Revolution: The Ship Series // Book Two (16 page)

CHAPTER THIRTY

 
I need you out of that suit, Corporal.

Aleron
and Kalare gaped as a disembodied face appeared and floated next to Sergeant
Bailee. Zax, already familiar with the capabilities of ChamWare after his
previous adventure with the Marines, smiled in recognition. The presence of
this Marine who had been invisible thanks to his chameleon suit finally
explained some of the odd behaviors by the Boss and the sergeant which Zax had
noticed earlier. The corporal addressed Bailee.

“Sergeant—the Boss was in my way so I couldn’t shoot at
first. I had almost moved into position for a clean headshot on the woman when
the Tube opened. They were gone before I could react.”

“Understood, Corporal, that took me by surprise too.
Beyond the fact it’s been shut down through all of this, who would’ve ever
imagined civilians gaining access to the Tube. Fully disengage your
camouflage.”_                  The
corporal closed his eyes for a moment to interface with his Plug and then his
entire body materialized next to Bailee. The Marine was carrying a standard
blaster and also had a mini blaster in a holster on his hip. He appeared to be
almost the same height and weight as the sergeant. Bailee looked the man up and
down and smiled.

“I was hoping we’d be about the same size. The fact
you’re carrying a mini blaster is a huge bonus. I need you out of that suit,
Corporal.”

The Marine hesitated. “Begging the Sergeant’s pardon,
but your arm—”

“I need you out of that suit, now, Corporal.” Bailee’s
tone made it clear there would be no further discussion, so the younger Marine
started to remove the ChamWare. The first step in this process was removing his
holster which he handed over to the sergeant. Bailee accepted the weapon and
turned to present it to Zax.

“I thought I’d be forced to give you the blaster rifle,
but thankfully we managed to connect with a Marine who breaks regulations and
carries an unauthorized sidearm. It’s a pretty stupid regulation, so I’m glad
he’s smart enough to disregard it. This mini blaster can be disengaged from the
ChamWare and remain invisible for a few hours, but doing so limits it to firing
only two shots because the rest of the energy charge is needed to maintain the
camouflage.

“I’m going to get into this Marine’s suit and then you
and I are going to doubletime it to Engineering. I’m certain that’s where the
Boss is headed, so you need to get us back in there again. There’s no way
they’ll be stupid enough to let us take a shot at him the way we took out the
Chief Engineer earlier, but hopefully the suit will let me take them by
surprise. Worst case, you’ll have the mini blaster. You need to be sure you
don’t let them find it, even when they frisk you, so you can take the shot if
they manage to incapacitate me. Understood, cadet?”

Zax was at a loss for words. If someone had handed him a
blaster and ordered him to kill the Boss earlier that day, he would have done
so with a smile. But having seen the gruesome aftermath of blaster shots up
close with the Chief Engineer and Nolly, Zax’s stomach dropped at the thought
of pulling a trigger and being responsible for that outcome.

He had also become entirely conflicted about the Boss,
and this wasn’t solely due to self-interest. Zax still felt the man was likely
responsible for Mikedo’s death, but Kalare’s exhortations over the past year
combined with the Omega’s behavior during their time together had created
sufficient doubt that Zax no longer took this as a certainty. But if the
sergeant was telling him that killing the Boss was necessary to save the Ship,
then Zax had to believe him. He took a deep breath and finally nodded in response
to the Marine’s question.

“Wait,” whined Aleron, “what about us? Are we supposed
to just sit here and wait for the Captain to vent us out into space?”

The sergeant looked like he desperately wanted to punch
Aleron again. It was amazing how the cadet brought out that reaction in so many
people. “I can’t bring the three of you with us because I bet they would never
let all of you get near the Boss—especially a Marine. I’m betting that if Zax
shows up and appears to be by himself, there’s a chance they let him get near
the man. Corporal—can you take my blaster and escort these two cadets to a
Marine garrison?”

“Yes, Sergeant. I’ll get them there.”

“OK, it’s settled then. Once I’m suited up Zax and I
will head to Engineering, and you three will head to a garrison. Hopefully, you
can get there before the Captain vents the Ship, but if we don’t manage to kill
the Boss, you might actually be better off if you don’t.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

The fate of the Ship is in your hands right now.

The
three cadets watched as the corporal helped with the final steps required to
get Bailee into the ChamWare. Trying to suit up with a nearly useless arm
proved challenging for the older Marine, but he accepted the assistance only
begrudgingly. Aleron reached for the kit bag at one point in an effort to be
useful, but a withering look from the sergeant made the boy retreat a few paces
down the passageway to observe from a safer distance. Kalare pulled Zax aside
and leaned in close for a quiet chat.

“How do you feel about all of this, Zax?”

“Sick. Just sick.”

“Do you think you can really pull the trigger and kill
the Boss?”

Zax closed his eyes and sucked in a couple of calming
breaths. His comment about feeling sick was not entirely figurative, but the
emptiness of his stomach thankfully kept Puke Boy from visiting. Zax opened his
eyes, but he looked down at the deck rather than make eye contact with Kalare.
“Hopefully it never comes to that. I think the plan is that I’m a decoy and
just need to get the sergeant into position. He’ll be the one that takes the
shot.”

“I know that’s the plan, but you have to be sure you’re
prepared to do it too. Killing someone is not easy. I was lucky earlier. I had
no time to think about what I was doing with that civilian who was guarding us.
It was an obvious choice between watching you die or stabbing him, and
thankfully my training took over in the moment and made it easy.”

Kalare paused for a moment and took a deep breath before
continuing. “But I’ve been reliving it ever since, and I’m completely nauseous
about it. That makes me even more worried about you. I know how you obsess over
things, and I’m sure you’re already looking at this from ten different angles.
If you let too many doubts creep in, your subconscious is going to get in the
way when it comes time to shoot and either make you hesitate or make you miss.
You can’t let that happen. You heard what’s at stake. The fate of the Ship is
in your hands right now. You
must
take that shot. You
must
kill
the Boss if you get the chance.”

Zax wanted to assure Kalare that he could do what was
being asked of him but knew he’d be lying. He hoped he would pull the trigger
if needed, but he had absolutely no idea whether or not he really could. He was
trying to figure out the best way to explain how conflicted he felt when
suddenly Bailee’s face floated next to Kalare’s. She was startled and Zax
laughed. The Marine cracked the slightest smile and then addressed Zax.

“Cadet—we need to move out. There isn’t much time left
before the Captain puts her plan into motion. If we get delayed and aren’t in
Engineering before that happens, the Ship is lost.”

The Marine’s head bounced away for a few final words
with the corporal. Zax looked at Kalare to say goodbye and saw how her
brilliant blue eyes shimmered with tears. He wanted to reassure her that
everything would be fine, but opening his mouth might unleash his own emotions.
He gave her a quick hug instead and immediately turned to walk down the
passageway.

As Zax passed Aleron, the bigger boy reached out and put
a hand on his shoulder. He spun towards the bully expecting one last torment
but instead found that the boy wore a gentle smile.

“I wanted to say thanks, Zax, for what you did earlier.
I realize now how you and Kalare saved me from getting vented by convincing the
Boss to keep me around. Thank you. Good luck.”

Zax was still unable to speak, so he simply nodded in
reply and resumed walking. A moment later he saw the Marine’s head bobbing
along beside him out of the corner of his eye. They turned a corner and Bailee
ordered a stop a few meters later.

“Let’s discuss the plan, cadet. How are you going to get
us back into Engineering?”

“A couple hundred meters ahead is a series of tunnels
which will connect with the ones we used earlier and eventually get us there,
Sergeant.”

“What happens when we arrive? What options do we have
for accessing the area around the main Engineering Control compartment?”

“Not many, Sergeant. There are a couple of different
hatches that will put us into the various smaller rooms like the ones where we
were held earlier. There’s also an access port about 50 meters away from the
main entrance. Of course there’s also the hatch inside the main compartment
which we used when you took care of the Chief Engineer earlier.”

Zax had intentionally softened his language about the
fate of the Chief Engineer having heard the rationale from the Marine, but he
feared his tone still likely betrayed his distaste about what had happened to
the woman. The sergeant had no reaction other than to stare ahead for a moment
as he considered their options.

“I think tackling this head on is probably our best bet.
Let’s drop straight into the main compartment again unless something happens
between now and then to suggest a better plan.” The Marine’s face disappeared
as he lowered the visor of his suit. “I’m going to walk 5 meters ahead and to
your right, cadet. Do your best to not shoot me in the back if we encounter any
civilians before we reach the tunnels.”

Zax started walking and found himself immediately
brooding about what would happen once they reached Engineering Control. He
needed to mentally prepare for the scenario where he got the Boss in his sights
and had to pull the trigger. Every time he envisioned that outcome, however,
his mind flashed back to memories of how the Chief looked once Bailee shot her.
His memory of that moment played back on a slow-motion loop of blood and gore.
Could he do that to anyone, much less someone he knew well like the Boss?

He was so deep into a trance of worry that Zax didn’t
immediately notice the two civilians who approached from the other end of the
passageway as he turned a corner. They were ten meters away and raised their
blasters in response to his appearance. Zax still had the mini blaster in his hand
and instinctually raised it to point at the civilians. He realized he should
shoot immediately given the element of surprise provided by the invisible
blaster, but he couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger. His mind spun
uselessly and he kept waiting to hear Bailee open fire. The invisible Marine’s
blaster remained silent for some reason as Zax thought,
“Where the hell did
Bailee go?”

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Don’t let her get away!

The
male civilian held his blaster ready and appeared apprehensive as they
approached Zax, but the female lowered hers and started to laugh.

“Look, how cute. The cadet’s going to pretend to shoot
us with his make believe blaster. I might
almost
feel bad about killing
this one.” She raised her free hand and made a blaster shape with her thumb and
forefinger which she pointed at Zax as she advanced. “Looks like we have a
standoff,” she said and then chuckled.

Zax’s heart pounded in his throat. He knew he needed to
pull the trigger, but his finger seemed a million klicks away and refused to
respond to his commands. Nine meters. Eight meters. The civilians marched
closer and closer, and the woman’s mocking laughter became more and more
raucous.

Two blaster shots rang out in quick succession. They
came from 5 meters ahead and to Zax’s right—exactly where Sergeant Bailee had
said he would be. The first blast killed the male civilian instantly and he
crumbled to the deck. The second blew the woman’s blaster apart and shattered
her leg in the process. She screamed in a combination of shock and pain as she
spun away and collapsed. She furiously clawed with her arms and kicked with her
uninjured leg to scramble down the passage away from them.

“Cadet—shoot her! Don’t let her get away!”

The Marine’s words bounced around the passageway, but
Zax quickly realized the echo effect was being created by his own mind and its
distorted perception of time passing. His invisible blaster remained perfectly
aimed as his vision tunneled and he focused on the center of the fleeing
woman’s back. His finger tightened on the trigger, but each gram of pressure
required ever increasing willpower. The woman approached the far corner where
she would escape out of sight. Zax closed his eyes and pleaded with his body to
shoot, but his finger would move no further.

A moment later his eyes popped opened involuntarily at
the roar of the Marine’s blaster. The woman collapsed face down on the
deck—lifeless. Zax was still standing with his unused blaster pointed down the
passageway and his mouth agape when he felt an invisible palm strike his face.
The force of the slap sent him sprawling to the ground. Zax dropped the weapon
and some small part of his mind appreciated how its invisibility function automatically
switched off as it hit the deck and bounced away. The majority of his brain
focused on the pain that reverberated through his body. His cheek felt like it
was on fire, and Zax noticed a coppery taste which signaled his lip had been
split by the blow.

“What is your malfunction, boy?” The Marine lifted his
visor and the scarlet flush which accompanied the sergeant’s rage was even more
impressive than usual as his face hovered disembodied only a few inches away.
“You let those two practically walk right up and grab you! You couldn’t even be
bothered to take the shot when I served the woman up to you on a platter! I
wouldn’t expect anything better out of a typical Flight puke, but you’ve been
through Marine training! Did we not beat it into you strongly enough?”

Zax flashed back to his weeks of training at the hands
of the Marines prior to his planetary expedition. They had indeed beaten their
ethos and many essential capabilities into him fairly well. Zax excelled at
battling other cadets with non-lethal ammunition and performed even better
during his live fire exercise against a series of hostile bots. Those weren’t
nearly the same thing as this, however. He had never been faced with the
challenge of killing a living being. Even during Landfall he never had an
opportunity to shoot at the hostile aliens. The ability that most separated the
Marines from Flight was how they looked at an enemy up close and took direct
action to snuff out a life. Yes—Zax may have been trained by the Marines and
trained well, but he had never practiced their most crucial skill.

He opened his mouth to explain this to the enraged
Marine, but no words came out. Zax was instead overwhelmed by emotion and
started to sob. It wasn’t the pain from the slap, the shame of failure, or his residual
fear, but a toxic stew of all three.

The Marine backed away, though it appeared to be out of
disgust more than compassion. It was almost as if the man worried the emotion
might be contagious. He allowed Zax to choke out the tears for a min but spoke
again before they had a chance to subside.

“I know this is hard, cadet, but I don’t have time to
nurse you along and help you process all of it. The fate of the Ship will be
decided by our actions
right now
. The plan is that I will take the shot
and kill the Boss, but you must get your head right and be prepared to do it as
well. The civilians in Engineering will be watching for anything out of the
ordinary. If you hesitate for a moment once you lift your blaster, you’ll be
dead and the Ship will be lost. Do you understand me?”

Zax managed to get his weeping under control while the
Marine spoke. He knew he was capable of making any shot and nailing any target.
In fact, he might even be a better marksman than the sergeant. The only thing
that could get in his way would be his mind, and he resolved that he would not
allow it to get the better of him again. Zax would do whatever needed to be
done. Period.

He looked up at the Marine and nodded agreement. Zax
used his fingers to brush the tears off his cheeks and the back of his sleeve
to wipe the copious snot from under his nose. He stood and dusted himself off
before walking over to where the blaster had come to rest against the bulkhead.
It switched back to invisible mode once he firmly gripped it. Zax stared at the
Marine with budding determination and declared, “Let’s move.”