Two days had passed since our uncomfortable and unpleasant meeting with our friends from the Legion. These two days flew by like a shuttle from the bay. Fen didn't meet with us and didn't appear in public. According to the soldiers on guard, he never even left his hall, always conferring and planning something, with his guards always with him.
Reni didn't want to talk to us either, and it hit both me and Durs hard. Fen had probably summoned him and presented his version of events. In his story, we had surely betrayed the Empire and our cause. Reni must have been horrified and believed it. But could he?
He had been our friend from the very beginning, from that moment when a group of silent, frightened boys huddled in a corner upon arriving at the Academy. It was with him that we played and shared the pain of the trials, with him that we dreamed of life and remembered the past.
But much changes. Too much.
After Durs tried to talk to Reni, and Reni slammed the door in his face, Durs retreated into himself, spoke little, and looked depressed. In those days, everything felt too bitter. The views no longer seemed so sunny and beautiful; drones and patrols controlled the streets and eliminated violators.
On the second day, luck turned our way, and we managed to talk with officers from other units, who told us about their daily lives and the curious situations they'd gotten into. One officer, I think Gnur from the artillery unit, told how once during a battle, one of the ship's guns malfunctioned, and he was sent with a bunch of cadets to repair it. On the way, they ran into saboteurs who had infiltrated through a breach in the hull, and the officer had to surrender. As he told it, they managed to convince the saboteurs to surrender and lay down their arms. To my surprise, when he was telling this, that's exactly what happened. For this, he was awarded the Fourth-Class Medal for Bravery named after Admiral Rulz.
Whether this award was highly regarded by Galt standards, I still don't know, but I can say one thing: he was very proud of it.
Many of the guys we talked to were older than us. Service in our army and in the Galt army was very different, but what remained almost unchanged was our common origin: we were people from the distant, ancient planet Earth, now the gathering place of all the apostles and judges of the universe. They came from there.
Our ancestors fought side by side against the first invaders who attacked, and later together drove them to the end of the universe, where light stops shining and space ceases to exist—to the edge of time.
Millennia had passed since then. We separated and forgot who we were, what we had been.
After talking with the officers, we headed to the cafeteria.
"What do you think, Kyle? Will they make us kill Reni?" he asked, twisting his cap in his hands.
"I don't know, Durs, but I know one thing: Reni couldn't betray us that easily. He's definitely up to something," I said, trying to reassure him, but in truth, I wasn't sure myself.
He just looked at me and smiled sadly.
"When did you get so sentimental? That's not like you," I said as we passed a checkpoint.
"I'm not sentimental. He was just the only thing that reminded me of home," he said and kept walking.
I stopped abruptly, letting him walk ahead a bit.
"Home?" I asked in disbelief. Could it be…
"We're brothers, Kyle. Blood brothers. Our mother was killed by agents during an assault, and they took us both. He's the younger brother. And I swore in the name of my family to protect him forever, since our mother couldn't," he said and fell silent.
I stood speechless. There are moments when no thought comes to mind except nothingness. You just don't know what to think. That same feeling overtook me then.
We are brothers.
It struck me deeply inside, and I finally understood the sadness and pain Durs was feeling. They weren't just best friends—they were family.
Could Reni betray his family for someone like the fanatic Fen? I had no answer to that question.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier? We've all known each other since Alpha Day," I protested, stunned by this new revelation.
"I don't know. There just wasn't any need to talk about it."
"I see," I said, and we continued on our way in silence.
A couple of minutes later, Durs asked:
"I keep forgetting to ask. What was on that disc?" he asked, looking at me with—contempt? "From what I understand, it's a rebel disc. But where did you get it?"
"I got it back on the Chaos."
"And you didn't tell us?" he began to get indignant.
"There was no need!" I almost shouted at him.
"How convenient. We get kidnapped and beaten by rebels, and then it turns out you had their disc. What does all this mean, Kyle?!" he raised his voice.
Afraid that officers or staff might hear us, I hissed at him. Understanding me immediately, he fell silent and lowered his voice.
"So, once more. Can you explain where it came from and what's on it?" he asked calmly.
"Not entirely."
The tension between us hadn't gone anywhere.
"God damn it, just tell me, Kyle!" he shouted.
"Alright, alright! Just keep your voice down!" I said, looking him straight in the eyes. Then, looking around to make sure no one was listening, I began: "I got it from the Legori. The one who was shot on the Chaos the day before we left for Apollo."
Durs grimaced.
"That piece of old flesh was a rebel, and he gave you a secret disc? What's on it?" he asked impatiently, wanting an answer as quickly as possible.
"I didn't get a chance to find out. But there were some coordinates and a message that something was ready and waiting for a meeting."
"You think it's a weapon?" he asked warily.
"I don't know. But we need to steal the disc from Fen before he figures out what's on it and where those coordinates are."
"You think he hasn't looked at it yet?" Durs asked.
"If he had, we'd probably know by now. He's been busy preparing for his meeting with the Galt Emperor," I explained.
"Makes sense. So what's our plan?"
I looked at him.
"You'll find out soon," I said and headed toward the cafeteria.
He rolled his eyes and ran after me.
After reaching the cafeteria and having lunch, we went to my quarters to work out the plan.
As we entered my room, an alarm blared throughout the block. Jumping up from the bed and rushing out into the corridor, we heard a woman's voice announcing:
ATTENTION, INTRUSION. ATTENTION, INTRUSION BY AN UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT INTO THE COMPLEX AREA.
After minutes of sirens blaring, she continued:
ALL COMBAT-READY PERSONNEL REPORT TO YOUR STATIONS.
At that moment, a group of eight soldiers with rifles rushed past us, with an officer running behind them. Spotting us, he stopped for a second and ordered us to lock ourselves in our quarters until the alarm was canceled.
We did.
"What the hell is going on here?" Durs hissed, sitting in the chair and placing his pistol on the table in front of him.
"Probably some poor guy ran in, trying to warm up. I think it'll be over soon," I guessed, lying down on the bed in front of him.
"We need to discuss our plan. What ideas do you have?" Durs asked nervously, tapping his foot on the floor.
"I have one," I said, getting up from the bed. "We break into Fen's hall and steal the disc. Then we upload it to our terminals and find out where it's from and what those coordinates are."
"Wasn't it because of you that we lost more than half our territory, strategist?" Durs sneered.
"Funny. What ideas do you have?" I asked in turn.
"Kill two birds with one stone," he said quietly.
"What do you mean?"
"Eliminate our client and take the disc," he said.
"Let me remind you that our so-called client has elite guards. How do you picture that working?" I began to criticize. "Especially since that pain in the ass hasn't left his apartment for two damn days."
"He'll leave soon," Durs said, picking up his pistol and looking at it. "Or we can make him leave."
"What do you mean?" I asked, puzzled.
"The ventilation system is all connected. If Fen's afraid for his life, we could break it and poison the air, forcing him to move to other quarters…"
"And during the move, kill him and take the disc," I interrupted, finishing the thought. "You're a genius, Durs. Where have you been all this time?"
"I was tied to a chair with you. Don't you remember?" he said.
I smiled and lay back on the bed.
The siren kept wailing. Several minutes passed before someone knocked on the door.
Durs looked at me and grabbed his pistol. I jumped out of bed, reloading mine. He walked to the door, looked through the peephole, and stepped back.
"Who is it, Durs?" I asked anxiously, ready to fire.
"You're not going to like it," he said and opened the door.
It slid open, and before us stood a man. Very familiar, very dear—the one whose presence we least expected.
Renod.
He stood there, disheveled and tense, clutching some papers in his hands.
"Can I?" he asked, looking from me to Durs.
"Come in, since you're here," I said, heading back to my bed, while Durs sat back down in the chair.
Renod stopped in the middle of the room, clutching the papers and glancing back at the door he'd come through.
"Why are you here?" Durs asked, examining his pistol.
"I want to help you," he said and began shuffling through the papers. "I activated the alarm. It won't shut off until I let it," Renod said, showing the deactivation button on his wrist terminal.
"You? But why?" I asked with disbelief.
"To kill Fen. He summoned me and spouted some nonsense, until I remembered your suspicions, Kyle. He really has defected to the Galts," he said, trembling and searching through the papers until finally finding what he was looking for. He handed me a crumpled sheet with some reports and data.
"What's this?" Durs asked, snatching the sheet from Renod and studying it carefully.
"Proof that Fen is a traitor. It has all the hidden channels for passing information to Galt counterintelligence," he began. "We can scan and send this to Grand Admiral Verus so he…"
"Verus is dead. The Emperor killed him."
Silence fell. Durs lowered his head, and I, looking at Renod, could see what he was feeling. Pain. Fear. Anger.
"What do you mean, dead? That can't be!" he stammered, stepping back. "He was supposed to… He…"
"What's done is done, Reni. We can't bring him back," Durs said, standing up. "Kyle and I have a plan. We'll steal something and kill Fen."
Renod stared into space for a few seconds before raising his head and speaking.
"Fen isn't in the complex. He left for a meeting with high command two days ago."
"Shit," Durs swore and slammed his fist on the table. "What do we do, Kyle?" he asked, looking at me with hope, as if I had the answer.
"I have no idea. Reni, how long until he's back?" I asked.
"A couple of days. I can't say for sure," he said.
"Then we'll stage a diversion and blow up part of the docks where he'll be landing. Let the fire that spawned him take him away forever."
"Sounds good. But how do we get enough explosives? Where do we get the materials?" Durs asked. His cool head was still with us.
"Our rebel friends will help with that," I concluded and walked over to Renod.
He looked into my eyes. I knew he was afraid. After what he'd been told about us, he was still afraid, still believed it, even if he couldn't admit it.
"Are you with us, Reni?" I said, looking into his eyes.
A short answer.
"Yes."
Durs, hearing his brother's response, jumped up and embraced him, saying how glad he was to have him back with us.
After the family reunion, Durs stepped back and asked:
"What about the disc?" he remembered, looking at me.
"We need to check his office," I said.
"So the ventilation plan is still on?" he asked.
"It looks that way."
After a couple more hours of sirens, Reni turned it off and went to his quarters to avoid suspicion. Durs did the same. We agreed to meet in the docks tomorrow to discuss how to disable the ventilation system.
I went to sleep. That night, as I remember, I had no dreams—which was probably for the best. The only thing that troubled me was the disc and what was on it. Where did those coordinates lead? What did "it's ready" mean? Too many questions.
Soon I was woken by a vibrating sound on my terminal. Someone was calling me. Startled, I looked at my wrist and saw a call from an unknown number. After hesitating for a moment, I decided to answer.
A hologram of a man in uniform appeared before me. It was Maron, dressed in a black uniform. With a cold expression, he began to speak:
"Sorry to disturb you, Kyle, but the problem can't wait. Our intelligence has received information that Fen has left the complex and is returning with a squad of the Edge to arrest you. He's afraid you might attempt an assassination," he began quickly, clearly in a hurry somewhere.
"How long until he arrives?" I asked.
"Estimated time is one day and seven hours. You'll have to act now or never. Our rebel friends can help arrange your escape," he continued. "But understand, if you have to leave Apollo, the entire mission to eliminate the Emperor will fail."
"I understand," I said and sank into thought. The situation was too complicated. If we killed Fen, the Edge would investigate, and there was a good chance they'd discover our involvement and connection to Fen. "How can we eliminate Fen without raising suspicion about us?"
"Do you have a plan at all?"
"Yes. We planned to blow up the dock when he was landing," I said quickly, in a whisper, hoping no one was listening.
"That's a bad idea. Blowing up an entire dock in the center of Apollo would create a public outcry and a stir within the military structure."
"What should we do then?" I asked.
The connection was unstable, and the image occasionally cut out, but the voice was clear.
"On approach, the shuttle deactivates its shields to pass through the gravitational grid. The shields are down for a few seconds. If you could take a position in front of the dock and, at the moment the shuttle approaches, destroy it with a large-caliber energy rifle. To avoid raising too much suspicion, shoot the fuel compartment," he continued in a serious, rapid tone. "The rebels will get you the rifle and find the location. But the responsibility for the shot will be yours. They're afraid to shoot at such a target."
"Do you know the exact arrival time?" I asked.
"The day after tomorrow, at 7:40 in the morning. Be ready. This is your only chance," he said. "Oh, and one more thing. The data from the disc has been uploaded to your terminal. Our hackers managed to crack it remotely."
This information lifted an invisible weight from my chest. I even felt like I could breathe easier. One less problem.
"What's on it?" I asked.
"You'll find out yourself. But promise me: what you learn from the disc, no one else will know," he said in a cold voice. This time calmly.
"I promise, Curator," I said.
"You can call me Maron."
I just nodded in response, and the connection ended. Immediately, I received a notification that a data package had been downloaded to my terminal. Opening the document, I saw encryption codes that began to decode themselves.
A few moments later, a green inscription appeared:
ACCESS GRANTED.
A hologram appeared before me, showing a location. In the center was a large dot, with several smaller ones scattered around it. There was nothing around it—no planets, no stars, no clusters.
Zooming in, I was horrified. The dot was at the edge of the galactic map. At the edge of the universe. Could the myths and legends be true?
Below the large red dot was an inscription:
WEAPON "VENGEANCE"
STATUS: READY FOR USE
This was it.
A shiver ran through my body. What the traders and old soldiers had spoken of was true. At the edge of the world, a weapon capable of destroying that world was being built. But why had the Legori given this disc to me?
What was I supposed to do with the weapon? Destroy it, or use it?
Now, as I write this, I understand: that old Legori was not mistaken. It is thanks to him that we have another world.
Another light.