Roar of Lions (Darkening Stars Book 3)

by Mark Iles

  “Mines,” Selena said to Delmar. “A weapon of old that could be set to ignore several ships and explode after a certain number has passed, or even target a specific vessel by using propeller signatures. Sounds to me like the ForeRunners used a similar technique, with the biologicals triggering after a certain number of mergings, to ensure the kill rate was maximised. They’ve used such weapons before remember, against both the Lenars and the Manta.”

  “My God, this is terrible,” Delmar said, her mouth hanging half open. “The enemy prepared well, yet you are so many. Surely they didn’t destroy all of your vessels?”

  Despite the colonel’s tone, Selena thought she saw a brief sense of relief flit over her face.

  The Sken turned vermillion and ignored the colonel, aiming its next comments at Selena. “Your conclusion is correct. Your friend Shadow is sad because he understands, whereas you cannot and never will. We lost our ship brothers beyond number; and as they died, we died.”

  “Is there anything at all we can do to be of assistance?” Delmar said carefully. “We are highly versed in biological engineering, as are the Manta. Surely between us there’s something we can do?”

  The Sken turned to face the colonel, its colour changing to a burning amber. “It is too late; the contaminated are as dust. The battles were momentous and, while the Cetra were defeated, we ourselves are … diminished.”

  “What do you mean, defeated?” Delmar asked, excitement tingeing her voice. “Have they surrendered?”

  “They are … no more.”

  There was an uncomfortable silence as the information sank in, then Selena asked, “Can you elaborate? We’re also concerned because there are reports of your ships attacking our colonies. Why are you doing this?”

  “The stain of the Cetra has been removed from this universe, completely. This includes from their hidden bases on the worlds you claim as your own. They tried to use your presence as shielding. We were not fooled, though we let them think that we were. Any loss you have suffered as a consequence was necessary; you were warned not to stand in our way.”

  Selena licked suddenly dry lips and bit back a retort.

  “We would have been unaware of these hidden bases,” Delmar said, the words grating. “Had you informed us about them instead of attacking us, we would have gladly dealt with them with your assistance. A great many lives would have been spared.”

  “There was no time for such niceties.”

  Clenching her shaking fists, Selena rose to her feet, but before she could speak Delmar reached over and put a hand on her shoulder, pushing her back into her seat.

  “Sit down,” Delmar whispered. “It’s already done. There’s nothing we can do now, except save what we can of humanity from further action.”

  Simmering, she obeyed the colonel, realising with a start that one of her fists had opened and now rested on her sidearm. The Sken was staring deep into her eyes and she felt somehow naked and afraid. Exposed, as if it were looking deep into her soul, and she pitied it for whatever was found there. Suddenly giddy, Selena felt herself falling into a deep dark place, in which the shadows of unknown creatures slinked. With a start, she snapped out of it.

  The Sken’s many eyes continued to study her without a word, as if waiting for a move that would change many things. Selena forced herself to relax. Breathing out slowly, she put both hands on the table in front of her and laced her fingers together. She matched the Sken’s calm gaze for a while longer. Then it looked away, and the moment was broken.

  A steward interrupted the meeting. He entered through a side door to offer around trays of refreshments. There were fresh fruit, juices and water in large crystal jugs. The multitude and myriad colors of the items on offer somehow surprised Selena, for half of them she’d never seen before. It was a blatant attempt to discover what their alien guests might find palatable, yet all were declined. Selena took an extra-strong coffee, grateful for the caffeine that surged through her system, as she blew and took mouthfuls of the hot brew. The colonel was eyeing her and she looked straight back as the gentle voice in their heads continued.

  “The Manta also suffered great losses, although their numbers were limited. All of their ships, bar a few, were destroyed. Those that remain are being repaired. We have advised them that it is best they leave this area, to find another more distant place where they can rebuild their civilisation once more.”

  “Rebuild…” Delmar began but was cut off by a bizarre fsszzt sound from the Sken, which sounded very much like an interruptive dismissal.

  “If they remain, the risk of conflict with you humans will grow. Particularly now that the Cetra are no longer a threat.”

  True, Selena admitted, silently.

  “You will provide escorts for their safe passage, for they will travel close to your worlds and we wish there be no … misunderstandings. You will ensure their journey to the borders of your territory goes without mishap. There you will leave them. Where they go then is not for your concern, but it will take them many lifetimes to reach.”

  “Like hell we will,” Selena growled.

  “Commander!” Delmar said, the coal-black of her eyes boring into hers. “Enough!” She turned to the Sken, her voice soothing. “Yes, we will do this. Our ships will happily escort them from our space.”

  “That is … acceptable.”

  “Good, we are in agreement.” Delmar said. “We humans sorrow for the losses you suffered.”

  The Sken hissed again. “Many human vessels fought on the side of our enemy. Some of us demanded your race be annihilated, but they were overruled. Those human ships on our enemy’s side were destroyed, along with the worlds that sent them.”

  Selena’s stomach flip-flopped. “But, most of the people on those worlds were innocent! They had no part in it.”

  “Then they should have moved.”

  “What on Earth, our people’s home world?” Selena asked. A weight descended on her shoulders as she held her breath for the answer. “It’s not long been re-colonised, it was of no threat.”

  “It was one of the worlds punished. It is no more.”

  For once words deserted Selena. She sat staring at the Sken, stunned beyond belief. Earth, the cradle of mankind, gone. While sparsely populated, it had been one of the most fortified systems in mankind. Yet Earth had raised its hand against the Sken, and for that it had been destroyed.

  “I believe this meeting is over,” Delmar said, choosing her words carefully. “Send us the details of where and when the rendezvous is to take place. We will comply with your request.”

  “We will be watching,” the Sken said, turning to leave the room. “We always are.”

  “Wait!” Selena called. “One of my friends is missing, her name is Hope Franks. One of your ships took her from Loreen. Her parents are worried about her; do you know if she is all right?”

  The Sken paused mid-flight. “Yes.”

  “Yes, you know if she’s all right, or yes she is?”

  “She lives.”

  “Well, that’s a relief. Tell me, did you take her because the ForeRunners—sorry, Cetra—repaired her?”

  “What makes you think they did that?”

  Shock flooded Selena, her mind blanked. “But, she had a transparent alloy replacing her injured bones. Only the Cetra do that.”

  “Is that so?” the Sken said in her mind, then turned and left the room.

  “What the hell do you make of that?” Selena asked.

  Delmar, who simply shook her head. “Damned if I know, Commander.”

  Her mind swirling, Selena and the others watched the monitors, as the Sken was escorted to its craft by the troops waiting in the corridor outside. She changed tack. “Do you think they meant it, that they’re watching us? And, if so, how?”

  “Oh, I believe they’re watching all right,” Delmar said. “Ever catch a movement from the corner of your eye but when you look nobody’s there? Do you get the feeling that someone’s watching you, but not know who, wh
y or where from?”

  “All the time, but I’m sure I’m not the only one. As George Orwell* said, ‘Big Brother is watching you’,” Selena retorted. “I thought that would always be the military and relative governments, not the Sken.”

  “Maybe they’ve been watching us for a lot longer than we know,” Delmar replied, tactfully.

  Selena held her head with both hands, leaning forwards with her elbows on the table. “All those worlds, gone. Billions of people, dead,” she muttered.

  “War always brings loss,” Delmar said. “I’ll hear no more on the matter, sounds like the war’s over and we have to look to the future. All we need now is to get the Manta away from us. I think that the Sken came here specifically, to tell us what happened and what they want now. Their coming here to Capulet tells us that it’s this planet’s responsibility to arrange the escort. Consequently, I’m giving that responsibility to you.”

  “Me? You have to be kidding. There’s plenty of other officers who’d be more than happy to do this.”

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~* George Orwell (1949). 1984. London: Secker and Warburg.

  “I’ve no doubt about that, but you’re the one I want on this job. You get things done, Selena, and we can’t afford any unpleasantries, now can we?”

  Chapter Nine

  “Inbound ships, Ma’am,” Kes said, eying his screen.” Five Manta plus our escorts.”

  “All as it should be,” Selena replied, reaching down to fondle Shadow’s fur as he lay beside her chair. Admiral Van Pluy had carefully selected those A.O.W. ships and their crews himself. All of them were Penal Corps veterans, and many were people she knew personally. The Vampyre was to join the group here on the outskirts of Loreen’s system, where she’d assume command of the task unit.

  Her orders were simple: to get the Manta the hell out of human space. She was hoping there wouldn’t be any incidents. If there were she would have to deal with them herself, and God help anyone responsible for any such ‘mistakes’.

  “Commander Dillon, of the Vampyre, speaking,” she said keying her hand-held, so that her message carried over their task unit-wide communications. “As you know, the ForeRunner War is over. To facilitate the withdrawal of our Manta allies, Admiral Van Pluy has agreed that we escort their vessels safely out of our space, so they can find a new home a great distance from our worlds.”

  Several people’s voices were raised in the corridors behind her, followed by senior’s shouting at them to “shut the hell up.”

  Ignoring it, Selena continued. “It’s our job to ensure they get through safely, no matter what any personal feelings we may harbour. To that end, we’ve taken station on the edge of Loreen’s system, awaiting the other ships. Once the bugs reach our boarder limits, our ships will return to Loreen.

  “I’m sure that you’ll all be delighted to learn that, when we get back, I’ve obtained permission for all ships to land and attend the victory celebrations. Leave will be granted to each of us in turn, but, in the meantime, keep alert. We can’t allow anything to interfere with our mission. We have to get it right first time, so there can finally be a peaceful co-existence between our races in future years. That is all, Dillon out.”

  Selena looked at Kes, as she switched off her hand-held. “What’s the status of the Manta vessels—are their shields up, weapons armed?”

  “Shields were up but they dropped them on approach. Their weapon systems aren’t armed. It appears they’re reassured by our presence, or rather your presence. Oddly, it appears that they trust you.”

  Selena snorted. “What’s that supposed to mean? I hate them as much as anyone else, and our unit’s certainly killed more bugs than any other. So why on Earth would they trust us, or even me come to that? Tell the escort ships to assume an arrowhead formation around the Manta— Vampyre will take the lead. All ships are to follow our pre-arranged course.”

  As they departed the system, the private message icon flashed on Selena’s hand-held. It was from Admiral Van Pluy and was marked ‘Eyes Only’. To her astonishment her hand-held did a quick retina and DNA scan, before the message could be opened. It hadn’t done that before. She read it, paused, and then reread it more slowly. When she’d finished, Selena pressed delete, watching as the letters fluttered away on the screen like leaves in a strong wind.

  She sat thinking about what Van Pluy had said and, after a while, found herself listening as Kes issued her orders and the escorts assumed formation. In the background. Braxis, meanwhile, was grumbling about a previous visit ashore in Loreen.

  “You got us all banned from that establishment, if I recall correctly,” Kes said, a few moments later. “Now we need to find somewhere else to cool off, thanks to you.”

  “Really? That’s a shame, it certainly wasn’t my fault,” Braxis continued. “Damned marines, always too big for their boots.”

  “I didn’t hear about this,” Jessica said. “What happened?”

  Selena heard Kes chortle in the background, as Braxis began his tale.

  “I hate the bloody marines. On this occasion one of them was saying how they went in with us on the strikes on Demos and Mecca Prime.”

  Jessica grimaced and nodded. “I was there, we sure kicked the hell out of the bugs then.” She looked at him in puzzlement. “So, what happened?”

  Braxis took a deep gulp of his drink, wiping his mouth with the back of a meaty hand. “Well, he said the marines pulled our arses out of the fire – which is blatantly untrue. Then he said ‘but when we were outnumbered on Anderson Five, where were you then, eh … where were you?’ I told him that we thought the bugs were doing all right by themselves. Holy crap, you should have see it. Did the shit hit the spinning blades, or what?”

  Selena’s chuckle dried up as her eyes narrowed and she felt Shadow tense. Instantly alert, she asked, “Kes, why are our escorts manoeuvring closer to the Manta ships? Tell them to keep their distance and to assume formation as ordered.”

  Selena sank into her chair and tried to relax. It was all coming to an end. The ForeRunner war was over, the Manta were leaving, and much to everyone’s surprise humanity had endured. All that needed to be done now was to get these ships out into the deep zone, far from the threat of further conflict. Using her hand-held she ordered a coffee.

  “The escorts say that they are complying with your last message, Commander. You ordered them into close escort formation.”

  “I did no such thing,” Selena said, puzzled. “Tell them to resume their previous positions, and look into the matter. I want to know what they’re referring to.”

  “The escorts aren’t responding,” Kes said, after a moment.

  “Try again, all frequencies.”

  “I have, Ma’am. They’re still not responding.”

  Premonition weighed on Selena’s shoulders and settled heavily into her stomach. She caught her breath. Feeling as if someone was standing on her chest, she tensed and said, “Hands to actions stations! Warn the Manta to raise their shields!”

  There was eye searing flash across all screens. It was so brilliant that it temporarily blinded them. Even though Selena had automatically shut her eyes, and turned away, the glow was still visible through the forearm she’d thrown up to protect them. When she could see again Selena demanded, “What the hell was that?”

  “All systems rebooting,” Kes said. “We were too close to the explosions and our shields were down, just about everything’s shorted. It’ll take a moment or two. Standby, backups are kicking in. We’ll be up and running … here we go.”

  “The ships, Ma’am,” Jessica replied, “They’re no longer there! Everything’s gone, both our escorts and the Manta. We’re all that’s left, along with a field of expanding debris. Looks like our ships blew themselves up, taking the Manta with them.”

  “What … why the hell would they do that?” Selena said, her jaw going slack.

  “No idea, Ma’am.”

  “Any survivors? Scan the debris!”
<
br />   “Hang on, my sensors have picked up a signal pulse that was sent just moments before the explosion,” Jessica said.

  “Track it, I want to know where that signal came from—and quickly!”

  Jessica turned to look at her, face grim, “Ma’am, it originated from this bridge.”

  Selena looked from one of her crew to another, as she drew her sidearm. “Okay, what’s going on—who’s responsible? All of you, stand up and move away from your controls—and each other come to that. Hands up, in plain view.”

  Looking at each other in disbelief, her team complied, all except one.

  “That means you too, Singh. Hands in the air, now!”

  “I think not,” he replied. “You know we couldn’t trust the Manta. Sooner or later they’d be back, no matter their or the Jellies’ promises. They even started attacking us again before the damn ForeRunner war was over! A mistake they said. Ha, as if we’re supposed to believe that. If we hadn’t killed them now, while we had the chance, it would only be a matter of time before they returned. Then we might not have been able to stop them at all.”

  “Singh, no…” she moaned.

  Ignoring her, he continued. “Now, I’m pretty damned sure that the admiral gave you orders to destroy those ships, if they showed the slightest wrong move, hence the bombs planted in their armouries. I’m right, Selena, aren’t I?”

  “My orders are of no concern to you, Lieutenant,” she replied, gathering herself. “Have you any idea what you’ve done? You’ve executed the last of the Manta, not to mention our own people in the escorts!”

  “They were volunteers. I’d spoken to all of their captains prior to this mission to sound them out about my plan. They agreed to it, as did their crews. They were heroes, every last one of them.”