Death was upon them all, down to the tiniest microbe. Vogur, a giant star ship edged closer and closer to the galaxy in which America, the planet, had declared war.
“Time estimation, Admiral,” Gil said. A countdown measure appeared before Admiral Vossler.
Vossler glanced at the information and nodded imperceptibly. “This war is about to come to a close,” he said. Gil worked one side of his mouth into a tracery of a grimace that desperately needed to be a grin. After the briefest of moments he squashed it and made his face as bland as he could. The thought of what was about to happen horrified him and compelled him to watch simultaneously. The war had taken eons and now their race had sufficient technology at hand to make a swift close of it. Their legends had always predicted the end would be a long and bitter battle against an unknown, but like so many predictions from the ancient ones, it was false information.
Nothing stood in the way, and certainly no unknown.
“Do you have a moment of pity for them?”
Admiral Vossler turned to Gil now, his fullest attention on him.
“Pity?”
“They do not know what is upon them. It almost seems unfair—”
“Pity is for the weak minded and foolish. What is unfair is how this war began. We would be stronger in numbers if not for the Americans. Never forget it again.”
“Hail Trygernon!”
“Hail Trygernon,” Admiral Vossler said.
“Permission to be excused,” Gil said.
“Granted.”
Yes, death was upon them all now, and no they would have no warning, no indication that their entire planet was about to be annihilated. Admiral Vossler wondered again if there really was to be an unknown that somehow made the battle embittered and longer lasting. He sincerely had his doubts, but his great ancestors knew things that his Time-People knew nothing of. Nevertheless he was convinced that now was their chance to end suffering and restore peace once and for all.