The Crucible: Leap of Faith (4 page)

“Crime scene?” she stuttered,
finally tearing her gaze off that thin film of red and staring at
Hargrove.

“You said yourself, this planet is
uninhabited, and if my ship hasn’t sensed anyone landing, that
leaves one thing.” He stared at her directly, his lined brow
pressing against his eyes.

“…
What?”

“One of your crew did this to my
man,” Hargrove’s voice dropped so low she could barely register
it.

“What?”

“I will find who did
this.”

Research Manager Lee was used to
holding her ground. Supervising dig sites, especially ones as large
as this, required a sense of discipline and control. She was never
afraid of a fight.

Yet now she couldn’t stop the fear
from tracing up and down her back. It lodged deep into the base of
her spine, leaving her with the sudden urge to run.

Not from Hargrove. Despite the
menace lacing his tone, she wasn’t scared of him.

She was, however, terrified
because he was wrong.

Her crew hadn’t done
this.

She looked down at the remains of
Ensign Weatherby once more.

Her crew hadn’t done
this.

So who or what had?

…

Ensign Jenks

I’d found an empty alleyway in the
lower quarters of the trade district.

I was shaking now.

Shaking so badly that everything
was shaking with me.

I wasn’t crazy. It was really
happening.

There were a few discarded mag
crates to my side, and as my body trembled, they shifted and shook
on the floor.

I pressed a sweaty hand into the
wall and tried to stabilize myself. Closing my eyes hard and
clenching my jaw, I tried and tried and tried to control my
breath.

I’d found an Omega weapon. And I’d
isolated the compound. Now I just had to calm down long enough to
use it.

At my feet was an old military
grade medi-pack. Inside was an isolation needle. A small device
that sat in the palm of your hand, you filled the vial at the back
with whatever substance you wanted and rotated it to activate it.
An electro-needle would shoot from the tip. About an inch long, it
could deliver its payload to any part of the body instantly. Its
diameter was microscopic, leaving barely a pin prick incision in
the skin.

I clenched my teeth harder and
harder until it felt as if I’d grind them into dust. Rocking back
and forth on my feet, my sweaty fingertips leaving streaks along
the wall, I waited for the seizure to pass.

The whole hallway started to shake
now. The walls trembled under my touch, matching the tremors in my
limbs.

The abandoned crates to the left
shook so badly they were like dice being rolled
together.

My mouth fell open and a whimper
came out.

“Come on,” I
begged,
“come on.”

I just couldn’t medicate myself
while still having a seizure. I could accidentally destroy the
needle or rupture the vial, scattering the precious compound 78
onto this well-trodden floor. I simply wouldn’t have the strength
to go and find more.

So I had to wait.

God, I had to wait.

I fell to one knee, then the
other, head dropping towards the floor, short hair cutting in front
of my face and forming a fan in front of my sweaty brow.

Then
finally,
finally,
just as the whole hallway shook as if in the throes of an
earthquake, it stopped.

Relief.

I fell to the side, shoulder
banging into the floor, hair cascading over my shoulder.

Closing my eyes, I swallowed, then
groped towards the medi-pack.

With fingers barely under my
control, I opened it and grabbed the electro-needle
within.

I had to stop breathing in order
to steady my hand. With every desperate breath, it would wobble
backwards and forwards, and I couldn’t afford to have an unsteady
aim.

Closing my eyes briefly, I angled
the needle towards my chest.

I plunged it in.

The electro-needle penetrated
right through my flesh, delivering the payload directly to my
heart.

I held the needle until it
beeped.

Then dropped it and fell onto my
back, one massive convulsion tearing through my body. My regulation
boots skidded across the floor as my chest thrashed up and
down.

….

Then nothing.

Stillness.

Blessed stillness.

Even the ringing in my mind
stopped. The headache I’d endured since the last dose of 78 was
swept away.

Cherished silence filled me
completely.

I lay there on the floor for as
long as I dared.

This building’s sensors would have
picked up the tremors in this corridor.

I had to leave.

Rolling onto my stomach, I forced
myself to my knees. I planted a hand over my mouth, dragging down
my lips and cheeks until my bottom eyelids puckered.

With one last blink, I staggered
to my feet. I swept a hand down and grabbed the
medi-pack.

I’d already disposed of the Omega
gun.

I stumbled until my muscles
settled and my gait became even. Then I swept a hand over my brow,
cleaning off the muck that had settled there. I ran her fingers
through my short hair, and neatened my collar.

I walked through the lower
districts until I reached a transport lift. With the medi-pack
still tucked under my arm, I took the elevator up to one of the
observation paths that connected the various trade district
buildings.

I walked out into the open air,
feeling the chill wind race across my skin.

For the first time since I’d
arrived, it was invigorating. Briefly closing my eyes, I pressed my
lips together, and took a deep breath through my nostrils. I let
the sweet cool air settle in my lungs before I opened my eyes and
strode out across the promenade.

I followed it around the sides of
several tall towers. Though it was night, everything was well lit.
Around the buildings I could see the lines of traveling traffic,
here and there the undersides of hulls and wings glistening under
the nightlights.

There was a constant low hum to
the air. Now I was functioning again, I could even feel the slight
tremble pickup through my boots and up into my knees.

Unlike the administrative
district, there weren’t too many people walking the promenade at
this hour. At any hour, in fact. People didn’t come here for the
view – they came here to buy and sell. Most of the trade happened
within the primary towers, not out here with a view which could
distract from proceedings.

I kept walking, aiming for one of
the primary transport hubs. Sensing I was now alone, I angled
towards the railing to my left. It gave a view of the sheer side of
the building. If you pressed your hands into it and angled your
head over the side, you could see right down through the lines of
traffic to the street far, far below. At night it was a glistening
sea of lights interspersed by the black bodies of
towers.

I had no interest in the
view.

I reached the railing, and while
still walking casually tossed the medi-pack over the side of the
building.

It was small enough that no
sensors would pick it up. It would bounce off the hover traffic
until it shattered on the city streets far below.

Smoothing my hair behind my ear, I
walked away.

…

Lieutenant Commander Nathan
Shepard

“That’s a hell of a mission,
Admiral,” I managed. I was standing in my quarters on my own ship.
Though I’d been provided with a well-appointed room in the capital,
I didn’t want it.

I wanted my own bed. Though it was
simple, it was all I needed.

Despite the fact
I was the Commander of the
Godspeed
, my quarters were ordinary.
This wasn’t a luxury cruiser; it was a reconnaissance
vessel.

Still, there was enough room for a
large circular bed, a workbench, a comms station, and a small
bathroom.

I also had a window. Along the
side of the wall that connected my bed and workbench, it was the
one luxury I’d requested. The one thing I couldn’t live
without.

I always wanted to know where I
was going. More than that, I needed to know where I was.

I’d been working before the
Admiral had called. Trying to modify a weapon. Why?

That was a good
question.

It was a simple task which helped
calm my nerves.

You would think rec leave would be
enough to do that, but you’d be wrong. My short visit to the
capital had done nothing but further ignite that slow burning sense
of dread.

Then the Admiral had
called.

Admiral Duval was half Baytiq and
half human. It left her with a strange mix of features – three
eyes, pencil like hair, and a thin-lipped mouth.

It was sometimes hard to read her
emotions, but never hard to understand her words.

She was one of the most direct
superiors I’d ever dealt with.

“These are strange times,” she
said, tone quiet. “It is hard to know who we can trust.”

Even for a straight talker that
comment threw me. I felt my brow press hard into my eyes as my lips
thinned into a frown. “What?”

She held my gaze and shook her
head. “Never mind, Lieutenant Commander. All we ask you is that you
follow through with your mission. You must travel to the Hari
Sector and track down the leader of the rebellion.”

“A rebellion we aren’t even sure
is going to happen,” I countered as I crossed my arms. I was
wearing a loose fitting shirt and pants. I’d changed into them
before realizing sleep would be elusive tonight. They felt
distractingly light and free compared to the stiff collar of my
Alliance Star Forces uniform.

“We have enough information to
suggest that a rebellion is imminent. We must track down those
spreading discontent. At a time like this,” her voice became
unusually quiet, “we cannot afford to be split asunder.”

Her words left a chill spreading
over my back.

I had to ground my feet into the
soft carpet of the floor not to shiver.

My mouth was strangely dry.
Clearing my throat, I took a breath. “This is going to be no easy
task.”

“That is why we are sending you.”
She held my gaze directly. “With your exemplary record, we know
that we can trust you.”

I nodded. Not at first. The move
came late. I don’t know why… it just did.

“Good night, Lieutenant Commander.
I suggest you enjoy your last night of leave – you will be leaving
in the morning.”

I swallowed and nodded. By the
time I looked up, the Admiral’s transmission had ended.

I stood there and stared at the
comms panel with its softly blinking lights. Then I took a step
back, opened my palms, and pressed them against my face. I took
another step back and another until I felt the curve of my bed
pressing into my knees.

Crumpling, I let myself lie back
on the bed, and dropped my hands from my face.

Then I stared blankly at the
ceiling.

I was a good soldier. I’d grown up
hearing that. From my father, from everyone. I was the kind of
soldier who followed orders and never asked questions.

I never asked
questions.
Even when they started to burn a
hole through my gut.

I hadn’t received my full orders
yet. The Admiral wanted me to track down the leader of the
rebellion first. When I found them, I would receive my next
orders.

Orders I may not agree
with.

The rebellion was just a myth, or
that’s what an ordinary person would say. The Alliance had ushered
in a new peace to a once tumultuous Milky Way. Why would anyone in
their right mind jeopardize that?

The rebels, if they existed, must
be arrogant, dangerous fools intent on destroying the safety of
others.

So it was right to track them down
and eradicate them.

…
Right?

I balled a hand into a fist and
struck it onto the bed clothes beside me. The move was
weak.

I was weak.

Protecting the galaxy from
scavengers and pirates I could understand. Turning against the
Alliance’s own citizens… that was harder to accept.

I suddenly pushed myself up,
feeling nervous tension build in my body.

I glanced towards the window. It
showed the inside of the Argus Service Cluster fueling station. My
ship was still in dry dock, after all.

Suddenly the
Admiral’s advice came back to me.
Enjoy my
last night of rec leave.