It took every bit of his skill as a pilot to control the tiny ship as it careened through the field of debris. Seth dodged rocks ranging in size from pebbles to small moons as he sped away from the Pilgrim base, barely breathing for the first ten minutes of his flight.
He was positive they must be after him by now, but the little ship’s sensors weren’t sophisticated enough to check for pursuit at full speed. Instead, Seth focused on putting as much distance between himself and the Pilgrims as he could. Once he was safely away, he’d send for help.
Five hours later he was still racing, although his hands trembled from the strain of piloting the ship. He needed to find a place to land, a place where he could hide and rest up. There was no way they would be able to find him now, he reasoned. Not unless he did something truly stupid to attract their attention. Slowing his speed, Seth guided his small ship toward a large asteroid. It seemed to have some good-sized overhanging rock formations; perfect for hiding a ship of like this from both sight and sensors. After several minutes of careful navigation, Seth managed to land the ship just under the lip of a massive crater. Forcing himself to release his grip on the controls, he sat back in his chair and massaged his hands. He was exhausted; it was time to get some sleep. He also needed to eat.
Grabbing the carryall, he dug out a food pack. Ripping off the end, he sucked the ration tube’s contents down without bothering to identify the contents. Then he reached for a fluid bulb. As he pulled the bulb out of the bag, a small piece of paper came with it. He read it quickly, his blood running cold as he realized what Bragan had intended to do from the moment the Pilgrims had landed...
Seth–I am including this note because I want you to understand why I’ve chosen to do what I’m going to do. I am not going to wait for you to return. There is too much danger that the Pilgrims will find me. It’s better to kill them now and destroy the Jansenite while I still can. I will wait until you’ve had enough time to get away, but then I plan to detonate it and destroy this place. If I have not waited long enough, then I am sorry. You have become a friend to me and I wish you no harm. I consider myself fortunate to die on my own terms, for something I believe in. It is enough.
Bragan
When would it happen? Seth wondered desperately. Why was Bragan doing this?
Realizing there was nothing he could do for the man, Seth checked his instruments and ran a few quick mental calculations. He should be all right in his hiding place, he realized, but he wasn’t as far as he’d like to be. When that Jansenite blew, it would destroy everything within a thousand square miles.
Seth started powering up the ship again; he needed to get further away. But before he could do more than initiate the procedure, and alarm trilled a sharp warning.
Something big had happened, there had been a sharp wave of radiation. Slapping his hand against the control panel, he activated an emergency beacon. He didn’t have time to do anything else before a shock wave blasted the asteroid. His last thought before he lost consciousness was to wonder whether the ship’s landing tethers would hold. Then blackness swept over him as his was slammed by the explosion’s impact. Seth sank into the darkness.
“I think he’s waking up,” a voice said. Where was he? Seth wondered. What the hell had happened?
“Seth, can you hear me?” It was Jax’s voice. Memory rushed back to Seth–he had been in a ship, trying to escape from the Pilgrims… and then Bragan had blown up the Jansenite. It was a miracle he was still alive, Seth realized. Barely alive, though. His entire body ached, a thousand small pains making themselves known.
“Jax?” he whispered, trying to open his eyes. He couldn’t see anything. “Jax, is that you? How did you get here? Why can’t I see anything?”
“Don’t worry, you’ve got bandages over your eyes,” Jax said, excited relief in his voice. “Don’t worry, your eyes are fine. You got radiation burns, though, and they had to do surgery. You’ll need to keep your eyes covered for a few weeks, give them time to heal. Someone blew up half the quadrant using Jansenite. Who the hell would do such a thing?”
“Bragan,” Seth whispered. “He did it. He blew it up to keep the Pilgrims from getting it.”
“Can you give me any more information than that?” Jax asked. “I got a message a few weeks ago from some woman saying you were trapped. She included some coordinates, and told me to bring a surgeon. Weirdest thing I’ve ever seen, but that’s how we found you so quickly. Otherwise you would have died.”
“That was Calla,” Seth said. “Can I have some water?”
“Um, let me ask” Jax said. “Can he have some water?”
“Of course,” said another voice. “Let me help him with it.”
Seth felt a straw touch his lips, and he sucked the water down greedily. His throat felt like sand paper. “Don’t drink too much at once,” the voice said.
“I’ve got to tell you what happened,” Seth said finally. He tried to raise a hand, to grasp Jax, but he couldn’t move. “We’ve got a problem. There’s this group called the Pilgrims. They’re planning an attack against us.”
“I know,” Jax said. Seth felt his friend’s hand touch his own lightly through the bandages. Jax suddenly sounded very tired. “They’ve already moved against us. You’ve been out for nearly two weeks, Seth. They attacked several days ago.”
“What?” Seth whispered. “I don’t understand.”
“When we found you, you were hardly alive,” Jax said, his voice filled with strain.
“We put you into stasis immediately. You never would have survived, otherwise. We took you directly to the station hospital, and you’ve been in and out of surgery and regeneration chambers ever since.”
“What about the attack? What brought it on?”
“As far as we can tell, they decided that the explosion was some kind of sign from their leader,” Jax said.
“The Celestial Pilgrim?” Seth asked.
“I don’t know what they call him,” Jax said harshly. “He’s been dead for a thousand years, but the bastards still think he’s talking to them. They attacked from small bases throughout the asteroid field. There were even some of them living on Discovery station. In fact, that old bitch, Jennings, was one of them. They killed nearly a hundred people before we managed to stop them. She escaped, by the way.”
“I was trying to let you know how dangerous they are,” Seth whispered, sorrow washing over him. How many of his friends were dead? “I’m sorry I didn’t get here in time to warn you.”
“We can still use whatever information you have,” Jax said with feeling. “There are thousands of them still out there. Hunting them all down will take months.”
“It’s time for Commander Seth to go back to the regeneration chamber,” the other voice said. “Commander, I’m going to give you some medication to make you sleep now.”
“Take care, Seth,” Jax said quietly. “They say you’ll be ready for regular duty in about a month, but I’ll get some of the intelligence specialists in to speak with you the next time you wake up. We need to know everything that happened, everything you’ve learned about them...”
Jax kept talking, but Seth could no longer understand what he was saying. He tried to ask him to speak louder, but the darkness was too much. It was time to sleep again.
Seth let unconsciousness wash over him. To do anything else would have been too exhausting.