“Frank, I need to go home. Please, let us go home.”
Carr put both hands in the air to ask for silence. “Everyone, quiet down for a minute. Please! Quiet down!” They all fell silent, many wiping tears from their eyes.
“Here’s the way we will proceed,” said Carr, taking charge. “Marc, get online and have Tyra send the aerovan to take us back to Bakkoa. While we wait for transport, we need to lock down all of our equipment and projects.”
“For how long, Frank?” asked Voss.
Carr thought a moment. “At least three days. I want everyone to go home, to be with their families for a while. I’ll contact you all later in the week, after we know more.” A little of the anxiety seemed to trickle out of the room, but not much.
“Erin, you’re in charge of setting the security drones,” Carr said to a tall red-haired girl. “Highest level, understand?”
“Yes, Boss.”
Carr looked around the room. “Everyone, try to stay calm. Transport will be here soon. Until then, focus on the job to be done.”
After most of the crew had left the office, Voss plead his case.
“Frank—three days? That’s a long time to be down right now.”
“Voss, you think I like it? It can’t be helped. Even if we tried, we wouldn’t get much work out of these people right now anyway. Some of them might even quit, and we can’t have that. You and I worked too long to assemble this team.”
“I s’pose you’re right,” Voss grudgingly admitted.
Sanchez stepped forward and put her arm around the big foreman. “You need to be at home too. Dezrin has been through a lot in the past five years. She’s sensitive to violence in any form, even if it’s light-years away. Go be with your wife—she’ll need you.”
Voss nodded. “You’re right, Etta. I’m just not thinkin’ right now, that’s all. We New Earthers, we came here to get away from them—them monsters. And now…”
“We’ll all be OK, you’ll see,” said Carr in the most optimistic voice he could manage.
Voss nodded but was plainly unconvinced. “Well, I’d better go see how everyone’s doing.”
After he departed, Carr and Sanchez embraced silently for a long minute.
“Three million people,” Sanchez said, moving to the nearest window. “How could an intelligent race commit genocide on that scale?”
Her husband shrugged. “Twenty million humans died in World War One, forty million in World War Two.”
“But this was in a single attack, not a whole war,” she said, nervously biting on a fingernail. “Frank, did you catch the early part of that report just now. They said the Massang came through the system’s hypergate.”
Carr moved to stand behind her, gazing over her shoulder and out the window. “They must have hacked it.”
“But, if they hacked the Gate system…”
“I know,” he said, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her tight. “If they hacked the Gates, they can attack any human system anytime, without warning—including this one.”
Coming Fall, 2017
Starhold’s Fate
Fourth and final book of the Starhold series
For more information
go to jalanfield.net
For Your Consideration
Thank you for reading…
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About the Author
J. Alan Field grew up in the 1960s, immersing himself in classic television shows such as the original Star Trek, The Wild, Wild West, The Avengers, and The Man from UNCLE, he developed a lifelong passion for imaginative story telling. Among his favorite authors and books are Dan Simmons and his Hyperion Cantos, David Brin’s Uplift Series, Melanie Rawn’s Dragon Prince/Star novels, David Weber, and George R.R. Martin. In the late-1990s, Field was introduced to the exceptional world of anime and became an enthusiastic “otaku.” Some of his favorite works include Ghost in the Shell, Shojo Kakumei Utena, and the Macross universe.
Science fiction has always held a special fascination for Field, as it is a window onto not only the future but also the present. In examining the possibilities of what we can be, we must first and foremost examine ourselves. Before writing, Field spent thirty-four years as a history teacher in the city of Morgantown, West Virginia, where he still resides. He is very grateful to all of his friends who have supported his writing and hopes to make them proud.
Table of Contents
Title page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
1: Advent
2: Mannerheim
3: Departure
4: Mission
5: Dialog
6: Connection
7: Torn
8: Reaction
9: Summit
10: Duo
11: Blood
12: Encounter
13: Scandal
14: Dorham
15: Skirmish
16: Complications
17: Allies
18: Scuffle
19: Tezrina
20: Epiphany
21: Showdown
22: Specialists
23: Counterplot
24: Sanctuary
25: Exposed
26: Them
27: Reckoning
28: Partners
29: Homeward
30: Another Sun
31: Cataclysm
For Your Consideration
Keeper of the Sun (Starhold Series Book 3) Page 31