Last Man Out (Poor Man's Fight Book 5)

by Elliott Kay

  “Throughout our lives, we draw this crystal from our natural environment,” she explained. “Your consumption of salt is a useful analogue. It collects in our brains as we age. When we die, our bodies decompose more thoroughly than yours—except for these. The crystal is left behind.

  “Our ancestors kept the remains as a way of honoring the dead. Your kind has similar practices. As our science advanced, we learned the function of these remains. They are our memories. Your kind might also call them souls. Science eventually allowed us to create new bodies. Similar to your cloning, as you call it. With our understanding of memory, we learned to combine those new bodies with memories long held in trust by their descendants. We learned to grant the dead a new life.”

  Her expression grew firm. She handed the orb off to Doram. “Your kind has learned of the capacity of our crystals. They mine crystal from the mountains to create your computers. They also seek out our memories for their higher performance. Our memories are bought and sold at high value and under great measures of secrecy. We will end this atrocity.

  “Your practices of buying and selling are strange to us,” added Amara. “No such practice has been seen among our people since long before we learned to reawaken the memories of the lost. Not since Minos knew many kings and queens.”

  The pit in Tanner’s stomach sank a little deeper. “What happened to them?”

  “They argued over who should rule. They felt their ways were superior. I proved them wrong in the struggle of ages. Their memories are either in my keeping or destroyed and forgotten. The Minoan people are my people.”

  “Wait, how do you know all this shit about us?” asked Solanke. “Nobody else has ever seen you. How do you know who the president of the Union is? How do you know the price of those balls if it’s all covered up?”

  Amara raised her right hand. At a flick of two of her jeweled fingers, a swirl of holo screens appeared around her. Human faces and human text filled them all, running the gamut of media broadcasts and what looked like personal communications. With another flick of those fingers, it all vanished. “Your languages are not difficult to decipher. The language of your machines is even less difficult.”

  “You broke our codes?” Solanke burst.

  “Don’t take it literally,” Tanner warned quietly. “It’s easy for her to say that.”

  “Of course we understand your codes. We have studied you for years. Decades. We know your history, your science, your art. We know your factions and disputes. Shall I quote your Bible? The Ramayana? Your Articles of Union?” Her jaw and eyes betrayed the slightest twitch as she made her cool boasts. Another came with a more telling offer. “Would you like to know the details of Minos Enterprises’s contracts? Or Mr. Geisler’s personal finances?”

  “Yeah, it does sound easy,” Solanke fumed, glaring at Tanner.

  “It’s an interrogation technique,” he murmured as the empress continued.

  “It’s what?” Solanke hissed.

  “It’s an interrogation technique. She pretends to know everything so we stop hiding anything. Keep cool.”

  “How do you know she doesn’t know everything?”

  “We’re both still breathing, aren’t we?”

  “We do not need to be educated about your species,” Amara went on. “It is you who must learn about us. It is good that you have come here as students, to learn and then to leave. We will gladly teach you of our world and our history. We will also teach you of the others in our galaxy, including our common enemies.”

  “Last I checked we were at peace with the neighbors,” said Naomi.

  “For now. Only for now. You do not yet know them as we do.” Amara replied.

  “Everyone, please listen,” said Vandenberg, looking to his students. “We must focus on the here and now. I know this has involved some terrible and unfortunate turns of events—”

  “You mean the sort an experienced diplomat might have avoided?” asked Tanner.

  “Yes. Perhaps.” He didn’t waste more than a frigid glance Tanner’s way. “We have the chance here to learn so much more about our universe. To finally establish a true friendship with an alien civilization. The risks have been great and the price is high, but this is so much more than we ever hoped for. Even with all that we knew of Minos before we came, I never dreamed we would discover the Minoans had survived!”

  “Wait. What did you know?” asked Solanke.

  “It’s… this is probably not the time for that discussion,” said Vandenberg. “That’s beside the point, regardless. Our theories on the end of Minoan culture were accurate. They were driven into hiding after a relentless war with the Krokinthians and Nyuyinaro. They are survivors of a genocide perpetrated by the same aliens who have fought against us. They hid here in these caves, waiting for their enemies to look away while they recovered and rebuilt, only to find our species reshaping and colonizing their world.

  “The Minoans only want to reclaim their home. They want to return it to its natural state, so they can live as they once did. Think of how we would react if someone came to our world and poisoned it against us. Or if they destroyed the graves and memories we hold sacred? Humanity inflicted these wounds upon itself time and again before we reached the stars. Here, we are doing it again—but unwittingly. This time we can stop it.”

  “Who’s ‘we,’ professor?” Tanner asked.

  “What was the war about?” Gina spoke up. She looked past Vandenberg to Amara. “Your war with the Kroks and Noonies. What were you fighting over?”

  “We fought as you did. We took to the stars and expanded our reach. Eventually, we came to close proximity with the Krokinthians. They would not negotiate. They fought us for dominance and for territory, and the Nyuyinaro joined in,” explained the empress.

  “It’s never that simple,” said Tanner.

  “Is it not? What of your wars?”

  “The first flare-ups were territorial disputes and panic. We settled things and tried to live in peace, but some human faction always tried to skirt the rules or get away with something. It’s why the Union exists—to make sure nobody cuts any side deals with entire alien civilizations that will affect all of us.” Tanner didn’t fight the urge to glance to the professor. “We didn’t fight over boundaries. We fought because corporations stole and copied Krokinthian starship tech. We fought when Lai Wa decided treaties with the Nyuyinaro didn’t apply to them. We fought because stupid human governments openly said they had the right to nullify any agreement. The fighting only ended once we all committed to the Union.”

  “Strange that your people call these conflicts the Expansion Wars,” noted Amara. “Are you not aware of your own history?”

  “I’ve got a couple clues on how history is written and who gets to write it,” said Tanner.

  “Damn it, will you stop and listen?” snapped Vandenberg. “We have a chance to change that history here and now. We can fix this. The Minoans want their world back. The settlers had no idea this was an inhabited world. The Union prohibits any settlement on a world with intelligent life. Those rules have never been put to the test, but here we are. Even if this was an unwitting mistake, the principle clearly remains.

  “Minos must be ceded to the Minoans. The colonists here will have to be resettled elsewhere. We finally have a potential ally among the stars. The Union will not squander this.”

  “You’re talking about four million people!” said Naomi.

  “And Minos Enterprises. You think Geisler will shrug this off? Or his shareholders?” asked Solanke.

  “They don’t have to like it, but anything else is madness. I realize this will be an enormous undertaking. No one is saying it must be done overnight.”

  “Your students are correct, Vandenberg,” said Amara. “The invaders will not leave.”

  The professor grew pale. He slowly turned to face her. “How can you be sure? We have no precedent for this.”

  “Your history is full of such precedents. You have said so in this very
discussion. You wish to change your history. Humans have fought one another over territory and power throughout their existence. If your kind would slaughter their own, why would they hesitate against an entirely different species?

  “When we emerge, Minos Enterprises will see us as a threat. They will not share this world with us. We must eradicate them.”

  “You don’t know that,” Vandenberg objected. “You don’t know how they will react, or the Union. You haven’t tried talking yet. They don’t even know you exist!”

  “We have no time for talk. The Nyuyinaro surely watch this world. Their songs travel from star to star as quickly as my words travel to you. Their flight is nearly as swift. Krokinthian vessels are swift, too, and they are not far. Our enemies will learn of our return soon after we emerge. They will react without hesitation.

  “We had hoped to remain undetected a while longer. We hoped to rebuild and regain more of our strength. Those hopes were dashed when you uncovered the doors to our refuge. Upon your discovery, our plan was set into motion. Our strength may not yet be ideal, but it will be enough. We will eradicate the invaders and we will withstand the enemies yet to come.”

  “Wait—you know you’re gonna have to fight the aliens, so you’re gonna start a fight with us first?” Naomi objected. “Why do you want three enemies when you might only have two? When you might even find an ally? Or maybe we can get the Noonies and the Kroks to hold off and not fight at all?”

  “Naïve,” said Amara. “The entire purpose of your government is the prevention of another war with our enemies. They will not shift to our side in time to aid us. At best they might delay the inevitable.”

  “If you wipe out an entire colony of humans, we’re sure as hell not going to take your side in anything,” said Naomi.

  “Your government came to peace with the Nyuyinaro and the Krokinthians after all the harm they inflicted. Your kind will also come to peace with us when it suits you.

  “The Minos Enterprises has poisoned and desecrated our world. They have destroyed our memories—an act you might call murder if you understood memory as we do. I would slaughter every human on this planet for the sake of one Minoan memory, and so I shall. We do not have time to negotiate, and we also do not regret it.”

  As he listened, Tanner kept track of their surroundings. Images at the holographic monitors caught his eye. In the internal shots of the shelter, Minoans in black armor and a scattering of Regents assembled to move. Some loaded up onto what looked like boats floating above the floor in part of that stadium-like tank farm. Others massed in hallways ending at great doorways similar to the one near the campsite. Motion at another display caught his attention as it shifted from an overhead view of the outskirts of the city to a shot of dozens of Minoan raiders emerging from beneath the sand dunes.

  Amara wasn’t talking about moving soon. She planned to move now.

  “Then why are we here?” blurted Nigel. “If you’re set on this crazy shit, why are you even talking to us?”

  “You are an alien species,” said Amara. “You have an alien perspective. Without direct contact, we could not know if your reactions to our plan might include some unforeseen option. You might have offered a better solution. This conversation has verified our expectations. You have presented no option we have not considered.

  “Additionally, you are not the invaders. You are only visitors. When we are finished with the invaders, we will return you to your people to show we understand the difference. Then we will begin our diplomacy.”

  “You can’t kill millions of people and expect us to forget about it when it’s convenient,” Nigel shouted. “That’s insane!”

  “Your history suggests otherwise. To my mind, this language we speak lacks a proper word to describe such insanity. The Minoan perspective for ‘enemy’ fails to truly translate as well. Perhaps someday we will come to understand one another better.”

  The empress turned her back, raising and then dropping her jeweled right hand in a dramatic gesture. A sharp tremor rumbled through the room, powerful enough to leave the class fighting to keep their balance. The Minoans seemed ready for it. Even Amara needed only to place one hand on the Regent beside her to hold steady.

  The spread of scenic holographic images in Amara’s pavilion showed the results. Columns of grey and black ash exploded from volcanic peaks. Fissures opened up along rocky plains to release more of the same. Nor were the eruptions the only danger, as sudden winds seemed to sweep every desert scene on her display, giving birth to sandstorms.

  In the images at the other stations, those great doors opened. Minoan raiders streamed out of their tunnels, while floating skiffs swept out of the door to the campsite and into the night air. At the obelisk Tanner likened to an astrogation table, Tanner saw icons over Minos flash brightly and then wink out of existence, along with the thin lines tracking their orbits. At another holographic station, beams of yellow light burst from spots in the mountains into the night sky. The explanation seemed obvious: the Minoans had tracked and identified everything orbiting the planet. Every flashing icon was another dead or dying satellite.

  Tanner searched for some way to intervene. Most of the sentinels who’d escorted the class remained. He didn’t know if the other Minoans here were armed, too. They didn’t seem to wear armor. They might only be support staff—or for all he knew their culture might be the sort to make warriors of everyone. He couldn’t know until he found out the hard way.

  The Regents to either side of the empress presented a threat he couldn’t address. Nothing he could dish out would penetrate their armor. Conversely, he knew their strength. He knew their weaponry. The pair of Regents could probably wipe out the class with a sweep of those lasers mounted in their faces. Even assuming Amara was a meaningful target, he’d probably be dead before he cleared the steps.

  Tanner didn’t see a way to stop the nightmare.

  Chapter Twenty-Three:

  All Hell

  “Emergency Alert: A localized natural disaster warning is in effect. Switch your household communications to firmwire connections. Shelter in place and await further instructions.”

  --Anchorside Public Safety Announcement, August 2280

  He slid down the hillside, trailing rock and dust in his wake. Somehow, he stayed on his feet. The booming and shaking stopped, if only for the moment. He took advantage of it. “Come back, boy! It’s okay. C’mon, we’ll go home,” he called out.

  “Yihong, that damn dog is gonna get us killed,” called his brother. Biming paced him only a few meters back. He had more talent for navigating the slopes of the mountains, but he was also more careful. “We’re never gonna make it out of here before that cloud of ash hits us.”

  The younger man knew exactly what Biming meant. Grey clouds of ash blotted out the entire sky up ahead, with more ash still streaming out. He couldn’t be sure how far they were from the eruption, but they were still alive. Whatever luck kept them from instant death wouldn’t protect them from the rest, though. He could feel the wind blowing in this direction. Pretty soon that wind would be full of ash. He vaguely remembered from school that an eruption could put out dangerous gases, too. Were they far enough away?

  “I’m not leaving him. He’s family,” Yihong shot back over his shoulder.

  “You don’t see me turning around, do you?” Biming grumbled. “I’m just saying. We won’t be able to call for help once that cloud hits us. Even our pack transmitter won’t get a signal farther than we can throw it.”

  “He’s terrified. It’s not his fault.” Yihong came to a halt. The slope ended at a series of short, jagged peaks dotted with low brush poking through rock and ash. The little plants provided enough vegetation to make conceal any dog tracks. “Damn it. I saw him take that curve and come around here. Where could he have gone? Bandit! Bandit!”

  Urgent barks answered his voice, coming from somewhere toward the edge of the collection of small peaks. The range sloped downward past that point, providing a vi
ew of the vast desert. “Oh, come on,” sighed Biming. “Now he finds a crystal deposit? Now?”

  “I hope that’s it. I don’t want to chase him all the way down the mountainside. C’mon.”

  Another boom shook the air above and the mountain beneath their feet as they rushed to their companion’s voice. Terrifying as the eruption was, Yihong also worried it would send Bandit tearing off in yet another panicked rush.

  They found him at the base of a rocky projection along the slope. Something bigger and taller probably stood there once, worn away by erosion. Yihong felt a rush of relief at the sight of the German Shepherd at the base of the projection. He didn’t even care why Bandit was barking at that big lump of rock and dirt. Whatever it was, it distracted Bandit from running all over while the world exploded.

  “Okay, Bandit. C’mon,” Yihong urged. He tried to keep his voice calm. Thankfully, Bandit didn’t try to get away when Yihong reached for him. He stayed in place as Yihong took hold of his collar, though he barked a little more and looked back to Yihong with a whine. “Good boy. Good boy.”

  “Yeah, you found us a great view, Bandit,” agreed Biming. “Too bad we can’t stay. You got him now?”

  “I’ve got him.” With the leash in hand, Yihong glanced at the view. The desert spread out for all its miles. He thought he could even see the lights of Anchorside at the edge of the skyline. Other lights were much closer to the foot of the mountain range along one of the canyons. “What is that? Is somebody mining down there?”

  “If so, they’re on their own,” said Biming. “We’ve gotta get back to our flyer and get the hell out of here while we can.”

  “I hear you. Let’s go.”

  Bandit barked again, jumping forward while Yihong tugged him the opposite way. Yihong looked back to see what could have the dog so distracted. Light and movement in the canyon drew him into a second look. Small craft streamed out of the canyon in dark shapes highlighted only by the red glow of thrusters at the end. They seemed more like boats than aircars.