Empire (Empire, Book One) Read online

  They walked across the hangar without facing any more resistance. With every step, Mia was beginning to feel better and better. Her vision was returning to normal, her hearing was better and she didn’t stumble as much. The battle seemed to be dying down a bit around them, which she didn’t see as a good thing, since there was nobody else in the hangar, and apparently that’s where everybody was escaping from.

  “They know about the manholes, right?” Mia asked, her words still coming out tired-sounding.

  “That’s plan B,” Allen said, not taking his eyes off the back of the hangar. They reached their destination. “Can you stand on your own?”

  Mia tested it out with Allen still standing close by. “Yeah. It’s wearing off.”

  “Okay, I’ll get the door.” Allen walked to a door that sat in front of them, a large padlock on it. He aimed his weapon and fired, sending the lock flying off the door. He kicked it open, and did a quick sweep to make sure there weren’t any Mortuks hiding in the darkness.

  Mia bounced Beth up and down in her arms. “Shh, shh. It’ll be okay,” she told Beth. “It’ll all be okay,” she told herself.

  “Alright, let’s go,” Allen said. “Just a few more rooms and we’re at the stairwell.”

  Chapter Fifty-One

  “Unleash everything we’ve got,” Ivan ordered.

  “Firing magrail weapons.”

  The sound of the booming weapons reverberated throughout the ship. Ivan watched as the hot pieces of lead launched through space, firing right into the side of the mothership. It chipped away at its hull, sending pieces of it flying into space.

  He couldn’t help but smile. It was something, at least.

  “They’re launching fighters, sir,” Cadet Norwalk said.

  “Give our Mambas the go-ahead,” Ivan said.

  “All Mambas clear to engage,” he heard the cadet say.

  They continued to fire their guns into the side of the mothership but Ivan grew worried when the vessel didn’t stop its descent. It didn’t even fire its weapons at them, leaving its fighters to defend it alone.

  Ivan watched as his fighters intercepted the Mortukians’. They were equally matched, neither one of them taking the upper hand.

  “Is this all we’ve got?!” Ivan yelled as he watched the Empire’s guns only doing minimal damage to the hull of the mothership. It was more than ever before, but it still wasn’t enough.

  “Yes, sir. We’re firing at maximum capacity,” Norwalk replied.

  “Get us closer,” Ivan said.

  “Sir?”

  “I said get this damn ship up their asses!” Ivan screamed, spit flying from his mouth. The mothership grew closer and closer to fitting into its space. Once that happened, it could be all over.

  The Empire flew closer to the mothership. They were right above her, firing down into the top of the ship. Ivan watched with bated breath as he waited for something—anything—to happen. Whether it was in his favor or theirs, he just wanted them to do something. Because then he might take advantage of the situation. But when they treated him as nothing more than a nuisance, Ivan couldn’t help but get agitated and worried.

  “Captain, we’ve got something incoming,” Millie said.

  “What is it?” He turned and watched Millie, who was reading her screen intently.

  “Point the camera upwards,” she said, her face turning white.

  One of the cadets readjusted the camera, the view of the giant screen changing from that of the Earth below to the space above.

  Coming right towards them, having just completed its jump, was another mothership.

  And this one came in guns blazing.

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Hayden unbuckled himself from his seat. He’d landed in the middle of the road so he ran to cover as fast as possible. The sounds of the battle went on in the distance but in his immediate vicinity, there seemed to be nothing.

  “Vick, Vick do you read me?” Hayden pressed a button on the side of his helmet to speak.

  A few tense moments passed before Hayden got his answer. “Yeah,” Vick said, his voice pained. “Hurt my ankle, but I’m alive. Where’d you land?”

  “Near the edge of the base. I can see the East fence from here.”

  “I landed just outside there,” Vick answered.

  “Alright, stay there, I’m on my way.” Hayden pulled his pistol from the holster at his side. It was an LZP unfortunately— it fired energy bursts rather than bullets. It wouldn’t do much against the ultainium, but having it made him feel just a little bit better.

  Hayden ran down the road, trying his best to keep low and quiet. The battle died down behind him, which worried him. It’d been a while since he’d heard any fighters overhead and there wasn’t any chatter over the comms. Hayden hoped everybody was getting out. He knew that was exactly what he had to do. Without his Mamba or the proper weapons, he was useless. Now his mission was to get Vick and get to the rendezvous point.

  He reached the perimeter without encountering any resistance. He climbed up the chain-link fence and used his pistol to shoot the barbed wire that ran along the top. He shielded his face to be sure he wouldn’t be popped by any of the wire and climbed over once it was safe.

  The flashing red light from Vick’s ejector seat led him right to his location. He landed about twenty feet outside the fence. Hayden ran over to him and shot the emergency light.

  “Twisted my ankle, I think.” Vick used the back of his seat to help him stand.

  Hayden placed a hand under his shoulder, helping Vick to stand. “Think you’ll be able to climb that fence?” Hayden asked, pointing to the base.

  “I could, but there’s no way I am, numbnuts. Hey, I think that’s your call sign,” Vick said with a chuckle.

  “And I think the pain and adrenaline is getting to your head.” Hayden took a step forward, bringing Vick with him. “Come on, we gotta get back over. We have to get in those tunnels if we’re going to get back to the transport ships in time.”

  The two of them limped forward, walking right back towards the belly of the beast. Hayden went as fast as Vick could go. He found it difficult to not be running for their lives, seeing as that was pretty much exactly what they were doing.

  They’d almost reached the fence when a bright blue flash in the sky stopped them in their tracks. They looked towards the horizon to their East. A blue light started there and the crossed the sky. When it was directly above them, it was as bright as day for a brief moment, the land around them bathed in a bright blue glow. The light continued its journey West before disappearing altogether. Now whenever he looked at the night sky, Hayden could see a dancing turquoise light across the sky. It was like when sunlight reflected off of water and onto the surrounding ground. In fact, Hayden could’ve sworn he could smell the strong scent of chlorine from the White House pool.

  “What was that?” Vick asked.

  “I don’t know but I think I know what it means,” Hayden said.

  The final mothership had arrived.

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  “Divert all shields to the top of the Empire!” Ivan shouted. “Fire all weapons at the new mothership!”

  The first wave of laser blasts reached the Empire from the new mothership. The bridge shook and Ivan fell back into his chair.

  The Empire fired back, shooting its own munitions into the enemy vessel. Pieces of the ship chipped away. But, again, the guns didn’t seem to be doing much damage. What the hell is this going to take?

  “I’m getting a massive energy spike from the surface,” a cadet yelled out.

  Ivan knew exactly what that meant. They hadn’t stopped the mothership in time. “Get me a view of Earth,” Ivan said. He stood from his chair as the camera view changed.

  A wave of blue light washed from one side of the planet to the other. Each of the motherships acted as tentpoles, keeping up the wavy blue light that flowed between each of them.

  “Fire a shot down there,” Ivan said. H
e could feel the blasts from the mothership above him slamming into the Empire’s shields and he knew he’d have to return to that battle sooner rather than later. But first things first. He had to see if this new energy field was what he feared it would be.

  The shot impacted the energy field and the blue light grew more intense at the point of contact, absorbing all the energy from the blast.

  “It’s a force field,” Ivan said. “They’re all stuck down there. There’s no way they’re getting through that thing.”

  “The new mothership is launching more fighters. They outnumber ours four to one,” Cadet Norwalk shouted.

  “Recall our Mambas. Divert fire from some of our guns to lock onto their fighters,” Ivan ordered. “Get this damn camera back onto that mothership!”

  The camera angle changed just in time for Ivan to see his approaching doom. A massive wave of Mortuks headed his way and the mothership was getting closer.

  The Empire fired at the approaching wave of Mortuk fighters and took out big chunks of them with ease. Once they got closer though, they scattered, which made locking onto them much more difficult. They chipped away at the Empire, able to break through her shields, taking out pieces of her from the inside.

  “Sir, I’m picking up some of the transport ships from Earth over short-range communications. They’re at the force field but are unable to breakthrough,” Millie said.

  Then, in a fleeting moment of hope, the mothership ceased fire.

  Ivan still hadn’t responded to Millie. He waited a moment, holding his breath. What was going on? Why had the mothership stopped?

  A white glow began to build on the surface of the mothership. The Mortuk fighters retreated.

  Hell was about to be unleashed on the USTS Empire.

  Ivan’s mind was firing on all cylinders, trying to figure out his next move. He’d gotten what he’d wished for: change. Now he just had to take advantage of it.

  It all clicked into place. Hayden, you son of a bitch. His smile grew. “Double the gravity,” Ivan shouted as he turned and faced his bridge crew. “Don’t want anything rustling around that shouldn’t be.”

  A smile grew across their faces as they realized what his plan was. He sat down in his chair and strapped in. The glow on the mothership grew brighter. “Are we still directly above the mothership beneath us?” Ivan shouted over his shoulder.

  “Aye aye, Captain!”

  “We can’t drop, so, on my mark, fire all engines on the port side at one hundred percent!”

  “Aye aye, Captain!”

  The light grew brighter still. It was almost impossible to look at. Everything within him screamed to give the order. But he waited one more second just to be sure. He knew he couldn’t go any longer. “Fire engines!”

  The engines fired and, at sub-FTL speeds, the Empire flew to its right as fast as it could without entering a FTL jump. Suddenly Earth was far enough away that the whole thing could be seen on the screen in one shot. The bright white laser fired from the top mothership and slammed into the bottom one. The vessel exploded in a brilliant blue flash so bright Ivan had to look away. When he looked back, the force field was gone and the mothership that had just destroyed its sister was already lowering itself, moving in to replace the one it’d just taken out.

  “Get us over there ASAP!” Ivan yelled. “Once all the Mambas and transport ships are on board, get us the hell out of here!”

  “Aye aye, Captain!”

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Hayden practically carried Vick down the underground tunnel. The climb down the ladder had been just about all he and his ankle could handle. A quick examination proved it wasn’t broken, but it was definitely twisted badly—the swelling was a testament to that.

  The corridor stretched ahead of them, slowly sloping upwards, which didn’t help any. Every once in a while, they’d hear the rumble of an explosion above them. But after a while, the sounds and shaking grew further and further apart, until they died out altogether. As far as Hayden could tell, the battle was now over. The transport vessels would only wait on them for a short amount of time, if at all. If the Mortuks were coming down on them, they’d have to leave immediately. In that case, Hayden could only hope that they waited nearby and would come back for them once conditions improved.

  “Hold up.” Vick fell to the ground.

  Hayden held him up and then set him down slowly. “You good?”

  “Yeah. Just need a moment to catch my breath.”

  The two of them sat there in silence, catching their breath. Hayden didn’t want to rush Vick but they were working against the clock. He kept his mouth shut, though. If Vick got a little bit of rest, that meant Hayden could push him a little bit harder. They’d be able to make up time. They had to.

  “What do you think’s going on up there?” Vick asked.

  Hayden shrugged. “I don’t know. Which ‘up there’ do you mean? On the Empire or McArthur?”

  Vick sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know. I just hope Millie’s okay.”

  Hayden smiled and chuckled to himself. “You’ve taken a liking to her, have you?”

  “Christ dude, how old are you? ‘Taken a liking to her’?” Vick asked in disgust.

  Hayden stood from the ground and picked Vick up. “Shut up and save your energy,” he said with a smile.

  They didn’t have long to go before they reached the tunnel exit. Hayden felt a second wind hit him, and Vick must have, too, because the two of them were making up for lost time. With each step, Hayden grew more confident that they’d make it to the ships in time.

  The slope to the tunnel grew steeper. Hayden knew they were close. He could feel it—taste the fresh air on his lips, filling his lungs with life and hope.

  They reached the top of the slope. The exit to the tunnel was just up ahead.

  And standing next to it, two figures.

  Hayden pulled out his pistol and approached with caution. The two figures had their backs turned so they wouldn’t see him sneaking up behind them. They looked human from behind, but Hayden had no idea what to believe anymore—not after finding out that the Mortuks could look human now.

  One of the figures turned around.

  It was Allen.

  He ran over to them. “Hayden,” he said, taking Vick’s weight off him. “What the hell are you doing down here?”

  “Our Mambas got shot down,” he said, the pain of the journey down the tunnel beginning to set in. “We climbed through one of the manholes on the other side of the base.” He looked behind Allen at the approaching woman. She held a sleeping baby in her arms and eyed the two of them suspiciously. “You must be Mia Ivan,” Hayden said.

  She nodded. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Hayden. I was wondering if we’d ever cross paths.”

  “Wish it was under better circumstances,” Hayden said.

  “Let’s cut the shit and get the hell out of here, alright? I’m running on fumes here,” Vick said.

  Allen and Mia exchanged looks.

  Hayden knew exactly what that meant. “They’re all gone, aren’t they?”

  They nodded. “And there’s a giant force field in the sky,” Allen said.

  “So what you’re saying is we’re stuck here?” Vick asked.

  “That’s exactly what they’re saying,” Hayden said, defeat setting in. “We aren’t going to be back on the Empire anytime soon.”

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  A few days later

  Ivan stood outside the balcony that overlooked the hangar bay. It felt like another life, when he stepped out there and spoke to the cadets and enlisted as they first arrived on board the USTS Empire. Now he gathered them out here once again. Before, he addressed them as soldiers as they began their Wartime Simulations. Now, he addressed them as one of the few splinters that remained of the Space Fleet as they entered the Second Mortukian-Terran War.

  A war that had already cost them too much.

  The Mortuks had yet to contact him and brag a
bout the death of his daughter or Hayden. Ivan took this as a good sign. They were probably still alive. Alive, yes. Safe, absolutely not. Earth was Mortuk territory. They’d been able to hurt the Mortuks but that just made them angrier.

  Well, Ivan was damned angry too.

  He used that emotion as he stepped out onto the balcony. The whispering voices hushed as the sea of faces stared up at him. He took a moment to take the sight in before speaking. “Are you scared?” Ivan asked the crowd.

  A few nods and whispering responses in agreement.

  “Are you sad?”

  There was more participation this time. Almost everybody nodded their heads.

  “Are you alive?”

  A few laughs but almost everybody responded this time with a resounding shout of ‘yes’.

  “Are you angry?”

  The crowd erupted into screams and shouts.

  “Well, then.” Ivan shouted to be heard above the noise. “If you’re scared, sad, angry and alive, then that’s something I can work with! That’s something that the Mortuks should be afraid of!”

  The crowd shouted back in agreement.

  “When you first stepped foot onto this vessel, you were just cadets. Soldiers. Warriors. You didn’t know what to expect. Even if you did, you didn’t know how it would all turn out. Neither did I.” Ivan scanned the crowd, letting his words sink in. “I wish I could say this was all part of the training. I wish after this every one of our friends—our family—who passed away in battle would appear again, and we’d be able to have the biggest damn party you’ve ever seen. But I can’t say that. Because this is real. This is war. There’s no drinking for fun. Only to forget.” Ivan had more he wanted to say but the lump in his throat threatened to derail his speech. “You are the best group of recruits I could’ve asked for. We’re not going to give up. We’re going to save our friends and family. We’re going to take back Earth. We’re going to defeat the Mortuks, just like we did last time.” He leaned forward and gripped the rail in front of him. “This is it, ladies and gentlemen. Your training is over with. Welcome to the Fleet. Welcome to the war.”