Out of the Black (Odyssey One, Book 4) (34 page)

Carrow nodded. “Understood, ma’am.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

FOR THE ENTITY known as Central, the situation had long passed untenable and was rapidly approaching a level of unacceptable he had never previously considered possible. The latest information available to him, mostly lifted from the minds of the ship in orbit (this new captain was not as careful as Weston), made it clear that not only did the Drasin have far more numbers in the region than he wanted to believe possible, but they were also operating independently again.

Until the assault on the Terran homeworld, it had been clear to Central that the Drasin, while certainly authentic, were not operating according to their normal methods. Now, however, something had switched and the monsters were truly back.

That changed things.

Originally Central had doubted that they actually
were
Drasin, despite all the evidence to the contrary. The controlled and systematic assault was . . . out of character.

What they had done to the Terran system, however . . . that was very much a Drasin methodology. Whatever they had been when they first appeared, it was now clear that the Drasin had indeed returned.

Unfortunately, while Central did have detailed . . . information on the Drasin, the entity had no personal experience with them. Dry facts were of limited value and the entity found himself almost whimsically wishing that he’d taken more time to converse with Weston. The man had intuited a great many things about his enemy without facts to back him up, and he’d been largely correct, even concerning things that Central would have sworn the Terran had erred on.

Captain Weston’s death actually caused the entity to feel a certain degree of loss, an emotion that he’d only rarely experienced firsthand. One of the reasons that he kept apart from his people, getting to know them personally rather than through their memories, thoughts, and dreams . . . well, that led to connections, to complications . . . and, inevitably, to loss. It wasn’t something that Central would normally dwell on, but even eternal beings didn’t like to lose those they got to know.

Colonel Reed was silent as he looked over the strip of desert the locals had deeded over for use in training their forces. Since the first news from the
Enterprise
concerning Earth’s fate, he and the other men had been using the job to distract themselves from what had happened back home, but that excuse was wearing thin, to say the least.

He’d heard that the
Big E
was back in orbit, so Reed knew that it was just a matter of time before he got some fresh intelligence, but he almost didn’t want it. The last time he’d received news from home, it had taken everything he had just to get up the next morning and do his job rather than take his blade and slit his own wrists.

Reed had read all the files on those things. He’d even faced them once here on Ranquil, and the idea of hundreds of ships dropping
thousands
of drones on Earth . . . on his family? He could have taken that, could have handled it, but to be stuck on another planet? A thousand light-years away from where he was needed?

That was a line too damned far.

Reed didn’t want to hear about his dead homeworld, not while he was in no position to defend or avenge it.

The shuttle he could see coming his way didn’t care about what he wanted, however, and he could feel the bad news approaching.

The big delta-wing craft blew its thrusters on approach, sweeping to a stop, and landed lightly on its skids. Reed made no motion to approach. He just read the marking of the NACS
Enterprise
on the side of the craft.

He wished it read
Odyssey
instead.

That would mean that the assault on Earth had never happened. That his home, his family, that none of them were dead.

It was the captain of the
Enterprise
who stepped out first, surprising Reed. Usually captains sent messengers, unless it was really bad news. He couldn’t imagine what could be really bad after the last thing he’d been told. They couldn’t lose Earth twice.

Reed finally started to move, walking to meet the captain as he approached. It wouldn’t do to completely throw away protocol, after all.

“Colonel, good to see you,” Carrow called as they approached one another.

“Sir, a pleasure,” Reed answered, shaking his hand. “I assume you have news from . . . home?”

“I do, Colonel. Should we take this inside?”

“I’ll take it here, sir,” Reed answered stonily.

Carrow considered for a moment, and then nodded. “Alright, fine. Earth is holding the line, but they’re hard pressed.”

Reed blinked, almost physically staggered by the news.

“It’s not . . . gone?”

“No. It’s not,” Carrow said. “Every nation on the planet is now under martial law. Entire cities have been razed to the ground, but they’re holding the line.”

Reed looked down, shaking his head for a moment, and then looked up sharply. “When do we ship back?”

“You don’t.”

“But, Captain . . .”

“Reed, another gun . . . another ten guns”—Carrow shook his head—“won’t change a thing. We’re working on providing relief, but if you want to make a difference, I need you to start
here
.”

The Special Forces colonel grimaced, but finally nodded reluctantly. “What do you need?”

“Start working on your local contacts. We need their help. We’ve got six ships, plus the
Enterprise,
that are under our command, but we need more,” Carrow said. “The admiral and ambassador are going to be working from the top down. We need you to start from the bottom and work your way up. Soften them up. We need them to sign on for a fight.”

“Understood,” Reed said slowly, not looking happy in the slightest. “And when you’re ready to move?”

“I’ll make sure that you’re in on the operation.”

Reed looked him in the eyes for a moment, then nodded firmly. “Thank you, sir.”

Tanner smiled as he welcomed Gracen into his office, though she noted that the smile didn’t really reach his eyes.

“Welcome, Admiral,” he said. “I would say that I hope things are well, but . . .”

She let him trail off, only nodding soberly in return. “The
Enterprise
just got back from a long-range scout of the system. It took a few weeks because they didn’t dare get in close. They had to sit out almost a full light-day from Earth and wait for the time delay to catch up.”

“I knew about the ship returning, of course,” Tanner said, “and I understand that it must have been a difficult mission.”

“More so for having to listen to the chatter of soldiers fighting the Drasin and not being able to get close, yes.”

“Fighting the . . . they are still fighting?”

“As of three days ago, yes.”

Tanner slumped in his chair, his expression shocked. “I . . . I would never have believed it. That many Drasin . . .”

“Should have completely flattened even the Earth’s defenses,” Gracen finished for him. “We know. They’re holding back. Again.”

“This is not like the Drasin. Something is very, very wrong,” Tanner said, shaking his head before his expression devolved into one of almost comical horror. “I don’t mean that it is wrong that your world survives, I just . . .”

Gracen silenced him with a hand. “Relax. I understand. There are elements at play here that we’re missing.”