoped hadn’t come from that old fountain.
“Just hadn’t seen you much since we boarded,” she said. “I was thinking about before all this. Gramps and Elle and those nights we’d stay up late playing cards. It feels so far away.”
“Now we’re helping make sure other people never have to live that way,” he said.
He made it sound like those nights had been terrible. Sure, they’d had nothing but weak tea and stale cookies. But she’d been recalling the good times. Life had been hard. Unfair. Difficult. And she missed Elle. But she had plenty of happy memories.
What would Elle have thought about this situation? Glad her brother was properly avenging her? Or sympathetic to the other lives being hurt and proud of Jules for standing up, even if it had taken her too long to do it?
Jules did want to ensure people didn’t have to experience the worst parts—except now she was choosing to have faith in Alexei and the negotiations providing that chance, rather than bombs.
“It’s nice to have family close again,” she said instead of all those other thoughts. And it wasn’t a lie.
“It is,” Ezra agreed. “I missed you. I was happy you got off Abernath, but the last year, it hasn’t been the same.”
“I should have tried to visit more. I’m sorry you were alone.”
He waved a hand. “You were doing good work. Important work. What matters is, we’re together now to see it through.”
Unease gnawed at her stomach. He’d observed as she advised on bombing innocent planets without saying a word, but she hated the idea of leaving him completely alone. “For how long?”
“What do you mean?”
“This mission. How long will it last? And then what?”
“Then we can do whatever we want. The empires won’t be in a position to stop us.”
She gripped her mug and leaned forward, focused on his face. “What do you want, Ezra?”
She longed for him to give her something to work with, anything to indicate he had hesitations or regrets. To hint that he might help her now, or at least that when he looked back on what she’d done, he would understand.
He studied his cup. “You know, I’ve imagined this day for over a year, and I don’t really know. I want to make home a better place.”
Home, where he’d invited mercenaries, pirates, and revolutionaries to roam the streets freely.
“I want to feel in control of my future,” he went on. “To not have to feel like everything’s a fight.”
“I want that for you, too.”
She’d had that feeling he craved, her first year working for Perrin. Before Elle died, before the sabotage jobs. When she was just an engineer doing a job she mostly enjoyed, traveling the galaxy. Though she’d lost the sense of control a few months ago, she’d regained it recently, since agreeing to work with Alexei and the others. Now, she had the certainty that even if this plan ended badly for her, she was free, because she’d chosen her path.
Ezra studied her. “Are you all right? Cheer up. The mission is succeeding. A few more stops, and then the empires will suffer like we have. And when we go home, it will be a new world.”
The light in his eyes chilled her.
That was what she’d wanted for so long, for the empires to suffer. But now, she didn’t want anyone to suffer. She was being ridiculously naïve like Alexei, to think she could help eliminate all suffering in the galaxy. But shouldn’t that be their goal? To help as many people as possible, instead of to hurt?
Nothing was going to get through to Ezra.
She forced a smile. “You’re right. To a new world.” She clinked her cup to his and drained the rest of her drink. “I should get back.”
She didn’t allow herself to hug Ezra, to argue her cause, or to peek behind her as she headed for the engine room. Nothing to make him suspect what she was planning.
The others were in engineering when she returned.
“Find anything?” the chief asked.
“Yeah, just what we need, in case anything goes wrong. I don’t think it will, but it’s good to be careful.”
“I like an engineer who plans ahead.”
She was planning ahead, all right—planning for the ways they might stop her.
Pretending to run diagnostics, instead she accessed the ship’s weapons systems. It would be a short trip if they blew up the shuttle before she reached the wormhole. Her hands and her heart rate steady, she rerouted command systems so if anyone tried to use the weapons or the grappling line, the ship’s whole power grid would crash.
They’d be able to reboot, and they would know exactly what she’d done, but it would give her a chance to escape. This time, getting discovered didn’t matter. They would be too late.
She checked their route. They would reach the next wormhole in an hour. Time to go.
“Everything looks good,” she said to the others, keeping her voice light. “I’m going to grab some food. Anyone want anything?”
They declined, and she retreated to her quarters, hoping Ezra would be on the bridge.
Her stomach roiled. She had so many things to be nervous about, she didn’t know the cause. Getting caught before leaving the ship. Her sabotage failing and them shooting at her. This ship bombing Alexei’s home.
This crazy idea succeeding, and her dying a drawn-out death in a wormhole, all alone.
She needed to go, but first, she had to send a message while she still could. Once they reached the wormhole, it would be too late.
But what to say?
She pictured Alexei’s face, closed her eyes, imagined speaking directly to him, her chest filled with a bittersweet tug.
“Hey, Alexei, it’s me. I don’t know what to say in this one. I’m sorry. Did I ever tell you that? I’m sorry for lying to you and for pushing you away and for, you know, trying to sabotage your mission. But most of all, thank you. For believing in me and giving me a second chance. For thinking I was worth it.
“Our ship is about to enter a wormhole to Neridia. The rest of the fleet is behind us. I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen to me. I just know I have to protect your home. I hope this works and it gives you and the others time to stop this. I wish you were here. Wormholes are more fun when you’re around to nap on, or avoid drug smugglers with. I miss you. Except I’m glad you aren’t here, because then I wouldn’t have the courage to go through with this.
“Tell Tai and Perrin the same, I’m sorry and thanks. I wish we’d had more time. Be the great leader I know you will be.”
She shut off the comm and wiped the memory, not like it would matter.
Recalling Alexei’s face as he showed her around his town, as he spoke of his home, as they adventured across the galaxy, had steeled her. The tug still pulled at her heart, but courage built inside her.
She stood.
The door slid open, revealing Ezra. Her heart threatened to burst through her throat.
“Were you talking to someone?” he asked, leaning against the doorway.
“Myself. You know, like always.”
“You did like to talk to inanimate objects. Glad to see that hasn’t changed. What are you up to?”
“Just taking a break, but I need to get to the engine room.”
She had to ditch him before they reached the wormhole.
A tiny part of her hoped he might stop her, but she shoved it down. She hadn’t failed a job yet, and she wouldn’t now. Not with so much at stake.
“Can I come?” he asked.
“It’s pretty boring.”
“I want to see you at work.”
Shades. “It’s up to the chief if he allows observers. He might put you to work.”
Ezra had always been good at breaking things in the opposite way Jules had been—his were never intentional.
“Sure.”
Double shades.
He strolled next to her through the halls. She had to ditch him somehow.
“This is going well, don’t you think?” he asked. “It’s nice to be on the winning side for once.”
She grunted. Like Orion had said, it might end up being the winning side, but it didn’t mean it was the right one.
“What?” he asked. “You aren’t glad to be here?”
She wished she could change his mind, but it wasn’t going to work. Her gut hardened. There was only one option.
And she knew just the spot.
She veered off from the route to engineering, into a corridor with maintenance points for various systems, and stopped to open a small hatch.
“What are you doing?” Ezra asked.
“I left a tool in there earlier.”
“Really? What systems are in here?” He peered into the small room.
“I’m sorry, Ez.”
She shoved him hard and caught a flash of shock on his face before she shut the door on him. Doing what she did best, she drove her elbow into the panel to break the controls, locking him inside. His muffled shouts came immediately.
She ran. No time to use the scanner and watch for people. If Ezra had a comm, they’d catch her fast. If not, it would only take until someone passed by and heard him yelling. One person eyed her oddly, but she didn’t stop.
She swung around the corner into the shuttle bay and darted onboard. Were they close enough to the wormhole that she could beat the ship to it?
She fired up the engines and lifted off, then hit the command for the bay doors. That would alert someone that something was up. She accelerated out at top speed.
Within seconds, a light indicated she was being hailed.
Wozniacki’s voice came on the line. “What do you think you’re doing? Get back here before I turn you to space dust.”
Good luck with that, as long as no one had discovered the fun Jules had had with the weapons system.
“Jules?” Ezra’s voice. Her heart clenched. “What’s going on?”
Should she respond? There wasn’t enough time to explain herself, not in a way that might make him understand. The memory of his surprised face, and the hurt and confusion she easily pictured on it now, lingered. She ignored the voices.
No torpedoes came her way. The wormhole opened in front of her.
It wasn’t the one she and Alexei had been through when they left Neridia a few weeks earlier. Aqua blue, light purple, and forest green enveloped her. The colors seemed to be welcoming her, like they knew what she had planned and were opening their arms.
At least her final view would be a pretty one.
