She didn’t lash out or make any further sounds. Her tentacles dropped to the floor, her body falling with them.

  She took one shuddering breath and died.

  Caleb pulled the microspear out, heaving a sigh of relief. He wanted to sit for a second and gather his energy.

  “Colonel,” Tora said again.

  He turned just in time to see her collapse.

  70

  Caleb

  “Tora!” Caleb cried out, running over to her. He dropped to her side, feeling for a pulse. Still alive, but she wouldn’t be for long if he didn’t get her to some oxygen-rich air.

  He picked her up, glancing back at Nyarlath as he pushed through the membrane and back into the corridor. The Guardian Intellect was standing completely motionless in the middle of the path. It was as if someone had flipped a switch to shut it down.

  Caleb suddenly realized what Nyarlath had said.

  Vyte is dead.

  That meant Hayden had killed him. The sheriff had won. They had won. A burst of elation gave him new energy, and he ran past the Intellect, finding Tora’s armor on the floor against the bulkhead. Why had she taken it off?

  His excitement faded again when he saw Stacker on the floor near her armor. They had won, but at what cost? And it wasn’t quite over. Not yet. Vyte and Nyarlath might be dead, but there were still thousands of Relyeh on Earth and Proxima, likely still carrying out their original plans.

  They had to get Nyarlath’s ick back to the interlink. Then they could finish this.

  “Hold on, Tora,” Caleb said, lowering her to the deck.

  He pulled her armor off the bulkhead, straightening it out on the deck and then placing her back in it. He closed it and pulled the helmet down, locking it in place. The system immediately began to reboot, adjusting the inner atmosphere the moment it recognized the toxicity of the air.

  “Come on,” Caleb said. “You can make it. You’re tougher than this.”

  The color started coming back to Tora’s face. Her breathing became stronger and more steady. Her eyes opened.

  “Colonel Card?” she said, looking at him. “What happened?”

  “You almost suffocated. You’ll be okay now, just don’t take off your helmet again.”

  “Nyarlath?”

  “Dead.”

  “We won?”

  “Round one, yeah.”

  She shoved herself to her feet. “We still have work to do.”

  Caleb appreciated her attitude. He stood beside her. “We need to cut out her ick and get it through a portal.”

  “There has to be one on this ship, right?” Tora said.

  “Or we have to find a way to radio Haeri and get a ride back to Proxima.” Caleb considered the problem. “We need a ride back either way. Only the Ziyou portal has the coordinates to the portal on Earth. We have to get back there somehow.”

  Caleb Card.

  Caleb froze at the sound of the new voice in his head. “Nyla?”

  I figured you would want me to let her in.

  Ishek was right; he did want to talk to her.

  She spoke again.

  It’s over, Caleb. Father and Mother are deceased.

  “I know. I’m sorry it had to be that way. What happens now?”

  I told you I want to stop this. Tell me how.

  “The interlink is on Earth. We need to go back there to use it. There’s a portal on Proxima that can take us there, but our transport was destroyed when we arrived.”

  You need to go to Earth?

  “That’s right. Is there a portal on this ship?”

  Yes, I will show you the way.

  Caleb closed his eyes. He felt Nyla across the Collective. She opened herself up to him, allowing him to enter. He could read everything in her mind if he wanted, from the moment she first became sentient. She could do the same with him, but neither of them would ever do that or even need to know the other could do so. It was a matter of trust.

  He thought only of the damnation’s layout, capturing everything she knew about how to navigate the ship in a flash. Then he retreated from her.

  “I’ve got it,” he said. “We’ll meet you there.”

  Caleb walked over to Stacker, gingerly lifting off his helmet.

  “What are you doing?” Tora asked.

  “We need something to carry it in,” he replied. He reached down and pushed Stacker’s eyelids closed. “Godspeed, Jason.”

  “Let’s make it quick. This place still gives me the creeps.” Tora handed him a knife.

  Caleb took it and went back into Nyarlath’s chamber. He hoped Ishek knew where to find the ick.

  I do. Let me take over.

  Caleb allowed Ishek to move to the forefront of his consciousness. He was nothing more than a bystander as the Advocate used the knife to cut so deep into her he had to bury Caleb’s hand in her innards to reach the organ.

  It was almost too large to fit into the helmet, easily close to a thousand times the size of the ones he had seen. Ishek dropped it in and returned control to Caleb without complaint. He wiped off as much of the blood and guts as he could and then used the last of the Skin’s power to burn away what was left.

  Nyla was waiting for them when they walked into the Sanctorum. She stood still and motionless in front of the teleporter, her expression stoic. Sad. Resolved.

  “Caleb Card,” she said, keeping her eyes off the helmet and its contents.

  “Do you know what happened to Hayden? Is he alive?”

  She pointed back at the Sanctorum. “He was badly damaged. It’s the only chance he has.”

  “But he’ll be okay?” Tora asked, hopefully.

  “I don’t know yet. My subjects are working on him.”

  “Your subjects?”

  “Who do you think the ship responds to now?”

  Caleb smiled. “I’m not complaining. What about the Norg on Earth? Or the khoron on Proxima?”

  She shook her head. “Only the Relyeh on the ship. Come.”

  They went through the teleporter, into a small room that connected directly with the room holding the portal. Nyla knelt in front of it, activating it. “Do you know the coordinates?”

  “No,” Caleb said. “We always figured we would go back the way we came. But Vyte must have used it to send units to Earth.”

  Nyla looked at him, her expression flat. “Did no one explain to you that the portal can’t be used by a ship traveling faster than light? If Father could have sent more units to Earth, he would have. I’m sorry, Caleb. Without the coordinates, you cannot use this portal.”

  “Then we need to get back to Proxima and use the portal there. Do you have comms on board?”

  “Human communications? No. I can see you’re upset, Caleb Card.” She put her hand on his shoulder. “I understand your need to get to Earth. Don’t be concerned. Look around you.”

  Caleb glanced at the dark, damp walls. “What am I looking for?”

  Nyla laughed. “You’re standing inside a starship. We’ve traveled a thousand light-years in days. We can reach Earth in hours.”

  71

  Nathan

  “Pyro, how are the shields holding up?” Nathan asked.

  “So far, so good, General,” Pyro replied. “But it’s only been a day. Ask me again when the enemy's had more time to pound at them.”

  Nathan raised his attention to the large screen at the front of the Pilgrim’s bridge. It wrapped around the entire forward bulkhead, offering an unparalleled view into space.

  A view that was currently occupied by three of Vyte’s invading starships. They floated near the generation ship as if they were stationary, though all of the craft involved were following Earth’s rotation and remaining in a fixed orbit in line with the Axon portal’s original location in Seattle.

  A dozen more ships were positioned outside of the immediate view, dispersed along the length and breadth of the ship’s hull. They fired on Pilgrim every thirty seconds or so, blasts of energy that washed over the shield produced by the quantum dimensional modulator.

  Max claimed it could hold for at least four days under the current barrage. After nearly twenty-four hours of constant bombardment, his estimate seemed accurate. But Nathan wasn’t comfortable or happy. Nearly three days had passed since Hayden and Caleb had gone through the portal to Proxima, and there was no sign of them. He understood the difficulty and risk of what they were doing. He understood the odds weren’t great that they would make it back. That was the problem. The Pilgrim had escaped the attack on Earth, where thousands of Norg and xaxkluth troops might have been able to break down any shield they raised like the trife had in Edenrise, but now they were essentially trapped, with nowhere to go. The Pilgrim was a starship, but it was a generation ship, with no fold drive or other FTL technology. At top speed, it would take twenty years to reach Proxima.

  They didn’t have close to twenty years of stores on board. Unless they wanted to turn to cannibalism, they would need to return to Earth’s surface at some point. Once that happened, it was all over.

  Unfortunately, there never had been a survival option that didn’t hinge on Caleb and Hayden. That’s why they had put everything they had into recovering the interlink. That’s what Isaac and so many others had given their lives for. That’s why Max was still tinkering with it now.

  And as each minute passed, Nathan became more and more convinced that the pair had failed. That Caleb and Hayden were dead. That Vyte had won and Earth was going to become a feeding ground for the Hunger. Proxima too.

  Humankind was done.

  Nathan blew out a sigh, frustrated with himself for his despair. The shield was holding. There was still time. He was in charge of the Pilgrim, and it wasn’t right for him to show any sign of doubt among the rest of the people on the bridge or across the ship. If he couldn’t be strong and confident, then how could he expect anyone else to hang onto their hope?

  “Max,” Nathan said, contacting the Intellect through the comm.

  “General. What do you require?”

  “You’re sure the portal is functional up here, and Caleb and Hayden can get back using the portal on Proxima?”

  “Pozz. We are in the proper location.”

  “And the energy shield doesn’t interfere with anything?”

  “Affirmation. The Axon invented the technology, a complete understanding of which is present in my datastore. If they are alive, they will come through.”

  “General,” Chief Ranger Hicks said from one of the bridge’s stations. “It looks like more Relyeh ships are coming our way.”

  Nathan walked over to the station, leaning past Hicks’ shoulder to see. The Pilgrim’s sensors showed more objects approaching. A lot more.

  “What the hell?” Nathan said.

  “It’s like they’re sending the entire invasion force after us, sir,” Hicks replied.

  That was exactly what it seemed like. Given another day, the enemy ships had likely unloaded their armies and were coming to deal with the Pilgrim.

  “Max, we’ve got about a hundred ships coming at us from the surface,” Nathan said.

  “That will greatly reduce the shield’s operational time.”

  “I understand that. What do you recommend we do about it?”

  “We can still outrun them, General.”

  “And if we do, the portal moves with us and Caleb and Hayden can’t make it through.”

  “We will enter an acceptable orbit for three minutes every six hours. They will have a window.”

  “What if they’re running from something and need the portal open immediately?”

  “Understanding. General, the shields can withstand such heavy bombardment as the Hunger will now unleash against us for an hour, two at most. You must decide if you want to give them that time now, or begin altering course to evade the incoming enemy ships.”

  “Roger,” Nathan said. He turned away from Hicks’ station. He wanted to punch something—anything—to release some of his frustration. When they had launched the Pilgrim, he had hoped Caleb and Hayden would return soon after. Now he had to make an impossible decision he didn’t want to make.

  He looked up at the primary display just in time to watch the next coordinated blast of energy hit the shield, spreading out over the ship in a web of blue energy. And now the number of ships out there was about to increase sixfold.

  “General, it is required that you make the decision immediately,” Max said. “Or we will not have enough time to accelerate.”

  Nathan took another breath. He never expected to be in this place and in a position to make such a profound and difficult decision. One with so many lives riding on the outcome. But here he was nonetheless. And there was really only one decision he could make. The one that would give them all the best chance.

  “We’re staying,” he said. “Max, you need to keep the shields up for as long as you can. Do whatever you have to do to buy Caleb and Hayden a little more time.”

  “Compliance.”

  “General, what do you need me to do?” Pyro asked.

  “Go down to the interlink. Run whatever checks you can. Make damn sure it’s working as good as you can make it. Even once they come through, we aren’t going to have a lot of time to get this right.”

  “You’re sure they’re coming?”

  Nathan nodded. He was the General. If he weren’t confident, nobody would be. “Yes. They’ll be here. I firmly believe that. They’re the toughest, most dedicated men I know. They won’t let us down.”

  Pyro smiled. “I agree,” she said, running from the bridge.

  Nathan stood in front of the display, watching the new wave of enemy ships approach. They started firing from a distance, their energy bolts slapping against the shields for ten minutes before they arrived. They surrounded the Pilgrim, continuing their bombardment, the energy bolts wiping out the black of space when they hit the shields, the view outside little more than a bright white screen.

  Twenty minutes passed. Thirty. The attack continued.

  “General,” Max said. “The shield is beginning to show signs of failure. My estimate may have been overly optimistic for a ship of this age. Hahaha. Haha.”

  “What?” Nathan snapped.

  “The modulator is holding steady, but the antenna arrays are beginning to overload.”

  Nathan’s heart pounded. Damn it. It was Edenrise all over again. The Axon tech was capable, but the human pieces it relied on weren’t.

  “I need a solution, Max. Now!”

  “Do you believe in a god, General?”

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Suggestion. If you believe in a god, you should pray. Hahaha. Haha.”

  “That’s not funny, Max.”

  “Affirmation.”

  Nathan stared at the screen. At least with Edenrise, he had been able to fight back. He’d had at least a small amount of control over the situation, and a slim possibility to change the outcome. He didn’t have that here. The Pilgrim had no offensive capabilities. No ships. No guns. Nothing. He might have even tried to do something through the interlink, but they didn’t have an ick to put in it, and there was no way to use it without one.

  An energy blast hit the shield and it flickered for a moment, allowing a second bolt past it before recovering. The Pilgrim took the impact silently, the energy tearing at the thick hull without breaking through. It was the beginning of the end.

  Max was right. It was time to pray for a miracle.

  Nathan retreated to the Pilgrim’s slightly damaged command chair, its cracked faux leather marked with old blood. He sat down in it, tapping on its control pad and opening a shipwide comm.

  “This is General Nathan Stacker,” he said. “I’m not really sure what to say right now. The truth is, we’re under heavy attack and our shield is failing. I don’t know how much longer it’ll hold. I wasn’t born on Earth, but the planet and the people on it have become the most important thing to me. A thing I’ve strived to protect in the time since I met Sheriff Duke, to make him proud. And I know he would be proud of you. Each and every one of you. For fighting when you could have surrendered. For believing when you could have given up. For your hard work and your sacrifice. We’ve all lost things to this enemy. Friends, family, loved ones, and more. In this moment, we have one last chance to show them that we can die with as much strength and dignity as we lived. The Relyeh feed on fear. Don’t give them that fear. Give them your strength. Your love. Your solidarity. Starve those bastards out. Don’t give them the satis—”

  Nathan stopped talking as something new appeared on the sensors.

  Something massive and closing the distance impossibly fast.

  “What the hell is that?” Hicks said.

  “Can you get the rearview up on screen?” Nathan asked.

  “Yes, sir.”

  The primary display changed, showing space behind the ship. Only there was no space to see. The new arrival was so large it filled the entire viewscreen. It was obvious from the design that it was a Relyeh ship.

  “Vyte,” Nathan said. It had to be. Rico had warned them about the coming starship.

  And now it was here.

  Nathan couldn’t think of anything to do but laugh. The Relyeh transports already had them beat. This thing was as much overkill as he could imagine.

  A dozen long tentacles spread out from the sides of the ship, shifting until the tips faced the Pilgrim. They seemed to open up then, the ends spreading apart and revealing a red glow inside that Nathan took as plasma of some kind. At least the end would come quick this way.

  “It was an honor fighting alongside you, General,” Hicks said.

  “You too,” Nathan replied. “It was an honor standing with all of you.”

  “General,” Max said. “Salvation has arrived.”

  “What are you talking about?” Nathan said.

  “Apologies. I will transfer the feed from my Axon communications link through the general comm.”

  “This is Caleb Card, on board the Salvation. Max, can you hear me? We’re here. We made it. Standby while we clean up this mess.”