Throwing the pistol and missing his target, he looked around wildly for a way to escape as the former prisoners closed their circle around him.
“No, it wasn’t my fault!” he cried, “Please don’t kill me!”
“Don’t anyone shoot him,” ordered a man in a tattered navy uniform bearing the rank of master chief.
“That’s right don’t shoot me,” Darden agreed and kind of smiled, “Take me prisoner and send me to jail.”
The circle continued to close around him as they gripped their weapons and tools more tightly.
“No you fucking traitor, you’re not going to prison,” one of the men said.
“The only place you are going is to hell!” another said throwing his composite alloy pry bar and hitting him across his thigh.
Darden cried out in pain and immediately fell down to the hand cut stone floor.
“It’s not my fault! She was a telepath and forced me to serve her!’ he yelled.
This statement paused some of the members of this vengeance seeking mob bringing them to a standstill as others continued to move in on him.
Seeing their momentary hesitation, he played on his last statement desperately grasping at any straw that could save his life.
“That’s right, she was in my mind and made me do those horrible things,” he said and then laughed hysterically.
Scotty Darden pulled himself up to his knees and scanned the faces of the men around him. They were angry faces but were considering his words and excuses. They had all been read by telepaths some even deep probed and they knew their effect and the power they had over the human mind.
The master chief looked down at the pathetic creature that was Darden and shook his head.
“Bull Shit!” he said good and loud, his voice was full of distrust for the traitor that Darden truly was. Maybe it had been his laugh or maybe it was that they just couldn’t believe him as he was a little piece of shit.
The master chief swung his auto wrench as hard as he could, fueled with the power of vengeance and struck the sniveling coward and traitor along the side of his head. The blow sent him crashing back to the floor. It was less than a second before the other former prisoners jumped in raining down blow after blow upon him.
Those that had paused in hesitation at his excuses now rushed forward to add their blows to the others. It was all unnecessary as by the time it took for them to step the few feet they needed to get to him he was already dead. His death didn’t stop the blows as everyone wanted, maybe even needed to strike the body of this thing that had caused them so much pain and hardship.
What was even more disturbing was that many of those other hundreds of prisoners that weren’t present would later come to see the remains long after he had been dealt with. Many of them even picked up discard tools left by the original group of vigilantes and also struck his broken body. It would have been considered twisted by civilized standards but to those men it was cathartic.
The stain that his crushed body and spilt blood left would have taken countless hours of scrubbing to the stone floor to remove, that is if anyone could have bothered to care.
Epilogue - Part Two - “The Future”
War Report to the High Council of Matrons
The Great Hall of the High Matrons composed of a single large circular table that was shaped like the letter U. Around it was a beautiful garden like environment echoing back to their once agrarian and peacefully past. The table was to represent that they had no leaders and that all houses were equal but the truth was that it wasn’t a perfect circle. It was a letter U in shape and it had an opening to allow people to stand before them. This shape meant that there was a center and traditionally that was where the strongest houses’ mistresses would sit. Weaker houses or those out of favor would sit at the ends of the table, furthest from the center.
At this time only eight of the twelve seats were filled. The two seats on both ends of the U shape were left vacant. They were for the four houses that had lost the Karduan Internal War. They had been broken during that conflict as well as feeling betrayed by some of the other houses who had switched sides in the middle of the war.
The council was currently in session and eight seats were filled with the appointed representatives from their houses. These women had earned their seat fighting in wars and duels as well political maneuvering and by secret deals. The House of Win and Vo were in the center of the U shaped table while the Houses of Seil, Kar and Kei were to their left. To their right were seated the Houses of Nol, Mar and Na.
Before these Great Houses stood the Chronicler of the Council, who was in the midst of her daily report.
“We have achieved victories across dozens of key systems. The humans’ defense and attack fleets have been decimated or have been scattered. Most of the human settled worlds in these areas have surrendered or have signed treaties with us. Our newly established front lines and control of these key systems has stabilized,” she said as some of the council members smiled and nodded while a few still frowned.
One problem she had was that most of the members were Prendere and wouldn’t hesitate to scan her to see if she was speaking the truth. Any sign of deception on her part could cost her that life.
“What about our setbacks,” the High Mistress from the House of Vo inquired with a sour looking expression on her pale blue face.
“The human 40th Attack Fleet, despite being badly outnumbered managed to defeat our forces at the Kodo system which they call the Helena system,” she answered telling them what they already knew. The system was one of the key routes to Earth and was well defended.
“And?” the High Mistress of the House of Win prompted having received word of missing ships from her own house.
“In the Kido system which they call Austro we have taken several losses. At least four squadrons had been defeated or have simple disappeared.”
“My daughter is still among the missing as well,” said the High Mistress of the House of Seil. She had been reported captured by an escaping cruiser months ago and no word had been heard about her since that time.
“We sent three more squadrons in to the area to hunt down this human attack cruiser that we believe has been responsible for this,” the Chronicler continued trying to ignore the House of Seil’s comment. It seemed that this was all that the Mistress of Seil was concerned with and the other houses were tired of hearing her cry about her missing daughter.
“What is the latest report?” asked the House of Kar knowing that this sector was within the House of Win’s zone of responsibility.
“Grand Fleet Mistress Pir-Ly lost several ships including a battle destroyer when she laid an unsuccessful trap for the attack cruiser. Since that battle she has been searching for weeks to no avail as it seems that the enemy has once more vanished. We sent in Squadron Mistress Di-Jac to reinforce her but her squadron has also seemingly disappeared and cannot be found.”
The council members rumbled in whispered talk after this update.
“How could one ship do all of this?” asked the High Mistress of the House of Seil.
The room became quiet for a moment in awkward silence.
“What of our lines?” questioned the Mistress of the House of Mar changing the subject.
“Our success has spread our forces thin,” Ma-Win declared.
The Chronicler looked to the High Mistress of the House of Win in surprise at this revelation and waited for her guidance before she answered. The Lady Ma-Win tapped her long finger once telling her to proceed.
“My ladies, the High Council has used almost all of our reserve fleets to make this breakthrough and we are now short of ships. We are repairing captured ships and using human slave crews but have found much resistance to both of these measures. Our people don’t like the smelly human ships and the human crews and workers are ever defiant. They willingly die resisting or would sabotage their work or revolt at a pivotal time in a battle and often have to be punished or slain,” she explained givi
ng them some of the hard truths.
“Perhaps a drug or compound could be found or made to make the humans more compliant?” the House of Nol suggested. Her house was very skilled at such things for both healing and for the removal of their enemies.
High Mistress Ma-Win looked at her as if to say make it so.
“What of the human forces?” the Mistress of Na inquired.
“They have proven both surprisingly skilled and resilient. Many of their ship captains fight to the very last to allow other ships to escape. They must also have extensive production facilities and resources as new ships and older ones that have been upgraded have quickly moved up to systems along our new front,” the Chronicler reported.
“They have suffered a horrible defeat and they are pulling up all of their reserves just to block us from seizing their home world,” the House of Mar’s Mistress argued.
“They are also fleeing from our forces rather than fighting,” the Mistress Kei added.
“When will our ships under construction be ready?” asked the Mistress of the House of Kar.
Kar was the oldest of the houses and had once been the sole government for Kardua before the Voroosh came. Its mistress was very cautious and some say longed for the days before there was a High Council.
“Our first group of ships won’t be ready for at least two full cycles,” the Chronicler reported. That is if all of the Houses were being honest with their construction reports she thought. She had found in the past that many of them tended to exaggerate their progress in such matters.
Some of the eight members of the council made noises of displeasure at this announcement.
“How will we be able to reinforce our lines let alone continue our advance?” the Mistress of Na exclaimed.
The council garden once more became quiet for a moment. That moment was broken by the sounds of booted feet walking on the stone floor. A second later a group turned a corner around numerous potted bushes and columns as they walked to the center of the U.
Many of the council members started to talk at the sight of the approaching group. Ma-Win banged her crook of office on the table and the other mistresses quickly became silent.
The group was of the four mistresses of the rebel houses who had lost their internal war and who had then decided to sit out the war with the humans. They had given only minimal aid to the High Council and only when asked or required. They had even refused to resume their seats on the council.
Besides their appearance there were several other surprising things about them. The first was that they weren’t wearing their traditional robes fitting for council but were wearing combat uniforms. Instead of their staffs of office they each had a sheathed patar. Dragging along behind them was a human slave who was staggering just to keep up with them as they yanked on a leash that was tied about his neck.
The council was not scared of an attack as they had armed guardswomen nearby from each of their houses. It was the sight of the Four that made them anxious as they had not attended a meeting since the end of the Internal War.
Their leader was Mar-Du, she was of the House of Tor and was the Head of the Four. A skilled fleet mistress and a noted Patar Master, she was once a prominent and feared name amongst the houses before her house had lost their civil war.
Mar-Du and the mistresses of the other three houses stopped at the opening of the U. Once there she yanked on the leash and pulled her stumbling prisoner forward. The human officer tripped and fell before the Four and the High Council and stayed on the ground for moment before slowly pulling himself up to his knees.
The council members reeled back not only from the sight of the prisoner but from his smell. It wasn’t the normal smell of meat but this was the stench of sweat, blood and filth.
Ma-Win was about to ask what this was all about but Mar-Du beat her to the punch.
“Is this what you are all so scared of?” she asked “is this what keeps us from greatness?”
She stepped forward and kicked the human male in the ass and sent him flying face first to the stone floor. His tattered and filthy Confederation navy uniform could be seen as well as his rank of captain.
“What is the meaning of this?” Ma-Win demanded.
“We have come to take our rightful seats on the council,” said the Mistress from the House of El.
“Then take them! They have always been here waiting for you,” the House of Vo’s mistress spitted back at them.
The Houses of El, Ves and Sorn started to move but Mar-Du held her hand up and they stopped.
Ma-Win frowned seeing there was more to their appearance than that of restored unity of the council.
“What is that you want?” she asked staring at the Head of the Four.
“We have come to save you and the Karduan people,” the Mistress of Tor replied.
The High Council erupted into protest and it took Ma-Win to bang her crook of office to settle them down.
The Four stood before them with expressionless faces waiting for them to regain their composure.
“Your must be delusional to think your four pitiful houses could possibly help us in any kind of significant way!” said the Mistress of Vo. The House of Vo had always been the House of Win’s ally and usually acted as their pain stick to those that would defy their will.
Mar-Du scanned the eight seated mistresses before she answered.
“You are about to lose this war. You have extended your lines too far and the enemy has stopped you from going any further. You lack the forces to exploit your momentary advantage and your lines will break if you don’t fall back or find more ships.”
“And how can your four broken Houses possibly help us?” The Mistress of Mar spat.
“We are not as broken as you think,” Mar-Du revealed, “in fact while you have been waging this war with the humans we have been rebuilding.”
“What do you offer to this fight?” Ma-Win asked.
“We have eight fleets that are ready for combat and four more that will be ready by the end of the next cycle,” she answered.
Once more the High Council broke out into grumbling and talk.
“How could you field such a force?” someone asked.
“With twelve fleets we could finish our drive and destroy the humans,” another mistress commented.
“We could capture Earth and take over the human home world,” the Mistress of Na declared.
Mistress Ma-Win again banged her crook until the garden hall became quiet.
It wasn’t a Karduan voice that broke the silence this time but a human one. The voice was one of laughter as the human captive stood up from where he knelt.
Confederation Captain Richard Johnson had once been the commanding officer of the ISS Melbourne. Unfortunately for him, his heavy cruiser had been at the Battle of Bova Four which was one of the first human losses of the war. The Karduans had some how taken the over the human drone force of SF-18 star fighters and managed to turn them against their makers.
The whole battle became a debacle as the drones were ordered to self destruct and the Karduan ships moved to take advantage of the chaos. The Confederation fleet ordered a full retreat but the enemy was already upon them and their lines became fragmented as some ships fought while others ran.
The ISS Melbourne had no chance of escape and instead held the line as other ships made a break for the gravity well. Outnumbered three to one, Captain Johnson engaged the enemy driving into them and forcing them to break their pursuit and deal with his heavy cruiser. He gave them a good fight and was able to badly damage a destroyer and cripple a destroyer escort. Despite his brave fight the enemy held the advantage and he was forced to order his surviving crew to abandon ship as he set the Melbourne on a course away from their escape pods. Once the ship was clear it self destructed taking with her another destroyer escort that was trying to board her and ultimately was too close for its own good.
Captain Johnson had escaped with his crew having contemplated for a minute if he
should have stayed with his ship and gone down with her. It was an archaic idea but now he wished he had. The one thing he didn’t know about the enemy was that they had telepaths, if he had he would have stayed with his ship and died with her.
For what felt like months, telepath after telepath came in to work on him. He resisted them but they would just grab him and force their way deeper into his mind. Sometimes they would shock him first or have the guards beat him to soften him up. After they were done with him he found that he could barely function and was finally sent to a agro produce work camp. At the work camp other prisoners helped him and cared for him. It was a year or so before he could once more speak or even knew who he was.
He had been working in the fields pulling weeds when the Karduan shuttle landed nearby and a host of guardswomen jumped out. They grabbed him and took him away to a starship without a word of explanation. On his journey he was once more beaten by his captors but this time no one asked him a single question. He steeled himself for the appearance of a telepath, determined to resist as he had before even though he he knew it was futile but no telepath appeared. He knew that he no longer had any useful information or intelligence that could aid them. As they beat him he realized that they wanted him as an example. Some kind of offering needed to be made and he was it.
Years of captivity, added with mental and physical abuse made him a sorry sight. The recent beatings along with the lack of food and water were to add to this overall picture of weakness and vulnerability. He did have one advantage that his captors didn’t realize. In his years of captivity, he had learned the Karduan language. As he was dragged from the starship and hustled along he listened to them talk and knew what they wanted to use him for.
Now as he knelt there before the Karduan High Council he knew he had one chance to strike back at them. Laughing with all his might he dragged himself to his feet and faced them in defiance.
“You mighty ladies think you can win this war but you are the ones who are sorely mistaken. The Confederation has vast production capabilities and shipyards. We have a people who have a long history of warfare. You’ve been warriors for what a mere hundred years? Hell, my people have been a warrior race for thousands and thousands of years! We have perfected warfare to an art, to a game we teach our children and to a science. The human race knows more about war and military tactics than you Blue women could ever imagine,” he said in a strong and proud voice.
Wolf's Run: The Chase of War (Star Wolf Sqaudron Book 2) Page 55
