Forsaken Crown (Homeworld Lost Book 2) by J.N. Chaney & Scott Moon

Author:J.N. Chaney & Scott Moon [Chaney, J.N. & Moon, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Variant Publications
Published: 2023-06-03T16:00:00+00:00

22

Leana’s face stayed in my mind long after I left the bridge. Her words rang in my guilt-ridden memory. There wasn’t that much work to do as we made our final approach. With everyone on the bridge, and Kayan in good repair, the tactical details were being handled. All of this was an excuse. I knew it. The nagging sense of things being too easy made me restless, so I went for a walk. It felt like the other shoe was about to drop. I recognized the feeling from when I had been tired, overworked, and sleep deprived as a Security Forces team leader. In a way, that had been one thing about my situation that got me off my butt and back on the road to OCS.

How far was too far? Zyzocal’s questions about who to save also bothered me. Why were my people more deserving of rescue than the Tytons? What would I decide if forced to choose? And could I look him in the eye and demand he surrender everything to prevent me from losing anything?

Worse, there was no guarantee a victory in the defense of United Earth would stick. Assuming I could somehow convince world leaders the threat was real and imminent, could we mount a defense in time? If the Gavant decided to slug it out on the planet’s surface and play by our rules, we’d probably do well in both traditional and nontraditional warfare.

I doubted we would get that lucky.

Which would lead us looking for allies, only to find them further subjugated or completely destroyed by Gavant recriminations for helping the United Earth cause. It wouldn’t take much. If Collins convinced the other Gavant leaders that a Tyton battle lord had contributed to the defeat of their expeditionary force to the Milky Way, the consequences for Wozim’s people would be severe.

This situation sucked. Why couldn’t I get a winnable scenario sometime during this life?

“Noah, we have located the Tyton ca-sil and some Gavant wrecks,” Kayan said. “Something terrible happened here. You should get to the bridge. And tell no one of the Jyko device.”

“On my way.”

“I wish my knowledge of the artifact, or what you did, was more complete,” she said.

“You and me both.” I met Wozim and Grum jogging the other direction.

“There are survivors. We need you in your suit,” Wozim said without preamble. “Now, human.”

Neither his word choice nor his tone seemed like a harbinger of good things. I dashed to my room and suited up. They met me at the upgraded shuttle bay. Solen and Leana arrived out of breath.

“This will take all of us,” Solen said as she multitasked. Her hand moved confidently to check her suit attachments.

Leana remained quiet. She didn’t even try a smile to lighten the mood.

“I will pilot the shuttle until you need me out there,” Grum said.

I slapped him on the shoulder and took a spot in the passenger compartment. Leana activated a screen. Kayan displayed broken ships drifting apart in some instances, but also colliding with each other in places.

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