Chapter 254: Hollow Man

Jonah woke up to the sound of alarms.

It wasn’t the loud kind. It was the sound of medical equipments monitoring his vitals.

He tried to open his eyes but managed to open one. The other felt glued shut.

“Don’t move.” Vanessa’s face appeared to his view. She looked tired and worried. “You have been out for three hours.”

“Did we…” His voice sounded rough. “Did it work?”

“You stopped the self-destruct. The Apex is dead in space. No power. No weapons. It’s just a floating shell.” She held a water bottle to his lips. “But you almost killed yourself doing it.”

The water helped. It made talking easier. “Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.”

“That doesn’t even make sense.”

“My head hurts. Give me a break.” He tried to sit up but he couldn’t. His body felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. “Where are we?”

“We are still on the bridge. I couldn’t move you. You are too heavy when you are unconscious.” She showed him her shoulder. It was bandaged. “And I’m not exactly in fighting shape.”

Right. The plasma round. He had almost forgotten in all the chaos.

“The hostages?” he asked.

“They are safe. Once you… took control… the pods opened automatically. The Weavers are being evacuated to the Fleet ships.” Vanessa’s expression softened. “You saved them, Jonah. All of them.”

That was something, at least. Two hundred lives. Two hundred people who wouldn’t be used as batteries anymore.

“What about Sterling?”

Her face became strong. “He’s gone like he said. He’s on the Moon. In something called the Nexus.”

The Nexus. Silas had warned them about it. The hive mind command center. The place where Sterling planned to link thousands of Weavers into one mind.

“We have to go there,” Jonah said. “And finish this.”

“We will. But first, you need to rest. You forced a psychic bond with a hostile AI. That’s not something you just walk off.”

“I’ve done worse.”

“Name one time.”

He thought about it but he couldn’t say it. “Okay, fair point.”

The bridge doors opened. Ariana limped in, leaning on one of the rescued Weavers.

“You are awake.” She sounded relieved. “Good. I was starting to worry.”

“Takes more than bonding with an evil spaceship to keep me down.” Jonah managed a weak smile. “How is the falcon?”

“It’s repairing itself slowly.” Ariana sat down next to Vanessa. “Turns out living ships can heal. It just takes time. Like us.”

They sat in silence for a moment.

“We did it,” Vanessa said quietly. “We stopped the Apex.”

“We stopped one ship.” Jonah stared at the dark screens around them. “Sterling has dozens more. Maybe hundreds. All controlled from the Nexus.”

“Then we take the Nexus.” Ariana’s voice was firm. “Cut the head off the snake.”

“It won’t be that simple.” Vanessa brought up a holographic display and showed them the Moon. “The Nexus has orbital defenses, automated weapons platforms and shield generators. Getting close to it will be suicide.”

“Everything we have done has been suicide.” Jonah forced himself to sit up. “We are still here.”

“Barely.” Vanessa said. “Jonah, we are not invincible. We have been lucky. But luck runs out.”

“Then we better make our own luck.”

A comm signal mad a sound. Warden’s voice came through.

[We have established contact with the ground team. Captain Seraph is requesting an urgent briefing.]

Seraph. Jonah felt relieved. She was alive. Still fighting.

“Put her through.”

The hologram changed. Seraph’s face appeared. She was in a dark room. The Undercroft. Her face was dirty. A fresh scar was on her cheek.

“Jonah. Good to see you breathing.”

“You too. How bad is it down there?”

“Bad.” No sugarcoating. That was Seraph’s way. “Sterling’s using specialized Hunter-Killer Weavers. They are wiping out our cells one by one. We are running out of places to hide.”

Jonah’s hands turned into fists. More people are dying. More people he couldn’t save.

“We stopped the Apex,” he said. “But Sterling’s on the Moon. In the Nexus. That’s where we need to hit him.”

“I know. And we can help.” Seraph leaned forward. “The Nexus has orbital defense systems. You will need access codes to shut them down. Codes that are biometrically locked to one person.”

“Who?”

“High Overseer Kaine. Sterling’s second-in-command on Earth. He’s mobile. He never stays in one place. But our spy gave us his route. He’s moving via armored transport. They call the train the Silver Streak.” Seraph said

A train. Jonah thought about that for a moment. “You are planning to rob a train?”

“Not rob. Capture. Kaine has the codes we need encoded in his DNA. Fingerprints, retinal scan and blood sample.” Seraph’s face was serious. “We get him, we get access. You can shut down the defenses and hit the Nexus.”

“It’s our only shot,” Ariana said.

Vanessa nodded. “Without those codes, the Moon’s defense grid will tear us apart before we get close.”

Jonah looked at each of them. They had already given so much. And he was about to ask them to give more.

“What do you need?” he asked Seraph.

“Time. Twenty-four hours to set up the ambush. And a pickup. Once we have Kaine, we will need extraction off-world before Sterling realizes what happened.”

“You will have it. I’ll send Nomad.”

“Good.” Seraph’s image flashed. “And Jonah? When you hit the Nexus? Do some real damage. For all of us down here who can’t fight back.”

“I will. I promise.”

The transmission ended.

“Twenty-four hours,” Vanessa said. “That’s not much time.”

“Then we better use it well.” Jonah tried to stand but he couldn’t.

Ariana caught him. “You need rest.”

“I need to prepare.” He steadied himself against her. “The Nexus isn’t just a building. We are going to need everything we have to break it.”

“Then let’s get to work.” Vanessa stood up, wincing at her injured shoulder. “But first, medical bay. All of us. We are no good to anyone if we pass out mid-battle.”

“Fine. Medical bay. Then we plan.”

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