When the Stars Fade (The Gray Wars) (86 page)

              An explosion shook the cell, knocking Mara to the floor. She hit her head against the sink, leaving a gash that oozed blood down her cheek. Laser fire echoed in the corridor outside and the smell of smoke and ozone filled the air. The Nangolani scientist sat down on her bed, holding the blanket against the wound. Another bomb rocked the prison ward again, this time much closer. She could hear voices approaching; angry, shouting voices. Mara curled into a ball and retreated as far into the corner as possible, praying to Darna Wo, begging for a swift death. The door to her cell slid open, letting in tendrils of smoke.

             
The man who entered wore a dark green uniform with black pants and boots. The armor on his chest bore the symbol of JohGal, two stars rising in unison over the crescent of Nangol. In his hands he carried an automatic rifle, the barrel glowing red. He looked down at Mara with coal black eyes and a humorless mouth.

             
“Are you Mara Nox Booren
?”
he asked
.“
I am Trik Downakan.
I’
m here to rescue you
.”
His accent placed him as a Nofan Pas native. Thankfully he spoke her dialect. He offered a hand and helped her to her feet
.“
Hanweh Shodon has heard of the deception created by Emperor Anduin. The Domin are divided, half siding against the other. The Magistrate has ordered the deaths of all political prisoners and the swift apprehension of the rogue fleet
.
”

             
Mara could scarcely understand. She had sent a message to the Domin, but it had never crossed her mind that he would choose the path of violence. It appeared her discovery had caused a long dormant divide in the classes to break open. Domin were sworn to serve the Empire, but Hanweh was different. She was humbled by his actions on her behalf.

             
“Where are we going
?”
she asked. The soldiers led her through the halls, pausing at intersections to clear the area before moving on.

             
Trik did
n’
t reply at first. He held up a hand at each intersection, leaning out to take a look before moving on. Ever so often he would fire a burst and Mara would hear a scream. Blood and burnt flesh mixed in the air in a putrid cloud. Mara gagged, fighting the urge the vomit. Finally, after what seemed like forever, they paused
.“
Barrenon
is on approach to
Xenogas
. We boarded on a small shuttle, and that is how we will escape
.
”

             
“But if
Barrenon
approaches, wo
n’
t the cruiser fire upon her
?
”

             
“No
,”
Trik said
.“
Xenogas
will not be given a chance.
Barrenon
will fire a broadside and destroy this ship
.
”

             
That stopped the scientist in her tracks
.“
Destroy? But this ship has six thousand people aboard
.
”

             
“Six thousand, seven hundred and forty-eight
.”
Trix pulled her arm to drag her onward. Laser fire scorched the wall a moment later. His soldiers rolled into the area, automatic rifles spitting out green bolts of energy
.“
Believe me, Historian. This pains us to do. We are barely two hundred thousand, and this war will not be over swiftly
.
”

             
She had
n’
t realized it, but tears flowed down her face. Her species could
n’
t survive a civil war. There simply were
n’
t enough Nangolani left. They maneuvered from the holding area to the hangar, engaging in small firefights along the way. One of Tri
k’
s soldiers was shot in the leg and the commando held off an attack until another man picked up the wounded and carried them off. It took only fifteen minutes, but felt like hours.

             
The hangar was the center of the warzone. Four shuttles of Hanweh supporters had crashed through the barrier during the assault. Imperial soldiers had the high ground, but the rebels fought with a ferocity not seen in the Nangolani people for generations. Men shouted as bolts tore into their bodies, sizzling and popping until the heat died down. Black and silver blood covered the walls and floor. The stink of death was everywhere.

             
Mara stayed low to the ground, Tri
k’
s hand on her back, as they ran down the steps toward a waiting craft. The soldier practically tossed Mara into a seat and strapped her down. The pilot, a young female with dark gray spots along her jawline and neck, gunned the engines. Other fighters piled inside, still firing out the hatch even as it closed. Mara saw Trik standing outside the shuttle, waving it off. She shouted for them to stop, to wait for him, but the pilot had already pulled back on the stick. The squat transport banked hard and shot out of the cruiser, picking up speed. Mara unsnapped her restraint and turned to face the window in time to see
Barrenon
arrive.

             
One moment there was simply empty black space, and then the cruiser appeared. Its perfectly-timed exit from Stride gave little warning for the Imperial capital ship to react. An ominous green glow built up along the seams of the hull, growing toward a central point. It was an incredibly dangerous maneuver, but paid off. Only seconds after decelerating,
Barrenon
unleashed a massive wave of energy into
Xenogas
. The beam cut deep through the hull and into every compartment. Catastrophic decompression collapsed the frame, crushing the ammunition storage bays and igniting the pallets of missiles and bombs. The central fusion core disengaged from its cradle, reaching critical mass in seconds. The Capital Cruiser disappeared in an oval of white light as the entire ship erupted. Pieces of metal shot in all directions, trailing thin lines of smoke.

             
It was too much for the scientist. Her breath quickened for a moment, held, and then she fainted.

-                           
XIV                            -

              Jerry was fading fast. Cameron had pulled him into the cockpit so he could keep an eye on the wounded man while flying as fast as the ship would allow. So far, that was their limiting factor. The damage sustained from the attack continued to reveal itself, from cracks in the passenger windows to a piece of metal the size of a coin that punched a hole in the aft port engine. All in all, Cameron was
n’
t having the best day.

             
Tearing through the iridescent void on a jury-rigged Blue drive was not Ca
m’
s idea of a good time. Truth be told, this was the most scared he had ever been. And with the stick shaking like a bronco he knew the next hour was going to get worse before it got better. He tried breathing exercises, sucking in bellyfuls of air and holding his breath before slowly exhaling. It worked marginally. He stretched, loosening his shoulders to lessen the strain of controlling the shuttle. His breath came slower, easier. Looking over at the Chief of Staff, the young pilot found his resolve.

             
Adeline had found a bottle of alcohol in the former shuttle owne
r’
s luggage. She took a few swigs to help with her nerves and was now sleeping peacefully on a row of seats. Cameron had covered her with a blanket and placed a cushion under her head.
I wo
n’
t let you die like this,
he had thought.
I promise you that.

             
The Chief of Staff stirred, and Cameron frowned. Their conversation played over and over in his head. Jerry was
n’
t in the best shape, but h
e’
d seemed lucid as he detailed a conspiracy over a century old. Cameron had never bought into that nonsense; the world was strange enough without adding lunacy to the mix. But this was the Chief of Staff of the whole damned galaxy.

             
“Come on boss, stay with me
.”
Sweat poured down his face in streams. It was
n’
t just the heat. He was starting to worry they would
n’
t make it to Eros in time. The generator in the back had started to make some pretty awful sounds. H
e’
d made this trip before, back on
Berlin
and after aboard a Fleet transport, but riding the swells in a broken bus was an all new type of terror
.“
Keep talking, Jerry. Tell me about The High Chancello
r’
s dad
.”
For a moment he thought the old man had actually died, but the Chief of Staff coughed himself back into reality.

             
Jerry looked around, bewildered
.“
This is
n’
t Bermuda. Yo
u’
re the worst driver
I’
ve ever had
.
”

             
Cameron laughed, but did
n’
t feel any relief. There was a smell coming off Jerr
y’
s wound. Though the pilot had seen his share of death and dying, it had never been this slow or close. The hole emitted the aroma of rotted meat or bad cheese. Cameron did
n’
t know what it was, only that it could
n’
t be good. A sudden bump lifted him out of his seat, but the transport steadied and flew on. The
y’
d weathered the worst of it, or at least he hoped. The pilot stepped away from the controls gingerly, as though he could trip and the whole thing would go. He knelt down next to the Chief of Staff, helping him with the bottle of water.

             
“Zacharia
,”
Jerry said
.“
He wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. Taught him how to be ruthless, how to be powerful. Should have taught him how to hire better security. Yo
u’
re too young to remember the Last Congress
.
”

             
Cameron grinned
.“
My dad had a saying
.‘
You have to be smart to be a smart ass
.’
The Last Congress was to be the Martian Declaration of Independence. Their president, a man known as Bishop, called together the leaders of the Unions and asked them to unite and secede from the Earth Council. Ended up being the start of the Federate
.
”

             
“Close
.”
The old man took a moment to wince in agonizing pain
.“
Zacharia was Bishop, as
I’
m sure you can guess. With the Foundation fighting against his efforts on Mars, he knew the only way to survive was to become the head of the most powerful group on the planet. The miners controlled the production of Ubernium for most of the galaxy. Without the valuable mineral, their Empire would grind to a halt. That rock fueled our stations, our carriers. Without it we could travel no further than the nearest moon
.
”

             
“Jerry
,”
Cameron interrupted
.“
You keep sayin
g‘
empire
.’
The Empire Americana ended with the Seven Divisions and the Tribunal. That was over a hundred years before Zacharia and Mars
.
”

             
Jerry gave the pilot a withering look
.“I’
m not talking about the Americans.
I’
m talking about the Foundation. Their empire, their dream of the bigger galaxy
.
”

             
“But you said they just wanted peace
.
”

             
The old man nodded
.“
Tha
t’
s how it started. But Zacharia put a wrench in their plans, and only a few of the original members still remained. The new blood took the betrayal personally. They voted to step up the game. It was
n’
t about keeping the peace; it was about settling the score. Working behind the scenes, they built their own empire, the Earth empire, and justified it by calling it
a‘
council of like minds
.
’”

             
“Mars was a turning point, though
.
”