by Ken Lozito
Mar Arden glanced behind him and saw his rifle on the ground. It was ruined and couldn't help him. He was creeping toward Kandra Rene, eager to kill the Human, when another blue light zipped past him. Mar Arden flinched and then cursed as he backed away.
"I couldn't have you interfering with the contest," a man said and stepped into the light.
Mar Arden looked at the man. He was an older Human who kept his weapon pointed directly at Mar Arden. The Human seemed to study him for a moment. Most Humans had never seen an alien species before, but this Human looked at him with neither surprise nor fear. The Human's expression was one of familiarity, as if he'd seen a Xiiginn before. Mar Arden knew that if he tried to attack, the Human would kill him with that primitive weapon. The Human noticed Mar Arden studying the weapon.
"Like it? I've always loved a good bow—simple, straight to the point—but as you already know, this is no ordinary weapon. We’ve given it a few improvements, thanks to our Boxan friends. You'll have to forgive me; I haven't introduced myself. My name is Ed Johnson, and I'm the Human who’s going to kill you."
Mar Arden smiled. "I think you overestimate your chances."
"I could have killed you already, but then I wouldn't have gotten to speak with you. I've heard so much about your species—the Xiiginns. I must admit it was harder to find you than I thought it would be, but you leave a particular trail in your wake," Ed Johnson said.
Mar Arden narrowed his gaze. He had the distinct impression that Ed Johnson had some secret knowledge. "Don't worry. When the rest of my species arrives, you won't be so smug. Your death will take a very long time."
Mar Arden heard the other Human cry out at the same time Kandra Rene grunted in pain. He watched Ed Johnson to see if he would take his eyes off him, but the Human steadily returned his gaze, looking slightly amused.
"You didn't think it would be that easy. Now that I have you in my sights, I'm not going to take my eyes off you."
Mar Arden glanced over at the two combatants and saw that each fought with renewed vigor. He turned back toward the Human.
"My assistant, Iris. She's very special," Ed Johnson said, answering the unasked question.
"She fights well," Mar Arden admitted.
"She's the best. Would you care to make a wager on who will win?"
Mar Arden glanced over at the two combatants and slowly moved his hand over his wrist to access his PDA. He looked back at the Human. "She's enhanced."
Ed Johnson nodded. "Of course, and she received a very special augmentation recently, too. I'm afraid your last encampment wasn't as secure as you thought it was. We recovered some of the data you left and figured out how you were going to incorporate the Mardoxian trait into your species. Really convenient because now I can enhance my own soldiers with the ability. You might have noticed during your time here that there are billions of us, and one thing you can count on is Human determination to defend what’s ours."
Mar Arden frowned. He still had the data connection to their base of operations. "I'm glad it worked out so well for you."
"We're still closing in on your base here, but it shouldn't be much longer," Ed Johnson said.
Mar Arden glanced behind Ed at the Boxan communications node. Its dark metallic surface almost shimmered in the light. "Do the Boxans know you have that?"
"Not exactly, but I couldn't think of another way to get you here aside from offering something you really value."
Mar Arden had to admit that it was a clever plan. "The machines with Boxan plasma rifles were a nice touch. I wasn't expecting that. Although I didn't get a good look at them, they weren't enough to stop us." He accessed his drones and commanded them to come to his location. "Such a shame the Boxans couldn't join us right now."
"Perhaps you'd like to try using your compulsion capability on me?" Ed Johnson asked.
The thought had crossed Mar Arden's mind, and if there had been Boxans there, he would have exercised his will over them without hesitation, but Humans were different. He was as likely to fail to subjugate them as he was to succeed, and those weren't odds he'd stake his life on.
"Maybe some other time, then. Oh, and regarding the Boxans, you'll find that we're more than capable of dealing with vermin like you without them."
Mar Arden sneered. He used his neural implants to access his combat armor systems. "Your species is divided."
"Big families will have squabbles from time to time. I bet you thought those nuclear bombs would have been more effective in dividing us. You were wrong. It actually unified our resolve against you," Ed Johnson said.
"We've seen species like yours at similar stages of development. Your potential rests on the edge of a knife. One nudge and you'll teeter right off of it and go the way all those before you have gone in the great expanse."
"I wouldn't count us out just yet. We're a pretty stubborn race. Misguided at times, but ultimately here for the duration."
"Your shield cannot protect you, and I would almost hate to see you pick the losing side of this war," Mar Arden said.
"Oh, you'd like us to form an alliance with you? Why didn't you say so before you flung asteroids at our planet and detonated nuclear bombs in populated areas? And let's not forget snatching a few of us for your experiments."
"There are large factions of your race that have embraced us, and many more will do so once our fleet arrives," Mar Arden said.
He watched as the Human nodded.
"There will always be a group—or a faction, as you say—that will be misguided in their beliefs. Are the Xiiginns so different? Are you unified?"
"We are the strongest race in the great expanse. You will soon learn—" Mar Arden’s speech was cut off when Kandra Rene cried out.
Mar Arden thrust his fist toward the Human, and a group of lethal projectiles shot from a hidden compartment on his armored wrist. The Human released his weapon, and the blue light at the end of a metallic shaft raced toward him. Mar Arden dove to the side and spun through the air, using his tail to propel him toward his attacker. The Human collapsed to the ground with blood spurting from multiple wounds. Mar Arden felt a spike of energy surge through him as he closed in on the Human. Ed Johnson scrambled backward as Mar Arden leapt on top of him, pinning him down with his foot. One of the Human's legs was bloody where he'd been hit. Mar Arden lashed out with his tail and pounded the wound.
"Not so smug now," Mar Arden said.
He’d expected the Human to be angry and afraid, but instead the pathetic being just sneered at him.
"You think you've won, Xiiginn?"
Mar Arden saw a shadowed figure coming toward him. He thrust out his wrist and the remaining projectiles shot forth, but the Human dove to the side. He saw Kandra Rene's body lying on the floor, unmoving. The Human with the Mardoxian potential regained her feet and ran toward him, but the distance was too great. Kandra Rene had drawn away their attacker before dying. Mar Arden swung his gaze toward the Boxan communication node. It was close by, ripe for the taking. He left the dying Human at his feet and raced toward the shimmering metallic box.
"You'll never escape," Ed Johnson called out from where he lay on the floor.
Mar Arden snatched the node off the shelf and looked above him. He heard the buzzing of his drones as they flew across the warehouse toward him, and he sent the command for the drones to lock together so they could carry him out of there. They flew closer and he sprang into the air, reaching out with his hand. The drones bunched together and he grabbed onto one. The drones dipped toward the ground at the sudden weight and then rose higher into the air. A blue streak sped past his face as he commanded the drones to take him to the exit. More blue shafts took out drones near his hands, but they missed him. Mar Arden gritted his teeth as the drones lowered toward the ground and flew him to an open elevator. They flew him inside and up through a gaping hole in the ceiling where the drones had broken through. As he flew up the shaft, accelerating toward the top, there was an orange flash beneath him. Human! Mar Arden
swung his feet up and away from the blistering orange plume moving toward him.
Ed Johnson apparently had no qualms about sacrificing his own life to prevent him from escaping. He should have anticipated this, given what the Human had done to lure them there. At least some of the Humans understood what was required to achieve victory.
The flames of the explosion nipped at his heels as the drones flew him out of the building. He'd just cleared the facility when the force of the explosion knocked him to the ground. Mar Arden tripped and then tumbled, clutching the Boxan communications node to his side. He checked for any comms channels from the team he'd left to guard their escape, but they must have been caught in the blast. Aside from the blazing fire that had once been a secret research facility, the area was quiet. Flaming wrecks of vehicles burned all around him.
His data link to the camp where he’d left Hoan Berend had been cut off. The Human hadn't been boasting; he really did have a strike team. He immediately opened a comms channel to his backup location and downloaded a data dump. The incubation of the test subject had been completed and they’d been brought out of it, but Hoan Berend hadn't seen fit to contact him about it. He supposed he should thank him. If he hadn't tried to steal the keys to the Mardoxian capability, the data might have been lost. He glanced through data for a few moments to confirm that it was intact and then stored it away to examine later.
He looked at all the destruction around him. Kandra Rene's Human diversionary force was all gone. He recalled his remaining drones and sent them to scout the area. There had to be an aerial vehicle nearby. He didn't believe for a moment that Ed Johnson had come there without transportation capable of taking him anywhere on the planet—or off of it, for that matter. All Mar Arden had to do was find it.
Chapter Nineteen
Colonel Kyle Matthews sat on the commander's couch in the main bridge of the ECF battleship-carrier Lincoln. Michael Hunsicker—also a colonel in the ECF but not in command of the ship—sat to his left and was speaking to Chazen. Scraanyx sat to Kyle's right and watched the main holoscreen.
"I have a priority comms channel from ECF command, Colonel Matthews," Lieutenant Lucy Rogers said from the communication station.
"Put it on screen," Kyle said.
He'd been expecting one final send-off from ECF command, and they weren't so far away from Earth that they couldn't have a live video feed.
General Sheridan's face appeared on the main holoscreen and Kyle greeted the ECF general.
"I would like to have gone with you, but not this trip," General Sheridan said.
"It would've been an honor to have you along, General," Kyle replied and then smiled.
General Sheridan nodded. "You'll do just fine, Colonel," he said and turned his gaze toward Scraanyx. "What you've done for humanity cannot be measured, nor our appreciation conveyed through words. None of us know how the events that will transpire over the next few days will turn out, but on behalf of myself, the rest of the ECF, and all of humanity, we truly thank you for everything you've done for us and hope that the Boxans will someday be at peace."
Scraanyx stood and brought his fist across his heart. The Boxan salute was also performed by all the other Boxans on the bridge. "Battle Leader, it was our honor to get to know such a wonderful species. I am just a soldier, but I'd like to think that were the circumstances different, an invitation to join us would've been given despite our war with the Xiiginns. Your species will be called on to mature much faster than it otherwise would have, but after having spent so much time with you, I believe you’re up to the challenge."
Kyle knew they'd earned the Boxans' respect over the course of the past year, but that hadn’t been the case when the Boxans first arrived. He'd gone over the reports from Kaylan multiple times, and more than once she’d noted that the Boxans believed Humans were a primitive and brash race of beings. And the Boxans were right; Humans were brash and sometimes cruel, but they were also compassionate, intelligent, and capable of awe-inspiring acts of self-sacrifice. People weren't one or the other; they simply existed. Kyle found himself sitting a little straighter after hearing Scraanyx's comments to General Sheridan.
"Has there been any other news on the most recent attacks in the United States?" Kyle asked.
General Sheridan shook his head. "The damage was concentrated in areas remote from population centers, and there’s an ongoing investigation. At this point, we don't know if there were any Xiiginns involved, but we can't rule it out either."
"Have you been able to contact Edward Johnson?" Michael Hunsicker asked.
"The offices of Dux Corp have been unusually silent. I'm not sure whether this is cause for alarm or if Ed is so busy hunting for the Xiiginns that there's a delay in communications. I do know that he’s been coordinating with law enforcement agencies throughout the globe," General Sheridan replied.
Just hours before they'd left the ECF lunar shipyards, there had been multiple attacks across the globe from various global terrorist organizations. The intelligence briefing Kyle had read indicated that those organizations were loosely tied to the Xiiginns. He'd checked in on his family to be sure they were safe—as safe as they could be in this day and age. His daughters were enrolled in the ECF Academy in California and his wife had joked with them about how they'd have to salute him in public once they graduated.
"Colonel Matthews," General Sheridan said, "you have about as complex a task as has ever been given a commanding officer. Ideally, this trip would have been made with a much larger battle group, but time is of the essence and it's time for us to venture beyond our solar system."
"My team and my crew are up to the task, General. We will achieve our mission objectives," Kyle replied.
"Make us proud," General Sheridan said and once again looked at Scraanyx. "Best of luck to you and your species. I know our ambassadors have already conveyed the sentiment, but the Boxans will always be welcome on Earth should you choose to return."
"Thank you. I will inform the High Council of your invitation," Scraanyx replied.
The video call ended and the holoscreen went dark.
"Helm, take us to the shield. All ahead full," Kyle ordered.
"Yes, Colonel, all ahead full," Sergeant Fuller replied.
They had already plotted a course that would take them away from the sun and the orbital plane of the planets in the solar system, and they still had hours before they would reach the minimum distance required to open a wormhole. This would be the first time they’d used the Cherubian drive on any of their ships. As if that wasn't enough for him to worry about, they were also going to try to disable the Star Shroud shield. The Boxans assured him that the first Human-built Cherubian drive had passed every test the Boxans had thrown at it. The only exception was that they hadn't used it to open an actual wormhole, but the technology was sound and had been proven to work. It was just that the ECF had never done it before.
Michael Hunsicker looked over at him and then walked to his side.
Kyle blew out a breath. "You know, Michael, you make this look easy."
Michael Hunsicker chuckled. "It's never easy. Ever. Being the first to go anywhere or do something like this takes a certain amount of mental fortitude. I’ve read your mission reports and you're no stranger to potentially dangerous pursuits."
"On the Endurance, I thought we were going to die, and it was our last chance to save Earth," Kyle said.
Michael nodded knowingly.
Kyle was confident that his crew could fly the ship, but they hadn't had the time to do enough combat drills to make them into an effective fighting force. Their ships were impressive, but without an experienced crew he just hoped he wouldn't be presiding over the biggest disaster in Human history.
The fact that they had flown to an area in space that was about as far away from Earth as Neptune was from the sun in just a few short hours was downright impressive. Not many years ago, the Athena had made a similar journey and it had taken them almost two months. It was a rem
inder of how far they'd come with the Boxans’ help, but still, they had a long way to go.
They were headed for a place that had a potentially hostile force, and they didn't have any idea what kind of reception they’d get. Kyle looked over at Scraanyx, who was watching him.
"The Confederation is under Xiiginn control, so what kind of welcome do you think we’ll get?" Kyle asked.
"The Xiiginns are the most powerful species in the Confederation. And yes, they do have firm control of the Council Confederation species, but there are protocols for the Confederation to follow. So traveling there and opening communications in what you would call a 'public forum' does give you a measure of protection. In effect, it insulates you to at least be heard out by the Confederation," Scraanyx said.
"I know we've covered this before, but are the Xiiginns really not going to attack us because they're afraid they're going to look bad in front of the other species?" Kyle asked.
"We're the ones who aren’t welcome in the Confederation. As long as our presence remains a secret, you should be fine. Even the Xiiginns can’t control all the Confederation species with an iron fist. They have a lot of influence, and if you were to go there in secret and contact them directly, there would be nothing to stop them from ordering a battle group of their warships to conceal you from the rest of the Confederation. But since that isn’t the plan, they can't very well make you just disappear and convince the Confederation that you never existed. In essence, they’ve put themselves in a corner of sorts. One of the few things the message from Commander Farrow emphasized was that the supporting argument for this armada was to protect humanity's interest," Scraanyx said.
Kyle nodded. They’d been over this before, but he just needed to hear it all again now that they were actually leaving. "We'll find out in a few days’ time."
