Enemy in the Dark (35 page)

His expression hardened. “You will do as you're told, Aragona, and I'm afraid you will have to keep your illicit plundering down to a minimum. But it is better than the alternative.” He glanced at Blackhawk then back to Aragona. “You will still be the ruler of the planet, even if you are answerable to me. An alternative far preferable to any of your other options, I suspect.”

Aragona sat quietly for a few seconds. He looked at Lucerne then over at Blackhawk, who was standing there scowling at him. “Okay, I will do it.”

“Excellent.” Lucerne got up slowly. “Welcome aboard. You will have a chance to atone for your dissolute life, though I suspect that is an inducement that is lost on you at present. Still, you should be pleased. Things could have gone in . . . mmm . . . another direction.” Lucerne smiled and walked toward the door. He paused just before he stepped into the hall.

“Oh, and Aragona . . . if you betray me or try to get away with something behind my back, I will find out.” He turned and glared at the Castillan with fiery eyes. “And I will come for you. And you will wish I'd given you to Blackhawk.”

The masses of soldiers marched across the blasted desert sands in perfect formation. They were clad in the black uniforms of the imperial legions, but these troops had not come from the empire—they had not crossed the vast emptiness of the Void. These warriors were raised and trained in the Far Stars.

They had been scum, the detritus of human society on the fringe, but now they were survivors. They were graduating from a training regimen that had killed almost one of every two participants. Tragonis had continually increased the intensity of the program, condensing more and more training into a shorter time. Vos needed soldiers, and he needed them soon.

Tragonis was more than happy to deliver.

“You have done well, old friend,” Vos said. “A bit hard on the trainees perhaps, but there are always more recruits floating around the gutters of the Far Stars ready to take the bounty.” Imperial service had a base appeal to many. The discipline was strict, but there were many rewards—if you considered murder,
rape, and torture a reward. Vos suspected for those who joined up, it was exactly that.

“Thank you, Governor.” Tragonis was sitting in the imperial box with Vos and Wilhelm. And seated next to the governor was Kalishar's ruler. Rax Florin looked out over the proceedings nervously. Tragonis had shown the ka'al complete respect in their dealings—there was nothing to be gained from antagonizing their host. But he couldn't imagine any monarch could watch thousands of troops—even an ally's—march across his world without a bit of pause. Tragonis knew Vos would dispose of Florin the instant his usefulness was exhausted . . . and he suspected the ka'al knew it too.

“This is the first group of ten thousand, but there are over eighty thousand in the second class, and two hundred thousand in the third. In two years, we will have one hundred legions, fully equipped and trained.”

Vos nodded and watched the parade move past the box. He hoped these soldiers fought as well as they marched. Having an effective army would allow him to accelerate his plans.

Many of his programs were proceeding well, but the setbacks had been costly—the debacle with Danellan Lancaster and Antilles being the worst. Because despite Vos's meticulous planning, Lancaster had proven to have more courage than he would have thought. Now, not only were Antilles and Celtiboria formally allied as members of the Far Stars Confederation, but Lancaster had publicly declared the empire had tried to suborn him. Lancaster was an influential man, and his word carried weight. Vos had benefited early from the complacency caused by his incompetent predecessors, but now he suspected the fear of the empire would grow again.

The plan was perfect, but it didn't count on one thing.

Arkarin Blackhawk.

Blackhawk was the constant thorn in his side, and he was certainly behind this recent disruption. A million crowns—a massive fortune in the Far Stars—yet no one had managed to kill the bastard. There was obviously more to Arkarin Blackhawk than some rogue mercenary prowling around the Far Stars, and Vos was determined to find out. As soon as he got back to Galvanus Prime, he was going to put a dozen people on it. Every investigation so far had come to a dead end twenty years earlier. He refused to accept that, though. Once and for all, he was going to find out who this mysterious adventurer was—and what he was hiding.

That would take care of one problem, but there was another serious obstacle that was growing larger day by day.

He turned to Wilhelm, a glint in his eye.

“Mak, I have something I want you to handle for me.

“It's time we do something about Marshal Lucerne.”

And make sure to read the stunning conclusion in
Funeral Games
in trade paperback and eBook, on sale January 2016.

JAY ALLAN
currently lives in New York City and has been reading science fiction and fantasy for just about as long as he's been reading. His tastes are fairly varied and eclectic, but favorites include military and dystopian science fiction, space opera, and epic fantasy—all usually a little bit gritty.

He writes a lot of science fiction with military themes, but also other SF and some fantasy as well. He likes complex characters and lots of backstory and action, but in the end believes world-building is the heart of science fiction and fantasy.

Before becoming a professional writer, Jay has been an investor and real estate developer. When not writing, he enjoys traveling, running, hiking, and—of course—reading.

He also loves hearing from readers and always answer e-mails. You can reach him at [email protected], and join his mailing list at http://www.crimsonworlds.com for updates on new releases.

Among other things, he is the author of the bestselling Crimson Worlds series.

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FAR STARS

Shadow of Empire

Enemy in the Dark

Funeral Games
(January 2016)

CRIMSON WORLDS

Marines

The Cost of Victory

A Little Rebellion

The First Imperium

The Line Must Hold

To Hell's Heart

The Shadow Legions

Even Legends Die

The Fall

War Stories (Crimson Worlds Prequels)

MERCS (Crimson Worlds Successors I)

PORTAL WARS

Gehenna Dawn

The Ten Thousand

PENDRAGON CHRONICLES

The Dragon's Banner

Cover design by Richard L. Aquan

Cover illustration © by Marc Simonetti

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

ENEMY IN THE DARK.
Copyright © 2015 by Jay Allan Books. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

FIRST EDITION

Harper Voyager and design is a trademark of HarperCollins Publishers L.L.C.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015955928

ISBN 978-0-06-238892-6

EPub Edition DECEMBER 2015 ISBN: 9780062388940

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