Beth

Eyes opened. Vision fogged. Silence. The interior of the coffin was familiar. Beth slowly regained her senses as she woke from hibernation sleep. Someone moved outside the frosted lid. A woman in a crew overall walked around her pod with attention drawn to a hand terminal. Was she checking her vital signs? That round face and too wide of a smile seemed familiar. Dr. Birgitta!

The lid cracked and slid open. She sat up, feeling the restriction of the mouth piece and crotch piece.

“Good morning,” Dr. Birgitta said. “Slept well?”

Beth unstrapped the mouthpiece on her own, cleared her mouth and took a deep breath. The sense of refreshment spread through her body. “Are we there yet? Back at Earth?”

“No, not yet. We have only reached humanity’s outer reach. A European Space City. Europe13, the charts say,” Dr. Birgitta said. “The Admiral has not said much, but I think we will be parked here for some time. The remains of the aliens have to be processed and the story of what happened to us dissected. We are being quarantined.”

Beth disengaged the crotch piece and rose slowly, her balance not yet recovered. “Quarantined? But why would you wake me up already? For how long?”

She hooked the sweetness and let it trickle forth. Her muscles came awake and tingled in anticipation. What a joy to avoid hibernation hangover completely.

Dr. Birgitta frowned. “Well, the Admiral is responsible. He wants his biggest guns online and available. The quarantine will last for at least six months.”

She stepped out from the pod. Legs were weak, but she found her balance fast enough. She pulled on the underwear and stepped into the crew overall Dr. Birgitta handed her.

“A waste of my life. I will speak to the Admiral,” Beth said. “Why are you awakening me? Why not some hibernation nurse? No. Wait. You want to study me! I knew it. Have you studied me through the entire sleep?”

Dr. Birgitta’s smile widened. “Yes! Even though you are special your sleep patterns look fully normal. I had this idea, since your strength can be applied mentally too, that you are able to break free from hibernation sleep on your own. I have recorded your data, along with everyone else who went into sleep. Navy protocol. I will run some simulations later. Would you like to be informed of the conclusion once I finished?”

“Yes, thanks,” Beth said. There was a fire in Dr. Birgitta’s eyes as she looked over the data in her hand terminal. The passion for science in that woman went even beyond Beth’s own.

“How would a nightmare impact one when one had superhuman mental strength?” Dr. Birgitta said, speculating. “Maybe the dream was made more intense and the result more disastrous?”

Beth had slept for fifteen years and now an additional fifteen. Thirty years have passed on Earth; it was hard to accept. She let Dr. Birgitta contemplate on her own. Beth’s fingers went over the soft, but very short hair on her head. It had been thirty years since Saif shaved her, but it had not yet grown out. Too bad hair didn’t grow in hibernation sleep.

“Where is the Admiral?” Beth said.

“Bridge,” Dr. Birgitta said. “But you will find him busy.”

“I am persistent,” Beth said, pulling out her own hand terminal from the overall’s front pocket. “He promised me military records of the people that hurt me. Time to pay out.”

“Oh,” Dr. Birgitta said.

Beth clicked through menus, slid away unwanted windows and scrolled through the juicy bits. Admiral Harris had kept his word. Classified military records. She had to admit, the Admiral had proper guts. But the records were redacted. She searched for Saif’s name, but found nothing. Maybe it was an alias? There had to be something! She swiped through the redacted report after redacted report. A few other names popped up which she recalled, but not in the correct context. Until. General Jacob Meyer.

“General Jacob Meyer received promotion for great leadership and display of valor for the purpose of humanity’s future. Commander Meyer,” Beth mumbled. “Birgitta! Which city was this again?”

“Europe13,” Dr. Birgitta said. “Has the sleep scrambled your short term memory?”

“He is there! Here! General… Commander Meyer will know what has happened to Saif!” Beth yelled. “Unless the man’s mind has been destroyed by Saif’s control. I am going across.”

“I don’t think that is such a good idea. I will warn the Admiral,” Dr. Birgitta said, holding her hands up in a defensive posture.

“You do that. He can’t stop me. Is Tom awake?” Beth said.

Dr. Birgitta frowned. “He might be with the Admiral.”

“Thanks,” Beth said.

Sweetness flooded and her muscles rejoiced with a sense of power as she charged forward. Jacob will know. How would Tom react to the news? Maybe, just maybe, he would come to his senses and join her. Revenge for his mom. He was her friend and she felt obliged to help him.

-

Muscles came awake and bathed in the added power. Beth rushed through corridor after corridor. Feet and legs moved like pistons. Dents formed in the metal floor. Rhythmic breathing. She turned the corner at full speed, leaning into so she didn’t stumble. There was no slowing down.

The bridge. She halted, letting the sweetness retreat and muscles relax. Door slid aside. Crewmembers almost crowded inside the larger room. Not only seated and stationed people, but additional personnel. Probably observing the giant, spherical Space City smacked in the center of the bridge’s transparent front wall. It had been a long time since she had looked upon one of those. The most accomplished feat of engineering by human kind, both on scale and complexity. This view never grew boring.

“Admiral, I am going to take a shuttle and dock with the city,” Beth said.

Admiral Harris turned slowly around with a look of disappointment. “Of course you want to break the quarantine. Why would you care for the population? I cannot stop you, but I will warn the Navy. They won’t step aside. Don’t you hurt any civilians.”

“We carry no made up disease. Don’t try those lies on me. I cannot guarantee the health of anyone who is dumb enough to stand in front of me,” Beth said and turned to Tom. “Tom.”

Tom stood outside the main grouping of crewmembers, sitting quietly on his own. Very Tom-like. She stepped forward to him.

“Revenge with the people who kidnapped and tortured us, are you interested?” Beth asked, smiling. “This is the last time I will ask. Think about your mom.”

Tom wore a dark look. “You don’t get it? Actions have consequences. Your idea of revenge is wrong.”

Beth sighed. “Not this nonsense again. This is the only way to ensure they will not hurt anyone else! No. No, I am not having this argument again. I am providing this offer as an olive branch. Join me and fight by my side! Revenge for our fallen families.”

Tom stared coldly at her.

“Fine!” Beth said, muttering, turning and starting to leave the bridge.

An invisible force constricted around her, pulling her down. Hard. The ship’s metal floor bent as she was pressed down into it. Her skin flowed into metal.

“Civilians will get hurt. I won’t let you,” Tom said.

Arms and legs pinned down by the force. Sweetness rushed into her mouth, Beth felt her muscles tremble with anticipation, with power. An arm raised from the floor, pushing against the force, slowly overcoming its growing weight.

“How long can you hold me down, Tom? A minute? Two maybe,” Beth said.

The bridge’s door was pulled off its hinges and slammed down on her. Lungs compressed and briefly emptied of air. Beth gasped for more oxygen.

“This is the only way, Beth,” Tom said.

Beth could see his young face between the cracks of the door pinning her down. He really thought he could hold her down? Down, then. She raised her arms as much as was possible underneath the door, sweetness intensified and she slammed her fists down. She fell as the floor gave away. The invisible force and the door accelerated her downwards. She landed hard on the floor. The door slammed down on her and shattered into pieces. Tom needed to be neutralized. She would not be able to outrun his reach. Think! Tom would not be able to use his power if he was put in a state of agonizing pain. Not a reassuring thought, but the only idea she had. Tom had told her earlier that every time he moved an object he had to focus on that very object. What if she overcrowded his focus with objects? He had shown great spite against her, but she considered him her friend. Hopefully he would not be too hurt. If she was unlucky Tom would die. Revenge for everything that has happened to her and her family hung on her tongue. So close! She would risk Tom’s life.

Beth picked up the shattered pieces of the door and held them tight. Hands were filled with the sharp metal flakes. The only way.

“Give up, Beth,” Tom said from above the hole. “I am sorry, but I have to do this.”

With a raging roar she turned around, the sweetness came upon her as an explosion of strength and she launched the bundles of metal fragments straight at him. The invisible force that held her down her vanished. She leapt after the flakes, behind them, towards him. He flailed wildly with his arms, his face contorted in focus. Fragments shot to the sides, smashing into the walls. But he was not fast enough. She landed at his side. He knelt on the floor, his breaths shallow and quick. A face of disgust and pain. His hands held onto a fragment which had pierced his chest. Trembling hands. Two other fragments stuck out from his thighs and another set on his right side. His chin dipped.

Beth carefully grabbed his head and turned it up, their eyes met. “I am really sorry, Tom. I still consider you my friend.”

Tom coughed, blood bubbled from his mouth. “Friend!? You…Hurt me!”

“Save your strength. I can hear the Admiral’s shouting. He will fix you,” Beth said.

Beth helped him down. He looked so vulnerable lying on the floor with pieces of metal piercing his body. But she could not wait. Her revenge. She willed the sweetness forth and went into a mad dash.

-

Beth needed a shuttle. There would be combat suits as she docked. Would they believe the Admiral’s warning? That a super strong woman with metal skin would stop at nothing to get revenge. Speed and distinctive decisions would go a long way to catch the combat suits off guard. Avoiding confrontation saved time and minimized the risk for bystanders. The external defenses might open fire right as her shuttle made some distance from the Au-delà. Hopefully the City’s outer hull could seal itself after she crashed into it. She just had to reach it.

She jumped into one of the smaller, sleeker shuttles. The hatch slid shut and locked. She took one of the two seats in the shuttle’s cockpit. Her hands attached and tightened the safety harness around her. Or should she leave it off in an effort to catapult herself forward using the shuttle’s momentum? She decided to keep the harness locked.

Hands pushed buttons and flipped switches. The shuttle came to life with a low hum. She felt how it lifted from the floor. The shuttle floated precisely to the shuttle bay’s launcher. It slid into the tube. The ship activated and charged the tube’s magnetic fields, then launched the shuttle.

If she crashed the inertia mesh would surely fail. Would metal skin keep her body in one piece against the extreme, sudden inertia? Hopefully.

Skin flowed into metal like a wave of water washed across her body. Sweetness intensified, but she slowed it to a trickle. The day was far from over. Tongue went over her lips, not yet parched.

Europe13 came once more into full view. Its spherical dome seemed impossibly large. Breathtaking. She accelerated the shuttle forward. A docking symbol popped into the display. Marking the City’s closest docks. Great. The live feed of an angry man flashed into life right in the center of the display, blocking her view of the City.

“Stop this shuttle at once,” the angry man said.

“No,” Beth said. Frantic hands searched for a method to sever the connection, but she could not find one.

“Defense systems are locking target with your craft,” the angry man said, right before the shuttle’s own system started to react and provide her with the same information. Weapons locked.

“Good luck with that,” Beth said and pushed the joystick all the way forward. She just needed to reach the hull.

Even with the inertia mesh fully activated she felt the slow rise of its invisible force pushing her backwards. The City’s weapons fired. Her stomach turned as the shuttle went into an aggressive and automatic pattern of rolls.

The railgun projectiles flew by the shuttle with only inches to spare.

This will not work. The shuttle twisted again. Teeth clasped shut, jaws clenching. She programmed the shuttle’s destination, unstrapped herself from the seat and ran for the shuttle’s tail. The inertia mesh was not absolute. She grabbed for a corridor wall, digging her fingers into the metal. She opened the trickle to a flood and tensed her body as much as possible. The shuttle rocked hard and the kinetic projectiles plowed through the shuttle. Leaving long gashes and holes in their wakes. If anyone of those things even grazed her she would be torn into pieces.

Beth moved again. Searching for more cover and protection against the vacuum. Another projectile plowed through the shuttle. She heard it behind the corridor she traversed. Could not be far now. Suits! With sweetened power she rushed for the row of racked vacuum suits. Her hands trembled as she commanded the suit to open, its back segmented and unfolded. She stepped into it. The back folded shut and merged. Oxygen levels were high and the suit’s integrity complete. She took a deep breath and moved to the hatch. Two consoles were placed on either side of the giant hatch. An emergency opening would need to be initiated from both. She pressed the big red button on the first console.

“Emergency opening is prepared,” a voice boomed in the chamber’s speakers.

She moved over to the second console and flipped the protective glass opened. It had to be timed. She dug her hands into the wall and watched the display on the suit’s gauntlet. A quickly descending countdown. It had to be timed or else she would be crushed against the City’s outer hull.

Feet wide apart, slightly bent knees, leaning towards the wall. Teeth clasped down hard, she braced.

The crash!

The sudden force of momentum tried to pull her forward, but the suit’s mag boots and her grip inside the wall kept her in place. Go! The emergency hatch blew off its hinges, she deactivated the mag boots and released her grip. She flew out the opened hatch and into space like a ragdoll.

She rolled away from the shuttle. Another volley of railgun projectiles tore into the crashed shuttle. Her timing had not been perfect. The lingering momentum still threw her towards the City’s outer hull. She found the suit’s thrusters and activated them, stabilizing her cartwheeling and started to cancel out her velocity. The thrusters’ fuel would not last long. But the momentum was not shed off quickly enough. She needed to get a grip on the hull and not let go. If she lingered too long out here the defense systems would vaporize her. She held her arms out in front of her. Fingers spread wide, ready to punch holes into the hull and grip down. Hopefully the suit would hold. Straightened arms. Sweetness increased. She tensed and roared.

Beth slammed into the City’s hull, arms first. Hands went into the hull and dug for traction. Torso connected with the hull. She bounced and momentum pushed away from the hull. But her fingers gripped into the metal and held her in place! The momentum was canceled. She took a few relaxing breaths and scanned the hull. There had to be a maintenance airlock.

She released the grip of one hand and pulled the arm out from the hole. The suit was damaged. Its atmosphere was slowly escaping through the thin cracks. Display told her that the suit fought the compromised integrity by pumping out more oxygen into the system. The self-sealing mechanism was not coping. She had a few minutes.

There! An airlock! Beth let go of the hull with her other arm and launched towards salvation. She used the remaining fuel to speed up and to de-accelerate during the final stretch. The airlock opened and she went inside.

Milo

People crowded the main docks. They yelled profanities and brandished their fists in the air. It was clear that they had not taken well to the news of the quarantine. Milo’s task was to calm them down, or at least to keep them back

Combat suits lined the perimeter they had established. Carl walked along it and conversed with the guards. No trigger happy fingers today.

His first official vanguard mission. He raised his chin and tried to look confident. Faked courage was better than nothing. The uniform had to be worn with honor.

Someone in the crowd shouted and pointed. Milo turned. Oh. A lone shuttle raced towards Europe13. Had it come from the Au-delà?. At that velocity the shuttle would not be able to slow down. Railgun projectiles plowed into the incoming shuttle, but they did little to dampen its momentum.

The crowd grew louder and shoved among themselves. Milo froze. The shuttle would crash into the city, but some distance away from the main docks, and any passenger would die on impact. He could not stop that. But maybe he could do something about the crowd. He turned and walked to the crowd.

Milo got too close, someone grabbed him and pulled him into the crowd. He stumbled to the floor. People towered over him, staring at him.

“Why can’t I see my son?” a man asked.

“Where is my wife?” a different man asked.

Someone kicked him in the side.

Sweetness trickled into his mouth, he extended a palm forward and the people staring at him gasped in horror. Electricity jumped between his fingers. A lightning bolt discharged into this crowd would hurt more than his intended target.

“Stay back!” Milo yelled, getting up to his feet.

The crowd looked afraid of him.

Milo held his palm up while navigating out from the mass of people.

At least the crowd focused on him rather than the quarantine.

The whole city shook underneath his feet, but he kept his balance.