Final Break: A Space Opera Adventure (Shades of Starlight Book 4), page 30
Jules took a final glance at the stars and the ship carrying her cousin before the wormhole closed and the colors sealed her inside.
She brought the ship to a full stop and. It remained suspended, shaking lightly, as the colors swirled in their endless dance. She transferred all available power to the shields, readied herself to fix anything that might break, and waited.
Grim satisfaction filled her.
Now to stay alive and block this passage as long as possible.
31
“What does this mean?” Alexei waved his comm in Tai’s face. “Tell me what she means.”
He’d listened to Jules’s message three times straight, and though he knew exactly what it meant, the hole in his stomach and the ache in his chest screamed at him to find another explanation.
They were so close. They had traveled at top speed, bypassing the planets the Obsidian Force had taken. Alexei hated to ignore them, but helping would take too long. Better to stop the fleet before more planets suffered, too.
They had just entered the system Jules had sent the message from. But Alexei was receiving no reply. He’d missed being able to talk to her by minutes.
They were too late.
“Calm down and think,” Tai said.
Alexei drew a deep breath. Tai was right. “She’s referencing when we stowed away and got trapped in a wormhole. We had to reveal ourselves to help them fix the ship. That’s what she’s doing, but on purpose. The Obsidian Force’s next stop is Neridia, so she’s sabotaging a ship inside the wormhole.”
Her own ship, based on the finality of that message.
His heart clenched. His people were vulnerable. Like the three systems they’d passed through, Neridia wouldn’t have stood a chance. The fact that Jules was willing to sacrifice herself to save them burrowed beneath his skin, left him hollow and warm and cold all at once.
Understanding crossed Tai’s face. His face paled, and he shuddered. “The fleet will be trapped in this system. The empires might have a chance to catch up and stop them.”
Perrin moved to put a hand on Tai’s shoulder. “It’s very brave.” Her voice was quiet.
“It is,” Tai said, scrubbing a hand over his face. “But it’s my fault she’s in this position. I shouldn’t have sent her.”
“She wanted to go,” Perrin told him. “And look how much she’s helped.”
“It’s not acceptable.” Alexei set his jaw. “We have to find a way to get her out. Surely that’s been done before?”
Jules had made an amazing sacrifice, but they would find another way. He wasn’t letting this be the end.
“It has,” Perrin said. “If the circumstances are right. We can’t enter until the ship’s drive shuts off completely. And once it does…”
“The ship might not be intact,” Alexei finished, his stomach hardening.
“Right. Rescues have succeeded, if the ship inside doesn’t lose hull integrity. But I don’t want to get your hopes up. Plus, we’d have to be the first ones in, and half the Obsidian Force fleet is between us and that wormhole.”
Digger cleared his throat. “Spoken as someone who recently tried to be fabulously heroic—I know, I know, contain your surprise—and was rescued at the last minute, to my enormous and eternal relief, I promise I will do everything in my considerable power to make it happen.” Digger nodded to Alexei, who returned the gesture.
Was it fair to ask this? Alexei would singlehandedly fight the enemy ships to save Jules, but there was more at stake than one life.
“Does this jeopardize the mission?” he forced himself to ask.
Tai held his gaze, his face solemn. “I would have preferred to wait until more ships arrived, whether we called the empires here or the other Obsidian Force ships arrive that we can control.”
Alexei’s chest tightened.
“But,” Tai went on, “we might have enough to keep it even for a while. And we don’t leave our own behind.”
Alexei exhaled hard.
“We’ll figure it out,” Tai said.
“I can control two ships in this system,” Reina said. “But they don’t know that yet.”
Digger rubbed his hands together. “And we shall use that to full advantage. Good work, Sparky.”
Digger outlined a strategy to Tai, and they debated how to have the empire ships engage and distract the Obsidian Force fleet and draw them away from the wormhole, using planets and moons throughout the system as cover rather than entering a straight-out fight.
“So the ship Jules was on isn’t in the wormhole?” Alexei asked.
“It was a Cobalt destroyer,” Reina said. “Those usually have shuttles.”
Digger growled. “One of my best pirate ships, probably.”
“She would have stolen a shuttle to minimize casualties,” Alexei said quietly.
The others fell silent as the ship crossed the system.
The waiting was the worst, knowing the wormhole was hours away and a battle loomed. Halfway there, the Obsidian Force must have detected them, because multiple ships approached. The empire vessels began trying to draw them away, but since the dreadnought was the largest and the best armed, many opponents ignored the others and focused on them.
The ship rocked under continuous fire. Flashes lit the screen, where Digger had displayed several views of the fighting happening around them. Alexei fought the urge to pace the bridge, jiggling his foot instead.
Reina used one Obsidian Force ship that Jules had planted a chip in to disable two of its friends before the others caught on that their own ship was attacking them.
“The Cobalt destroyer is staying at the wormhole,” she said. “It refuses to engage. Should I bring it closer?”
“No, we’ll need its help to guard the wormhole,” Tai said.
This was taking too long. Was Jules still alive? Alexei wanted to believe she’d be okay, but that optimism was feeling tenuous. She’d told him he couldn’t help everyone. Would this be the time that finally came true?
With every minute that passed, every time they had to dodge an enemy vessel or stop to fire on one, he imagined Jules, in a rattling ship, trapped in deadly whirls of color.
Finally, the fighting cleared enough that they raced to the wormhole. The warship waited.
“Put them onscreen,” Tai said.
An image appeared of the other bridge, and a middle-aged woman with dark blond hair and a fierce scowl whirled toward her screen.
“Greetings, old friends,” said Digger.
“You again,” the woman growled. “I just can’t seem to kill you.”
“That’s what your good friend Vikari said at the Pit Stop before I ended him. I would advise against getting too cocky.”
“Tell your ships to stand down,” Tai said.
The woman crossed her arms. “That’s not going to happen. You’re outnumbered, and your spy is probably dead. It was clever, trying to block the wormhole. But you’ve only delayed the inevitable.”
Dread seeped through him, but Alexei fought it. If Jules was dead, the woman’s ship would have already entered the wormhole.
“Brave words,” Digger replied. “Considering we have control of your vessel. You have no shields, no weapons. Your old friend SilverSpark says hello.”
He pointed at Reina, who entered a command, Alexei assumed making those shields and weapons inoperable.
Wozniacki laughed. “Bold words from you, pirate. Last I checked, no one had a fleet capable of stopping us.”
The screen went black.
Digger whirled. “Where’d she go? I was preparing to engage in some truly witty gloating and taunting.”
“She’s rebooting their systems manually,” Reina said, “but it won’t work. Last time she tried it, it kicked me out because I’d used a backdoor through an open comm line. This time, she’d need a programmer to find my virus and manually delete it. I made it self-replicating, though, so good luck with that. I’ll have control again soon.”
“Are we going after Jules?” Alexei asked.
Reina tapped on the console. “A message won’t go through. That means her ship is intact. I programmed the comm to send a continuous message stream to Neridia. As soon as it does go through…”
They would know the ship was dead. And hopefully Jules wasn’t.
The ship shuddered under another torpedo hit. The fighting had thinned, the empire ships having succeeded in drawing some of the Obsidian Force away. But several remained.
“I have Wozniacki back,” Reina said. “Do you still want to gloat?”
“Keep it off,” Tai said.
Digger sighed dramatically. “You ruin all my fun, SARC.”
They waited, sending torpedoes and cannon fire at any ships that drew close, Digger issuing orders and commanding the engineers to shore up the shields. Reina used the other ship’s weapons as well.
“Should we get ready?” Alexei asked, giving into the desire to stand and pace.
“We’ll take one of the dreadnought’s shuttles,” Tai said. “We need the dreadnought out here, not only to protect the exit but so Reina’s ready when the other ships arrive. And the racing craft doesn’t have much shielding.”
“It’s also entirely possible the racing ship is slightly low on fuel,” Digger said, “though I can neither confirm nor deny that anyone has been flying that ship recently, in a manner that led to massive fuel consumption.”
“I’m going,” Perrin continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “since I know wormholes the best.”
“Can I go?” Alexei asked. “It’s like rescues in the mines when someone gets trapped in a crevasse. I was usually the one to go down for them.”
Perrin shrugged. “I’m good with that.”
“I’ll come, too,” Tai said.
“Are you sure?” Perrin asked Tai. “I can handle it.”
Tai did look rather ill.
“His dad was trapped on the other side of a wormhole that closed permanently,” Perrin said to Alexei. “He’s not a huge fan.”
Tai set his sharp jaw. “I know you can handle it, but I’m the one who sent her. I need to do this. Besides, docking might be tricky, and you keep me around for my piloting skills.”
“I keep you around for more than that.” She kissed him.
Alexei knew he contributed little to this mission, but he couldn’t bear to stay behind. He joined Tai and Perrin in the shuttle bay, bringing the small ship online.
A comm chimed.
Alexei jumped.
“Message went through,” Reina’s voice said over the comm. “Reached a Cobalt warship on the other side. They say no one has exited the wormhole. They’ll be on alert.”
His heart surged. Though he’d known this was the likely outcome, his stomach was heavy at the idea of Jules stuck inside a failing ship.
“May the shades carry you to fortune,” Digger said.
Tai immediately triggered the bay doors and took them out, dodging stray blasts as he aimed for the wormhole. It opened, pale purple, dark green, and a blue that reminded him of the tropical ocean.
Alexei tried not to imagine Jules floating inside here, without a ship.
Hold on, Jules. We’re coming.
Jules was going to need a serious massage if she got out of this. Which was looking increasingly improbable.
The ship rattled around her. Her bones felt bruised. Her shoulders and neck were tense since she hadn’t moved from the controls in hours, where she’d been constantly adjusting the shields, monitoring systems, and making minor repairs.
Her stomach rumbled loudly. She really should have brought food.
She was already on her second prism core. The first had lasted several hours, which impressed her. A pop and a hiss exploded from the prism core drive. Smoke erupted from behind the panel. She put in her last spare and returned to the console.
What would kill her first? The ship might break apart, causing a hole in the hull that would be the equivalent of getting spaced. Or a major system might fail, like life support, and she’d run out of air, or freeze. She’d had to fix the air recycler twice. There was a slight chance that something might overheat and ignite the fuel. She almost hoped that happened—it would be fun to cause one last explosion before she died.
The colors continued to swirl, but she ignored them. They made her head spin.
The worst part of this wasn’t the looming death. It was not knowing what was happening outside. Had the others assembled a fleet? Had they engaged the Obsidian Force? What was happening to those planets she had helped attack?
Maybe she’d stalled long enough and she could escape the wormhole while it was still possible. To the Neridian side, where she’d be less likely to get fired upon.
But if she was wrong, if the Obsidian Force was waiting, the second she exited, they might come through.
Even a few minutes might make the difference in saving Alexei’s people.
A loud noise exploded from the rear of the ship. The deck shuddered.
Well, there went that decision. Her engine was fried, and with it, the stabilizers.
Her stomach, ill from the shaking, clenched tighter.
There would be no leaving. But she’d been prepared for that possibility, and the certainty of it failed to elicit as much fear as she’d expected. She shoved the worry deep. Other than letting it fuel her, it had no place here.
Her task remained the same—keep the rest of the ship running as long as possible.
Without the stabilizers, it was even bumpier, causing her hands to shake as she entered commands. Next to go were the lights, leaving the cabin dark other than the swirling blue and green lights of the wormhole. It made the shuttle feel like those underwater rooms at the peace talks.
Life support held on longest, but then the air circulators stopped.
Not unexpected. She reached for an emergency mask that would give her another hour.
One hour, give or take. She refused to dwell on it. She would make sure the shields and prism core drive kept working, not count down the minutes to the end.
Soon, though, the controls swam in front of her. Her head was spinning like the wormhole. Blackness crept into the edges of her vision.
It would have been nice to see Alexei’s smile and sparkling blue eyes one last time. She imagined him returning to Neridia, with Samir and his mom, and the glowing crystals, growing into the best mayor they’d ever had, making a difference for his planet and many others.
She wished she could be there to see it, but knowing she’d hopefully helped make it happen, she closed her eyes in peace.
32
The shuttle shook as Tai took them deeper into the wormhole. Perrin’s hands remained in constant motion on the console, adjusting shields to minimize the shaking.
In contrast, Tai’s knuckles were tight on the controls, his shoulders tense. Alexei debated asking about the guy’s father, but this wasn’t the ideal location. Instead, he watched the swirling colors for any hint of a ship, wishing he could do something. Feeling helpless when someone needed you was the worst.
“What you said about being the one who sent her,” Alexei said to Tai. “This isn’t on you. If it’s on anyone, it’s me for convincing her to turn on the Obsidian Force.”
“I haven’t known Jules as long as you have, but I suspect she’d tell us both that we’re idiots and that she made her own choice.”
Alexei huffed. “You’re probably right. But still.”
“It’s like I told her when she talked to Nissi. You gave her a chance. You showed her what was possible. Taking that chance was her decision. Neither of us forced her into anything.”
“Does it help, telling yourself that?”
“Not as much as I’d like.”
Alexei sighed. “Yeah.”
Tai shifted. “Something I learned as an agent, and I’m sure you’re finding in your new job is, you can’t control people. They surprise you, sometimes in good ways and sometimes in bad. Lots of them will always act in their own interests, but many are capable of great selflessness. And often it surprises you which ones are which.”
Alexei thought of Rodge at the peace talks. The smugglers. Corine, whom Tai had confirmed had been rescued by Alliance soldiers. “I like to think you can convince most people of quite a lot, as long as you find the right approach.”
“And if you can’t,” Perrin said, “then you sneak behind their backs.”
Tai rolled his eyes.
Alexei straightened.
There it was.
A small shuttle drifted ahead, a dark outline against the whirling colors. The vessel appeared completely offline.
There was no point in hailing it, but he was tempted anyway. Practically bouncing in his seat, he inspected the hull for holes. Tai dodged small debris that littered the area and brought their craft around to the airlock. Exterior panels were missing, and smoke billowed from the engine, a puff of white contrasting with the blue and green.
Jules was so close. A few walls and a small expanse of colorful space between them.
But it felt like half a galaxy.
He clenched and unclenched his hands to stop their shaking.
“The airlock looks intact,” Tai said, “but if there’s no power, we’ll have to force the doors.”
If there was no power, was there air? Heat? Had anything inside exploded? What would they find?
He should possibly prepare himself for a sight he’d rather not see. That optimism was feeling nearly out-of-reach again.
Tai maneuvered the shuttle against Jules’s and sealed their airlock against the dead vessel. Perrin remained at the console to keep the shields stable as Alexei and Tai donned masks that would provide oxygen, familiar since they resembled what he’d worn in the mines.
Alexei clutched another for Jules, hoping she wouldn’t need it. Hoping it wasn’t too late.
They entered their airlock and approached the other ship’s doors.
All of Alexei’s muscles were clenched, and he had to force himself to breathe.
The doors didn’t open, so he and Tai found a bar to wedge in then pried with their hands. Metal squealed. Alexei used every bit of muscle gained from years of mining, They repeated the action at the next doors, leading into the shuttle.
