The Last Revolution (38 page)

He was out of time and needed to make a decision. With Alexander gone, Stone would have no choice but to surrender. The resistance would perish with Alexander on Hyperion. Several of the launch doors stood open along the side of the space station. Ships streamed out through the blue force fields and into the blackness of space. Autopilot took over and they sailed right into the middle of it all. The inside was in a state of chaos. Soldiers were lined up in their battalions as they prepared to board one of several giant troop transports.

No one paid attention to him as he quickly disembarked his transport ship. He moved out of the launch area and into the heart of the station. His wrist deck buzzed. He couldn’t believe what he read.
I didn’t leave you a message. Where are you?

***

Arakiel stood inside the large space station. He’d only arrived a few minutes before Alden. He’d known the bait was too hard for him to pass up. As he leaned against the outside wall, he watched Alden walk through the large atrium. Small tents filled with items for sale lined the outer edges of the area. The middle was filled with a swarm of shoppers. Arakiel didn’t want to risk being seen. He pulled out a fighter pilot mask and placed it over his head, then pulled his hood down. He searched for any sign that Alden had been followed. Nothing.

Alden wandered between the vendors as he made his way to the other end of the room. Arakiel sauntered along the outer edge, keeping an eye on Alden. It would be so easy to end it all right here. Alden wouldn’t know what hit him until it was over. He turned the corner at the other end. Arakiel headed towards the center, right for Alden.

He came to a halt at the end of the atrium. Alden took another step forward, then stopped as he laid eyes on Arakiel. The two just stared at each other for several moments; neither attempted to move or make contact. After several moments, Arakiel dipped his head in recognition, and then ever so slightly indicated for Alden to follow.

Arakiel strode down one of the empty corridors that were under construction. He ducked under the warning sign and moved between piles of supplies that waited to be unpacked. Alden had followed at a safe distance. Good.

“Who are you?” Alden asked.

Arakiel didn’t bother to acknowledge the question.
You’ll find out soon enough.

“Where are we going?” The intensity of the question had risen. He wouldn’t be able to ignore him for much longer. He had to hurry. “Are you the one who left the message?”

Arakiel nodded as he moved further into the station and away from the crowds. They were finally alone. He turned the last corner. They’d hit a dead end. Windows lined both sides of the hallway. An airlock stood before him, blocking any further progression.

The sound of a round entering the chamber of a sidearm echoed in the empty hall. Arakiel turned ever so slightly and saw Alden pointing his weapon straight at him.

“I won’t ask again. Who are you and what do you want?”

Arakiel lowered his head slightly, grabbed the mask, pulled it from his face, and let it drop to the ground.

***

“Turn around!” Alden yelled. The figure just stood at the end of the hallway staring out the window.

They rotated, but the hood was pulled so far forward he still couldn’t tell who was under there. “Pull your hood down nice and slow.”

The figure reached up and pulled the fabric back. Alden rested his finger on the trigger. As the person dropped the hood, Alden moved his finger away from the trigger. “Gabriel!”

“Hello, brother.” Gabriel set his shoulders back and straightened up to his full height and size.

Alden stepped back, slightly unsure what was happening or how he was supposed to react. “I thought you were dead!”

“Not even close, I’m here to help you.”

A flood of emotions rushed back. He had no idea how to respond.

“We all want to know why you left the Island after the attack.”

“Because…Father McKinley…” was all that Alden could get out. He could feel the same pain all over again.

“We know you didn’t kill Father McKinley. Those guards were relieved of duty when it was discovered what they’d done. We tried to reach out to you, but your communicator was left at the scene. So they sent me to track you down. The Council received word from a source within the terrorist organization that you’d arrived in Apollo City. It didn’t take long to figure out you were hunting Darar Khasim. I’m here to help you.”

“Help me?” It was everything he’d hoped for and more. “Were you the one who was communicating with me through my deck?”

“No…but I’ve been helping you as best I could. The Council desperately wants you back. They want to know everything you’ve learned.”

“I could bring the whole thing down, but…we have to find Alexander first.”

“I’m sorry for leading you on a wild goose chase, but I figured this would need some time to explain. I had to get you away from those terrorists and—”

Suddenly a violent flash of light appeared beyond the window in the vast expanse of space. Flames rushed out from beyond the edges of the light. The blast radius was enormous and it expanded out several times the size of what had been a ship. In the brief moments before Alden could process his thoughts, he marveled at how the explosion resembled a dying star—one that had gone super-nova. Moments later, the destruction reached its apex and then collapsed back on itself. Alden realized his mouth was gaping. Scattered debris of what had been a battlecruiser floated off into oblivion.

Alarms sounded inside the station. The lights dimmed in the hallway.

“Nooooo!” Alden lowered his weapon. They both moved closer to the window. “What vessel was that?” Alden knew the answer before he even finished the question.

Gabriel stared out at the darkness of space. “The only vessel this close was the battlecruiser Testament.”

“There were thousands of p-people on that ship. It was a high level summit to discuss a coordinate response to the lunar resistance. Leaders and representatives from every nation were there.”

“Along with the Council Archon…” Gabriel turned from the window.

Alden hadn’t been able to read Gabriel for years, but the slightest waver in his voice betrayed the fact that he was genuinely upset.

Gabriel ran a hand through his blond hair. “The resistance did this.”

“They don’t have the capability to destroy an entire battlecruiser!”

“Capability can be stolen,” Gabriel responded.

The weight of his words hit Alden like a ton of breaks. He felt as if the oxygen had been sucked out of the room. The pain crept up his spine and dug into his consciousness once more.

“The fusion reactor,” Alden groaned.

Gabriel just nodded. It was done; he had failed. The reactor had claimed the lives of Mary and Daniel and now it had run its course and claimed thousands more.

Alden had worked so hard to block out the pain, shut out the darkness, and move beyond it. It seemed no matter how hard he struggled, the list of dead continued to grow. The pressure hung from his shoulders, a reminder of his failures.

“Alden,” Gabriel looked him right in the eyes. “We both know this was carried out by the terrorists on the lunar surface, but the Three Nations will point fingers at each other now.”

Alden’s wrist deck blinked to life. “Are you there?” It was Kira.

“I’m here, what’s going on?”

“Where are you? Everything is falling apart down here. They said you never made it Prebeo. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I’ll be back shortly.”

“I’m in the hangar... Something’s
happened
. Please come quickly.”

It didn’t take much to understand the inflection in her voice.

Alden clicked the deck off. “Gabriel, will you come back to the surface and help me end this war before it starts?”

Gabriel pulled out his sidearm, checked the chamber, and then stuck it into his belt. “Let’s do this. It’ll be just like old times.”

Chapter 12

Alden tipped the nose of the craft down and felt the effects of the steep descent towards the surface. Fires raged inside Apollo City and muzzle flashes dotted almost every window. Who was winning; who did he want to win? The destruction of the ADNV Testament had diverted all military attention. The path between Hyperion and Apollo City was clear.

Suddenly, one of the Council ships that had been docked outside Apollo City exploded. It was followed by a second and third. The destruction took part of the docking bay. Several poor souls could be seen struggling as they were sucked out into the vacuum of space. Along the ridge of the canyon, a small team of soldiers fired rockets at the docked ships below.

Alden recognized Solana and several other resistance fighters.Laser blasts struck the surface all around her as a small Council fighter zipped over their heads. Giant plumes of lunar dust exploded into the air around them. Get out of there! The fighter pulled up high and tight, preparing to come in for another attack. Alden wanted to help, but they had to get to the hangar. He pressed the controls forward and they sank below the surface line.

“You know this is a trap, right?” Gabriel asked.

Alden nodded. He pushed away the thoughts of his team under attack on the surface. “I’m going to need backup. If you come inside with me, we’re both in trouble.”

“Agreed, what should I do?”

“You’ll need to space jump to the canyon wall before I enter the tunnel. Once you land, make your way to the hangar. It’s about a hundred meters in and fifty meters down.”

“Be careful, I’ll catch up with you on the other side.”

“You too.”

Gabriel placed a spacesuit helmet on and locked it into place. He pushed off the frame and floated towards the aft cargo bay. Alden brought the craft in slow and then came to a stop outside a hidden entrance. He checked to see that Gabriel was ready to go. They were so close to Alexander he could feel it. Alden never would have admitted it, but it felt like they were kids again. For the first time in a long time, it felt good to have someone on his side. He had his brother back.

Pressing a button on the control panel, a blue barrier appeared just behind the cockpit and the back cargo door zipped open. Gabriel pushed out of the ship and floated towards the canyon wall. It was now or never. Alden fired the ship’s engines and piloted it back into the hangar.

Moments later, he shut off the ship’s engines and climbed out of the cockpit. He spotted Kira in the distance and walked over to her. Something was wrong. Where was everyone else? “What’s going on?”

“Where have you been?” she asked.

“We’ll never be able to repel the entire Council military force if we don’t—”

The faint sound of footsteps approached their location from behind a stack of boxes to the right. Alden searched the area for any sign of movement. Kira was about to speak but Alden held up his hand for silence.

The footsteps stopped and the room became dead quiet.

“I know you’re back there. Whoever you are, come out now,” Alden commanded.

An older man walked out from behind the boxes. Despite the grey stubble on his face, he walked with purpose. He appeared to be in good shape, and his shoulders were wide and pressed back. The man’s eyes burned with a passion he’d never seen before. Alexander.

In the beat of a heart Alden pulled out his sidearm, primed the chamber, and pointed it at the newcomer. Alden flashed back to the Island, Father McKinley bleeding to death in his arms, the violent explosion of the ADNV Testament. He would pay for what he’d done; his time was up. Alden felt the strength of his finger press on the trigger. Before it could make contact with the handle, another sidearm primed the chamber. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kira holding her gun, finger on the trigger. He felt the cool sensation of metal being pressed against the back of his head.

“What are you doing? This is what we’ve been waiting for!” Alden seethed.

“I don’t want to kill you,” Kira responded. “But I won’t let you hurt him. Now, drop your weapon.”

“Alden. Do as she asks, no one needs to get hurt,” Alexander added. “You can come out now.”

Dozens of metallic footsteps thumped on the floor. A column of military robots with fully automatic assault rifles formed a defensive perimeter around the group. They raised their weapons and pointed them at Alden.

The last object to emerge was a giant humanoid robot. It was over two meters tall and the most advanced thing he’d ever seen. The body was a loose collection of mysterious pieces of black metal. Between the metal plates, a bright green light shone through. The chest plate rose and fell in lifelike patterns. It appeared to study the situation, and understand what was happening. Was this thing… alive?

Alexander raised his hand, and the military robots that surrounded him seemed to tense up. They steadied their weapons, waiting for the order to kill. Alden might have been able to get a shot off at Alexander, but there was no way he’d survive the firefight.
Where was Gabriel?

He let go of the gun’s handle. It flipped over, resting solely on his outstretched finger. Kira holstered her weapon and then pulled his away.

“Fine, kill me. Finish what you started.”

Alexander just shook his head. “I don’t want to kill you; far from it.”

Kira walked over to Alexander, and handed him the sidearm. “Here’s his weapon, Father.”

He smiled. “Thank you.” With that he dropped his hand. The circle of robots took a step back and lowered their weapons so they were pressed to their chests, but no longer focused on Alden.

“Wait, what? That’s your father?”

Kira took her place behind Alexander and next to the large sentient robot. “Remember when she saved you in Munich and said that you had a friend in common? Who did you think she meant?”

He’d put so much blind faith into the person on his wrist deck that he’d just assumed it was someone within the Council. He never would have made it this far into the resistance if it hadn’t been for both of them. “I thought it was someone in the Council.”