A Pride of Lions

by Mark Iles

  The shadows of the trees lengthened as the moon rose in its lonely orbit across the sky. Finally, Selena stirred, saying aloud: “It’s almost time now, Bryn. Watch over there, sweetheart.”

  Even as she spoke, the quiet of the jungle was broken by the rising growl of a starship’s engines, as the Magellan rose slowly above the forest; and then with a piercing scream and a blinding flash of light speared into the night sky.

  Selena turned her face away and shielded her eyes for a moment, before looking up to watch the comet-like head of light streak across the heavens to dwindle to a pinprick and then finally fade away to nothing.

  A loud snarl sounded close by and then a twig snapped loudly behind her. Selena dived to one side, her hand flying to her machinegun. Snatching it up, she cocked the weapon and aimed it towards the noise, staring into the darkness. Nothing, she couldn’t make a damn thing out. After a moment or two, she demanded loudly, “Okay, who’s there?”

  Kes stepped into the moonlight. “Only little old me; you didn’t think I could let you do this alone, did you, Selena? We’ve been a team far too long for that.”

  “What the hell are you doing here?” she snarled. “You should have been on the Magellan!”

  “Yes, well, shit happens. Looks like a nice spot you have here. Thought I’d share it with you.” He stood with hands on hips, looking over at the moonlight reflected on the water. “Yeah, real nice...”

  “Kes, for God’s sake...”

  He turned to look at her and smiled wanly. “Do you honestly think this is what Bryn would have wanted, that he’d have been happy for you to die this way? We both know the answer to that one, don’t we? I for one know exactly what he’d have wanted, even if you don’t, or rather you refuse to acknowledge it. He’d want you out of here, somewhere safe.”

  “Safe? That’s a damn joke, isn’t it? There isn’t anywhere safe anymore, is there? After all we did, the Manta are still out there, and more people will die no matter what we do. We were just that little bit too late, all of our friends died needlessly – including Bryn. And as for me being somewhere safe, well that’s just not going to happen, is it? On top of everything else, you’ve managed to doom yourself too, you ginger clown. I never thought I’d say this, but you’ve turned into a sentimental fool.”

  “Really? Well, there’s something else you should know before you make that decision. The Manta have already begun to attack again. God knows where they’re getting the ships.”

  “Tell me you’re lying.”

  “I can’t do that, I’m afraid; and it’s much worse than you think.”

  Selena stood up. “Where? Tell me!” she demanded.

  Kes looked at her silently for a moment, and then said it the only way he could, “Capulet.”

  Selena felt as if her legs had been kicked out from underneath her. “Are you sure?”

  “Of course I’m sure; the news came in just before the Magellan lifted. There’s been fighting all over the planet and the Federation are sending reinforcements, but it looks like that puppet government has already fallen. It had been set up in one of the new towns, but everything’s been overrun except the old city, where they managed to activate that old defensive ring. It’s managed to keep the Manta out, and naturally the queen’s now taken charge. Those that survived have gathered there, for a last stand. The enemy’s weapons appear to have been improved too, so we’ve been put on a back-footing once again. From the information we have, Capulet is one of the worlds with the mineral the Manta need for their crops, as does another world of great interest to us. And they’ll have that information too.”

  “Don’t tell me, it can’t be...”

  “Yup, I’m afraid it is. You guessed it, Loreen has the mineral too. If Capulet falls, and they find Eden, we’re going to be in extremely serious trouble. The people of Loreen need you, Selena; and we need you too. Remember back when you told Linda all those years ago, that all your friends end up dead? Well, if you quit now, you’re letting it happen all over again. For you to let them down now would make a mockery of what you’ve achieved so far, and what you’ve stood for all your life. Face it, you couldn’t believe that your mother left you all those years ago, and yet you’re prepared to leave your friends in the lurch. You’ll be running out on them when they really need you, and you can make a difference. There’s something else you need to know, too.”

  “Isn’t there always, what is it?”

  “Franks sent a message to say that they’re already in trouble. His daughter, Hope, now over a year old, has wandered off from their base camp in Eden and disappeared. They think she’s gone down one of the rabbit holes. Trouble is, they don’t know exactly which one, and Franks is getting desperate. They’ve had search parties out day and night, but as knowledge of Eden is Top Secret, very few people know about it, and they’re limited in how many resources they can call on to help in the search.”

  “Did he say whether he had any leads, anything at all?”

  “No. There was only one other message. It was sent shortly after the last one, and it was quite brief. It said that they were going down the rabbit holes too.”

  “What? That’s not exactly bloody helpful. Ask him for more information.”

  “We would, but it appears that Franks and his wife went out with one of the search parties yesterday morning and never came back. None of the team did. The camp’s waiting for vetted reinforcements from the base, before they do anything else – but like I said just now, numbers are limited. Even most of our own people don’t know about the discovery.”

  “So, what happens now?” Selena asked.

  “Now we get out of here, that’s what. We’ve friends relying on us — people who need our help.” Kes spoke briefly into his radio and almost instantly a shuttle appeared over the trees and sank to the ground close by. She could see Singh waving at her through the cockpit canopy, as a gangway lowered towards them.

  Selena shook her head, hiding a smile as she stood up, slung her machinegun over her shoulder and then walked up the gangway, with Kes following close behind.

  The hatch closed and locked as they strapped themselves in.

  With a growl rising to a scream the tiny craft lifted, tilted upwards, and with a roar arrowed towards the heavens.

  Selena looked out through the port hole next to her, to the horizon, where the first faint glimmers of the world’s last dawn could already be seen.

  About the author

  As a child Mark was bought up in Slough and used to read up to three paperbacks a day. At the age of 17 he joined the Royal Navy as a radio operator and says he’s so lucky to have seen so much of the world. While always interested in writing he began to do so more seriously following his experiences during the Falklands War, in which he served aboard HMS Invincible. His short stories have been published in a wide variety of media and he has also written prolifically about the martial arts for magazines such as Combat and Martial Arts Illustrated.

  Passing his MA in Professional Writing with Falmouth University he went on to complete a Diploma in Copywriting, and now works part time for an American copywriting company as well as writing features and fiction. While he writes in all genres Mark’s fiction is primarily SF, fantasy and horror.

  Appearing in several anthologies, including Auguries, Escape Velocity, Write to Fight and Monk Punk, his novel ‘A Pride of Lions’ is the first instalment in the Darkening Stars series.

  Acknowledgements

  A big thank you to Falmouth University: Their MA in Professional Writing is one of the best things I’ve ever done. Also to the BSFA Orbiter writing groups, without their feedback this book wouldn’t have made it. In particular to Geoff Nelder, a fellow writer and friend who’s willing advice and guidance never fails to inspire, and to Nik Morton my brilliant editor.

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