04 Dark Space (42 page)

“How many of us are you going to kill?” she whispered. “When will it finally be enough? You already have the galaxy to yourselves, you kakards!” she roared. “Leave us the frek alone!”

Crew looked up from their stations to check on their captain. Then the deck shuddered as another stream of enemy fire found them, exploding against their shields and provoking a steady
roar
from the SISS. The
Intrepid’s
beams, lasers, and ripper cannons flashed out in response, plowing glowing orange furrows in the nearest enemy cruiser’s hull.

“Port shields critical,” her XO reported from engineering as the deck shook once more.

Caldin was tempted to tell him to switch to cloaking shields and hide, but the enemy had more than enough ships to sound them out along their last known trajectory—see where their missiles detonated and then fire again at the same point in space. The only way they were going to escape this was to head for the planet and buy themselves some time while the Sythians mopped up what remained of the Avilonian fleet.

“This Omnius has a lot to answer for!” Caldin said. “He’s abandoned his people in their hour of need.”

“I don’t think he’s aware of what’s going on,” Delayn replied. “If he is, then he’s suicidal, because he’s compromising defenses that he’ll need to ward off attacks on
himself
.”

“Sythians are breaking off to follow us!” Lieutenant Esayla Carvon reported from gravidar.

“Good! Let them come. We’ve got to buy the Avilonians more time.”

*   *   *

Ethan and Alara followed the Avilonians down the
Trinity’s
boarding ramp and into the square. It was milling with people, but they were all remarkably calm. The civilians all wore the same matching white robes which seemed to shimmer softly with their own internal light. Those pedestrians were scanning the sky, looking up at the impossibly high Zenith Tower, walking this way and that as if they were all just tourists come to see the tallest building in the galaxy. No one was running around screaming. Ethan frowned. He overheard people talking to one another in measured tones in a language he couldn’t understand. Some turned to point and whisper at Ethan and Alara as they walked by, but no one seemed particularly alarmed.

“Aren’t they scared?” Alara asked as they walked by an elaborate fountain, the water lit up in all the colors of the rainbow.

Ethan shook his head. “I don’t know. If they are, it must be part of their culture not to show it.”

“Either that or they don’t know what’s happening in orbit.”

A noise like thunder rent the air, and everyone turned skyward to see fireworks exploding high above the city. Except these weren’t fireworks. Then hundreds of glowing orange points of light emerged from the clouds, raining down like a meteor shower, but it wasn’t a meteor shower; it was the Sythians. Dark specks raced up to greet the meteors and bloody red streaks of light raced across the sky.

Still, nobody screamed, but now a booming voice cut through the square. Ethan didn’t understand a word of what was said, but the tone was urgent, and he assumed it was telling the crowds to disperse and take shelter. Suddenly white-robed people began crowding them from all sides.

Alara was the first to notice the way people were looking at them—with narrowed eyes and urgent whispers.
Estum martales, estum martales!
they said.

Ethan pulled Alara deeper into the knot of armored soldiers they’d brought with them from GK-465. Blue cape led the way across the square toward a group of familiar-looking starships which Ethan somehow hadn’t noticed sitting there before. As they approached, he saw the emblem of a clenched fist surrounded by six stars emblazoned on the side of those transports—the emblem of the Imperium. Those starships were ISSF.

Suddenly, Ethan remembered his son, Atton, and he began pushing his way through the group of Avilonians.

“What are you doing?” Alara asked, struggling to follow him through a sea of armored elbows and shoulders. When he reached the front of the group he tapped blue cape on the shoulder.

“What is it,
martalis
?” the Avilonian leader asked, not bothering to turn and see who it was. Ethan wondered how blue cape knew it was him, but he supposed the man’s own men likely wouldn’t tap him on the shoulder to get his attention.

“What are those ships doing here?” he asked.

“They brought Strategian Rovik to the Zenith, as well as—I am told—some of your soldiers.”

“I need to speak with the pilots of those ships.”

“We cannot wait for you.”

“That’s fine. I’ll only be a moment.” Ethan took Alara’s hand in his and ran ahead of the Avilonians to the nearest transport. Once there, he jogged past the back of the transport where a squad of Zephyr light assault mechs were busy disembarking, and ran up to the cockpit. Climbing up the short ladder to the side of the cockpit, Ethan rapped his knuckles on the transpiranium window. Two helmeted heads turned. Pilot and copilot stared wordlessly at him before the copilot got up to open the side hatch.

“What is it?”

“I’m an Imperial,” Ethan said.

“Why aren’t you in uniform?”

“I’m not ISSF, but I’m here for the same reason as you—to get help. I’m also here to find my son—the late admiral’s stepson.”

“The
late
admiral?”

Ethan realized the copilot didn’t know about any of what had happened in Dark Space since he’d left. “The Sythians executed Admiral Heston. They’re occupying Dark Space and enslaving our people as we speak.”

“
What?
”

“It’s a long story, but right now I need a favor from you. Commander Ortane—Guardian Leader—is he alive?”

The copilot began shaking his head and Ethan felt something heavy and cold settle in his chest, but then the officer pointed up and said, “He’s flying right over your head. They’re holding off the Sythians while we get things sorted out down here.”

As if to corroborate that, Ethan heard the not-so-distant
boom
of an explosion and caught a flash of light in his periphery. Then came the sound of people screaming. Ethan nodded his thanks before jumping down from the ladder and turning to see what had caused all the commotion.

Alara stood stock still, staring out over a rushing river of white robed civilians running away from the Zenith Tower. They were finally scared enough to panic. Ethan followed his wife’s gaze to see a pillar of flames rising from the ground not far from where they stood. “What was that?”

A scream of engines answered before she could and Ethan looked up to see a Sythian Shell Fighter go streaking by low overhead. Hot on its tail was an Imperial Nova, its ternary blue thrusters roaring. Red lasers
screeched
out from the Nova in a steady stream. They hit home, provoking a plume of black smoke and then a jet of white hot flames from the Shell Fighter’s glowing orange thruster pods. Then the Shell exploded with a wicked
ka-boom!
and a hot rush of air slapped them in the face. Flaming debris roared out of the sky and landed in the square with explosive force. The crowd screamed again, and the river of white robes flowed in a new direction, arcing away from the debris.

“We need to get inside the tower, and
fast!
” Ethan said, spinning in a quick circle to find blue cape and his cadre of identical crewmen. Two men in matching blue capes were conferring with one another near the boarding ramp at the back of a neighboring assault transport. One of them held a plasma rifle, courtesy of Ethan’s armory, while the other was empty-handed. Three full squads of Zephyr assault mechs stood clustered there with them, forearm mounted ripper cannons tracking warily across the sky.

Ethan and Alara ran up to the two caped Avilonians, pressing as close to them as they could get. They were speaking in their language, so Ethan couldn’t understand what they were saying, but abruptly they seemed to come to a decision and they turned to the sentinels standing beside them. Ethan heard one of them call out in a deep, gravelly voice. “You will accompany us to the gates of the Zenith. The building is in a state of emergency lockdown, and we cannot get in. You will make a hole for us to enter by.”

“Yes, sir,” the nearest sentinel replied in an amplified voice which echoed out across the square. “Lead the way, sir.”

The Avilonians set out at a run, and the sentinels followed. Ethan and Alara brought up the rear of the group. The Zenith Tower turned out to be farther away than it looked. They ran for several minutes straight, all the while the sky flashed and boomed with explosions. Ethan winced every time he heard them. Atton was up there, and sooner or later, one of those explosions could be him.

They reached a sprawling set of stairs which led to the entrance of the Zenith Tower. They ran up the stairs, gasping for air. The Avilonians and sentinels reached the entrance first. By the time Ethan crested the stairs with Alara by his side, the Zephyrs were already setting detlor charges at the base of two massive doors.

Ethan led Alara over to a nearby column which was almost as thick around as the
Trinity.
She collapsed on the ground beside it and Ethan knelt down beside her, sweat trickling from his brow as he tried to catch his breath. The night air was cool, but he was still wearing his flight suit, and he was sweltering beneath the dense fabric.

Turning to look down on the square from the top of the stairs, Ethan caught sight of an incredible view. From their vantage point, now several stories up, they could see out over the grassy square to a vast garden populated with colorful trees, flowering hedges, and brightly lit walkways. A gentle breeze blew in from that direction bringing with it the sweet smell of spring—blossoms and ripening fruit. That smell and the gentle caress of the air struck a fierce contrast with the battle raging overhead and the still-burning ruins of two Shell Fighters which had crashed in the square below. Ethan heard Alara’s breathing quieten, and he turned back to her. She was looking up at him with wide, frightened eyes.

“It feels like they’re invading all over again,” she said.

“They are, but this time it’s someone else’s homes they’re taking.”

“That doesn’t make it any better! We don’t even have a home! You told me
this
would be our home, and now look—it’s going up in smoke, too!”

“Hoi, calm down, Kiddie. It’ll be okay,” Ethan said. He took her hand in his and squeezed, sending her a determined smile. But she was looking past him, her violet eyes darting, her chest heaving once more, her palm sweating against his. She looked to be in the throes of a panic attack. “Hoi, shhh . . . it’s going to be okay,” he said, opening his arms to enfold her in a hug. Those reassurances tasted like lies.

“How the
frek
can you say that?” Alara demanded, pushing him away. “This is the end, Ethan! They wiped out the Imperium, then they found and took Dark Space, and now they’ve come here—to wipe out another Imperium that’s more developed and more beautiful than ours ever was! It’s not going to end until we’re all dead. It’ll
never
end, Ethan! Let’s just go while we still can! Let’s get out of here!”

Alara was spiraling out of control. Ethan’s grim smile vanished and he adopted a more serious look. He took both of her shoulders in a firm grip and shook her until her teeth rattled. “Cut it out, Alara! We’re not running anymore. These people haven’t given up yet, so neither should we! Where are we going to go?”

Alara’s eyes glazed over, and she shook her head slowly. “I don’t . . .”

Ethan turned back to the entrance of the Zenith Tower just in time to see sentinels running away from the doors to take cover by the columns and the stairs.

“Come on,” Ethan said, dragging her to her feet and leading her around the back of the column beside them.

“Take cover!” one of the sentinels called out in a booming voice. That warning was repeated a second later by one of the blue capes, saying the same thing but in the Avilonians’ language.

Ethan held his breath. A few seconds later there came a deafening
boom!
Dust and debris blew past them and superheated air whipped around the column to scorch Ethan’s face. He held Alara close to shield her from it.

“That got it!” one of the sentinels called out. “Blew her wide open! Let’s go!”

“Come on,” Ethan whispered, pulling Alara to her feet once more. “We’ll be safer inside the tower.”

Just then came more screaming from the crowds in the square below. Ethan turned to see a flaming Nova Fighter, spiraling out of control toward the top of the next nearest skyscraper. It hit with a blinding flash of light, followed a split second later by the deafening sound of the blast. Red-hot and flaming debris rained out of the sky, trickling down the side of the building like lava. Then came a secondary explosion as either the reactor fuel or the warheads on board the Nova detonated. The sound of the explosion was muffled, but the sight was terrifying. The top of the tower swelled like a balloon and then burst into flames, peeling down the middle into two separate pieces which slowly tumbled to the ground. The ground shook as though from an earthquake when the debris hit, and the sound of it was like a shatter bomb going off.

“I don’t think we’re going to be safe anywhere . . .” Alara said slowly.

Ethan wanted to disagree, but he was still frozen in place, unable to tear his eyes away from the fiery ruin at the top of the monolithic tower. Dozens of floors had been knocked off the top of that building, no doubt taking hundreds of lives with them, but all Ethan could think about was whether or not the pilot of that Nova had managed to eject before crashing into the tower. . . .

And whether or not that pilot was his son, Atton.

Chapter 28

“I
’ve picked up three more on my six!” Ceyla called out over the comms.

“I’ll be right there . . .” Razor said.

“I can’t hold them! Shields are going!”

“I’m on it,” Atton replied, banking hard to port and gaining altitude to follow Ceyla’s pursuit. He had a pair of Shells chasing him, too, but they couldn’t follow him through such a sharp turn. They went roaring by in front of him, shaken loose for the moment. Atton brought the nearest of the three chasing Ceyla under his sights and began peppering it with laser fire. The Shell immediately broke off and dove away. Not bothering to follow it down, Atton targeted the next one in line and did the same thing. By the time he got to the third, Ceyla was already thanking him for the save. “Stick with me, Corbin,” he said. “No more wandering off on your own.”