When the Stars Fade (The Gray Wars)

by Korenman, Adam

  He wiped his eyes, still feeling the fluttering in his chest.“Just a short note. He still can’t say much, but he looks a lot better. Those last few weeks he was getting pretty thin. Glad to see they’re at least feeding him.”

  The elevator opened and they stepped inside. Two ensigns leaned against the back, chatting quietly about some personal matter. The pilots ignored them. Cameron hit the button for the fourth deck while Kaileen selected the living area. A tone sounded and the lift began to rise, magnets humming along the way.

  “You should try to see him, when this is over.”She brushed at a loose hair on his face, pushing the strand away from his eyes.“They have to give him leave at least once.”

  Cameron took her hand, massaging her palm between his thumb and forefinger.“We’ll see. I figure he’ll be down there, fighting in the mists with the rest of them. Hell, by the time I get back, we’ll probably be at it with the Boxti.”He flinched at the strain in his voice. Kaileen had made him meet with the station’s counsellor after his third night without sleep. Cameron had been doing fine at the Cove, but returning to a combat rotation played havoc on his nerves.

  “Admiral Walker seemed pretty sure about the negotiations,”a tiny voice offered. The young ensign stared wide-eyed at Cameron. She was young, only twenty if he had to guess. Still thinking the top brass had all the answers.“Maybe it’s like they say, this was just a shot across the bow.”

  “I was at Tallus,”he said coldly.“They don’t make mistakes when it comes to genocide. They don’t see us as anything other than vermin, and we should treat them the same.”

  “They sent a message to the Admirals.”She looked to her friend for confirmation, but the young man knew better than to join in.“It was a misunderstanding.”

  That set Cameron’s head burning. He glared at the little girl, his eyes piercing.“Then it’s going to turn out to be a fairly costly one for them. We’ve had to burn down whole blocks of housing, people’s homes, to keep this disease from spreading. New Eden is under a thirty-percent quarantine while we try to figure out how to fight off this infection. This was biological warfare, pure and simple.”

  The elevator chimed and came to a stop. Cameron stepped out into the hall, still fuming. Kaileen caught his wrist.

  “She’s just young.”

  “That’s not an excuse anymore,”he said loud enough for the ensign to hear.

  Kaileen rolled her eyes.“I’ll hit you again, you know?”She pulled him close and kissed his lips.“Take a shower, cool off, and go to your briefing. Talk to Doc Mercer if you need, or the chaplain. I’ll be in my room when you’re done. We’ll see if Josh is available and you can complain about stupid people together. You two always seem to enjoy that.”He mumbled something under his breath.“What was that?”

  He looked up, his tired eyes red from lack of sleep.“The stars haven’t faded yet.”

  She squeezed his hand.“I’ll be here when you get back.”

  Cameron gave her a weak smile, but bobbed his head nonetheless. He knew when she was right, which he hated to admit was almost always. She kissed him again and pushed him away as the door to the elevator shut. He watched the numbers climb higher for a moment before turning and walking down the bright hallway.

  - VII -

  “What do you mean, treaty?”

  The young Nangolani didn’t dare raise his eyes to the Emperor. Anduin’s temper was well known amongst the refugees. Even if he was just the messenger, there was no point in risking unneeded suffering.“The humans are sending the Ambassador of the planet to discuss an end to the fight.”

  “Ambassador?”Anduin had heard the word used by the High Chancellor. They were the leaders of the planets, heads of the Colonial Pillar.“They allow politicians to play at war with the Horde. That will end very poorly.”

  A tall and emaciated Nangolani walked toward the Emperor, emerging from the shadows at the edge of the throne room. At this late hour, there were very few awake in the mammoth Imperial ship. Dressed in simple clothes, the Royal Magister was hardly noticed.“The humans may not have the resolve we’d hoped for.”

  “Why do you say that?”Anduin asked.

  The Magister walked softly in a large circle around the elder Nangolani.“We came to them for their compassion, and their sense of right and wrong. We’d hoped that, upon witnessing the brutality of the Boxti, they would become bent on destroying the alien menace.”He paused, gesturing for the messenger to leave.“What we didn’t count on is how that compassion might allow them to fall for the Horde’s trickery.”

  “You believe they will surrender? Choose servitude over annihilation?”

  “Perhaps,”the Magister said.“Not all species have the will to put freedom over all else.”

  Anduin weighed the man’s words. The Magistrate was known for attracting the brightest minds of the Nangolani. Unfortunately, there was a fine line between a cunning mind and a conniving one.“We have come so far, nearly lost all so many times. I bear the burden of our sins alone.”

  “Then maybe you need to show the humans just that. Show them exactly what you have done, what you will do, to keep your people from falling to the Boxti.”He locked eyes with the Emperor.“That may be the only way to keep their attention. That may the only way to save our people.”

  - VIII -

  Markov sat in his study looking over the files. To a man, the soldiers had demonstrated remarkable growth in their physical and mental abilities. It was better than he could have ever hoped for, and they hadn’t even reached the true testing stages. Once the suits were ready, he could find out if his team was everything he’d paid for. In a week they could start field trials. Maybe a month before their first mission. And then, once the brass saw his handiwork, more candidates would be sent to Omega. But he was letting his mind get ahead again. Still so much to do, so much work before the payoff.

  A knock at the door startled him. He found he zoned out more and more often nowadays. It was easy to do; there was so much happening that he couldn’t be bothered to focus on the little things. Thank god for Sasha. The man was sent from Heaven to make sure the program ran smoothly from start to finish, even if he had little idea what the project actually was doing. Markov pressed a button on his intercom and the door slid open.

  “Speak of the Devil,”Markov said as Sasha walked in.

  The months of hard training showed more on the veteran than his soldiers. Dark circles hung under each eye, and his scar flared red from exertion. Sasha looked around the office, marveling at the rich wood paneling and vast library of medical journals, physics textbooks and tomes on quantum theory. Markov had amassed nothing short of a masterful collection of literature covering every aspect of the program. Most of the journals he’d written himself, while others came from the best minds in the galaxy. There was even a translation of a Nangolani armorer’s guide, though the Martian had little idea what use it would serve.

  “There’s no one else here,”Sasha said. Markov made a face.“You said‘speak of the Devil,’but you aren’t talking to anyone.”

  “Think of the Devil, then.”He flash that impish, child-like grin he was so fond of wearing. Sasha had become used to the expression, even finding it somewhat endearing. In a way, it reminded him of his old student. Just thinking about himsent chills down the old bear’s spine. Markov made a show of shuffling papers.“What brings you to my humble mess today? Have the candidates spread their wings yet?”

  Sasha shook his head.“The flight isn’t for another hour. They’re in the lab, getting used to those infernal jets. It’s going to take them a few weeks before they’ll be deployable. Sooner if we use older kits.”He lifted a small model from the desk: a four-engined Valkyrie painted a frightful red and black.“We received another call for Dax.”

  Markov squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. He groaned through gritted teeth.“How much longer can we stall?”

  “We can’t. The Governor is involved. That was his office on the line aski
ng for a waiver from training. The situation on Earth is deteriorating faster than expected.”

  Markov looked at his second-in-command, incredulous.“That’s impossible. We can’t stop now, we’ve just started to make progress. Real progress. If we let him go...”

  Sasha shook his head.“We’ll probably be arrested and put in a deep, dark hole for the rest of our lives. I’m not too familiar with the rules of the Grudge, but I’m pretty sure nanomachines fall under‘performance enhancing.’But if we don’t release him, we violate the Treaty of Vegas and end up in a deeper, darker hole. We’d be better off dead than exposed, at least this early.”He paced around the room, twirling a half-chewed cigar in his fingers.“I told you Dax would be a problem. It was only a matter of time before one of the bigger countries called for a ringer. And who else could they want than the Wall of New Freeman?”

  Markov said nothing. He hadn’t heard a word since Sasha had said“better off dead.”A smile formed on his face as he pushed away from his desk and stood.“Sasha, I always knew you were a genius.”He leapt toward a tablet his far wall: a glowing screen with various ideas and equations scratched onto the surface. The doctor picked up a stylus and began to write.“It wouldn’t do to have our project jeopardized because of some political squabble. But we can’t refuse the right of the Grudge without a Colonial court sending a few hundred angry officers our way.”

  Something in his friend’s demeanor scared the elder Martian. He’d seen Markov this way only once before—the same fervor and focus—and it had not ended well for either man.“Markov,”he said.“What is it you are thinking? We have to convince them that Dax is unfit to play. It would not be hard to fake a training accident.”

  “You think too small,”Markov said. His eyes were red from weeks without sleep, and his face was gaunt from skipping meals.“We can’t pretend Dax is hurt every time the draft comes out. We need something more permanent. Something they cannot dispute.”

  Sasha knew better than to interfere now. No objection he made, no matter how sound, would faze the obsessed scientist. He figured he could always talk him down later, after the initial excitement had settled.“What do you need.”

  The smaller man turned, smiling like a child with a new toy.“I need bodies.”He didn’t wait for a response, but turned from his shocked companion and resumed writing on the board.

  * * * * *

  Josh had never felt more alive. The wind tugged at his jumpsuit, roaring in his ears and stretching the skin on his face. His heart pounded loud enough to be heard as much as felt. Below, the ground raced toward him, reaching up to snatch him from the sky. He turned his head slightly, as he’d been instructed, and let his peripheral vision take over. Dax and Liane fell to his right, while Pierre and Cho dropped above and to the left.

  The training had been surprisingly simple. Although the Mark III was far removed from the original design, it wasn’t altogether different from other gliders the military utilized. Josh and Alexa both had their Airborne pins, and the rest of the soldiers were eager to earn their own. Dax had been a different story. He’d never been a fan of heights, and the idea of dropping from a reasonably safe shuttle to ride a sheet of mystery material to the ground didn’t make a lot of sense. Still, he’d suited up with the rest and prepared to jump.

  An overwhelming sense of deja vu struck Josh. The altimeter, a strap running around his wrist, began to warn of the approaching height limit. A small metal prong tapped on the inside of his wrist, growing steadily faster as the numbers ran down. At the same time, the wind picked up a high pitch, whistling as he tore down through the clouds. He panicked, his chest heaving in and out but not drawing in air. Tumbling toward the ground at terminal velocity, Josh struggled to breathe. In his flailing, he pressed in the release plate on his chest, deploying the suit.

  Wings shot out of either side of the pack as the engines rotated down. With the sudden resistance, Josh jolted to the side and began to spiral. The turn became tighter and tighter, the g-force squeezing his head until he thought it would burst. His vision burned red, then began to darken. A tunnel formed and the world shrank smaller and smaller. Using his legs he tried to break the turn, but the wind pushed back too hard. He barely had the strength to grit his teeth as the ground rushed forward.

  A sudden weight took his breath away, knocking him hard to the right, and Josh fell straight again. He looked to the side as Dax raced past, his wings vibrating. Back in control, activated his jets to gain speed and felt his fall turn into a glide. He eased his ankles back and suddenly he was flying. He soared through the sky, joining his fellow soldiers in a tight formation. It felt natural, just thinking and letting the wireless interface link with his nanomachines. He barely had to look to the left and his body would bank in a perfect arch until he decided to be righted. A sound caught his attention, and it took him a moment to realize he was laughing.

  Alexa drifted up alongside smiling from ear to ear. Her hair had been pulled tight when they’d left the shuttle, but wind and her own acrobatics had pulled the strands loose. She rolled completely around Josh, graceful as a falcon. It became clear to all the soldiers the power such maneuverability allowed. They practiced their formations, using hand and arm signals to communicate. Even with sound-dampening equipment in their helmets, it was difficult to speak. Josh crossed his wrists to form an X, the symbol to break to avoid incoming fire. Each soldier went in a different direction and zipped away to safety.

  A chime alerted Josh to an automated message. The sound of rushing air died out.“All units, flight training is complete for the day.”Groans echoed over the net.“Land at field Helo Two and prepare for debrief.”

  As one, the soldiers angled down toward the ground. Cho seemed to be having the most trouble controlling his suit, though he was still managing. Alexa was the clear leader of the pack, though Liane and Pierre were close behind. Josh understood why the nanomachines were necessary for the equipment. Without the Mark III reacting to his impulses, it would take months of training to achieve what they had in a day. And the MCUs provided that extra layer of control over the finicky wings. There was clearly much to learn, and actually utilizing the suits in combat would be a completely different story, but it was motivating to finally see a glimpse of the future for which they had been chosen.

  The simulation ended with a rush of air as the gliders flared out above the ground. Josh and his fellow soldiers awoke seated in comfortable chairs, their faces damp with sweat despite the cool room. Doctors removed VR pads from their foreheads, coiling the wires and hanging the devices in leather harnesses. It took a long, disoriented minute before the vertigo ebbed. Josh closed his eyes and waited for the spinning to slow down before trying to sit up.

  Alexa couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. If reality was half as amazing as the sims, she couldn’t wait. Dax hobbled over, woozy on his feet. Alexa and Pierre supported him under each arm, though they were hardly better off. Liane and Cho remained in their seats and chatted. Fares bin Sharif, the quiet combat medic, remained in deep thought.

  “That went better than last time,”Dax said, breathing heavy.“Didn’t think sims could ever get me this worked up.”

  Josh smiled, wiping his face down with a hand towel.“I swear, the longer I know you the less I can believe you were ever a star athlete.”A technician handed out water bottles full of sweet-tasting liquid and Josh gulped it down eagerly.

  “I never said I was a star athlete. They paid me to be big and scary.”

  Liane squeezed Dax’s bicep.“The great Wall of New Freeman. It had a nice ring to it.”He flexed and she giggled.

  Josh eased himself up and out of the chair, standing slowly so the blood wouldn’t rush to his head. His face contorted and he wavered, losing his balance. Alexa slipped out from underneath Dax and caught her lieutenant, steadying him with a hand on his chest. She placed a palm against his temple, feeling the heat coming off his face.

  “You’re hot,”she said.

  Josh grinned wi
de.“Thanks for noticing.”

  She pushed him into his chair, and Dax and Pierre joined him in laughing. Alexa blushed red, but she let out a little smile. Fares appeared behind them with Cho and Pierre at his side. He pushed into the center of the group, eyes bright.

  “I’ve come up with a name,”he said.

  Josh managed to calm down enough to ask,“for what?”

  “Us. Who we are, as a team.”Fares paused for effect.“We are the hidden hand of Allah, the chosen few to smite down evil before they can spread their filth to the rest of the world. We are Alkul Areysi.”

  “What does that mean?”Liane asked.

  Fares looked around at his fellow soldiers, his expression breaking into an excited grin.“Archangels.”

  - IX -

  February 19, 2237

  The moons rose low over the hills, illuminating the city of the dead. Paradise Point had days before been written off as a lost cause, too overrun with infected humans and animals to be gainfully retaken by armed forces. Without help, the surviving citizens had no chance against the ever-growing population of monsters. By luck or design, the creatures preferred to remain out of sight during the day and hunt at night, which afforded the civilians precious hours to attempt an escape. So far, however, no one had made it out alive.

  Inside their own little fortress, Timothy and Mary scraped at the last bits of food from the pharmacy. There hadn’t been much; a few cans of vegetables left from some charity drive days before, and candy bars. Mary hadn’t eaten the chocolate at first, telling her father she didn’t want to ruin her dinner. He had laughed then, like it was all a game. That had been at the beginning, when help was just around the corner and this was all just a short-lived nightmare.

  Now the real food was all gone. Mary picked at an empty can of cat food she’d discovered in a back office, and Timothy tightened his belt and drank more water. At least the screams had stopped a few days before. There had been dozens of voices at first, calling out of help or asking if anyone was still alive. The monster found them easily. Then there had been raiding parties banging around in adjacent shops. After a bloody fight they were gone as well. All the while, father and daughter remained silent and hidden.