The Fleet (5 page)

“I'm not
trying to offend you.” Craig defended.

“I know you,”
Anna stated. “I've known you for a very long time and I know when
something is bothering you.”

“Alright,” he
said. “Nothing I want to talk about. At least not right now.”

“Fair enough.”
Anna said with a short tone.

“Look,” Craig
said. “I'm not trying to put you off or offend you. And it means
the world to me that you're asking. You have no idea. It's just not
something I want to talk about while we're cooped up inside of this
tin can looking for something that obviously isn't here.”

“Yea,” Anna
replied. “Then again, what you're looking for may be right under
your nose.”

He wasn't sure
if her words were directed at him or the mission at hand. Either
way, Craig secretly cursed the fact that he couldn't walk away for
a few minutes to clear his head. Forced to watch such a beautiful
woman sitting only feet from him. His heart being held prisoner by
her own, though he doubted that she felt the same way.“I don't like
this shit.” one of the soldiers admitted.

He did so in a
hushed voice, though Adam heard his words loud enough. He even
agreed with the soldier to a point. But it was about finding his
son. Adam knew the Hunters would come looking for the gunshot,
hell, they may have been watching them at this exact moment.

As a campfire
flickered onto the face of Adam Michaels, he understood the
soldier's reservation. Who actually wanted to bring vampires to
them in the dark of night?

As the flicker
flashed onto his face, bringing warm air in an otherwise chilled
night, Adam felt the presence of his lover. He knew, somehow, that
Sarah Blaine was close.

Standing to
his feet, Adam began to look away from their encampment and into
the darkness around them.

“Sarah, I know
you're out there. I can feel you close.” Adam said, prompting his
team to ready their weapons in anticipation of a shootout.

“How would he
know that?” one of the team members asked in a whisper.

“Not sure,”
another replied. “But he's out there.”

They had all
thought Adam Michaels to have grown a bit crazy. Perhaps the stress
of a child ripped from his arms or the days of happiness and love
gone by. Sometime loss in such enormous amounts can change a
person.

“Sarah, I just
want to talk.”

“No,” her
voice replied, though it came from the complete darkness around
them. “You want your son back.”

“Of course I
do,” Adam replied. “I'm not here for a fight.”

“Then why all
of the soldiers?” she asked. Her voice crisp as she remained
hidden.

“They're just
here in case we would run into infected. They're not here for you.
You have my word.”

Adam's word
was solid. At times, his word had been all he had. He was old
fashioned in such a way that a man's word was sacred, and Sarah
knew it.

“Disarm your
men.” a Hunter Elite demanded, walking from the shadows around
them, as did nearly two-dozen more.

The elite
vampires were a different breed. Stronger and much more capable of
combat. They were the heroes of generations gone by. Each of them
turned to the nation of undead based on such an unbelievable
ability in combat.

“Put 'em
down.” Adam insisted, turning to ask his men to lay down their
weapons.

Several of
them seemed hesitant, but understood that being outnumbered by the
Hunters meant almost certain death either way.

So, in the
following moments they did as Adam asked. Laying weapons down onto
the cold soil with caution.

“Yours too.” a
Hunter Elite demanded.

“Not until I
see my son.” Adam replied sternly.

“I should gut
you like a cowardly dog for refusing my demands.” the elite
snarled, prepared to draw his blade and do just as he said.

“You'll find
this dog has a bite.” Adam cautioned.

“Enough!”
Sarah yelled, walking from the darkness and into the flickering
light of the campfire.

The former
lovers began to make eye contact. Each feeling the other out a bit
as it had been a long time.

“Where's my
son?” Adam asked.

“First, you
need to remove your sidearm Adam. You'll see Avery soon enough. You
have my word.” Sarah replied.

“Now lapdog!”
the elite yelled in taunting fashion.

Adam did as
she asked. Slowly unbuckling his holster and never losing eye
contact with the elite. Wanting so badly to end the beast's
taunting once and for all.

Easing down,
Adam laid his holster to the soil. Pistol still inside of the brown
leather fittings.

“That's a good
boy.” the elite said.

“Friend,” Adam
warned. “If you speak on business that doesn't concern you again, I
will kill you,” he said. “I may die in the process of doing so, but
I promise. I will kill you.”

“How do you
plan to do that, you scrawny little...” the elite had started to
ask. His life ended by the clawed hands of his queen. Piercing
nails mauling though the skin of his throat.

“SILENCE!” she
warned. Prepared to kill anyone else that interrupted a moment
she'd long waited for.

The Hunters
fell to complete silence, as did the marines who stood behind their
lieutenant.

“Bring the
boy.” Sarah demanded. Another vampire leading Avery out of the
shadows and into the flickering light of campfire.

Avery had
grown to the age of walking, though barely. As Adam began to cry,
outstretching his arms for the embrace of his son, Sarah stopped
the reunion short by grabbing Avery's arm.

“That's far
enough.”

“Sarah,” Adam
pleaded, standing to his feet in doing so. “He's my son.”

“Yes,” she
replied. “I also see a lot of Sasha in him. A fact that would have
seen him dead a long time ago, if not for your own DNA coursing
through his veins.”

“Avery has no
part in this. He's a child.”

“He has every
part in this!” Sarah lashed out. “He represents a time when you and
I should have been together. Instead, you found love in
another.”

“Listen,” Adam
said with softness. “I admit that I have made a good many mistakes
over the course of my life. Many when you and I were together. I
take full responsibility for everything. I'm just asking that you
remove Avery from all of this. He is innocent, I am not. I'll do
anything to let him walk away from this.”

“Anything?”
Sarah asked. “Interesting.”“You will pay for this Dalton James!”
Doctor Arness yelled. Held in shackles and broadcasting to the
ship's bridge by way of video.

“People like
you have killed the freedom we once had,” Dalton replied. “The only
regret I have is not leaving you down on Ronica and bringing along
someone who could have been a bit more helpful.”

“You would
throw us onto the Sky Giant like rats on a sinking ship and wish us
into the unknown of space! Even now I bet there is whiskey on your
breath!” the doctor replied.

“That, sir, is
a winning bet,” Dalton admitted. “I'm not throwing you anywhere.
You said you wanted to go, I'm simply helping you carry your ass.
You and anyone blind enough to buy into your bullshit.”

Though Doctor
Arness was furious, he was a good enough politician to understand
that he now held the losing hand. Calming his voice and beginning
to plead with Commander Dalton James.

“Just hear me
out. Please,” the doctor said. “There are seven-hundred souls
aboard this ship. You've given us plenty of supplies, as promised,
but you and I both know this ship will not stand the test of time
out there in the black. This is a death sentence.”

“I've been
saying that for nine fucking months now.” Dalton answered with
aggravation.

“Please, just
forget our past and allow this ship...these families...the promise
of safe harbor on Second Glimmeria.” the doctor asked.

“Done.” Dalton
replied.

As much as he
despised Doctor Arness, it was a move that saved hundreds of
innocent people. A win in Dalton's book of whiskey-littered
compassion.

“Lieutenant
Bowers,” Dalton said, now speaking to the commanding officer aboard
the Sky Giant. A man that had proven his loyalty to Dalton time and
time again. “You are now acting captain of the Sky Giant. Relieve
its former captain of his duties and make sure the good doctor
remains in cuffs after you arrive on Second Glimmeria. Inform him
that I plan to bring a whipping stick and we're going to have a
heart to heart talk when I get there. Let him know that we'll reach
a mutual understanding.”

“Yes sir!”
Captain Bowers replied. Firming his stance a bit and saluting the
commander who'd just promoted him.

“We're going
to hang out here and await word from our phantom team. Once they're
home we'll be right behind you.” Dalton said firmly.

“Understood
sir.”

“Have a good
flight captain.”

“Thank you
sir, and you the same.”

As the video
conference sliced into black, Cambria could see a grin on Dalton's
face.

“What is it
dear?” she asked.

“Ah, nothing
much. Just remembering a time when I got promoted on the fly.”

“Good times?”
Cambria asked.

“Some of the
best. I was surrounded by friends and had a dog watching my
back.”

And drinking
all my damn whiskey.

*

“Go!” Craig
yelled in desperation.

“I'm pushing
her as hard as she'll go,” Anna cried out. “We're still losing
ground!”

As the full
burn of the phantom's thrusters spewed wildly, Anna was right.
Their exploration craft was indeed losing ground.

They had
picked up radiation signatures while exploring uncharted space –
which led to a long-distance affair. The two members of the phantom
only praying the fleet of destroyer class ships hadn't see
them.

Instead, they
had watched the fleet suddenly change direction and begin flying
into the phantom's direction. Setting off panic and desperation as
both Craig and Anna turned to begin sprinting home. Unsure of their
ability to make it back while using a full-burn of the engines
without stopping to rest.

“They're about
a half-day's flight behind us but closing fast.” Craig said.

He operated
the computer systems as Anna continued to push the shuttle to its
max speed. Feeling as though she were whipping at a flock of tiring
horses in front of a carriage.

“Grab any
schematics you can from whatever the hell is chasing us down. Just
in case we do make it back somehow.” Anna said.

“Can't pick up
anything at this range. Just movement, and it's fast. Has to be
ships of some kind.”

“How many?”
Anna asked.

“Hard to say,”
Craig admitted. “The blips are coming in randomly because of
distance. At least three that I've seen, maybe more.”

Anna knew it
to be a fact. They'd never make it back to the fleet in time. They
were going to be riding the line on fuel, their shuttle burning it
up faster than had been planned, and there was a good chance that
whatever was behind them would catch up to their position before
any sort of return.

“Anna.” Craig
said.

“What is it?”
she asked, keeping her eyes to the frontier of rocks and bright
lights of space in front of them.

“I love
you.”

“Huh?” she
asked with surprise.

“Always have.”
Craig added.

“Yes,” Anna
replied. “Thank you Captain Obvious. It's not like I didn't know
this already.”

“You did?”
Craig asked.

“Um, of
course. What do you think I am, blind?”

“Oh.”

“I'm just glad
to hear you finally admit it. Even if it took the risk of coming
death to get you out of your shell.” Anna commented with
sarcasm.

“So, now I
feel like an idiot.” Craig said.

“Don't,” Anna
said. “It's not one sided, I just have my hands full up here at the
moment.”

“You
mean?”

“Of course I
feel the same way about you. How could I not? You're handsome,
loyal and clueless. Kind of like that really cute puppy that every
girl adores.”

“A dog?” Craig
questioned, the sound of their thrusters burning wildly as the
shuttle moved fast.

“No,” she
replied. “Dogs get wet and stinky. They also piss all over the
place and have been known to bite those who love them.” Anna added
in a very cute fashion.

“Technically,
puppies piss too.”

“Craig,” she
said. “Don't ruin it.”

“So where do
we go from here?” he asked.

“Well,
assuming we aren't run down and slaughtered here,” Anna commented.
“And given the fact that, as a race, we truly have no home,” she
added. “I'd settle for just meeting up for coffee one day.”

“Coffee is
good. I like coffee.” Craig said.

“Yes, I know.
We've been friends for a while now, remember?” Anna asked.

“How could I
forget?” he asked. “Your sarcasm has literally kept me from going
insane while dragging knuckles for our mighty fleet and its paper
commander.”

“I'm
sarcastic?” she asked.

“Indeed you
are,” Craig replied. “It's one of the things I love about you.

“One of the
things?” she asked. “Do tell.”

“Oh shit!”
Craig blasted.

Really? Is it
really that much of a chore?

“Getting early
readings on what's behind us.”

Craig
announced it, though the dinging from their computer systems also
spoke the tale.

Three ships,
just as Craig had suggested. Two of them coming back as unknown,
while the third came back as a definitive destroyer vessel.

“Oh God.” Anna
said with disbelief.

“Just keep
your foot on the pedal up there.” Craig pleaded with
seriousness.

“I am. Got her
running wide open. Any details on the destroyer?”