The Crucible- The Complete Series Read online

  It was when I was making my torturous scramble back through the maintenance shafts that I found it.

  A panel.

  It was out of place. The only reason I noticed it was my scanner picked up a faint trace of energy that just shouldn’t be on the ship.

  There was a class of illegal weaponry referred to as Omega guns. They were powerful and were hellishly dangerous.

  They gave off a distinct energy signature, and though it seemed impossible, my scanner appeared to be picking it up.

  There was no way – absolutely no way – that there would be weapons like that on this ship. She was a flagship of the fleet, and it would be impossible to imagine her carrying some of the most illegal weaponry in the galaxy.

  I paused, checking the reading on my scanner.

  I wouldn’t have picked up on the energy if I hadn’t spent so much time trying to recalibrate this small handheld scanner. In my efforts to force it to recognize the shaft before me, I’d increased its output by a factor of 10.

  And that had been enough to pick up the faint trace of Omega weaponry.

  I shook my head, incapable of believing what I was seeing.

  It was enough to force back the wall of shock that had descended upon me.

  I was sure, 100% sure that as soon as I made it out of this tunnel, F’val would arrest me. He’d drag me back to the capital, and there the Joint Committee would condemn me. My father would watch over the proceedings, and he wouldn’t shed a single tear.

  Men like that never did.

  I told myself to keep moving, but I couldn’t. Instead I brought up a hand and tentatively ran a finger around the edge of the panel before me.

  It was smooth, but here and there were rough sections, indicating it had been pulled back a few too many times.

  “What are you doing?” I asked myself through clenched teeth.

  I gave myself my own answer – I put my scanner down and reached around to the magnetic holster that was locked around my hips. There were a few versatile tools you could use to pull plating off and access various shafts.

  I quickly set about opening the panel before me.

  It was tough going, and occasionally I ran into trouble – my rotating screwdriver turning itself off several times.

  It must be defective, I thought to myself before defaulting to the brute force approach.

  Shifting until my back was pressed up against the opposite side of the tunnel, I brought my leg up, and I kicked swiftly at the panel. It was strong enough that my boot dented the metal.

  I kicked again and again, until I warped the plating far enough that I could push my fingers around the edges and pry it back.

  With a grunt that echoed down the shaft, I finally managed to tug it free.

  It clattered to the floor.

  … There was a room in front of me.

  It was large, big enough that as I ducked my head in, I couldn’t see from one end to another.

  Frowning, I brought my scanner around and tried to detect what was inside.

  The scanner cut out.

  “What the hell?” I stabbed my fingers into its electronic display, but it refused to come back to life.

  “Computer, increase the lighting in this section of tunnel.”

  The computer did not reply.

  “Computer,” I said in a terse breath, “increase the lighting in this section of tunnel.”

  Nothing.

  “Christ, what’s going on here?” I spat.

  Feeling a knot of nerves form in my stomach, I cautiously shifted forward until I was further into that mysterious room.

  Then, taking a stiff breath, I finally shuffled inside.

  I stood, heart thundering in my chest.

  Though it was dark, I could see several crates stacked up neatly along the walls.

  Was this a cargo room? One that had been removed from the blueprints?

  … Or had I stumbled across something I shouldn’t have?

  That thought should have been enough to see me turn around and walk away.

  It wasn’t.

  Maybe I hadn’t become a lieutenant commander in the Star Forces out of duty to the Alliance. Maybe a large part of my motivation had always been curiosity. I’d wanted to be an explorer, not a mindless drone.

  And an explorer never turned away from his curiosity.

  I took several more echoing steps into the dark room, angling my head from left to right, feeling how tense my neck muscles were as they referred tension deep into my chest and the pit of my stomach.

  My mouth was dry, but my top lip was covered in sweat. I brought a hand up to wipe it off, noting the slight tremble in my fingertips.

  I was running out of time. I was due to meet the Commander and the Captain in probably a little under 12 minutes.

  It didn’t matter.

  I kept walking towards the shadow-encased crates in the far corner.

  When I reached them, I pushed out a hand, fingers touching the cool metal.

  Though it was dark, I recognized what the crates were from touch alone.

  They were weapons boxes.

  Shielded ones.

  I took a step back, squinting into the room, trying to use what bare illumination made it in from the half-lit tunnel beyond.

  I shuffled around the crates, shoes banging into them in the dark, hands tracing across their cold metal as I tried to discern exactly what type of weaponry was inside.

  Finally, with pure dumb luck, I reached a crate that was open.

  Like a cat cramming its paw down a darkened hole, breathlessly I shoved my hand into the open crate.

  My fingers bumped against the smooth cold metal.

  I grabbed something up, hauling it out of the crate.

  It was deceptively light despite its bulk.

  As soon as my hand clutched around its smooth angular side, it began to glow. Brighter and brighter.

  That’s when I recognized what it was.

  An Omega gun.

  I almost jolted back and dropped it, but my hands reflexively clutched around the weapon, pressing it against my chest as my eyes drew wide.

  My simple touch had been all that was required to activate it. Now the gun glowed powerfully, letting out a soft pulsing vibration that travelled deep into my chest and up into my throat.

  This was… impossible.

  This was impossible.

  Omega class weaponry could not be aboard the flagship of the fleet. Especially in a room that wasn’t on blueprints and couldn’t be scanned.

  This was….

  My mind went blank.

  Every mystery I’d come across in the past 24 hours mounted on my shoulders and threatened to push me right through the hull and send me tumbling into the void beyond.

  There was no reason – none whatsoever – why this ship would be carrying Omega class weaponry.

  There was an embargo on them for a very good reason – this type of weaponry could destabilize space. So what if it was powerful? If you used it too often, you could tear holes in the very fabric of reality. Nobody was desperate and stupid enough to use them.

  Or at least I wanted to believe that.

  I stood there with that gun pressed against my chest for a minute or maybe more.

  I felt as if my world was tumbling around me.

  Then finally I forced myself to take a step back. I turned towards the door, only then realizing the gun was still in my hands.

  I glanced down at it once more, eyes traveling over the smooth angular surface, the glow from the two antimatter chambers at the base of the gun lighting up the underside of my chin.

  I turned around, walked over to the open crate, and placed it back inside.

  Then I shivered, the move so violent it was practically a convulsion.

  I took a step back, boot squeaking against the polished metal floor.

  Revulsion swelled in my heart.

  I planted a sweaty hand over my mouth. Though it was impossible, I convinced myself I cou
ld smell the faint trace of the Omega weapon on my hand.

  Then finally I turned. I ran right out of the room and threw myself into the service shaft.

  Suddenly the memory of what had happened to my ship came flooding back in.

  Could this be the resistance? Could the spy from the Fargo now be aboard the Ra’xon? And could they be planning an attack? With that many Omega weapons, they could overpower the crew of this ship easily.

  I had to tell the Captain. Even if it would be the last courageous act I would ever perform in my career, I was determined to do it. For, despite my suspicions about the Alliance, I was still loyal to her people and always would be.

  …

  Ensign Jenks

  I’d been standing in the same section of hallway for the past 30 minutes now.

  I wasn’t moving, even though my scanner kept beeping at me, insisting I continue my task.

  I just couldn’t… force myself to continue any more.

  Icy fear laced up and down my back, sinking deep into the base of my spine, leaving a terrifying tingle pushing down through my limbs.

  To flee, I would have to attack. Something my body had been built for, but something my mind had never adjusted to.

  The terror of taking over another’s body or flinging them across the room and seeing their back shatter against a wall – it was one I could never accept.

  I gave a full-bodied shudder, the move so disruptive, I almost dropped the scanner.

  I sucked in a terrified breath, and it wheezed through my constricted throat.

  Fortunately the section of hallway I was in was relatively unused. Nobody had passed me.

  I was alone.

  Or at least I thought I was alone.

  Suddenly the access panel to my side shunted open without warning.

  Somebody barreled out.

  I gasped, jerking quickly to the side.

  Before I could suspect an attack, I realized it was none other than Lieutenant Commander Nathan Shepherd.

  He looked… terrified. His eyes were wide, his cheeks slack, a truly haunted edge to his searching gaze.

  At first it appeared as if he hadn’t seen me. He pulled himself out of the access shaft, and turned hard on his boot without even bothering to close the panel.

  Then, just as he took a step away, he paused and jerked his head towards me.

  Neither of us said anything.

  … We just stared into each other’s eyes. It was a disarming experience. I’d never seen someone show as much unguarded emotion as he was now.

  I watched him swallow, the move pronounced as his throat pushed hard against his tight collar.

  “… Are you alright?” I asked, barely thinking of my words as I uttered them in a quick worried tone.

  “No,” he answered. I could tell from the shifting look in his gaze that he hadn’t wanted to be that honest. He took a stiff breath, took another lurching step backwards, and shook his head. He planted a hand over his face, the fingers spread in a stiff move. “Do me a favor, Ensign.”

  I tilted my head as I looked at him. “What?”

  “Guard that service panel.”

  “Why?”

  “There are Omega weapons on this ship,” he said in a shaking voice.

  I didn’t react. At least not externally. Internally I felt a swell of relief.

  Though I still had a few weeks of grace before I would have another fit, the mere knowledge that Omega weapons were within reach was enough to fill me with much needed relief.

  “You know what an Omega weapon is, right? They are illegal,” his voice cracked.

  “Yes, sir,” I forced myself to say.

  “I… have no idea how they got to be on board this ship,” he said. Again his emotions appeared to be unguarded. His reaction – with all its raw surprise – appeared to be genuine.

  Nathan Shepherd appeared to be a smart man. Yet he must also be a fool. He must be under the impression the Alliance were governed by the same rules they set down for others.

  He locked a hand on his mouth and took a staggering step backwards. “Ensign… look after yourself.” With that, he turned and walked away.

  I ticked my head to the side, watching him until he was out of sight.

  He didn’t just appear to be rattled at the prospect of finding illegal weaponry on board this ship. Lieutenant Commander Nathan Shepherd looked shattered. He looked as if he was barely hanging onto his sanity.

  Could this shock him that much, or was there something else going on?

  For the briefest moment I allowed my thoughts to be taken over by his troubles.

  Then I reminded myself of my own.

  Commander F’val was here for me. And I would not allow myself to fall.

  I looked left and right, ensuring nobody was coming down the tunnel. Then I took a step towards the open access panel. I locked a hand on the metal lip, leaned down, grabbed the door to the service panel, then shifted inside it with a smooth move.

  I closed the service panel, using my ability to jam it shut. Then I turned, a faint trace of yellow-gold light picking up over my elbows and trailing down to my hands. It was sufficient that I could now see my own reflection in the shiny panels to my left and right. With a determined, grim expression pressing across my face, I pushed forward.

  If I was going to fight my way out of this ship, taking a cache of Omega weapons with me would give me a very special advantage.

  Chapter 8

  Lieutenant Commander Nathan Shepherd

  I stood before the Captain’s office.

  I had to use every ounce of my training not to shake in my boots.

  My heart wasn’t so much beating anymore, as shuddering forward then stopping, shuddering forward then stopping.

  I’d never felt so much tension rush through my body. It was murder just to breathe.

  But finally, finally I brought up a white knuckled, shaking hand and extended a finger towards the intercom button. “Lieutenant Commander Shepherd here.”

  “Come in,” the Captain said.

  The door opened.

  I didn’t even have any time to compose myself.

  The Captain was sitting behind her massive desk, and Commander F’val stood in front of it, his hands clasped behind his back.

  Both of them turned to face me.

  Their expressions were unreadable.

  I waited. Waited like a man facing a firing squad.

  The Captain cleared her throat. “I’m glad you could finally make it. What kept you?”

  What kept me? A cache of goddamn Omega weapons and the fact I was a dead man walking.

  I swallowed. “Sorry, Captain. I was in the service ducts when I received your command. The blueprints for that area are quite tricky. I kept taking wrong turns.”

  “Understandable. This ship can be a warren at times. Now you are here, please take a seat.” She gestured to the only other chair in her room.

  I swallowed again and slowly moved towards it.

  I sat, even though the only thing I wanted to do was run.

  The Commander didn’t appear to be paying attention to me.

  Appear, being the operative word.

  For all intents and purposes he was staring past the Captain at the shiny reflective panel between the two windows behind her desk.

  The panel would presumably show him my reflection.

  I waited.

  Why was the Captain stringing this out?

  Or perhaps the Commander hadn’t told her of my treachery yet.

  “You’re probably wondering what this is about and why I called you from your duties.” The Captain steepled her massive fingers as she shifted back in her chair, the thing groaning under her weight.

  I didn’t answer.

  I waited.

  “We believe the Ra’xon has taken on a traitor. The same traitor who was responsible for the accident on your ship.”

  … Good god no. They couldn’t think that I scuttled my own ship. Could they?
r />   “We took on 10 members from the Fargo. It’s one of them,” the Captain said.

  ….

  I sat there. I could feel the weight of my back pushing into the chair. I could feel my breath as it whistled past my partly closed lips.

  It took a while for my brain to work, though. To understand what she’d just said.

  “That’s why I’m here,” said the Commander. “We have credible evidence that there is a spy aboard this vessel, and we want your help to root them out.”

  “My help? Why?” It was an insubordinate thing to say, but I couldn’t control my mouth right now. “I mean, how can I help you?”

  “First things first, tell us everything you know about Ensign Jenks,” the Commander said without pause.

  My heart skipped a beat. “Sorry, Jenks?”

  “She transferred aboard your ship, and then aboard this ship. She was close to the site of the accident, but mysteriously received no injuries,” Commander F’val said in a monotone as he stood there with his arms crossed.

  My brow crumpled. “I thought… she was just… lucky,” I managed in a stuttering tone.

  Then I stopped and thought about it for the first time.

  I’d been almost killed in the corridor. Though Jenks had been closer to the source of the explosion, she was fine.

  Absolutely unscathed.

  The Captain suddenly waved her hand to the left, and a hologram appeared over the desk. It showed a view of the station from the outside.

  It must’ve been taken just after the explosion, because you could see the whole deck had been virtually obliterated, structural shields the only thing keeping it in place.

  The Captain ticked her finger to the side, and the picture suddenly zoomed in.

  Right in the middle of that path of destruction, there was a section about four meters squared that was… fine. The hull was completely untouched.

  “What am I looking at?” I looked up at the Captain.

  “This section of hull was approximately 50 meters away from your position when the explosion struck.”

  “… And?” I swallowed.

  “And,” the Commander leaned in, pointing a scaly finger towards the hologram, “Ensign Jenks was there.”

  I swiveled my gaze from the hologram, to the Captain, then finally to the Commander. “… And? Was that section reinforced? Surely this isn’t really evidence, she was just lucky.”