Crucible Of Truth

Chapter 5

Chapter Five

May 15, 2231, En Route to UTC Fleet Base Penglai, Aboard Argo

An oddly lazy atmosphere had descended over the team their first day out from Earth. They’d planned to have a darts tournament, but Malcolm had bowed out, depressed about his minimum amount of girlfriend time. The engineers were busy still finishing up internal work for maximum efficiency with the newly installed cannon, leaving the field team alone in the cargo bay and no one all that interested in playing darts. Anne had retreated to her cabin to brood, leaving Erik, Jia, and Kant.

Erik lounged on a crate filled with ammo boxes, staring at his exoskeleton. His thoughts kept drifting to the ring he had hidden in their cabin. Emma had agreed to keep the secret to herself, but she couldn’t do anything if Jia stumbled upon it. He wanted things to happen naturally but not accidentally.

Carrying the ring around was a bad idea. Erik got shot and blown up too often. He’d hate to lose his carefully chosen ring because some stupid Elite nailed him with a rocket and burned a hole in his pocket, or a yaoguai ripped him in half, including the pocket.

Jia hadn’t given him any indication she noticed anything unusual, which meant Erik wasn’t showing any signs. He didn’t normally take much pride in being sneaky, but he’d allow it this time.

He cast a glance her way. She was jogging around the cargo bay to get some exercise. Kant, meanwhile, was tossing darts into the air and snatching them by their fletching, a surprising display of dexterity from the large man.

“You know what I was just thinking, brother?” Kant asked.

Erik looked his way. “I don’t know if I want to risk thinking like you. That might destroy us both.”

“It’s nothing bad.” Kant grinned. “It’s all strange.”

“Strange?”

Kant nodded. “We’ve been doing all this undercover ghost work, and now the Prime Minister and the rest of the government are on the news talking all about the Core, their members, and the companies they control. Everyone knows. It’s like knowing about some cool colonial band that no one else on Earth has ever heard of, and then one day, everyone knows about them.”

“You’re comparing the Core to a band?”

“You know what I mean.”

“And it’s not everyone. Not yet.” Erik shook his head. “It’ll take a while for that speech and the assassination news to reach the entire UTC. It will be June before everyone knows.”

Jia pulled away from one of her laps to head toward the men. “Not that I want to give the Core credit for anything, but I appreciate how they managed to delay their brutal assault on all that is good and civilized until after sphere ball season finished.”

Kant let out a low chuckle. “I didn’t think about it, but that’s true.”

She wiped sweat off her forehead. “Everything’s being canceled right now. I’m not sure that’s not a mistake.”

“A mistake?” Erik asked. “Why would it be a mistake?”

Jia shrugged. “Because no one knows how long this is going to last. It might feel like we’re close to the end, but what if this goes on for months or years? The UTC can’t survive if we are under martial law for a long time. The Core can win through attrition of morale.”

“It’s weird.” Kant scratched his cheek. “It’s war but not a war, and we have that security detachment aboard the jumpship, too.” He tossed another dart in the air, this time managing to grab it by the shaft. “I’m supposed to be a ghost, but I almost feel like I’m in the Army these days.”

“That’s pretty accurate,” Erik concluded. “If we get a job, it’s not going to be hiding with disguises and trying to track somebody down. It’s going to be search and destroy in an area where they have already IDed the Core. We’re effectively an assault unit now.”

“War, then,” Jia murmured.

“No, not war. Not really.” Erik frowned. “I was thinking it was like a civil war before, but this isn’t two real sides. It’s more like a galaxy-wide uprising.”

“Will they even need us, then?” Kant asked. “We kick ass, brother, but we’re one small group in the end. We’re not going to make a difference if there’s a whole army at our backs. I want to be part of it, but I don’t know if it matters.”

“Really? You don’t think individuals can make a difference?” Erik pounded on his crate seat, and the ammo inside the higher boxes rattled. “We saw what happened with the Prime Minister. We saw what happened with Alina. Sometimes it comes down to one person who can make the play that changes everything.”

Kant pondered Erik’s statement before offering a huge grin. “Damn. You’re right. I don’t know why I have my head so far up my ass. It doesn’t matter. We just need to get out there and kick ass, and now we have the big gun up top, so we can take down the bad guys in space, in the air, and on the land. They’re going to feel the pain.”

“Keep alert and keep training.” Erik stood. “I don’t think we’ll be spending a lot of time at Penglai.”