Ouroboros 3: Repeat (15 page)

.
 . . .

He shook his head bitterly.

‘Just trust it will be okay,’ she said tenderly.

It really was a tender move. From the voice to her choice of words, she was trying to calm him.

And he let her.

He closed his eyes, sighed, and shifted his head back until his face was directed at the ceiling.

Just trust it would be okay?

Their experiences to date had proved to the both of them that trust was a truly precious commodity they could not waste.

Then it happened.

Just as Carson took another breath and finally opened his eyes, Nida jumped to her feet, gasping as she did.

‘I’ve got it. The scanners are picking up activity . . . coming right at us,’ she squeaked in terror.

Carson lunged towards the nearest console.
‘Prepare defensive measures,’ he spat at the computer.

‘
Defensive measures are already in place,’ the computer clarified tonelessly.

Of course they were. Ever since they had left Remus 12, Carson had left the vessel in a constant state of red alert. But that wasn’t the point.

The fear coursing through his veins was.

This was it.

This was it.

They were about to face the Vex.

Yet as Carson reached his console and typed frantically across it, the computer suddenly chimed, ‘United Galactic Coalition vessels detected on an intercept heading.’

.
 . . .United Galactic Coalition?

Coalition?

Carson didn’t say anything. For a moment he was rendered to the spot by his shock.

Then the computer chimed again.
‘Receiving multiple messages.’

‘
Display on screen,’ he could barely speak.

Was this a trap? Had the Vex managed to fool his ship’s scanners?

He couldn’t underestimate them, that much was clear.

Yet, in another instant, an image flickered onto the large screen at the front of the bridge.

. . . .Travis.

Christ, it was Travis.

And as Travis’ eyes drew wide, it was clear Carson’s surprise was reflected in the face of his friend.

‘
 . . . Carson?’ Travis hissed.

Carson nodded, his head feeling so loose it could have fallen off and rolled onto the ground.

For a single second, they simply considered each other in total silence. Then they both started speaking at once.

‘
Where the hell have you been?’ Travis spat.

‘
What the hell happened to the Coalition?’ Carson spat.

‘
Carson, you disappeared.’

‘
What happened to the Coalition,’
Carson raised his voice, the sorrow he’d kept at bay suddenly snaking through his words and making them high-pitched with terror.

‘
 . . . It was destroyed. We . . . we were attacked,’ Travis now answered, his face awash with so much emotion, it was hard to describe.

Carson took a frantic swallow that made him sound as if he were drowning.
‘By what force?’

‘
We . . . still don’t know. They came out of Remus 12. But Carson, where the hell have you been?’

Carson pushed his hand over his eyes and considered the darkness for a sweet moment.

There was too much to ask, too much to learn. He had no idea where to start, and that immobilised him, locking his muscles in place.

In fact, he felt stuck there until finally Nida got up and walked over to him.

And that would be when Travis gasped so hard, it sounded as though he had swallowed the sun.

Carson looked up sharply to see Travis staring open-mouthed at Nida.

‘What?’ Carson asked as he instinctively took a step closer to her.

‘
What . . . what is
she
doing here?’ Travis pointed forward, his hand trembling.

Carson actually reached out and latched a hand on her shoulder protectively. Even though Travis wasn’t on the same damn ship as him, and even though the guy was indisputably Carson’s best friend, it didn’t matter.

It was the total shock rippling through Travis’ gaze.

‘
She’s still alive? They’re looking for her,’ Travis stammered.

Carson felt cold. Totally frozen. It was as if his blood had been drained out and replaced with powdered ice and old snow.

Travis kept shaking his head. ‘What . . . how?’

‘
Lieutenant,’ Nida suddenly stepped forward, centring herself with a deep breath as she did, ‘a lot has happened, but you need to tell us what happened here. Is the Galactic Coalition . . . how . . . how many ships were destroyed? Who’s left?’ she choked.

Travis just looked at her as though she were a ghost. No, more than that—a Goddess of some description—something mythological and downright impossible.

Carson swallowed again, suddenly incapable of sucking in enough air.

‘
Carson, what’s going on?’ Travis asked quietly, pulling his hand up and closing it hard over his eyes. Carson could see the fingers press tightly into his friend’s face, until he knew Travis would be looking at nothing but stars.

‘
We need to come aboard,’ Carson suddenly announced, ‘we need to figure this out.’

‘
There’s nothing to figure out; the United Galactic Coalition was destroyed,’ Travis noted bitterly.

‘
Lieutenant,’ Carson snapped, drawing on his years of being the leader of the Force, and Travis’ boss.

Travis looked up sharply.

‘All is not lost, and we can help. But you must tell us what happened,’ Carson continued.

Not for the first time, and not for the last, Travis swung his gaze over to Nida, and again it slackened with something akin to awe.

It made Carson’s back itch.

‘
What?’ he hissed at his friend as Carson took a dutiful step in front of her.

‘
They were . . .  after her,’ Travis noted as he swallowed hard. The noise was a loud one, and it echoed around the bridge.

Carson shook his head instinctively, just as Nida took a shuddering step back.

‘They were after her,’ Travis repeated in a louder voice.

Nida turned and stared, wide eyed up at Carson.
‘What’s going on?’ she hissed.

More determined than ever to find out, Carson took a steadying breath.
‘We need to know what you do. Travis, I know this is hard to believe, but you are just going to have to trust me. We went back in time . . . we, Christ, we went back in time.’

Travis didn’t answer immediately, then he hissed two words that stole right into Carson’s soul:
‘I know.’

Carson shuddered back, just as Nida snapped forward.

‘What?’ she gasped.

‘
So much has happened,’ Travis acknowledged as he closed his eyes and massaged his fingers over them.

‘
Travis, what do you mean you know we went back in time?’ Nida gasped again.

‘
You two need to come aboard. We have to discuss this,’ Travis suddenly realised. His gaze was fixed on Nida, and as the seconds ticked by, Carson was sure that something akin to hope rekindled in his friend’s gaze.

Carson swallowed wildly.
‘What the hell is going on? And why do you keep looking at her like that?’

‘
Because you two are our last hope,’ Travis acknowledged in a quiet voice. Though he did not speak loudly, and his words did not carry far, they felt like shots blasting one after the other into Carson.

‘
 . . . What?’

‘
Come aboard, I’ll explain everything,’ Travis promised.

Carson opened his mouth to say he would, then he stopped. Carefully he swung his gaze off the view screen and locked it on Nida.

Slowly she turned to face him.

He couldn’t risk her again. He couldn’t put her in danger. He’d done that in the past—he’d abandoned her or simply forgotten her.

He wasn’t going to do it again.

No more risks. No more mistakes.

He straightened his back as he looked up at his friend with fresh eyes. ‘What are you going to do to her?’ Carson asked directly.

His question clearly shocked Travis, and he receded a little.
‘What do you mean?’

‘
I mean, the last time Cadet Nida Harper was in Coalition Academy custody, she was locked in a room under a set of high-powered shields.’

Travis considered him with open shock.
‘Carson, we’re on the same side.’

No more risks, no more assumptions, Carson told himself firmly. As he did, he shook his head.
‘I’m not going to make another mistake.’

Just before he could grill his friend further, Nida reached out, clasped his sleeve, and nodded.
‘We should trust him,’ she whispered.

‘
She’s right,’ Travis agreed, clearly having picked up on what she’d said. ‘I’m not going to do anything to her, Carson, because she’s our last hope.’

Again Travis said that, and again Carson had no idea what it meant.

 . . . .

But he had to find out.

So, as he looked into Nida’s reassuring gaze, he finally nodded his head.

Then he shook it in a sudden move.
‘Hold on, shouldn’t we fall back to the Coltex System? Is it safe here?’

‘
 . . . It’s safe,’ Travis answered after a lengthy pause.

‘
But the force that attacked the Galactic Coalition,’ Carson began.

‘
Disappeared. Three days ago, they appeared in the Remus System, swept out, attacked what they could, then led our ships back to Remus 12 . . . where they destroyed everything they could,’ Travis said in a dead voice that told Carson his friend hadn’t yet had the time to truly process that fact.

‘
Most of the fleet was destroyed. They were so . . . fast. So powerful,’ Travis choked.

‘
The Vex . . . ,’ Carson trailed off, a new surge of guilt pulling through him.

‘
What do you mean they disappeared,’ Nida took several steps forward, her hand finally falling from Carson’s sleeve.

‘
They disappeared. The attack lasted for a day. A single day. And they managed to destroy almost 80% of the Coalition’s combined forces,’ Travis acknowledged, again in a completely dead tone.

Carson felt cold shiver after cold shiver trace down his back.
‘But where did they go?’

‘
Back in time,’ Nida whispered.

Travis considered her, then nodded.
‘Back in time.’

Carson shook his head. He also closed his eyes. Yet no matter how tightly shut he held them, nothing made sense.

Because closing his eyes could not answer his questions.

Travis, however, apparently could.

Carson opened his eyes and turned his full attention on Nida. He searched her gaze, wanting to know if this was the right thing to do. It was only when she nodded her head and whispered a quiet, ‘we’ll go and see him,’ that Carson finally walked over to the navigational panel. With a shaking hand, he set their ship to dock with the Orion.

Even though the process of docking was swift and automated, it dragged on and on to Carson.

With the prospect that answers finally awaited him, he could not move fast enough.

Yet Nida’s presence slowed him down; it grounded him. And together they walked through their small ship towards the hangar bay.

He was right by her side, and even if the ship had suddenly split in half, nothing would have been able to take him away from her.

Cadet Nida Harper

It was a terrifying experience waiting to board the Orion.

In fact, of all the harrowing ordeals she had been through lately, this was one of the worst.

What made it so terrifying was the single fact she did not know what she would face. Granted, she knew Travis would be out there with whatever remained of the Orion crew, but that wasn’t the point. The point was, she had absolutely no idea what would happen next.

And caught up in that uncertainty was one hope. A hope that seemed slim and frankly impossible.

Could she finally get some answers? Some true facts? Actual explanations of what had happened to her and why?

Travis had claimed that she was the United Galactic Coalition’s last hope. He’d also said he had known that Carson and Nida had travelled through time.

 
. . . .

It was such a fantastic prospect to consider, that it made her shake.

Yet something stopped her. That something was Carson. As they both stood there in the hangar bay waiting for the ramp to open, he briefly brushed his fingers past hers, holding onto them for only a second before letting go and walking forward.

His back was stiff and his stance strong. In fact, in that moment it appeared that the great Carson Blake could take on an entire army by himself.

No, she suddenly corrected herself, not great—normal.

Carson was normal. Refreshingly normal.

Yeah, he was the leader of the Force, but that didn’t make him a legend, and neither did it make him some robot of a man who could power through any situation without indecision or weakness.

She’d seen him display fragility; she’d seen him drown under emotion.

And it made him all the realer.

It made him into a man. It washed away the legend that made him seem untouchable, and reminded her he was only human.

Which was what she wanted.

A living, breathing man who made mistakes, claimed victories, and tried and failed and lived. Someone who felt sorrow at loss and joy at gain. Someone who felt.

Though at times he would appear as strong as a bear, at other times his strength would leave him.

As it would with her. But whenever she found herself following in his wake, marvelling at his ability to pull himself together, she found her own strength returning too.

It was a fact she had not understood until now: he made her strong. Or more than that, when it mattered most, he could remind her just by his very existence that she was capable of anything.

So she straightened her back as she followed him down that ramp, her footfall ringing out over the metal and echoing through the cavernous expanse that was the Orion hangar bay.

As Carson drew to a stop, she came to a rest beside him.

Together they faced Travis and a motley group of crew.

Everyone looked shocked, deadened even. Though they were standing, their movements seemed mechanical as their eyes were haunted by grief.

Travis was the first to make a move. He walked up to Carson and blinked his eyes closed for a moment.
‘I thought you were dead.’

Carson breathed hard, his chest punching out.
‘What’s going on?’

‘
Too much,’ Travis finally opened his eyes, and as he did, he swung his gaze away from Carson.

It settled on her.

She wanted to duck back at the intensity flickering in his eyes.

Back on board their small ship, Travis had told them Nida was the United Galactic Coalition’s only hope. Well now, as she stared at him, she saw that sentiment burning deep in his gaze.

Before she could recoil at it, Carson took a pointed step in front of her. ‘What’s going on?’ he repeated, his tone harder now.

‘
Come to the discussion room, and I’ll explain,’ he promised in a weary tone.

Carson didn’t move at once. In fact, it took for Nida to make the first move. She managed a hesitant step forward and turned to nod at him.

Soon they were both walking through the long corridors of the Orion, headed to the discussion room. Although it wasn’t that far away, she swore it took an age to arrive.

As she walked the once-clean and shiny halls, she was struck by how different things were.

How broken, how marked with soot and grime.

It was a visceral experience, and all at once reminded her that the United Galactic Coalition had fallen.

It had fallen.

Before this whole journey had began, she’d walked the corridors of the Orion. It had been the ship to take her to Remus 12 in the first place, yet back then it had seemed like a different vessel.

A Stellar Class Heavy Cruiser, it was more than massive. It was a huge juggernaut of a thing that could survive a sun going nova. In fact, it had been years since once one had gone down in a fight.

Now this ship limped along. And so did her crew.

All those months ago when the ship had taken her to Remus 12, she’d been struck by how professional and strong the crew had seemed. They’d all had their place, and they’d filled it admirably.

Now people looked startled, ashen with grief, and as if they were moving along under nothing but autopilot.

It made her shiver to realise how far they’d fallen.

Eventually they made it to the discussion room.

It was a large space with all sorts of machinery and glowing panels. There was a conference table pushed off to one side, and several rings of holographic projectors next to it.

There was also a wall of windows to her left.

They showed an unrivalled view of space outside. The blankness dotted with star after twinkling star.

Space.

The universe.

And as she stared at that pattern of light against black, she noted with a thrill the stars did not move towards her. They did not sink into a point as they fell from the sky, just as they had done in her numerous visions.

In fact, standing there and staring at them assured her it would take only destruction on the largest of scales to wipe clear every galaxy in this grand universe.

She held onto that fact as she turned.

Carson stood roughly in the centre of the room, his back erect and his mouth pushing into a pronounced frown. ‘What’s going on?’ he asked again.

He’d been asking that same question since they’d first run into Travis, and as Travis slowly walked over and sat at the conference table, she realised she was finally going to get an answer.

Without having to be beckoned over, she walked forward, selected a chair a few seats away from Travis, and sat.

Automatically Carson sat right next to her.

‘Where’s the captain?’ Carson interrupted just as Travis opened his mouth.

‘
Dead,’ Travis answered.

Carson stared down at this hands.

Silence descended upon them.

All at once Nida wanted to ask where Alicia was. If she was alive. And where Nida’s parents were, and what had happened to Earth. She held her tongue though. She couldn’t afford to ask those questions, because she couldn’t afford to find out their answers.

Even if it turned out her parents and Alicia were fine, it would cut through Nida’s resolve. It would hammer home how terrible this whole situation was. And she couldn’t afford to have her determination weakened, not now.

‘
What’s going on?’ Carson asked one more time.

‘
I don’t know where to begin,’ Travis said with a long sigh that rattled through his chest. As he sat there at the table, he pushed his elbow into the unyielding wood and rested his face in his hand.

‘
We need to know what is happening now,’ Carson’s spat, his desperation obvious.

She did not blame him for his sudden burst of passion, for it was one she felt herself.

They were now closer than they had ever been to finding out what was happening here.

‘
Three days ago, we were attacked by an unknown alien force,’ Travis began.

‘
The Vex,’ she interrupted quietly.

‘
We haven’t yet been able to confirm what they call themselves—as they engaged in no communication whatsoever. The point is . . . they sent out weapons, attacking every United Galactic Coalition planet they could reach. They came out blasting. Their technology was amazing, their ships so fast . . . ,’ Travis pressed his fingers hard into his brow until the skin around became indented with white.

She didn’t say anything, and neither did Carson. They just waited for Travis to force his words out.

‘Virtually the whole fleet was amassed. We went after them . . . but at the time, we didn’t realise they were leading us somewhere.’

Carson looked quickly at Nida.

She already knew the answer, and it appeared he did too.

‘
Remus 12,’ Travis confirmed. ‘They led us back to Remus 12. They let us believe we were driving them back, but we weren’t; they were pulling us into a trap.’

Carson shook.

It was a subtle move, but she could see his shoulders moving back and forth under his uniform.

‘
When we got there . . . they were waiting. Ship after ship. And we have no idea where they came from. And the . . . the surface of Remus 12 . . . it was . . . .’

‘
It wasn’t a dust bowl any more,’ Nida quietly supplied, realising it just as Travis looked up and confirmed her guess with a nod.

She pressed her fingers into her lips.

‘It was covered with cities. Technologically advanced cities. Cities that sure as heck hadn’t been there a week ago.’

Again Carson turned to look at her, and again he shook.

He didn’t interrupt though; neither of them did.

They had to hear this.

This would make it all make sense.

‘
They attacked us from the surface. Ship after ship. They killed the crews, and dragged the ships down to the surface of their world . . . ,’ Travis shook his head, now pressing his fingers even harder into his brow. ‘They amassed over those ships . . . as if they were looking for something. They were so frantic . . . so fast.’

‘
It’s okay,’ Carson tried. Then he shook his head, because surely he knew that it wasn’t.

Nothing was okay.

‘When we realised we didn’t have a chance, we withdrew,’ Travis breathed hard, ‘but by that time, we’d already lost the majority of the fleet. We headed back to the Coltex System, and here we are right now.’

‘
What happened to the Vex?’ Carson’s voice shook.

Travis shrugged. It wasn’t an apathetic move though; it was tight with frustration, worry, and loss.
‘We don’t know. Not really. They just . . . disappeared. Remus 12 returned to being nothing but a dust bowl.’

Carson shook harder now, the move visible to everyone.
‘How?’

Travis shrugged again. He let his gaze descend to his hands, then up to Carson, then finally over to her. And the concentration he put into staring her way made her shift back in her chair.

‘We didn’t manage to find out much about the attack; their ships were too much for us. But we did find out a little,’ Travis said.

Nida wanted to stand up and walk out of the room. She was suddenly aware that she
didn’t want to hear the rest of this.

Because it would have something to do with her; Travis’ keen gaze promised that.

She remained seated though, even though it forced her to call on every gram of strength she could muster.

‘
They call it the Goddess,’ Travis suddenly supplied.

Nida shivered back at that. Of course she did. She’d heard that term too much, and whenever anyone used it, horrible things always followed.

‘Though the Vex, as you call them, were incredibly powerful, we still managed to glean some information. We took down one or two of their ships. We only managed to decrypt their hard drives a few hours ago . . . then you showed up,’ he nodded at her, ‘and it feels like fate.’

Her lips twisted together at that word.

‘What the hell are you talking about?’ Carson growled.

‘
I really . . . don’t know. If I hadn’t just lived through that hell, I would think I’m going mad,’ Travis shook his head.

‘
Travis,’ Carson pleaded.

‘
All we know is that they were after her,’ Travis said as he pointed at Nida.

She felt frozen on the spot, as if Travis’ finger was a searchlight holding her in place against the dark.

She forced herself to breathe, to swallow. As she did, she felt something twitch in her left hand. Just a twinge at first, it would grow.

‘
Why?’ Carson hissed, his tension obvious. In fact, from the note of frantic desperation in his voice to the exact way he held his stiff muscles, it was clear he was close to breaking point. Yet he soldiered on, because he was Carson Blake. And watching him push forward made Nida lift her chin too.