First Colony: Books 1 - 3

by Ken Lozito

  “I don’t need anything, but I’d like to stay at your side for the duration,” his father said.

  Sean’s brows pulled together. “I can’t allow that. I’m sorry.”

  His father lifted his hands in front of his chest. “I don’t mean in combat, but everything else.”

  “I know what you mean, but I don’t think you understand. Every place in this city is about to become a combat zone. I can’t do what I need to do and worry about your safety. Can you please understand that?” Sean said.

  His father’s brows pushed forward determinedly. “I want to fight at your side, son.”

  Sean’s throat thickened. “I know, but I’m going to be where the worst of the fighting is.”

  “You think that matters to me? You’re my son. We may not have always seen eye to eye, but there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. You may be in command of the CDF, but I’m going to stay with you. You can order your soldiers to take me away and I’ll still come back.” His father’s eyes became glassy and Sean felt himself being pulled into his father’s arms. “I’m so proud of you. Please don’t forget that. I’ve always been proud of you.”

  Sean hugged his father, feeling as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

  “I won’t order my men to take you away, but you’ll have to explain yourself to Mom,” Sean said.

  His father chuckled. “I’ve already taken care of that.”

  Sean frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that the last transport to Sanctuary will have your mother on it. Whether she’s conscious for the trip will be another matter,” Tobias said.

  Sean’s mouth hung open. “She’ll never forgive you for it.”

  “At least she’ll be alive to be angry. I’ll take that over the alternative any day,” Tobias said.

  Sean nodded. He’d already made similar arrangements for his father. Some things weren’t worth the risk.

  22

  Noah returned to the mobile Command Center at Sanctuary. They’d received notification that Phoenix Station had gone offline after its engagement with the Vemus Alpha ship. Not a good sign, but Noah knew that the CDF soldiers serving aboard Phoenix Station wouldn’t be declared dead until the area was thoroughly investigated. Sean refused to believe Connor had died. Even if massive pieces of the space station had been destroyed, there were still pockets where people could survive. The official CDF update communication had come from Sean, who was commanding the CDF ground troops. Noah found himself looking at Colonel Cross for some reaction to tell him why she wasn’t in command of the CDF ground forces.

  “I see you looking at me again, Captain Barker. Is there a problem?” Colonel Cross asked crisply.

  “No, ma’am, no problem at all,” Noah said and turned his attention back to the latest analysis for the power converter. He’d tweaked the controller’s sensitivity for the power regulator so that it could handle the greater range of fluctuations that the alien power station was prone to producing. These settings would greatly hinder the converter’s life cycle, but he didn’t need the equipment to last forever; it just needed to survive a few engagements with Vemus ships if they ever found Sanctuary.

  After a few moments, he glanced over at Colonel Cross and she sighed heavily. “Since you can’t seem to concentrate, I’ll answer the question that’s been burning in your mind since I arrived,” Colonel Cross said.

  “I’m sorry, Colonel. I really am. I’m trying not to think about my wife. She’s stationed at Lunar Base,” Noah said.

  Colonel Cross raised her brows. “There are a lot of significant others serving on Lunar Base.”

  Noah frowned in confusion for a moment. “Oh, I hadn’t realized.”

  “What? That I’m a woman as well as a colonel? Yes, there’s someone important to me up there as well, so you’re in good company,” Colonel Cross said.

  “Does that have anything to do with why you were sent here?” Noah asked and then immediately wished he hadn’t. Idiot, he thought.

  Colonel Cross glared at him and then a bitter half smile crossed her face as her gaze lost most of its venom. “Once again, if General Gates hadn’t warned me about you, I’d have you dealt with severely.”

  Noah looked away, feeling embarrassed. He should have known better, but sometimes his brain just latched onto an idea and refused to let go.

  “You know what? Fine, I’ll tell you. General Gates sent me to Sanctuary because I’m pregnant and there are regulations against me serving in an active combat zone,” Colonel Cross said.

  Of all the reasons Noah had thought, Colonel Cross being pregnant hadn’t been among them. He looked at her. “Congratulations, Colonel,” he said.

  Colonel Cross snorted and shook her head. “I think you’re the first person who’s said that to me. Thank you.”

  “I mean it. It’s nice to have something like that to think about rather than always . . .” Noah’s voice trailed off, and he pointed up toward the sky.

  “I’m sure you’ll make a wonderful father someday, Captain Barker,” Colonel Cross said.

  Noah noted the slight bitterness in Colonel Cross’s tone. “Does your significant other know about the baby?”

  Colonel Cross bit her lower lip and shook her head. “I didn’t get the chance to tell him.”

  Noah perked up in his chair. “I’m sure I can find a way for you to get a message to Lunar Base. I could bury it in satcom—” Noah said.

  “No,” Colonel Cross said sternly, cutting him off. “We can’t take the risk with the Vemus closing in on the planet.”

  “Yeah, but it would just be another broadcast signal among many. Difficult for them to track, even with an AI tasked with evaluating the signals,” Noah said.

  “No. And that’s an order. The broadcast signals will have decreased now that the Vemus are here. If we keep up the broadcasts, sooner or later even the Vemus will start wondering why we would do such a thing, and it wouldn’t take a large stretch of the imagination for them to conclude that we have someone listening on the other end,” Colonel Cross said.

  “I hadn’t thought of that, Colonel,” Noah said, conceding the point.

  “No one can think of everything,” Colonel Cross said.

  They heard shouting from outside the mobile Command Center. Recognizing Lenora’s voice, Noah sprang out of his chair. Her shrill voice became even louder through the thin walls of the center. She hadn’t taken the news about Phoenix Station well. Noah couldn’t blame her and was secretly thankful that, for the time being, Lunar Base was relatively safe from Vemus attention.

  Noah hastened outside and Colonel Cross followed him. Off to the side, Lenora swayed on her feet, holding a glass bottle. Behind her, a huge berwolf watched her intently. The creature’s large pink tongue lolled out of its blocky head, resting lazily over a row of impressively sized teeth. The tips of retractable black claws that could rend through steel poked out from the brown, hairy paws. Noah recalled that Lenora had cared for the berwolf as a pup and had even named him Bull. The CDF soldiers kept a wary eye on the creature.

  “Colonel,” Lenora said. Her slurred words and bleary-eyed gaze were indication enough that Lenora had had more than a few drinks before coming here. “They’re here! They. Are. Here!” she said, stabbing her finger up at the night sky. “We’ve spent all that time getting that big cannon to work. Why haven’t you used it yet?”

  “Lenora, you know why,” Noah admonished.

  Lenora shushed him with an excessive hiss and a shake of her head. “I want to hear it from her.”

  “Dr. Bishop, you need rest. Please allow my soldiers to escort you back to your quarters,” Colonel Cross said.

  Two CDF soldiers stepped toward Lenora, but when one of them moved to grab her arm, a deep growl resonated from the berwolf’s massive chest.

  Lenora stumbled back away from the guards and toward Bull. “I don’t think he’ll like it if you try to touch me,” she said, scowling at the soldiers and scratching the be
rwolf behind his ears. “At least you’re still here,” she said to Bull. The berwolf sniffed Lenora’s breath curiously. No doubt it hadn’t smelled anything like vodka before, or whatever flavored grain alcohol Lenora had been drinking.

  Noah walked past the soldiers. “Come on, Lenora. You know we can’t bring that weapon online. I know you know that.”

  Lenora glared at him. “Oh yes. All the colonists suddenly find one of my archaeological sites so interesting,” she sneered and scowled at the crowd of refugees quickly shuffling away from her. “Oh yes, all of you come cowering here. Half of you thought he was crazy. Remember?” she asked scathingly of the retreating group. “There’s no danger coming from Earth. There’s no way something like that could happen. You scoffed at his efforts and made him plead for you to give him the tools he needed to defend you all. Now you cower here, looking up at the skies in panic,” she said, stabbing a finger up at the night sky. “Now you give him your support, proclaiming he’s been right all along. None of you deserve what Connor’s given you. None of you!”

  Lenora lost her balance and stumbled to the side. Noah stepped forward, ready to catch her if she fell but also keeping a wary eye on the berwolf. He couldn’t tell whether the creature was going to attack him or not. For the moment it seemed preoccupied with watching Lenora’s drunken rage.

  She steadied herself with outstretched arms to keep her balance.

  “Lenora, please. They’re scared enough without you yelling at them,” Noah said.

  Lenora looked at him, her long hair in tangles, some of which were in front of her face. She pushed her hair out of the way and Noah saw her glassy, red-rimmed eyes. “How can you side with them? Don’t you want to kill the Vemus?”

  Noah took a small step forward. “Yes, I want to stop them, but this isn’t the way.”

  “Then why aren’t you firing the colossus cannon right now?” Lenora asked.

  “Because it won’t stop them. It will only alert the Vemus to our presence here,” Noah said.

  “Good! Then I can grab one of these rifles and put it to good use,” Lenora said and looked over at Colonel Cross. “I’m not such a bad shot myself.”

  “Lenora, please look at me,” Noah said.

  Lenora blinked slowly as she turned her gaze to him.

  “Connor wouldn’t want this—” Noah began.

  “I don’t care what Connor wanted!” Lenora shrieked and glared up at the night sky. “Are you happy now? You got what you wanted. Killed in the line of duty. A soldier’s death . . .”

  Lenora muttered a few incoherent curses and tripped. Noah caught her in his arms and she pressed her face into his chest, sobbing. All he could do was hold her while she wept. He hadn’t seen her since yesterday. She must have found out about Phoenix Station, and he cursed himself an idiot for not going to tell her himself. He should have checked on her. The mostly empty glass bottle clattered to the ground, and he lifted her up and started to carry her off.

  “Put her in my quarters. They’re closer,” Colonel Cross said.

  Noah changed directions, heading for Colonel Cross’s tent. Lenora kept muttering off and on while he carried her. She needed sleep. He heard the berwolf padding along behind them. Colonel Cross opened the door to her tent and Noah carried Lenora to the small bed inside. He laid her down and pulled a blanket over her. Satisfied that there was nothing more he could do, he left the tent and went back outside.

  “You should stay with her,” Colonel Cross said.

  “But I have to—”

  “It can wait. She needs you. You should be here for her when she wakes up,” Colonel Cross insisted.

  “Thank you, ma’am,” Noah said.

  Colonel Cross and the CDF soldiers left him, and the berwolf settled down nearby. He grabbed one of the nearest chairs and sat down. The creature would swing its head toward Lenora whenever he heard her moan in her sleep but then would settle back down.

  “She’ll be alright,” Noah said softly and hoped he was right. Lenora had kept so many things bottled up that he should have known something had to give. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and gazed up at the night sky where New Earth’s rings cast a soft glow. He never got tired of that sight, but tonight he couldn’t take any comfort in it. The Vemus were here and he had no idea how they were going to stop them.

  23

  The Vemus Alpha had settled into a geocentric orbit around New Earth, and after the cruisers finished taking out the structures on the lunar surface, they returned to the Alpha. The Vemus seemed to have ignored Lunar Base altogether, and Nathan had deployed small scanning drones from one of the comms satellites they had in orbit. The scanner drones were configured to do a single pass by the Alpha and then send the data through an IR channel to repeaters the CDF had placed nearby. Since the IR signal required a direct line of sight to send the data, there was very little chance the Vemus would detect it. If they did, they could only trace the signal to another repeater. In theory, the Vemus could be patient enough to track the IR signal, but they would have to be in close proximity to the actual repeaters, which they weren’t. The risk was minimal and the CDF needed the data, as it was crucial data for their counterstrike.

  Nathan had deployed armed CDF squads to secure all the locations throughout the base that had access to the lunar surface. He hadn’t accounted for securing those locations when the Vemus arrived and had nearly been discovered. Less than a handful of people had made the foolish attempt to engage the Vemus, which would have put Lunar Base at risk, but luckily Nathan had more levelheaded soldiers in the area to avert disaster. What really frustrated him was that Dr. Kendra Robinson’s death could have been avoided. Struggling to keep the disgust from his voice at the pointless waste of life, he sent out a base-wide update reminding all Lunar Base personnel that the communications receivers were still online and there was no need for anyone to be at the surface installations.

  “It’s the pressure, Colonel. Makes people do foolish things,” Major Shelton said.

  Nathan pressed his lips together. “I know. We just can’t afford it.”

  It had been twelve hours since Phoenix Station had gone offline, and he hadn’t allowed himself to think about Savannah at all. He’d checked the comms logs from the escape pods and her signature hadn’t been among them. The escape pods had ceased broadcasting once the Vemus cruisers entered the area. Unless those CDF soldiers had been able to disable their beacons, it was probable that they’d been captured or killed by the Vemus. Given those options, Nathan hoped they hadn’t been captured.

  He turned his attention back to the main holoscreen. Despite the massive size of the Vemus Alpha, Phoenix Station weapons had bludgeoned it, rendering near-catastrophic damage. The probe scans revealed that the exoskeletal hull was thickest toward the rear of the massive ship where the engines were buried deep in the cavernous hindquarters. The twenty-two-kilometer ship must have had millions of personnel aboard, perhaps more, but those numbers had to have been seriously decimated. Connor had focused Phoenix Station’s weapons on key soft areas that were revealed after the initial HADES IV-B missiles had sloughed off a few layers of the exoskeletal hull. He’d done a lot of damage, but the enemy ship was still flying.

  Nathan had brought in his reserve watches and fed all the data they’d gathered throughout the base. He encouraged anyone with any ideas about how they could attack the enemy to bring them to their immediate superior officers, who would then decide whether the suggestion should be sent up the chain of command. Currently, his normal bridge crew, with the additional presence of operations and tactical units, was gathered in the command area.

  “We need to hit the Vemus Alpha so hard that they can’t recover from it, but we need to be cautious because we can’t have that ship crashing into the planet,” Nathan said.

  Lieutenant LaCroix raised his hand and Nathan nodded for him to speak.

  “Colonel, my team and I have run some preliminary firing solutions, but once we commit fully, there�
�s no way we can mask our presence here,” Lieutenant LaCroix said.

  “Yes, the Vemus will become aware of our presence once we begin shooting at them, so what’s your real question, Lieutenant?” Nathan asked.

  “Our main objective is to take out the Vemus Alpha, but what about the ships that’ll take their forces to the ground? I think we should be trying to prevent that as well, Colonel. What good is a surprise attack if everyone’s dead by the time we come up with a plan to engage the enemy?” Lieutenant LaCroix said.

  “Any minute now the Vemus are going to send in a landing force. We’ve seen them use Talon 5s to storm Titan Station, but they didn’t use them on Phoenix. Please bring your attention to the main holoscreen. That large scorched area is roughly seven kilometers across, and recent scans show that there are separate ships inside. We think their landing crafts will use that area. How can we stop the landing crafts from reaching New Earth?” Nathan asked as his eyes swept over his staff. “This question isn’t just for Lieutenant LaCroix. Once we reveal our presence, there’s no going back.”

  “I have a suggestion, Colonel,” Major Shelton said.

  “What is it?” Nathan asked.

  “We can’t let the Vemus land any craft on New Earth completely unchallenged. They’re in position, and perhaps they believe they’ve won. We need to keep them off balance by striking at the landing craft as they make their descent, letting them know they’re not unopposed and reassuring the people on the ground that we’re still up here fighting for them,” Major Shelton said.

  “Agreed. Given the distance, what could we use that would reach those targets in time?” Nathan asked.

  “We could use our midrange Hornet missiles. They can close the distance quickly, and the Vemus wouldn’t have much time to launch countermeasures, Colonel,” Lieutenant LaCroix said.

  “That could work. Put your team on coming up with a firing solution for that. We’ll need to use a LIDAR burst to update PRADIS. Work off the assumption that as soon as we fire our missiles, we return to Dark-Star status. I agree with Major Shelton that if we can get the Vemus to look over their shoulders, it might give us some more time to find the soft spots in their armor,” Colonel Hayes said.