Let me make this short and sweet. By constant communication with the two sides, we learned the score quickly enough. I should add that during the transfer the assault troopers, the Lokhar legionaries and Doctor Sant remained on the outer hull. N7 and I had to wake up the first few. They woke up the rest. A head count showed we’d returned with one thousand, eight hundred and thirteen troopers, two hundred and thirty-seven Lokhars and one android. Minus the legionaries, that was the extent of my influence, or so I believed.
It turned out the Lokhar Emperor had balked at the price of the anti-biological agents to scrub Earth. To balance the imperial books, he’d sent warships to the solar system. I believe the Emperor wanted to put down the upstart humans and reabsorb the Lokhar vessels I’d demanded as our payment for help.
In any case, the Lokhar and Earth flotillas raced toward Ceres and the Forerunner artifact. We waited on the outer hull, enduring in our bio-suits and the Lokhars in their powered armor.
I had a long conversation with Doctor Sant. He wanted to know everything that had happened when I communicated with the giant relic. On a hunch, I told him an edited story. Afterward, on a tight-beam link, Sant spoke to the approaching Lokhars. As he did, the surviving legionaries circled him, forcing me away.
“What do you think, Ella?” I asked. “Are the approaching Lokhars going to kill us?”
“How should I know?” she asked.
I wanted to tell her because of the pink mind ray. She’d become one of theirs, right? Instead, I kept silent. For a time, I gazed at the stars. They were so glorious, their patterns pleasingly familiar. We’d left our reality and had come home again. The fight should have been over. Couldn’t the Purple Tamika Emperor keep his word?
Finally, I noticed Doctor Sant working his way toward me. The legionaries parted to let him pass.
“Commander Creed,” Sant radioed.
I approached him.
The doctor let his visor clear so I could see his face. His features looked thinner than before. I did the same thing with my visor. We studied each other. Then the tiger smiled.
“I have spoken to Admiral Saris of Purple Tamika,” Sant said.
“And?” I asked.
“I informed the admiral that you are the only living person to have entered the inner sanctum of the Forerunner object.”
“That’s not strictly true,” I said. “N7 joined me.”
Sant frowned, and his head twitched within his helmet. “You must realize by now that androids do not count.”
“Sure,” I said. How could I have forgotten?
Sant seemed to compose himself before saying, “I have informed the admiral that you learned the artifact’s true name and have spoken personally with it for quite some time.”
It took me a second, but then I began to suspect what Sant implied. My interview with the artifact was a thunderclap for the Lokhars. In their eyes, I must have become a prophet.
I thought about that, and asked, “Did you know that the artifact wants humans and Lokhars to work together?”
“It actually said that?” Sant asked.
“Absolutely,” I said, without bothering to cross any fingers.
The doctor studied me, eventually nodding. “I will inform the admiral. If you will excuse me…?”
I did, and I began to wonder about my own side. The Lokhars raced here, and so did Diana and Murad Bey. I hadn’t heard anything from Loki. He seemed to have disappeared. I had the feeling Diana and Murad Bey had gotten rid of him. By my radio conversations, it sounded as if those two had a tight grip on the Earth fleet and government. In their eyes, did I represent a threat to their power? Did they come here to both claim the artifact and kill me?
For a time, I strode along the outer hull, thinking deeply. Like fanning cards in a deck, I studied various options. For the next day and a half, my gut churned. I waited. We all did. Finally, I spotted bright dots in the distance. Those were the engine exhausts of the braking Lokhar warships. As the hulls of the actual starships began to appear, I spied the Earth vessels spewing long fiery tails. They’d had farther to travel. But they had come with harder acceleration and now braked with greater Gs.
There were more talks via radio and laser-links, more negotiations. Soon, the two fleets orbited Ceres with the Forerunner object.
So it was that four days after appearing in the solar system, I found myself in a nearly empty Lokhar supply vessel. It would be neutral ground for the two sides. I walked through a steel corridor with N7, holding my helmet in the crook of my arm.
I should have felt great. Instead, for the past few days, every time I closed my eyes, I had nightmares. I thought about Jennifer far too much. My right eye twitched, and nothing I’d done so far had stopped the tic.
N7 glanced at me. He carried his helmet too. His look asked a question: are you ready for this?
I hardened my heart as we approached the hatch. A Lokhar in powered armor and an Earth soldier in space-suited gear stood guard. The human saluted me. The Lokhar held his right arm stiffly like an old-style Roman. I nodded to each.
The hatch opened and I entered the warzone, the conference room. On one side of a table sat Murad Bey with his swept-back hair. He wore a silver uniform with glittering rows of medals. Beside him sat Diana in golden attire. She gave me a stunning smile, but her eyes were hard and calculating. The Lokhars had a bluff combat officer with a White Nebula with purple trim pinned to a jacket. He guarded the admiral, a tall lady by the name of Saris. She sat as if someone had surgically inserted a steel rod in her spine.
This meeting was deadly important, I knew. Yet it was difficult for me to engage fully. The situation felt surreal. I’d saved the universe and lost my girl. I’d lived under intense pressure for too long. Now the Lokhars and humans squabbled like kids in a sandbox over who could pick up which shovel or plastic bail. I knew it was more important than that. If the Lokhars decided to begin a war with us, they would likely win, as they had more starships present.
As soon as I sat, the questioning started. The others peppered me. Very quickly it must have become clear to them I was only half there. Probably, in the admiral’s mind, that helped solidify my prophet label. After a time, Diana began giving me funny looks.
I focused then. I wished Jennifer could have enjoyed peace and relaxation as I did. Why did the good people always have to pay the stiffest cost? Some sort of inverse cosmic rule, I suppose. Why did the Murad Beys, the Dianas and the Commander Creeds survive?
“You know what?” I said, deciding it was time to cut through the BS on both sides. “The universe has won a singular victory. Lokhars and humans working together closed the great portal. We halted the Karg invasion. The rest of their miserable race will die in their collapsing space-time continuum.”
“But if the Jelk found a way to cross into hyperspace—” the admiral said.
I held up a hand. Admiral Saris fell silent.
Doctor Sant and I had told our story via radio many times to the others. Well, we’d told them most of the tale. It’s how they knew about Claath.
“I suspect the Jelk was a renegade,” I said. “Just because Claath joined the Kargs doesn’t mean the rest of the Jelk Corporation did. Yes, Abaddon will seek a way to escape hyperspace. But I believe for our lifetime the great danger is over. We beat them.”
“It seems clear the Kargs captured tigers…” Diana paused. “Excuse me, please,” she said, glancing at the admiral. “I mean Lokhars. The Kargs may have even captured a Lokhar Dreadnought. It’s possible the trans-dimensional aliens have functional hyperspace technology.”
“They would have used it earlier if they had it,” I said.
“That isn’t necessarily true,” Diana said. “Maybe Abaddon first wanted to get everyone out of their dying universe. Afterward, he would begin the invasion of ours. According to your testimony, he already has many ships in hyperspace.”
“True,” I said, “but there are many universes. Even if he has the technology, he might not
be able to find our particular space-time continuum.”
“You may be right,” Diana said. “Yet if Abaddon has the technology, the risk to our universe is still there.”
“Of course, of course,” I said. “But until the risk materializes, I think we should consider the situation in our own back yard.” I took a deep breath. “We need a memorial to Lokhar and human cooperation. I suggest we use the Forerunner object near Ceres as the basis of it.”
The stiff-backed admiral leaned toward me. “I’m told you know the artifact’s true name,” she said.
“I do.”
“I would love to hear the name,” the admiral said softly, with a fierce gleam in her eyes.
“In time, in time,” I said. “First we must realize what it means.”
“What what means?” the admiral asked, puzzled.
“That the artifact chose this place, this system,” I said.
“Yes?” the admiral asked. “What is your point?”
“Once, the artifact resided in the Altair star system,” I said. “It seemed content to rest under Lokhar stewardship. Now it has come to our solar system. I do not think it did this because of any lack in the Lokhars. Quite the opposite, in fact.”
“I fail to understand your meaning,” the admiral said, stiffly.
“You proved to be the perfect guardians,” I said.
“Then why didn’t the artifact return to the Altair system?” the admiral asked.
“Because you learned your lessons as it desired,” I said. “Now it is time to teach us humans about the Creator. The best way is for the great artifact to be here, reminding us of the days of yore. As a teaching tool, the artifact will let the Earthmen protect it. Yet we are young in understanding. We could use your help. I suggest that means you should aid us in protecting this most precious relic of the First Ones.”
“What are you suggesting?” the admiral asked.
I stared at Diana and looked into Murad Bey’s cold eyes. “The surviving assault troopers will take over the Lokhar base on Mars. We’ve witnessed the artifact in action. We’ve seen its glory. So we will make the best guardians. I suggest, Admiral, that you leave us several powerful warships. Until you leave, we will recruit among the remaining humans to fill out the troopers to five thousand elite soldiers and several elite-run war vessels.”
“Under the council’s authority, of course,” Diana said quickly.
“No,” I said. “I don’t think so. We will be the Forerunner guardians, acting as agents between humans and Lokhars. Naturally, we expect the Emperor to sanction us under the Jade League.”
“The Emperor has already spoken,” the admiral said. “Humans aren’t ready to enter the League.”
“He’s right of course,” I said. “Humans aren’t ready, but the Forerunner guardians are.”
“An interesting idea,” the admiral said. “You will be a holy order of warriors. Yes, the Emperor might allow such as you into the League.”
I glanced at the admiral and then resumed watching Diana and Murad Bey. “I will be Earth’s link to the League. Through me, and my order, I will protect Earth from other Jade League predators.”
“You are wise,” the admiral said. “You are indeed a prophet of the Creator.”
“I make no such claims,” I said.
“Yet the markings are clear,” the admiral said. “I agree to your demands.”
“What about you, Madam President?” I asked Diana. “Do you agree?”
A long round of questions and bargaining ensued. In the end, Diana and Murad Bey gave into my demands. I got my base. I got several warships and the right to recruit assault troopers.
I wasn’t sure what the future held, but it looked like I was going to be in it for a while longer. My goal was simple and straightforward. I was going to give humanity the best leg up possible, even if I had to walk over Diana and Murad Bey to do it.
I leaned back in my chair as the others continued to talk. Humanity had survived Abaddon and the Kargs. We’d survived the Jelk and the Lokhars.
Jennifer, my Jennifer…are you still alive?
I shook my head. I didn’t want to think about her, or about Abaddon trying to break into our universe. We had won for the moment. Tomorrow…it would have to take care of itself. Meanwhile, I planned to get royally drunk for the next several months.
The End
To the Reader: Thanks! I hope you’ve enjoyed Planet Strike. If you liked the book and would like to see the series continue, please put up some stars and a review. Let new readers know what’s in store for them.
—Vaughn Heppner
Extinction Wars: 02 - Planet Strike Page 36