The Watcher [Alien Nation #1]

Chapter 13

A thousand light years lay between Jules and Earth, and every one of them passed like sandpaper dragged over her skin.

With Avery on board, the Phoenix was at maximum capacity. Coupled with a fourth crew member who admittedly had no need for physical space, it was starting to feel crowded.

Jules stayed on the research deck, checking and double-checking that she had Josh's address right. Each time they crossed a Starbridge, Cass relayed the automated warnings that were predictable but nonetheless spine-chilling: turn back now; you are entering hostile space; proceed at your own risk; emergency rescue services will not operate beyond this point, and so on. Worse, there was no way to access Earthen newsfeeds while in hyperspace. For all she knew, the planet would be a smoking ruin when they finally reached it, the data core long gone.

That couldn't be true. They'd make it on time. They had to.

Her one blessing was that Avery had decided to keep herself to herself. Cass told her that the cyborg was currently down in the server room taking a nap. Apparently being part machine drained a lot of energy. Jules wondered why, for all his supposed genius, Dr. Anderson hadn't given her a better battery or a recharging cable or something.

"Now entering the Sol system," said Erri over the comm. She heard him suck in a breath through his teeth. "Shit."

"What?" said Jules, head snapping up from the screen she was currently bent over. "What's wrong?"

"This is the view from the external camera," said Cass, diverting the screen next to Jules to show an image of Earth. Even she sounded frightened.

Earth was under siege. As she studied the image before her, Jules' hands began to shake.

The planet's surface was swarmed by black circles the size of megacities. They had to be the same ships in the drone videos of the invasion. She'd already known about those, though. It was the rest of Terran space that frightened her.

Earth was surrounded by four ships that could easily be mistaken for small moons. The Commonwealth had its share of large vessels, but she was certain none were this size. Cold dread pooled in her stomach as she considered what those ships might hold. Armies? Ordnance? Colonists?

Stars, Earth didn't stand a chance.

"Erri, can you get us through all that?" Her knuckles were white on the desk. The Phoenix had cloaking tech, but it had never been tested anywhere but around Earth's moon.

"I can damn well try," he said, and she felt a swell of affection at the grim determination in his voice. "Not sure if our landing will be a smooth one, though."

"Do your best."

"Have I ever done anything else?"

For the first time since the disastrous meeting in the Council Chamber, Jules felt a spark of hope. Maybe a good pilot would be the difference between life and death. "Cass, get Avery up. Gently. I don't want her cranky from waking up on the ceiling."

"One moment."

The ride was smooth for the most part, but Jules had to grip the holo-node's handrail a few times after Erri brought them past Mars, presumably so he could dodge any sensor sweeps he detected. She tried not to worry about the ones he missed.

"Are we there yet?"

"Shit!" Jules cried, hand flying to her mouth as she cast about wildly for the source of the voice. Eventually her eyes landed on Avery, who was worming her way out of the wall, using a cluster of cables each the size of Jules' wrist as a rope, before sliding down it and landing lightly on the balls of her feet. "Where the hell did you come from?"