Nathan Hystad - The Survivors - Books 1-3

“We have to help him!” Clare yelled.

I sat in the captain’s chair, my head aching fiercely. We could just leave, go through the wormhole, and destroy it. If Slate survived, it would be a long trip home, but he would eventually make it. Years later.

If he survived.

“Dean, make the call,” Mary said, and I was almost surprised they were waiting on me to decide a man’s fate. As if I hadn’t had enough of that already.

We were survivors. I wouldn’t abandon the soldier. If I did, I was no better than our enemies.

“Follow them. We sneak up behind and give them a show. The Bhlat won’t know what hit them.” I was done feeling sorry for them, or myself. I just wanted to get my friends home, and away from this new threat.

Nick paled to the right of me as Mary swung us around, racing after the two blinking icons on our map.

We could finally see them in the viewscreen as they darted around, Slate trying to lead them on a wild goose chase away from us.

“Slate, we’re on their ass.” I stood watching the boxier Bhlat ship fly after the sleek silver ship Slate was racing away in.

“You had your window to leave!” He sounded angry with us.

“Just work with us, and we can be on the other side of that wormhole in time for lunch,” Mary said calmly.

I hopped to the console next to Mary and took control of the weapons. We hadn’t tested the new ones yet, but Slate had gone over them with us a few times, and I’d done well in the training programs.

“Slate, slow down,” Mary said. As soon as he did, yellow fire erupted from the Bhlat ship at him, narrowly missing him.

“They’re hostile.” I could almost hear his grin.

“You think?” I asked.

“Loop around behind us. I’m going to thrust facing up, and we’ll blast the hell out of them.” Mary had her Air Force persona on now.

Slate’s ship did just that, and we saw him fly over our viewscreen, quickly followed by a firing Bhlat ship. It was my turn. I aimed, letting the computer calculate their trajectory, and then fired the pulse gun. Red beams shot out, one hitting the ship. It kept flying, the small explosion not slowing it.

“I think you angered them,” Clare whispered as we saw their volley of fire increase, and one hit the Kraski ship Slate was trying to maneuver.

“They know I’m not alone now,” Slate said. “My shields handled that blast, but I don’t think they can handle any more.”

Their attention shifted toward our position, and though they couldn’t see us, it didn’t stop them from firing at will in our direction. Mary swept us away, avoiding the barrage.

“Wait for it,” she said, spinning us around the hard-edged enemy ship. They were still firing, nearly hitting our ship. My eyes darted to the viewscreen, where I could see the icon of Slate coming up above them. He blasted a red rain of fire on them just as I shot a combination of the pulse guns and torpedo, Mary racing away to avoid any crossfire.

The Bhlat ship took the barrage, and for a split second, I thought they might have survived it, before they exploded, the flames quickly disappearing in the oxygen-deprived vacuum of space.

“Woohoo!” Nick shouted, jumping from his seat.

“Let’s not celebrate too quickly. We need to get the hell out of here in case there’s more of them around,” I said.

“I agree,” we heard from Slate on the comm-link, “and thanks for coming back for me.”

“Anytime,” I replied.

We made our way back to the wormhole, this time not lingering at it.

“Everyone belted in this time?” Mary asked. When no one answered, she moved us forward.

“Slate, see you on the other side.” This from me.

“You got it, boss.”

We were off, travelling through the fold once again. We jostled around hard, but we were expecting it, and the trip didn’t feel quite as bad. Moments later, we were through, Slate following closely behind. I breathed a sigh of relief.

“We know what we have to do,” Clare said, keying in the locations of the sensors we’d found on the way the other way.

“Targeting,” I said, seeing the crosshairs of the pulse gun over the zoomed in wormhole stabilizers. “Slate, let’s blast this and get away.”

“We have no idea what kind of reaction we’re in for by destabilizing this. Best to err on the side of caution.” Clare was right.

“Three, two, one.” I fired two rounds, one after the other, and was rewarded with tiny twin explosions. Mary engaged the thrusters, and I changed the viewscreen to show the wormhole behind us. Flashes of light sparked inside it, and seconds later, it was gone. No explosion, no cataclysmic event, just vanished from space.

“That was anticlimactic,” Mary said, grinning at me.

I got up, set my hands on her shoulders, and leaned down to talk into her ear. “We did it. Let’s go home.”

Home. A place in disarray, under threat of aliens and ourselves. I suddenly missed Carey very much, wishing the small wiggly dog was with us. Magnus would be taking great care of him, but who knew what happened to them? I couldn’t wait to get back and see if there was word on their trip.

Mary leaned back, kissing me quickly.

“Home sounds good.”

“W ho’s ready for my galaxy-famous egg skillet?” Nick asked.

“By galaxy-famous, you mean that mix of boxed egg whites and rehydrated potatoes?” Clare threw a sugar cube at him, which he deftly caught.

“Breakfast sounds amazing.” Mary was in a good mood, and I found myself being so thankful for her around. Without her, I would be spiraling down an alley of despair. I was so in love with her, and what Mae had said didn’t change that. But the fact the real Janine had been with me, ever since finding Mae on that lone vessel last year, had thrown me for a loop. I couldn’t believe she was gone… again.

“Wait, if you’re here, and I’m here, and…,” I said, and it was my turn to take a sugar cube on the head.

“That joke was old last week,” Mary said. We had the autopilot on and would be arriving at the first wormhole the next day.

“Do we shut it down?” Nick asked the question we’d been wondering since we started the trip home.

“If we do, the hybrids are going to have a hell of a trip to the planet Leslie and Terrance are on. If we don’t, we leave a back door open into our solar system,” I said. “My vote is leaving it, and letting the government make the call. They can get back out here to shut it down if they decide to.”

“Slate agreed with that. He’s a soldier who wants to follow orders, not make decisions. So that leaves us,” Mary said.

“I vote leave it.” This from Nick.

“Same.” Clare poured another coffee and offered the pot to me. I extended my cup, letting her fill it up.

“I guess we are unanimous, the wormhole stays.” Mary grabbed a plate of food from Nick, and we all seemed glad to be so close to returning.

So much had happened in the few weeks since we’d left. The universe was huge, and our part in it so small, but I was more thankful for what we had then ever.

“Where will you guys go when we get home?” I asked.

Clare fiddled with her food. “I’m going to go get a fat burger and a beer from this place in Albuquerque. It was open long before the Event, and my dad used to take us there when we’d visit our grandma every summer. I miss them all so much. So I go there, eat a burger, drink a beer, and remember my dad’s laughter, and my brother whining about wanting no onions. I wish I could hear him whining about them again.”

“I’ll go with you. I have a great whining voice,” Nick said, his joke cutting the tension at just the right time.