Exiles (The Progenitor Trilogy, Book One)

by Dan Worth

  Hours later, two Humans and an Arkari emerged from the temple. A sky filled with shooting stars and the smoke from the still burning city greeted them. Chunks of debris from the initial battles were beginning to burn up in the atmosphere: pieces of the Normandy, the Zhukov and the Saladin and the K’Soth ships that Chen’s group had destroyed.

  So it was over, for now. They were still alive.

  ‘We have to warn them,’ said Katherine.

  ‘About Maran?’ said Rekkid.

  ‘Yes, we have to tell the Commonwealth about the things he told us. I think he’s planning something, something terrible.’

  ‘So do I.’

  ‘I’ll make the call,’ said Steven.

  An hour later a single shuttle descended over the temple. It bore the name of its parent craft, the destroyer Mark Antony.

  Ramirez knocked on the door to Chen’s quarters. He received no reply so he punched in her lock code and entered. The cabin was unlit, save for the reflected light that came from the planet that filled the windows. Ramirez could see her silhouetted against the mottled sandy sphere. He shut the door quietly behind him.

  ‘Michelle I just came to tell you that the shuttle is on its way back with the archaeologists. Also, the repair ship will be here within the hour. The wounded have now all been transferred to the Nightingale.’

  She did not reply for a moment and then when she spoke her voice was barely audible.

  ‘I went down there Al, down to the ship’s medical bay.’

  ‘I know.’

  ‘It made me wonder if this is all worth it. I… I feel responsible for what happened to them, I’m in command and if I can’t protect my own crew…’

  ‘We’re still alive Michelle, most of us.’

  ‘Yes we are still alive, we aren’t crippled or burned or bleeding to death inside. What about the crew of the Normandy? The Zhukov, the Saladin, the Rameses and all the other people who died today!? What about them and those poor bastards being carried out of the ship’s morgue in body bags?’

  ‘Michelle you did the best that you could. If it weren’t for your command ability perhaps none of us would still be here. You said it yourself; this seemed like a suicide mission.’ He put his arms around her and tried to comfort her and added: ‘I’m sorry that I ever doubted you.’

  ‘That’s alright, maybe you were right to. I know we scored an immense victory today, but I’m not sure the price we paid was worth it.’

  ‘If the Empire falls it will be worth it.’

  ‘Perhaps. For so long I wanted to exact revenge on the K’Soth, but I suppose I never thought about how I might feel about it.’

  She wiped a single tear from her cheek and said simply: ‘So much death.’

  Chapter 31

  The Mark Antony lay cradled in the belly of the leviathan repair ship. The Brunel was a Triton class engineering vessel, a five kilometre long conglomeration of factories, docking bays and repair gantries powered by engines many times the size of the destroyer it now clasped in its guts. The gigantic repair bays, arranged radially about the craft’s mid-section, held a number of ships besides the Mark Antony. The Leonides filled the one next to it: its damaged engines had been removed leaving cavernous holes in the rear of its hull as it awaited their replacements. Other bays held an assortment of craft damaged during the battle and now undergoing rapid repair.

  The size of a moderate space station, the Brunel was now the centre of operations in the Fulan system. The rest of the fleet had moved on: capitalising rapidly on their victory they had plunged into K’Soth space, sweeping the disorganised and panicked defenders before them as the Empire struggled to mount a coherent resistance. Haines fully intended to seize the shipyards in the Banu-Baku system by the end of the week. The rest of the Commonwealth Navy and contingents of allied forces were already on their way to reinforce his offensive and defend the border against any possible counter attack.

  In the meantime, the Brunel was the principal space based asset that the Navy possessed within Fulan as it established its presence there. As well as acting as a command centre and point of supply and repair, the Brunel’s fleet of tugs and lifters had dissipated throughout the volume around Maranos in order to clear the thousands of tonnes of wreckage that floated in vast expanding spheres and chaotic swirls now settling into orbit about the planet. Soon the orbital space about Maranos would once again be safe for shipping.

  They also undertook the sadder task of recovering the hundreds of frozen, mangled corpses. The medical craft Nightingale was on station to help with the grim process of identification. Every hour, on the hour for the past week it had solemnly fired a salvo of caskets into Fulan A, where the bodies would be consumed by the star.

  The Commonwealth had retaken the surface of Maranos too. Large numbers of troops had been landed on the planet not only to protect the portal and clean out the remaining K’Soth presence on the surface, but to co-ordinate the relief effort in the stricken city of Marantis. There was activity too in the depths of the Alreda Sea, Maranos’s great northern dust desert. Heavy lifters had flown down parts for an engineering rig of some kind, its purpose unknown to all but a select few.

  The science vessel Darwin had also returned to study the portal, as well as two sister ships the Planck and the Brahe. Teams had gone down to the surface to study the underground complex at Marantis and the enormous machines at the centre of the world. Progress was apparently slow, largely due to the constant interference by the entity calling itself Maran.

  Meanwhile, the Mark Antony’s battle damage was repaired and fresh crew members were shipped in to replace those tragically lost. The technicians from the Brunel had stripped away the hull and turrets of the forward gun decks to inspect the structural integrity of the ship’s load bearing structure. After checking for signs of stress or fracture they began to rebuild the entire section of the ship from scratch. The sophisticated facilities aboard the Brunel made short work of the task.

  They were now nearing the end of the week long process. The skeletal interior of the hull was now only partially visible, hidden by new plates of hull armour. Other teams were working to heal the long rent that had been torn in the ship’s flank, as well as servicing the vessel’s over-worked power plant. Soon she would be good as new and ready to go back into service.

  Chen sat at her desk and fingered the Rear Admiral’s insignia in its little velvet lined box. She had been promoted: a reward for her leadership during the battle, Haines had said. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that yet. She’d always dreamt about having her own carrier, but now it seemed that it had come with a hefty price attached.

  Haines had personally congratulated her over the comm., though the urgency that drove the Commonwealth war effort had precluded an appearance by the Fleet Admiral in person. Nevertheless, he had taken time to commend Chen for her command ability and bravery. He was as ever, inscrutable, though Chen fancied she saw a twinkle in the old man’s remaining eye.

  Many among her fleet had also received commendations for their actions during the battle, many due to Chen’s recommendations. Captain Akbar would no doubt go on to great things after he was awarded the Celestial Cross for his attack run on the landing craft. It seemed likely too that Singh would be promoted to Commander following Chen’s assessment of his abilities.

  She wouldn’t change command yet. She would have to wait until a vessel was available. Besides, she had grown attached to the Mark Antony. It wasn’t her first command, nor would it be her last, but the ship and its crew had seen her through some tough times. She wondered if she’d be able to take her command staff with her to the new ship. They worked well together and she saw no reason to break up the team.

  So, this was what it felt like to be a veteran, she thought. Maybe she understood Haines a little better now, why even a man with his resolve had a manner that betrayed a level of melancholia at times. She had killed before but… that had been different, an accident, or bringing felons to justice. Nev
er before had she felt that her own actions had caused the deaths of her own people. Never before had she been forced to choose between the lesser of two evils. It was different wasn’t it? She’d tried her best hadn’t she?

  Haines had left her in charge of the system’s defences whilst the captain of the Brunel handled construction and repairs; it would act as something of a rest period for her crew after the strains of the battle. The remaining ships of her group plus those of the Leonides would remain here for a while to defend the portal until the Commonwealth had a secure foothold in K’Soth space and the war moved forward.

  It had been a strange week, an air of unreality pervaded largely due to the entire crew not quite believing that they were still alive, as well as the world sized alien engine that still blazed away inside the planet that they orbited.

  That had only been the beginning. They’d rescued Ambassador Croft and his two K’Soth counterparts from their hiding place in the hills around Erais. The two K’Soth had immediately claimed political asylum upon coming aboard, much to Chen’s surprise.

  The Mark Antony had also finally picked up those two rogue archaeologists, as well as her old flame Steven Harris. She’d reported the event and it had prompted the swift re-appearance of Agents Pearson and Rochenko, and then things had got more interesting.

  ‘Admiral Chen I must protest. As Ambassador to Maranos I guaranteed that the neutrality and sovereignty of the system would be observed. The trust that I had built up over years of work has been swept away by this… this barbarism.’

  Chen rubbed her eyes with fatigue and let out a slow sigh. ‘Ambassador, I appreciate your position,’ she replied wearily. ‘But I don’t make policy, the government does. Your transport will be here within the hour, I suggest you take it up with them when you return to Earth.’

  ‘But…’

  ‘I’m sorry that the Dendratha expelled you, I’m sure you appreciate that it was a symbolic gesture and not a personal one.’

  ‘Well it’s hardly surprising is it,’ Croft shot back, his voice dripping with sarcasm. ‘After your military miscalculations resulted in their holiest city being flattened.’

  Chen decided that she’d had enough of this. It seemed to her that Croft was too wrapped up in his cosy backwater world of leisurely lunches and banquet receptions for her taste. He’d gone far too native as well; she thought that that robe he wore looked ridiculous.

  ‘For your information Ambassador, I did everything I could to stop that ship. Dozens of my crew died trying to defend Marantis and I don’t like what happened any more than you do!’

  ‘Well that’s all very well for you to say, but you should never have come here.’

  ‘Oh I see, and we should have let the K’Soth take this system should we?’

  ‘Don’t patronise me, Admiral.’

  ‘Get out. Get out of my office and get off my ship!’ she snarled.

  ‘Nothing would please me more,’ sneered Croft. ‘Good day Admiral.’

  Croft got up out of his chair and stormed out. He met Ramirez coming the other way, who cast a glance at his retreating form, looked at Chen and pulled a face.

  ‘What’s his problem?’ he said, gesturing over his shoulder.

  ‘Oh, he got cosy with the locals, only they just threw him out on his ear.’

  ‘They expelled our Ambassador?’

  ‘Yep. Only Maranos is now under military jurisdiction whether the Dendratha like it or not. Was there something you wanted to tell me?’

  ‘Yes, a transport just docked with the Brunel carrying agents Rochenko and Pearson. They’re on their way up here.’

  ‘Good. I presume they’d like to speak with our honoured guests straight away?’

  ‘Yes, although they indicated that no guard is necessary except to ensure the secrecy of the meeting. Apparently Cor and O’Reilly are no longer wanted in the same sense as the last time that we met.’

  ‘Meaning?’

  ‘I think that they want to ask for their help, rather than to arrest them.’

  The ship’s conference room was guarded. Marines stood outside the doors, gripping their gauss-rifles and eyeing passers-by with suspicion. Inside, Katherine, Rekkid and Steven sat facing Chen, Ramirez and the two agents, Rochenko and Pearson. The atmosphere was uneasy. Rekkid and Katherine glared at the pair of agents whilst Steven eyed Chen with deep mistrust. It was Rekkid who spoke first:

  ‘Really, I must object to our detention,’ he began testily. ‘We gave ourselves up freely because we believe we have information that may be of use to you. So far no-one has listened to us, and the Captain here,’ he added, jutting his finger at Chen, ‘had her men throw us in the brig. I don’t know why we bothered.’

  ‘These are the two idiots who chased me all the way here to Maranos, Rekkid,’ said Katherine. ‘I don’t trust either of them an inch, especially that creepy fat fuck.’ She indicated towards Rochenko, who sneered at her.

  ‘Is this part of some little game of yours, Captain?’ enquired Steven, his voice loaded with sarcasm as he uttered her rank. ‘Is this your idea of getting back at me?’

  ‘I’m actually an Admiral now Agent Harris,’ Steven snorted with derision at that piece of news. ‘And for your information,’ she continued, ‘I was under direct orders to detain the three of you. However it seems that circumstances have changed. Perhaps Agents Pearson and Rochenko would care to enlighten you?’

  Pearson cleared his throat and opened his datapad before speaking.

  ‘First let me begin by offering my sincerest apologies to all three of you. All charges have been dropped as of this moment. You are no longer under suspicion of spying, nor of stealing classified material and attempting to pass it to the enemy. However there are conditions attached.’

  ‘I see,’ said Katherine, ‘and just how did you come to realise what was bloody obvious in the first place?’

  ‘Ah, well if you’ll let me explain,’ replied Pearson, seemingly embarrassed.

  ‘Please do.’

  ‘Our suspicions were first arisen when we carried out a post mortem on the body of Captain Minaba of the Nine Lives.’

  ‘So he is dead then…’ muttered Katherine sadly.

  ‘Yes, I’m sorry. It ah, it appeared that he had been killed by an alien parasite that had been employed to use him and his ship to enable you to escape us. The body that the authorities at Bridgetown also submitted to us for investigation had matching injuries and the remains of the parasite allowed us to determine cause of death. Sadly the creature itself was badly damaged by your attempt to deal with it.’

  ‘Deal with it?’ snarled Steven. ‘That thing was trying to burrow into Katherine’s head. I’m glad I fried the fucking thing.’

  ‘Agent Harris may I remind you that it appears that there are alien agents unknown at work here, and furthermore that your rash actions may have denied us vital intelligence on their tactics and technology.’

  ‘Yeah? Well maybe next time I’ll sit around and ponder that whilst one of them tries to eat my friend’s brain. What the fuck was I suppose to do, read it its fucking rights?’

  ‘Enough! Need I also remind you that you are still on a probationary period and that I am your superior?’ Steven rolled his eyes but remained silent. Pearson continued. ‘Thank you. Where was I?’ he glanced at his notes. ‘Oh yes. We approached the Arkari government in the strictest confidence and asked them to account for their actions. It seems that you uncovered some uncomfortable truths about the Arkari past. However somewhere down the line someone got over–enthusiastic and decided to take drastic measures to prevent you from tarnishing their image. Not content with trying to destroy your careers, they tried to have you branded as spies.’

  ‘You think that they’d try and have us arrested over ancient history?’

  ‘No, no we don’t. Something just doesn’t add up. For the Arkari to behave in such a way towards citizens of an allied power is unprecedented to our knowledge.

  ‘So what do you think
is the real reason?’ said Rekkid.

  ‘We think that the Arkari were trying to stop you uncovering the alien portal within this system. They knew that that log you found, and the dig you were sent on would lead you to uncover it. They knew that the Empire and the Commonwealth would be prepared to go to war over such a prize.’

  ‘But of course we all know that the war would have happened anyway,’ said Rekkid. ‘If I can figure that out I’m sure the rest of my people can.’

  ‘In any case,’ said Rochenko, dodging the issue. ‘We need your help. We need your knowledge of the portal and…’

  ‘Here take a copy,’ Rekkid cut in and hefted his computer onto the desk. ‘Go on, it’s all on there. The log, the details of the dig, everything. Take a copy and leave us alone.’

  ‘Thank you. But there’s more.’

  ‘Oh?’

  ‘What finally led us to believe your story was the discovery of two vessels beneath the dust sea on Maranos by the science vessel Darwin.’

  ‘Yes we know about those.’

  ‘Are you aware that one of them matches the description of the vessel that you claim to have boarded that was found floating in the Barnard’s Star-Arcturus shipping lane?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Katherine patiently.

  ‘And that the other is undoubtedly an early model of Arkari ship that is already known to us?’

  ‘Yes we know that, what’s your point?’

  ‘Well we’d like you to help us excavate them.’

  Rekkid started laughing uncontrollably.

  ‘You want our help? After all the trouble you put Katherine and me through, you want our help?’

  ‘It is a condition of the charges against you being dropped,’ said Rochenko. ‘I was trying to ask you nicely.’ He gave a small grin.