Dark Paths: Liberation War Book 4 by John Walker

Author:John Walker [Walker, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-04-02T22:00:00+00:00

***

Warren went straight to the bridge when they boarded, not bothering to change out of his dress uniform. He undid the buttons near the neck as he sat in his chair, turning to look at his terminal for status updates. Victoria continued what she was doing, clearly waiting to be addressed while Nick broke orbit.

The Gellan ships formed up behind them. Lord Mihn took their left side, all weapons and shields powered up. The collector ship would be there soon, much as it had swept into Earth but this time, the Leviathan was ready. Moving into attack position, the enemy vessel would not be able to conduct their operation unchallenged.

All departments reported ready for combat. Warren turned to Victoria. “Anything unusual to report?”

“Doctor Meyers is attempting to work with the Gellans,” Victoria replied. “He thinks he can bolster their weapons, make it possible for them to do some damage for us.”

“Impressive.” Warren nodded. “And here I thought he’d just freak out if we had to fight. I owe him an apology for doubting him.” He turned to Madeline. “Do we have open coms with our new allies?”

“Yes, sir. Everything’s established.”

“Fighters are deploying,” Victoria said. “They’ll be ready to take on those shuttles if they launch. Were you able to get the civilian population to muster? They’re going to need to get out of there. When those things go down, they’ll cause some pretty nasty destruction. Especially considering how dense that city is.”

“They’re doing what they can,” Warren replied. “Our job is to stop the collectors. Hopefully, they do theirs down there. I’m putting my faith in their civilian authorities.”

Avania joined them. She’d stopped to change out of the jacket, donning a black one instead. Zadok remained near the elevator as she took a seat at the scan station. As she did, Madeline turned to the room. “Um … the collector ship is hailing us. They didn’t bother talking to us on Earth, why bother now?”

“Because they didn’t have a small fleet to face,” Warren said. “Put them on audio only.”

The speakers crackled before the link was firmly established. “Gellan fleet, this is a lawful collection service. You are jamming our communications out of this system and posturing for combat. We insist you power down your weapons and allow us to complete this perfectly legal operation.”

Warren considered the comment for a moment. There were a dozen things he’d like to say, most of them bravado. He’d been on the collector ship. He saw what they did to people. The fact someone could get on a communicator and suggest that a military fleet step aside for them was utterly reprehensible.

It made him sick to his stomach. He already struggled with some low-level anxiety about engaging with them. They represented the first power stronger than humanity to come calling. Their assault devastated the planet, left countless people widowed or without their children. This thing, these monsters had no empathy whatsoever.

Because the Gellans represented sentient beings recognized by their government. This service performed by the collectors was done with the full knowledge they were killing innocent people.

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