But there was no other way. Chronos would wait, he knew, as long as he could. But Barron also knew that the enemy ships would start closing on the system fairly soon…and Chronos would have to leave sooner or later. All he could do was hope that he was there in time.

  He felt the direction of movement change. The elevator had been going up, and now it was moving to the side. Every second that past was another bit of the journey done. It brought him that much closer to escape…and that was what he wanted now. His past thoughts of death were gone, save only his remembrance, and the fact that not one, but two friends had come for him had refilled his will to endure. He knew he would have to allow the effort with the virus now, that there was no other realistic choice. If he continued to oppose it, he would probably be the only one. But he wasn’t against it either, not anymore. It still troubled him, killing millions of the enemy, perhaps billions, if that many existed. But it was the only way…the only option save surrender. And that was utterly unthinkable to him.

  The elevator car continued on its way, reaching 80-85% of the way…and then stopping.

  He came out of his deep thought, and he punched at the control, twice, three times. Nothing.

  “I think the way is blocked, sir.”

  He turned, realizing his aide was right. He thought for a few seconds, and he was almost ready to order everyone out. But the way was still fairly long, and there were blocked passages and other problems along the way. He almost gave the order anyway, and he went so far as to think of how far back he would have to bring the car to get his people out.

  But that’s not what he said. “Okay, Jerry, Clark…help me open up the forward side. Chances are, it’s just a small patch in the way. Maybe we can get it out, and go the rest of the way.” He sounded confident, but inside, he was far less. It could very well be a small blockage holding them up, but he had no way of knowing. It could be a massive impediment as well, or even the tunnel crushed. He just didn’t know.

  He extended his fingers under the panel’s edge, pulling, even as his two companions did the same. The car was built to allow for the side to open, but it was battered, beaten up in two battles, and Barron knew it might be subtly misshapen. That possibility only progressed in his mind as it didn’t move at all when he first reached under and started to pull.

  Then his friends grabbed on as well, one above and one below where his hands were…and the panel started to shift. It moved slowly for a few seconds, and then it popped off.

  Barron fell backwards with his two companions, and it took him a few seconds to get back up, to look out into the panel. He feared seeing nothing but collapsed decks and other garbage filling the entire area…but when he managed to actually take a look, he saw that there was only a small pile, mostly easy to move, with one large piece of a girder in the way. If he was alone, he doubted he could move it, but there was no question that three or four of his people could. That left many questions, among them, whether the large chunk of steel would move…or whether it would trigger a further collapse. But he knew he didn’t have time to think about it. Chronos would stay as long as possible…but he only had a limited time until the enemy ships—both the new ones and the ones that had stopped pursuing the fleeing fleet—reached the station.

  “Clark, Jerry…come on. Let’s get all of this out of here and see if we can get the car started again. Let’s get the small stuff first.” He heard the grunting acceptance of his two drafted counterparts, and in just a minute or two, they had everything removed. Except the piece of girder. They were standing around that, looking at Barron…waiting for the word to proceed.

  Barron looked at the chunk of metal, and he figured he had a good chance of moving it to the side without bringing down more. At least a decent possibility.

  “Alright,” he said, “let’s grab it and move it here.” He gestured to what he perceived as the obvious location…but he wasn’t taking any chances. “On three…one.”

  He reached out, grabbing the chunk of metal. It was sharp underneath where he reached first, and he moved his hands over, to a smoother part.

  “Two.”

  He sucked in a deep breath, and he exhaled hard.

  “Three.”

  He pulled, and for an instant, the chunk of steel didn’t move. He’d considered it, run his mind through it. The three of them should be able to move it. But it stayed where it was.

  For a few seconds. Then it began to move…and Barron realized it was connected to part of the metal below. “Hard…as hard as you can…” He muttered the thought, at least he thought he did, but when it came out, it was almost a shout.

  He turned and looked at his two companions. They were pulling with all they had…and the chunk of metal was moving…slowly. He had four more people in the car, but he realized he couldn’t fit anymore in the section of the elevator tunnel. He pulled again, with all he had left…and the chunk of steel pulled a little. Then it broke free, and it moved much more quickly. Suddenly, it was over, almost far enough, just a single corner extending in the way.

  “We’ve almost got it…one more push, and we’re there.” He had no idea if the elevator would work. There were a hundred other things that could be wrong. But something told him, if he could just clear the way, the doomed car would get him and his seven companions where they were going.

  He shoved, pushed hard on the chunk of metal, and as his two companions again joined him, it gave way, and fell out of the way. The track was clear, more or less at least, and it was time to get back in the car, and to see if it moved.

  One of his companions regripped the panel to the side—now the front—of the elevator, but Barron shook his head. “No,” he said, “we don’t have time.” That was one thing that had been growing on him all the while he and his people had moved the barricade. He knew Chronos well, and he was sure the Hegemony leader would wait…as long as he could.

  But he wouldn’t wait too long. And Barron didn’t have any more access to the data, to potentially approaching enemy ships. All he had was his gut…and it told him to hurry.

  “Alright…everybody, stay away from the front of the car. If there’s something else in the way, it might come in here.” He closed his eyes, just for an instant, and he pressed the button.

  The car started moving!

  Barron hadn’t really expected it to work, though he only realized that after he knew it was working. There were still a dozen things that could go wrong, but he was on the way.

  * * *

  Chronos waited, his eyes bouncing back and forth, one instant on the hallway to his front, the next on the small screen he had set up on a stand nearby. He was committed to stay, to wait for Barron…though he knew he had to leave. Soon.

  With or without the Confederation commander.

  He was going to wait, as long as possible…but the approaching Highborn fleet units made that a short while. By some standards, he should have pulled out already…but he was working on the tightest figures he could manage. And he was running out of time, even then.

  He had all the personnel from the station aboard already, all but Barron and his reduced bridge crew. His mind bounced around, wondering if Barron hadn’t misled him, if he hadn’t intended to leave at all. But he pushed those thoughts aside. Barron was tired, worn…but he wasn’t a liar. If he’d been determined to stay, he would have just said so. Besides, without his gunners in place, he couldn’t do anything anyway. The guns were still firing, but their targeting was entirely automated, and that meant they weren’t hitting as well. And Barron’s bridge crew was among the best in the fleet. He wouldn’t leave them to die for no reason, and Chronos was sure they wouldn’t go without him.

  Still, he knew the time would come when even he had to give up, to pull away knowing he was leaving Barron to certain death. He tried his best not to think about it, to consider almost anything else. But with each passing minute, it became more and more difficult.

  He turned to face his number two, at least at the current location. It was a Master, a man named Barrister, and Chronos was pretty damned sure his aide recognized his attachment to Barron, even if he didn’t share it. That last part wasn’t clear, not even to Chronos, but he was at least fairly sure Barrister was at least sympathetic.

  “Sir…we can wait five more minutes. Maybe. Then we’ve got to get going. Even that could be too long. I’m sorry, but…” He paused for an instant. He’d gotten the basic part of his feelings out, but he was too troubled to finish. Chronos suspected Barrister did feel the way he did, if not as passionately.

  “I know, Barrister…I know.” He felt the urge to clear away his colleague, to give him something to do. “Go inside…and get the ship ready to go.” The vessel was more or less ready for a maximum speed lift off, but it was the best reason Chronos could think of to clear the man, and most of the others as well. “All of you…go inside and get ready to leave. I’ll remain here for…four more minutes. Then we’ll leave.”

  He watched as the small group around him hesitated, and he gestured with his head toward the door. He was about to follow up with another shout, when they began to move—slowly.

  His attention was diverted, and it took close to two minutes for all of them to pack up and get aboard. He missed the sound of the approaching car…at least for the first few seconds. Then he spun around and listened…and he realized he did hear the car coming. He felt his heart beating, and his hands began to sweat. He knew Barron would come by the vehicle, but he still couldn’t believe it.

  He didn’t believe it, not for another moment. Then the car stopped, and the door opened. Barron climbed out, followed by seven of his people…the last live occupants of Fortress Striker. Barron looked worn, as Chronos knew they all were. He was tired and battered. But his eyes shone brightly, and as he saw Chronos, he smiled, for just a second. Then he stepped forward and hugged the Master.

  Chronos found himself returning the gesture, and the two men stood, for perhaps twenty seconds, and embraced. Then Barron pulled back and said, “My guess is, we don’t have long to get the hell out of here.”

  Chronos nodded, and he said, “No…we’re down to the last couple minutes.” He kept silent that he might have waited too long. “But we’re ready to blast off, so let’s go.” His eyes widened to the others, and he said, “All of you…onboard now. We’re ready to lift off.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  CWS Dauntless

  Vasa Denaris System

  Year 329 AC (After the Cataclysm)

  Atara watched as Chronos’s ship blasted hard from Striker. She had plenty to worry about around her, the status of the surprisingly undaunted Dauntless chief among them, but she found her thoughts drifting again and again to Tyler Barron. Chronos’s ship had indeed separated from the station and headed away at full power…but it hadn’t sent any messages. For the first minute or two, she figured the commander was focusing on accelerating away, but then she started to get nervous. She knew Chronos, not nearly as well as Barron did, but well enough to tell her the Hegemony Master would have announced he had succeeded in his efforts.

  She almost turned Dauntless around, determined to bring the ship back to Striker, to find Barron if Chronos hadn’t…but she knew her chances were exactly zero. She checked half a dozen approaches to the station, but none got her there before the new enemy force.

  She felt her eyes moisten, something that had never happened in front of her crew before. She was on the verge of realizing Barron was lost…but then, just a few seconds later, the comm unit engaged, and Tyler Barron announced his presence on the Hegemony flagship.

  “Tyler…I’m thrilled that you made it!” Atara was one of the coldest, most to the point officers in the fleet, but for that moment, she let it all slide away.

  “Atara, I’m glad to hear from you. But neither of us is away, not yet. So, let’s focus on getting there, and then we can talk.”

  “You’re right, of course, Admiral.” Her voice, and her exterior tone, were back to normal. But inside, she was still happy, still cheering. Barron was right, of course, her ship—and his—were not out of the system yet. Not only that, but she didn’t know what they were going to do, even if they did escape. They had lost the battle, and the force they would have was barely half what they had started with, at least taking the most damaged ships out of the mix. She knew there would be discussions, debates…and she knew what would win. The last chance at victory, and it wasn’t another conventional fight. That was over, the chance of winning the war with normal weapons. She knew that…and she knew that Barron would as well.

  The last chance was to strike at the very existence of the enemy, to try to kill them all. She knew Barron thought that was outside the realm of war, that striking at the very existence of an enemy was above and beyond what was called for. But she was also sure he would give in, that he would realize there was no other choice, no way to prevail save for the desperate attempt. He would hate and despise himself…but he would go along with it.

  Atara had already decided on her position. She would go along with Barron, and she would act like she felt the same way. But the truth was different, and far harsher.

  Atara had lost too many people, seen too much death. She was more than willing to launch the desperate attack against the enemy. She was excited, anxious. She wanted to destroy the Highborn, every last one of them that existed…and she didn’t care about anything else.

  * * *

  “I don’t know what to say, Chronos…except thank you.” Barron stood inside the Hegemony dreadnought, looking tired, but still glaring with defiance in his eyes. He’d thanked Chronos already, twice actually, and he’d told Atara that he was aboard. But he knew what lay ahead of him. And he found it terrifying.

  “You’re welcome, Tyler…again. You would have done the same thing for me, I am sure of that.”

  Barron sat for a few seconds, considering what he would have done. He wanted to object, to argue that he would have allowed Chronos to die…but he knew it was nonsense. Somewhere along the line, he’d come to view the Hegemony as staunch allies, and he’d almost forgotten that just a few years before, they were the enemy. He knew that was an imperfect thought, that his opinion of his allies was based on his impression of Akella and Chronos, that the two of them, and many of their military subordinates, were the standard. He knew that wasn’t true, that the Hegemony was a large and complex organism, just as the Confederation, with different viewpoints and positions. But for the moment, he saw the entire thing as though Akella and Chronos ruled unquestioned. He knew it wasn’t true, that he would encounter the complexities and problems of the actual situation rapidly…but for the moment, he just decided to just believe his allies and he were completely bound.

  He’d realized something else, too. He had been against using the virus on moral grounds, that was true…but it had been even more about the fact that he didn’t expect it to work. He’d just realized that, truly realized it, and he hadn’t shared it with anyone. He could tell Andi about it, usually at least, but in this case she was so determined to carry out the operation, he couldn’t see informing her that he didn’t think it would work, all the more because it was only his point of view, and not any kind of real insight. For all he really knew, it would work, even well. His negative view wasn’t the result of real consideration. He didn’t even know what it was about. But the lack of any hope on the conventional military front didn’t leave any choice, none that he could accept.

  He had to support the new operation…and he had to believe it would work. There was no other choice.

  None.

  “Chronos…I just wanted to tell you, I’m supporting the operation with the virus. I did my best, we all did, but we don’t have any chance of winning…any other chance.” Barron hadn’t chosen Chronos as the first one he would tell about his change of heart, but he figured the order didn’t matter much. The Hegemony grand commander had been on his side, right through the just-concluded battle, but he was fairly certain Chronos had come to the same conclusion he had. There was no other choice.

  “I’m glad to hear that, Tyler. As you know, I have been in favor of a conventional military response, much as you. But that is gone now. There is no other option…save surrender. And that, I will never do. Never.”

  Barron stared back, and even as he did, he felt surer, more confident. “Neither will I, Chronos…neither will I.”

  Barron’s eyes diverted, to the screen, to Striker. What had been the image of the base, at least. Now, it was just a massive plasma, expanding even as he watched. He had left the charges in place, and he knew it was going to happen, counted on it, even. But it still took him by surprise, and he looked, seeing his massive fortress reduced…to nothing at all. And with it went any doubt that had lingered about what he had to do.

  * * *

  “I want to thank you all for coming. I know we’ve all had different opinions on how to proceed, but I feel we are in the same place now. The enemy forces are too large, too powerful for us to defeat, even with the Confederation’s increased production rates. The Hegemony is half occupied, and whatever we decide to do regarding the other half, it will fall. We just don’t have the power to mount a defense. Striker was located well, in a section where the two halves of the Hegemony met at a single point…but there are no other such alternatives, no other areas where there is only one course of advance. If we do not engage in the plan to use the virus, and do so immediately, we will fall…without question.” Barron felt strange, urging his comrades to support the plan he had been so against…indeed, he realized, he had been perhaps one of the most opposed. But he was a realist, at heart at least, and he understood there was no other way.

  And Tyler Barron would do anything except surrender.

  The gathered assembly remained silent for a moment, but no one objected. There were men and women who’d already been in favor of the current plan, and there were others who’d been as opposed as Barron himself. But no one questioned him.