Lokians 1: Beyond the End of the World (30 page)

The inbound vessel was large and red; it was
the
Phoenix
. He knew Lay was coming. While the Humans had
snapped to attention, the Thewls looked on. Adams explained why
they had become immobile.

The
Phoenix
let out a burst from retro
boosters before slowly descending. Upon reaching optimal, ground
proximity, eight, landing pedestals ejected and touched down. The
bay door opened, unleashing a platform.

In full dress, Admiral Lay emerged, donning
his cap. Light glinted off his insignia. O’Hara approached and
saluted. The admiral returned a salute, and the captain quickly
recounted the last few weeks of the mission, including the battles
they fought, the tech they recovered, and the plan to unite the
races. Lay nodded understandingly.

“
I’m not surprised, son. I should like
to meet this traveler as well, and take a look inside that
ship.”

“
There is a possibility the Lokians
will attack Earth or the colony, Sir,” O’Hara stated.

Admiral Lay stopped short and took a
trademark, pensive inhalation. “Well…as it stands, I’ll begin
relations with these Yvlekesh. It would help me to have a Thewlian
assistant to smooth things over, though. Perhaps, it’s time to let
the colony in on some of what’s been going on,” Admiral Lay said,
carefully.

He took a moment to mull things over as he
walked around and eyed the aliens, his men, the odd ship. He was
impressed with the Thewls, and equally curious.

“
Do any of you have public relations
experience?” Yon, a relatively small and quiet Thewl took a step
forwards. Though she had accompanied the men to retrieve the
vessel, she had not spoken a word to the Human crew. She remained
quiet then, too. “Good. I’m Admiral John Lay of the Earth Navy,” he
announced and extended a hand.

“
Yon of the Thewls. What do you need,
Admiral?” she asked in a soft voice.

The admiral placed a hand on her elbow as he
turned and walked away a polite distance. The two left the crew to
their own devices for a moment. O’Hara overheard Lay inform Yon of
the necessary steps required in bringing her to the colony for
communications with Ambassador Weh and subsequently the
Yvlekesh.

“
Something’s wrong,” Nandy
said.

“
What is it,” Korit asked.

“
Yon contacted Admiral Yew, but he said
they haven’t been able to reach the Yvlekesh.”

All of the Thewls darkened in complexion.
When the admiral and Yon returned, O’Hara noticed the hard look in
Lay’s baby blues.

“
What’s the word, Sir?”

“
I won’t lie to you, Captain. The
Thewls are having some troubles of their own, but I won’t bore you
with details. While you’re all here, why not set up camp and enjoy
your time together?”

He was shocked to hear such a request, but
everyone else was pleased. They joked and chatted, and meandered on
over to the
Phoenix
to see old friends. Adams and Franklin,
who had not relaxed in years, drew a green ball the size of a Human
fist from a brief case. They tossed it around to the others for
fun. Swain and Fitzpatrick cracked up over their display.

Crews of both ships united under auspices of
first contact and secret missions. During R and R, Admiral Lay
pulled his captain aside to explain the importance of squelching
Intel. O’Hara was displeased due to the inherent danger, but was
confident in the admiral’s strategy.

“
For the moment, I don’t want anyone
else knowing that there are difficulties in contacting the
Yvlekesh.”

O’Hara glanced back at Phoenix Crew. Then, he
glanced at the Thewls, who were introducing themselves to everyone
else. He wondered if Korit or Admiral Yew had squelched Intel
during their excursions.

“
How’ve you been?” the admiral’s voice
made O’Hara jump.

“
I thought the agents kept you up to
date.”

“
I mean you. How have
you
been,
not your performance….”

“
I don’t really know how to answer
that, Sir. I feel like I was thrown into the mix of a great
catastrophe unprepared,” O’Hara replied.

“
Yes, I suppose you were. Anything
bothering you?”

“
Just the loss of my friends,” the
captain said as he looked away.

The twin suns were moving lower into the
horizon. Gray clouds stood still, painted against the hazy,
purplish backdrop. They were thin and wispy, but plentiful.

“
Listen,” the admiral said as he took
O’Hara’s upper arm in his hand. “You’re at war. You need to
understand that. Soldiers die. You’re a leader.

“
I know it’s harsh, but the mission
comes first. There are countless lives at stake, lives not under
your command, lives that need to be protected, spared, because they
can’t fight. It’s good to honor and remember soldiers, but you
can’t despair over the loss of good men. They’re ready to go when
the time comes…you should be, too.”

O’Hara turned to meet blue, steely eyes. They
were slightly covered by the shadow cast from the admiral’s cap but
it was obvious the man was speaking from experience. O’Hara wracked
his brain trying to figure out when the admiral had been to war.
There hadn’t been any fighting, to his knowledge, for
generations.

“
I-I know, and I am ready to die, but
they were
my
men. They were my friends. I could have done
better with more Intel….”

“
That’s exactly what I’m saying, son,”
Lay retorted. “If you had all the proper Intel, none of you would
have done as well as you did.” O’Hara fidgeted and frowned. He
obviously didn’t appreciate the remark. “Buck up. I’m going to
check on the crew,” the admiral responded and left.

The captain breathed in the cool air of Eon.
He was rattled, in disbelief. Lay’s comments made no sense, and as
he looked at Humans, Thewls, the young and the experienced, he knew
he wasn’t alone in missing former teammates, but neither was he
alone in the war for survival.

Chapter Twenty

Camp was set up between the ships. Questions
regarding the odd vessel arose, but O’Hara maintained it was
nothing special. His old crew was glad to hive him back, and even
happier to finally have a meet and greet with Thewls.

Day and Roberts met up to discuss recent
events. Nandy and Swain stuck around their new Thewlish friends
while occasionally chastising the scientists for a lack of manners.
Conversations revolved around missing crewmembers, the Lokian
threat, and what the future held.

Hours into R and R, and O’Hara felt both
relieved and exhausted. Glossing over recent tribulations wasn’t
his thing, so he told everyone to bug Fitzpatrick and DeReaux. The
two didn’t seem to mind anyway.

Chilly winds had settled over the area,
making golden and reddish foliage dance. Thick, black shadows
reached across the ground. Everything was as close to pleasant as
possible, homey, even.

Admiral Lay came from the
Phoenix
, Yon
trailing behind him. The captain looked from him to the agents.
They were relaxing in chairs, but remained silent, stoic.

“
Glad to see you join us, Sir,” O’Hara
said.

“
Even this old, Navy dog enjoys some
down time,” Lay smiled.

“
Everything alright?” the captain
glanced at Yon, who was trying to get away from Humans, albeit
politely.

“
Everything’s fine,” he replied, and
motioned with his head to walk. They went just out of earshot. “Are
you ready for this?”

“
I don’t have much of a choice, do
I?”

“
No…I suppose you don’t. I won’t lie to
you, son, if you fail, we’ll probably have to leave Eon colony to
fend for itself while we protect others, like the Alpha
colonies.”

“
Why? Why would you abandon a new
colony and its people?”

“
Don’t you see,” Lay chuckled. “There
aren’t many people here, but the other colonies, the Alphas,
Century…even Earth; they’ll need help to stave off an invasion. Let
the Lokians take Eon, and let the Thewls and Yvlekesh handle
it.”

O’Hara was in disbelief. Why Lay was acting
so calloused was beyond his comprehension. For a second, he stared
at the ground, trying to figure out the angle.

“
I can’t fail….”

“
No.”

“
You have to protect our home world,
make sure it isn’t destroyed, because if it is, we’ll wind up a
fraction of our race.”

“
Like what’s happened to Thewls. I’m
glad you get it. Say, there’s someone I want to introduce you
to.”

They made the walk back to the
Phoenix
. O’Hara overheard Roberts and Day. They held hands
and expressed their grief, wishes, and recent adventures. Roberts
smiled and saluted her superiors. The admiral didn’t so much as
glance her way, but the captain saluted; he missed his old squad.
They were analogous to simpler, happier times.

Just inside the loading zone, sitting by a
table laden with food and drinks, a middle aged, black, captain
stood and saluted. Lay returned it. O’Hara and Captain Bragg looked
each other over.

“
You must be the young O’Hara,” Bragg
said as he held his hand out.

O’Hara shook hands. Bragg’s skin hung a
little off his face, making his throat jiggle from the
pleasantries. He had the appearance of a battle hardened man. His
gray stubble and wrinkled eyes gave him a subtle air of malevolence
countered only by his clean, warm smile.

“
Yes, Sir. Good to meet you. How’s the
ship holding up,” O’Hara asked.

“
Quite well, I must say, though I’d
love to hear about your travels if you don’t mind.”

“
Uhhh,” O’Hara faltered as he was
unsure where to begin.

“
If I may,” Korit
interjected.

He stood and walked over to Bragg. They, too,
shook hands.

“
You are…? I’m sorry,” he apologized.
“Always been bad with names. That’s why us Humans got these name
tags,” he added and laughed.

“
Korit. I led my own team before
joining the captain. I was there most every step of the
way.”

“
Fire away, Korit. I’d love to hear the
story from someone else’s perspective,” O’Hara remarked.

Korit emerged as a wonderful storyteller. His
lack of tone was contrasted by his dramatic timing and subtle
mimicry. Drinks were passed around and both men and Thewls
appreciated the spirits. The aliens had never imbibed alcohol, but
that night, while recounting tribulations and giving homage to dead
friends, they knocked back a few in a very Human fashion.

Eventually, everyone made their way outside.
Someone even started a little fire. Korit’s words were remarkably
articulate as he told of their initial meeting. He explained the
search on Marduk, the recovery on Sahagun, and terrible stories of
the Lokians. O’Hara listened intently as everyone spoke, but
something played at the back of his mind. He looked over at Day,
who was drinking a glass of wine with Flem and Fitzpatrick.

She caught his glance and excused herself, an
obvious sign. O’Hara smiled to himself before sneaking from camp.
He caught up to Day by a small hill.

“
Care for a walk, Miss Day?” he asked
with a smile.

“
Love to, Mister O’Hara,” she replied
and took his arm.

“
That’s Captain O’Hara,” he joked. She
laughed and hit him softly in the ribs. They walked a little ways,
just far enough from prying eyes. “I’ve been thinking about us,
when we used to be together…I realize we’ve been through quite a
bit more now.”

“
You don’t have to say anything,
Riley.”

“
I think I do…Sara, I don’t think I can
bear to lose you.”

“
You’re not suggesting I stay away from
this mission?!”

“
What? No! We can’t even pilot that
space cat. No…no, what I was saying is, um, that,” he was having
trouble getting his feelings out. She looked at him, expectantly.
“I’m not asking you to be my girlfriend again, I’m asking that you
always be my friend, my rock, the one who makes me be the best
person I can be….”

He took her hands, interlocked fingers, and
kissed her. Her sweat aroma, warm embrace, gorgeous eyes, and
consideration were everything he needed. His determination,
compassion, and selflessness were her inspiration.

“
Riley...I’ll always love you. You know
that. I can’t bear to lose you, either, and you’re right; the
battles—this journey—it’s helped us forge a relationship that will
stand the test of time. We may have our ups and downs, but I’ll
always be your rock,” she said and placed her forehead to his
shoulder.

O’Hara felt a wave of emotion envelope him.
In a very real way he saw events unfolding before his eyes. Some of
the events were very unpleasant, others were peaceful, but only one
was right. He searched his soul. They made love under gray clouds
that night.

Back at camp, DeReaux polished off quite a
bit of wine himself and noticed two crew members missing. “I think
maybe ze’ captain and Miss Day have gotten themselves lost,” he
said with a mock French accent and laughed.

Fitzpatrick elbowed him and laughed, too. “I
think we could all use a little getting lost tonight,” she fired
back and downed a shot of bourbon.

While Adams and Franklin avoided drinking,
they chuckled at the crew’s behavior. They even took bets on who
was going to score that night. Admiral Lay leaned over, behind
their chairs, and when he spoke, they nearly jumped out of their
skins.