, or a bookstore near you.(Readers from the United Kingdom and abroad can also find Clouds of Darkness on Amazon.co.uk )
Chapter 16
“WE HAVE REPORTS of rioting in the streets, Lord Commander.”“Enough.”
“Enough, I said!” hissed Ga’Glish. Fury in his eyes, he turned to face Dra’Lengish.
“Surely some word of encouragement or comfort— ”
“Silence!”
“I am sorry, my Lord, but— ”
“Sorry?” Ga’Glish thundered imperially. “With less regret and more outrage at Terran banditry, perhaps the Empire would not be teetering on the brink of ruin. Go—!”
Ga’Glish stretched his arm toward the Monitorium.
“Go and do something useful, Dra’Lengish. Find us something to erase this latest Terran trick.”
“My Lord— ”
“Go discover some bit of magic to send the longnoses scurrying for home. And if such alchemy eludes you, my fine Chief of Tactics, then return to your models and your simulators and stay there until you find me a way to explain to the People exactly how the Imperator is going to make the Terrans disappear.”
“But, my Lord— ”
“Begone! – or I’ll send you home in chains.”
Leaving his anguished Chief of Tactics on the verge of tears, Ga’Glish stormed down the broad Common Corridor, heading toward his morning briefing in the Analysis Section. The Flagship was buzzing with rumors and on the verge of panic. Ga’Glish stepped quickly down the corridor, keenly aware that all eyes followed him as he passed. As miserable as his life had become, the past few days had been the worst. Each day brought new word of another attack by the Terran bandits; each day pushed his homeland further toward the madness of animals. He had no doubt that inflicting such horrors had been the Beast’s purpose: terror was an effective means of disarming one’s enemies. Yet Ga’Glish could not comprehend a creature like the Terran monster—one who could inflict such torment upon those who had once offered him friendship.
In the back of his mind lurked the same dark fear that haunted everyone: the Convoy. Alone in skies infested by the Terrans, the Convoy was now at the mercy of one who had shown himself merciless. Whether the One Called Khu’ukh would destroy it outright or hold it hostage was barely a thought to those below. The panic gripping the planet came from the same horror that had seized the High Command. From the moment Khu’ukh had made civilians his targets, Gr’Shuna became expendable.
Ga’Glish took refuge from the prying eyes of outsiders behind a large, brass door that shielded the Analysis Section from the rest of the Flagship. He leaned against the wall, his forehead resting upon a blinking direction indicator, his soul aching with each flash of light.
It was his own incompetence at work, he told himself. Whether through negligence or wishful thinking, it had been his incompetence that forced the choice upon them. Now his own ruthless objectivity made him feel just how painful a choice they confronted.
They could try to defend Gr’Shuna, or they could move to protect the Convoy. They could stand fast, fighting to deny Gr’Shuna to the enemy; or they could move to insulate their children and females from the Terran Beast who lurked like death in the unprotected skies of the Empire.
Ga’Glish harbored no illusions that they could do both. Though it would mean sacrificing his homeland, there was no doubt about the course they would pursue. Yet it grieved him to give such an order. His mind filled with visions of the millions he would be condemning to slaughter at the hands of barbarians. As he had many times in the past few days, he found himself weeping like a doddering old grandmother.
It would never do for his subordinates to see their leader in such a state, he kept telling himself, until at last anger at his own weakness was enough to overcome his shame and despair. Composing himself, he rose to his full height and headed down the hallway toward the Room of Information, hate and fury flooding every fiber of his being.
* * *
“NEXT GROUP, stand at the ready.”
The words sounded harshly in the earphones of Shl’Lanasha. Stepping up to the loading platform, he looked up, through the airless sky. The stars glowed like bright embers, filling the heavens with a dusting of light. He looked eastward, along the rocky horizon of the moon he was about to leave forever, and thought of the son he might never see again. Shl’Glisen, now the sole pride of his heart, was still living in nightmares, thought Lanash. For all he knew, the poor boy would never outlive the terror of his dreams, or the horror of seeing his mother butchered before his eyes by the Terrans. He still remembered the spot among the stars where the Convoy had faded into nothingness, and it drew his eyes now. He grew sick with the knowledge that he would not be there to ease his troubled son toward manhood and that, if something dreadful happened along the way to safety, he would not be there to ease his passage into eternity.
The shuttle door opened, and Lanash stepped inside, moving quickly to take a seat by the window. The vessel was crowded, and soon every seat was taken. He looked in vain for the rest of his company, but the hold was wide and his view of the interior was limited. Though it would have been nice to have a friendly shoulder beside him, there would be time to rejoin his friends when they reached the planet.
The warning signal sounded, and the shuttle shuddered under the weight of its thrusters. Shl’Lanasha gazed silently outside as they rose from the ground, heading for the transmission station that would send them down to Gr’Shuna. As his vantage of the moon increased, he saw the fortifications and massive blasters radiating in all directions from the launch station. He saw for the last time the gleam from the tiny, fragile pressure suits of those who would be left behind, assembled in formation to salute those like Lanash who were leaving to join Lord Glishek in defense of their homeland.
Lanash felt his eyes growing weak as he watched them wave at the last shuttle. Those remaining on the moon would man the large guns and massive fortifications built as the planet’s first line of defense. Though it passed unspoken, everyone knew that these outer fortifications would be the first line of defense shattered by the Terrans when they finally attacked.
Like everyone around him, Shl’Lanash tried to avoid the thought that those staying behind were doomed. But as the shuttle rose higher and higher in the airless sky, the fortifications began to look smaller and smaller. And Lanash knew what they all knew. The defenders on Gr’Shuna’s moon would only be the first to die in defense of the planet; it was beyond hope that they would be the last. Like Lord Glishek, all viewed surrender as unthinkable. They had each heard the stories of the Terran death camps. And they were resolved to die, rather than see Gr’Shuna suffer the shame of Terran atrocities.
© 2011 by Jeffrey Caminsky
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