Chapter 36
The hum of the Aquila's engines filled the ship, a soothing cadence after the chaos of the Nexus. Selene sat in the captain's chair, her eyes fixed on the vast expanse of space visible through the viewport. The station's destruction was still fresh in her mind. She'd made the call, and it was the right one, but it didn't make the weight on her shoulders any lighter.
“Report,” she said, her tone steady but edged with fatigue.
Wren’s voice came through the comms from engineering. “Engines are stable. Shields holding at 85%. I’d like to give them a full recalibration when we’re safe.”
“Understood,” Selene replied. “Kade, any signs of pursuit?”
Kade was seated at the tactical console, his fingers moving over the controls with practiced ease. “Negative. Either the Coalition and the Syndicate haven’t caught wind of what we’ve done, or they’re too far to respond.”
She nodded, but the knot refused to ease in her stomach. The Nexus might be gone, but its schematics had uploaded to their database. A device that powerful was a warning they couldn't take lightly.
###
Xara leaned against the counter in the mess hall, nursing a cup of something dark and bitter. Dante sat at the table, his eyes unfocused. The tension between them was palpable.
"Hell of a day," Xara grumbled, breaking the silence.
Dante gave a mirthless laugh. "That's one way of putting it, at any rate."
"You holding up?" she asked then, softer than usual.
He shrugged. "I keep thinking about that mirror. The choices I've made, the people I've let down. It doesn't just disappear, does it?"
"No," Xara admitted. "But you face it. That's all you can do."
Surprise etched in Dante's expression at the vulnerability so rare in her tone. "What about you? Did it show you anything?"
Xara's face had hardened. "Nothing I didn't already know."
The conversation went no further than that-the weight of what was left unsaid settling in between them like a challenge.
\---
End
Wren sat in the engine room, bathed in the flickering monitors and soft glow of the ship's core, as her mind was racing over the streams of data pouring in from the Nexus.
Staggering were the capabilities of the prototype, but buried in the schematics, one line stood out-a power source designed to change, to grow.
"Why would anyone build this?" she said aloud.
A footfall echoed through the room as Kade entered behind her. Expression unreadable, also as always.
"Find something?".
Too much," she said, her voice issuing on a sigh. "This thing. it's dangerous in ways I can't even fully understand yet. But there's something else. Whoever designed it, they didn't just want a weapon. They wanted control."
Kade's eyes narrowed. "Control over what?"
"Everything," Wren said, her voice barely above a whisper.
\---
Selene called the crew to the briefing room, her demeanor commanding but weary. When they were all seated, she activated the central holo-projector, displaying the schematics Wren had uncovered.
“This is what we’re dealing with,” Selene began. “The prototype wasn’t just a weapon. It was meant to be the ultimate tool of control. If it falls into the wrong hands, it could reshape entire systems, maybe even galaxies.”
Dante leaned forward, furrowing his brow. "Then we destroy the data. Wipe it from the ship and make sure no one ever finds it."
"It's not quite that simple," Wren cut in. "The schematics are encrypted in a way I've never seen before. If we try to delete it without the right protocols, it could trigger a failsafe, broadcasting the data to whoever programmed it.
"So we're stuck with it," Xara said, the frustration dripping from her voice.
"For now," Selene said. "But we can't let this stay on the Aquila. We need a safe place to analyze and dismantle it."
"There's a place," Kade said abruptly, drawing all eyes to him.
Selene raised an eyebrow. "Where?"
"A research facility. Off-grid. It's where I used to." He faltered, his words trailing off.
"Where you used to what?" Xara pressed.
"Let's just say I have connections there," Kade said, his voice flat.
Selene studied him a moment, then nodded. "Set a course. If this place is as secure as you say, it's our best shot."
The journey to Kade's secret facility was a somber one. Anxious, the weight of their mission hung over the crew. Selene spent most of her time on the bridge, her mind racing with contingency plans.
Xara and Dante worked on reinforcing the Aquila's defenses while Wren buried herself in the prototype's code in search of a way to dismantle it safely.
Kade was an enigma as ever, off in some corner, mind shut tight.
\-
Until, finally, they got there, and the facility was nothing quite as they had expected: nestled in a cluster of asteroids, it was all but invisible from the outside, and only Kade's detailed instructions got them through hazardous terrain.
The interior was sleek and sterile, a complete juxtaposition with the Aquila's hulking, rugged charm. They were greeted by a small team of researchers, all of whom seemed to recognize Kade on sight and asked him no questions.
Selene just couldn't shake off the feeling that there was more to this place-and to Kade-than he was letting on.
\---
Schematics of the prototype laid out in front of them, Wren and the researchers got to work while the rest went off to recon the facility. Xara and Dante were sticking together again, much like the earlier teasing masked nerves.
"This place gives me the creeps," Dante said after a while, eyeing corridors dimly lit.
Xara grinned. "Afraid of a little tech? Thought you were the brave one."
"I am brave," he shot back. "Just not stupid. Places like this always hide something.
“You’re not wrong,” Xara muttered, her hand instinctively resting on her weapon.
\---
Meanwhile, Selene cornered Kade in one of the observation rooms.
“Alright, spill,” she demanded. “What is this place? And why do they seem to know you?”
Kade sighed, his expression unreadable. “It’s a long story.”
“We’ve got time,” Selene said firmly.
Kade hedged, then gave in. "I used to work here. Before joining Aquila. We were working on tech for the Coalition then. State-of-the-art stuff, things that could make changes in the galaxy. But they wanted more-power, weapons, control. I couldn't be part of it, so I left."
"And now we're trusting them with this?" Selene said skeptically.
"They're not all like the Coalition," Kade said. "Some of them just want to do good. And they're the only ones who can help us dismantle this without blowing it up in our faces."
Selene studied him, her eyes piercing. "If you're wrong, this could cost us everything."
"I know," Kade said softly. "But it's a risk we have to take."
\---
It wasn't until she was deep in the lab that the breakthrough finally came. She called Selene and Kade to the console, excitement coursing through her veins.
"I've found a way to disable the encryption without triggering the failsafe," she said, "but it's going to take time, and we'll need to work fast once we start."
"Do it," Selene said without hesitation.
As Wren and the researchers set to work, tension in the facility increased. They knew they were on borrowed time.
\---
A few hours later, alarms went off inside the complex.
"What is happening?" Selene demanded as she burst into the control room.
"It's the Syndicate," one of the researchers replied, desperation lacing through their tone. "They found us."
Selene's heart plummeted at that. "How?"
Kade's face twisted with a dark scowl. "The tip-off-the mole must be one of our people. Compromised.
"Then we fight," Selene replied, her voice unyielding.
As the crew armored for battle, one thing became clear to Selene: they couldn't afford to lose.
\---
The stage was set for a fight that would see them at their breaking point. The Syndicate was closing in, and the prototype's secrets were still locked away. Still, the crew of the Aquila had faced impossible odds before.
And they weren't about to back down now.