by Mark Iles
THE CULL OF LIONS
The Darkening Stars Book II
By
Mark Iles
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
Cover Art:
MLCdesigns4You
Publisher’s Note:
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, and events are the work of the author’s imagination.
Any resemblance to real persons, places, or events is coincidental.
Solstice Publishing - www.solsticepublishing.com
Copyright 2014
Mark Iles
Dedication
To the Communications Branch and shipmates of HMS Invincible, all members of the British Task Force of 1982 and to the Falkland Islanders; but a special mention to those who remained behind, forever on patrol.
Prologue
As a young child, Selena Dillon’s world is torn apart when her parents are forced to divorce by the planets ruler. The Queen then forces Selena’s father to marry her, but shortly after he dies in suspicious circumstances which fuels the belief that he was murdered for refusing the Queen’s demands. Overcome with grief Selena’s mother commits suicide in front of her and sets in motion a stream of events that will change the fate of humanity.
As an adult Selena joins a band of freedom fighters, determined to rid the world of the Queen. When she and her comrades are caught trying to kill her they’re tried and found guilty for the murder of the guards and the attempted murder of the sovereign. Given the choice of either the death penalty or twenty–five years’ service in the penal regiments Selena chooses the latter, knowing that if she can survive then one day she’ll be able to come back and try again.
Much to her surprise Selena excels at basic training and, following an incident where she turns the tables on her instructors she meets Commodore Van Pluy, who selects her for officer training. Passing selection with ease Selena is then promoted and posted to a small group of vessels on anti-piracy patrol, along with Kes Phillips — her friend from basic training who serves as her sergeant. Her brutal reprisals against the pirates for their harsh treatment of their captives, earns her a fearful reputation.
When her suspicions are raised at the pirates’ successes, and their ease at evading Selena’s ships, she soon discovers a mole who had been tipping the criminals off. Planting information with the pirates that their spy has been discovered and betrayed them in turn for her freedom, Selena leaves the unfortunate woman planet-side to be murdered. Selena then tracks down the pirate horde, capturing them and their government cohorts.
But something else is happening in the far reaches of the galaxy, rumours say that the outer colonies are falling silent and it’s soon discovered that they’re being attacked by the alien Manta, a race hell bent on mankind’s destruction. Selena and Kes are called to a meeting by Commodore Van Pluy, where he informs them that unless something can be done about the Manta, and soon, then mankind is doomed. Humanity’s weapons are ineffective against the alien ships and the military have had to resort to a scorched-Earth policy, destroying any human world captured by the enemy. With the Federation of Man’s Fleet almost destroyed, and their colonies being overrun, the human race is facing annihilation.
Van Pluy’s plan is simple. He gives Selena command of the Dutch Lady, a ship filled with planet busters and a one-way mission, to attack and destroy the aliens’ home world. But little does Selena know that she’ll fall in love with her pilot, that there’s a serial killer in her crew who’s responsible for the death of another crew member’s wife, and that this man is determined to get his revenge — no matter what the cost.
During a skirmish with the enemy the Magellan, their transport to the Dutch Lady, is damaged and they’re forced to land on Loreen, a planet of apparent little consequence. After helping to defend the military base from a joint force of rebels and colonists determined to seize the Magellan and make their escape, Selena calms the colonists with promises of food and aid they desperately need, then sets them free despite their crime of helping the rebels. The grateful colonists then reveal the existence of a strange building hidden within a hill. Investigating it they discover a maze of interlocking underground tunnels that lead to other worlds. These worlds were once inhabited by the mythical ForeRunners, a race of ancient humans who were defeated by the alien Manta in a long forgotten war.
Realising the importance of the discovery Selena promises the colonists her utmost protection from the alien invaders, in return for citizenship for every penal soldier, past, present and future. With the agreement signed Selena and her crew continue on their way in the Magellan and soon board their asteroid vessel.
As they launch their attack on the enemy planet the Dutch Lady battles its way through clouds of fighters and battle stations while the Manta break through the surface of their asteroid ship. Just before impact Selena and the others escape in a lifeboat, only to be hit by enemy fire and crash land on a backwater world. With Bryn killed during the landing Selena finally comes to understand why her mother couldn’t live without the man she so desperately loved. When the Magellan finally arrives to rescue the survivors Selena stays behind, planning to die at her lover’s grave when the planet is destroyed. But at the last moment Selena is rescued by Kes and Singh, who tell her that Hope, the daughter of friends on the planet Loreen, is now missing and that they need to find her. They also tell Selena that the Manta were not destroyed in their attack, some of the enemy survived and have now invaded Selena’s home world. Realising that she must ignore her feelings and honour her obligations Selena and the other survivors travel back to Loreen to help mankind once more.
Chapter One
“We’re coming out of hyperspace now, Ma’am,” Singh reported, turning his head to look back over his left shoulder towards Selena. “We’re entering the Loreen system.”
“How long before we get there?” Selena asked, finger combing her long blonde hair.
“Only a couple of hours, Ma’am.” Singh scrunched his face up in puzzlement as he looked at the monitors. “Hang on, there’s another ship out here. It’s running silent but turning towards us.”
“Is it one of ours?” she asked, her heart skipping a beat. “We don’t want to get caught out here in a shuttle by the Manta.”
“Looks like a Federation destroyer, but it’s turned all transponders off and is accelerating. It doesn’t make sense”
“Could it be a pirate?” Kes asked. “We did upset those guys some time back and no doubt there’s a few still looking for revenge.”
Selena looked at her swarthy sergeant, his closely cropped ginger hair starting to show more profusely. “It could be. Singh, accelerate to full speed, whatever’s going on this doesn’t feel right.”
Singh complied and the little craft shot forward. “It’s still closing. Their weapon systems have been activated.”
“Faster Singh, get us out of here.”
“We’re at full speed already.” Then he breathed a sigh of satisfaction. “They’ve turned away and Loreen’s hailing us. Challenge-and-reply went well, and their automatic defences have stood down.”
“Well, that’s a relief. We’ll ask what they know about that ship when we land. Is there any news from the planet?” Selena was anxious to hear about their missing friends Franks, Amanda and their daughter Hope. “Wow,” she said, leaning forward for a better view out of the forward screen. “Just look at the size of those battle stations. It’s hard to believe it’s only four years since we we
re last here. How many of them are there?”
“There’s ten around Loreen itself,” Singh replied. “Apparently there are other bases being set up further out in the system and they also have battle stations defending them. It looks as though we’re taking the defence of this system pretty seriously.”
A slight noise made Selena turn around. Her eyes narrowed. “Hey why’s that survival computer, Henry, with us? Are you planning on making more hooch, Singh?” She knew full well Singh used the machine’s abilities to ferment fruit into alcohol. It had been one of the things that made their shipwrecking bearable.
“I’ll have you know Arthur spent a long time working on Henry, before he was killed. That robot even knows how to play chess. The hooch has nothing to do with it, Ma’am, honestly…”
Selena eyed her slim Indian friend, a slight smile on her face. “Do you honestly expect me to believe that?”
He smirked. “Nope, but I’m pretty sure Henry will come in handy for something. It would have been such a waste to leave him behind.”
Selena looked at the silver box-like contraption again, with its folded arms tucked in tightly to its sides. She studied her reflection in the gleaming metal for a moment, blue eyes and blonde hair, plump lips that thinned with distaste. “Singh, you really need to get a dog.”
Kes snorted, as Singh guided their shuttle past the battle stations and the countless sleek black warships in orbit and then entered Loreen’s atmosphere. Moments later they were winging their way over the gentle, undulating waves of the ocean towards the spaceport.
As their small ship slowed, hovered and finally landed Selena was surprised at how much the base had grown in such a short time. Spacecraft were landing and unloading in the spaceport now buried inside the expanded fortress, then being filled with what looked like local produce before taking off again with hardly a pause. It was all hustle and bustle. Around them scores of locals and robots could be seen swarming over structures and erecting buildings. The citadel had to have at least doubled in size since they were last here, and on one side you could see construction vehicles and piles of stores that showed that the walls were about to be moved out even further.
As they strode down the gangway they saw the slim figure of Lieutenant Kotes, from the Magellan, waiting for them.
“I’m glad you finally made it, Commander,” he said, saluting as they stopped in front of him.
“I’m sorry if I worried you when I didn’t evacuate, back on that world where we crashed,” Selena returned his salute. “It was Singh and Kes who changed my mind about staying there. They told me Hope and her parents were missing and they needed my help. Is there any news?”
Kotes hadn’t changed much, she mused. He was about five foot two with tight dark hair greying slightly just above his ears, and he was still at his demoted rank of Lieutenant despite their mission’s success. Her report to the admiralty about him disobeying orders and attacking enemy ships, instead of ignoring them and taking her team directly to the Dutch Lady, had obviously played havoc with his career.
He held up a hand, as he led them across the tarmac, baking under the hot blue-tinged sun, forestalling further questions. “No, there’s nothing new to tell you I’m afraid. We’ve an admiral in charge here now. He’s had search parties out day and night looking for Hope and the others. You know him apparently, a guy called Van Pluy. He asked me to take you directly to him the moment you landed.”
“Van Pluy’s an Admiral? That’s fantastic news.’ Selena replied, blue eyes twinkling. She stopped suddenly and held out her hand. To her delight Kotes shook it. “I know we’ve had our differences, Lieutenant,” she said. “As far as I’m concerned that’s in the past, let’s move forward shall we?”
They had to speak loudly, their voices pausing or raising above the roar of ships taking off or landing. Behind it all was the babble of voices, as staff of all kinds worked on the ships and went about their errands.
“I’ve no problem with that at all, Commander, thank you. As you know, I was unaware of the importance of the Dutch Lady’s mission, and what the repercussions my action could have had on mankind if we’d been lost. I still believe attacking those craft saved Bernard’s Star and that I did the right thing at the time. For what it’s worth, you still have my apologies.”
Her grin put him at ease and, as he led the way to a skimmer, he continued to speak.
“Van Pluy was promoted and awarded medals galore after you destroyed the Manta’s home world. One of the reasons he came here was to get away from all the fuss, says it was driving him mad. He’s quite the celebrity now and hates it. He recently told a reporter if he didn’t bugger off he’d have him shot on the spot, scared the poor fellow shitless. We all know what the press can be like, a pain in the ass at the best of times and the old man doesn’t have a great deal of patience with them. He’s coordinating the military build-up and the reinforcement of the system. Not many people knew about our presence here until recently, it was a bit of surprise to the regulars but I’ll let Van Pluy tell you about that.”
Selena looked up at the imposing battlements. With improved weapon systems and more buildings it was even more daunting than before. By the look of this place, and the sprawling constructions around it, this would soon lean towards being a city.
They boarded the skimmer and Kotes drove them carefully towards the main building, before setting down in the square in front of it. They noted in silence that a large rectangular plain-metal frame had been erected there, about which columns of the corps stood at ease.
“Punishment detail,” Selena breathed. She hated this but understood the necessity for discipline.
When the craft had settled to the ground they all got out and joined the ranks of waiting troops, as protocol demanded. They stood at ease in one of the many platoons, feet apart and hands clasped behind their backs, facing the frame. They didn’t have to wait long. A few moments later a young recruit was frogmarched out. He was stopped in front of the frame. His hands were attached by chains above him to either side, feet likewise to the bottom. His clothes were then cut away, leaving him completely naked in the sunlight and to the stares of his fellows. Then the punishment began.
A sergeant came up behind the offender, bull-whip in hand. Selena noticed Admiral Van Pluy and several senior officers watching silently from one side. Then an officer called them all to attention, their boots stamping together with a resounding crash, and he read out the charge of disobeying an order and stated the punishment of five lashes.
“You are reminded,” the officer bellowed, “that had this been in a time of action this man would be executed right now.”
A trooper began to count out loud. At each count the sergeant drew back his right hand, raising a thick brown leather-looking whip. As the loud crack reverberated around the square even the birds fell silent. The man sagged at the fifth strike, his back raw and bleeding, flesh ripped to the bone. That’s when they stopped, unchained him and dismissed all those watching. Turning right, as one, they stamped their feet in a loud ‘boom!’ paused for a moment and began to amble off. Selena and the others watched the accused being carried to sick bay, their joy at returning to Loreen tempered somewhat by what they’d just witnessed.
Kotes turned away to a group of friends and remained chatting, while Selena and the others entered the main building and were shown into Van Pluy’s office. The admiral, sitting behind his polished wooden desk, looked up as they entered. He took the large cigar out of his mouth, blew a cloud of fragrant bluish-grey smoke to one side then stood, shaking their hands and saying, “I’m glad to see you all, but bloody sad to hear about your losses. That must have been one hell of a fight back there. You did us proud, as I knew you would.”
“Thank you, Sir. Congratulations on your promotion, by the way,” Selena said, as she and the others sat down in the dark-red leather-like armchairs. She noted his now snowy hair and tired looks, the deep lines of his face and bags under his eyes. “We’d have been
back a lot sooner but it appears someone forgot about us, despite the fact I understand our distress call was picked up. Tell me, Sir, why did you wait so long?”
“Straight to the heart of the matter as always, Selena.” Van Pluy’s face grew sombre as he brushed at the multi-coloured medal ribbons across the left breast of his uniform. “You weren’t forgotten, if that’s what you’re thinking. Let’s just say we needed you out of the way for a while. There were things going on that it was best you weren’t involved in. You guys were heroes then and are now. We needed to keep you alive and somewhere safe. Things got pretty hairy here for a while.”
“Somewhere safe?” Singh blurted. “The whole bloody planet was destroyed.”
“You left us out there deliberately?” Selena asked coldly, shocked at the revelation despite herself and noting the way Singh tensed up beside her. She could feel anger starting to boil deep inside her, and her fists clenched tightly, the alloy fingernails digging into her palms.
“At ease, soldier.” the admiral snapped, his eyes flashing, then he relaxed again and dragged once more on his cigar. “We didn’t really have a choice. When people will see you now they’ll remember what you achieved. It’ll bring back their joy and take away some of the pain of the recent past. You’d have been no good to us dead. Let’s just say you fly the flag of the penal regiments, you’re a prime example of what we stand for. There are people out there who don’t like that and would love for you to meet with an accident. We were looking out for you, so relax.”
Van Pluy pressed a white button on his desk and moments later a steward appeared through a side door, carrying a tray laden with crystal tumblers, a bucket of ice and a large expensive-looking bottle of amber liquid. “That’s genuine single malt, all the way from Scotland, on what’s left of Earth,” the admiral said. “I thought you deserved it. I know Singh appreciates a fine scotch. According to Lieutenant Kotes, Singh quite depleted his stock.”