Alpha One - Chris Burton [152]
“Where’s Joely?”
“She’s lying down in the containment cell. She’s finding this hard. She loved him you know.”
“He was a monster.”
“Yes, but she spent the last six years with him, constantly by his side. Inevitably, there was something between them. Remember, Winterburn was human when we first met him.”
Jake laughed. “With one important difference. He was probably sucking the life out of her when he fucked her..”
“Don’t be so coarse Jake. I don’t expect you to understand. Just tolerate her.”
“What about you, Carla? How are you?”
“I am okay, I suppose. I have to accept now that my actions were beyond my control. It’s difficult; I think it is going to take some time.”
“We have all the time in the world, Carla. Soon we will be back on Earth and it will be back to the Academy. I am sure we will just pick up where we left off.”
“You are forgetting two important factors. The Academy is hardly likely to let us back in just like that—and then there’s Steve.”
“Alpha looks after its own. Obeya believes that they will turn a blind eye to our collective wrongs, given the end result. As for Steve, what is the issue with him? He just has to accept that it’s you and me.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself Jake. As I said, I need some time, and in any case, Steve doesn’t know we had a relationship.”
“What do you mean had? Carla what are you saying?”
“I am not saying anything. Look, Jake, I do love you but I need some time. There’s my sister and Steve and the academy. If we are allowed back in, will we be allowed to graduate this year? Please just back off for a while. Nothing has changed. I just need some space.”
Jake was about to respond but decided on reflection it was best just left for. “Okay. If you want me for anything, you let me know?”
Carla agreed. Jake rubbed her shoulder to show he understood, and then returned to the cockpit.
“Any changes?”
“No. Everything is holding steady. You know if we don’t meet the Halo 7, we are going to have to navigate the wormhole in this ship?” Obeya had been thinking.
“Yes, I do. Best not to think about it. For now, we are going forward and the wormhole is getting closer.”
* * * *
Cameron sat at a temporary workstation on the Pacific’ command bridge. From here, he could oversee the firing of the subspace charges, when the order was finally given for their delivery.
The battle continued on for a further twelve hours before the final Kryl ships were destroyed or headed for the blue wormhole to escape the Alpha-led offensive. Shenke presided over one of the most successful rear-guard battles in space history and, despite huge losses, he came out on top.
The cleaning-up exercise commenced immediately, and the various factions collected their dead and started to quantify the losses and identify the bodies. This grisly process was the other side of war, the unglamorous side, which every general must undertake. The communication of each loss to their loved ones must be made. Cameron was not accustomed to such horrific scenes. He felt sick to his stomach, but tried to concentrate on the matter at hand.
Shenke ordered the two squadrons of Rapiers that would undertake the delivery of the subspace weapons be made battle ready and the selected pilots rested. The selection process was rough. Volunteers had initially been requested, but after the CAG and medical teams filtered through the various applicants, only seven pilots were found fit to undertake the operation. The remainder were selected from the reserve lists, most of whom were there for a reason, i.e., because they weren’t considered fit for full active duty.
* * * *
One of the selected pilots was Acting Lieutenant Steve Costello. Steve was jubilant for this chance. This was what he did and the first chance he would have to truly make a difference. He had little time to reflect on his own personal losses. The general consensus had been that none of the vessels which passed through the wormhole to the Kryl galaxy would ever return. If Steve had thought otherwise, he would not have been able to preside over shutting the door and throwing