captains, all now shifted into defensive auras of light. Kilbourne was left alone in the center of the chamber, the Circle in uproar around her.
“Beta star! Get your asses over here! Alpha star regroup and prep for viral injection and boarding. Watch out for the flak at nine-one bubble seven. Sapphire! Where’s our fucking cover?”
A massive Enemy came out of nowhere, firing upon its own vessel at the boarding teams.
“Scatter! Sapphire! We need cover now!”
The Enemy vessel splintered into deadly shards as a Golgotha pierced its hull.
((Sorry, Jade. They’re all over us. Things were a little rough—))
“Just keep us covered. We’re going in.”
((Affirmative. Mara out.))
Jade fixed a hull charge to the surface of the vessel below her. And they said this job was hard.
“Viral upload prepped. Injection in…”
A shadow fell across her team.
“Sapphire?”
((Got it.))
The ravenous Enemy was shattered by the force of Mara’s weapons, but the Judas was rocked by another blast and the weapons fire refocused too quickly.
The Enemy hulk spiraled out of control.
At the boarding teams.
((Jade! Get out of there!))
“Sapphire! Shoot it down!”
((It’s too close to you! It’ll burn you up!))
“For the love of Richter just do it ’Phire!!”
((Jade get out of there I can’t oh no no no
“NO!!”
…
Haze.
Light and dark. Voices, distant. Whispering.
Pain: a dull, steady, bodily ache.
“Where am I?”
Her voice was not her own. Disembodied.
“You’re aboard Mara. You’re safe now. Don’t worry, Sapphire.”
Things were gradually becoming clearer. Her eyes struggled to focus, almost succeeded.
“What happened?”
“Kilbourne attacked your pattern. We’ve secured it on a mirror strand. You’ll feel better in a while.”
“Who—Who are you?”
The dark form next to her moved closer, spoke into her ear. “I pulled you and Jade from the escape pod at the resurrender. You were just nine years old.”
“Reynald, is it you? It is you!”
“None other.” He embraced her frail form as she struggled to sit up in bed. “Now just rest.”
“Reynald—We can’t stay here… Kilbourne’s made an alliance with—”
“I know. I know. And believe me, there’s a significant portion of the Judas who are dead set against it, but Kilbourne has the new gunships at her command. And she’s willing to use them…But that can wait. I heard you talking in your sleep…I’m so sorry about Jade. Mara told me—”
Sapphire’s shaking grew worse. “I…I—.” She broke down, holding her face in her hands.
“Now, now, little one. It wasn’t your fault.”
Through her tears she blurted, “Yes it was. I killed her, and for what? Hannah forged an alliance with the same Enemy that we’d been killing for three years.”
“Hush now, ’Phire. You—”
“Doesn’t she see that they won’t honor alliances, that they won’t spare anyone? Once they break into the Stream, we’re all dead, and the Purpose won’t matter.”
“I know that, Sapphire. I believe you. Trust me.”
“What’s happened, Reynald?”
Reynald sighed, sat back in the darkened room. “Things change. Alliances are forged in desperation. Magdalene is dead.”
“What? How—”
“She found out too much. Command killed her. Hannah killed her.”
“Does Simon know?”
“Simon didn’t know. And still doesn’t, if he’s still alive himself. Which I doubt… It was all under the table. Magdalene was ordered to transport several Enemy core patterns to Command. Ambassadors of your When’s Enemy. When she refused, Kilbourne sent the Golgotha after her, and they chased us into a When that was being prepared for upload. Uncharted. Millennium 2 OCE. The Fourteen-seven When. They chased us there, but before they could destroy us, the Enemy did the job for them. We were forced to crash land on the surface of Earth. She knew Command wouldn’t answer any distress calls, so we deployed a general beacon, calling any Fleet vessels in the vicinity. Fortunately, Simon was near. He barely rescued my crew before the Enemy initiated system upload. The natives killed Magdalene when they found her, but her blood is on the hands of Command…And Kilbourne…They imprisoned me when I returned in pattern stasis. If it hadn’t been for my crew, I’d be in the void forever.”
“What’s happening to the Judas, Reynald? Once we were so confident that we could win this war, and now we’re fighting amongst ourselves.”
“Some of us are leaving.”
“What?”
“We’re going to try to leave. To escape. I’ve spoken with the other Golgotha captains. They want to come with us. We have supporters in the Golgotha, Galilee, London, Gethsemane, and even the old Mecca and Eden class vessels. If we all move at once—”
“But Hannah has the Mujahadin.”
“…” Reynald paused, contemplating. “Our forces comprise almost one third of the Fleet. I don’t think Hannah is devoted enough to her cause to destroy one third of her safety net. We’ll regroup in an uncharted When, build our offensive from there. Chances are that the program command codes have been compromised already. If the Mujahadin fail, if Kilbourne’s allies turn against her, she’ll have to turn to us to save her. She won’t risk everything. Kilbourne may be a traitor, but she’s smart.”
“And if you’re wrong?”
“If I’m wrong, we’re damned.”
Sapphire sighed, drifting in her mind to a time seven years ago, when she was led into a spherical chamber at Command along with a large group of other children. A brilliant light emanated from the center of the chamber.
A voice. Hannah’s voice.
“Enter the light, my children, and become Judas.”
A flash of pain pleasure bliss hell. A shifting within her—
“Sapphire?”
“Where will we go?”
“I don’t know. An uncharted When. Somewhere not even Hannah can find us. We’ll hide out there, gathering our forces, preparing. And when Hannah’s plan fails, we’ll emerge from hiding and end this war forever.”
“When do we make our move?”
“Mara? How are the preparations proceeding?”
(loyalist forces report full readiness.)
“Sapphire, are you with us or against us?”
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath.
“Sapphire?”
