Gamma Nine (Book One) (52 page)

“Captain Locke
wants to know what is going on,” Remy said at Gray’s side.

Gray did not
reply. He was still frozen in shocked silence.

“Dammit Remy,
if he can’t answer me, you can!” Locke demanded over the radio. The
Titans were still on-board the Maiden, remaining inside the drop
ship’s cargo hold.

“It’s too...I
can’t,” Remy replied. Her eyes were filled with tears.

Locke was ready
to disembark from the Maiden and make his way to the bridge. If
Gray was not going to push the button, he sure as hell would. Every
second they wasted gave the enemy more opportunities to move in and
surround them.

Locke was about
to disengage the door lock when Gray finally spoke.

“Locke?” Gray
asked. His voice was filled with anger and pain. It sounded as if
the captain of the Hyperion had reached the end of his rope, as if
he had stared into oblivion and seen the nothingness waiting there
for him.

“Punch it
Willis. Let’s get the hell out of here!” Locke replied.

Gray did not
reply. He fell back into his command chair and with a tired hand
pushed the button to belonging to the waiting BEAM drive’s
activation mechanism. He remained silent, wordlessly watching the
viewports, closing his eyes to burn the memory into his mind as the
BEAM drive fired once again. It would carry them far away, to
relative safety, for now.

The bright
light from the Hyperion’s departure gladdened Lord Vincent. The
Hyperion’s interference was ruining the show for him. He wanted no
distractions while he watched New Horizon burn.

Most of the
northern hemisphere was already covered in righteous fire,
consuming everything organic it came in contact with. Lord Vincent
had fired the weapon without any regard or thought for his own men
still on the surface of the planet. The firestorm gained speed and
ferocity as it crept over New Horizon’s beautiful landscape,
leaving nothing but smoke and ash behind. The cleansing flame from
the fusion cannon killed without pausing, indiscriminately
scorching beast and any surviving humans, leaving nothing but husks
of burnt flesh behind.

“Sir?” an
officer standing in front of Lord Vincent’s throne, bowed slightly
in respect, or fear, for his master. “The Device is ready on your
order.”

“No. I want it
to burn. Everyone that passes this damned sector will bear witness
to what awaits them should they stand in my way. We will use
Project Black on our next target,” Lord Vincent said
dismissively.

The Lord of the
North kept watching New Horizon burn, his eyes mirroring the zeal
the flames were now showing the enemies of humankind.

By the time the
Stygian Council moved on to its next destination New Horizon would
be no more. A once great world, the centre of technology and
research for sectors in every direction would be left to smoulder
in its own embers. Its beautiful landscape reduced to nothing but
dust and smouldering ash. Billions of lives were lost, and the
planet would never be able to sustain life again.

Even the
bacteria, invisible and microscopic, working behind the scenes of
all living organism, perished in the firestorm.

New Horizon’s
death heralded the dawn of a dark period in humankind’s future,
only a fraction of our race would survive to see the conclusion to
events that would change the course of humankind’s path through
time, forever.

The Dawn of
Extinction had finally arrived.

Emotions were high and nerves were
raw on-board the Hyperion. Everywhere Locke walked, through the
corridors of his home ship, past engineers and soldiers, the effect
of New Horizon’s death could be seen on their tired faces.

Many crew
members that called the Hyperion home were from New Horizon. Now
the Hyperion was the only thing they had left. It was a small
consolation prize, and they were all coming to the same realization
- the universe was a horribly large place and their safe haven had
shrunk considerably.

Locke should
have felt his home planet’s death more than others. It was after
all part of him, part of his legacy. His ancestor, the great Star
Explorer Captain Locke, had been the first to set foot on its then
alien surface. He had helped to build the first colonies on New
Horizon. Locke’s bloodline was so deeply rooted in the foundations
of that world that when the world bled, so did his family. He was
the only one left now, his lineage burned from the face of the
universe forever, the last in a long line of honoured men and women
dedicated to the preservation of humankind.

But he did not
feel the loss as the others did. He would not allow it to drag him
down; wallowing in the catastrophe they had all suffered through,
and were suffering through. Locke chose to use the anger and
sadness he felt to stoke the furnace inside his soul, further
strengthening his resolve against his enemies. He shaped the
turbulent emotions he felt into determination.

Locke took a
deep breath as he reached the doors leading to the Hyperion’s
bridge, pausing for a moment before he pressed the button to open
the door.

From behind him
Nathan appeared from an unlit corridor leading to the medical bays
deeper into the Hyperion’s belly. He said nothing, stopping to give
Locke the moment to himself.

“You are still
terrible at sneaking up on something,” Locke said to Nathan,
looking at his second in command over his shoulder.

Nathan snorted
but said nothing.

“How is he?”
Locke asked.

“Not good. The
good doctor hasn’t left his side, but nobody can say if he will
fully recover. He will live, but how long is anyone’s guess. He
might die tomorrow or years from now in battle.” Nathan folded his
arms, leaning his weight against the corner of the corridor he had
appeared from.

“Annoying,
isn’t it?” Locke said. He sighed after he spoke.

“You have no
bloody idea. I will have to persuade them to give me answers soon,
and it might get messy.”

“Just clean up
when you are done. I have enough on my plate already.”

“Speaking of
which,” Nathan said, pointing at the door in front of Locke. “Shall
we?” he asked.

Locke nodded
and opened the door with a button press. Both Titans entered the
bridge, both wearing military fatigues. It had been more than two
weeks since their departure from New Horizon, and they had spent
their time in the recovery tanks. The dreams during those days were
the worst the Titans ever experienced, and all of them carried the
weight of all the lives lost on New Horizon on their shoulders.

Gray had called
the meeting, inviting everyone he thought could help plan their
next course of action.

The Wolves were
there, dressed in the same fatigues Locke was wearing. Christian
was obviously missing, but Corporal Jay had proudly volunteered to
stand in Corporal Quinn’s place until the damaged Titan was back on
his feet.

Gray was
hunched over the command table in the centre of the bridge, Remy
standing next to him, moving her petite hands over the displays
mounted inside the command table. She was relaying information to
Gray, and he was listening intently to everything she was saying.
The lights from the displays and the lights hidden in the table’s
metal sides cast an eerie glow on the gathering Gray had
called.

An old space
pirate named Nash, who Locke had met only a few days earlier, was
also there, flanked by Sam, both of them wearing dirty engineer
overhauls. The highest ranked Lancer that had survived the battle
of Santor, Diaz, had also been invited. The Lancer was in full
battle armour, standing at attention in respect of the superiors he
now found himself in the presence of.

“Welcome,” Gray
said to Locke and Nathan as soon as he noticed them approaching the
command table.

Both Titans
nodded in reply to his words, silently taking up their positions
next to the other Wolves.

“Good. Everyone
is here. Before we begin our meeting, there has been a request.
Second Lieutenant Diaz?” Gray said.

“Sir?” Diaz
replied.

“Commander
Sabian, during his lucid moments, has promoted you to Captain.
Congratulations Captain. You will take over command of the Lancers
until ordered otherwise,” Gray said. He nodded at Remy. She stepped
forward and gave Diaz a wooden box containing his captain’s
insignia.

“I am honoured
sir. Thank you,” Diaz replied. The man was clearly in shock, but he
accepted the promotion without hesitation.

Corporal Jay
was the first to clap, he had fought with the man for many years
and he had been instrumental during the battle on the rooftop.

Everyone else
followed Jay lead, applauding Diaz’s promotion.

“Now down to
business,” Gray paused, leaning forward, resting his old meaty
hands on the side of the command table. “I am open to any and all
suggestions.”

“We run, as far
and fast as we can,” Sam blurted out. He was not a coward, but to
him that was the most logical course of action.

Gray chuckled
slightly. “Aye, that would be the smart thing to do. What about the
rest of our people still fighting against the Beast and soon Lord
Vincent? Do we leave them to their own fate? Or do we help
them?”

Sam realized
his plan was not the right one, nodding at Gray’s words, agreeing
with them fully. They could not just turn and run away.

“We hide,
re-supply, and then we take the fight to the enemy,” Xander
said.

“Agreed,”
Nathan said from Locke’s side. “We make them bleed for what they
have done.”

“And then
what?” Rivers asked.

“Then we kill
him and blow up his ship, what else?” Nathan replied
sarcastically.

Locke spoke
next, silencing his Wolves with his words. “Brave, but foolish
Lieutenant. Even if we could get near enough to him to kill him, or
even find a way to destroy his ship, it will cost us too much. No,
we have to stay alive and strike when the time is right, when our
resources are strong enough to support our plans. We cannot win if
we are dead, can we?”

Nathan
reluctantly agreed. Locke had a point. It would be foolish to throw
everything against the impenetrable wall that was Lord Vincent and
his fleet.

“Earth,” Pyoter
said.

Everyone looked
at him in unison. All of them equally surprised at the giant
Titan’s suggestion.

“Why would they
care what Lord Vincent did outside of their solar system? Those
bureaucrats crave wealth and power probably more than Vincent does.
Not to mention that none of us have heard anything from that sector
for more than a decade,” Gray said.

“They might
feel different if their lives were in danger,” Locke added. “Even
if they crave only wealth and power, they can’t spend it if they
are dead. Most of them would piss themselves if they knew what was
going on in the outer sectors. Their isolation could work to our
advantage.”

“Earth Prime’s
security is tighter than an ape’s asshole trapped in a lion’s cage.
Without a summons or invite from the council we will never get in.
They might even destroy us before we get the chance to state our
case. You know what patrols the void around our home world. It’s
suicide Gabriel.” Gray shifted back, folding his arms as he looked
at the Titan captain.

Locke had no
answer to Gray’s words. He was right, it was suicide. Earth Prime
was unreachable, a fortress built to keep everything out that could
threaten their way of live. He was about to concede Gray’s point
when someone else spoke.

“I know a way,”
Nash said.

Everyone looked
at the retired space pirate, waiting for the man to speak.

“It’s very
tricky, but you lot seem to know what you are doing. I can show you
the way in, through a small gap, right into the heart of that
system,” Nash said.

“And why would
we believe a Rogue like you? How do we know you aren’t just
bullshitting us for your own personal gain?” Gray asked Nash.

“Because you
have no other choice, and look at me, I am minutes from dying, what
do I have to lose? Besides, the women on Earth Prime are worth the
trip,” Nash said, smiling at everyone that was looking at him.

Locke looked at
Gray; a conversation took place between the two, wordlessly they
decided with only a few looks and head gestures. “Show us,” Locke
said.

The Grim Wolves will
return in the Dawn of Extinction, the next epic chapter in the
Gamma Nine saga.

A bearded turnip gifted a human suit by beings from
another universe. He spends his days writing and working at his day
job. Day-dreaming about epic stories and far off planets consumes
his almost every thought. He lives in a loving home with his
partner and their feline overlord.

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