The Depths of War (Dark Seas Book 5)

by Damon Alan

  “What keeps the Hive from just evacuating like that?” Thea asked.

  “The places we’ll be evacuating humans from won’t be in the same star systems as the novas. We’ll have years. The Hive will have minutes. You saw the holovid of what happened to that fleet at Backwater. And that was a very small star.”

  Thea’s face displayed her contempt. “You talk about killing people like you talk about statistics. Lucy just said trillions are at risk. Sure, you get the Hive, but is that supposed to make all those deaths okay?”

  “Nothing will make those deaths okay, Thea,” Sarah responded. “But no subgroup of humanity at risk is too large of a price to pay for saving the race as a whole.”

  “You’re thinking with your emotions, Mayor,” Heinrich said. “That is not the way to make the tough choices of military leadership during a war.”

  “Don’t lecture me on morality, Captain,” Thea threw back at her. “We’ve all sacrificed for this war.” Thea’s tone betrayed her distaste for the plan even more than her words did. “Lucy, what portion of humanity is known to be in that zone?”

  “Twenty-one percent, approximately.”

  “So one out of five, Sarah,” Thea snapped. “You’re going to rip the homes away from one out of five, and maybe kill a significant portion of them.”

  Sarah closed her eyes a moment. She could feel herself losing patience, which was probably just what Thea wanted.

  “Five out of five, Thea,” she barked at the mayor. She was done pointing out the necessity of this. It was going to happen. She pointed at her friend, unfortunately letting anger get the best of her.

  Thea’s resistance was purely emotional. Not rational at all.

  “That’s how many of them will die if we do nothing. When a body has a tumor, you don’t leave it in because it’s human tissue. You cut it out. Sometimes you take healthy tissue along. You think I’m a fan of that?” Sarah paused a moment. When nobody spoke, she continued. “No, I’m not. But it’s a decision that has to be made.”

  “That’s not fair,” Thea responded. “There has to be a way to save them all.”

  “We’re not here because things are fair,” Sarah said, pushing her argument. “We’re here because seventeen hundred star systems have already fallen to the darkest threat in human history. We’re here because we make the tough decisions, the choices that burn some of our lives so others might live.”

  “But we can’t lose—”

  “You’re going to say our humanity,” Sarah snapped. “But we can’t preserve our human nature at the cost of humanity itself.” She jabbed herself in the chest with her thumb and then pointed at Heinrich. “We are going to take the hard road. We are the warriors who will put all of those lives on our ledgers. You have to do nothing, you don’t even have to approve our request. You just have to not get in our way.”

  “Okay,” Thea said, her voice barely audible.

  It took Sarah a moment to realize what she’d just heard. “Okay what?”

  “I approve your mission,” Thea said. “Go get them. Exterminate the Hive.”

  Heinrich raised an eyebrow, and looked at Sarah.

  “You are the craziest woman I know,” Sarah said to Thea.

  “But you helped make me mayor and I made you admiral,” Thea said. “So you might want to look in the mirror. What are you going to call this, The Hamor Tactic?”

  That thought jarred Sarah a moment. She’d remembered her own outrage when she’d learned the Alliance had fusion bombed Hamor into lifelessness to deny the Hive colonization victims.

  But she’d grown to understand the tactic, and over time she’d come around to that philosophy herself.

  It was now or never. Soon the Hive would be too large to defeat by any method.

  “Yes,” Sarah replied, embracing the moniker. “We will name this after Hamor. Because you’re right. This is exactly the same thing.”

  Thea just shook her head. “I don’t want to know any of the details. Just don’t get killed before you’re done.”

  “Merik has already seen our victory,” Sarah said. “Don’t you remember her words?”

  “I remember. But she didn’t say you’d survive it.”

  Sarah shrugged. “My life, Heinrich’s life, or our entire fleet, none of us are indispensable. That we know victory is possible is enough reason to try.”

  Thea stood up and adjusted her clothing. “I’m going back to the surface. I will document my release of the Stennis into your hands for the indefinite future.”

  “What about your tour?” Heinrich asked.

  “I have seen enough,” Thea replied. “I know you both have the best in mind for humanity, even if my heart has a hard time processing that. The less I know, the better for my sanity, and your motives are beyond reproach. Just do what you have to do.”

  Sarah stood up as well. “I’ll have my pilot return you home.”

  “Tell him I’ll meet him in the hangar,” Thea said as she walked to the door. When she got there she looked back at Sarah and Heinrich. “Just don’t lose who you are. Or let Emille do so either, since you’re involving her.”

  “I suspect she already knows what’s coming,” Sarah said.

  “Yeah, you’re probably right,” Thea said as she closed the hatch behind her.

  Chapter 5 - Meet the Locals

  33 Noder 15331

  Sarah borrowed Peter Corriea’s lifter for the ride to Zeffult. While not as fast as her shuttle, it was easier on fuel and there wasn’t a hardened landing pad at Asdahar to deal with shuttle landings yet.

  As the pilot circled the mountain city of Asdahar, Sarah marveled at the amount of construction going on. What looked like a new palace was being built on a forested hill, overlooking everything else. New temples were being constructed. Most all of the building was Zeffulti tech, but in the distance, on flatlands near a small river, an airport was under construction, the runway a jagged and unfinished scar. In the middle of town a six story steel framed structure was partially wrapped in mirrored glass.

  The lifter approached the airport for landing. More metal and glass buildings, fuel depots, and a small apartment complex. She wondered who it was that had volunteered to live here, away from the other crewman of the Seventh Fleet, among the natives.

  The lifter touched down on an octagonal pad, throwing dust into the air. A translucent cloud drifted away on strong winds. Moments later the air was clear, and the door to her compartment rotated upward to let her out.

  Unlike Zeffult, the environment at Asdahar smelled of pine forests. The city was much higher in altitude, and to the south and west snow capped peaks lined the horizon. A light dusting of white intermittently covered the ground at the airport.

  The last snow she’d seen had been carbon dioxide snow on Halvi.

  She wrapped her dress jacket tighter and stepped down to the tarmac. A small ground car waited for her, inside was one of her people, although not in uniform.

  He waved her over.

  Getting into the small car, she was relieved to find it warm inside. It had been a long time since she’d experienced winter temperatures without a spacesuit.

  “Hello, Admiral,” the man said. “I got a call from Ambassador Corriea. I’m supposed to give you a ride to the embassy.”

  “I’m grateful,” she said. She extended her hand. “Sarah Dayson.”

  “Niku Horritts,” the man answered. “I used to serve as a loadmaster on the Palino.”

  “Ah. You’re Hamorian.”

  “One of the few left,” he responded.

  She never knew how to deal with that sort of thing. This man had lost his planet, and probably about everyone he knew outside of his job. “I’m sorry,” she replied, looking out the window. And she really was. Hamor had been a prosperous and populated world. She wasn’t about to tell him that the Alliance had burned it all down just to deny it to the Hive.

  “Oh, I’m lucky to be alive, thanks to you,” he shot back. “Not a one of us from the P
alino blames you in any way.”

  She turned to look at him. He meant what he was saying, his smile was genuine. “Thank you, Niku. That means a lot.” She felt a small weight lift inside. His attitude was healing for her.

  “Hey, you’re scheduled to be at the embassy two hours from now. At least that’s what the ambassador told me. Want to see the town?”

  “You can take a car into town?” she asked.

  He laughed. “Well, that is where the embassy is. But if you like I can take you to the market, maybe up by the new palace if there’s time after the market.”

  Why not? As long as she kept her schedule overall, it would be fun, and who knows what she might find out about local culture. The more she knew, the better.

  “Let’s do it,” she said.

  He smiled and pushed the pedal down as he turned off the main road. The electric motors under the floorboards quietly pushed the car faster.

  A few minutes later they arrived in a walled section of town, clearly ancient. People had lived here long before Alarin ever thought of making Asdahar his capital.

  Niku pulled the vehicle over, parking on a patch of snow with the tips of purplish grass poking through.

  They both got out and walked to the first stalls.

  Wow, it was cold. Probably about zero, maybe just above. There was a bit of dampness around the snowy patches. Fortunately the wind wasn’t blowing too hard, and the heat from Oasis and Ember warmed her enough to tolerate it, at least for a few minutes.

  Inside the walled off market area the wind was blocked, the walls seemed to retain a bit of the heat from Oasis as well. Peddlers hawked goods of all types, many huddled next to small stone braziers that kept them warm during a day spent outside.

  “Zu demarr, indali nukoshthu,” a vendor barked at her. He held up a fur jacket, one made from at least a dozen different beasts.

  “He wants you to make an offer,” Niku said. “Your shivering, he thinks he has you at a disadvantage.”

  “I don’t have any money,” she complained. She didn’t want to complain, but to be honest, that fur looked warm. “I didn’t plan on coming to a market.”

  Niku looked at the man. “Indali pokasthu. Shem disnorik, qui vondunoth.”

  The man looked skeptical, but said nothing.

  “You speak Zeffulti,” Sarah said, starting to stutter a bit from the cold. “Maybe we should go and I’ll dress warmer next time.”

  “Nonsense,” Niku replied. “Let’s get this jacket.”

  “Sudo nokos scrit,” the man finally responded.

  Niku waved his arms wildly. “Sudo nokos? Hem puniko donko!”

  The nearby vendors laughed, the vendor’s white skin turned ruddy.

  “Ondo nokos,” he spat out.

  “Ondo? Na. Punto ondo,” Niku shot back.

  “Punto ondo? Meh puniko donko?” the vendor replied slapping his chest. He pointed at Niku. “Dun puniko donko!”

  “He just called me crazy like a horny goat,” Niku said, “But in fairness I called him that first.”

  “What?” Sarah gasped. “Why are you insulting these people?”

  “It’s how they do business,” he replied. “I’ve lived here two years, Admiral. I’ve learned a lot. These guys will steal your bones if you let them.”

  She laughed. “You’re serious?”

  “The better the insult, the better the price. He wants to give us a good price, I can tell because he didn’t use a fresh insult on me, just tossed out the one I used first.”

  That was incredible. She was going to have to learn more about Alarin’s people.

  “Engat shem Ondo Manaka, kev Alarin Sur’batti,” Niku said to the vendor, gesturing toward Sarah. “Shem Sarah Dayson, gost punto yn punto ondo nokos gathinka ma.”

  Niku looked at Sarah. “I told him you’re first among the newcomers, and if he gives you the coat now, tomorrow you’ll put seven hundred and fifty scrit in his hands.”

  “Is that a good deal?” she asked.

  “Very,” Niku said. “But like I told you, he wants you to have a good deal.”

  “Yan,” the vendor replied, and beckoned Sarah over.

  She stepped closer, and the vendor swooped out from behind his stall with the fur jacket. He opened it for her to slip her arms inside, which she did.

  It was warm. So very warm.

  “Tell him thank you,” she said to Niku as the merchant swung her around for a hug.

  Niku did so, and the merchant chuckled as he responded.

  “What did he say?” she asked.

  “He said that every merchant in the market owed you for killing Merik and bringing the people iron.”

  “I didn’t kill Merik,” Sarah said. “She died of a tumor.”

  “That doesn’t matter to them,” Niku responded. “She was a tyrant, and you stood up to her. They believe you stopped her from destroying the world.” He gestured up at the scar on Ember’s face. “Every day they see that and think of what Merik was doing. You and Alarin are legends here.”

  “Well that’s just nonsense,” Sarah said. “When I had a chance to kill her, I couldn’t do it.”

  “Yeah, maybe,” Niku said. “But that’s not how they see it, and you probably should leave it that way.”

  Sarah fished a pocket knife out of her pocket, and flipped open a couple of blades. “Ask him if he’d like to trade the fur jacket for this.”

  “That’s too much. Iron is still priceless here, and you’re giving him a machined item,” Niku said. “He should give you his whole stall for that.”

  Sarah closed the blades, then tossed the knife to the vendor, who caught it. “Ask him if we’re even.”

  “Ni chona boah?” Niku asked.

  The fellow was speechless. He shook his head emphatically. He stuffed some more things into a couple of sacks and rushed them out to her.

  It embarrassed her as she uncomfortably accepted his gifts. That something so trivial to her would be so valuable to him was something that needed to be fixed. To the north a mantle mining operation was under construction, but with so few colonists it took a lot of time to open up an operation like that. Once it was going, however, there would be plenty of metals. Refuge wasn’t devoid of metals, it was just devoid of metals in the upper mantle and crust.

  “That was crazy. I’m going to ask Alarin to pay him for me anyway,” she told her escort.

  As they walked through the stalls word of who Sarah was had passed among the merchants. By the time she left a local boy had to help her carry the stuff she’d not had to pay for to the ground car. She was stuffed to the gills with local food and completely hugged out.

  She’d been a celebrity once before, after the Korvandi Navy had fought at Zelan. And then in the wink of an eye she’d fallen from celebrity to monster.

  This time she hoped to stay on top. Walking through the market, she’d been reminded of the price of failure if she didn’t stop the Hive.

  The lives of everyone. Everywhere.

  “Thank you, Niku. I don’t think you realize what this means to me,” she said later as the man dropped her off at the embassy.

  He tapped his comm to hers. “This is my code, feel free to call me next time you’re in town. I’d be happy to show you more of the city.”

  She punched the accept button on her commlink, exchanging data with him. “I will do that. And now you have mine. If there’s anything not up to standard here, you let me know.”

  “What makes you think I’m not going to be a pest, just giving out your code like that?” Niku asked.

  “Well, I read people reasonably well, and that doesn’t seem your style. And I also have an AI that will screen you out if you become a problem.”

  He laughed.

  She’d really enjoyed the market. “I haven’t had two hours like that in a long time. I can’t tell you how grateful I am.”

  He smiled. “Oh, you can. It’s on your face. You’re far more relaxed than you were when I picked you up.”

>   She laughed. “It’s the jacket,” she said, rubbing the sleeves. “I wonder what Alarin will think of this?”

  “He’ll probably think you look stunning,” the driver replied. “I certainly do.”

  As she closed the door, she smiled. It had also been years since anyone had called her stunning.

  She liked it.

  Walking up the steps to the embassy, she was warm in ways the fur didn’t account for. She realized she’d come to love Alarin’s people as much as her own. That their lives mattered, the ones she’d met and the ones she hadn’t. That while she’d previously spoken of one government for Refuge, now she believed it could actually happen.

  It was time to push that concept harder with the First Adepts across the world.

  Two embassy guards picked up her gear and escorted her into the building, wise enough not to comment on her coat.

  Chapter 6 - Admiral’s Personal Log

  AI Lucy82A recording, Admiral's personal log, personal archive: Galactic Standard Date 12:55:13 33 NODER 15331

  Personal log entry #1781, Admiral Sarah Dayson, origin Korvand, Pallus Sector.

  Current Location: Asdahar, Zeffult, Refuge, Oasis System

  I met the reasons I fight today. Niku. The merchants in the trading square in Asdahar. I have some minutes to kill still, before I meet with Alarin and Emille.

  It was a strange feeling, to walk among the locals and have them think of me as some sort of savior. I get it, I was part of Merik’s end in their minds, but I didn’t end her. She was sick. I just stood up to her when far too few did.

  I guess part of it could be the popularity of iron and steel in a society that made their knives from obsidian just a few years ago. Improved tools reduce labor, which trickles down directly to the poorest in a society.

  [A sixteen second pause]

  The understanding of how important the people are, how important it is that they be allowed to live their lives on their terms, that makes the conversation I had with Thea even more critical. We need to go back to the galaxy. We need to build up the fleet here, and provide an unbreakable defense of Oasis.