by Richard Fox
“Why do you think we are his next target?”
“Doesn’t matter if it’s us or some other race. Malal would kill them all. Innocents. Criminals. Young. Old. How can we sacrifice so many and still think we’re on the right side? Don’t know about you, Captain, but I believe in a final judgment. I can’t hold my head high in front of my creator if I let Malal win.”
“And if we go extinct without Malal’s help?”
Bodel shrugged. “Gott mit uns.”
The side of Valdar’s mouth twitched. He took an envelope from his pocket and handed it to Bodel.
“The three of you, you’re off my ship.” Valdar turned and walked away.
Bodel opened the envelope. Inside were reassignment orders for the Iron Hearts.
Mars.
CHAPTER 27
Standish hauled himself onto his top bunk and reached into his pocket. He took out the gold and silver Marine Corps emblem and turned it over several times. There was no inscription, nor identifying marks. He was damn sure it wasn’t in his pocket when he went out for Captain Valdar’s address, he hadn’t noticed the new weight in his pocket until after Cortaro had finished his daily harangue against him.
“Standish?” Yarrow asked from the bunk below.
Standish stashed the emblem under his pillow.
“Yes?”
“You really think that’s Torni in that drone?” the corpsman asked.
“Buddy, you were possessed by a demon.”
“He’s not a demon. He—”
“I single handedly rescued Marc Ibarra from beneath Euskal Tower while Hale and Ibarra’s hottie granddaughter were playing googly eyes with each other. Nobody says ghost Marc Ibarra isn’t the real Marc Ibarra.”
“I thought Elias pulled them—”
“We now live in a world where a tube grown human being is possessed by demons and most every major decision affecting our species goes through a ghost in a machine. You think that can’t be Torni inside that drone?”
Standish took another sip while he waited for Yarrow to answer.
“I guess…” Yarrow said.
“Nothing we can do about it, so don’t worry about it,” Standish said. “You hear from your girl? Lilith?”
“I haven’t even opened my Ubi. Figure she moved on after we were declared overdue. I don’t want to read that ‘Dear John’ letter just yet,” Yarrow said.
He slid off the bunk and slipped the emblem back into his pocket. A dark shadow filled the room.
“Steuben!” Yarrow opened his arms and went to give the Karigole warrior a hug. Steuben stiff-armed the corpsman.
“No. None of that,” Steuben said.
“Steuben, man did you miss some fun,” Standish said, “By fun I mean pants-wetting terror. We fought a giant damned centipede, and Torni’s back. It’s weird.”
“My bowels remained under control during our time apart,” Steuben said. “I have been training the new Ranger companies in anti-Xaros tactics. They are better learners than you, Standish.”
“But nowhere near as good looking,” Standish said with a nod.
“Where is Hale? I have something you all need to see,” Steuben said.
****
Hale rubbed his eyes and struggled out of his bunk. Sleep was impossible during missions. The hours of shut-eye he could grab between briefings and training cycles were few and far between. The Strike Marines had many priorities—sleep wasn’t one of them.
His Ubi had three missed calls, all from old acquaintances from the Saturn Colonial Fleet. Word of the ship’s return must have spread across the system. There was one name missing from the calls—his brother, Jared.
Hale swiped across the Ubi and called his brother. The slate told him “No Account Found.”
An icy splash of worry hit his chest. He opened the universal search app and put in his brother’s name. Had there been an accident? Was he on some crazy deep-space mission like Hale had been on the past years?
A video message from his brother came up. Jared looked into the camera, his face drawn.
“Hey brother,” Jared said, “word is the Breitenfeld’s on an indefinite delay. You’ll be back. It’ll just take you a lot longer than planned. Too bad, I wanted to spend some time with you and Uncle Isaac before the Christophorous leaves for Terra Nova. Yeah, they offered me a slot in the colony. I’m going to take it.
“It’s not that I’m afraid of the Xaros coming down the pipe from Barnard’s Star. I want be part of something greater than myself. Contribute to a new world. Earth…is gone. The world we grew up on will never come back. After Mom and Dad’s place was demolished, my connection to everything was gone, except you and Uncle Isaac. Look, you’ll beat the Xaros. I know you will. There’s another jump window in another couple years. The briefers said that’ll be the last one for centuries. Come join me on Terra Nova the next time there’s a chance. I’ll do all the hard work getting the planet nice and livable. You can show up and take all the credit.
“Sound like a plan? Catch up with me on Terra Nova. I’ll see you then. Love you, Ken.”
Hale watched the video again then set the Ubi aside. He drummed his fingertips on his lap, his mind racing with the fact that his brother was gone. He was safe from the Xaros, but Hale might never see him again.
Someone knocked on his door.
“Enter,” Hale said.
“Sir,” Cortaro stuck his head into Hale’s quarters, “Steuben is here. You need to see this.”
Hale stepped into a pair of flip-flops and followed Cortaro into the squad’s small ready room. His Marines were there, sitting in old and worn furniture around Steuben.
“Steuben, good to—”
The Karigole held up a four-fingered hand and then touched the screen on a data slate.
A holo projection filled the center of the room, deep space with a backdrop of stars.
“This came from the graviton mines just beyond the solar system,” Steuben said. “The data is a few hours old. Garret hasn’t released it to the public.” Steuben tapped the screen and the holo zoomed in on a grainy asteroid, the picture coming into focus slowly.
“Eighth Fleet was destroyed in combat with a Xaros structure,” Steuben said. “Abaddon.” The picture resolved. Giant bay doors opened across the smooth surface as the pictures advanced one frame at a time. Drones swarmed out of it.
“How many?” Hale asked.
“The Qa’Resh probe estimates at least five billion,” Steuben said, “spreading across the solar system as we speak. The Xaros are here. The siege of Earth begins.”
****
Another slab of aegis armor slid out of the omnium foundry, wide as a Destrier transport and inches thick. Robot crews transferred the slab to a laser cutter where it would spend the next few hours being tailored into the shape needed to protect the intended vessel. Automated lifters fed blocks of glowing omnium into the side of the foundry.
The Xaros had scoured the solar system clean of almost every trace of human existence and converted that mass into raw omnium, which they stockpiled across Earth or used to build the Crucible. Ibarra found a certain sense of irony in turning Xaros plowshares into human swords.
Ibarra called up a screen from his office overlooking the foundry. The Monte Cassino’s armor plates would be ready for transport to the fitting yards soon. Another ship for the line, another brick in the wall.
Malal, sharing the office with Ibarra, Stacey and Torni, watched the process with little interest. Lafayette stood against the far bulkhead, his hands clasped over his waist.
“Your process is efficient,” Malal said. “I cannot aide your efforts. Return me to the Qa’Resh. Their cell is better than this solar system.”
“You’re not going back,” Ibarra said, “not right now.”
“The Xaros are on your doorstep. Remaining here is an unnecessary risk to the plan. Return me to the Breitenfeld and the ship will take me to Bastion.” Malal turned his head with measured menace.
�
��We take you back…and there’s no reason for Bastion to send reinforcements,” Stacey said. “The Breitenfeld’s jump engines have been malfunctioning. We send it to Bastion and it might not come back in time to hold the line.”
“I personally fixed the jump engines during the long dark. They are…ah, I see. A falsehood,” Malal said. “You’re forcing Bastion’s hand. They must save Earth to save me. Save the war.”
“Politics is a dirty game. That’s why I stuck to business,” Ibarra said.
“I am your hostage?” Malal asked.
“You’re in this fight with us,” Ibarra said. “I saw what you did to the Breitenfeld with your idle hands. The two of you have a purpose. Lafayette?”
The cyborg held up an arm to the group. His hand flipped to the side and a holo emitter in his arm threw a schematic into the air.
“The design works, in theory,” Lafayette said. “The prototypes exploded in a most spectacular fashion. Interesting to watch but not the desired function. If we can build one, it could turn the tide in the coming battle.”
“I have no idea what I’m looking at,” Torni said.
“An abomination of technology from the fever dreams of the desperate.” Malal reached into the hologram and began rearranging components.
“You can make it work?” Lafayette asked.
“I can, but it falls on her to build it.” Malal pointed at Torni.
Ibarra passed his hand through Stacey’s arm. She stepped away and glared at him.
+You know I hate that,+ she sent to Ibarra.
+Excuse me for being a ghost. I thought they taught you sensitivity on that Bastion of yours.+
+Speaking of which, I leave within the hour. Nice to get back to my body, eat home cooking for once. They’ll see right through our little ploy with keeping Malal here. I don’t play dumb very well, in case you haven’t noticed.+
+Always too smart for your own good. Get Bastion to send their fleets. I’d rather have them here than hope Dr. Frankenstein and his monster can save the day.+
+Her name is Torni, and she’s a good Marine,+ Stacey sent.
+Go. Get out of here and bring back the fleet. The sooner I get these two freaks off the Crucible, the happier I’ll be.+
THE END
The war continues as Earth faces the might of the Xaros in The Siege of Earth. Coming July 2016!
FROM THE AUTHOR
Thank you for reading The Battle of the Void. I hope you enjoyed it enough to leave a review and tell two friends about The Ember War Saga. I always enjoy hearing from readers and you can drop me a line at [email protected].
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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
5. The Gardens of Nibiru
6. The Battle of the Void
7. The Siege of Earth (coming July 2016!)
IRON HEARTS
IRON HEARTS
Elias, soldier of the Iron Hearts and pilots of a mechanized suit of armor, lies comatose in a hospital. His mind trapped within the prison of his failing body. With no other option but to watch their friend wither away, his fellow Iron Hearts concoct a dangerous plan to save him.
VENT RATS
Chief MacDougall hunts a Toth loose aboard the Breitenfeld with the aid of Steuben and Lafayette. Can the Karigole set aside their hatred to catch the infiltrator alive?
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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
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
FROM THE AUTHOR
IRON HEARTS