The Outer Worlds: Book One of the Epherian Chronicles (26 page)

Sara glanced
at Michael. ‘We are lucky this time,’ she said.

A moment later
a squadron of about fifty air-vehicles appeared in the distance.
Sara followed the signal and seconds later the squadron flew past
and attacked the alien fighters behind them. The alien formation
split as the battle erupted. They continued to descend and followed
the navigation signal which led them into a deep canyon between two
rows of towering mountains. They then followed the base of the
canyon and arrived at an immense cliff face which made up the side
of a mountain. A huge spaceport was carved directly into the
mountainside. The entire area was crowded with battlements and
heavy turret guns of every variety.

Sara slowed
the ship down and entered through the great opening which led into
a gigantic cavern. There were a series of landing platforms; most
of them were empty. A group of people were waiting for them at one
of the last platforms. Sara gently landed and shut down the
reactor. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

**

Gartax sat in
his raised command seat in the dark and dingy central chamber of
his fleet battleship. A subtle red glow lit the entire area, and
the chamber was kept moist by dripping condensers in the ceiling.
Gartax had always felt at home in dank environments.

He sneered
down at his five advisors; they trembled in fear as they looked up
at him. Gartax hated everyone and everything in existence, even his
own race. His mind fed on the feeling of hate. Hate drove him
onward, and it was hate that gave him his power. He craved power
alone, because in his corrupt mind he could only see two real
possibilities for any living creature: power or vulnerability, and
he despised vulnerability with his entire being. He was the master
of the entire fleet, and it was precisely through his commitment to
hate and the accumulation of power that he had climbed through the
ranks to his position.

He clearly
remembered the defining moment when he had killed the former Fleet
Master with his bare hands. The overwhelming feeling of power he
felt in that moment had stayed with him ever since.

‘
Why haven’t we found the exiles?’ he asked bitterly in the
harsh alien language.

‘
Our scout ships have searched constantly,’ answered Akemak,
who was one of his longest surviving advisors. Akemak had been an
advisor for five months, which was far longer than any other
advisor had previously survived in the same position.

‘
Not good enough!’ growled Gartax.

Akemak took a
step back and lowered his eyes. He dared not say another word or
disagree with the Fleet Master. From the far side of the command
chamber appeared an alien with large dark eyes that were tinged
with purple. His skin was a pale shade of grey which reminded
Gartax of himself; there was a striking resemblance. He felt a
little less hate for this newcomer for this reason alone. The
alien’s name was Fraxon, an ambitious youngster who had climbed
quickly through the fleet ranks. Fraxon crossed the floor and stood
before Gartax.

‘
I have personally located the exiles,’ he said proudly, bowing
his head low.

Gartax felt a
rush of excitement rise through his body. ‘Speak!’ he howled.

‘
The exile ship was seen by our fleet guarding Moros
Gamma.’

‘
Moros Gamma!’ repeated Gartax with a doubtful sneer. ‘If you
are mistaken I will have you cast into the vacuum of
space.’

‘
I have verified the unique design and specifications of the
ship myself. I am completely sure the exiles landed on Moros Gamma.
I would not bring you this information unless I was sure. I expect
you to kill me if I am wrong, but I am not wrong.’

‘
Why would they go to Moros Gamma?’

‘
I do not know,’ answered Fraxon.

Gartax turned
to his advisors. ‘Capture them! Divert every available ship to the
blockade at Moros Gamma. Take these exiles alive and bring them to
me in chains.’ Gartax could hardly contain his excitement. ‘You
have done well, Fraxon. You may have Akemak’s position as Fleet
Advisor. Akemak, I condemn you to live out the rest of your life
alone on an uninhabited mud world. There you will find plenty of
opportunity to pursue your ambitions among the worms.’

Akemak
collapsed to his knees. ‘Fleet Master, please; I have served you
well.’

‘
Not well enough. Take him away!’ growled Gartax, sneering and
baring his sharp teeth. Three guards appeared from openings in the
side of the chamber. They roughly grabbed Akemak and proceeded to
drag him across the floor. Gartax watched until Akemak was gone and
then chuckled in pleasure. He looked back to his remaining
advisors. ‘Return my ship to base. I will inform the Master
Shadow.’

**

Michael was
the first to leave the ship. A gathering of about twenty men were
waiting for them on the docking platform. They were rugged mountain
men with long beards, and they were all wearing mountaineering
clothes. Ajax, Ivan, Acacius and Cynthia followed Michael over to
greet the Morosians.

A tall and
proud looking man with a long grey beard, dark eyes and strong
features stepped forward from the group. He examined the crew for a
few moments before speaking.

‘
I am General Khar. I am the leader of the Morosians. Welcome
to our world. You are the first visitors from another world to come
to Moros Gamma since the alien siege began six years
ago.’

‘
My name is Captain Michael of the Out Drifter. We almost
didn’t make it. Passing the blockade wasn’t easy.’

‘
We understand the difficulty. Every ship we sent to help you
was lost. We were forced to reactivate the EPHX cannons immediately
after you entered the atmosphere. Our ships couldn’t return even if
they wanted to.’

‘
I’m sorry to hear about your loss,’ said Michael.

‘
It was a necessary sacrifice,’ said General Khar sternly.
‘Those men did what they had to do to save our people. We Morosians
believe in sacrificing ourselves for the survival of our people.
This is the only reason we have endured and our neighbours no
longer exist.’

‘
It was a noble choice they made,’ agreed Michael.

‘
It was not their choice. They followed my command,’ said Khar
indifferently.

Khar stared at
Michael for a long moment. The strain in the General’s dark eyes
was clearly evident, and there was a similar look in the eyes of
every other man in the Morosian group. The constant threat of
complete obliteration had taken a heavy toll.

‘
Did you bring the lenses?’ asked Khar.

‘
All of them,’ replied Michael.

‘
Good. We are grateful to you. Honestly, we did not expect
anyone to come, or rather, we did not expect anyone would be able
to reach us. You are welcome to stay in our city until you are
ready to depart. We will pool together the one billion credits for
the transfer. It will take at least a day to gather the
money.’

‘
We’re not in a rush. My mechanic needs to repair my ship. We
had some minor hull damage as we fought our way through the
blockade; it’s nothing we can’t fix, but we need a day or two to
complete the repairs.’

‘
Our mechanical engineers will be willing to help if you
require assistance.’

‘
Thank you, General Khar.’

**

Sara, Ethan,
Dog-Two and Gopher agreed to stay with the ship. Ethan had enlisted
Gopher’s help, as it turned out that Gopher had worked as a
mechanic before becoming a thief. Ajax would have preferred Gopher
to stay in deep sleep until they could drop him off on an
appropriate world, but Michael wanted to give Gopher a chance in
much the same way he had given Ajax a chance.

Michael,
Acacius, Ajax, Cynthia and Ivan were led by General Khar and his
men to the far side of the docking platform. A series of elevator
doors were set in the rock wall.

‘
These elevators take us deep underground to Hadeseron, our
last remaining city,’ said General Khar. ‘The aliens destroyed our
surface cities in their first assault. We lost two thirds of our
population. We were forced to move the remaining population to
Hadeseron, which was an underground mining town before the
war.’

‘
How many people live in Hadeseron?’ asked Cynthia.

‘
Two and a half million,’ answered Khar. ‘We expanded the city
to accommodate our entire population. The surface of the planet is
not safe, even with the EPHX cannons, because the EPHX cannons can
only prevent spaceships, rockets and bombs reaching the surface.
The aliens use long range lasers against anyone who chooses to
venture above ground. There is nothing we can do to stop the laser
attacks.’

They entered
one of the elevators, which was large enough for a vehicle. Moments
later they were rapidly descending. After about two minutes the
elevator came to a complete stop.

‘
We are three kilometres beneath the surface,’ said
Khar.

The elevator
door slid open. Directly ahead was a massive subterranean cavern.
Lining the rocky walls of the cavern were five levels of walkways.
Many metal bridges spanned the distance between the walkways. Side
tunnels shot off in every direction. The area was bustling with
people, and it seemed to Michael that the cavern was the centre of
the underground city.

Every man had
an untrimmed beard and mountaineering clothes, and the women wore
long silky dresses, which appeared to be colour coded depending on
their age. The women seemed to be congregating in groups away from
the men, and it was instantly apparent to Michael that the Morosian
culture was strictly divided along gender boundaries, which the
entire population adhered to without exception.

Khar led them
across the smooth stone ground into the city and everyone stared at
them as they continued on.

‘
Our survival is linked to our ongoing commitment to our
traditions and cultural values,’ said Khar. ‘Every Morosian is
happy to follow our traditional way of life. We do what we must do
to survive. You should know, Captain Michael, we think Morosians
are far superior to every other civilisation in Triangulum. Our
ongoing survival is evidence of the strength of our people. We have
outlasted every other civilisation in our region.’

‘
That’s absolute space junk,’ said Ajax with a laugh. ‘The only
reason you have survived so long is because you have those EPHX
cannons. When they fail it’ll be goodbye Moros Gamma. I’d give the
aliens two hours to wipe you out.’

Khar lifted
his chin. He glared at Ajax and his eyes burned with wrath. ‘You
insult my people,’ he hissed, his lips curling sharply
downward.

Ajax met
Khar’s stare and stood tall. He clenched his fists. ‘No, I’m not
insulting your people, but I think you’re insulting everyone who
has died fighting in the war. We are in this together. No one is
better than anyone else.’

The situation
was about to explode. Khar was a proud man, and Michael could see
he wasn’t someone who would easily back down. The last thing he
needed was a fight between Ajax and the leader of the
Morosians.

‘
General Khar, we admire the self-discipline of your people,’
said Michael. ‘We understand the suffering and sacrifice you have
faced whilst fighting the aliens. Ajax, tell General Khar that you
understand the sacrifice the Morosians have made.’

‘
I understand,’ said Ajax soberly, but he didn’t unclench his
fists.

‘
You see,’ said Michael, looking back to Khar.

Khar’s eyes
shifted from Ajax to Michael. ‘You will never find a more
self-disciplined people anywhere in Triangulum,’ he said. ‘It is
wrong for me to become angry. The words of your crew carry little
weight and will not change the way things are. My men will show you
to the guest chambers. Later this afternoon I would like to host a
feast in your honour. It is our custom to welcome guests.’

‘
A feast?’ questioned Cynthia.

‘
Indeed, a feast,’ said Khar. He directed some of the men to
guide them to their rooms and then walked away without another
word.

**

They were
taken down a side tunnel which led away from the main cavern. Their
rooms were not far from the exit elevator and were small chambers
carved out of the rock. They were each given their own room which
consisted of a small bed, a communication console which was
attached to the wall beside the bed, and a small wooden desk.

Cynthia rested
on her bed. She reflected on the time since joining the crew of the
Out Drifter, and her mind was in a spin with everything that had
happened. Her original plan was only to get off the space station;
at best she hoped to join a crew and make a modest income. The last
thing she expected was to be working for the Epherian Emperor and
be caught up in a quest to save humanity.

Her doorbell
sounded. She quickly sat up and walked across her chamber. Acacius
was standing outside the door.

‘
Acacius, is everything okay?’

‘
I need to talk with you, Cynthia. There is much you need to
know.’

CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN

Gartax was on
his knees in the central dome of the alien fleet command. He was
trembling as the Master Shadow swirled around him like black smoke.
The darkness pressed against the light. Icy shivers were shooting
through his body. He had never been so terrified in his whole life,
and he could hardly keep himself from falling face first to the
ground. The presence of the Master Shadow was overwhelming, and he
felt he could die at any moment.