Imperial Ghosts by Eric Thomson

Author:Eric Thomson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: canadian science fiction, canadian author, galactic empire, alien invasion, interstellar exploration, metaphysical science fiction
Publisher: Sanddiver Books Inc.
Published: 2022-07-05T00:00:00+00:00

— 22 —

That night, the flotilla moored in the middle of the river a hundred kilometers upstream of Grâce after briefly visiting a few settlements already in contact with the mission. The subtropical forest had closed in on the lazy ribbon of water after the last of the known villages, leaving little space for accessible shores, let alone beaches, and choked off the light.

Shakku could sense a change in the mood of the Marines riding sentry duty topside — what might have felt like a pleasure cruise at first became a genuine patrol. They sensed the potential for hidden peril on either shore, a few paces from the river, where eyes couldn’t see beyond the thick curtain of vegetation.

He'd read that the greenery’s distant ancestors once grew between what the ancient history texts termed as Earth’s Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. Whatever those were. Even he made little sense of the terminology. But he knew the denser forest could hide perils sensors might miss among the riot of exuberant vegetation and wild animal life.

The smells, the sounds, and the subliminal vibrations were so different from those around Grâce that they might as well be on a different planet. But he felt no impending danger, even though sleep was elusive. Thus, Shakku spent more hours than he liked topside, sitting in silence in the darkness with the rest of the Marines standing watch.

And when the Hour of the Wolf came, he found himself more alone than at any other time in his life, wondering whether the future of an entire world hung on his decisions, particularly that of tossing aside the plan and following his instincts, something he’d never done.

Then, when the night sunk into its darkest phase, tiny bright sparks lit up on either bank like miniature fireworks, weaving in and out without rhyme, rhythm, or purpose. Fireflies, whose distant ancestors had been brought to Celeste from Earth during the first intensive terraforming attempts.

Shakku watched them dance, mesmerized, lost along a river light-years from both his home and that of the fireflies’ distant ancestors. When their delicate streaks of light died away, he climbed to his feet, gave the two Marines standing guard on deck a silent wave, and headed into the pod where Centurion Brock, First Sergeant Chelmsford, and the rest of B Company Headquarters troopers snored peacefully. He climbed into his narrow bunk and fell asleep at once, content with his decision and the good omen of dancing fireflies on either shore.

***

Toward noon the following day, they reached the first precontact settlement, a village of a few hundred inhabitants built across the Harmonie from a ruined imperial era town. Like Grâce and the others along the coast, it comprised one and two-story wood houses with attached barns and kitchen gardens, surrounded by a three-meter-tall palisade of sharpened vertical logs. A short wooden jetty thrust out into the river while boats, most of them turned upside down, lay atop the rocky banks. Fields surrounded the settlement, and

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