35
Aiden
The Maine came tolife, singing its calming hum as it gently lifted off the ground. Aiden’s stomach clenched in anticipation, then dipped down in that exciting way the moment they took off. Within seconds they were high in the sky, the change in velocity palpable as the ship reached the thermosphere. Another few heartbeats as the blue of the sky disappeared below them and the darkness of space surrounded them, and the Maine accelerated to cruising speed.
“Okaay, time to get everyone’s attention. We’re on,” Bea said with glee just as the monitoring alert system of Earth’s Space Security Headquarters hailed them with a warning to dock immediately at the GN’s Kalaeya Station or risk retaliation.
Bea ignored it, flying the Maine right past the massive structure and just outside of the range of its weapons’ system.
A group of shuttles with blue and red strips of lights shot out from one of the space station’s side terminals and headed straight for the Maine. Bea maintained the ship’s speed though, flying it fast enough so the authorities couldn’t catch up, but not too quickly so they would lose visual and give up.
“George, how’s it looking?” Bea commed the Sinaloa, zooming by the first checkpoint the GN had set up on the way to the Moon.
“Everyone’s headed your way, Bea. Mars, Earth, even some ships from Jupiter. They just flew past us. The Moon is already under lockdown and the police there is mobilizing—”
“Bea! Please, be careful!” Nyle cut in, his voice high-pitched and pouty.
Aiden looked at Bea, then at the swarm of GN ships on the Maine’s radars. “I think they will try to pincer us in.”
“Agreed. I can slip them though,” she said, both to Aiden and Nyle. She pointed at the star map visualization just above the central console. “Here, by the ISS monument. This area has too many satellites. It will slow them down.”
“ETA to the debris field?” George asked.
“About thirty minutes. Is this enough time for you?”
“Yes. We’ve got visual on the cruisers. We are ten minutes out.”
“Installation won’t take more than fifteen,” Nyle jumped in, commotion audible behind him. “Gotta go now! I’ll comm you when we are ready!”
Bea blew Nyle an air kiss and clicked off. She issued a few commands to the Maine and tapped into the comms frequencies of the nearby GN ships. Aiden’s ears were assaulted by the voices of captains and commanders barking out orders to their crews to pursue faster and cut off the Maine, the cacophony of shouts making his head throb.
With its body designed for speed and maneuverability and the addition of the jump drive, the Maine kept an easy lead, not letting the swarm of ships get close enough so they could use their tech-disabling weapons. The frigate’s shields could handle most of the conventional beams and lasers so Aiden wasn’t too worried about those, but if its systems got targeted by the nastierstuff and forcefully shut down, then he, Bea and Darren would be nothing but sitting ducks waiting for Marcus to capture them.
“Guys, you think Marcus is onboard one of those ships?” Bea asked, breaking the silence.
Aiden thought about it for a few moments, his eyes glued to the shrinking view of Earth and its thousands of orbiting satellites. “I don’t think so. He’s probably sitting in one of his offices and watching from there.”But then again, Marcus had been on Reikhei Station.
Bea shrugged, letting out a sigh as her shoulders slumped. “Guess it won’t make a difference if I popped some of them, then.”
“It wouldn’t. All of them are full of soldiers just following orders,” Darren said, voicing Aiden’s own thoughts.
It had crossed Aiden’s mind that they could shoot down a few, but ultimately it wasn’t going to make a difference. It wouldn’t hurt Marcus, it wouldn’t cripple him or his power. It also didn’t really matter anymore. Their win didn’t hinge on successfully taking Marcus down, but on an unconventional solution to an unsolvable problem. Part of Aiden was still confused how to think of it, but as they passed the first of the Moon’s orbiting stations, excitement thrummed in his blood and made his head feel a little dizzy.
They were really doing this. They were minutes away from leaving behind this universe for a new one and humankind wasn’t even aware of it. In a way, they were forging history—this time by themselves and their own choosing—deceiving Marcus in the same way he’d deceived the entirety of the human race.
Aiden abandoned the co-pilot’s seat and joined Darren on the bench along the left wall. There was enough space for three or four people, so they both got comfortable, leaning their shoulders against each other and soaking up the heat their bodies exuded. The contact took some of the edge off him, dulledit down, but then the Moon’s silvery surface came into full view, reminding him they still had to execute the most important part of their mission. Darren seemed to reach that same realization, his posture going a little stiff as his hand came to rest on top of Aiden’s thigh in a gesture both reassuring and grounding.
“Shi—” Bea yelped and the Maine did a sharp turn to the right.
Aiden lost his balance, the sudden tilt sending him crashing into the wall across. Darren grabbed him just in time though, wrapping his hand around Aiden’s arm and pulling him back onto the seat just as two blue missiles flicked by and crashed into a chuck of debris.
“What the fuck are these signatures?” Bea shouted, pulling up on the central screen two gray ships approaching at an alarmingly quick rate.
They both fired and she cursed again, maneuvering the Maine to the left to dodge the incoming missiles. She managed, but one of them tagged the Maine’s shields, blowing up upon contact and sending a force wave that reverberated through the entire ship and shook Aiden down to his bones.
System warnings flooded the Maine, painting everything in red.
[Warning. Shields disabled. Please initiate an immediate reset.]
