Resurrection (The Inherited War) (3 page)

“I will offer you the right Markmio, once it has been proven to me that you are who you say, and he is a descendant of our ancient enemy.  Until then, you have the right of the ship, and he will be kept safe and secure in the pens.  I am Mikil, and this is the Clan Moro flag ship.”  With the introductions over, Cole was hauled to his feet and shoved forward.  Something impacted him behind his knees and dropped him to the floor.   He found himself kneeling before Mikil.  “So, you claim to be of the Ancient Enemies.”  He reached out his hand and turned Cole’s head back and forth.  “Ugly enough, but we shall see.”  Cole spat on his feet in defiance.

“You are a feisty one; we will have to beat that out of you in the pens.”  The new presence in his mind was worse than Dayja’s.  It made him feel cold and want to retch.  “I will enjoy you while I have you.”  This time the pain was different.  It slowly started at the base of his neck and crept up his skull.  It was bearable at first but by the time it reached the top of his head Cole was on the floor writhing in pain.

“
Enough please Mikil.  I do not want him damaged.  He knows things, things the Enemies programmed into him.  Things we will need after this devastating loss.”  Dayja had moved forward to stand next to Mikil.

“Of course.”  Mikil signaled to his guards, and they reached down and picked Cole up.  “Take him to the pens.”

Dayja added.  “Keep him alone, he is crafty and should be guarded at all times.”

“As you say.”  He looked to the now unconscious form being held up by his guards.  He snorted in derision, “Take him to the isolation pen and have two guards on him at all times.”  He held out his arm to Dayja as the Esii dragged Cole’s lifeless body out of the bay and down the hallway.  “Come, let us retire to the bridge and talk of your claim to Markmio.”

~

     
Cole awoke with the urgent need to relieve himself.  Remembering that he was in his suit he let loose and let the suit take care of the clean-up.  He looked around the room he had woken up in.  Five by five feet.  No bench, bed, chair or anything resembling furniture.  Just an empty room with four walls a ceiling and a floor.  The floor had a drain in it, but it was too small for Cole to even attempt to fit in.  He couldn’t even tell which wall held the door.  He spent the next several hours inspecting every square inch of his cell. Giving up he finally sat down and rested his back against a wall.

He was royally screwed.  He guessed he deserved it after what he almost did to Sky’s world.  He hoped no one ever found out that he had used it for bait in his trap.  Thinking of the final battle made Cole remember Hal.  He hoped his friend had survived whatever Dayja had done to him and had survived being ejected from the ship before it had impacted into the Sun Eater.  Sky was safe, he was sure of that.  Nixa was safe, and the galaxy was rid of the Esii super ship.  All in all, Cole felt like he was ahead.  Well except for the Earth being destroyed.

He was getting bored.  He activated his helmet and started running any programs or suit operations he thought might come in handy. Nada.  Shit.  Wait, here is something.  Cole laughed quietly to himself.  Hal had downloaded something onto his onboard memory.  Cole hit play.

“If you’re watching this Cole,” Hal appeared on his internal screen, “you probably went EVA and are waiting for a rescue ship to pick you up.  I have compiled a selection of my favorite TV shows from your planet.  I know you said that you didn’t want anything to remind you of what you lost, but right now I figure you won’t mind too much.  Enjoy.”  Hal faded away, and the screen went dark.  Cole smiled a little at his friend’s compassion and cursed his taste of TV shows.  Cole was stuck for God knows how long and all he had to watch was Gilligan’s Island and The Jersey Shore.  He would almost rather be tortured.

~

Cole was going insane.  He didn’t know you could know you were going insane.  But he was.  That line of logic just proved it.  He had made it through season one of Gilligan’s Island and no one had come to check on him.  He was getting hungry.  His suit recycled his sweat, urine and absorbed moisture from the air, so he wasn’t concerned about dehydration.  He just didn’t like to think about where his water was coming from.   He didn’t mind drinking filtered pee, but the smell in the air on this ship made him gag and he couldn’t imagine what it was doing to his water filters.

He still had about a day’s worth of TV shows to watch but lacked the will to watch them.  He didn’t think they would let him keep his suit much longer, especially once someone remembered he was wearing it.  Cole was currently trying to give his brain a
jump-start.

He had an entire race of beings knowledge stored in his DNA and had no way to access it.  His ancestral memory guide had told him it would come to the fore when he needed it or certain events, actions or phrases triggered it.  He figured he needed it more now than ever, but nothing was happening.  He wracked his brain for whatever information he could remember concerning the Esii.  It wasn’t much.

He knew they fed off the living energy of sentient beings and could obviously communicate with telepathy.  They apparently can affect the pain centers of the brain, and they do not like bright lights.  When he had first found out about the Esii, Cole had compared them to Earth vampires.  They both shared an aversion to light, fed on other intelligent beings and were eerily silent and supernaturally fast.  Though he didn’t think a crucifix or holy water would have an effect on the Esii.  While it was information, it was nearly useless right now.  He checked his chrono, and reset it to Nixa time.  It was late, and Sky would surely be in bed.  He decided to turn in as well.  He got as comfortable as possible on the cold hard floor.  His nanites recognized his need for natural sleep and released a mild sleep aid into his system.  Cole fell asleep, and the last thought on his mind was of Sky.

~

Cole was dreaming.  He was back in his favorite place on Ft. Campbell.  The back forty, dinosaur country.  It was day time, so he assumed it would be Jarrod coming to speak to him.  He found a comfy tree root and sat down to wait.  He didn’t have long.

“Hello, Cole.  I am sorry you have ended up in this situation.”  Jarrod, his ancestral memory guide, was a program stored in Cole’s DNA.  He helped Cole process and utilize the information also stored in his DNA as it came out.

“It’s okay,” Cole responded, “it sure as hell isn’t your fault.”

“Yes, but this is.  I cannot allow any more information to penetrate your conscious mind.”  He walked over and sat next to Cole.  “The Esii have varied and clever ways to retrieve information from those unwilling to share it. It’s not that I don’t trust you Cole, it’s just that you may not even know you’re giving them what they want.  If the information stays locked in you genes they cannot access it.”

“I kind of figured that may be the case.  Could you look and see if there is anything you could release that may help me survive this and even possibly escape?”  Cole asked his ancestor.

“I am truly sorry Cole, it doesn't work that way.  In fact
, I am also here to remove certain information you currently possess that could jeopardize our prepared sites in the galaxy.”  Jarrod looked defeated.                “This will also be the last time I come to talk to you. I am truly sorry Cole. I had hoped you were the one to return the galaxy to the peace and prosperity it had known before the war.”

“I tried my best to live up to your expectations.  I did what I could to make the galaxy a better place.  I am sorry I failed you.”  Cole hung his head.

“No, I failed you.  I did not prepare enough for all eventualities, and I let you down.  You did better than I could have ever hoped for and then some.  Our time is short, and I need to finish this.”  Jarrod stood and faced Cole.  This will not hurt.  He placed his hands on either side of Cole’s head and closed his eyes and concentrated.

CHAPTER 3

Approximately 20,000 years
ago

They had all met on a ship in the Twin World System. The remaining Pures, Nixa, Worlders and various other races that had pledged their support to the war.  What they didn’t know, but Jarrod did, was that the Esii had contacted each of his allies and tried to sway them from aiding him and his people. He had no way of knowing who, if any of them, would betray him.  Oh well, he thought to himself, they are calling this the Traitors War already.  What was one more traitor added to the mix?

His people had worked hard the last month to augment their ships with offensive and defensive capabilities, and they were now ready to retaliate.  He had looked at every angle, and concluded the war would be unwinnable. Too many of his people had died on that first fateful day.  He was outnumbered and could not rely on his allies.  His cause was lost, but he could ensure that the galaxy survived his passing.  Still, he had to weed out the traitor race first.

              “Thank you all for coming.”  He began.  “Your assistance will be invaluable over the coming days.”

             
The representative from the Worlders system spoke first.  “We are honored to aid you in any way we can.  We owe you our existence and will fight alongside you until the end.”  He bowed deeply and took his seat.

             
“As will we.”  The Nixa representative replied.

             
“I have a very specific target in mind for our first action.  We are returning to the Common System.”  Jarrod saw the confusion and doubt blossoming on their faces.  “Something important will happen in that system, and we need to be there for it.  I have prepared orders for each of you.  You will have one hour to transmit the orders to your ships before we launch.  The orders will be followed to the letter, any deviations will not be allowed.  The orders have been tailored to your people and ships strengths.  You,” Jarrod pointed to each of the races representatives, “will remain on board my flag ship.  Go now, send out your orders and meet me on the bridge.”

One hour later the fleet that had assembled entered warped space and headed back to where the war began.

~

Sky sat cooling her heels in her father’s waiting room.  He had summoned her and then made her wait for over an hour and still would not see her.  She was about to subdue her father’s secretary and barge in, when the exterior door opened, and Thalo walked in.

“Greetings Doctor,” he said and bowed with a flourish.  “Fancy meeting you here.”

“Shut up Thalo, I assume father sent for you as well?  I have been waiting for over an hour.  Where have you been?”

“Me?  Oh, here and there.  Mostly there.  Occasionally here.”  He shot her a smile.

“You know you’re infinitely worse when Jeth isn’t here to shut you up?  Now sit down and tell me what you have been up to the last few days.  I haven’t seen either of you around lately.  I miss you guys.  They haven’t even let me see Fury or any of the crew from the Retribution or Reckoning.”

“I wouldn’t be too anxious to see Fury any time soon.  Seems he has had some funny ideas about the Battle of Nixa and hasn’t been too pleasant to be around.  He has chaffed at the orders of your government to stay in system and not to go chasing down the leftover Esii fleet.  Seems Cole didn’t leave clear cut orders in case he didn’t make it through the battle.”  Thalo winced inwardly as he realized what he had just said.  “Sorry, I...”

Sky cut him off.  “Don’t be, he isn’t dead, and I will have him back one day.”

“Listen to Fury and you might reconsider that.  I have said too much already, I want you to hear it from him before you make any snap decisions.  I will speak no more on the subject.”  Thalo looked around rakishly.  “Did you hear the wonderful news?   Well wonderfully funny news.”

“No, I have heard nothing.  My father keeps me locked up and closeted away from everything.  If I don’t start doing something, I will go crazy.”  She clenched the armrests of her chair until her knuckles turned white.

“You didn’t hear this from me, but it seems the AI’s have a little more faith in Cole and some orders no one knew about.  The five AI controlled ships and the AI onboard the Reckoning have refused to nano up any new crew members.  Seems they aren’t too happy about hanging around here.  Fury ordered them to cooperate, but they refused.  They have agreed to remain in system for a few more days, but it seems they will strike out on their own if no significant progress is made.  We plan on offering them safe harbor until a plan can be made to rescue Cole.”  Thalo leaned away from Sky when he heard the door to her father’s office open.

“You may go in and see the Prime now,” his secretary said.

They both rose and nodded their thanks to the female Nixa and headed into her father’s office.  Like every time before, she was surprised at the stark nature of her father’s office.  It was all plain, ordinary Government Issue furniture.  Where some Administrators had dipped heavily into the public coffers to outfit their quarters, her father had skimped.  He didn’t need the vulgar opulence some others thought was theirs by right.

If the office didn’t surprise her, her father’s guest did.  She walked into the office and up to her father’s desk before she greeted them both.  “Father,” she said, “Fury.  I wasn’t expecting to find you here.  Through betraying Cole for the day?”  Her words dripped with acid.  Fury ignored her remark and took one of the three empty seats around her father’s desk.

“Please let us all be civil,” her father said, “we have much to discuss and little time in which to do it.  Please be seated.  Now let’s address the most important, I believe, issue we have.  Commander if you would.”

“Sky.  Please hear me out.  I know you are mad at me for the choices I have made, but I have my reasons.  You accuse me of betraying Cole, but I believe he betrayed us first.”

“Liar,” Sky shot back, “he gave his freedom to save us all. I will not sit here while you sully his name.”

Her father interrupted her at that point.  “Sky,” he said in his stern father tone, “shut up and listen to the Commander.”

By force of habit her mouth snapped shut.    Her father so rarely used that tone on her, and she listened automatically when he did.  She ground her teeth in silence.

“If I may?”  Fury looked to her father.

“Please do,” he responded.

Fury rose and walked to the wall screen.  “I always wondered why, when we trained for that final mission, two things occurred.  First the mysterious intelligence that suddenly appeared and lead us to that particular system.  Second, why Cole had us train for it where we did.  Finally, after the retreat from the Esii held world, Cole seemed oddly prepared for what came next.  He had his speech to the naval forces all prepared and his secret fleet standing by close enough to respond to his summons.  These things taken separately were suspicious enough but put them all together, and you find Cole’s plan.  Trick us into a fight we couldn’t win, position us so we would only be able to retreat to Nixa, force the Nixa Home Fleet to aid us and keep a strong force in reserve.  Sky, he used Nixa as bait to lure out the Sun Eater.  Though I do believe he was genuinely surprised that the Sun Eater happened to be where we attacked.”  He gave Sky a moment to process all of what he had just said.  “He promised Sky, he promised to keep our worlds out of his fight until he destroyed the Sun Eater.  He put our people at risk to lure them out.”

“His fight?  It was our fight and Cole would have never done something so rash without talking to us first.  He trusted us, why would he mislead us?  You are just caving to the pressure the Administrators are putting on you to stay near Nixa.  You are a coward.”  Sky’s eyes were filled with rage.  Thalo laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and forced her attention on him.

“Calm,” he whispered in her ear, “We need his ship.”

“It isn’t his ship.  It is our ship.  Those of us who still hold our oath to Cole.  To aid in destroying the Esii and any other force responsible for the destruction of Earth.   We all swore it to him before we started this war.  If you have lost the belly for it then step down and turn the ship over to me.  I will take it alone if I have to, all the way to the Esii system.”  Sky had stood and was shouting at Fury.  “You make me sick. Cole plucked you up from a no nothing job on a filth ridden planet.  He gave you your own ship and taught you to use it.  He trusted you to run it as you saw fit and operate on missions alone.  He was your friend.  I was your friend.  He saw his whole world destroyed by that ship, he never would have put ours at risk as well.”

Fury was on his feet now as well.  “Then explain it.  How did what transpire happen?  Was it all just coincidence or was it planned.”

“We can’t know now can we?  Cole is gone, maybe even dead and you just want to quit.  Give him the benefit of the doubt.  No, you just tried him in absentee and convicted him.”  Her hand snaked out and smacked him in the face.  The sudden, abrupt sound echoed in the ensuing silence of the room.  “Get out of my sight and off my ship.”

“I will gladly leave your presence, but the ship remains mine.  I have worked out a deal with the onboard AI, and we will be assuming a position in the Home Fleet.  I wash my hands of Cole’s war and of Cole.”  Fury adjusted his uniform and drew Sky’s attention to it at the same time.  She hadn’t even noticed it when she walked in.  He was wearing a Nixa Admirals uniform.

“Now we see your price.  I see you for who you really are, a traitor to your very bones.”  Sky stared daggers at him.

“If I may ask a question?”   Thalo stood and interposed himself between the two.  “What happened to Hal after the battle?”

Fury paused before turning to leave.  He considered his response before answering.  “He is onboard the Reck...I mean the Savior.  He was badly damaged and as yet unresponsive to our attempts to reboot him.

Sky was horrified at herself.  She had never even thought to ask about Hal.  She had forgotten him with all the drama playing out around her.  “Father, order him to transfer Hal immediately to one of the other ships.  He may be in danger on Fury’s Savior.”

“No need to order me, I believe Hal has knowledge of Cole’s betrayal and would be glad to be rid of him.  I will have him transferred in short order.”  Fury turned to leave.

“If you damage him any further than he already is, I will blow you out of the sky.  The other ships and AI’s are still on Cole’s side.”  Sky shouted at his retreating back.  Fury left and the door shut behind him.  She spun on her father.  “When did you know about this?  How long have you kept it a secret?”

“Sky, daughter, please calm yourself.”  He walked over to her and wrapped her in a gentle hug.  “I had heard rumors that Fury and the Administrator from the colonies had been meeting in private but did not find out what they were talking about until now.  Fire, the Colonial Administrator, is head of the military assignment board.  It seems that he traded Fury’s information for rank.  I believe he will hold the information until it is needed.  He will not squander it needlessly, he has already won.  If he feels like someone will bring new information to light that would force the Administrators to vote again on the issue of supporting Cole’s war, he will pull Fury out and parade him and his story to all the Nixa worlds.”

Thalo cleared his throat.  “If I may interject?  The question we should be asking is, why?  Why did he fight so hard to keep the Nixa from pressing their advantage and following the defeated Esii fleet?”

“That is easily answered,” her father said.  “Fire hates anything that draws attention and credits away from his colonies.  Open war with the Esii would do both.”

“No, it has to be more than that.  How long until Fire is up for re-election?”  Thalo asked.

“Hmm, I believe he is due next year.  Why?”  Sky’s father returned to his desk and sat.

“Even if he can spin the war to his colonists as taking away funds and support from them, that a war puts them in danger or any other way he can state it. It hurts him.  This whole planet was just witness to what the Esii tried to do.  They all just stared death in the face and walked away, well not all but a vast majority.  They won’t stand for it.  They all can see that he clouded the issue and forced a premature vote.  Think about it, every one of those colonists has to have a relative on one of your settled worlds.  They will bring pressure to vote him out.  He took a huge and politically unnecessary risk pushing the issue.”   Thalo sat down and kicked his feet up on Sky’s father’s desk.

“Very astute, yes I can imagine the ramifications will come close to putting him out.”  He leaned forward and with a finger shoved Thalo’s feet off his desk.  “He will still win though, his support is solid.  No one even bothers to run against him.”

“Yes, but when have you ever seen a politician purposefully heap bad press and poor decisions on themselves so close to an election year.  It stinks to me.”  Thalo looked at each of them as they mulled the implications of what he was saying over.  “If you won’t I will.  He is directly or indirectly working with the Esii.  I have done some thinking on what it could be.  I have some theories but I need to confirm them first.”

“If that bastard is working with the Esii,” Sky was visibly upset, “I will pull his heart out and show it to him before he dies.”  She took a few breaths and calmed herself down.  Thalo was grinning while her father had a shocked look on his face.  “Now I am going to borrow your orbital ship and head out to…”  Sky looked to Thalo.  “Which ship is now the new flag ship?”