Shadow Sun Rebellion
Page 44
Both aliens nodded, both of them now smiling.
“Good! Then I grant each of your twenty thousand-ish people the same ten-acre parcel we humans got on Earth. Including the ones who will be living on Earth. I suggest you claim them in clusters, for mutual defense. And if necessary, we’ll help you build more Strongholds with loans and such.”
Gralen growled slightly, seeming annoyed.
“Prince… er…Emperor Allistor. While your gesture is appreciated, my people’s traditions will not allow us to accept such generous gifts without some form of payment. What can we do for you in return for these blessings?”
Allistor shrugged, and looked toward Harmon, whose face had gone suddenly quite serious. Getting the hint, Allistor took a moment to consider. He looked out the window, gazing at the tall forest, and the much taller gravity sling towers.
“The towers. Would your people have the knowledge or ability to bring the towers back online? If I were to provide the funds for parts, materials, et cetera?”
Gralen looked confused. “Possibly, but… why? There are not enough resources left on the planet to justify its use.”
“Damn. Good point. Well… since we’re short on housing, do you think you could get them tilted back upright and maybe convert them into great big apartment buildings? With, you know, greenhouses and crafting, and all the rest? Like ridiculously large Strongholds?”
Harmon interjected. “Assuming they are structurally sound enough to withstand the shift… the work could take years, just to complete one of them.”
Allistor thought it over. “And… assuming we open up Orion to settlement by other factions and species, what would be the value if we sold off those apartments when they were completed?”
Harmon laughed. “More than enough to recoup the expense. Maybe two or three times your investment.”
Allistor looked out the window again. “They look kind of cool as they are. Maybe there’s a way to convert them without tilting them back up? So some people’s homes would be looking down over the forest, some looking outward to either side, and some looking up at the sky?”
Gralen nodded. “Many things are possible. It would make an interesting challenge.”
“Perfect! So, you bring the people with the knowledge and ability to get it done. I’ll pay for materials, and provide a reasonable salary for each of them during the construction period. When it’s done, we’ll sell it off and share the profits. Those who aren’t working on the towers, or in the station up in orbit, can craft, or farm, or raise herds of edible creatures, and we’ll purchase their goods at reasonable prices.”
Allistor held out a hand, and Gralen shook it first, then Harmon.
*****
After the two aliens left to discuss the details of life on the trade station, Amanda joined Allistor in their quarters. The moment they were alone together, and both awake, his gut flopped, and his hands began to clench and unclench on their own.
“Hey, umm… Lady Amanda? Got a sec to sit and talk with me?” His words came out too fast and not very loud. She gave him an odd look, then moved to sit on the sofa next to him. He wiped his hands on his shirt, feeling like they were sweaty, before taking hold of hers.
“We’ve basically been together since the apocalypse. I don’t know why you chose me, but I’ve been glad every day since then that you did. I love you, Amanda.”
She looked sideways at him, her hands tightening on his briefly. “And… I love you too, Emperor Fancypants. What’s bothering you?"
He cleared his throat. “Nothing.” His voice came out as a squeak, so he tried again. “Nothing. I’m a little nervous, is all. I mean, I’ve never… what I want to say is… shit.” He let go of her hands to smack himself in the forehead, his shoulders slumping. After a couple deep breaths, he took ahold of her hands again.
“What I’m so smoothly trying to say to you… is that I want to marry you. Er, I want to ask you if you’ll marry me. Which I guess is the same thing-”
She cut off his blabbering by putting a finger over his lips. “Yes. I will marry you.” Before he could say anything more, she leaned in and kissed him. The kiss lasted a long time, until both of them needed to pause for a breath. He hugged her close, and she put her head on his shoulder.
“You know Fuzzy has to be my best man, right?”
*****
The following morning Allistor and most of the raiders took the teleport back to Cheyenne. They found that the colony ship had arrived and delivered the bodies of the lost raiders.
But rather than the funeral pyres that Allistor had expected, he found a series of open graves dug near the apple orchard. One of Nancy’s gardeners, who’d been standing nearby, explained. “We don’t really need to burn our dead anymore. We have room to bury them in here, where it’s safe.”
Allistor agreed wholeheartedly, and wished he’d thought of it sooner. He waited as thousands upon thousands of Invictus’ citizens poured into the Citadel. When the flow slowed to a trickle, he began the funeral service. He spoke about the heroic fight against the goblins, and the sacrifice the dead had made on everyone’s behalf. Family and friends spoke for hours about their loved ones, telling stories both funny and sad. The bodies were lowered into their graves, and the surviving raiders took up shovels or just scooped dirt into the holes with their hands.
Just as Allistor was about to thank everyone and send them away, Nigel’s voice rang out. It was pitched more softly than usual.
“Sire, if I might?”
Surprised, Allistor just nodded his head, standing in front of the crowd. Nigel’s voice began to speak softly.
In the fell clutch of circumstance...
The citizens immediately recognized the phrase, and thousands of voices joined in.
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years,
Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.
End Book Three
Acknowledgements
Thanks once again to my family for their love, support, and occasional ass-kicking when I need it. They are my alphas, my sounding board, and the ones who aren’t afraid to tell me when something sucks! And a big thank you to my beta readers, who offer up more rude comments than anything else, but still manage to find some typos and such. They really came through on short notice this time. A big thanks to Anders Hemlin for the wonderful cover art.
For semi-regular updates on books, art, and just stuff going on, check out my Greystone Guild fb https://www.facebook.com/greystone.guild.7 or my website www.davewillmarth.com where you can subscribe for an eventual newsletter.
And don’t forget to follow my author page on Amazon! That way you’ll get a nice friendly email when new books are released. You can also find links to my Greystone Chronicles and Dark Elf books there! https://www.amazon.com/Dave-Willmarth/e/B076G12KCL
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You can find information on lots of LitRPG/GameLit books on Ramon Mejia’s LitRPG Podcast here https://www.facebook.com/litrpgpodcast/. Also thank you to Ramon for early feedback on this book when I was thinking about discarding it, and some good advice. You can find his books here. https://www.amazon.com/R.A.-Mejia/e/B01MRTVW3O
There are a few more places where you can find me, and several other genre authors, hanging out. Here are my favorite LitRPG/GameLit community facebook groups. (If you have cookies, keep them away from Daniel Schinhofen).
https://www.facebook.com/groups/LitRPGsociety/
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https://www.facebook.com/groups/541733016223492/
***
Enjoyed Shadow Sun?
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A mist descended from the sky, disabling all technology and causing a weird message to appear at the corner of everyone’s eye. Animals and people started to warp, transforming into terrible monsters that prey on the livings. The survivors must relay on a mysterious element - the Tec –the key to the new leveling system, and their only chance for survival.