CHAPTER FOURTEEN

FEINT, PARRY, AND LUNGE

“I HATE waiting.”

Bruce Banner spoke mostly to make conversation. They’d been in the same location, hidden against the side of an asteroid and in a low-power mode, for more than five hours. The Builder armada— or at least one branch of it—was heading directly for them.

I suppose they might have left me behind, he thought without saying it. After his most recent “Hulk-out,” he’d awakened in a S.H.I.E.L.D. containment unit, naked and alone. That they trusted him enough to bring him along was a testament to how badly they needed all their heavy hitters. He still questioned the logic of the decision.

The view was spectacular. In the distance, a great black orb pulled in the energies and gases and matter from this universe and swallowed it hungrily. Vast swirls of cosmic debris and thousands of chunks of rock from the asteroid belt were waiting their turn to be consumed. It was the sort of image that most people from Earth would only ever see rendered in CGI. The power of the view was not lost on the scientist.

The Corridor was a debris-free pathway between the remains of two shattered planets. The quincruiser hid in one of the asteroid fields, along with many ships of the allied fleet. Many more waited in the asteroid belt on the other side.

Steve Rogers was dressed in his full Captain America regalia, augmented by an armored environmental spacesuit and helmet, as with all of the people on the ship.

“Well, Bruce, I promise you the fight will be here soon enough, and you’ll wish you were still waiting.” Sometimes the man took everything too literally. Then again, given Banner’s tendency to change into a thousand pounds of gamma-fueled rage monster, keeping him calm was a good idea.

Shang-Chi sat next to Captain America. “Expectation of disaster is a poor way to plan for success, Captain.”

“Not at all.” Cap shook his head. “Preparation for the potential is an important part of any planning.”

Bruce agreed. “Shang, the plan is to let the enemy fleet maneuver themselves between us and the black hole,” he said. “By giving them no place to run, we essentially force them to fight back, probably to the death. Today’s combat forecast is sketchy at best, with a better-than-good chance of calamity.”

Shang-Chi looked over his shoulder. “It is your optimism that I admire most,” he said. Bruce was pretty sure that was meant as a joke, and started to say as much.

Shang-Chi motioned for silence. “Just got the heads-up,” he announced. “We are ready to engage the enemy.”

Cap nodded. “Quincruiser two,” he said into the comm. “Carol, did you pick that up?”

“Got it. Fleet’s entered the kill zone,” Captain Marvel answered, her voice remarkably calm. “We’re just waiting for the signal. Everyone get ready.”

Bruce took a few deep breaths to make sure he stayed calm, as well. “Everyone” meant the folks aboard the quincruiser and other spacecraft, as well as those who didn’t need them for combat in airless space. The Hulk could withstand terrifying amounts of physical damage, but he still needed to breathe; Hyperion and several others did not. Falcon, who was as susceptible to the vacuum of space as Banner was, wore a specially developed suit that allowed him his full flight capabilities in the void.

Just outside of the asteroid field, he could see motion as the enemy ships came within visual range. Then off to the right— starboard, Banner supposed—there was a bright flash, launched as planned by Commander Jorr of the Kree forces.

“There’s the signal,” Cap said. “Let’s go.”

Suddenly the asteroid field was abuzz with activity as stationary spacecraft burst into motion. All of them had the same target: the Builder fleet, the center of which had reached the planned coordinates. Flashes appeared—a few at first, then a multitude. In an instant chaos erupted, and everywhere they looked their field of vision was filled with combat. Their ship shook alarmingly as they took a hit, then another, but their shields held.

“Heavy fire from both sides, Captain.” Shang-Chi spoke with amazing calm. Bruce could feel his heart hammering and forced himself to relax as much as possible. A vessel exploded nearby, and the white-hot flash left a momentary imprint on his vision. That faded as shards of the doomed craft flew past their view port. Another vessel shot into the gap, its weapons blazing. The smaller figures of individual combatants dodged and wove around—and sometimes through—the warships. Eye-beams flashed, piercing combatant ships with needle-like accuracy.

“Keep pushing,” Cap said. “The plan is to split their fleet, if possible. The command vessels will let us know if—”

“Allied armada,” Ronan the Accuser’s voice came through the comm-link. “Based on the movement of the ships within the Builder fleet, the Supremor has calculated a ninety percent chance that the command vessel is at the coordinates we are sending you. Retask all operations. Reprioritize your objectives. Destroy that vessel.”

In the live video feed, the flashes of contact continued throughout the conflict, but a greater concentration appeared in one particular location—the coordinates Ronan had supplied. Banner saw Thor and Hyperion and a dozen alien life-forms he’d never met before turn and head for the ship being targeted.

Hyperion hit it first. He was little more than a speck in the distance, but he moved through the void of space at a speed the naked eye could barely follow. He struck the front of the command vessel, leaving a hole the size of a transit bus. It couldn’t have been two seconds later that he exploded out of the rear of the ship, taking massive sections of the interior with him.

By the time he’d finished his run, several Destroyer-class vessels and multiple small forms had cut loose with attacks of their own. Thor’s lightning arced through space and hit the ship in a dozen places, each blast melting metal and blackening the hull. Smasher employed beams that cut from her goggles and ripped a line along the hull, easily shattering the ship’s defensive shields. Several others followed after her, members of the Imperial Guard who worked with her in a flawless example of teamwork.

It only took seconds for the powerful attack to destroy the command vessel. It went up in a burst of flames that were quickly smothered by the vacuum of space. Cheers came over the comms from a dozen ships.

Bruce felt a grim smile coming on. If this was the best the enemy could do, they’d win this conflict easily—and his other would never have to come out and play cleanup. He preferred it that way.

His smile vanished when the rest of the ships dropped their cloaks.

“Mother of God!”

Adrenaline kicked in, and he forced himself to calm down. There were so many ships. So many more than they’d expected or believed possible, and these vessels were massive, dwarfing the vast majority of the ships in their fleet.

“Like fish in a barrel.” Bruce was unaware he was speaking. It wasn’t a compliment—merely an observation. His stomach seethed with nervous energy. There was nothing good about the situation.

Peace. Bruce wanted peace. Even when he’d created the first gamma bomb, the plan was to use it to stop people from attempting another war.

The void of space shifted. The stars, the great vista of the event horizon, the asteroids—all disappeared, suddenly lost behind the vast ships that manifested from nowhere as if pulled from a magician’s hat.

Even as the Builder ships seemed to pop out of nowhere, they opened fire, attacking every enemy vessel they could put in their sights, firing volleys of weapons that would have shamed any military he’d ever known. Streaks of light, massive explosions, balls of energy and fire bloomed along the sides of allied ships. People— oh, so many people—died in volley after volley of enemy fire.

The heavens bled fire and the mortal remains of thousands. What had been cheering was replaced by the screams of the dying.

Bruce swallowed hard and forced himself to take deep breaths.Still his blood sang in his body and the world threatened to take on a green tinge he knew all too well.

Over the comm-link, the Supreme Intelligence of the Kree spoke. “Probability of survival approaching zero if you do not withdraw from this theater. Close to thirty-three percent of the fleet has been lost or severely damaged in less than a minute.”

“Sound the retreat. Now!” Ronan’s voice was calm but loud. “Run!” As he spoke, the Kree ships began to veer away. The Skrulls followed seconds later, and the Shi’ar called for a tactical withdrawal. Amid a continuous series of explosions, the allied fleet broke apart and scattered. Hundreds of ships retreated even as dozens were destroyed.

The Builders continued firing.

Bruce took in great gasps of air and closed his eyes, focusing on staying calm. Several impacts struck near the quincruiser, which shivered and shuddered as pieces of debris crashed into shields, and then into the body of the ship itself. Stark built amazing weapons and armor, but everything had its limits.

Bruce’s heart sang and screamed. It was becoming a given that he’d be changing. When hurled into the vacuum, would the helmet expand enough to protect him? Or would this be the thing that finally ended his nightmarish dual existence?

“We’re fine, Bruce,” Cap said. “Deep breaths. Nothing to worry about.” Steve’s voice was calming, despite the situation. True to his word, the shields held. Cap spoke into the comm.

“Carol, we’ve taken several hits, but we’re still intact. Not sure if we can get clear unaided without Manifold jumping us straight to the rendezvous site.” He paused, then added, “Can you get clear?”

“We’re fine, Cap. I’m a better pilot than you on my worst day.” That was true enough. She was a trained fighter pilot, whereas Cap had learned on the job as a member of the Avengers and had substantially fewer flight hours logged. “We’ve got full power and we’re flying free, but the fight took us closer to the singularity than I’d like. Jump—we’ll catch up.”

Shang-Chi looked at the readings. “We might not make it without an assist, Captain.”

Cap looked aft. “Okay, Eden—you’re on. Get us out of here.”

From the back of the ship, Eden called out, “I’m working on it.

” “Grab any friendlies you can.”

“As if you have to ask.”

Even as he spoke, Bruce saw Hyperion vanish from the vacuum, followed by Thor and several others he could not recognize amid the chaos. The Shi’ar cruiser began to give off spikes of energy. Before anyone could react, the vessel burst in a ball of fire.

Captain Marvel’s quincruiser was caught in the blast.

Then the cruiser in which they flew was elsewhere.

* * *

IN AN instant, they were back at the Nomad station—Eden had taken them to a location he knew.

Captain America turned in his seat and looked toward Banner. The thin scientist had a death grip on the armrests of his seat. His breathing was hard, but steady. There was a tinge of green to his skin that had nothing to do with nature, but it was fading away.

“We lost them, Cap.” Bruce spoke calmly, considering the circumstances. “Captain Marvel, Hawkeye, Cannonball, Sunspot… I don’t know who else.”

Cap frowned. “Captain Universe, still in a coma. Abyss. Nightmask. Starbrand.” So many who might be dead, but he couldn’t simply accept that. “That’s all of them. And don’t expect that they’re dead. They’ve been through worse.”

Shang-Chi spoke softly. “Perhaps not in the void of space.” “

Not until I see a body,” Cap countered. “Only then do I consider death as an option. I learned that the hard way, Shang.” The man nodded his head and said nothing more.

* * *

STEVE ROGERS remained silent in his seat for what seemed like an eternity, but likely had been only a few hours. He’d seen potential flaws in the plan from the beginning, but had never expected anything on the scale of the ruse they’d just encountered. He’d never expected a fleet that size. It was unsettling.

He looked to Banner again and saw that the man had calmed himself. All traces of green were gone. For that he was grateful.

Spider-Woman walked calmly from the back of the cruiser.

“Where are we headed?” She was holding herself together remarkably well—Cap was impressed. Jessica Drew had spent a long time as a prisoner of the Skrulls, and he knew working with them now had to be eating at her. He had been in a similar situation, replaced by a Skrull doppelganger and kept prisoner, but for a much shorter time than she had experienced.

“We are to head for the Shi’ar agricultural world of Whaan Prime,” Shang-Chi said. “We’ll meet with the rest of the fleet. The natives have been told to be prepared to handle the massive injuries and casualties we have accrued.”