"Damned inconvenient, if you ask me."
Mandor nodded. "Your father told me that he'd learned that the enemy had orchestrated the attack again the Concord at the same time as an attack in another universe, the one Meeks is from. Seems to me that this time they may have been watching for him to leave before they attacked."
"I just wish he'd told me what he was doing."
"I haven't known your father long, but what little I do know about him...Well, he does his own thing."
"Yeah, I heard he almost killed you when you first met."
"Well, in all fairness, I had run him through with a sword," Mandor replied.
"Why am I not surprised it didn't have any effect?"
"Oh, it had an effect," Mandor said, chuckling. "It really pissed him off."
"I can see how being stabbed could do that."
They sat listening to the gurgling and whirring of the various life support machines in the bay. There were a lot of other wounded in Medical, but they had a small amount of privacy by virtue of Mandor's rank and taking over one of the consultation rooms. Tonya was asleep.
"I've been thinking a lot about classifications," Tebrey began.
"Of..."
"Sorry," said Tebrey. "I've been thinking about Thetas."
"Hard not to," Mandor agreed. "The Concord has been classifying them by how intelligent they seem."
"I know," Tebrey said. "But I was thinking more along the lines of classifying them by what they were formerly."
"Formerly?"
"Sure. How many of the ones we've faced were originally human?"
Mandor blew out a long breath. "I see what you mean. We've got human, Rhyrhan, Thyrna-Shae, and for all we know, Homndruu Thetas running around."
"Don't forget the Jaernalith, Achenar, and Nurgg," Tebrey said helpfully.
"Gods, why me? I was good in my last life."
"No, you weren't," Mason said as she entered the room. Ana came over and sat on the bed.
Mandor gave Mason a look. "Something you want to tell us?"
Mason smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Where's Hunter?" asked Tebrey.
"Still in bed," Ana replied. "His leg was messed up pretty badly, and he doesn't seem to want to be very far from Ghost."
Tebrey nodded. "Not literally in bed, right? I mean, he's not in ours?"
Ana laughed. "No, he's on his pallet curled up with Ghost. He'd break ours."
"I know, but I wouldn't put it past him to use this to try get away with it."
"He's been good," said Ana, still laughing. "Unlike you."
"Me? I'm a pillar of virtue."
"Maybe we should leave," Mandor said quietly. "I sure they could wheel me out if you two need some privacy."
"Hah," Tebrey said. "Like I'm capable of doing anything anyway."
Mason patted Tebrey's hand. "Seriously, how are you doing?"
"I hurt," he answered honestly. "But I'm happy that things finally seem to be going well. The Fleet is safe, at least for a while. I'm just glad everyone else is okay." He caressed Ana's cheek and smiled.
She looked over at Tonya. "How is she?"
"She'll be fine."
"You were asking about classifications?" Mandor interrupted.
"Yes. Each type of Theta seems to have different capabilities. Lyra has mentioned that the powers of an individual Theta depend upon what potential the species that spawned it had."
"I can see that new classifications might be useful," replied Mandor. "Then, we would be better able to respond to each one. I would suggest using Dr. Bauval's name for the human ones; call them Andhakaara. It fits very well. We'll invent new names for the others as we discover them."
"Where is Bauval, anyway?" Tebrey asked.
"He's working with Dr. Kainoa."
"Doing what?"
"Experimenting to find our enemy's weaknesses," said Mandor.
"Do I even want to know?" asked Tebrey.
"Probably not," Mandor said. "Not right now, anyway. I'll fill you in later."
"You wished to see me, Admiral?" John Hutchinson said as he entered the room. He wasn't surprised to see Joseph Jin Rai or Hiran Singh there. He knew that the Concord was going to have to do something about the Federation captains who had defected during the war. He'd had little doubt that it was why he'd been summoned.
"Have a seat, Captain," said Admiral Macklin. "Now that you're all here, I'll get right to the point. You can't go back to the Federation. At best, you'd be spaced. However, the Concord needs all of the experienced personnel it can get. I'd like to offer you each service in the Concord Fleet. The same offer applies to your crews. We'll transfer ranks directly into our service. I can guarantee that you won't see action against the Federation. I don't want to harm your oaths, but we have a lot of other enemies, such as the Empire."
"That's very generous, Admiral," Jin Rai said. "I was wondering what you were going to do with us. I guess we'd each make decent executive officers, if you can trust us."
"I had something a little more generous than that in mind," said Macklin. "Your crews will certainly be welcome, but I also need experienced captains. We're building a whole new fleet."
"Are you offering us new ships?" Singh asked. He'd sorely missed the Centaur since it was destroyed at Vesuvius.
"I'm offering each of you a ship like this one," Macklin said. "You've proven your capabilities in battle, and you've all made sacrifices for the Concord. Our automated factories are going to be primarily producing Osiris-class battle cruisers like the Arcturus and the Arcadia. I need people I can trust in command of those ships. Any of your crew you want, you can have. What do you say?"
Jin Rai glanced at the others and saw the incredulous joy on each of their faces. They were all men who were meant to captain starships. It was what they'd been born for. "Sir, I believe I speak for the other captains when I say that we would be honored."
In two days, the Concord Fleet would be holding massed services for the dead. The Fleet was already in mourning; less than twenty ships had survived the fighting around Dawn. At the service, they would honor the millions of people who had given their lives to protect that which was most dear, freedom itself.
Tebrey would be there, of course; everyone would.
Mandor had told him before he left that Admiral Macklin was preparing a special award ceremony for the same day. There had been many acts of heroism that day, but a few of them stood out above the others.
Captain Torenth was being honored for his bold assault deep into the ranks of the Federation ships, and for his rearguard action that had let so many of the civilian ships make it out of the system.
Lieutenant Johan Riksen was receiving the Star of Valor for personally manning the guns in defense of the Arcadia and thus keeping the boarding parties from taking the ship. He was in Medical but was expected to live.
Tebrey and Hunter were receiving awards, despite their protests. Together they had killed two Thetas and scared off a third. In the process, they had saved thousands of lives. Tebrey had argued that they couldn't receive awards since they weren't officially Concord citizens, so the admiral and his staff had showed up in Medical and sworn him in that afternoon.
Tonya Harris and Ghost were also receiving awards for bravery above and beyond. Tebrey knew that she hadn't complained only because she knew her duty.
The Concord badly needed heroes just then.
Epilogue
Tebrey and Mandor stood on the observation platform, watching as the final touches were added to the first of the new ships of the Concord Fleet, the CSS Dawn's Hope.
It was the largest warship humanity had ever constructed, three kilometers of dark hull bristling with defensive and offensive weapons. The Concord machine intelligences had been given all of the available data from the Battle of Dawn. The result was the awesome warship below them. Most noticeable from the platform were two belly-mounted primary neutron cannon. Each of those massive guns was two thousand meters long. Thos
e were capitol ship killers, capable of destroying a ship at over forty million kilometers. Advances in quantum-level circuitry allowed the neutron beams to be generated without the usually required nuclear power source. They were essentially giant particle accelerators. The beams were just as lethal as the usual bomb-pumped gamma-ray lasers, if not more so, considering the range and width of the beams.
"That is one scary looking ship," Tebrey said quietly.
"She's to be our new flagship," Mandor replied. "Most of the other factories are working overtime producing ships like the Arcadia and the Arcturus. We're hoping to decommission or upgrading all non-Marcos drive ships."
"Most of the factories?" asked Tebrey.
"We've got one factory producing the new troop transports."
"For the Slith and Rhyrhans," Tebrey said, nodding. "That makes sense. They're certainly eager enough to fight."
"Well, eager might not be the right word, but yes, they are ready to go into battle. Admiral Macklin wants to take the fight to the Federation by February. We're not sure we'll be able to get the ships' crews trained by then, though." Mandor glanced aside to look at Tebrey. "How's your new job working out?"
Tebrey chuckled. He'd been formally inducted into the Concord military as a special military attaché to the Department of Internal Security. It felt strange to be wearing a uniform that wasn't a Federation one, but at least it was still black. The admiral had set up a new taskforce to hunt Thetas; Tebrey was commanding it.
"I'm getting used to it. The people you sent me are doing fine. I've mostly got them brainstorming ideas for new equipment. That new guy you sent me, Riksen, has got real talent for thinking outside the box. They'll be ready in a few months. I'm going to want to set up a formal training camp once things settle down. I don't think Harris likes working for me."
"Lyra's gone?"
"Yes, she left this morning. She promised to stay in touch, though, either in person or through her second, Emerald. I still don't quite understand everything about those people, but I do trust them to be strong allies."
Lyra had promised Tebrey that she would be back by January to continue his training. It seemed that the other Aurorans had grudgingly accepted him as being worth training after Lyra had described the battle on the Talisman.
Mandor nodded. "When is Ana due?"
"Soon," Tebrey said with a smile. "Anytime, really. We're scared and excited, both."
"I can imagine. Have you decided on a name?"
"Amanda, after my mother." Tebrey had thought that they might name their expected daughter after Ana's mother, but Ana had vetoed the suggestion. It seemed her anger at her parents was still a little too freshly reawakened. Tebrey had done what any smart husband would do; he'd agreed instantly with her suggestion.
They were silent for a few minutes, watching the robots crawl over the hull of the new ship. That was something Tebrey was still having trouble with: robots and AI. They were both banned in the Federation but seemed to be everywhere he looked in the Concord. He even had one of his team working on a special project in that area.
"You said that Macklin is eager to smash the Federation," Tebrey said.
"Yes."
"What then?"
"Then we do what you want. We take the war to the enemy," Mandor replied. "We take the war to the fallen, and we destroy them for all time."
Asura Press books by Paul B. Spence
The Awakening Series
The Remnant
The Fallen
The Madness Engine - forthcoming
About the Author
Paul B. Spence is a practicing archaeologist who hopes to one day get it right. He currently lives in New Mexico, where all the cool kids hang out, with too many cats.
Like most authors, he had an eclectic career path. He’s worked as a retail gofer, a food service monkey, brute laborer, a rennie, a writer for the RPG industry, and many other rewarding jobs that didn't pay enough to feed him or his cats.
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