Doomsday minus 7 Earth days.
“What do you mean, the fighting has already begun?”
Townsend pressed himself farther back in his chair, his thoughts and his midsection both roiling.
Vixor ban Jorisam stood calmly meanwhile on the other side of the desk, looking every bit the Nandrian warrior in his orange cape and full facial armor.
Reminding himself that he was a Hak’kor, Drew sat upright again and demanded sternly, “Warmaster, report! Who is fighting, and where?”
“In Sector One, the Eggenali Night Cloud fleet and seven Nandrian Houses, including Drellith, Cleron, Voll, and Dax. In Sector Two, nine Nandrian Houses including Silmar, Barbani, and Yerith. In Sector Three, the Stragori fleet and seven Nandrian Houses—”
“Wait a minute. The Stragori are fighting?”
Vixor tilted his head to one side. “To prevent the swarm from destroying their world and the Human colony on it, yes. You are aware that Humans and Stragori are both from Earth?”
“Yes, but I didn’t know the Nandrians were aware of it.”
The massive head tilted back the other way. “Every race is aware.”
Except the Humans, thought Drew darkly. Of course. That explained a great deal. The worlds on the Great Council had probably been on tenterhooks, wondering when the Humans of Earth would finally piece things together.
He gestured to Vixor to continue the report.
“In Sector Four, eight Nandrian Houses, and in Sector Five, five Houses beyond this system. The fighting has been fierce for several days. Many have died.”
Already?
“And within this system?”
“The training is over, and Earth’s warships are as ready as possible to meet the enemy. The Human fleet consists of one hundred fighters and twenty more heavily armed vessels. All have been given their assignments. Your defensive weapons appear to be adequate. Houses Trokerk, Ammon, and Oustex have positioned their forces and will provide support in defense of House Daisy Hub and your ship.”
“My ship?”
“The Hak’kor’s ship.”
Of course. Every Hak’kor had one. Except Drew. Damn! He knew he’d been forgetting something.
Just as he was opening his mouth to confess his error, however, the tube car door slid open and two uniformed men stepped out onto C Deck. One was Captain Paul Rodrigues. The other was Captain Hiromasu Takamura.
“Sorry to be late,” said Rodrigues. “We were preparing the Hak’kor’s ship to receive the First Shield and the tseritsa.”
Drew’s jaw had dropped. He closed it and tried to look like someone whose world hadn’t just banked steeply to the left.
“Tseritsao,” he said. “There will be two of them, Yoko and the living staff.”
“Of course. Forgive me, Hak’kor.”
“Warmaster, there is a spot reserved on the landing deck for your personal vessel,” said Takamura, bowing from the shoulders.
Vixor dipped his head in acknowledgment.
“The Marco Polo is ready to dock and take on passengers,” announced Takamura.
“With respect, Hak’kor,” said the warmaster, “you have good people under you, but none of them are warriors. Would it not be wise to remove as many as possible to the safety of your ship and let the Second Shield deploy aboard the station?”
“My men are just outside the Hub, awaiting your order,” Rodrigues assured him. “They’ve been fully briefed and know what to do.”
It was good, sound common sense, the kind a concerned parent might dispense to a child. And after all, wasn’t that what Humans were to the other races — children who played at war but had no idea of how bad it really was?
“Of course,” Drew replied wearily. “No point in risking any more lives than necessary. Ruby, assign the Marco Polo a portal and tell the crew to pack their things. We’re evacuating.”
—— «» ——
Doomsday minus 4 Earth days.
Townsend gazed around the room and saw shock and horror stamped on every Human face. A screen had been installed in the Marco Polo’s mess hall, displaying regular updates on the progress of the war, which members of both crews had been following with interest.
Today, reports had begun coming in from other sectors of Earth space. Casualty lists. No names yet. That sadness could wait. But…
Shakespeare Hub, gone up in a fireball. No known survivors.
Riviera Hub had cracked open like an egg, spilling hundreds of people into space.
Half the Drellith fleet and a quarter of the Stragori fighters had been lost in the first hours of the attack.
Five Earth colonies in Sector Four and another two in Sector Two had been incinerated by Corvou heavy ships. No survivors.
The list went on, scrolling upward at a funereal pace.
Ventrana, gone. Alison Morgan and her family were dead.
Elysium, gone. Somewhere behind Townsend, a woman broke down sobbing.
Schweitzer Hub.
Gone.
Townsend blinked back tears, feeling as though something hot had just exploded inside his chest. Wishing he’d found the strength to respond to his mother’s last message. To say goodbye.
The heat became a furnace, burning away every emotion but one. Rage was filling him, rising in his core and buffeting his ribs like a gale.
This had to be what it felt like to be hartoon.
Drew got deliberately to his feet. By the time he’d walked to the front of the room, he had the full attention of everyone in it. He scanned the hundred or so somber, tear-etched faces. Then he drew a shuddering breath and announced, “When I was younger, I was part of a street gang in New Chicago. It was a very educational experience.”
“You learned how to fight?” said a male voice he didn’t recognize.
“I learned how to win. Two things were drilled into me. First, anyone who hurts one of us has a problem with all of us. And second, always repay a debt, with interest.”
Wondering murmurs bubbled up. After a moment, Hagman’s voice rose above the froth to demand, loudly and clearly, “So what are we doing holed up here like frightened rabbits?”
“That’s a very good question, Mr. Hagman. Is there a bridge officer in the room?”
A scattering of hands went up.
“Excellent! Please inform the captain that the Hak’kor of House Daisy Hub is ordering his ship to return to the station. We have a House to defend and an enemy to destroy.”
It didn’t take long for the mess hall to empty out, as the ship’s officers went to warn the captain, and the crew of Daisy Hub went to their quarters to pack.
The warmaster stood watching everyone file out, then leaned over Townsend’s shoulder and growled, “This is unwise, Hak’kor.” Said without respect this time, Drew noted.
“Perhaps, but it’s the honorable thing to do. And it’s preferable to sitting idle behind a shield while others die on our behalf, wouldn’t you say?”
“I must insist that the First Shield and tseritsao remain aboard this ship,” said Vixor. “Protecting the heart of the House is the Nandrian thing to do.”
“And taking a warning as a challenge is the Human thing to do. You know I’m not fond of waiting around while others make things happen,” Drew pointed out.
“Yes, Hak’kor. Nonetheless, you must follow what is required by our tradition.” The Nandrian was talking to him like a parent patiently reasoning with a stubborn child. Did Vixor not realize how annoying that was?
“All right,” he snapped, “First Shield stays aboard, but we’re docking with the Hub to let anyone debark who wishes to participate in its defense, which I will control from the bridge of this ship. That’s not negotiable, Vixor.”
He inclined his massive head. “Yes, Hak’kor.”
As the warmaster lumbered away, Townsend turned to Holchuk and said, referring to an earlier conversation, “You’re sure you want to do this? Join the crew of a Nandrian ship?”
“I’m a Fifth Shield bearer of House Trokerk. I swore an oath to fight alongside them. And the Esselmass needs another gunner.”
“That wasn’t my question. You’re not running away from Madeline, are you, now that you’ve finally found each other?”
He paused before replying. “It’s been a reality check, her coming aboard the station like that. All grown up. A cop, like you. A stranger, linked to me by DNA. Maddie says she wants to get to know me. I wish she could. I wish I could turn back the clock and raise my little girl, even just for a few years, and be a father she remembered. But I can’t, and I’m not. In fact, I’m not sure I’m even the kind of man I’d want my daughter to get to know.”
“That’s a little one-sided, isn’t it? Aren’t you interested at all in getting to know her?”
“I guess. It’s just that everything is shades of gray for me right now. I need to think in black and white for a while, if you understand what I mean.”
Right and wrong. Honor and dishonor. Nothing like combat to clear the mind.
“Unfortunately, I do understand. Does Teri?”
“No, but she’s accepted it. One day, Maddie will too.”
“Well, I wish you good luck, Mr. Holchuk. And if we don’t see each other again, it’s been an honor having you on my crew.”
Unexpectedly, Holchuk gave him a smile that reached all the way to the Chief Cargo Inspector’s eyes. “By the way, when you told Vixor where to get off, you became a real Hak’kor. From here on in, whatever happens to House Daisy Hub will be on your hands and yours alone. So, congratulations, boss man — you just passed your tekl’hananni.”
—— «» ——
Five hours later, the Marco Polo was connected by an umbilical walkway to one of the docking portals of Daisy Hub. An hour after that, all but a handful of the Hub’s crew had left the ship, battle station assignments in hand, and the Hak’kor and Kalufah were standing behind the captain’s chair on the bridge, along with Vixor ban Jorisam. Ajda Gray and O’Malley were in their respective guest staterooms with Yoko, Akiko, and the living staff, a decision Vixor had silently approved of.
“Brief me, Warmaster,” said Townsend, putting a stern edge on his voice. “Your ships and our Fleet will be fighting the battle. Tell me what our situation is, and what I need to know in order to help you and save my House.”
Vixor straightened his shoulders and gave his report. “The Corvou began with ten heavy ships and five thousand fighters. They entered Earth space near the Terran system but found nothing at its coordinates. When our forces engaged them there, the armada split into five groups, one to fight and the rest to disperse throughout Earth space on a hunt for targets. Wherever they found them, they also found Nandrian fleets waiting to stop them.
“Our strategy has had some success. According to the latest reports, only four of the enemy’s heavy ships are still operational, and they have many fewer fighters. Since we have no officials to count the kills, the exact number of fighters remaining on both sides is unknown.”
“The heavy ships are the planet destroyers?”
“Yes. They are not so much ships as weapons driven by propulsion systems, very large, very powerful, and well protected by their fighters. Costly but not impossible to kill.”
Townsend felt a twinge of guilt. Outraged at the loss of Human lives, he hadn’t even thought about all the Nandrians, Stragori, and Eggenali who were laying their own lives on the line, fighting and dying in the unforgiving depths of space. That was something else parents did for their children — they sacrificed.
“How costly?” he asked, dreading the answer.
The Nandrian gave a dismissive shrug. “Our losses have been moderately high so far. It is to be expected. Our forces have succeeded in driving the Corvou out of Sectors One and Three, but those ships have joined with the ones in Sectors Two, Four, and Five to renew their attack. It appears they are saving Daisy Hub for last, when all the surviving Corvou ships will regroup in Sector Five to deliver a final, lethal blow to the Humans who offended The Mother of All.”
“Clarify, please. When you say the enemy has been driven out of a sector, does that mean every Corvou ship is gone?”
“No, Hak’kor. Some small ones still remain, but they can be dealt with by a few of our fighters. The rest pursue the enemy and continue the war.”
“So, at some point in the very near future, what’s left of the Corvou and what’s left of your forces will be joining the battle in progress in Sector Five, and also engaging four fleets that you’ve held back, in the vicinity of Daisy Hub.”
“You understand.”
“How certain are you that the Corvou haven’t also held ships back?” Drew wanted to know.
“Our scouts have seen no additional heavy ships approaching Earth space.”
…yet, Drew added mentally. They weren’t approaching yet. With luck, the Corvou war effort had been crippled by the Mitrades and the Kularian brotherhood, and ten planet killers had been all they’d been able to export off-world before Coravon was wrapped up in a pocket of space.
“Warmaster, how much notice do you estimate we’ll have before the Corvou reach the Hub?” Townsend asked.
“It depends. I have positioned the scout ships approximately ten hours away. At the first sighting by a scout ship, the Nandrian fleets will speed to intercept the enemy. They will attack the swarm from every direction, slowing it down and reducing its numbers. The other Nandrian ships will join from behind.”
“What about the Earth ships?”
“They will remain here in case any Corvou fighters slip past us. If we fight hard enough, four heavy ships could become two, or even one.”
Earth’s Fleet had been given the lightest duties, because Humans weren’t warriors, and the warmaster didn’t want their blood on his hands. But what about all the alien blood that was being spilled on Earth’s account?
Townsend let out a heartfelt sigh. “I’m sorry, Vixor. I’m sorry that so many of your people are having to die to save Humanity. I wish it weren’t necessary.”
“And we wish no Serrusshans had to die. But if no Serrusshans had died, we would not be here now, able to help you.
“Warriors expect to die on a battlefield. We have been practicing to wage this war for a very long time, Hak’kor. Whatever else happens, I promise you that we will not lose it, and we will not lose House Daisy Hub.”