Beth

Beth pulled up her hand terminal again. All the data Dr. Birgitta had generated and compiled about the aliens were neatly categorized. Beth had found that the best way to steer her thoughts away Saif and his perverted mind control was escapism. To angle as much of her attention to something else entirely. She had not talked to Birgitta since the alien rescue operation, in truth she have had few interactions with any of the Final Sight’s crewmembers. Except for Milo. He was just too persistent. Could he not see that she was a lost cause? She wiped the thought away and directed her attention to the hand terminal again.

The latest data Dr. Birgitta had found out about the aliens’ molecular structures. She had run layering scans while onboard the Au-delà, but she had not had the time to analyse the copious amount of data the algorithms had produced. The alien sphere was old, the dating method placed the sphere’s construction or birth at least half a million years ago! She had run the scans on the fleshy alien too, it had been a measly two hundred years old when she had beaten it to death. It reinforced the argument that they were two different species, but not conclusively. They needed to fully map and catalogue both of the specimens’ DNA sequences. Then they could compare them and decide their origins and differences. That would yield a conclusive answer. Dr. Birgitta must already be doing this, or rather her computers were hard at work doing it. Maybe she could lend her a hand?

Beth rubbed her temples again. Had there been a tingling? No, she was still a liability. She could not trust herself.

-

Beth came awake, shaking her head. The hand terminal was still in her hand. She must have dozed off while reading through Dr. Birgitta’s data. The incident reminded her about times back at Callisto, when she and her study group had sat up entire nights preparing for tests or doing assignments. A different life, a happy life. Unfair!

She slammed down her fist on the floor, a dent was left behind in the metal. The taste of sweetness curled along her tongue. Her strength came so easy now, an instinct that seemed better adopted than her ordinary human things, like talking to people. Or getting rid of this god awful tingle behind her temples. She rubbed at them, but it would not go away.

The hand terminal was still lit and displayed a star chart; the alien sphere’s trajectory. They were still following it. Good. But the chart revealed more, they had picked up a tail.

“Oh god,” Beth whispered.

A dreadnought. This was bad.

Had she done right going after Saif? All the pain and misery that have been caused and not only to her, but the people within her reach. Tom. Milo’s fake dad. The people on Europe13. The crew of Au-delà. People have died because she had wanted to strike Saif in the face.

And now this crew. Isolated from mankind, going deeper and deeper into space, looking for an alien space ball. With a dreadnought sniffing up their ass. No, she should have stayed put, stayed calm. Done whatever bidding Saif required of her. That would have meant less harm coming to everyone. Tom would have been safe. Milo’s fake dad would still be alive. Mom would still be alive.

“Mom, I need you,” Beth cried into the empty room.

Carl

Carl leaned on the hibernation pod and stared into the sleeping face of its subject. The frosty lid gave the sleeper a tranquil look. That would not last when he awoke her.

“Don’t blame yourself,” Amanda said behind him, leaning against the door frame. “I don’t like it when you are grumpy.”

Carl turned, shaking his head. “We had them trapped. I had them. I just had to follow through. Like we trained. But I hesitated.”

Carl had fought off Milo and his combat suited friend at the same time. His superior experience had put him at an advantage, he would have won and put himself in good light with master Saif. But that metal woman, Elizabeth came to, changing the flow of the battle.

“Everyone fails,” Amanda said, scratching at the leg Rachel had needed to regenerate for her. Beth and Milo had crashed down on her, and with her focus shattered and unable to phase through the rubble the leg had been crushed.

Carl let his hand move across the hibernation pod’s chilled lid. “It is not just that. We would not need to go this deep into space, looking for them.”

“I know. It is boring being sent away like this. Not being besides Saif when he builds the army and the empire. Witnessing all his great deeds,” Amanda said and walked up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

She was trying to reassure him, he knew.

Carl shook his head. “Saif should not have put those two into hibernation pods. That was the mistake. If he had just killed them on the spot, this would never have happened. Either he failed, because he made a naive decision, or we failed as his vanguard, to accurately advise him.”

“Like I said, everyone fails. This time, it feels more like he failed and not us. Do you think he would have listened if you asked him to kill them? No, he would not,” Amanda said. “At least we are in this together. Imagine going away without me?”

Carl smiled half heartedly. “Yes, you are right.” Carl winking at her. “But after all this time with him, I never thought Saif would be the one failing us. I always thought it would have been the other way round. But that’s not all.”

“What do you mean?” Amanda asked, putting her hand on his shoulder.

“No. I meant,” Carl said, struggling to form the words that haunted his mind. “Did you see their expressions? Their faces? They fought us so hard. The sheer will behind their actions. They put everything on the line to rebel against us. Milo knew how well trained we are and how many years we have put into Saif’s service. He knew, but still he turned against us.”

Amanda met his eyes with a serious look. “I get it. You are second guessing this. Everything. It is alright, Carl. I feel the same way sometimes. And that. That is the sign we are doing the right thing. We are the heroes. They don’t understand what Saif is trying to achieve. Not only the survival of mankind against the alien threat, but also making us strong enough to last into posterity. Saif found Rachel, remember? If anyone lived as long as we have, it is not surprising to feel doubt.”

Carl sighed. “It is a relief that you experience the same feelings. It would have been difficult if I was alone in this. Thank you.”

“Let’s get to work,” Amanda said and commenced the hibernation pod’s awakening sequence. “This is Lisa Rands. Manifestation of ice. That’s interesting, like a polar opposite to you. She has some wild ideas about herself, seeing herself above everyone else. She might be dangerous.”

Carl nodded. “If we cancel each other out, then I should be able to control her. How about her temperament? What does the file say?”

The frosting on the lid was thawing away, Lisa’s face revealed underneath as the heating up procedure continued. A crack formed around the lid’s edge, thin smoke billowed out.

“She was onboard the Au-delà. She was there when the aliens attacked, and she was instrumental in the ship’s survival. That is quite a feat. Impressive even,” Amanda said. “Oh, and listen to this. She fought Elisabeth Shepherd herself, tried to overthrow her. Show the other manifestees who was the leader among them.”

Carl nodded. “Wow. So, why would Saif send her to us? He might need that kind of willpower.”

“Alright, it continues. Elizabeth won the fight, breaking Lisa’s arms in the process. Lisa was given medical therapy and regenerative tissue. There are some concerns for her mental state. All that trauma cannot be healthy,” Amanda read from the hand terminal.

He put a hand on the lid and helped it open. “Seeded or loyal?”

Lisa’s eyes opened.

“It says loyal, but in italics. We need to watch out for her,” Amanda said.

“Who the fuck are you?” Lisa said, sitting up against the pod’s inside frame.

Carl helped her up, her skin felt colder than it should be after the heating procedure. “Then we should thread carefully.”

“Carefully? Let me go,” Lisa said, pulling her arms away from him as if they hurt. The skin looked freshly healed.

An icy crust grew from her hands, and flowed across her skin. A barrier attribute.

Carl kept his cool, having the sweetness on standby, but not yet sucking it down.

“Calm down, Lisa. Lisa Rands is your name. We want you no harm. We are soldiers in Saif’s vanguard,” Carl said.

Lisa looked confused, but the icy barrier kept growing wider and thicker. “Saif? The creep from the facility? A vanguard? What is this shit? Let me out.”

Carl put a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her. “Look, Lisa. You have been sleeping for some time. We need to talk.”

“This is a hibernation pod! Again! Not this fucking shit again!” Lisa yelled, shoving her hands down on Carl’s arm.

Coldness swept across his body. He let the sweetness flood, his barrier of molten rocks came to. Where the flow of molten rock met the wave of cold, a fight broke out, smoke billowing upwards. The two forces negated each other. His arm felt neither cold nor warm, it was the perfect middle ground.

They exchanged looks, she wore a face of amazement.

Amanda stood behind Lisa, with her hands hovering around the sides of her head, ready to phaze her brain in half if needed to. Carl shook his head, lightly, Amanda backed away and lowered her hands.

“Please stop,” Carl said. “There is really no need for this. I understand that you feel confused and probably betrayed. But if we wanted you dead, you would be dead. The woman standing behind you can de-materialize her hands, put them into your flesh and re-materialize them. It would cut your head in half. With a single nod from me, she will do it.”

Lisa noticed Amanda behind her and pulled her hands away from him. “I guess so.”

“We have a common enemy. Elizabeth Shepherd and her friends,” Carl said.

Lisa smiled. “Now you are talking like I understand.” She rubbed her arms gently, maybe recalling the moment they broke. “I want her to pay.”

“We know. And that is probably why you were sent with us. We are pursuing her and we are closing in everyday that passes. And we will need all the help we can get,” Carl said. “I am the chief of this operation, you can call me Carl, the woman behind you is Amanda. If you have any questions, don’t be afraid to ask us. Welcome to the vanguard.”

“Vanguard? That is ridiculous. But I am not surprised, if that creep Saif is leading you. He always came across as a strange one,” Lisa said. “Where are we?”

“A few months away from Europe13, heading away from human civilizations,” Carl said.

Brief, but containing just the right amount of information a newly awakened sleeper could process. He liked his prepared answer and his delivery of it.

“Alright. So, no way to hitch a ride back?” Lisa asked.

Carl shook his head. “No.”

“Just like last time. Life comes in circles. But this time the goal is set and very much to my liking. I am in,” Lisa said. “What happens now?”

“You will rest and eat up, then be folded into the crew. With training and your own quarters. While you rest, me and Amanda will wake up the others,” Carl said. “And again, welcome to the vanguard.”

“And what is up with all these singular names? Saif, Carl and Amanda,” Lisa said. “Its weird.”

The one question that always came up when new soldiers were pulled into the fold.

“Saif changed us. Our old names didn’t suffice anymore. So we changed them.”

“Right,” Lisa said. “So why not choose something with a little bit of flare then? Like Silver-Dragon or Blood-Thirsty Bruce?”

“That sounds stupid,” Carl said.

Lisa frowned. “Carl and Amanda are the plainest names in the whole world. Those are fucking stupid choices, if you ask me. Saif didn’t change you to be plain and standard, or did he?”

Carl sighed. “Let’s go, Amanda. Lisa needs her rest.”

“Good seeing you!” Lisa said just as the door slide closed.

Amanda shoved his shoulder. “She is a weird one.”

“Yeah,” Carl said.

He had always liked the sound of Carl in his mouth. It felt robust and chivalrous. But this Lisa had easily put a crack in that perception. Maybe he should have chosen a more accurate name? Like Lava-Laurent or Fire-Fred?

“Are you good? You are doing that face again, which you do when you are thinking,” Amanda said.

Carl smiled. “I am fine.”

No, Carl was the better choice. He was no comic book character and so he didn’t need a fancy name.

-

They came to the last hibernation pod on their list. They had waited to open this one for a reason, and a good one at that.

“He will be pissed waking up all this distance away from Saif and civilization,” Carl said. “Really, really pissed.”

“Yeah. But he will come around. He will see how dearly we need some swing into our attack,” Amanda said.

“I will tell him about the blood deposits. Maybe that will set his mind to something else,” Carl said. “Or maybe we just don’t wake him up at all. No one will know out here. Seriously, we could let him continue his slumber.”

Amanda stared at him. “No. We can’t do that. What would Saif say when we returned, seeing that we let Decha sleep all the way through. What if we failed, and we kept him sleeping?”

“Hibernation failure. It happens all the time. We could fake it. Faking that and suffer Saif’s potential wrath just seems not as dangerous as actually waking him up. You know how he is. Crazy. And commanding. He will not tolerate me leading our vanguard or this mission, he is older than me.”

Amanda shook her head. “Stay your tongue, because those are the words of a traitor. You are not only speaking about keeping him asleep, you are telling me you want to kill him?”

Carl sighed. “At least think the matter through, just don’t follow your orders blindly. His power might destroy us all.”

“Manifestation, get it together. No, it will save us. We need to wake him.” Amanda activated the wake up sequence. “And that’s that.”

Carl took a step back as the heating process started. The frosting on the inside of the lid melted, revealing a man inside. A seam grew along the side of the lid, thin wisps of smoke seeping through. There was no going back now. The lid popped and opened. An Asian man sat up in the hibernation pod.

“Decha Nguyen. Long time, no see,” Carl said. “Much has happened since you were last awakened.”

“A bit, yeah,” Amanda agreed.

Decha combed his long white hair with his fingers, stretched and stepped into his vanguard uniform. “How long has it been? And where is Saif? I want to speak with him.”

“That’s part of the ‘much has happened’-bit. The Au-delà returned, there was fighting. First contact with the aliens were made and a sample procured, but was then kidnapped by this woman who ran away with it,” Carl said, scratching his chin and avoiding direct eye contact with him.

Decha zipped the uniform tightly. “I knew it. I knew Saif was wrong when putting me on ice and rotating you, children, into the current roster. He has always believed himself too much. He never considered the possibility that someone, one day might be able to break his bonds again. He is naive.”

Carl nodded, founding himself agreeing with the man. “Absolutely.”

“Carl, I hear your rough voice and see your square face. Tell me everything,” Decha said, they exchanged looks. Decha just looked a little too unaffected by the hibernation sleep, his eyes cold and focused, instead of beady and dreamy.

“There has been a breakthrough. A powered man used blood to fuel his power and it boosted his abilities beyond the conventional use of water,” Carl said. “I fought him.”

“Shit,” Decha said, eyes widening. “If you speak truthfully that would be revolutionary, and I would like to discuss it. But firstly, where is Saif and secondly, where are we?”

Carl looked around. “Still at home base, but we are not. We are chasing after this woman and her crew.”

Decha clenched and unclenched his hands. Was the man looking for his power? It might have been a mistake to wake him up. Saif had put him into the hibernation pod for a reason.

Carl swallowed. “And the alien they are following,” Carl said.

“Of course we are,” Decha said. “Did you know that Saif is terrified of them? The aliens.”

Amanda and Carl shook their heads.

“Not only a little bit too. His hands start to tremble and his voice cracked,” Decha said. “I have seen it. Well, well. We all have our weaknesses. Amanda, please come closer. I have always liked the round shape of your face. Let me look at it.”

Amanda stepped closer, Decha showing no fear towards her power.

Decha leaned in, studying her face. “Then I can assume that Rachel is not here, either. What ship is this?”

“The Breach to Heaven,” Carl said. Should he push Decha away? Why did Decha have to have his hands on her?

“The Breach? She is a dreadnought and one of the bigger ones at that. I am not performing any jumps with this starship without Rachel. We will need to cut the distance the old fashion way. These bones are shaped so elegantly,” Decha said, stroking Amanda’s cheek. “Carl, are we gaining on our prey?”

Carl tensed his hands into fists, the sweetness curled down his tongue. “Yeah.”

Amanda stepped away from him and pulled out her hand terminal, displaying a star chart for them. “Yes, Decha. Look here.”

Carl let out the breath he had held inside.

Decha stood up and looked at the chart. “So I guess you have a battle plan, Carl? I remember that you always liked those parts better than anyone else.”

Carl straightened his back. “We have a plan. You can have a look at it if you want and make suggestions. There is no reason for us to be clever about it, we have the numbers and hardware. Hit fast and hit hard.”

Decha examined the chart and the battle instructions Carl overlaid it. “Well, with me onboard, things will be a little different, I am the highest ranking officer here. Get this ship close enough and I will get you really close to them. Did you bring more manifestees?“

“A couple, but no one more notable than you and us two. And Lisa Rands, of course,” Carl said. “Saif would not part with the stronger ones.”

Decha laughed. “Are you trying to annoy me, Carl? Trying to size me down? I am the fucking nightmare. You don’t need anyone else. This Lisa Rands, I have never heard her name before. What does she do?”

“Ice,” Amanda said.

“As boring as Carl then, wonderful,” Decha said. “I will need to spend some time with this plan. To revise it properly.”

Of course, Decha would want to change things. It had been a mistake waking him up. Carl could not remember loading Decha’s hibernation pod onboard. How come he was here?

“But before that. Tell me more about this blood deposit?” Decha asked. “If anyone manages to fuel with it, then we also should be able to. We have trained for years and years. Tell me, have you two made any progress?”

Decha clenched his hand into a fist, a swirling black cloud the size of a bead popped into existence between them. As Decha’s fingers opened the cloud’s wisps swirled farther from the bead’s center and Carl felt the growing tug of an invisible force. Carl bent his knees and planted his feet wide. Decha closed his hand and the dark cloud evaporated.

“We can distinguish it, but it is still out of reach,” Carl explained. “Just the idea that it exists and someone was able to pierce it made it possible for us to perceive it. The mind is weird like that. Maybe if we leaned more into our hooks, we could reach it. You are older and stronger than us, so I guess you will have an easier time.”

“I will give it a try. But I need to eat something first,” Decha said. “I have not eaten in years. Amanda, maybe you could show me around The Breach, it has been a long time since I walked it’s corridors. And meet the crew, of course.”

“Of course,” Amanda said.

Carl bit down on his teeth.

“Stop that, Carl,” Decha said. “You don’t have to be jealous. You can tag along too. Amanda, show me the officer’s mess hall.”

Decha reached out his elbow and which Amanda grabbed. Was Decha really that stupid, thinkting that Carl was upset becuse the time spent with him was important? No, it was because the way he touched Amanda and Carl knew he could do nothing to stop Decha from getting what he wanted.