Ballad of Broken Glass (The Great War, #2) by K. MacCabe

Author:K. MacCabe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Military Fiction, Space Opera, New Adult, Action and Adventure, Series
Publisher: Shatterpoint
Published: 2022-08-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty

SOPHIA

When the rear door fell, a city greeted her. Skyscrapers that vanished into the clouds, a space elevator that disappeared into the sky, and the street that seemed untouched by the wrath that lay just behind them. She wrapped her hands around the box that held the lifeblood of Zhou, her worst enemy, her savior. It was hard to pin down what they were any more. Maybe friendship would blossom. Maybe something more. But not here.

A gloomy cloud approached, one so inhuman in its mass and intent, that it drove hope from her before it made its presence known. She could already see the gunships swarming around the lofty towers, a ghostly image of the horrors yet to come. Yet a green park at the center, just beyond the grey and black road, held a beautiful lake that reflected the dawn like a mirror. The colossal orange light peeking over the horizon, casting its dull glow upon the world. Beauty was the only solace.

Speaking of beauty, she had to see this package to Zhou.

“We will meet you at the Lionsgate,” Hammer said. “Give Zhou our regards.”

“Thanks,” Sophia smiled. It was the first time she had smiled in ages, or what felt like ages. The door hummed to life, cutting her off. She wanted to say something to Sam, but he still hadn’t moved. “Look after Sam.”

Hammer nodded. “He will be okay.”

Eventually, perhaps. Would he recover, could Sam forgive her for freezing up the way she did? Her, of all people, the smartest and brightest star in the sky, or so Sam once called her. She was that no more, and the fall of Fort Lewis had hit him hard. Not that it wouldn’t. So much of what Sophia had seen stuck with her. As exhausted as she was, her own mind would grant her no respite from the torments of the past two days.

She made her way to the door. The first thing that hit her was the sterile scent. It bashed her nose like a hammer, tingling her nostrils. It reminded her of the clinic on COM 5.

“I’m here to bring medication to Zhou Ling,” Sophia said. “GI-55 requires a military escort, which I will provide.”

It felt empowering to flash her rank and watch the nurses spin into action. Just like her family name did back on Arcadia. Compound G-55 was highly classified. It was one of the Coalition’s edges against its opponents. Alas, it offered no aid there, as the fleet was a debris field above Ramsey.

She stepped onto the elevator, rode it up some two hundred floors. Vertigo struck her as the elevator rocketed upwards, ascending kilometers into the sky. It reminded her of the massive space elevators that dotted almost every civilized planet.

What would she say to Zhou? She wanted to express something. There was a feeling inside her, a boiling sensation of butterflies and fire. Sophia hated Zhou, right? That was what was happening here. As her mind drifted to the Gecko, her insides boiled yet again, as fantasies welled to the surface.

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