When the Stars Fade (The Gray Wars) (76 page)

             
“And what of the Nangolani
?”
Hiro asked.

             
“Fuck them
,”
Walker said bluntly
.“
Humanity made it this long without help. We can make it a little while longer
.
”

             
Hiro sighed. There was more to this change in tone from the friendly aliens, he just knew it. But arguing with the FleetCom would do no good
.“
Should we inform the High Chancellor
?
”

             
Walker thought for a moment
.“
All the bigwigs are at their damned convention in Colorum. If the Emperor has something to say, he can do it to the H
C’
s face
.
”

*              *              *              *              *             

              “Absolutely not, Ray
.”
A thick vein stood out on Director Chave
z’
s forehead, throbbing with each spat-out chastisement. The verbal assault had started almost immediately after entering the office, and had
n’
t relented once.

             
Ray had
n’
t sent out any of his findings. At first h
e’
d rationalized it by saying he needed to recheck the data, but after a while he knew he could never out an entire race. Especially not when it would probably mean the death of a close friend. In fact, given the tense political climate, it could mean the exile of every alien in every human controlled system. Still, the truth would escape somehow. If he buried the results and tried to wish them away, h
e’
d wind up in the middle of the fallout. So he went to Chavez while Mara went off to the Nangolani Royal Magister.

             
The director had not, thus far, been receptive to the idea of an alien double-cross. His advice was to wipe the information off the mainframe. Destroy the evidence and be done with the whole mess. There was no happy ending to such a revelation.

             
“Sir
,”
Ray said
.“
People have to know. The Council has to know
.
”

             
“The Council and the High Chancellor are all on board with a united intergalactic front. If we show them this, w
e’
re talking about a universe-wide riot
.”
Chavez wiped a hand over his sweaty mouth
.“
This could bring down the Federate
.
”

             
Ray laughed nervously
.“
Yo
u’
re kidding
.”
He saw that the director was not
.“
Yo
u’
re being melodramatic. Ther
e’
d be fallout, and no planet would be safe for the Nangolani for a few months, but it would pass. It was a terrible thing they did, but it was only the Nangolani leaders. Their citizens had no idea,
I’
m sure of that. And Earth and the colonies would agree
.
”

             
“Do
n’
t be so naive, Ray. Millions of people are dead. Millions. They have that counter in Vienna, the one they put up after Tallus. What the Nangolani did was enable genocide. Do you really think people will ever let that drop? They lured monsters into our backyard and tricked us into picking a fight
.
”

             
“People forgave Germany after the Holocaust
,”
Ray said.

             
Chavez held up a hand, cutting him off
.“
They were still human. And we forgive each other for the sins of our fathers. This is an alien race that started lying to us the moment they arrived, all to put us in the crosshairs and save themselves
.
”

             
“It was to save their species. The Boxti wiped out whole civilizations
.
”

             
The director shook his head
.“
Jesus, Ray. Whose side are you on? None of that matters, anyway
.”
He reached into his desk and pulled out a crumpled pack of cigarettes. Ray wrinkled his nose as Chavez lit one and took in a deep drag
.“
The wa
r’
s almost over. Any day now, the
y’
ll finish that treaty on New Eden. We lost a lot of lives last year, but i
t’
s amazing how quickly people forget if there is even a modest bit of distance between them and tragedy. They wo
n’
t remember who the real enemy is if our so called friends are behind the biggest conspiracy in the last hundred years
.
”

             
“So what do we do
?”
Ray asked, throwing his hands up in frustration
.“
Bury it? Pretend none of this ever happened? The truth is going to find a way out
.
”

             
Chavez inhaled smoke and let it out through his nostrils
.“
We hold it as long as possible, then try to weather the storm that will come. If yo
u’
re really friends with that alien scientist, you should tell her to get the hell out. Tell them all to get out
.
”

-                           
VII                            -

              “For you, this war is just begun. The pain and loss you have suffered is but a taste of what the Boxti have wrought upon hapless trillions throughout the galaxy
.”
Anduin paused for effect, his gaze cast out among the assembled crowd. They had
n’
t seemed interested in his speech at first, but slowly their attention had become singular and focused. He had them
.“
You just recently learned of life beyond your own solar systems, but you should weep for the races already lost. Voices you will never hear. Temples you can never visit. Histories you will learn from books rather than from the beings themselves. The Voga, the Drek, the Binar. All turned to ashes because they would not bow down.

             
“Humanity is young by all standards but your own. The Nangolani were proud and prosperous when your people were fighting over the fields of Gaul. We built an empire before you mastered masonry. When you discovered flight, we watched the planets of our allies burn beneath the endless barrage of the black fleet
.
”

             
Cameron and Adeline listened to the speech from near the wall, close to the podium. While the aide seemed entranced by the passionate speech, the pilot did
n’
t know whether or not he should seem impressed with what amounted to a verbal beatdown. Andui
n’
s damning statements against the Federate seemed to conjure some small spark in the politicians, but not much. The pilot wondered if the assembly actually heard the words being used or simply relegated it to white noise. The alie
n’
s message was painfully clear: Anduin did not expect humanity to survive the coming war. The Terrans had lost interest in their first intergalactic conflict once the blood had congealed, barely even looking up when a sovereign planet came under invasion. What no one cared to admit, the harsh reality that Anduin explained, was that humanity was losing.

             
A few members of the press lazily held out their recorders, though most mingled with the Council members and governors. A group of aides conversed with an attractive trio of media assistants, each hoping to gain something from the other side. Soldiers mostly kept to the back, trying to avoid eye contact with anyone not wearing dress grays. All the while the leader of an alien nation begged for an audience that would never come.

             
Something else caught Camero
n’
s attention; subtle movement in the corner of his eye. Anduin had his own guard, an elite group of Nangolani soldiers dressed in ceremonial garb and carrying powerful weapons. Each one now stared out the windows, mumbling something in their own language. They had been standing, seemingly in prayer, for the last few minutes. Cameron shook his head, trying to tune back into the speech.

             
“In the study of humanity, we realized that what separates a lost cause from a rallying banner is often one tragic event. Your race loses interest when the body count climbs too high, but holds when the life of one is in the balance. We watched wars be fought over high ideals and fail, while those without purpose carried the spirit of nations. We watched, and we learned
.
”

             
Something flashed in the distance, out near the asteroid field. A distant speck, barely noticeable to anyone in the room, had turned toward the station. No one but a fighter pilot would even have noticed. From the subtle side-to-side motion, Cameron could tell it was a ship and not a projectile. Still, it was approaching at incredible speeds. He looked around the room, wondering if he should mention the vessel to security. Andui
n’
s voice reverberated off the walls as his speech reached its climax.

             
“Tonight marks a momentous occasion. I hope that my words have imparted some semblance of wisdom onto you. I hope that you can understand the dire straits my people have been in for the last hundred years. We watched our skies burn, our lakes boil away and our people die in agony, all to buy us the precious few moments we needed to escape. We honor them and remember their sacrifice, and that memory unites our race
.”
He paused, taking a deep breath
.“
And I hope that your sacrifice will unite your people for the struggles ahead
.
”

             
A wave of murmurs washed across the room as the politicians wondered aloud what the Emperor was saying. Cameron did
n’
t notice. His attention was locked on the incoming ship. From this distance, he could
n’
t make out any markings. What he could see were the three other ships flying in along side the first. Then it was five. Then six. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. A coppery taste filled his mouth. One by one, the incoming vessels ignited afterburners and raced for their target.

             
Cameron turned and grabbed Jerr
y’
s arm, squeezing tight. He stared into the old ma
n’
s eyes
.“
We have to get the High Chancellor out. Now
.
”

             
Anduin stared at the confused masses, anticipation growing in his chest. He had prepared for this moment countless times, but nothing could ready him for the fear.
Will it be enough?
It had to be this way. Would that things had taken a different turn, he would have preferred to stay and serve his people. Maybe, in this small way, he could. Anduin swallowed a lump in his throat
.“
For JohGal
,”
he cried out, raising his arms in the air. Around the room his soldier
s’
voices joined their Emperor. As the kamikaze strike force closed in, the screams of the humans echoed throughout
Imperion
.

             
Alexander could
n’
t speak. One moment he was trying to understand the alie
n’
s speech, the next he was being dragged down the hall toward the exit by the pilot and his chief of staff. Jerry led the way, shoving past a crowd of onlookers as they made their way toward the emergency shuttles. Camero
n’
s grip on the politicia
n’
s arm did
n’
t let up as they entered the stairwell. Many crew and passengers stood around in confusion waiting for someone in authority to give a command. Reality dawned as
Imperion
rocked violently to the side, the sound of metal on metal lost in an enormous explosion as passengers and crew were tossed to the ground. Smoke filled the corridors, mixing with flashing emergency lights to completely disorient everyone aboard. Screams of pain and terror added to the deafening decompressions and warbling klaxons.

             
Seconds later, the second ship tore into the bridge. Three tons of liquid explosives vaporized the captain and flight crew, blowing the entire room out of existence. 

             
Alexander shouted over the din
.“
What the hell is going on
?
”