by Richard Fox
“Ok everyone,” a Marine stood up at the end of the cargo bay. “Remember what I told you. Follow Sergeant Bailey and walk in a line straight to the big round building.”
“Mr. Standy,” a Dotok girl waved to him, “how long will we stay here?”
“For as long as you want. Maybe you’ll all decide to live someplace else. Plenty of room on the planet.”
“Mr. Standy, what kind of food will there be?” the same girl asked.
“Look, sweetie, I just work here. I’m sure the chow is better than all those ration packs you’ve been eating. We all ready to see your new home?” the children looked at him with wide eyes.
“Not the enthusiasm I was hoping for.” He banged a fist twist against the ramp and it descended with a pneumatic whine.
Light flooded in to the cargo bay. Caas saw a pale yellow sun rising over the horizon. Tall trees with wide palms swayed in a breeze that blew the freshest air she’d ever smelled into the Mule.
“Come on,” Caas tugged at her brother, who refused to move or even look up. The rest of the children left the Mule, squeals of wonder and delight from them as they walked out into the sunlight.
“Ar’ri, they’ll make us go back,” Caas said.
Standish knelt in front of the Dotok children. “Hey, I remember you two. Want to come with me? This place is really nice, I promise.”
Ar’ri looked up at the familiar voice. “I want Elias. Elias carry me.”
“Elias isn’t here, little guy. I’m not as big and strong as he is, but can I carry you?” Standish held his arms out. Ar’ri peeled away from his sister and latched on to Standish. The Marine took Caas by the hand.
“What’s the name of this place?” she asked.
They walked down the ramp, Ar’ri’s arms clutched around Standish’s neck.
“We’re in Hawaii, the island of Oahu,” Standish said.
“What’s that?” Caas pointed to the beach just beyond a line of palm trees.
“The beach? You’ve never—no of course not. Want to go see it?” Standish asked them.
“Will we get in trouble?”
“No. Bailey won’t yell at me too much, I’m her only source of quality whiskey,” Standish changed direction and walked toward the ocean.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
They got to the edge of the beach and Standish set Ar’ri down on the sand. The boy reached down and pressed his fingers into the sand.
“Is that…water?” Caas asked.
“Sure is. The Pacific Ocean. Let’s go look,” Standish hiked Ar’ri up on his hip and brought them to the edge of the water logged sand where waves lapped up the shoreline. A wave came ashore with a whoosh, Caas ran back up the bridge with a squeak of fright.
Standish put his hand in the water’s path. The weakening edge of the wave splashed up to his wrist.
“It’s OK. Promise,” Standish said.
Caas kicked off her shoes and took a few tentative steps past Standish and toward the ocean. A wave came in, carrying sea foam and loose sand around her ankles. Caas looked up at Standish, and smiled.
****
Windblown sand slithered across New Abhaile’s roadways. Landed starships creaked in their cradles as the remnants of another dust storm moaned through the metal pylons propping them up from the swamps below.
Dead banshees and the remains of the city’s defenders lay where they fell, blown sand accumulated against the windward side of the bodies like dunes in a deep desert. A bell clanged, its tempo driven by irregular gusts.
The General descended onto the city from the newly whole Crucible orbiting the planet. He floated above the path of corpses leading to the nexus, the last stand of the Smoking Snakes. The black bodies of dead banshees were strewn over the fallen suits. Cruz’ fist stuck from between the dead, as if in a final act of defiance.
With a wave of the General’s hand, dead banshees scattered into the air like leaves caught in a sudden breeze.
Cruz’ armor hinged at the waist, its upper torso tore free of its waist and floated toward the General.
Not this one, the General sent Cruz’ body hurtling down the roadway to where the Crucible of Reason had once stood. Not the other one.
A suit of human armor, the one called Elias, had hurt him. Damaged his corporeal shell and sent him retreating into the nexus lay lines. Never, in his long conquest across the galaxy, had an enemy managed to even touch him.
The humans had proven to be more than an anomaly, they were a threat. To an army accustomed to total victory at every battle, that the humans managed to slip away from defeat was infuriating. The General would accelerate the time table for his forces’ return to Earth. The longer they survived, the more of a threat they became to his, and the Master’s, plans for this galaxy.
The General looked up at the swarm of Drones circling over his head.
Cleanse this world. The General converted into a bolt of light and shot back to his Crucible. The Drones descended on New Abhaile, stalks tips alive with burning tips to eradicate every last trace of the Dotok.
FROM THE AUTHOR
Thank you for reading Blood of Heroes. I hope you enjoyed it enough to leave a review and tell two friends about The Ember War Saga. If you noted any typos or errors in the text, drop me a line at [email protected]. Anyone who helps me kill typos with fire might—just might—see a character named for them die horribly in an upcoming book (with your permission, of course).
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Also By Richard Fox:
The Ember War Saga:
1. The Ember War
2. The Ruins of Anthalas
3. Blood of Heroes
4. Earth Defiant (Working title. Coming February 2016!)
+++
THE RED BARON
At the dawn of the First World War, Manfred von Richthofen seeks renown as a cavalry officer in the German army. His path to glory leads to the fledgling German air force and there he discovers a deadly talent for air-to-air combat.
Richthofen learns that in the air, victory and renown come at the expense of other men’s lives. A heavy burden that grinds against his soul. To the soldiers and people of Germany, he is the pride of an empire. To his foes, the Red Baron. As the wounds to his body and spirit mount, however, Richthofen learns that even heroes have limits. With the war entering its final stages, his greatest battle will be finding the strength to keep fighting.
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The Eric Ritter Spy Thriller Series:
THE CALIBAN PROGRAM
Months after 9/11, a covert arm of the CIA summons young Lieutenant Eric Ritter to Pakistan. Al Qaeda holds an American operative, and Ritter’s history with the kidnapper is key to rescuing the operative before it’s too late.
While the CIA need Ritter’s help, they consider him an expendable asset and throw him into a battle he isn’t ready for. Deep inside a hostile city, Ritter will learn what it takes to fight the cloak and dagger war against a merciless enemy, or die trying.
INTO DARKNESS
A deadly ambush leaves two soldiers in terrorist hands, and their only chance at rescue is the connection between Army intelligence officer Eric Ritter and the Al Qaeda mastermind behind the attack.
To find the lost soldiers, Ritter must ally with the Caliban Program, a covert arm of the CIA that gives him remit to use any means necessary in his search; means forbidden by his oaths as an officer.
Surrounded by hostile Iraqis and hounded by the terrorist leader that wants him dead, Ritter maneuvers between the shadow world of the Caliban Program and his cover as another soldier in the War on Terror.
Ritter must decide if he’ll embrace the dark path before him and betray all that he stands for, or risk leaving two men behind.
THE SOCOTRA I
NCIDENT
When Somali pirates hijack a fishing boat smuggling a nuclear warhead, a frantic race for the weapon ignites. Al Qaeda wants the bomb to strike a devastating blow against the West. The North Koreans want the nuclear weapon back before their role in nuclear terrorism is laid out before the world stage. The CIA wants their operative Eric Ritter to seize the bomb intact for later use...and Ritter doesn't know why.
As the trail runs cold, the CIA thrust the inexperienced and naive Cindy Davis into the spy game. A Russian arms dealer holds the key to finding the nuke, and Davis must find the bomb before it slips into terrorists hands.
The Socotra Incident is a globe-hopping military thriller brimming with tension, betrayal, and espionage.
THE BELTWAY ASSASSIN
An assassin murders one of the shadowy Directors of the Caliban Program-a covert arm of the CIA that operates beyond the bounds of law and morality. As the targeted killings of America’s elite continues in Washington DC, the investigation falls to two men.
Eric Ritter:
The CIA operative must infiltrate the highest levels of the US government to find out who set the assassin loose, and how deep the conspiracy against the Caliban Program goes. His partner in the investigation is a man he betrayed on the battlefields of the Iraq War
Greg Shelton:
A rookie FBI Agent forced to assist Ritter by a deep secret-he owes his new career to the Caliban Program, and that career ends the moment he steps out of line. Shelton must play along with the investigation until he can find the right evidence to expose Ritter for the criminal he suspects he is, and free himself the CIA’s clutches.
The race to capture the assassin, a master bomb maker as insane as he is deadly, will take Ritter and Shelton from the seedy underbelly of the nation’s capital city to the gilded halls of power where a far deadlier game plays out on the world stage.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
FROM THE AUTHOR