Island of Power

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Island of Power Page 19

by Dean Wesley Smith

He knew for a fact he would never forget it.

  But the mission, even with such heavy casualties, had been a success. The information Edaro and Lee brought back would keep a small army of Union researchers busy for decades, Hank figured. And who knew how much benefit the Union, and all of humanity, would get from what they recovered from the alien city. Edaro even thought that the massive phase generator might be a way out of the Maelstrom.

  Hank figured anything was possible from the island-city.

  Still, as far as he was concerned, that was small consolation for all the lives lost. Sergeant Malone, Private Cort, and the others. Hank felt proud to have known them.

  And damn lucky they’d been there to protect him and Stephanie.

  He was sure Stanton’s expertise and fine scientific mind would be very much missed by the Union. It wasn’t until after they got back that Hank learned that Stanton had played a key role in the research on the Cache.

  Stephanie reached over and took his arm, pulling him close as they walked. “Beautiful night, isn’t it?” she asked.

  He glanced at the starless blackness of the Maelstrom night. “Sure is.”

  “You just saying that?” Stephanie asked.

  “Nope,” he said. “After this last week, walking like this on a beach with you will always mean I’m having a beautiful night.”

  She laughed softly, but said nothing.

  They walked slowly for a short time, then stopped and faced out over the blackness of the night sea.

  “It’s never coming back, is it?” Stephanie asked.

  “I doubt it,” Hank said. And he did. He was telling her the truth. The island wasn’t coming back, at least not to this spot. There were just too many places out there in the Maelstrom for it to appear.

  But he wasn’t so sure about the Pharons. Since they’d returned to the mainland, he’d learned a lot more of what the Union had found in the Cache. His bet was that humanity hadn’t seen the last of those walking dead by a long shot. And they’d been damn lucky to escape them. Again, the fighting ability, bravery, and intelligence of Malone and Cort had been the key.

  “So how do I get that island to leave my head?” Stephanie asked.

  “You don’t,” he said. “You just leave it there, work around it, live with it.”

  “Like a tumor that isn’t growing, but isn’t shrinking,” Stephanie said.

  “Yeah,” he said, not liking the image at all. But he supposed it was accurate.

  They stared in silence out over the black ocean as the waves pounded the beach in front of them. Then, finally, Stephanie took his arm and turned them both back toward home. Then, just before they took the path toward the facility, Stephanie stopped and turned to look out over the ocean one more time.

  “It’s gone.”

  Hank knew it wasn’t a question. It was just a statement.

  “It’s gone,” he said.

  But the memory, the data gleaned from its short presence on Earth, would live on in the Union. As would the memory of those who’d died to bring that treasure home.

  It was the way of war. Hank knew that. He didn’t like it, but he knew it.

  “Let’s go,” Stephanie said, turning away from the ocean. “I’ve got some work to do tomorrow.”

  “So do I.”

  He gave her a hug as they walked up the sandy trail, the ocean, the cold wind, and the memory of the island at their backs.

  D EAN W ESLEY S MITH is the best-selling author of over forty novels and hundreds of short stories. He’s written novels in the gaming world including Shadow Warrior and Unreal. He did the original script for the live action game Star Trek: Klingon, as well as the novelization. His most recent novel is Men in Black: The Green Saliva Blues. Dean has also been a publisher and editor and is currently editing a Star Trek anthology called Strange New Worlds for Pocket Books. His work has been nominated for every major award in science fiction and fantasy, including the World Fantasy Award, Nebula Award, Stoker Award, Locus Award, and four times for the Hugo Award. He has won both the Locus Award and a World Fantasy Award.

 

 

 


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