The Chosen Race (Space Empires Book 2)

by Caleb Selby

  Darion shook his head as he ran down the hall toward the next flight of stairs. There was no discrete option for getting out anymore. Other Krohns would find their dead comrades in minutes and then escape would be all but impossible. He ran down flights of stairs and through long hallways, not even bothering to examine the dark shadows and open doorways anymore. He dropped a few more grenades as he ran, linking them all to his remote detonator.

  With some manner of luck, he somehow reached the ground floor of the facility without further incident and began looking in desperation for an exit. He frantically pushed through a set of doors before he realized that he had, quite on accident, stumbled into the main hangar he had noticed from far above. Several Krohns were casually guarding the strange ship while other Krohns milled around the doors on the opposite side of the room. Darion dropped to the ground and crawled toward the black ship, taking advantage of the dim lighting and shadows once again.

  The alien looking craft looked more sinister than ever as he studied it from the cover of a large pillar’s shadow. Darion reached into his makeshift pack and removed four of the black and deadly shock grenades and gently rolled each of them underneath the ship. When they were in place, Darion grabbed one more, primed it to go off on impact and stood up in preparation of charging through the room to get to the exit on the other side.

  He was just working up the courage to make his attack when a tremendously loud alarm started going off on all levels of the facility. The bodies had been found!

  He peered through his optic enhancers across the hangar floor and spotted the main entrance through a set of heavy double doors. The Krohns that were between him and the doors went on high guard and primed their weapons. Darion had no choice. He swallowed hard and leveled his pistol in his hand and took a shot at the nearest Krohn’s head. His shot missed and landed on the creature’s chest. The Krohn stumbled back in a shocked daze before it swirled its long rod like weapon around and fired several shots at random in Darion’s direction.

  Darion used the support beam for cover as the vastly more powerful Krohn weapons smashed all around, blasting up pieces of the floor and ceiling and raining dust down upon him. After the last shot smashed into the wall behind him, Darion swung out from behind the pillar and fired several more shots at the wounded Krohn. All his shots missed and he ducked again as more shots from other Krohns began to rain around him.

  Following a blast that smashed into a decorative ridge above the pillar, Darion whipped the live shock grenade at the cluster of Krohns, hoping against hope they wouldn’t spot him through the dust. A large explosion rang out, followed by multiple Krohn roars and screams. Darion didn’t even cautiously look to see if they were dead or just wounded. He had to get out, now or never! He jumped out from behind the pillar and started running toward the doors. He noticed to his left a Krohn torn into several pieces, some of which were twitching wildly. Another Krohn to his right had lost an arm and its tail in the explosion and was sitting on the ground in a daze. When he saw Darion running toward him, he grabbed for his weapon but Darion beat him to the draw, firing several snap shots at the wounded creature, two of them making lethal contact upon the creature’s wounded and exposed chest. The brawny reptile then slumped over, dead.

  Darion was halfway across the hangar floor when shots started raining down from up above. He glanced up and saw Krohn gunmen from several of the observation decks and balconies firing down at him. Returning fire where he was would have been suicide so he continued to run toward the doors dodging the relentless laser fire the best he could.

  He was nearly there when he heard a terrible, near demonic growl and looked behind him in time to see Armid leap from his balcony perch, some ten floors up, and land disturbingly quietly on the hangar floor.

  Darion immediately dove into his pocket and retrieved his adapter. He latched it to his lydeg’s muzzle all without slowing down.

  “Stop running!” Armid shouted out in a friendly, convincing voice. “I want to talk to you. It’s me, Armid! Darion stop! I’m sorry about what you’ve been through but I can explain!”

  Darion ran all the faster. As he ran, he took out his last two grenades and dropped them to floor. He reached the double doors and looked back as Armid, seemingly without effort, glided toward him without moving his feet. Suddenly, a dozen more figures dropped down from above and gathered around Armid. They also seemed to approach without moving their feet, a frightening scene for even the stoutest of soldiers.

  Darion swallowed hard and brought up his adapter quipped pistol and pointed it at Armid. “That’s far enough!”

  Armid looked at the pistol and then started to laugh. “Darion, is that anyway to treat your good friend? Put the gun down and lets talk. We can put all this unpleasantness behind us. Come on!”

  Armid’s companions continued to approach, their hands lifted out toward Darion like mindless drones bent only on killing their target.

  “There is much we can do if we work together!” Armid beseeched once more. “Lower your weapon and come upstairs with us.”

  Darion paused for a moment, his gun lowered slightly. A smile crept over Armid’s face. But just when Armid thought he had him, Darion raised his gun back up and aimed it at Armid. “You’ve manipulated me for the last time!” he yelled as he closed his eyes and pulled the trigger.

  A flash of powerful light flashed from the muzzle and obliterated Armid and his nearest cohorts to nothing more than ash. The remaining Unmentionables promptly lost their Namuh forms and cowered back, their mighty tentacles and fearful heads squirming with trepidation. They were dumfounded that such a devastating attack had come from someone they had long since labeled a non-threat. Much to their relief, Darion didn’t press his attack further. Rather, he took the space he was given and ran out the main doors as fast as his legs would carry him. As he reached the building’s grand atrium, he grabbed the remote detonator from off his belt and pressed his thumb firmly down on the detonator’s release.

  The magnificent explosion that followed propelled Darion out the doors and landed him on the staircase outside the main entrance. He got up without looking back and hobbled toward the transport tube where the pod was still docked. He ran up the steps to the transport entrance and looked back at the building. Plumes of smoke and fire billowed out from multiple floors. Many of the huge windows that spanned the building’s height were shattered and the façade of the building was beginning to disintegrate under the fury of the raging fire within.

  Darion ducked into the pod. His work was done. Now if only he could get back to Larep and find Reesa and Professor Jabel before his due retaliation came. He placed his makeshift pack on the seat next to him. A flap of the pack slid open and he noticed the lightweight, high power explosive device he had acquired from the communications room. His mind went to work as he secured himself into the cockpit and fired the main thrusters.

  President Defuria glared into the video monitoring screen of the Clear Skies Research Center. The flames leaping out from the building evoked a wicked smile. He had planned on taking out this core group of Unmentionables himself with a photo-eruption bomb he had planted in the facility weeks earlier; but this would work too.

  CHAPTER 13

  Death’s Sting

  “All hands to attention!” Commander Kendrick called out as he and his fellow officers on the Hornell bridge clicked their heels together and brought up their clenched fists to cover their hearts. They gazed out the huge windows in the front of the room, which gave a perfect view of the Defiant as it flew past their ship.

  The Defiant, complete with a makeshift crew and repaired systems, flew down the column of mighty vessels, jettisoning tiny parcels, hardly visible by most. Each parcel contained the body of one of the hundreds of casualties lost by the Defiant.

  “Let us not forget,” Kendrick’s voice rang over the ship’s link, “the sacrifices your fellow comrades have made. T
heir names and stories must not be forgotten!”

  “We have lost more than fellow servicemen and women here,” Commander Searle said as the Defiant past by the Revenge Cruiser. “We have lost part of our family. Let them retain life by living through your hearts and memories.”

  The ship flew past the Arbitrator, the Defiant’s sister ship. “Your comrades will be avenged!” Commander Colby yelled out over the loud speakers of his entire ship.

  Commodore Kesler and Lieutenant Tarkin stood together on the bridge of the Idok. Kesler said nothing as the ship past by. He instead silently thought of all of the friends that he had served with over the years that had perished on the Defiant, and determined deep inside that they would not be forgotten.

  Tarkin looked on in reverent awe at the sight before him. He prayed that death, which was now so commonplace, would soon be a rare occurrence.

  The Iovara was the last ship in the line. Fedrin stood at attention in the main meeting room on the underside of the Iovara. Etana stood at attention by his side. As the Defiant passed, Fedrin initiated a fleet wide transmission.

  “This day is indeed sorrowful. I do not deny that,” he began. “Commander Drezden was among my closest of friends and I will miss him greatly. But let us not mourn the passing of our friends, family, and comrades as we have done in days gone by, filled with fear and without hope. Yova, the Creator of all and the one whom we have neglected for so many eons, still lives. He rewards the just and punishes the unjust. He will care for our comrades in their new eternal home across the galaxy’s horizon. Take comfort in this. Death’s sting is not as bitter as it once was and the grave’s victory over our destiny is waning.”

  He swallowed hard, fighting back tears as the Defiant released the last of the bodies. Etana squeezed his hand, from which he drew strength to proceed.

  “Today we stand on the brink of changing the galaxy forever. Soon, very soon, we will never need to say goodbye in this manner again. After our home world has been liberated, and the wrongs done for these many years are righted, we will enjoy the peace and prosperity known only to the Namuh ancestors who lived during the time when they recognized and revered Yova. So look up my friends! We are now returning to the ways that made our people strong! We are returning home!”

  The transmission ended and the Sixth fleet, together with the lone Sion freighter, resumed a normal flight pattern. They were less than one day’s journey away from Namuh Prime and an uncertain future.

  The transportation station was crawling with Krohn soldiers. After the evasive intruder destroyed their regional headquarters, a lucky Krohn survivor signaled ahead and told the Krohn contingent at the transport station to be ready for the pod which he had seen speeding away from the scene. Two entire Krohn regiments stood ready to apprehend the fugitive and ensure his capture. Krohns stood guard at every passageway, every doorway and every exit. Nothing could get in or out of the building alive. Over three hundred Krohns patrolled the tracks themselves within the bowels of the station and several hundred more patrolled the station itself. If their target should try and jump out of the pod early, they’d be ready. And if they just couldn’t help but rip off an arm or leg in the process of capturing him alive, they would just have to eat it. They wouldn’t want all the succulent Namuh meat to go to waste.

  Suddenly, in the distance, a light could be seen speeding down the dedicated Research Center line. Clicks and hisses where heard everywhere as the Krohns got into their positions. Stun weapons had been distributed and ropes were ready to bind him.

  The pod slowed as it entered the confines of the station. The Krohns were cautious; they did not charge the pod or some other equally rash thing. The Namuh inside was not to be trifled with. It was being rumored that he had single handedly attacked and destroyed the invasion headquarters, killing several dozen guards and a large majority of the ranking officers. Some Krohns were even speculating in hushed hisses that this was the same Namuh that had evaded a Krohn patrol outside the First National Bank of Larep the other night. In any case, the Krohns were taking no chances. Over three hundred stun rods were pointed in the direction of the pod as it slowed to a stop near the Clear Skies service terminal.

  They waited with bated breath for the Namuh to open the door and show himself, but he didn’t. After several patient minutes waiting for their target to make his move, a ruckus occurred on one of the overhead platforms as a Krohn officer ordered two of his underlings to go down and open the pod. They protested vehemently giving loud objecting “hisses,” to their squad leader. The leader would have none of that and with one whip of his mighty tail, propelled one of his underlings off the ledge and sent him crashing into one of the many tubes below, killing him instantly. Having watched his partner die; the other Krohn immediately gave a respectful “click-click,” of his tongue and leapt over the side of the ledge, landing on one of the nearby tubes.

  He bounded to a lower track and then to a lower until he was finally atop the Clear Skies tube itself. He hopped off and walked up to the entranceway, his tail poised and his red eyes wide open. Plumes of steam poured out from beneath the pod as the cooling system worked on the hot track runners.

  The lone Krohn looked up at his hundreds of comrades scattered over the massive track system and felt a little more comfortable. He then walked up to the door and tried the handle. It was open. His talon slowly tugged it ajar and then he bounded away, darting behind an exhaust vent on the other side of the platform and then waited. Nothing happened. “Hiss-hiss, click-click,” came from up above as his superior sternly told him to go in and flush him out. The Krohn looked up at him and gave a disgusted look and flared his long nostrils. He then crept back to the pod and peeked inside the open door. Rows and rows of neat and apparently empty chairs were inside. He stepped back again and looked back up at his superior. There was no mercy from him. The Krohn took a deep breath and jumped inside the pod giving off an intimidating gurgling hiss as he did.

  Nothing within the pod moved. The Krohn shook his head as he realized he would have to do it the hard way. He started to slowly walk the aisles, looking in every seat for the Namuh that was causing so much trouble. He was halfway through the pod when a pleasant thought came to him. Providing he wasn’t killed prior, he would get the first bites! This made him smile and he quickened his pace.

  He was nearly to the front when his slanted reptilian eyes spotted an object at the very front of the pod. He cautiously approached it. He was still six rows away when he leapt over the remaining seats and into the front row. His claws tore through the fabric of the seat as he landed and much to his surprise, and dismay, no Namuh awaited him there. The only thing to be found was a small cylindrical device.

  The Krohn glanced up and sniffed the air, catching the scent of a Namuh that had been there recently. He hopped off the seat and back into the aisle. He then turned and picked up the tube and inspected it. Upon turning it around he saw a small display panel situated right under a miniature keypad. Red flashing symbols were being displayed on the panel in steady succession. He sniffed the device. His red eyes grew with understanding but the revelation came too late.

  The powerful explosion ripped through the station like it was made of paper. Krohns on the tracks dropped their weapons and covered their faces from the heat only to be incinerated by the ravenous flames. All the remaining transport tubes instantly shattered and fell in pieces to the cluttered station floor. The few Krohns not lucky enough to have been burned up instantly, were propelled in every direction only to be charbroiled alive as they fell into the flames.

  In all, two hundred and thirty-seven of the Krohns assigned to the simple task of capturing one Namuh, died. Dozens of others were maimed beyond usefulness.

  Darion could feel the tremor of the explosion as he limped through the alleys of Larep, being careful to stay out of the open when possible. He had, of course, gotten out of the pod long before it had reached the station
but not without twisting his ankle during his impromptu leap from the fast moving pod. He was alive though, and that was the important thing for now.

  He slowly made his way toward his designated meeting place with Reesa, praying with each step that she would be there. His pace was slow, but steady. He continually told himself that the hard part of the task was over and soon; very soon, he would be able to rest.

  After several hours of walking, Darion spotted an overturned concession stand in the middle of the street. He cautiously approached it, making sure it wasn’t a trap set up by a crafty Krohn. He didn’t wait long to find out. He hadn’t had anything to eat or drink in over a day and he was famished. As he approached it, Darion noticed that the small thermal reducer attached to the cart had been tipped over onto its side and its contents had already been rummaged through. Darion managed to salvage a few slices of stale bread and two small water bottles, which he wasted no time in consuming.

  After his impromptu meal, Darion began to walk again, this time at a faster pace, his strength and energy being renewed from the sustenance as well as a newfound vigor to be done with this wretched war once and for all!

  CHAPTER 14

  Catacomb of Corridors

  Three men ran through the narrow passageway that connected bunker corridor H-1 to H-2, as fast as their legs would carry them. All were in civilian clothing and each carried weapons of various types.

  “Keep running!” the one in the lead yelled, as he peeked back just in time to see a dozen Krohn soldiers overrun the position they had held for over an hour. “They’ve broken through!”

  Several of the lead Krohns saw the fleeing figures and ran up to the entrance of the connecting tunnel and fired several volleys down the corridor, striking the rearmost man in the leg.

  “Ahhh!” the man yelled as he fell to the ground in pain.