The Crucible: Leap of Faith (18 page)

I shook my head. Maybe there was
something about the move, because the Captain stopped and stared at
me.

“I found weapons
inside, Captain.
Omega weapons,”
I finally pushed the words out.

The Captain receded back, pulling
up to her full considerable height. “What?”

“It was dark.
Whatever was protecting that room turned off my scanner and stopped
the computer from responding to my voice. There were crates in the
room though, and one of them was open.
They were Omega weapons,”
my voice
dropped down.

The Captain shook her
head.

“Who else knows about this?” F’val
asked. There wasn’t a single note of surprise in his voice. Just a
cold efficiency.

I turned my gaze towards him.
Should I tell him the truth?

Did I have any option?

I’d made my decision. I was going
to continue to trust the Star Forces.

So I couldn’t give up on them
now.

I swallowed, mouth dry. I didn’t
want to do this, but I had to. “Ensign Jenks. When I managed to
make my way out of the duct via a service panel, she was standing
right there. She’s been doing proximity scans for the last few
days. I think she was doing another one. When I saw her there, I
told her to guard the panel.”

The Commander took a step back,
turned, and headed for the door. He didn’t say anything to either
of us; he just marched off.

The Captain rose. “Get me a
security team.” She tapped a finger to her command PIP.

I snapped to my feet too. “I’m
sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, Captain. I wasn’t sure if I should
share security information in front of Commander F’val.”

The Commander had already left the
room.

The Captain shook her head. “You
did the right thing. And you couldn’t have helped that Ensign Jenks
was the only crewmember around when you made it out of the service
ducts. But right now you need to show me where these weapons are.”
She stepped forward and out through the open door. It was a
surprise the floor didn’t shake.

I turned and followed.

I might have just met Ensign
Jenks, but my heart went out to her.

I hoped she wasn’t guilty. And if
she wasn’t guilty, I was determined to find evidence to prove her
innocence.

There was a niggling thought, way
back at the edges of my mind that told me that wouldn’t be enough.
It reminded me that Max Weatherby, my best friend, had died at the
hands of the same people I now trusted. The Alliance Star
Forces.

Chapter 9

Ensign Jenks

I moved quickly through the
tunnels.

I could feel it. The closer I
got.

I could goddamn feel
it.

Lieutenant Commander Shepherd had
been right – there were Omega weapons down here.

I reached a section of tunnel with
a panel that had been torn off and was lying discarded on the
floor. It had buckled in several places, and it was clear that the
Lieutenant Commander had kicked it open.

I barely glanced at it.

I locked a hand on the floor and
pushed myself forward and into the room.

It was dark.

That didn’t matter. I activated
the implant in my left elbow, and let the light pick up along my
arm. It was strong enough that it illuminated the whole
room.

I saw at least 100 massive metal
crates lined up against the walls.

I shifted towards one in the far
corner which was open, its lid propped up against its
side.

When I reached it, I stared
down.

My heart stopped beating, and my
breath caught in my throat.

There they were. Omega
weapons.

Thousands of them.

I took a step back, gaze sliding
across the wall of boxes.

There had to be thousands of
them.

I’d never seen so many in my
life.

It was enough to outfit a small
army.

Or a resistance, I realized as I
frowned.

Could I have inadvertently
stumbled upon a resistance cache?

I shook my head as I returned my
attention to the crate, locking my fingers over the edge as I
leaned into it.

I picked up a few Omega weapons,
examining them in turn, expertly removing one of the antimatter
chambers from the back and checking its integrity.

I turned the gun over to check the
secondary chamber.

That’s when I noted it was
empty.

I frowned.

The gun hadn’t been used. If it
had been used, both chambers would have been used at the same time
and one would not be empty while the other was full.

I leaned further into the crate,
searching through it as my illuminated arm lit up its
contents.

That’s when I noted an isolation
kit.

I recognized it immediately. It
was all the equipment one would need to isolate compound 78 from an
Omega gun antimatter chamber.

There was even a med pack with a
used electro-needle.

I dropped the gun, letting it
clatter at my feet as I took a step back.

What in God’s name was going on
here?

…
Could there be another like
me?

Another telekinetic warrior who’d
been made dependent on 78? One who’d escaped to forge their own
life?

Suddenly I heard
footsteps.

Voices too.

Reverberating down the small
tunnel that led to this room.

I reacted, and I reacted
quickly.

I activated both implants, a burst
of light surging over my arms as I spread my hands towards the
massive crates stacked along the walls.

I spread my fingers and swept my
hands to the side. As I did, that wall of crates shifted.
Gracefully. With no sound. Though they were heavy, and should have
grated along the floor, they didn’t.

I picked them up and conducted
them through the air with nothing but my mind.

In a silent dance they rearranged
themselves.

I ran forward, slamming my back up
against the wall just as I let my hands descend.

The boxes drifted down gracefully,
forming a wall in front of me.

It was enough to block me off
entirely from the rest of the room.

I let my hands close, and the
light erupting over them stopped.

Then I brought my palm up and
pressed it over my mouth as I stifled my breath.

The footsteps stopped just before
the room. Then there was a gasp, and I heard somebody move
inside.

“What the hell is this place?” a
voice asked. I searched my memory, and soon realized it was the
Captain.

“I don’t know. But those are Omega
weapons,” another voice said, quicker than the first.

Lieutenant Commander Nathan
Shepherd. He’d clearly alerted the Captain.

I hadn’t been quick
enough.

Still, all I had to do was wait
until they left, and I could sneak out of this room. Or, if the
situation called for it, I could punch my way right through the
walls.

I stood there with my back pressed
up against the cold metal wall, my hand clamped so hard around my
mouth I could have ground my lips to shreds against my
teeth.

I heard the Captain and the
Lieutenant Commander walk through the echoing room until they
reached something.

I heard the
Captain gasp again. “Good god, you’re right.
They are Omega weapons.
What the hell
is happening here? Why didn’t I know about this room? How could
somebody slip Omega weapons in under my nose?” Her voice
shook.

I pressed my hand further and
further over my mouth.

Then I heard another set of
footsteps.

More people were
approaching.

Perhaps it was the Captain’s
security team. She was an efficient woman, after all. I expected
she wanted these weapons catalogued and locked away in a safe
place.

Which meant it was unlikely I’d
find a chance to sneak away. The Captain would have this room under
guard until she cleared the weapons.

…
I would have to make a
distraction.

A big one.

Just as I flicked my fingers
forward, readying my power, I heard the footsteps reach the
room.

“Commander F’val,” the Captain
said, “Lieutenant Williams, glad you could make it.”

“Anna— I mean, Lieutenant, what
are you doing here?” Nathan asked, tone brimming with
surprise.

Lieutenant
Williams wasn’t on a security detachment. He had every right to be
surprised. She wasn’t even a proper member of the
Ra’xon’s
crew.

No one answered Nathan.

“Are the weapons untouched?” F’val
asked.

“They appear to be,” the Captain
answered.

“Ah, what’s going on here?”
Nathan’s tone had become more and more stressed.
“Captain?”

Silence.

“Captain, what’s
going on here?”
Nathan
demanded.

“You want to know what’s going
on?” F’val’s voice rose. “You should have talked to Williams when
you had the chance.”

“What?”
Nathan snapped.

“It’s alright, Nathan,” Williams
took a stuttering breath, “just trust us.”

I positioned myself closer to the
wall of boxes, finally dropping the hand from around my mouth as my
curiosity got the better of me.

“Just tell me what the hell is
going on,” Nathan demanded.

“Why don’t you tell us, Lieutenant
Commander,” F’val suggested. His tone was guarded, and it was hard
to guess what he was thinking, especially considering I couldn’t
see his face.

“…
What the hell are you talking
about?” There was the soft sound of a boot grating over the metal
floor as Nathan either took a step towards or away from
F’val.

What I wouldn’t give to see what
was going on.

“Do you know why I’m on this
ship?” F’val suddenly asked.

Silence. A dead cold silence
permeated the room.

Then I heard someone take a
stuttering breath. “What’s going on?”

“What’s going on is you caught the
attention of the Enforcement Unit. You lied, Lieutenant Commander,”
F’val’s voice maintained a strange neutral calm, “you lied to the
great Alliance Star Forces.”

“C-Christ,”
Nathan stuttered. I could hear him struggling for breath. “I-I can
explain. I accidentally found out about the
Pluto
—”

“None of that matters,” the
Captain cut in. “The only thing that matters is what you decide to
do next.” Her powerful resonant tone echoed through the
room.

“A decision? What are you talking
about? It was all a mistake. I didn’t mean to lie. I
just….”

I pressed closer and closer to the
box until my cheek was flush against the cool metal.

“Lieutenant Commander Nathan
Shepherd, do you trust the Alliance Star Forces?” F’val
asked.

“Of course—”

“Think carefully before you answer
that question,” the Captain warned.

“I… I’ve devoted my life to the
Star Forces.”

“That’s not what
I asked, Lieutenant Commander. I asked if you trust the Alliance.
Do you trust they will lead us on a just and worthy path? Do you
trust they will do what is best for this galaxy and all its
people?
Do you trust them?”
F’val’s voice boomed out through the
room.

“
I….” Nathan trailed
off.

Was that doubt echoing in his
voice? The great Nathan Shepherd just couldn’t question the Star
Forces, could he? Not a man like him. His kind were the rank and
file of the Alliance – men for whom loyalty was the only thing that
mattered.

So why wasn’t he confidently and
boldly proclaiming that he trusted the Alliance?

“It’s okay, Nathan, just tell us
what you really believe,” Williams encouraged in a soft
voice.

“I trust… I trust… Christ, I don’t
know who I trust anymore,” he answered.

That floored me. His words might
as well have formed a punch and knocked me clean out.

I simply couldn’t believe that a
man like Nathan Shepherd could ever doubt his masters.

There was an edgy silence in the
room. I waited for the Captain to reprimand him or to kick him out
of the Star Forces on the spot.

That’s not what
happened.

Slowly someone began clapping. The
sound echoed through the room.