“For now?” Jackson asked.

  “If there’s an Axon in Sanisco, then nothing’s fine,” Hayden said. “It got me out of there for a reason.”

  “I think you should talk to Caleb,” Nathan replied. “On the way back to Sansico.”

  “Pozz,” Hayden agreed. “How many can you take in the ship?”

  “We’ve got space for all of them, but I think they’re better off here.”

  “You expect the creatures that attacked Edenrise to attack Sanisco?”

  “I think it’s inevitable. My guess is the only reason they haven’t is because you found their nest before they all hatched.”

  “We need to warn them,” Hicks said. “We need to get them ready to fight.”

  Hayden activated his comm. “Bronson.”

  “Yes, Sheriff,” the pilot replied.

  “Try to get HQ on the line.”

  “Roger. Standby.”

  “You aren’t going to leave us out here, are you, Sheriff?” one of the women asked. “We don’t even have any clothes.”

  “We’re not safe out here,” another one said.

  “You aren’t safe with us, either,” Hayden replied.

  “They can come back to my farm,” Rosa said. “I have shelter there.”

  “Can you give us a gun, at least?” the first woman said.

  “I’ll do one better,” Hayden replied. “Jackson, how’s your ankle?”

  “What’s wrong with my ankle?” Jackson replied with a smirk.

  “I want you and Ivanov to stay with the group. Bring them back to Rosa’s farm, make sure everything’s clear, and then call Bronson for pickup.”

  “Roger, Sheriff,” Jackson and Ivanov said.

  “Sheriff,” Bronson said. “The connection’s choppy here. I’m getting a link, which means the antenna’s up and the equipment is active. It’s probably just interference from the hills.”

  “I can get us there in no time,” Nathan said. “But we need to move.”

  Hayden nodded. “Jackson, Ivanov, get these people to safety. Ms. Columbo, I’m very sorry about Josias. I’ll get to the bottom of this. I promise.”

  “Thank you, Sheriff.”

  Hayden turned to Nathan. “Let’s go.”

  53

  Isaac

  Isaac sat in the small mess at the rear of the Capricorn. A plate rested on the table in front of him, a brown block of flavored protein resting on the plate. He looked up as Rico approached the table with a plate of her own.

  “Mind if I join you?” she asked, smiling down at him.

  “Be my guest,” Isaac replied, motioning to one of the chairs.

  Rico sat, taking her fork and digging into the meal. She took a huge bite, chewed, and swallowed before looking at Isaac again. “Not hungry?” she asked, pointing her fork at his plate.

  “Not particularly,” he said, grimly.

  “It’s all catching up to you, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah, I guess.” He looked up at her, a small smile tipping up one corner of his mouth. “It’s a lot to process.”

  “Want to talk about it? I’m a pretty good listener.”

  “You don’t really want to hear me whine, do you?” His grin broadened.

  “Sure. Why not? Go for it.” She took another bite and chewed.

  “Over two hundred years in cold storage,” he said with a deep sigh. “How do you process something like that, let alone waking up to find I’m nothing more than a curiosity to an ancient alien that wanted to enslave humankind, and that was after it murdered my son. I managed to help defeat that alien and was shipped to another planet, thinking I was going to be treated like something important. Instead, Iwas locked away and had to be broken out of a golden prison, only to come back to Earth in time to warn them about the coming of a massive alien starship and a new invasion.” Isaac paused. “All things considered, I feel great.”

  Rico smirked. “It can always be worse.”

  “Did I mention that ever since we went through that twisted wormhole I’ve had to use the bathroom every thirty minutes, and I can’t bring myself to eat a single bite of anything?”

  “To be honest, this isn’t exactly a gourmet offering. Don’t be too hard on yourself, Ike. This is only your second experience with space travel. The wormhole left me a little queasy for a couple of hours too.”

  “It isn’t just the wormhole. It’s the whole thing. Proxima, the Trust, the Organization, the Relyeh, and the Axon. The incoming ship. Earth is one planet in an entire universe of planets. A universe that has a hell of a lot more intelligent life in it than any of the scientists I ever knew believed. I get pissed when I think about how that truth should be wondrous, and instead it’s a total disaster.”

  “I hear you,” Rico replied. “I can’t relate, but I empathize. I was made to be a Centurion. Military life is the only life I know. Bred for war, as they say. That doesn’t mean I never saw it. Life on the outside. Young couples. Mothers with their babies. The whole normalcy thing. When I finally accepted my feelings for Steven, when I quit the CSF so we could be married, I thought it was my chance to be like everyone else. I thought I could live a happy, civilian life. Clones are sterile, but they’re making clone infants now using the parents DNA. I thought I would have a chance to be one of those mothers. But reality didn’t let me. We don’t get to choose the universe we live in. We only get to choose how we live in it.”

  “I promised my wife I would never give up. Never stop fighting. But this? It’s so much bigger than I ever imagined.”

  “It’s only as big as you let it be. Who you are, what you do, that doesn’t change. Fight the small fight. Win the small battle. Work your way up or die proud that you tried. That’s what I’m doing. We’ve been out here for over two hundred years. We’re still alive and kicking. I intend to keep it that way.”

  Isaac smiled. “I can see why your Bennett loved you. You have a lot of wisdom in there.”

  Rico returned the smile. “No. I’m just quoting an enlistment commercial I saw in the loop station once.”

  “Bullshit.”

  They both laughed.

  Isaac picked up his fork and stabbed the protein block. He took a piece off and brought it to his mouth, breathing in the smell of it. “Reminds me of Thanksgiving dinner.”

  “Our Thanksgiving was moved to the day the first ship landed on Proxima. But yes, turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce. I smell it all in there.”

  He put it back on the plate. “It was a good pep talk, but I still can’t eat it.”

  Rico took another bite. “Don’t stress about it, Sergeant. You’ll get your appetite back. Stop trying so hard to force it.”

  Isaac dropped the fork. “Yeah, you’re right. What about you? How are you feeling?”

  “A little nervous. A little excited. A little scared. The usual.”

  “Are you getting used to having this Bennett around?”

  “Still a work in progress, like your stomach. It would be easier if he didn’t look exactly like Steven and have all of the same mannerisms, tone of voice, and pretty much everything else except his name. The mind knows the difference, but the heart wants to cling to the familiar.”

  “I can’t relate, but I empathize. If I were in your position, I don’t know if I would be able to stop myself from falling in love again.”

  Rico leaned forward, lowering her voice. “I don’t know if I can, either. Haeri might have thought he was buying my loyalty, but he’s really messing with my head, and I don’t like it.”

  “I don’t blame you. Not to minimize your feelings, but speaking of Haeri, what do you think about whoever tried to have me killed?”

  “I think they started with the wrong person. If what Able says about the Organization is true, they aren’t going to take this lying down. Proxima has been in a delicate balance since the beginning. A tense peace. This could be the action that pulls the settlement into an underground war. If it does, it isn’t going to be pretty.”

  “It seems like a pretty lousy time to fighting amongst ourselves.”

  “Yes, it does. It’s almost as if the enemy is pulling the strings.”

  “Do you think there are Relyeh on Proxima?”

  “Relyeh, Axon, maybe both. How would we know?”

  “There’s not much we can do about it, is there? We’re banished to Earth.”

  “For now. Maybe not forever.”

  “Do you think we’ll live that long?”

  “Forever? No. Long enough to go back to Proxima? I’m going to fight like hell to make it happen.”

  “Then I will too. Deal?” Isaac put out his hand.

  Rico took it, clasping it tightly. “Deal.”

  “Rico,” Bennett said, entering the mess. Rico leaned back, looking at him with a forced coldness.

  “What is it?” she replied.

  “We’re nearing Earth orbit. Able wants you to take us in.”

  Rico got to her feet. Isaac stood too.

  “I want to see this,” Isaac said.

  “Then let’s go.”

  54

  Natalia

  Natalia didn’t get time to herself very often. There was always something to do, someone to take care of, time to spend with family or down in the lab. Or going out into the streets to talk to the residents. There were always problems big and small, things that needed fixing, things to organize. And then there was Hayden.

  She had loved him for a long time. It had grown into a comfortable love, like an easy breeze on a warm day. Predictable and safe, and she liked it that way. She had proof he would do anything for her. He had already saved her from hopeless despair once, and she wanted more than anything to return the favor.

  It was the reason that when she found herself in her apartment with Hallia asleep and Ginny at the movies, she didn’t remain fixed for long.

  She went into Hallia’s room, picking up her daughter carefully enough she didn’t wake her and placed her gently in an old rolling crib she had restored. She covered the top of it with a thick material to keep it dark and then headed out of the apartment, down the corridor to the lift, and from the lift, out into the street. The movie theater was a couple of streets over, and she crossed them uneventfully, saying hello to the few people who hadn’t gone to see the film.

  She still remembered the day they had finally found a bulb for the projector and built a wire to connect it to the old playing device. They had inherited a collection of movie discs from a storeroom of one of the buildings, and scavengers started bringing them more as word began to spread. Now they showed the films a few nights a week, the five hundred seat theater always filled to bursting.

  “Governor Duke,” Deputy Solace said as she approached the entrance. “Come to see the movie?”

  Natalia smiled. “No. I was hoping you could pass a message to Ginny for me. Just tell her to find me in the lab when the movie’s over.”

  “Yes, ma’am. You could have asked me over the comm.”

  Natalia smiled. “I wanted some fresh air. How’s everything looking?”

  “Calm and quiet, just like we like it.”

  “Good. Let’s try to keep it that way. Goodnight Harvey.”

  “Goodnight, Governor Duke. I’ll get that message to Ginny right away.”

  Natalia headed back to the pyramid, boarding the lift and taking it down to the subterranean garage that served as her research lab. Hayden had gone to find her an ick knowing how important it was for them to better understand the appearance of these new aliens and how Sergeant Caleb Card fit in. She knew how worried he was that accessing the Collective would kill her the next time, instead of leaving her with limp she was still dealing with. She needed to do whatever she could to minimize the danger.

  The lab was deserted. Most of the engineers had gone to see the movie, and the rest were probably already asleep, preparing for an early start in the morning. Her people were dedicated, almost as dedicated as she was. They were the reason Sanisco ran as well as it did. So much of everything was over two centuries old. The electrical wires, the water pipes, even the reactors that fed power to the city. It was a minor miracle any of it held together at all, and another that they were able to keep it all running.

  Natalia rolled the carriage into the corner near the neural interlink. Hallia was fast asleep, cooing softly beneath the cover. Natalia walked over to the terminal connected to the link and sat down, flipping on the display. She tapped on the control pad, logging into the system and going back to the readings from her first time using the device. From what Doctor Hess had told her, the cause of her near-death experience was an overload of input from the Collective. A simple case of too much data flowing into her brain for her brain to handle. What she needed was a valve—a means to control the flow. In order to create one, she had to better understand precisely how the ick functioned.

  It was challenging because she didn’t have a real one to experiment with. Instead, she was left with the data captured by the computers during her use. Lutz had been working overtime on building simulations based on that data, and she wanted to check on them now to see if she could continue his work.

  She opened the source code, reading through his algorithms. She understood them for the most part, though there were a couple of secondary calculations she would need to quiz him about in the morning. The good news was that since the Collective flowed into her mind through the interlink, a machine, it was reasonable to expect they could gain a measure of control over it. The only question was whether or not limiting the flow would leave the Collective essentially useless to them.

  She played with the calculations for a while, bringing over a chalkboard and scribbling different ideas on it, erasing most of them after they didn’t fit. Hayden thought she was the smartest person he knew, but she didn’t see it that way. She made a lot of mistakes. Too many mistakes. He was the one out there saving lives every day. He was the one with the courage to face every challenge thrown at them head-on. There were plenty of times she wanted it to all go away so she could focus on the family she had fought so hard to build.

  Two hours passed in a blink. Natalia leaned back in her chair, staring at the code on the screen. She was missing something. But what? She glanced over at the carriage. Hallia was still out cold. She slept like her father. Natalia smiled, but it faded quickly. Where was Hayden? She should have heard something from him by now.

  She tapped on her comm, speaking softly. “Fry, are you there?” She waited a few seconds. No reply. “Fry?” She looked down at the comm. The LED was red. Fry wasn’t answering. He was on comms duty tonight. Maybe he went to use the bathroom? But her call would go through to him there.

  She stood up and walked over to the carriage. It had to be a malfunction in her comm. It wouldn’t be the first time. She would walk it up to the Office and swap it out with another.

  She wrapped her hands around the handle of the carriage.

  And then the power went out.

  “You have to be kidding me,” Natalia said, staring straight ahead into the pitch black. She tapped her comm a few times, the LED turning bright white, a mini-flashlight that provided just enough light for her to see her surroundings. They had managed to go three months without a power outage. The timing was awful. “Come on, Hal. We need to see what happened to the lights.”

  She turned around, wheeling the carriage in front of her, freezing when she saw a ghost.

  55

  Hayden

  Hayden followed Nathan up the ramp into the dropship, still carrying Bahk. Hicks brought up the rear with the zombie-like Bryant. A group of soldiers waited at the top of the incline. Most looked ragged in their combat armor, their postures wilting, their eyes tired.

  All except one.

  “You’re Caleb Card,” Hayden said, certain the only member of the team who didn’t look like they needed a few days of sleep was the man he wanted to meet. Caleb looked ready for action in his combat armor—physically fit and strong-jawed, with short brown hair and kind but serious eyes.

  “Sheriff Duke, I take it?” Caleb replied, looking down at Bahk. “One of yours.”

  Hayden nodded. “Reaper got him. I want to bring him back to his family.”

  “I understand. Walt, can you take the fallen and put him in storage with Dane’s body?”

  “Yes, Colonel,” she replied, coming up next to Caleb and holding out her arms.

  “He’s pretty heavy,” Hayden said.

  Walt smiled. “I can manage. I’m stronger than I look.”

  Hayden passed Bahk over to her, and she carried him to the stairs at the back of the hold, vanishing up them a moment later.

  “You lost one of yours too,” Hayden said.

  “Three,” Caleb replied. “We were only able to recover Dane.”

  “What happened?”

  “We were trying to re-equip from Tinker’s weapon’s cache,” Nathan said. “An Other was waiting for us. It wanted to get into the cache too.”

  “How did it know where to find it?”

  “Unknown.”

  “Pyro, everyone’s aboard. Let’s get this bird in the air.”

  “Roger, General. Good to hear your voice, Sheriff.”

  “Chandra, is that you?” Hayden said.

  “Pozz,” she replied.

  “You’re a pilot now.”

  “A damn good one,” Nathan said, closing the ramp as the dropship began to slowly rise.

  “Thank you for the compliment, General,” Pyro said.

  “You’ve earned it.”

  “ETA to Sanisco is eighteen minutes,”

  “Not bad,” Hayden said. He looked at Caleb again. “It doesn’t give us much time to chat.”

  “Nathan told me a bit about you on the way over,” Caleb replied, putting out his hand. Hayden took it. “It’s an honor, Sheriff. I admire everything you’ve been trying to do.”

  “I’m just doing my job,” Hayden replied.

  “So am I,” Caleb said. “Sergeant Caleb Card, United States Space Force, formerly United States Marine Corps.”