Dogs of War by Scott Bartlett

Author:Scott Bartlett [Bartlett, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mirth Publishing
Published: 2018-05-25T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 35

Unmatched

“Certainty is gone,” Husher told the officers he’d gathered together in the Vesta’s main conference room. “We don’t even have a coherent battle plan. And safety was never truly ours in the first place. But for seventeen years, we did have peace. The galaxy hasn’t been thrown into chaos like this since the Second Galactic War. Everyone is panicking. Flailing. This is what dying looks like.”

A heavy silence hung over the chamber. His officers had been quiet before, but now they were as statues, not moving, barely breathing.

“As we speak, the beings left on Zakros are in the process of being slaughtered, and there’s absolutely nothing we can do about it. From here on out, our options are extremely limited. Unless we decide to flee to the Kaithian home system and huddle in Home’s orbit with as much of the Fleet as has made it there…unless we do that, we’ll have to stay on the run from now on. The Milky Way belongs to the Progenitors. They’re just finishing the process of scouring it—killing off those unlucky or foolish enough to have not evacuated yet.”

He drew a deep breath and let it out in a slow hiss. “From now on, even when we move through IU core systems, we’re maneuvering through enemy territory. The Progenitors could strike at any time, surrounding us, and when they do, we must be ready to punch through and continue on toward our destination.”

“What is our destination?” Chief Benno Tremaine asked.

“That’s what we’re here to discuss,” Husher said. “The decision is ultimately mine, but a lot rides on it, which is why I’ve called you all here: to get your input before I make the final call. We need to decide what our priorities are. Do we think simply defending Home is a viable long-term goal? Personally, I don’t think it is. The Progenitors’ resources are virtually unlimited.”

“What do you consider a viable long-term goal, Captain?” Ek asked, from the other end of the long, oaken table.

“I don’t think we have any,” Husher said. “I think we have a single viable goal, and it’s a short-term one. We need to make it to the Progenitors’ home universe. And we need to kill those we find there.”

Scot Winterton spoke up. “Apologies, Captain, but—”

“Don’t apologize for disagreeing,” Husher said. “I called you here to speak your mind, and everyone here has my full permission to do so.”

“Yes, sir,” Winterton said. “I was going to say that the way you’ve framed things seems to suggest that making it to the Progenitor home dimension is a single objective, when in fact it’s a set of multiple objectives. We don’t know how to transport a ship as big as the Vesta through the multiverse, so that has to be priority number one. Assuming we’re able to obtain that knowledge, in order to implement it, we’d need shipbuilding facilities as large as those the Progenitors destroyed in Feverfew. We’re not sure any such facilities exist any longer. But let’s entertain

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