by T. R. Harris
“We have no proof. Just because they came disguised as Seken doesn’t mean they used the warship as their launch vessel. I do not want to create an incident without proof first. And besides, they may still be on the surface.”
“They aren’t. There was evidence of a ship landing in the park.”
“And no indicators on our equipment.”
“They have new stealth technology; is that not apparent? Contact the Seken ship, and let me watch. If they answer, I will be able to tell if it is them. I have seen their disguises up close.”
The Director, Danor Sal’nefron, was listening. He had a line open with the Unif Counselor, giving him updates as they became available. No one wanted to offend the Seken, but this matter was growing more critical by the minute. Indicators were showing that the Seken were warming their engines, along with charging their sonic weapon device. They may be preparing to leave and join the fleet, and the weapon charging may only be a test. But if it was anything else, then Sanfor was in imminent danger.
“Contact them,” said the Unif Counselor, the leader of the Semitor. “There is no harm in making a link.”
Nassmar nodded to a tech who set to work making the connection. A large monitor lit up on the wall, showing the bridge of the mighty alien warship.
Only four Seken were visible on the screen, a small number considering the size of the crew.
“What do you want?” said a young Seken male. He spoke in Seken with the words translated into Azlorean Basic.
Kallen moved closer to the screen and scrutinized the faces he could see. There were two females and two males. There had been a third male when he last saw them. They appeared to be the same, but it was hard to tell. All Seken looked alike for the most part.
“Forgive me, distinguished Spirit,” said Nassmar, “but we had an incident on the surface involving five Humans disguised as Seken. I am sure you know nothing about this.”
Nassmar glanced at Kallen, hoping he would give him a sign. Kallen frowned. He wasn’t sure.
“Disguised as Seken? And you think we were involved in this charade?”
“We do not think you were; after all, you would have no reason to disguise yourselves.”
“Then what are you implying? That we are working with our sworn enemy, the Humans? To what end? Even this line of questioning is insulting.”
“Forgive me, but I was wondering why your vessel is in orbit? The rest of your ships are with the fleet. We have no record of your request for station or indication that any of your crew have come to the surface.”
“We are here because we wish to be.”
“Of course. But there must be a reason.”
Then Kallen saw it—in the background, a reflection on a darkened screen. He moved past Nassmar to get a better look. The Seken captain noticed and flinched as the large face of Kallen Zaphin appeared on his screen.
“There! The reflection! Can you see it?”
Nassmar and Danor leaned in closer. Kallen was right. In the reflection was none other than Zac Murphy, standing off-camera, hiding.
“You have lied to us!” said Torin Nassmar. “You have Zac Murphy with you. Are you Seken, or are you Human?”
Ashley stepped forward until her image filled the screen, then she reached below her chin and pulled at the mask. Part of it came loose, but not all of it. She ended up with half her face hanging sideways and deformed.
“It does not come off like that,” said another female voice on the bridge of the Seken ship.
“No shit,” Ashley muttered.
Now Zac moved in front of the camera.
“Howdy, guys. How’s it hanging? Hey, thanks for all your Azlorean hospitality, but I think I’ll be checking out now. And don’t bother keeping a light on for me; I won’t be coming back. But I will be leaving you a token of my appreciation.”
The screen went dark.
“They are charging their weapon!” said a tech.
“Counselor, we must retaliate!” said Danor. “They are targeting Sanfor.”
“I will ready the defenses,” came the reply over the speakers.
While all the fun was happening on the bridge, Angus was below releasing the Seken prisoners. They were unarmed, and he was a REV; no one tried any funny business. Then Angus rushed off at REV speed, heading for the launch bay.
He got there about the same time as the rest of the team. Amber was already aboard the Dart and tied into the controls. She launched the moment they were inside, zipping from the hold already in stealth mode. She jumped a few seconds later.
“How did it go?” Angus asked Zac.
“Like a charm. And it was Kallen who saw me, making it that much sweeter.”
The Seken captain rushed to the bridge, curious to see where they were and why the Humans had released them. They said they would, but he never believed them.
“My Spirit, the sonic pulse has been charged,” said a crewmember. “It is building to critical mass. A pulse is imminent.”
“Stop the count down!”
“I cannot. The controls are not responding. There is, yes, there is a lock on the controls. It will take time to disengage.”
A communication was coming through, and the captain moved in front of the station.
Full Spirit Casdon, the commander of the Seken war fleet, was on the screen.
“Command Spirit Korlis?” said Casdon, recognizing the junior officer. “We have been—”
Although the Seken captain was anxious to tell his senior commander what had taken place over the past several days, he never got the chance.
Ground-based defensive batteries opened up on the Seken mothership, covering the five hundred miles in a split second. The shields on the warship were not activated, so the energy bolts plowed into the vessel with impunity. The explosion was singular and decisive, not nuclear, but just as big and powerful. In the blink of an eye, the mothership was gone.
Chapter 25
The Seken delegation refused to come to Voris. Instead, they conducted the inquiry through commlink.
“Your ship was taken over by hostile forces, by Humans,” Danor Sal’nefron was saying. “We have proof, a recording of the last conversation from your ship.”
“We have seen it,” said Full Spirit Casdon. “However, that was not the last communication from the ship. I established a link just prior to the ship’s destruction with Command Spirit Sinnen Korlis.”
“That was not your captain,” Danor said. “That was a Human in disguise.”
“No, it was not. I know Command Spirit Korlis. That was him. That was not a Human disguised as a Seken. And as for your supposed last communication, that was Azloreans in disguise, not Humans. Who else could it be as you attempt this charade on us, an excuse for your reckless disregard for sovereign Seken property? Your actions are unforgivable, even as the Seken never forgive. You have left us no choice. Your insult of the Seken is complete. We are now at war with Azloreans, in all its manner. There shall be no surrender, no accommodation. There can only be victory or defeat. This is the Seken way.”
For the past several hours, the Azloreans units had been slowly moving away from the Seken fleet. Both parties were at near parity at the time of the separation.
Unfortunately, the separation wasn’t complete by the time the first weapon was fired. It only took one before three thousand warships were engaged in a fight to the death.
The Dart was sixteen light-years away from the Voris star system on its way to the far border of the Seken Federation. The ship was in stealth mode and would stay that way until they linked up with any friendlies if there were still any on this side of the Grid.
At this distance, they were too far away to see the flashes from the raging battle. Instead, they relied on Amber’s monitoring of space communications to learn what was happening.
As Zac had hoped, the Seken did not take the destruction of their mothership lying down. They declared war on the Azloreans, as the Azloreans had been expecting. Both forces wer
e primed and ready, and it only took a spark to blow everything to hell. Information was sketchy, but it seemed that the fleet had destroyed itself, with nearly three thousand ships blown to bits.
Voris was devastated, not only from the horrendous loss of life and material but because they knew what was coming. The fleets may have been destroyed, but that wouldn’t stop the Seken. As the Seken creed went, Victory or Defeat; those are the only options. And although the Seken were currently engaged in a war with Earth, the immediate threat was from Voris. It was much closer, and the Azloreans possessed technology that made them much more dangerous than the pitiful Humans. Earth could wait. Voris couldn’t.
That meant the Azloreans had to gear up for a major war, and not one of attrition, but one of complete victory over the Seken. Only the destruction of the Seken homeworld would end the war and save Voris from a similar fate.
As it was with the Seken, any conflict with the Humans would have to wait.
Epilogue
Zac Murphy wasn’t stupid; dense maybe, but not stupid.
He’d watched the interaction between Angus, Ashley and the young REV Anton for several hours and knew there was something odd about it. Maybe not odd, but familiar. It almost looked as if they were a family unit, nervous and unsure. But there definitely a bond there.
And then there was the stunning young REV Monica. Once out of her disguise and with the purple dye washed from her body, she was an incredible human specimen, showing all the signs of the best REV breeding. And she kept staring at him with clouded eyes. She wasn’t happy; sad in fact. But why? They’d just pulled off an impossible mission; one for the record books. She should be ecstatic.
David Cross stepped up to Zac, his demeanor forlorn and morose.
“Well, we may as well get this over with,” the REV scientist said. “Hit me with your best shot.”
Zac frowned, while Angus, Ashley and Anton all took notice. Their faces displayed a combination of anticipation and anguish.
“What’s going on?” Zac asked, rising slowly to his feet. Cross had turned his face sideways to him and was grimacing.
“Tell him,” David said.
Monica came a little closer, a tear flowing down her cheek.
“My name is Monia, Monica Murphy. Zac, I’m your daughter, the one David said was aborted twelve years ago. Anton is the son of Angus and Ashley.”
This is where the dense part came in. His REV mind was sharp as a tack, but when confronted with something completely out of left field, it took a moment to sink in.
And then he hit David Cross.
Ignoring the flailing body as it flew across the compartment, everyone else crowed around Zac.
“Yeah, it takes some getting used to,” Angus said. “We learned when Cross came out to the fleet with the kids.” He smirked. “Well, not kids anymore.”
“You’re my…?”
“Daughter, yes,” said Monica. “David raised us as his own. Only recently did we also learn the truth.”
“And David is still alive?” Zac smirked. “Why?”
“His intentions were good, if not his tactics. Now Anton and I are helping produce the final stage of REV development, the product of our genetic makeup combined to form the perfect Human.”
“And what the hells does that mean exactly?” Zac asked. The Rev was soaring in his veins, his entire body electric with energy. “What is the perfect Human?”
“I can answer that,” said David Cross as he picked himself up off the deck.
Zac glared at him but didn’t move. REVs could die, but Zac couldn’t remember ever killing one with his bare hands. But there was always a first time for everything.
“From Monica and Anton has come the next stage in Human evolution.” Cross rubbed his displaced jaw. It was broken, but would soon begin to heal. He stammered on.
“This new breed is not only superior in every way to normal Humans, but it is also completely self-sustaining. After this, there will be no further need for me to manipulate gene sequences and Rev formulas. These new REVs will become a completely separate branch of humanity, able to thrive against even the harshest of environments, both natural and political. They will be more intelligent, stronger and more even-tempered than anything that came before. The Seken and Azloreans may be superior to us in technology—for the time being—but they will not be physiologically superior. I cannot imagine a species that would be. I have spent nearly my entire life to reach this goal. During that time, I have done things that were not right or ethical. I wish I could say I’m sorry, but I’m not. Not when I look at Monica and Anton.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Zac growled.
“About the children? Because you would have never consented to what I had to do to reach this last step. As Monica and Anton grew, I told them who and what they were. They understood and helped. It’s only been the recent complication of who’s your daddy that has caused all this uproar.”
David looked to the children for a little support. They remained silent.
After shrugging, Cross continued. “I am truly sorry for what happened to Joanie. She was supposed to live, just like Ashley. No one was supposed to die. All I wanted was the children. And now that I have what I need from them, you can have them back.”
He tried to smile, but with a broken jaw, it came out looking like a snarl.
“Well, thanks for nothing!” Ashley yelled. Then she turned embarrassed and looked at Anton.
“That’s okay, Mom; I know what you meant. But now I have something to say.” He looked at Monica and received a nod. “Although we now know our true lineage, we also believe in our place in the destiny of mankind. We are also older, adults in our own right. Although we sincerely want relationships with our parents, our work with David is not over, contrary to what he says. Without us, his work can continue, but at a slower pace. We don’t want to slow the progress. And after what has happened recently with Earth verses the galaxy, we can’t afford to slow down. The threats are real, and although we are an offshoot of the Human race, we believe it will fall to us, the REVs, to defend our relatives against all enemies.”
“What if Earth was your enemy?” Zac asked. “It’s been heading that way for a long time. There’s a reckoning coming, and it ain’t going to be pretty. You may say you’ll magnanimously protect mankind from its enemies, but at the moment, you are their enemy as much as the Seken or Azloreans, whether you want to acknowledge that or not. They’re operating on fear, fear of the unknown.”
“It will be our job to show humanity that REVs are not the enemy. We are its protectors.”
Again, Zac smirked. “Even worse. Humans are a prideful race; they won’t appreciate being treated like defenseless children, protected by a version of themselves that’s clearly superior. It will remind them of their shortcomings.”
Monica took Zac by the hand. “We understand all that, father,” she said sweetly. “Everything evolves.” Then she looked at David Cross. “Even if some of us had a little help along the way. But now we have to accept things as they are and make the best of the situation.”
“If the rest of mankind will let you. And at the moment, there’s a hell of a lot more of them than there are of us. You may find that the greatest enemy facing your new breed of man may be mankind itself.”
“Hasn’t it always been that way?” Monica asked. “Perhaps it is time to change that way of thinking.”
Zac sighed. Ah, the innocence of the children. If only it were that simple.…
The End
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Novels by T.R. Harris
The Adam Cain Saga
The Dead Worlds
Empires
Battle Plan
Galactic Vortex
Dark Energy
Universal Law
The Formation Code
The Quantum Enigma
Children of the Aris
The Human Chronicles
The Fringe Worlds
Alien Assassin
The War of Pawns
The Tactics of Revenge
The Legend of Earth
Cain’s Crusaders
The Apex Predator
A Galaxy to Conquer
The Masters of War
Prelude to War
The Unreachable Stars
When Earth Reigned Supreme
A Clash of Aliens
Battlelines
The Copernicus Deception
Scorched Earth
