The Fleet (2 page)

It was the
first time Rhino could remember clinching his fists tightly.
Usually barking metal from the runway as he pushed hard into space.
This time, however, Craig had a legitimate fear. The unknown.

He seemed
comfortable in the face of combat. Ships spewing fire into his
direction while thrusting at top speed. This was entirely
different. It was entirely possible that the mission ahead would be
filled with absolutely nothing. Returning them home with no results
of water. They could also return with news of ice rich planets
spread across uncharted space as far as the eyes could see. The
again, they could not return home at all.

The slightest
ship malfunction would strand them in uncharted space. Making them
next to impossible to rescue.

First out
where the two escort fighters, which would tag along until the end
of charted space. Their presence there a precaution as nobody knew
where the Hunters were among the stars. The phantom class ship had
technology to map every bit of information the fleet would need,
though it had no weaponry on board.

Glitter pulled
gently from the deck, their ship making almost no noise as it
lifted higher and began to rock forward.

“How are we
looking?” she asked.

“Great.
Everything is looking great,” Rhino replied, checking the
instrument panel which lay in front of him. Illuminated green
specks alerting on a bright screen of rich blue. “Engines, hull
integrity and oxygen levels all look good.”

“Good luck
Phantom One.” the tower said, wishing the brave crew of two
well.

With a nod of
her head, Glitter looked around for a final look. The sights within
the larger ship was her definition of home. Moments later, Phantom
One was hauling ass without holding back. Trailing only the two
escort fighters as the large ship they'd docked in only moments
before zoomed away and become another speck of light in an
otherwise magnificent backdrop of stars.“Nothing,” one of the
soldiers replied, finally easing off of his battle rifle. “But
they've been here.”

Adam Michaels
knelt down to sift through the wood of a campfire which had burned
days before. Doing so in hopes that he wouldn't collapse.

Indeed the
Vampires had camped the spot recently.

Adam had
searched for his son nearly a year. Resting very little and hoping
with each planet, he'd find hope. They had picked up the trail of
Hunters weeks before, tracking them to the remote forests of Lylia.
A small planet known for rainfall, dense forests and not much
else.

The population
of Lylia before the infected dead broke humanity was nearly
sixty-thousand. That meant a lot of infected lived on this rock,
and Adam had no plans of sticking around and waiting for them.
Every second spent here chasing a cold trail was a second away from
his son Avery.

“I'm sorry.”
the soldier added. Speaking what was on the face of nearly a dozen
of the best soldiers Commander James could spare at the moment.

“Where would
someone go from here if they meant to survive?” Adam asked. Nodding
his head in acknowledgement of the soldier's statement.

“Given our
location, sir, I would believe either Radilia or Turmok.” the
group's scout replied.

“And you're
sure?” Adam asked.

“I'm sure it's
one of the two, yes,” the scout replied, looking at his map of the
Skyla System with deep concentration. “They are the only two
locations that make sense. Radilia is a small planet used for
farming prior to all of this and Turmok was industrialized. Plenty
of resources on both, and probably plenty of infected as well.
Hasn't seemed to bother the Hunters so far. And the rest of the
planets nearby are out of their reach with a single flight or are
simply floating rocks.”

Adam began to
think long and hard. Remembering a Sarah Blaine he once loved, not
the Vampire she'd become. He essentially had a fifty-fifty chance
of finding his son. Adam had no idea how tough it would be to get
Avery back, but he had to try. Die trying even, if it came to
that.

He remembered
a time when the original Gunship had crash landed. Falling luckily
into a field near a simple farming community. Adam remembered how
at peace Sarah felt at that time, and couldn't imagine her wanting
to be anywhere else. Especially not a planet that was vastly
industrialized.

“Sarah is in
Radilia.” Adam finally stated.

“How can you
be sure?” the scout asked as Adam stood back to his feet.

“Because I
know her well enough,” Adam replied. “She also knows I do. She's
expecting us.”

*

“People of the
fleet.” Dalton said with hesitation in his voice. Though his words
be nothing short of the truth. Walking to a large podium which
stood inside of God of War's largest landing bay, he prepared to
face a crowd of survivors who were hungry for change.

Hundreds of
them gathered and sitting, while the speech was also being streamed
in video to ships around them. “I'm here to address our situation
and what the future may hold.”

Pausing at
such anticipated words, Dalton's hand shook a bit. Nerves that were
easily consoled with a mere glance to his lover, Cambria.

“Moments ago,
a small ship and its crew left to explore the clutches of uncharted
space around us. Deep black frontier that, up until now, lay
unexplored. I await their return and the information they bring
back with them. At which time we will begin down one of two roads,”
Dalton said firmly. “If word of resources is their findings, the
fleet will indeed journey into the black as originally planned.
However, if they return with news of no resources close by, I
cannot go through with a plan that could send us to our
graves.”

His statement
brought chaos to the crowd. Mixed emotions as many were ready to
leave now, while others agreed with his reasoning.

A bit of
shouting ensued. Some of it directed towards Dalton, though much of
it exchanged between members of the crowd. Each of them disagreeing
with the future moves of the fleet and its survivors.

“Please,” he
said, hushing the crowd a bit as he spoke firmly into a microphone.
“There was a time when I'd have left this system high in dry for no
other reason than the damned adventure of it all,” Dalton admitted.
“But that was before I found myself with the responsibility of so
many lives. So many children counting on me to make the right
decision. If we have hope out there in the black, we'll run to it.
If not, we'll prepare to fight the nation of infected.”

His plans drew
several loud jeers and thunderous booing, though it seemed to
affect him very little.

“If it comes
to that, any of you are welcome to tuck tail and run. I won't stop
you, I'll even help you pack your shit,” Dalton said with an
irritated demeanor.

“Alright,
alright,” Doctor Arness said, quickly stepping onto the stage to
usher Dalton away from the microphone. “Our commander is obviously
under a lot of stress, I apologize,” he added. “We'll release an
official statement later today.”

The crowd
seemed in disarray, as if a wrestling match had broken loose.
Though the marines would see them to the hangar bay exits, one way
or another.

“Are you
trying to start a revolt among the people?” Arness asked loudly,
following Dalton through a narrow hallway which led to the
commander's quarters.

“Officer,”
Dalton said, pointing to one of the guards which stood by his
doorway. “Get this gentleman out of my face.”

The marine was
quick about it. Pointing his rifle into the general direction of
the doctor in order to march him away.

“You cannot
stop the inevitable Commander James. Sooner or later there will be
a struggle for power among this fleet!” the doctor yelled with
anger.

“You best hope
there ain't. You might just wind up on the wrong end of the
whipping stick.” Dalton said with a scowl.“This is as far as we go
Phantom One. Don't forget about us.” one of the swordfish pilots
jested as both fighter jets turned sharply. Hitting full-burn to
return back to the God of War.

“Oh they're
hilarious.” Anna commented, though she did so only to her
partner.

“Yea.” Craig
replied as he continued to run schematics. Mapping the area around
them.

“You're awful
quiet, what's up?” Anna asked.

He wanted to
just spill it out. How he'd been madly in love with Anna since
their trip through the academy together. How so many nights he'd
lay awake, thinking of her every detail

Brilliant eyes
with seemed to sparkle as diamonds. Her smile. Her damn infectious
smile. She was the perfect example of beautiful, in his opinion,
with the cutest dimples he'd ever seen and sandy blonde hair that
demanded his attention. Though, for the sake of travel, he kept his
thoughts private.

“Ah, you know.
Just trying to grasp that we are the first ones to explore beyond
this area. Ever.”

“Pretty
exciting, huh?” Anna asked.

“Yea. I guess
so.” Craig replied.

“Wow. You seem
REALLY excited.”

“Na, it's just
that I'm hoping for a quick find so we can get back home.” he
replied.

“We don't have
a home to go back to.” Anna commented.

“This much is
true.” he replied with a grin.

“I mean, is my
company really that bad? I'll try to make it as painless as
possible.” she said with a giggle.

“No it isn't,”
Craig said. “Anyone who says otherwise will have to answer to
me.”

His reply
brought a warm smile to Anna's face.

In fact, his
quick wit usually did. She'd been completely and madly in love with
Craig since their very first encounter. Before he even spoke a
word. Anna had caught a mere glance of him and been immediately
struck with that lightning bolt. The one that so many spend a
lifetime chasing, but never find. She'd found it long ago, though
she dared not act on it for fear of rejection.

Her excitement
soon faded, however, as reality set it a bit. They were in a tin
can of a ship surrounded by floating planets and rocks as far as
the eye could see. Even farther when it came to their digital
mapping equipment. It was as if they were in a small lifeboat
floating through an endless see of peril in search for hope.

To this point,
no others had seen the clusters of planets which surrounded them.
Truly a first in flight for the humans among the Skyla System. For
all of their firepower and technology, the unknown of deep black
space presented most among their race with fear.

If zombies
existed in the outskirts of their star system and vampires on the
home planet of Ronica, what perils could possibly await them in
uncharted space?

With plenty of
resources and terrain to expand, there had never been a need to
continue to explore. Some had suggested it over the years, but it
made absolutely no sense when it came to the financial aspect of
things.

In its prime,
the Skyla System took nearly a full week to fly through. That was
in the fastest of ships and traveling at full-burn, or max
speed.

This was a
different time, however, as their worlds had been overrun by
walking dead. Infected that continued to grow its army with every
human that fell in the fight against them.

The remaining
humans had mounted a last stand, which failed miserably. Their only
option becoming one of jumping onto the remaining ships into orbit
to regroup, which they had done. As if the Skyla System were a
sinking ship with a handful of precious lifeboats to be had.

Since hitting
orbit, the fleet had been in disagreement on a single issue. To
journey into the unknown black of uncharted space or stay close to
home and reclaim what was theirs.

Commander
Dalton James had never seen himself in charge of so many lives.
He'd lived by the seat of his pants and made questionable choices
along the way. From rushing into larger groups of soldiers, guns a
blazing – to bedding down a few women he'd wish to forget. Blame
the whiskey.

Dalton had,
however, made the safest choice possible this time around. Send a
craft into the unknown and look around. If resources that could
support an entire race were to be had, they'd quickly relocate. But
if the scouting mission showed no signs of hope, what choice did
they have? It would be a matter of reclaiming their homes or die
trying.

“Kind of
strange looking onto all of these new planets.” Craig admitted.

“Absolutely,”
Anna replied. “They look so beautiful. At the same time, who knows
what may be lurking on each one?”

“Damn sure
isn't water,” Craig said with a chuckle. “I'm not showing any signs
of oxygen either. I guess we keep going.”

Which they
did. The small phantom and its pitch black appearance gliding
through uncharted space and pinging each of the planets which
passed them by with a wave of technology that mapped everything.
Terrain, viable resources, temperatures and even heat sources.
Sources, which would indicate possible life.Adam sat quietly,
thinking of his past as the small shuttle filled with tactical
soldiers made its way. Coasting through the familiar stars of the
Skyla System.

He thought of
much happier times. His crew of old and their clunker of a ship. It
brought happiness to him for a moment, as memories of barely
holding the ship together seemed like a calm time in his life.

They had been
anything but. Thoughts of gunfights and escaping the clutches of
ruthless gangs, all in pursuit of a paycheck. Following service in
the military, Adam and Dalton had put together a crew of their most
trusted friends and began a life of crime. Though Adam never saw it
that way.

For him it was
a chance to be a ship's captain. Something he'd always wanted to
be. A dream in which he saw come true, though the ship was
borderline salvage and its crew was, for better terms, a pack of
outcast misfits.