Camallay: An Infinite Worlds Novel (Marik's Marauders)
Page 27
Alexander knelt to pick up the little stuffed scattersaur that Alyssa’s oldest daughter Cammy had dropped on the ramp, handing it back to the shy little girl with a smile and a soft touch on the cheek. One eye looked tentatively out from behind a screen of blond hair as she took the dinosaur from Colonel Alexander. When he smiled, she smiled as well then turned to run and catch up with her mother. Behind them all, Sergeant Thompson had already loaded his gear and was now carrying several boxes of their belongings in his large, muscled arms.
“You know, Sergeant,” Alexander began, “we have a repulsor lift and some helperbots just over there.”
Sergeant Thompson, who always seemed to be looking for a good workout to maintain his massive muscles, just grunted and kept walking up the ramp with Alyssa’s goods.
Behind them, the human Specialist Alphabet and the trillo Specialist Ya-da-na walked on, Alphabet carrying his own gear in a bag on his shoulder while all three of Ya-da-na’s bodies took their place under the one duffel bag that they shared to carry all of their gear. The yippy little trillo looked perhaps even more anxious than the rest of them to leave Camallay behind.
Behind them, Specialist Krrrz, Lieutenant Flanagan, and Jack Wolf all trailed up the ramp. It had been a traumatic time for Bug and RePete, having died here and then come back, but at least for Lieutenant Pete “RePete” Flanagan it was becoming just another part of the job.
Last of all, Rianna Firstwave walked up the ramp. She had said her goodbyes, deciding it was better to make a clean break from everything on Camallay for now. Smiling as she came, as if a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders, Rianna walked up and hugged Jim Ryker. Stepping back to hold her brother’s face in both hands, her broad smile was contagious, and soon the two of them were laughing with the joy of the moment. Together, they walked arm in arm up the ramp, anxious for the journey home, anxious to be reunited with family, and anxious to get back to their lives before Camallay.
Smiling as well, Colonel Alexander looked out on the open plain between Principay’s three colonies. The afternoon wind had kicked up, bending the lush grass of the plane and moving the trees on the mountains that surrounded this valley. In the sky above a flock of swordwings arced over the mountains on their way to hunt in the eastern steppes, while all around him in the three colonies the light of welding torches and the sound of construction vehicles could be heard. It wouldn’t be long before Principay would recover, and, Creator willing, there would be peace and prosperity for generations to come on Camallay’s eastern continent.
With one final look, he turned and walked into the ship as the ramp lifted behind him. Within minutes the MSS Danzigger was airborne, lifting directly into orbit before making for the jump tunnel to Prexlar and home.
Epilogue
The bridge was dark except for the blinking lights of the instruments that the autopilot managed as Rianna Firstwave slipped onto the bridge of the MSS Danzigger. Looking around, she saw that the sweeperbot was now sitting motionless and powered down against the wall. Her new set of situence glasses pointed out a few other potential sources of monitoring in the room, each of which she checked out with the tools on her linker, confirming that they were not, in fact, set to record voice or video.
Satisfied that the bridge was as dark as it appeared, Rianna stood in front of the deep-space dimmer and turned it on. Instantly she was connected to Marik’s personal channel and a hologram of Marik himself appeared on the console of the comms officer’s station.
“I assume we’re alone,” Marik said as his hologram turned to face Rianna.
“Yes,” Rianna confirmed. “All is dark on the bridge, and I’ve swept for recording devices.”
“Very well. Tell me about the list of companies you sent to your handler.”
“They are the manufacturers of the illegal tech that Stellar Corp sold to Principay Colony,” Rianna said. “I tried to find them in the Timmok bank, but they weren’t to be found in their records, since Stellar was acting as a front for them all to Principay. But before he blew himself up your old employee Josh Langdon gave up the data.”
“And you trust what he gave you?” Marik asked.
“I do,” Rianna answered. “He knew his days with Stellar Corp were done and he was burning all his bridges. Josh was always hyper-aggressive and selfish, but he was arrogant enough to be honest.”
Marik laughed at that and shook his head. “So we have the locations of all the secret facilities?”
“The ones Josh knew about,” Rianna answered.
“By our analysis, they all appear to be in the Bright Star Dominion,” Marik stated.
“All the ones we’re interested in,” Rianna confirmed.
“Very well,” Marik said, “I’ll get my ops guys spinning up the next mission for when you and Marik’s Marauders arrive.”
“Marik,” Rianna started hesitantly, “Josh said something else.”
“Oh, and what’s that?”
“He said that war is coming, and that the Master Race is losing their hold on their solkin lackeys.” She hesitated, then continued. “He said that the solkin would make their move before long.”
Marik just smiled a knowing smile. “And that is why your next mission will take you to the Bright Star Dominion, to the solkin home world of Lustrious 4 itself.”
Rianna’s stood contemplating the implications of what Marik had just said for several moments after the channel closed and Marik’s hologram disappeared. Finally, she shook her head and turned to walk off the bridge.
Thank You!
I hope you enjoyed your trip to the primordial world of Camallay! If you have a moment, please help others enjoy this book too.
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Books by Joel Babbitt
Paladin of a Hidden God Fantasy Trilogy:
The Trials of Caste
Into the Heart of Evil
The Game of Fates
Infinite Worlds Novels and Stories:
Marik’s Marauders: Camallay
Clan Lord (prequel to Clan Destroyer)
Clan Destroyer (coming 2015)
Marik’s Marauders: Lustrious (coming 2017)
More Novels and Stories:
Ella Sister-Daughter (coming 2016)
You may also enjoy these books by Josh Powell:
The Berserker and the Pedant
Dragon Apocalypse
Get a FREE Short Story at AuthorJoel.com today!
About the Author
Joel Babbitt is an officer in the U.S. Army and a bishop in his church. He has spent his entire adult life living and teaching principles of leadership and team building in a warrior environment. Joel and his family live in Virginia, USA.
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www.authorjoel.com
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Thanks for reading Marik’s Marauders: Camallay!
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